Final Evaluation Of " Quit Whilst You're Ahead "

In producing our film as a group i feel that we made a very good effort in keeping our continuity as a very high standard. When we were filming myself and others that were in the film made sure we wore the exact same outfit. We could have done better with the lining up of shots, as this was not always as smooth as we would have liked in the final edit.
However we did hit obstacles that deterred us from achieving the level of continuity we had originally wished for. We had a spell of really good hot sunny weather for a week or so, and we got a lot of our filming done in that time, but our luck changed when it came to shooting the final bits of footage for our film and we got a downpour of torrential rain.
This has affected the continuity of our film because the lighting changes from bright to quite dark,
The weather goes from sunny to pouring rain, the costumes and characters are all wet and the sound in the film is slightly disturbed by the rain.

We were disappointed that we had to film in such horrible conditions, but we knew as a group that we cannot always have everything go just the way we want it as it isn't how the world works so we got on with our work. On the subject of the editing of our film, although as i have previously stated that our shots weren't always in line with one and other, they weren't, that bad. The editing process of our film went great, all in all it worked quite well, regardless of the sudden change in weather, it was not really that big a deal in the end.

Our film fits the genre category of thriller. I do believe that our film suits the genre quite well through the plot of the film and the footage used. The introductory two minutes of our film reflect the category quite well i think. We start of the film with a scene with Harry and his girlfriend Olivia in bed together asleep. Harry is quite visibly uncomfortable and uptight in his sleep, we then flash to his nightmare that he is having.

From watching other films and analysing them we knew that lighting was a key element to creating the thriller type atmosphere. We decided that if we had a lack of lighting in the nightmare scene that it would help bring the effect of the horror in the nightmare and the help towards our film fitting the thriller genre.
(do sound at home)
The mise-en-scene section of our film was all looked at carefully.
When we created our characters we created them in detail, not just name and gender, we did the social group or the stereotypical group they belonged to and planned their costumes out accordingly. We looked at the group they belonged to and built up things that belonged to in the semantic field we were looking at.

The locations we chose were either through ease of access to the location or to the character of the location, for example, the graveyard; the graveyard had a strange look to it and was somewhat haunting but had a certain charm to it.
It fitted very well with the atmosphere we were trying to create and helped towards getting closer to the film genre we were looking for of a thriller.

The typography in our film worked well, it wasn’t too big but visible in the shots and was noticeable and readable. The font had a kind of rigidity to it, which I believe goes well with the genre of a thriller.

Our film had a lot of social representation in it.  We tended to base the social group in the ‘indie’ category. We based the costumes on this and the characteristics of the characters in the film on this also. In the opening two minutes we don’t see very much from the role of women apart from the vulnerability of them in Harry's nightmare.  The female characters do not have a big role in most of it and not many spoken parts either.  We leave the woman role to a minimum in the 2 minute introduction. However, the exclusion of the female role in the beginning and most the way through the film is highly significant. At a later point in the film Olivia, Harry's girlfriend becomes a crucial character, there is a fight scene towards the end of the film between Harry and the suspected killer.
Harry is fighting a losing battle and as the suspected steps up to finish him off when Olivia jumps in and kills him.  This contrasts with the lack of the female role throughout the film to show a woman killing a criminal and saving her boyfriend’s life.
The stereotypical view of women is that they tend not to be as strong and things as such.
But by having Olivia kill the criminal in the film we challenged that stereotypical view and pushed a new view for our audience on the women in the film and perhaps in reality.

We looked as a group to decide which film company would be best suited to distributing our film.
We came to the decision that Warp Films would be suitable to our film.
we decided that because they are a local film company and will be close to home, that it suits us perfectly. Also, they are a low budget film company and that is what our film would be as we are just students and the budgets we would have would be minimal.
Our film is a Thriller, however from studying the films that warp films make they tend to deal with everyday peoples families or people with a low income.
our film involves people who are just a normal family that are suffering due to the loss of a family member to the hands of a criminal.
our film also deals with the lack of faith in the legal and justice system. A common topic that seems to be at large in our area and others around. This is most likely a stereotype but if it will attract an audience i believe that warp films would find it an interesting aspect for a film and would consider distributing a film like it with such a spoke about theme in our county.
Warp Films have distributed many films and they deal with real life situations.
One film that i think is similar to ours due to the genre is ' Exhibit A'
this is a thriller type of a film with a scary element to it, this is very like our film in a way that there is a horrific side to it.

