Evaluation Question #7- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

 What did you struggle with during the preliminary task?
We found it very hard to find people who would take our filming seriously and act in it
We made the mistake of shooting a few shots in portrait, rather than landscape
The conversation sounded too scripted
Due to the nature of the task, we had to force filming techniques into our video, which made our video look silly

How did you combat these issues in the thriller opening sequence?
We used a camera instead of a phone, so we did not accidentally shoot in portrait- and the audio quality was better
We checked our footage for errors and reshot certain shots
Our conversations and speech during the film was well planned and thought out, making it seem more realistic land less scripted
To make our sequence look realistic and look like a professional product, we planned our product fully and thought hard about where we believed media techniques like match on action and shot reverse shot would work in the film.
We also planned our filming days carefully to ensure that our actors could all make it

 Did you keep the same group as the preliminary task in the final film?
Yes we did, because we worked well together and could share the work evenly between ourselves. We are both extremely hard workers so we knew that if we worked together then we would make a product that we were both proud of.

 Did your group work better in the final film than in the preliminary task?
Yes, because we were able to plan our product and had more chance to make tweaks and improve it. Like the preliminary task, we remained focussed throughout, and our group worked really well.

 What have you learnt about making a longer film?
We have learnt just how long it takes to create an opening sequence, and how much there is to do. I didn’t realise how many takes we would have to do to make the best product we could. We had to refilm lots of scenes for various reasons, such as bad lighting. I have also learnt how much post production editing there has to be done once the footage has been recorded. I did not realise that the editing would take so long, and that there was so many ways to improve our film one we’d filmed the raw footage, such as add filter and soundtracks.

 How important was research and planning?
Research and planning was extremely important as it enabled us to film a lot quicker, as we knew what shots we were going to film and how we would go about filming them Also we were able to carefully choose the outfits of the characters In our film, which made the film more realistic, and more suitable for the thriller genre. Our research was very important, as it showed us the common thriller conventions and the stereotypes that are widely used in thriller films. For instance, men are stereotypically presented as strong and masculine in thrillers, however in our film, our male protagonist was shown to be vulnerable and scared, which opposes the common stereotypes of males.

 How important was planning and Logistics?
Very important, as we were able to plan when we were able to film over the holidays, so all of our actors could make it. This also meant that we were organised and filmed our product really early in the holidays, giving us lots of time to record our finished product.

 What would you do differently next time?
Next time, I would check the weather forecast, prior to filming, as then we would be able to pick a day which was cloudier and misty, which would build up the tension and suspense. The day we filmed on was a little too bright, meaning that we needed to change the clip saturation in post production editing, so the footage fitted the thriller genre better. In addition, I would use a microphone to capture the audio and speech, as the camera audio we used was a little too gainy, and was not very smooth. Next time would make sure the main actor does not get a haircut in between film shoots, which meant we had to make a few slight adjustments.

 These are very small improvements to a product that I am extremely proud of and I have really enjoyed making it.

Evaluation #6- What have your learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

 Difficulties I faced:
Ironically, creating this video was the hardest and most challenging part of the media evaluation. This was because once the one week trial for Wideo expired, I could no longer edit or embed the video onto my blog, meaning that no-one could see my video. To overcome this problem, I used the Windows game capture feature on Windows 10 to screen record the video, and I then uploaded it to YouTube and embedded it from there. This prevented me having to redo this whole question.

Another problem I faced was using the Mac operating system, which I fond very challenging at first. Over time however, after weeks of practise, I learnt how to use it and became comfortable using it.
In addition, at the start of the course I knew nothing of blogging, and had no idea how blogger worked. Like using the Macs it just required practise to learn how to use it, and now I can embed, import multimedia and change the layout of my blog.

Finally I found filming in the dark very tricky, as the camera struggled to pick up what we were attempting to film, hence why we had to reshoot a few shots that were too dark. While reshooting, we used torches so the camera could pick up the action we were filming. We also tried to film in areas with a street lamp nearby, so the footage filmed would be clearer and so the audience could see what was going on.

Evaluation Question #5- How did you attract/ address your audience?

