Evaluations

After completing my short film, film poster and film review page I now have to complete my evaluations based on these aspects, these are shown below:

Evaluation 1- 

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

Evaluation 2-

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

Evaluation 3-

What have you learned from the audience feedback?

Evaluation 4-

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

ABDUCT FILM POSTER and REVIEW PAGE

FILM POSTER

 

 

FILM REVIEW PAGE

Unappropiate Poster

After having a conversation with my teacher, myself and Zoe found out that the original image we wanted to use with me looking directly at the camera with my mouth covered in duck tape would be too distressing for the audience and would most likely not get through the sensors.

As we originally based our layout on the Antoment and Avatar posters, we didn't make our poster conventional to our genre. In order to overcome this we have searched for posters from our genre to get ideas of conventional features. We have also paid close attention to 'The Lovely Bones' film poster below and feel like this would be a perfect template of ideas that we could use, for example  the darkish covering the old man and the shining light hovering over the young girl; this would obviously represent the idea of good and bad and suggest that the young girl is in danger.

Practise posters

This is the first draft of the poster advertising our film. As we are undecided on the name of the film yet we have just placed in the ones we like best, however the layout just varies. When we are definite about the name of the film, we will put in place as to where the one is now.

This is the first draft. We have chosen to add two images of the pedophile and the innocent girl who gets 'snatched' by the man. For this reason, we think 'SNATCHED' would make an appropriate title. The use of capitals portrays ideas that the title is being shouted out and helps to reinforce the tension and distress the film conveys. It is unfinished as the font for 'Never Look Back' needs to be changed and the shade of colour may be too dark. 

This is the second draft we created for the poster of our film. This one is just called 'SNATCH' because we feel that it gets straight to the point. We have only just one image in this poster as we think it looks effective by giving the reader direct eye contact making the audience feel the distress and pain that the girl is feeling too.

This is the same as above however we have just 'darkened' the whole poster to make it look more dull in order to fit the mood of the short film.

This edit is very similar to the one above however we have made the picture a little bit dark by editing it in IPhoto and the colour of the font has changed.

Possible Picture for Ancillary Task

Subsidiary Task; Film poster

EXAMPLES

We also thought it would be helpful to research examples of film posters as it will show us what again is displayed on the page, how they may create feelings or moods through pictures and colours and what sort of context is involved and how is it shown. I have particulaorly chosen posters that are and look similar to our genre.

  This is a very effective poster as it has a lot of detail which is significant to the film and will give the audience an insight about what the film is about. The title 'NOTHING TO LOSE' is printed in a white sans serif font which makes it clear and distinct from the poster and shows signs that the poster is recent. It has included a review from the magazine 'GQ' which makes the film poster sound more impressive. The actor on it is giving the audience direct eye contact so they feel more directed and targeted by the film poster.

This is the poster from 'THE LOVELY BONES', which our short film idea is based around. As you can see both of the main characters are shown on the cover however the evil character, George is in a dark shadow which symbolises his dark side and that he is trouble. Susie, the young girl who gets killed is in the bright light with the sun shining behind her, signifing that she is innocent and heavenly suggesting ideas that she might die in the film. The location that the poster is shot in, or edited onto, is taken from the film so all mise en scene flows. This makes the poster look professional and more realistic. The word 'LOVELY' is edited in bold which can demonstrate the angelic and kind side of the characters. Similarly, the white sans serif font portrays the idea of purity which can be closely linked to Susie Salom.

This poster of 'MY AMITYVILLE HORROR' is very effective as it has miminal detail however it is very endearing and eye catching. The direct eye contact from the actor allows the audience to feel more involved with the film/poster and may give them a more meaningful insight to the moods and feelings that the characters may feel in the film. The close up of the actors face shows an unhappy expression which displays a sense of evil or foreboding in the poster. The colour of the poster is very dull and dark which can reinforce the evil side of the film however the picture of the little boy is in colour which could evoke the idea of innocence and suggest that the film is something to do with him. The newspaper pictures around the face of the actor could show connotations on what there is to come in the film and they show key words such as 'Lutz' 'Exorcism' 'Amityvile' 'Nightmare' and 'Horror' which are all of similar ideas and meanings. The red font suggests the idea of blood or danger which could also be closely related to the film.