The audience we chose to sell our film to was people from the age of 15 and upwards. we did surveys and we collated feedback that suggested our chosen genre was a good choice as most people we asked liked psychological thrillers. The fact that it was a thriller was a selling point alone as they are many peoples favourite type of film.
We thought that with us being either 16 or 17 that our film would appeal more to people within ten years of our age. As the actors in it are still young. We studied other thriller films to give us inspiration for the story line and how we would go about choosing locations and what shots we would use etc.
We created questionnaires to gain information on what people like in films and what they would think of our film from what we could tell them.
We chose our audience, and then started to shape our characters relating to the audience we aimed our film at.
We knew that from college most people we knew acted and dressed a certain way and fitted to a certain stereotype. From this we made the characters fit the stereotype and become more relatable to the audience.

I believe that as a group we did reach our target audience, we did all we could to make our characters and genre and plot relateable to the audience and did as best as we could to make it appealing too.
When we were at the pre-production stages of our project we took into consideration what would appeal to our audience. We decided that if the characters were around the same age that they would be able to relate to them and also if the characters fit into popular social trends and stereotypes that they (the audience) were a part of or they knew of that they would instantly become attracted to it as that is how the younger population in society act and respond to social trends and things as such.
We tried to make it realistic also to make it relatable for the audience and we hoped that this would be a good selling point for our film.
One of the questions we asked in our questionnaire was ' what would be the unique selling point of our film? '
One of the answers we received was ' the unique selling point i think would be the realism of the film. It's not unbelievable like Hollywood films.'
From that answer alone i know that we achieved making it realistic and relatable to the audience.

According to our audience feedback our music and camera angles worked well. and some said the acting.
Some of the audience said the editing could have been better and the acting and also the story line could have been more detailed.
We took all the feedback and understood and agreed with it all.
There were aspects of our film which needed work and we knew that but we just did what we could in the time we had with the conditions we had also.

Thanks to the feedback we now know how we can improve our work. We know that we need to do a better job of lining up the shots so our editing will run a lot smoother. We also know that we need to improve our acting to make the films more convincing and realistic.
We realised that the story line we wanted to portray was not shown in enough detail in the 2 minute film. We did not show enough of the plot in the 2 minutes we had and we know that in future that is what we need to work on.

In the pre-production stages of the project, we used the Internet for research on genre and researching other films for inspiration. For this we used the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) this gave us ideas about the genre we wanted to do our film in accordance with and also gave us some sort of guidelines of what a thriller type film is like. We decided to use IMDb because it was well known and very reliable and had all the information we could ask for.

we then created an on line blog on Blogger. Throughout the process of making our film we updated it with all diary entries and other work and all the paper work side of the project.
This kept us up to date as to where we were and kept a constant record of what we had or had not done.

We then needed to make some scripts for the film. For this we used a product called Celtex this was used as it gave us the format for a script straight away and made it easy for us to create the script.

During the Production stage of the project we got to use a digital camera to do the filming o the scenes we needed to create our film. we had previous experience with the camera from our preliminary task at the beginning of the academic year in media so it was easy for us to get straight on with filming again.
Once we had filmed all the footage we needed to create our film we imported it using a USB lead onto the Macs at college. We then imported the footage onto our editing software, final cut express.
final cut is a professional editing software and is very good. By using this software we had a good finished product and it was high quality due to the quality of the software.
With final cut we added all the footage and cut it together to create the film. We then added things like a fade transition and use typography for the credits and things as such.

In the post production stage we finished our project and uploaded the final video on to YouTube. a well known on line website for on line video blogs and just general video. we then uploaded it to Blogger onto our blog to show the final product.

I feel myself that all of the new software we used was successful. excluding the odd technical hitch with blogger.

I have learned about all sorts of new technologies.
I have learned how to make a blog on Blogger and i have discovered Blogger.
I have learned how to use Final Cut Express much better, and feel more comfortable using the software.
I have also learned new ways of using social networking and seen other things they can be used for.

For the Preliminary task, the group all learned from scratch new camera shots, angles, rules in filming and more.
We learned how directors use representation and things such as Mise-en-Scene to suggest something and build up an idea for the audience.
I feel ive learned a lot about continuity, how hard getting lighting and other things perfect is and how that not everything we want can happen in media there are many things such as weather and things that will get in our way to reaching goals etc.
I feel i have grown more comfortable with the new technologies and with the softwares i have been introduced to in the past year and have got a lot better at using them.