Evaluation Question #4- Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation Question #3- What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Evaluation Question #2- How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation Question #1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Evaluation #7 Planning

For question 7 I am going to create an interview style answer, where I ask myself a question and then answer it. This is a very clear way to present answers to all of the small questions involved, in a fun but informative way.

Evaluation #6 Planning

For this, I will create a short narrated animation, which will be a fun and interesting way to learn about the different technology i used in this media AS course, and what I learnt throughout the coursework. Through this animation/video, I will talk about the technology, software, tools and hardware I used to create my media film, and what I learnt from using them.

Evaluation #5 Planning

For this question I decided to create a Gloggster explaining the techniques and choices I made to attract an audience to watch our film, such as the choice of settings, editing techniques and the themes incorporated into the film. Gloggsters are very clear and easy to create, and are perfect for presenting small amounts of information and pictures.

Evaluation #4 Planning

For question four, I will create a Prezi explaining the audience for 'The Courier,' which is an interesting and interactive way to answer the question. Using a Prezi allows me to easily incorporate different multimedia in an interactive way to engage the reader. I will describe who the target audience is and what it is in the film that makes it suitable for them, and not suitable for other people.

Evaluation #3 Planning

For question three I will create an animation on Explee, explaining how I would advertise my film, and what type of media institution would distribute it. This is an easy, clear and professional way of creating a video that interests the reader. Furthermore, the Explee website which I will use is an extremely simple website which allows the use of various styles of multimedia, such as sound effects, music, videos and pictures.
Through this presentation, I will suggest the types of distribution companies that would and would not distribute this product. For instance, I will explain why certain companies, such as Walt Disney would be unsuitable to distribute 'The Courier.' In addition, I will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of different methods of distribution methods in a fun exciting way.

Evaluation #2 Planning

For the second evaluation question, I create a directors commentary of our final cut, which will allow me to explain our choices and how we presented certain groups of people in certain ways using the four media language areas: editing, sound, cinematography and mise en scene.

Evaluation #1 Planning

For my first evaluation question, I am going to create a eleven frame analysis for my opening sequence. During this, I will comment on the thriller conventions I used and whether the opening scene conformed or challenged these conventions. I will also compare our opening scene to other scenes from different films, and talk about the similarities and differences.

Final Cut Reflection

To conclude I believe that our media film went extremely well, as we have included all of the crucial features of a good media film, such as shot reverse shot, match on action and the 180 degree rule to demonstrate the extent of our media knowledge. We also used the four areas of media language to conform and to challenge media stereotypes.
Our time keeping was crucial to the production of our film, as were the first group to complete the planning and to film the movie. This allowed us to tweak and edit our footage to create the best film we could make. Filming our film as early as we did meant that we left enough time to re-shoot a few scenes, such as the chase scene, where a few shots were too dark to see, and this was very important in enabling us to create a film which I was proud of.

The process of creating our film went really well, however there are a few areas which we could have improved on in future. One of these being gender variation throughout our film. In a realistic movie, there would be both male and female characters, but as we could not find any suitable female actors, we kept our film male based. This did allow us however to meet the thriller stereotypes of males being the stronger gender, and stereotypically, males are the target audience of thriller films.

Final Cut

Our choice in title

Second Cut Feedback

Positives:
Good use of shot variation
Really liked the eye close up in the torture scene
The low angle of the protagonist in the present works really well
The use of soundtracks build the tension well
Mouth close ups are effective
Good use of cinematography.

 Negatives
The filter on our Puzzle Productions ident is too much
The soundtracks end too abruptly

Improvements
We need to fade in and out the soundtracks- We have faded in and out all of the soundtracks to help our product flow
Maybe add a voice over- We have since added a voice over during the flashback where the protagonist signs a contract and collects a parcel
Maybe rearrange the flashbacks- Since adding a voice over to one of the flashbacks, we have decided that we do not need to re arrange the shots to make them make sense. Also, as it is a thriller, our product needs to stimulate the audience into asking questions, so there needs to be some mystery in the product
Maybe use a soundtrack to the scenes in the present to make the present scenes clearer- We feel that having another soundtrack for the present scenes would be too much and may detract from the overall film

Editing Update 3

Class Feedback

editing update 2

Editing update 1

Filming reflection