______________________________________

 

When focusing on the first draft of my film poster, I have realised I am right to focus much more on the female and male characters. However i have looked at film posters, with mostly women on and i have realised that my female looks in way too much peril, as she is a school girl in school uniform with tape over her mouth; people could complain about this representation which is quite a disturbing image when you look at it.
Below are some of the film posters I have chosen

 This poster of 'FUNNY GAMES' is very effective as the actress on the cover is crying which shows distress and suggests ideas that the film is set around drama/thriller however she is still very attractive which will attract the target audience, males, as they would like to watch a film with actractive actresses in it. Her expression portrays the idea that she is in fear of something as her mouth is dropped and her lips are dry which could convey ideas that shes cold or out of breath. Her eye is very focused which could mean there is something she's in fear of and has to watch at all times to remain safe. Her hair is over one eye, showing to be quite messy which could suggest she has been running or is in a bad situation where she has not time to worry about her hair. There is miminal writing on the poster - the title is in captials in a white sans serif font which stands out against the background and suggests that there is a sense of inocence behind it. There is a text box containing information about the film which is in a small print as no-one really pays attention to this information and it isn't as important.

This poster for 'GOTHIKA' is effective because the actress looks trapped as she has her hands against glass. She has direct eye contact with the camera which would make the audience engage with her character more and make them feel vulnerable. The direct eye contact portrays the message of 'help' as you can see pain/fear and sympathy in her eyes asking to be let out. The poster has been edited blue which could suggest ideas that the surroundings she is in are cold, similarly there are rain drops on the glass which conveys ideas that she is outside or looking outside, wanting to go out.There is much more text on this poster which gives it substance and looks more informative than others. I feel this makes the readers feel more knowledgeable about the film. The title is in a sans serif font however looks spoody and scratched or craved on to something; this suggests negative connotations like frightfulness and fear. Similarly, the same font seems to be engraved onto her forearm. It says 'not alone' which also gives the audience an insight for what to come

This poster of 'CHLOE' is again very effective as they've made the actress look empowering due to the direct mode of address - using eye contact, allowing her to personally target the audience and make them feel on edge. As she is sightly looking up, it suggests a sense of evil or mystery as she looks like shes in control. She is very attractve which draws attention to the poster and her big eyes are very endearing which captures people attention. The other actor and actress are edited on behind her conoting that their roles aren't as important in the film or that they are less powerful. The title 'CHLOE' is a females name which suggests that this could be the name of the blonde actress conveying ideas that the film is based around her. The images in the poster are of strobe lights and cars along a lit up street which suggests a high life profile and a lot of money is involved which sets the scene

This poster of 'SCREAM' is very capturing due to the close up of the actresses face which makes the audience feel more involved and engaged into her emotions. Her hand is over her mouth as if shes seen something frightening and her eyes are wide which supports this idea. Easily, you can see that she is scared and distressed at what she has just seen.with her eyes wide as well. She is a very attractive female and still looks pretty even with the situation she is in. The title is set out with spaces in between each letter which could signify a long period of pain or distress. It is printed in a white, sans serif font which is also in captials which could suggest that the title is being shouted or there for a dramatic effect. The letter 'M' has been edited different compared to the other letters which could portray ideas that is something intriging or different about the film. There is a lot of text at the bottomof the poste, which is again printed in a small font as they are details that aren't that important.

This poster of 'the silence of the lambs' is an effective poster due to the close up of the clear skin, beautiful face. The deep brown eyes are very intriging and draw the attention of the audience. The clear, flawless skin shows purity and innocence. The mouth is covered by a moth with contradicts the title as it suggests that 'lambs' are invovled. This would make the audience question what the film is about and in turn, will watch it to find out. The title in all in low case sans serif font which suggets it is quite a laid back film and the colour 'oragne' makes it seem quite warm and friendly. Just like other posters, there is small font at the bottom containing information which isn't that important.

