Evaluation Question Seven

The two clips above are of my final hand in task "Who Is Out There" and my first prelim task "An Average Fight Over A Girl". the latter i produced a good few months ago, and the final hand in film a few weeks ago.

The prelim simply had two friends, or it seems, verbally arguing over a girl, a typical teenage activity, ending violently. The main task is about a man running through a woods being chased by a mysterious and intimidating woman, he reaches a river, where he begs for help into the distance, she then kills him, a small dialogue of the girl and her other personality occurs, and then it finishes with a title screen.

The prelim task was obviously less of quality to the main task, due to the amount of time I have been able to work on editing, and filming. For example, the editing pace of the prelim task is less professional than the other piece, the final scene where the tall blonde man punches the other, is too quick, and seems more sloppy. It could have been different if i had re filmed it, but because of the deadline i did not have the chance. However, I am quite happy with the editing and filming for the Main task, it all fits together, i believe that the running scene was done very professionally.

Also, one area that could have been improved of the Prelim task, is it could have added some music or backing noise. I did not have the know how to be able to do it, however with the the Main task i have been able to add some low beat non diegetic music, as well as a make shift heart beat. Had i been able to do so on the prelim task, i would of had a low slow beat as the blonde man walked into the room.

What I did like about the Prelim was the fading out towards the ending, and the difference in dialogue. These two aspects were also improved in the Main task with the fading in and out of titles, and the fading out of the clip, and the dialogue was just as good.

These are the differences between my Prelim task and my Main task. Originally I was impressed with my Prelim task, but from the skills I obtained from the Main task, i realize it could of been improved with the points mentioned above.

Evaluation Question Six

 Many different pieces of software have helped me through this
coursework. the following are screen shots are of me using the separate software's. the first is Final Cut Express, what i used for the sole creation of my filming, only available for IMac which did become a nussance as i do not own one and couldnt work on it at home, but was not to much of a problem as i had plenty of lesson time to work on it.

 The second is of GarageBand, another piece of software only available for IMacs. This software allowed me to create the backing, non diegetic music and the sound of the heart beats.

 Thirdly, i used Photo shop, the only actual software i used which was compatible with other computers. This allowed me to create the logos for "A Head In The Hole Productions" and "Race Productions".

 I used Prezi.com on the internet in order to create detailed, and stylish presentations, alowing me to quickly import videos and pictures in my blog.

Fourthly i used Youtube in order to find a video to compare my own film to - Dog Soldiers- and to put up my own film in order to import that onto a prezi.
Finally i used Blogger itself in order to put up all my work online so i could access it from home in a neat manner, and so i would never lose it. The pictures below are of me using the IMacs to piece together my coursework film. I learned a lot about how to use IMacs through this coursework, as i had never used one before. i now find them the most easy to use computers available, and made making my coursework easy.

Evaluation Question Five

Throughout this coursework, i have been comparing my own work to that of the opening of Dog Soldiers.
I have tried to keep to the same sort of genre and filming style to that of Dog Soldiers. However only being able to film with a medium quality camera as opposed to the industry level ones used in Dog Soldiers, it has played in my favor,  with the quality of camera it has made the scenery seem more bleak and grey than in reality, however, this greyness has been able to add to the tension building by having quite a plain backdrop to make the audience more focused on the characters.
Also, there is only a small amount of non diegetic music in the background, where this does not feature in Dog Soldiers, as the film only uses diegetic sound in order to add to the realism intended, my film has it in to add to the tension and building up to the final scene. The reason i have it in and Dog Soldiers does not, is because my film starts of fast paced, from the very first scene it literally starts of running, whereas Dog Soldiers begins with a equilibrium.

