Evaluation of Finished Film

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film intro starts with our main protagonist Matt who is a stereotypical male in many ways. For instance the first couple of seconds starts with him getting ready for work. This is a very quick process and it is clear he doesn't take much pride in h

is appearance when getting ready for work. It is also clear he is the breadwinner of the two as he earns the money while his flat mate is lazying around on the couch. As the main protagonist and the flatmate are around the ages of 20 to 25 this is the type of age we are representing in our film. It is apparent that there are two types of males and social groups in our film that both fit the stereotype. As Matt asked the flatmate did he have a good night it is clear that he is a outgoing type of male where as Matt is a go getter in the work place. This shows that we are aiming our film at males of all kinds and different social groups within males. This seems to narrow down the type of audience we are trying to represent as this type of behavior can also be seen in women just as much as men as in this day and age some women work to keep men.

What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?

We feel our film should be distributed by a company such as WT² Productions or Working Title as they distributed Shaun of the Dead, which is one of the films we have based ours on. Working Title is a British film company based in London and was founded in 1983. WT² Productions was then founded in 1999 and are an independent film company based in London who deal with low budget films. As our film contains similar aspects such as gore and zombies like Shaun of the Dead,this would be an ideal company. As Shaun of the Dead was aimed at males around the age of 15 to 25 they advertised their film in pubs and also on underground trains that run through London. We want our film to be advertised via Facebook and other social networking sites, as the majority of the audience we are aiming for use these on a regular basis. Such aspects like the film trailer or sound clips could be played inside bars/pubs as this is and ideal place to reach our audience. Posters could also be displayed on buses or at bus stops as this is also a regular form of transport for people in our age range. After the film has been released a TV channel such as Film4 or Channel 4 would be more suitable to premiere the movie and show it on a regular basis as it attracts a younger audience than other channels. It has has seasons which focus on a particular genre so our film could be included in an apocolypse season. Also our film is rated 15 and contains alot of adult material so it would have to be shown after 9pm. Film4 sometims edits films so they are able to be shown on TV, howver we don't feel this would be necassary.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

As the genre of our media product is an apocalypse thriller, we think this appeals more to males around the age of 15-25. As we have based our film on Shaun of the Dead which has a rating of 15 of and 28 Days Later which is rated an 18 we feel this would be a suit

able age range. Zombie and apocalypse thrillers have always attracted a large audience as people

have been entertained by this type of genre because it doesn't happen in real life. At the beginning of our intro it starts with a typical young man waking up for what seems a long day at work. This p

art of the film w

ould appeal to any gender as p

eople can relate to this, but as the film progresses there is a scene in which the audience sees Matt's flatmate's decaying hand. This would appeal to males more than f

emales because it is more gorey. Females are stereotypically more likely to watch rom

antic comedies, however they

would also watch this type of genre because it's a thriller. This film wold appeal to females to as the audience don't know if there will be a love interest or even women in the cast. In 28 Days later the main protagonist is rescued by a women and later on in the film a teenage girl appears. Towards the end of our intro Matt see's a womens figure in the distance but the audience is left asking whether its his imagination or if she is real. They also are sometimes the target audience for more films that are based on women in horror movies but since this film has got a male protagonist and not isn't very womanly., we can't really have our target audience as women but that is from the stereotypical view. Kids are also not really targeted especially since the age to be able to watch it is 15 and over, but it is known that people under that age will somehow be able to watch that film, which we're aware of, but this is all down to the parents and the distributor.

How did you attract/address your audience?

The genre is a zombie apocalypse thriller, but in the first few scenes the audience wont realize this especially with him doing day to day processes such as getting ready for work and the upbeat mu

sic that goes along with it. This c

ould relate to older males as he doesn't look delighted about getting up for work at 7 as does any body else. However when he speaks to his flat mate, thi

ngs being more apparent somethi

ng is wrong but he doesn't come to realize this as the zombie hand appears after he left which adds the thriller part of the genre and creates more tension as the audience know but the main protagonist doesn't. We think this adds more of a unique element instead of it jut being apparent throughout. The audience were trying to attract is males from around the age of 15 to 25. This isn't a very big age range but there is a variety of things that attract this audience and age range. For example the horror and gore that some stereotypical males like. The intros name being 'Memoirs of a Survivor' is distinctive against other horror films. This implies that is it going to be from one perspective, which is going to be Matt. This will make it much more more easier to follow rather than a complicated story line. We could of used more urban and up to date music but we feel the music adds to the thriller part as it starts off upbeat and then beings to go eerie. This music attracts an older age range. The locations we used are very urban which makes it more realistic and present so people can relate to it more than if it was just in the country side where not a lot of people live. The end of the opening finishes with the audience not knowing whether the person Matt is running after is just his imagination or the only other person on the earth.