I have got better at arranging the lighting for a film, i have got better at filming and feel more confident in my acting also.
I feel i am a lot more able with the software i have been introduced to and feel i can produce work a lot better than what i would have been able to do months ago.
I have got better at working as a team and i have got a lot better at overcoming obstacles when trying to reach a goal.
It is not just my production skills that have improved though.
When i came to doing my research this time i took a lot more in depth approach to it giving me a wider knowledge about what it was i was researching and gave me more to bring to the table when it came to brainstorming ideas.
At the beginning of the year i took a way more laid back and eased off approach to everything.
Where as at the end of the year i am a lot more hands on with the work and with my research etc.
Throughout the project i have gained so much knowledge and skills and its been a great educational expreience.

Evaluation part five.

We attracted our audience by constructing several questionaires and handing them out to people we knew, and asking them to pass them on to people they know.
I think we reached our target audience perfectly because the people we know are in our age range (teenagers) and are also from the North, and we included certain quotes in the film that we thought might grasp the audience's attention when planning our production.
We recieved a lot of positive feedback, things such as 'excellent storyline' were said a lot, and even though many of them admitted it wasn't their usual prefered genre of film, they were very excited about seeing it.
From our audience feedback, we learnt that the areas we chose for filming were very good. One person said that he really liked the idea of the house being so dark inside suiting the personality of Harry, contrasting with the brightness of the outdoors that the two characters looked so uncomfortable and unfamiliar with; he said it was little things like this that made the film.
We also learnt from our audience feedback that the voiceover of officer shades wasn't so great. The fact that there was no difference in the quality of sound of the voice or where it was coming from let the film down said one girl. We regrettably as a group thought that this might have caught the audience's attention because we simply didn't have the skill to master making it any better. But we understand that this isn't the end of the world and we will aquire this skill for the next time.

Evaluation part four.

I think that a good media institution that could distribute our media product would be WARP films.
I think this because it is not a big institution, it is an independent film production company based in Sheffield & London. It is also known for making fairly low budget films, and ones that are of selected taste - (i.e: four lions and this is england are not films you could watch with the whole family, and neither is Quit whilst you're ahead.)
Obviously our film is low budget as it is our amateur media product, and there are aspects of it that show clearly that it is imperfect, but that is the beauty of it as is the case with many of WARP films.
The target audience for our film is generally teenagers, and to be more specific, Northerners. This is another reason why I think WARP would be a good distributor because a lot of their films including This is England, Donkey Punch, Submarine and Four Lions are popular amongst teens and are set in the North, and therefore a lot of their audience will also be from the North.

Evaluation Part Three

There are a lot of vital camera movements that help define it's place in the catagory 'thriller.' The fact that Harry and his girlfriend don't exchange many words amongst each other and their serious, unsatisfied facial expressions shows they are deep people. The horizontal panning of the camera at the opening of the scene is quite vital as it presents the audience with an insight of Harry's bedroom, which as a teenager is basically an insight of his life. The close up of his face when he is tossing and turning in bed shows that he is unhappy and is clearly being disturbed by this nightmare he is shown to be having.
The close up/over shoulder shot in the graveyard scene is also really important as it allows the viewer to read what Harry is reading and puts you in his shoes for a moment.
The music we used I thought was really effective. We waited until after the phonecall scene (in which there was non-diegetic sound) to add music, and this was also non-diegetic. The music then continued right until the end of the five minutes, and the speech in the graveyard was heared over the music. The music was chilling and eerie, to add mystery.

Evaluation Part Two

I think that our film reflects the genre we are trying to pursue quite well. The scenes we filmed were set out specifically to match the personality of the main character - Harry, which is indie. We took special care in ensuring that the bedroom of which we filmed in was presented as Harry's would have thought to have been. Another thing we added was a ringtone of indie genre music (The Kinks - You really got me) But unfortunately, we had to edit this out for copyright reasons. This is another example of a problem we faced throughout the editing process.
We got a lot of our inspiration for this particular genre from films such as Rear Window, Fatal Attraction, Taxi Driver and Les Diaboliques. As a group we watched a couple of these together and some on our own and developed a passion for this genre of Psychological Thriller.
Our film is somewhat similar to those listed because they all have a sense of mystery. The audience are made to feel uncomfortable, unsettled and eager to find out what happens next.
We established the plot together as a group once we'd decided on the genre, and this flowed fairly smoothly. We didn't have any disagreements as such and everyone was happy with the roles. There was one instance of role swapping as Jess decided she didn't want to act at last-minute, and Abby stepped in and took her place.

Evaluation Part One

I feel that as a group, we couldn't have put more effort into the completion of continuity. There were several times that both me and my fellow group members turned up in the same clothing to continue our filming and perfect continuity. However, the weather wasn't on our side, and we postponed filming a lot because of this. in the end, we decided that there was no point waiting around for the correct weather in order to complete continuity, because realistically, we weren't going to get back those couple of days of beautiful weather we'd previously had, so we decided to film regardless of the weather that day. As it happens, it was pouring it down with rain that day.. Which is unfortunate, but as media students we have come to realise we have to compromise with things like this and not everything will go the way we want it to all the time. As for editing, i think we did an excellent job. Despite the sudden change of weather from the opening scene to the next, we managed to make it look like it was literally followed on from the previous scene.