This poster of 'THE SEASONING HOUSE' is very effective due to the actress which is on the cover. As she is young, it makes the audience feel vulnerable for the actress and the look of misery and despair enhances this idea.When taking my short film into consideration and my genre, this would be the closest to my idea due to the age and genre to my short film due to the young actress and the mood it portrays. This poster is hard to read as the actress looks distressed and vulnerable, however she is holding a knife which could suggest she is the one thats in control of it. The direct eye contact emphasises this idea as it makes the audience/viewers feel on edge and uncomfortable looking at it. The actress is also holding a teddy bear which reinforces her age. The editing of the poster seems to have a 'sepia' tinge to it, which conveys the idea of an old/dated setting. The serif font also supports this idea as it is an old style of font and matching this with the theme of the film will help to show the mood and feeling it is trying to create.

This poster of 'WAZ' is very effective as there is a closer up on the persons face, mainly focusing on the eye which shows the idea of evil. The shot clearly shows the expression on their face which looks smug which could portray ideas they have achieved something - maybe revenge? This idea is reinforced by the blood which is on their face which could suggest drama and gory element will occur; this also conveys the idea that they are in control. I am unsure if the person is male or female in the picture which could also create mystery as it makes me want to find out more. The title is in a red sans serif font which could resemble blood or hatred which fits in nicely with the picture and the mood it portrays

Subsidiary Tasks; Film magazine review page

EXAMPLES

As myself and zoe were not 100% on how to create a film magazine review page, we thought it was beneficial to look at some examples to give us some ideas on what it contains, how its layed out and what is actually on the page, for example pictures and audiencs thoughts and opinions.

Below are some examples of magazine film reviews which the writers opinion and thoughts about the film and they all display similar conventions to do with these kinds of reviews.
As you can see from the examples below, most reviews feature across a double spread with is mainly dominated by a large image which features actors/actresses in the film.
Other clear features are the large name which is normally eye catching - the font, size and colour all have connotations which can help set the mood and theme of the film.
Most film titles are sans serif which portrays ideas that the film is modern and recent however can also conveys ideas that it is quite basic and original. Also the double page spread reviews portray a lot of colour which allows them to be appealing and attracting. The bright colours used, make the film seem more enticing and interesting.
There is minimal text on each review, considering it's a double page spread because you don't want to give too much of the films details away and you want to set the right atmosphere for the readers to want to watch the film.
On some review pages, the narrater normally adds in an overall rating which are displayed as yellow stars. The more yellow stars present, the better the film is. This helps to give the readers an insight to how effective the film is and reinforces the readers to watch it.
Alot of review pages use text boxes to display all of the text and this allows the to split the text into sections and make it easier to read and have more of an established layout. Some review pages include text boxes which use quotes about opinions of that film; these are normally displayed in big apostrophes ("...") so the readers know that they are quotes. This helps to give more positive feedback which makes the film sound more interesting.

 

Possible Titles

To enable us to put together our anciliary tasks we brainstormed a selection of different names for our film, to allow us to pick out the best one. However, as we were doing this we were unaware that we couldn't use a title that had been used before in an existing short film or film, which gave us a massive drawback as we were set on 'Aduction' which had already been used before.
However, we over came this by using secondary research on the internet to find out which ones had been used already, but only the collection we particularly liked. This gave us the conclusion with picking 'Abduct' which is perfect for the plot of our film.

Ancillary Tasks

When decided on whether to create a short film or music video, we also had to bare in mind what ancillary tasks we wanted to do. As we decided on creating a short film, we had the choice of producing 1 and of the 2 tasks that we were given. This was either a promotion packages or a short film in its enitrety. We decided to do a short film in its entirety, meaning that we would have to choice 2 of the list that is shown below:
- A poster for the film
- A radio trailer for the film
- A film magazine review page featuring the film

The two that we have choice are creating a poster for the film and a film review page featuring the film.