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

Before starting this task hardly any of our group had any experience of using any kind of filming equipment and although this was a bit of a disadvantage for us we overcome this. At the beginn-

ing of our film on our first shoot we didn't use a tripod which was a disadvantage agai-

n. So we felt we should re-film to gain full advantage of the equipment that was offered to us. The reshoot looked miles better, we felt me made a good decision. Final Cut Pro took a lot of

time to get used to but we managed it quite well. It helped us to have good continuity throughout. For instance when we added the music to the film as there is dialog outside the wind interrupted the music so we had to record the dialog again separately and then bit by bit add the dialog over the music which was quite a hassle as we didn't expect this to happen. Adding fades to the getting ready for work scenes instantly made it more interesting and also added a bit of elliptical editing. This made us more confident when filming for instance we first shot matt just walking down the stairs but on a reshoot we added the close up of his feet on the stairs and a close up if his hand of the banister which inst

antly made it

more professional. In our original plan we were going to film in Manchester City Centre but we felt Salford Queys wou

ld look a lot urban and relate to the audience more.We feel we have an advantage on the location side Manchester has a lot of old and new buildings which could appeal to not just the youths of today as we are aiming for but also the older generation. When looking back at our film we probably could of added more location shots to reinforce the idea of Matt being on his own.

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

From the preliminInNCEWDtask we have learnt how to plan ahead and write down our ideas down and work with that when filming. For our main task we wrote down our ideas, and from there we discussed what we want do and have in the film introduction. We worked with what tools we can and a lot has been changed since the original idea. For instance we first thought that Matt Molnar would be the main protagonist, but then it made more sense that Matt Taylor would act because we were using his house. We were able to use more advanced techniques on our main task as well, for instance on the prelim there camera work was unsteady and the lighting was off which would of distracted the audience. This lead us to use the tripod throughout filming on the main task. From the preliminary task we have learnt how to film more efficiently with the camera and we were able to add more interesting shots to our main task such as close ups, over the shoulder shots and also followed the 180 degree rule. Also, the use of final cut pro has massively improved since when we were doing the preliminary task, because we used a lot more tools. For instance in our prelim task we only used the 'mark in, mark out' tool and in the main task we have used the fade effect which made the first few scenes of Matt getting ready for work a lot more interesting and professional. We added sound into our intro to make it look like a usual da

y at the beginning and then it became apparent there was something wrong when the eerie music starts this created tension rather than just diagetic sounds all the way through which would gave us a lot more understanding when using Final Cut Pro. From the beginning and planning of the film we were originally going to do a straight mid shoot of Matt walking down the stairs but after outside opinion we felt this was quite stale. So we decided to take the idea of doing a close up of Matts foot on the stairs to make it more professional so we did this and feel it has improved it.

Editing

Final Cut Pro

When we first started our main task, noone had any experience with Final Cut Pro. However looking we quickly got used to the software and felt our editing went well. Whilst editing we made sure we had no continuity errors and the shots flowed well. We did have one problem though, we had to do two re-shoots on different days as there are a few shots of Matt without a dressing gown on then in the next shot he is in the bathroom flushing the toilet and brushing his teeth and he is wearing a dressing gown. We have addressed this matter and felt that as we were sticking to a schedule and still had to do a voice over, add music and credits we were going to use the shots. Final Cut Pro has helped us put the whole thing together, it also gave us an insight into how hard editing can be because each shot needs to run seemlessly to give good continuity. We had some trouble finding un-copyrighted music as every website we went on charged a fee for their music. Therefore Matt decided to write the soundtrack and put it together on Logic Pro. This made our music original and unique for our film. We thought that the music fits our genre of film as it is quite upbeat but at the srtart then on then begins to go quite eerie and sinister which creates tension for the audience at the end. We also tried to reflect the music in Shaun of the Dead.