             
                        

What defines a psychological thriller?

My character's profile

Name - Olivia Hopwood
Age - 18
Gender - Female
Country/City - Manchester, England
Family - None, Boyfriend Harry Jenkins
Hair colour - Brown
Eye Colour - Blue/Green
Hobbies - Listening to music, Shopping
Political - None
Religion - None

Olivia plays the role of Harry's girlfriend, they have been together since high school and the incident with his sister. She is an optimistic person and the backbone to Harry's life. When they are informed of the case being closed Olivia offers to help him on his journey proving she is a strong, supportive and brave woman therefore breaking the stereotype of women being weak in films.
Olivia came from a respectable family but her parents disapproved of her relationship with Harry so she moved out to live with him and now considers herself to have no parents. She is independent and works to pay the rent to support Harry.

Continuity

As a group I think we've kept up continuity quite well. Despite a sudden weather change in the first to second scene, everything is spot on and looks as though it is literally the second after. Our audience must take into consideration the fact that we don't have control of the weather and couldn't help this, and that we did all we could to make it look the best we possibly could have done.

Target Audience

We decided that our film would be best suited to a young audience, with intrests that are similar to that of the characters. For example, Harry likes to listen to music and smoke cigarettes - more or less a typical teenage male, and so a lot of teenage males would probably be interested in our film. Olivia - Harry's girlfriend - enjoys spending time with Harry and shows herself to be a very supportive girlfriend at the same time as being quite reserved and shy; Girls that are like Olivia would be interested in watching the film. Overall, our film is generally aimed at anyone between the ages of 16 and 25.

Costume research

For our costumes we decided to keep it casual. There is no particular theme for our film (e.g: gangster) and so no particular 'uniform' as such is required. Because it is a psychological thriller, the clothing the actors wore had to be quite plain and basic, just to add mystery. We decided that wearing a tshirt with a brand name printed across it would not compliment the genre of our film.

Risk assesment for last scene.

Shot Script

Final Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The first 2 minutes of the film we have made is called ‘Quit whilst you’re ahead’ and is in the genre of thriller movies. Several things in the title sequence we have produced indicate its place in this genre such as the narrative which we have told with the use of the nightmare. When researching the genre I found most thrillers use lighting to create drama and we applied this when filming the nightmare. My face in the nightmare is poorly lit showing only half of my body, we have done this so an audience are unsure of the location or identity of the person. I then scream loudly and elongated which indicates an element of terror. When looking at the beginning of another film ‘Tormented’ I found they used silence at the start of the film to emphasise action, we have used this at the beginning of our film before the nightmare scream breaks the silence. We also used conventions found in all genres of film such as continuity editing in the match on action where Harry reaches for his sunglasses. We also included an eye line match where Harry notices the note on the grave stone. The mise en scene tells our audience a lot about the characters. Costume of the characters is well dressed therefore give the impression they are respectable people and the location which is Harry’s house is clean and tidy. There is a lack of continuity in the weather change from leaving the house to arriving at the graveyard. We struggled to get another bright day to film after the anomaly of the first so had to go ahead in the rain but ensured characters were in the same costume to keep as much continuity as possible. In the film I analysed they use a fade to change location which we also used in our film when arriving at the graveyard showing the passage of time.You can see the weather change in the screen shots below, you can also see the continuity in costume.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our film represents Harry firstly as troubled, we do this by the pan across the room showing him restless in his sleep and also the nightmare we see. When he answers the telephone to the police officer he is angry and hostile. This is shown through the script where he says ‘I don’t care what you advise to be honest’ to someone in authority. This supports the stereotype of young adults being trouble and disrespectful. The police officer Shades is portrayed in the film as a polite adult as she is politely spoken even when Harry loses his temper. Further confirmation of his anger is shown when he slams down his phone and struggles to refrain from crying, we then are introduced to the relationship between him and Olivia as she sits up and comforts him. This tells the audience he has reason to be angry. Although we do not see the officer we know she becomes impatient by the tone of her voice when she says ‘good day’. Despite the phone call portraying Harry as a stereotypical young person the costume and location after this shows something different. Harry and his Girlfriend have a nice home and dress well. When visiting the grave the close up of Harry shows his emotion of grief which tells an audience he is compassionate. Harry and Olivia’s close relationship throughout the complete film remains strong and both their determination never falters again disproving the ideology of lazy young adults.The use of the close up of Harry slamming down the phone represents his anger and care for his missing sister.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
An institution such as Warp films might distribute our film due to the gritty realism we have included. Our film focuses mostly on the story therefore containing no elaborate stunts or pyrotechnics throughout the whole film. The focus on the injustice of the legal system is an important issue a company like Warp would like to express. Previous films made by Warp such as ‘This is England’ is a low budget film like ours and focuses on serious issues such as racism, rape and unemployment. Warp films would distribute our film better than a Hollywood company such as Warner Brothers because the content in our film would prevent targeting a family friendly audience. Also as it does not star any well-known actors or directors a large company would struggle to distribute it whereas low budget film companies can target the right audience as they already have a fan base from previous similar films. Our film is unsuitable for young children so no merchandise would be appropriate and as this is a large part of distributing a film in American Studios Warp would be more suitable. Warp can distribute our film the way they distributed This is England by a simple trailer and film poster.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience for our film is versatile as many elements will appeal to many groups of people. Firstly the certificate of our film is 15 so immediately eliminates children as some content is unsuitable. The certificate being a 15 can also attract some people who prefer films with more serious elements. The genre will also attract our target audience of thriller fans, people who are familiar with this genre will be attracted to this. In our research questionnaire one person said they would see our film because thrillers are their favourite type of film. The production company we chose was Warp films whom already hold a fan base for hard British drama so fans of their previous films may be attracted to this too. Young people may want to see the film through sex appeal as our main characters, one of each gender, are both young and attractive as someone in our research said “everyone loves a heart throb”. Having main characters of both genders makes the film more attractive to both sexes as an audience. The film is set in today’s time therefore technology and costume is recent which may be another selling point of our film as another response to our film was “both characters are really fashionable which makes it more believable.”Below you can see the certificate of our film and also the costumes the characters wore to make the film modern and "believable."