My very first rough cut, as seen earlier on in the blog, was much simpler to my final hand in. For one, it had a different actor, and after careful deliberation replaced him for the current one. However the major points are in the making of the film. For one, i used a completely different scene for the final shot, mainly because in the rough cut, a road and van could be seen in the background of the final dramatic scene, so i had to move further up river to a point where you couldnt see them, however this played in my favor, as where i decided to film had ice next to the water, which could represent the harsh and coldness of the main antagonist's feelings towards to brief protagonist. I also changed the dialogue to make the final scene more dramatic, as originally, it was a simple murder, no dialogue at all, however in the final hand in, i allowed time that had been taken from the running scene (that in itself was too long for the two minute limit) so that i could create more tension for the protagonist's final moments. These where the main and most crucial changes I made to my film, other changes include different shots angles and locations for the running scene, and the changes in clothing to make the protagonist more likeable and the antagonist more intimidating.

The following are some questions that I asked several different people of what they thought of my film. The questions were:

1) What draws your attention to the product?
2) What genre is it and how do you know?
3) What do you consider are the strengths of the product?
4) What social groups does it represent and how?
5) Would you purchase the product and why?
6) How would you improve the product?

The first person I asked was Kyle Bridson, a first year media student also doing the film section of this coursework. He was asked for his opinion as he is the perfect critic for this piece of work, not only is he doing the same section of the coursework but we have also both been studying the same subject at the same time, so he knows the best responses to the questions, in theory. This was his response;

The second person I asked was Jayne Race, a middle age mother with no knowledge of media or of how films are made, she was asked these questions for the reasons of her being the typical audience, with my film being aimed at both genders, either can enjoy it as long as they have a enthusiasm for horror. This was her response;

The third person I asked was Zoë Godden, a fifteen year old girl with basic knowledge of media and how films films are made, she was asked these questions as she is at the younger end of the target audience. This was her response;

The fourth and final person I asked was Wayne Longton Worley, a IT technician at Teesdale School, and also a film maker, in his spare time. He was asked his opinion on the questions asked because of his knowledge of all things electronic, and his passion in film that I share. This was his response;

Evaluation Question Four

Evaluation Question Three

The Production Process:
Producing my footage would have to have gone through several different stages to be official, including the Production phase and the Distribution phase. These two stages happen in 5 main parts:
-The Planning phase, where you think of ideas, what will the final product look like, genre, audience and content
-Research phase, where you look at current oppositions and what is already on the market and how similar they are to your idea, and then change in accordance to the results, and who their target audience is
-The Story board phase, where you create story boards in order to have a visual aid to be able to see what the product will look like
-The Construction phase, this is where you create the product to meet that of an industrial size, going out to locations and shooting
-The Distribution phase, where you pitch the product to either a niche or mainstream audience, depending on the design of the product, and if it is commercial or independent

Publishing - Throughout my work, I have been comparing my own work to that of Dog Soldiers, as they are both horror and I based most of the camera skills and techniques on the footage from Dog Soldiers (see Evaluation Question One), I think that the best company to publish my film would be the The Noel Gay Motion Picture Company. The reason being that they appear to focus, or at least have an interest in horror or high in action films, not only did they publish Dog Soldiers, but they also covered Trainspotting and Pasty Faces.

Distribution - For the distribution side of the product, I would suggest the Luxembourg Film Fund. The reason being that they distributed Dog Soldiers across the world. They also appear to look into horror and action related films such as Minotaur and The Lost Battalion. These films are not particularly well known, and Minotaur is directed by an English director, this is another reason why I would chose the Luxembourg Film Fund, as they focus on small budget films from not very well know directors, and it takes on English directors also.

Advertisement - For the advertisement section, I would probably use social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The reason being that it can be free to advertise on these sites, also the word of mouth technique has been recently adapted to the 21st Century, and to Web 2.0, with people talking to each other, news can be spread on social networking sites almost as quick as using billboards on commonly used motorways.

Distributing- For distributing, I would most likely use big name franchises such as HMV and Blockbuster. The reason being that these big name franchises can afford to take a risk in taking on small name films such as my own. They are also known for distributing a wide range of products, and getting in with the big franchises could not only help distribute it, but the general public knowing that my product is distributed by big names could help advertise it as well.
 

Evaluation Question Two

Evaluation Question One