Logic Pro

Zombie Hand

It was quite fun making the zombie hand, for it we used quite a

few things such as:

• Self Raising Flour
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Bran Flakes
• Gravy Granules
• Ketchup

It proved to be quite difficult to mix it all together and get the right colour/consistency. Alot of it was too drippy, so we had to find a way for it to all stay together for the scene. This makes the opening feel more like a zombie apocalypse rather than there being no clues at all. This is the look we were aiming for:

We probably could of made the outcome look more decaying and gorey for the viewers but as we only did the hand we feel this left an element of suspense as the viewer knows that more horror and pain is coming. We were going to add another zombie character into the intro and this would of made it more professional but we faced some problems with acting, costumes and time. Overall we achieved the decaying zombie hand quite well and it made a lot of difference to the opening to our film as the audience got more clues and it became apparent what was happening.

Equipment

We have gone three times for filming so far, and plan to go once more. The first time we went filming was in Matt's house were we filmed the very first scene's. With the new equipment and trying to work around our idea's in his house seemed to be a bit of a challenge at first but we overcame this. We also made a lot of mistakes which we learnt from, including not using a tripod for close shots in which we needed it for and continuity problems. We then went for a second time a week later. We re-shooted scenes such as the waking up part and added a few new shots which we thought would improve the whole of the movie intro. After doing a rough edit of all of them together including the shoots we did at Salford for the deserted city look we have decided a lot of the start needs improving and more of a clue of a zombie apocalypse happening. When filming at Salford, it proved hard to try and film shots without other people in it. We did the same scenes but in all different angles, some close up and long shots. We got kicked off the MediaCity area of Salford were we were filming because it was private property. This through us off our timetable so we had to make do with what we already had. This mistake can be improved next time by asking for permission and getting in contact them, instead of assuming it was okay to film.We plan to go next week back to Matt's house to make sure we have everything we need, and then we can proceed to edit our final intro.

Planning of Zombie hand

After a disscusion, we have decided to go and film again at Matt's house to add in more clues to our zombie acolpyse theme as when we edited it all through we asked for a second opinion and they audience said it wasn't apparent what was going on. This will simply be a shot of Matts housemates hand as he's undergoing the transformation of a zombie. This should build up more tension and set the atmosphere to the film. We have done some research and found that these are the ingredients to use:

• Cornflakes
• White flour
• Gravy
• Some ketchup for a bit a gorey bloody look

When mixed together it and put on Matts hand it should make it appear to look decaying.

Shaun or the Dead & Memoirs of a Survivor

Costume: For Matt he will first be in his pajamas and socks when he first wakes up and makes his way to the bathroom and then he will proceed to put on his shirt and tie on and a smart black coat ready for work. This enables the audience to relate to the protagonist more as the majority of 19 to 30 year olds go to work and earn a living. As well as basing our characters costumes on Shaun of from Shaun of the Dead the characters are also alike in their personality.

Characters and similarities:

For instance Shaun is a 29-year-old with not much of a life ambition and only really has a concern for his dead beat flat mate. He's in a dead end job which he doesn't really enjoy and this is reflected in our film as its apparent that Matt isn't the happiest of people when getting ready to venture out. As we have reflected all of this in the intro to our film this is also shown in some ways in the plot. For exampleat the start of Shaun of the dead it starts with The Winchester, a traditional London pub and as the plot begins to develop it appears that Shaun also doesn't know that there is a zombie apocalypse which is similar to ours. As these two characters are very alike it is apparent that the flat mates are to. Edgar (Shauns flat mate) is a crude slob who sits on the couch all days and deals with marijuana. Matt also has a fat mate who appears to be alike. In our first shoot Matt asks his flatmate 'Good night last night?' in which he replies with a 'Hm' suggesting he is hungover.This adds to the effect of his flatmate being a zombie for the audience.