How did you attract/adress your audience?
I think we addressed our target audience successfully using genre concepts firstly. The lighting during the nightmare lit half of my face creating a sinister mood. I found this common in my research as audience’s associate dim lighting with thriller films. Our film has a 15 certificate and we met expectations here by including sexual references when the characters wake up together, the topic of murder and a frightening nightmare scene. Using members of our own group as the cast we targeted our young adult audience as I found in my research people enjoy watching films about people similar to themselves. By not creating an unbelievable story line with special effects and CGI we have created as someone in our questionnaire said “I like the realism, it’s believable and honest.” Most of our feedback complimented our storyline but negative comments fixated mainly on the continuity problems we had with the weather. Unfortunately rain was on the camera lens for one shot in the grave yard which impaired an audience’s view. This could be improved by filming the entire film on the same day or ensuring a test shot before shooting the real thing so if the lens was impaired it could be wiped to avoid this problem.

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have used a number of different technologies to aid our production of the final product. During pre-production I mainly used the internet; search engines like Google provided easy access to websites such as IMDB and film company websites. We also had to load our findings on to Google blogger, a site I was unfamiliar with. Using my common knowledge and some help from my teachers I picked up how to use it quickly. I found Blogger sometimes failed to load or was slow due to the demand of the class but I did not let this slow me down as I saved important information to word documents ready to upload at a later date. Also in pre-production I used the programme Celtx to write our script, I liked this programme as it was simple to use but gave professional results. The script is clear and organised when done on Celtx and again it was the first time I had used it, I found it easy to pick up. I opted to film and direct the film our piece as I wanted to experience filming as I had not used the camera, this was simple and completed sufficiently. In post-production we edited our film in Final Cut editing software. This is the point I most struggled as I had not edited before and I needed a fair amount of help to pick up the skill, although, once shown i edited our film together well and I feel I have gained important skills in new media software.I found the camera easy to use and aim to achieve the shots i wanted like the close up below, which i used to show expression, i found easy to film after practice with the camera.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full production
I have progressed greatly since our preliminary task as I decided to challenge myself and take the opposite role. In our first task I acted in the film and drew the story boards but in our 2 minute film I volunteered to film and produce the piece to try my hand at all aspects of media production. In the preliminary task I learned basic rules of filming such as the match on action which we implemented in our title sequence easily and naturally however when I first learned this I found it confusing. As I wasn’t involved in the editing of our preliminary film I had not used the editing software before however i edited the whole thing by myself and I am impressed with the result for a first attempt at using Final Cut. I think I have got better at drawing story boards as I find the frames easy to understand and my knowledge of the different shots I am now confident in so this story board was completed quickly and easily whereas my first one had to be re done several times. I have used other camera angles such as the pan when Harry and Olivia are asleep as I hadn’t used it in the preliminary task and thought it would be a good way to establish the scene as well as Harry’s restlessness. Overall I think I have progressed a little with things I previously did in the first task but a large amount using the software and camera for the first time. The shot below shows my establishing shot which is obviously in a bedroom and also introduces the main characters.It also displays my editing skills where i added the titles. I used white to blend in through the natural day light and i think this had worked effectively.

Final Evaluation;

Evaluation

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

Our film ‘Quit Whilst You’re Ahead’ initially leaned towards the thriller genre, as this has a wide range of compatible sub-genres. Then with research into the genre as a whole our linear plot developed fully into a thriller. In order to sustain this we used a variety of common conventions associated with this genre, such as ‘suspense’, ‘ransoms’, and ‘kidnappings’ in developing this we then added the sub-genre of a psychological thriller allowing us to bring in the concept of mind games, we carried this out by placing a heavy focus on the characters, and a backstory, also the ransoms used help toy with our main character ‘Harry Jenkins’ mind. Furthering our research we found that most thrillers use lightening to specify the mood in which is being created, we applied this to our film in certain shots particularly in the nightmare scenes where Abby who plays Emily Jenkins is shot in a dimly lit room showing only half of her body. In doing this we created a sense of unknowing, mystery and lack of identity. During my individual research I establish that close-ups are often used a lot during titles sequences for numerous thrillers, including the title sequence I analysed ‘SE7EN’ therefore we used this convention in our film with the close-up on the mobile phone, sunglasses and ransom note. Some conventions can be found in all genres, for instance continuity editing, we used this in the match on action where Harry reaches for his sunglasses, and also an eye line match when Harry discovers the note on the grave stone. We hit problems with continuity from leaving the house to the graveyard regarding the weather change, as we struggled to land on another bright day. Since we were running out of time we had to go on to film and as a result the weather change is vaguely noticeable, despite this issue we made sure that the continuity was kept with regards to the characters costumes. We also gradually changed the location using a fade as most films use this technique to show a passage of time or as in our case a location change, this helped keep the continuity. Rather than editing it as a clean cut. Our film opens with a pan, placing Harry and Olivia (Harry’s girlfriend) in the bedroom scene, the fact the we didn’t use an establishing shot means that the audience is not given enough detail in order to fully figure out the plot. However, the mise-en-scene alone gives details about the characters such as the costumes worn present each character as well dressed, also the filming locations show quite a high standard of living.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

During the pan at the beginning or our title sequence which I mentioned previously, we see Harry restlessly tossing and turning in bed, this suggests he has things on his mind and therefore represents him from the offset as troubled. This is brought to light with the nightmare which is cut into the sequence from a CU of Harry that then cuts to a MS of Harrys sister Emily, situated in a dark dimly lit room. The cut of the nightmare also breaks the calm atmosphere with the height of piercing elongated scream that penetrates this calm. This height is gradually brought down but still sustains an alert sense with the phone call off of officer Shades which Harry’s replies ‘I don’t care what you advise to be honest’ show his anger and hostility, as the officer is the higher authority. Harry’s lack of respect to the officer in authority conserves the ‘rebellious’, ‘disrespectful’ and ‘troubled’ young adult stereotype. As we are brought to the end of the phone call we see Harry break down, struggling to hold back tears, we are then introduced to our fourth character, Olivia Hopwood and the relationship between her and Harry, as she sits up and comforts him. In doing so this implies that Harry has good reason for his actions. These actions again conserve the typical teen stereotype, however as the film progresses we subverted the stereotype of the typical teen by portraying Harry as caring, family orientated and stimulated to succeed. Contrasting the usual careless, reckless and lazy adolescent image that is seen by many. This is shown through both actions and mise-en-scene throughout. Evidence of this is clear in the costume of both Harry and Olivia, as they both dress respectfully and keep a good home. As for the emotionally side to the subverted stereotype this comes through when both characters visit Emily Jenkins grave, Harry is seen to be stricken with grief this tells the audience that he is compassionate. This translates through to his relationship with Olivia also, as it is their strong relationship and determination which guides them through to find the truth. 

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

      Our chosen distributer was Warp Films, a well-known UK based film distributer of independent films. Warp has worked with many high profile directors such as Shane Meadows, director of the huge television and DVD hit series This Is England, which focuses on issues such as racism, rape, and unemployment. Warp Films like to focus on real life issues, (as in This Is England) that can happen to anyone. Making every single one of their films relatable. Our focus on the injustice of the legal system I feel is an aspect that a distributer like Warp would like to bring to light and express. The low budget aspect also adds to the realism of the film. Also, our film does not require the need of any elaborate stunts or pyrotechnics, therefore a high budget isn’t necessary. Taking into account the low budget also, the marketing for our film would be rather low key, including the release of posters and interviews, on local radio/television stations. Also a website that would include trailers, downloads and a gallery.