Location

Salford Queys

We first wanted to Manchester city center, and film Matt around there when it was empty. But since this seems to be impossible to do as there is always people there, we have decided to film instead in Salford Queys, where it seems to be much more empty and we could get better atmospheric shots. We filmed Matt walking around looking confused and then realizing there is n

o body about and getting a bit worried seeing as it's always so busy around that time of the morning. We feel we have done this quite well seeing as we had to keep waiting for people to pass. It is clear in our film that he is in urban surroundings and this is what we tried to reflect with 28 Days Later. We really wanted to make the ending more powerful by adding more shots of the location looking deserted and also more shots of Matt on his own but without realizing the place we were filming (Media City) was private property and we were told to stop filming which was a massive disappointed. We now know when next doing a filming task we will look into locations in more detail.

Filming

We edited the first start of the sequence to the best of our ability and it seemed to look professional but there were some continuity errors so we came to the conclusion it didn't really work out so we will re-shoot most of the shots in Matt Taylor's house. We tried to get all the shots more interesting for instance insted of just a long shot of Matt walking down the stairs we added a close up of his foot and a close up of his hand on the banister. From these mistake we learnt that we need to keep everything consistent and not make mistakes like him having slippers on and then him not and him having a dressing gown and then not. That would count as a continuity error and would lose us marks for the final film because it won't look professional. Right now we're just trying to get everything correct and then we're going to start the filming in Salford Queys. The more we're using the cameras and the more we're using final cut pro, the more it becomes easy.

'Memoirs of a Survivor' Storyboard

We'll try to stick to this as much as possible, and take it with us when we go filming. This is just to help us and get a basic basis of what we're doing. Changes might happen through out the whole of this project but it's good to just to have something to help you if you've forgot what you want to do.

'Memoirs of a Survivor' Shotlist

• Close up of alarm turning to 7:00 from 6:59.
• Close up of Matt hand turning the alarm off.
• Close up of the side of the bed, Matt then swings his legs around off the bed, puts his feet in slippers and walks past/over the camera.
• Camera will switch to a medium shot of Matt's legs walking from the side will then switch to a long shot of Matt scratching his bum to add a comedic effect.
• There then will be serveral close ups of the toilet handle bring pulled down, brushing his teeth then buttoning his shirt
• Close up of the mirror door shutting, Matts face will appear in the mirror, sorting his tie out
• Then there will be a medium shot from the top of the stairs as Matt begins to put his coat on
• Long shot of Matt walking down the stairs, it will then switch to a close up of Matts feet as he comes down the stairs, and then a close up of Matts hand lingering on the banister
• Close up of Matt's head around the door around will the door is opened slightly.
• Over the shoulder shot of his flat mate lying on settee
• Long/Medium shot closing the door from the hall way, opening front door
• Long shot of Matt coming out of the door and walking down the garden path and past the camera.
• Long shot of him walking down the road to head to work
• Medium shot to pan shot with Matt looking around confused
• Long shot of Matt walking towards the camera
• Medium pan shot of Matt walking into shot and camera panning down show he is getting his phone from his pocket
• Wide shot from the bottom on stone steps showing Matt on his phone emphasizing that he is alone
• Close up of Matt on the phone switches to long shot of Noor
• Several long shots of Matt running and ends with medium shot of Matt confused

Treatment

The opening of a short film: The genre of 'Memoirs of a Survivor' is an apocalypse thriller with comedic twist.

Duration: 2:16

Audience: The genre of our opening sequence is an apocalypse thriller with a comedic twist. The intended audience would be males around the age of 16-25 year old as there is frequent

use of strong language. There is also scene with a decaying hand that does not dwell on pain or injury so therefore it doesn’t class as an 18 but does appeal to older males/females, as there is a thriller effect and comedic twist because it gives it an element of sophistication as well as humour. As our genre is apocalypse thriller is a strong threat and a menacing feel throughout, as everyone is dead.

Resume: The opening to 'Memoirs of a Survivor' starts

with a fade in of an alarm clock, such as on a phone on a bedside table or a windowsill. Matt a 34 year old accountant gets out of bed wearing his pajamas, lumbers to the bathroom, and gets ready for work. Matt then ready puts on his coat and sluggishly walks the stairs. He then walks into the living room says asks did his flatmate have a good night, there is then a shot of his flat mate replying with a zombie-fied 'Hmm'. Matt proceeds to walk out of the door without realising his flat mates hand is decaying. Matt then makes his way to work.