   

                                            

                                                       Click here to visit Warp Films official site:    

Distributes such as 20^th Century Fox and Summit Entertainment would not have been suitable for our film as they are very large-scale companies that have specialist areas such as Hollywood Blockbusters.  Whereas our film was intended to be a small scale independent film which targets local, niche audiences that therefore, requires a smaller, more focused distributer to represent our film. Large companies such as those mentioned above would also struggle to successfully distribute our film as it doesn’t star any well-known actors nor a well-known director.  A smaller distributer means that the budget is limited leaving more focus to be left on the characters and locations to create a realistic storyline. If we had chosen a Hollywood Blockbuster, aimed at a mainstream audience, we would have put a greater focus on the events, twists and plots in the story. These may well have had to have been adapted also in order to meet the interests of a mainstream audience. Thus causing the main idea to become less original, and the realism and relatable side to the film would have been lost to the high budget of production.

          

                                                         Click here to visit 20th Century fox’s official site:

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for our project is very adaptable, meaning it may suit many different audiences as we have integrated lots of different elements in which will fit numerous audience types. We decided to do this as after carrying out some research we found that both male and female students enjoy a wide range of genres, from comedy to horror, thriller, romance, action and crime. The audience we received feedback from was made up of students and adults ranging from age 16 – 40 with their media consumption involving watching films at the cinema, at one on DVD, online viewings and downloading, or via games consoles. Keeping our intentions for the entire film priority, without having to make changes to meet the given certificates regulations found on the bbfc website, we chose the certificate of 15. In doing so this eliminates children as some content is unsuitable, this was an insignificant issue. Giving our film the certificate of 15 gave may portray our film as a more serious film, with thought powering elements within. With the goal of attracting an audience we all felt as a group that the thriller genre was one in which we could use to our advantage, as with thrillers you can incorporate many subgenres including crime, mystery, and psychological. In our group we made an effort to combine the these three subgenres, again to appeal to a wider audience. This decision was proven to be a good one when looking through the feedback we received, as when the audience was asked ‘Is Quit Whilst You’re Ahead the type of film you would normally watch’, many answered with either reference to the fact the it is a thriller, or mentioning one of the films subgenres.

                                                

Setting the film in the present again helps with the relatable concept of the film, along with having the two main lead characters of which are the opposite sex. Thus creating a sex appeal, which will entreaty to every member of our audience be them male or female. Then linking back to the time period, in setting the film in the present both the technology and costumes are recent and fashionable, therefore well know sparking yet another selling point.
As a more technical film based approach, we then, after doing research into the genre we found out that many thriller use the same techniques in order to put across certain atmospheres/situations such as dim lighting when the effect of a nightmare/flashback or something sinister occurs. We used this concept in our film, lighting only half of Emily Jenkins face.

                                                                Click here to view the questionnaires:

After gaining the relevant amount of information needed, analysing and understanding the feedback, we created a treatment for our film. This played on the strong points which we had received as a result of the questionnaire, whilst also drawing onto the common interests of our target audience. Heightening our chances of making a film that would grip our target audience. 

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I think as a whole we have successfully reached our target audience, with the help of our certificate choice by meeting the outlines of the bbfc guidelines this includes sexual references when the characters wake up together, the topic of murder and also the use of the nightmare scene. Looking at this from another aspect we cast members of our own group, which fit with the age of the certificates audience with whom they would be more likely to connect. With the knowledge found through genre research we found that this age group also showed the most interest in thrillers, we used this to our advantage and used the typical conventions of a thriller by centralising the plot around a kidnapping scenario, portraying the threatening/frightening atmosphere with the use of lighting, and using props such as ransoms to ensure we captured the concepts of the genre which appealed most to our target audience. Again as an attempt for the audience to connect more with our film we made our storyline believable and relatable, with no use of CGI. This concept paid off when we received our questionnaire results with quotes such as “I like the realism, its believable and honest”. For most of our feedback we gained positive comments on things such as our lightening and storyline. However negative comments orientated on our continuity issues, regarding the weather problems we had. This involved rain being on the camera lens that interfered with the audience’s view of the characters in the shot of the graveyard. This could’ve been resolved by using one whole day to film, instead of two separate days, or ensuring we had enough shots to choose from.

6.  What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In editing our film we used final cut express this enabled us to develop our editing techniques by using a professional programme. Giving our film a realistic yet quality finish, to the best of our abilities. We were easily able to add fade in/out transitions in between shots to show either a time or location change, we made precise cuts between shots, and when needed cut two different shots of the same angle together in order to improve the edit and continuity. Final cut was easy to use and allowed us to upload all the possible shots to the library, so that we could compare the shots easily and choose the best one.

As we had previous experience of using a digital camera we chose to use one again, and in doing this it also allowed us to further develop our knowledge. This ensured our footage was at a high standard, and easy to transfer the files onto computers for editing via USB. During the production we were also able to use many resources found on the internet, for example search engines such as Google which provided easy access to information off websites such as IMDB and film companies websites.

I was familiar with the IMDB site as I have used it in many previous research projects, however we were taught how to further use the site to aid our production in terms of searching through the smaller details of films. A site that I was not familiar with was Google Blogger, which we had to upload all of our findings and work to. This site is easy to use with a little help from common knowledge and some help from my tutors.

When researching similar films and title sequences, we used YouTube to embed videos to our blog. These videos complement our research, and widen the medium in which our research can be viewed. The use of the videos help people to be able to physically view the scenes that influenced our project, and compare.

For the composition of our script we used the programme Celtx, this was a simple straight forward programme which produced professional looking results. I had opted to be the producer of our film as the producer initiates, coordinates, supervises and controls most of the filming, along with the director. I felt that I had the most experience in this field and therefore with this role I could help the members in my group to the best of my abilities. 

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

In terms of the preliminary task the tasks set were much simpler and included allocating roles to the members of the group, brainstorming ideas and selecting a scenario for the conversation, finding a location, filling in paperwork, drafting a written script and creating a storyboard. Most of these tasks required no real planning and most did not require the use of a computer or require any research. However the production for our final project, whilst including the same tasks as did the preliminary task for our final film there was a lot more researching, analysing, and planning involved. We had to look in depth at similar genres, target audience, certificates, distributers, music, title sequences and more. This gave us the chance to fully understand how much time, effort and work goes into production, this also meant that the end product we were left with was at a higher, almost professional standard of work. The requirements for the preliminary task were also a lot easier including, a 60 second film with titles, obeying the 180 degree rule, match on action, and shot/reverse shot. There had to be only two characters whom exchanges a short dialogue. The requirements fro our final film were much greater, including, the 2 minute opening sequence of a film, obeying 180 degree rule, match on action, shot/reverse shot and titles. The final film involved much more independence, giving us the opportunity the to let our creativity flow. As a whole I feel that we met all the requirements for both tasks well.

I have improved many skills during the production, some of which include camera work and knowledge, research, organising work on a blog and I have also learnt new skills on new technologies such as Celtx and Final Cut. I feel that I know have a greater all round knowledge of the production of a film and of how different mediums work. I also learnt how to develop my ideas more effectively through in depth research.

Questionaires

Script

To write the script i used Celtx.

Risk Assesement

Production Schedule

Production Sheets

Location Recces

Analysis Continued

We then cut to see what the other group are doing. The contrast between the noise of the party and the silence of the girls night in makes the audience laugh as they could not be more different. Next we see the main characters move in to the bedroom displayed by a close up to show the audience the characters are flirting and show no signs of being in danger. We then see a shot from the outside of the house looking at the main characters. The audio of heavy breathing and the blue filter gives the idea that someone is watching them, someone who is dangerous. We then cut between someone with a chainsaw in dim lighting to the two characters kissing on the bed. The cuts get faster signaling a climax. The cuts end when someone wearing a clown mask bursts in to the room and the person with the chainsaw is revealed. The characters scream showing their fear and an audience assumes the characters have met their end.

The masked man is revealed as Bradley, the popular bad boy. He laughs and the serious mood is lifted as we assume the trouble was a prank, but we still do not know who was watching through the window…

Analysis Continued

The title’s then roll which look like the above with loud music playing during. The grsphology of the company names and credits look like grafiti which fits with the genre of the film as a thriller. The film shows three strong stereotyped groups of people, the first we see are ‘goths’ we know this by their dark clothing and make up and their unintentional humourous conversation about death. The scond group is the ‘nerds’ in which we find our main character Justine. All three girls have prefect badges on and neat hair and uniform to tell the reader they are well behaved students. Their conversation about having a good time watching a film and eating chocolate tells the audience they have little social life. This is the last group we are introduced to which are the popular kids. Their loosened ties and smoking shows them to be the opposite of Justine’s friends. The location then changes to the house party where we cut rythmitically to the music to see teenager smoking, drinking and consuming drugs.