Suggested Elements: For performance will we have Matt Taylor who will play the main character 'Matt' and Matt Molnar who will play the flat mate 'Ted'. At the start of the sequence when Matt gets out of bed he will be wearing his pajamas which will be a simple top and pants. He then walks to the bathroom and gets ready. These isn't really any key props in our intro. Key locations in our sequence will be Salford Queys, which is a upbeat and urban area like Manchester City Centre.The title for our sequence is 'Memoirs of a Survivor' and will appear in the middle of the credits and the titles just as Matt reaches Salford.

Recording Days: We will record 'Memoirs of a Survivor' on a Wednesday afternoon and a Friday morning as this is when we usually have media and twice on the weekend. All this will hopefully be done by F riday 25th of March. As our deadline for everything is 15th of April after we have filmed we

will edit our sequence and add music.

Locations:

Salford Queys. This is were Matt will begin to realise that something is wrong and proceed to ring the office to find out. He will then see a woman in the distance and begin to run after her. The audience will then be left to wonder if this is a real person or someone of his imagination.

Matts House. This is were the intro will begin. Matt will slowly and sluggishly get ready for work here. He will then speak to his flatmate who he thinks is hungover but unknowingly to him it slowly turning into a zombie.

Silent Hill Scene Analysis

This analysis is only from 3.58 to 6.39. The video has now been removed by Sony.

The scene starts with the main protagonist Rose, waking up after a car accident. She is confused and distorted and shocked that she is in what appears to be a different world and atmosphere. There is a high angle shot to show she is vulnerable and scared. There then a extreme high angled shot of where her car is parked and how it is so different and scary and it highlights the main difference in the scene. She looks to the side and the camera eye line pans with her and she notices that her daughter is completely gone. She proceeds to leave her car and then starts to run on the road. Panicking for her daughter or any human contact. There is a close up of her face and ash falling down onto her cheek and then a close up of her hand while she is rubbing the ash between her fingers. This seems all to be unfamiliar to her and while she walking around the ghost town of Silent Hill. You get a lot of interesting shots showing the surroundings and that there is no human contact. She seems to be very scared and upset about what is happening showing she is scared. This builds up a very tense atmosphere and as the audience you also don’t understand what’s going on. There is a rotation shot around her looking around and she is still looking for her daughter. She shouts ‘Sharon’ and this completely stops the rotation of shot and she proceeds to go run after her daughter, who she saw from the corner of her eye. This leads up to more story and leave wondering.

Silence of the Lambs opening scene analysis

In the opening sequence of the ‘Silence of the Lambs’ there is a woman running around a scarily looking and foggy woods. From this atmosphere and the typical low-key thriller music you can tell this will be a horror/thriller. The scene really makes you think she is in danger from the mise en scene.

Through out this first scene you get the opening title’s fading in and out, this is put in so you know who worked for this film, etc. The amplified noise of her breath and feet rushing through the leaves makes a false sense of danger. From this you see that she challenges the typical girly stereotype because she’s very sporty and dominant (to carry on running and not have breaks). You think she is getting followed but then you hear that her name being called and she stops, and a man with an FBI hat tells her to go to n office to see someone. When she see’s this man the eerie atmosphere and music stops and it is apparent that it was only an assault course and not her being followed on her morning jog. She then gets into the building and when she gets into a lift she is surrounded by big men, but it suggests she may be smaller but she still has some sort of power. She then walks past a plate on a wall when she is on the way to the office she meant to be going to which says ‘Behavioral Sciences’. She gets in and she looks round and there is close up shots of her face looking scared when she see’s pictures of a dead body with a lot of gore.

From all of this you can clearly see it’s a psychological thriller and that something might happen to her, which results in her fighting for her life. This scene really sets the scene really well especially with the music and strange shots of the woods.

Preliminary Task

What did you learn about the cameras and editing software during the preliminary task?

Whilst filming our preliminary task we learnt a lot about the cameras and how to use Final Cut Pro, which was the editing software.

During filming we learnt how to use the cameras basic functions and settings as well as using the tripod properly when steadying our shots. This benefited us when we filmed panning shots of Matt walking through the door and down the corridor and when he left the room. We also learnt that using the tripod was not necessary throughout as we did a close up of Matts feet as he walked up the stairs. We used the camera functions to our advantage, for example when filming the shot of the door handle we used zoom which increased the range of shots we used throughout the whole of the task. After using the camera for an hour or so, we had found it was simple to use and experienced no problems.

We used Final Cut Pro to edit our film which at the start we felt was quite tricky to use but throughout editing it became more clear. As we filmed several angles of the same shot for a wider variety, we had the option to pick the best shot to use which allowed us to cut our filming, place them on a timeline and link them seamlessly so they where in sync with each other. When setting our scratch disk up we found this quite difficult as there were problems with saving and usernames due to permissions but it became easier after a while.

In the filming and editing of your project, what worked well and what could have been improved?

As we had a planned shot list that we followed helped us to be continuous throughout the shots as they are linked together seamlessly and were all in sync with each other which helped us to edit quicker and easily. As we only had one actor it was quite hard to do the 180 degree rule as we had to judge positions so there weren't any mistakes or movements in the characters position. We felt we got away with this as it gave the film a comedic effect as well as making use of what we had. This didn't really affect our editing as we filmed the same shot several times so we had back ups incase a mistake was made. Also we had clear consistent lighting throughout.

As our prelim wasn't perfect there could of been several improvements. For example we could of added music and effects to make it more professional rather than having ambient sound such as other doors opening which wasn't meant to be in the shot. We could of also shot our sequence in a wider range of locations such as outside the college campus instead of just all inside the building. There was also jumpy shots towards the end of the task which could of been due to the fact we were getting quite restless but when filming our main task we could try and have regular breaks to prevent this happening.

Give a detailed, specific example of how you have used a shot/ reverse shot combination in your film

Due to the fact we only had one actor we found shot reverse shot quite difficult because as Matt had to play two characters it was hard to judge the position of him, for example where he was stood and what position he was stood in when changing characters views. When filming the conversation between 'Good Matt' and 'Evil Matt' shot reverse shot can he hard to see as it wasn't an over the shoulder shot. This can be improved by having two actors in our main task to ensure shot reverse shot is clearly shown.

Give a detailed, specific example of how you achieved match cuts during the editing process

We used a match cut when Matt was walking upstairs towards the room. For instance as matts hand comes closer towards the camera there is a match cut to a close up of his feet (which we achieved by lying on the floor with the camera) going round the corner of the stairs and then a another match cut to him continuing to walk up the stairs. While editing we found this worked well and it ran smoothly throughout the editing process.

How did you make sure that you didn’t break the 180 degree rule? Or if you broke it, what have you learnt from this?

We made sure we stuck to the 180 degree rule by staying on the same side of each character at all times. We didn't cross over the line, that's how we stuck to the rule.

Preliminary Introduction

Welcome to our online blog!

For our preliminary task we will be filming and editing a sequence of a character walking upstairs towards a room, opening a door, and exchanging dialogue with another character. This task will demonstrate matched cuts, shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.

The Preliminary Task Shot List

Shot list:

• Medium shot of evil matt walking in through a door
• Pan follows him
• Long shot evil matt walking up the stairs
• Goes to close up shot of his hand on rail
• Close up of feet while he's carrying up the stairs
• Long shot in front of him continuing up the stairs
• Medium shot finishing the stairs, walks completely out of shot
• Medium shot of the door, when evil matt comes through the door, it turns into a close up shot of evil matt's face and he looks round and then it zooms out slightly and pans around to see evil matt in the hallway standing in front of a door
• Close up of door handle, turning down
• Medium shot of evil matt coming through the door
• Point of view shot of him looking at good matt
• Medium shot of good matt sitting down
• Shot reverse shot between evil matt and good matt, talking about the bag
• Between the conversation there is a cut-away medium central composition shot of the bag on the table
• As evil matt walks up the bag to pick it up there is medium shot of bag and then he picks it up
• Camera pans up to show him leaving the room in a long shot