Using visual examples of where your coursework does from Sophiewagstaff11

Analysing my film in regards to post-moderism

After looking into post moderism, I feel like I have learnt a lot on how this has effected my short film. I have come across that myself and my partner are unaware of some of the conventions that we have followed without realising.
This suggests that we have been brought up in a world that seems to concentrate on media texts and we can antipate what will happen in films before seeing the event. Following on from this, I can suggest what could happen in a media text, once knowing what type of genre it could be. For example, within a thriller there is likely to be fighting, kidnapping, fear or creepy scenes and the same for a romcon there is likely to be a relationship there is most likely bound to be split up for whatever reason and then will eventually get back together.
I haven't watched a huge amount of films, but I have noticed that some conventions have been copied but changed in different ways; this is post modern as the content of the film isn't orignal, its has been copied and this strongly links to polysemy, which relates to the death of the author. 
On top of this we had a discussion with Mr Swain, our media teacher, and as he picked up on some of the conventions through our film, that could of followed typical conventions in horror genre films and thrillers. For example, the victim in our film being a young girl, being killed by an older male, on top of this the colour of the killers Mac, we was unaware that other films could of done this. In our ancillary task for the film poster, we was unaware that the same similar picture was used in the film of nosferatu, as the main character was walking up the stairs, the same shot we did in ur film as well. Our film was also said to follow conventions from 'Along came a spider', 'Kiss the girls', 'The collector' and 'Silence of the Lambs', however we havent watched these films so we see our ideas and thoughts as our own.

FINAL FILM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GXNdAWDxC0

Voice Over Suggestions and Ideas

Before putting the voice over on our short film, we came up with a selection of ideas that could be used to heighten a dramatical affect so the audience can feel connected with the character and begin to feel sympathy for Lilly.
We started to gather ideas (top ones) from looking at the Lovely Bones, which also includes this affect, to allows us to brainstorm similar ideas as we became very connected with this when we both watched the film ourselves, meaning that we were certain we wanted to use this. As I have watched the Lovely Bones on a number of occasions, I feel confident to perform the voice over as I play the part of Lilly Lenson and picture the voice over effect we want to achieve these feelings from the audience.

Problems we faced with the leave scene

From the beginning of planning our short film, we had it fixed in our heads that we wanted a fresh, green leave floating down in the sky to begin the film. At the end of the film, we then wanted to have a dead leave that had lost it's colour and becomes crispy. I really liked this idea as it represented the girl, Lilly, as a young child that had a lifetime of exploring the world, whilst floating through the sky, then suddenly ends by being murder representing the leave being crispy and abandoned.
However we had a lot of trouble with trying to complete this as it will take a lot of time to complete and might not actually turn out the way we picture it, which will obviously end up being a waste of time on just a fraction of our film. We found it really hard to build up a floating leave as the wind would just blow it straight down and editing it through the iMac was just unsuccessful for our expectations of the idea. Me and zoe have both decided to leave it aside for now and if we have some spare time, when our film is complete then we will try complete this as it will give a proper ending to the film, as we are still struggling to conclude the film now we can't do this idea.

Practice Clips

During class, we practiced doing some possible scenes, shot and ideas for our short film.

The Last Scene

We have decided to shoot the last scene in a cupboard at school as it can be changed to be dark and scary. We feel that if we create the right atmosphere that it will be successful in what we want to achieve. Obviously we are going to need to take the things off the shelves and the back of the door however we could just cover them with big sheets of paper in order to save time. Because this is in the school premises, it will not take long to record and we will have everything planned out ready. Sophie recorded this clip sitting down in a chair and as you can see, Mr Swains head gets cut out. To overcome this problem, I will be filming it behind Sophie so we still get a point of view shot howerver it will display everything that we need it to.
Another change that we would have to test is whether to have the classroom light on or off when filimg. When Mr Swain walks through the door you can see a lot of light from the classroom, which contradicts the feel and mood of the film. If we turned the light off, then it might make the scene more spooky and eery.
As well as this, we are thinking to have a shot of Sophie, tied and chained up sitting in the cupboard so the audience know what is happening to her and it just gives the story plot more context. Other thoughts we had was for Sophie to have masking tape across her mouth so when shes screaming and crying, it will be muffled and sound more paniced. We are uncertain as to whether there should be any dialogue in this scene as we want to limit speech as much as possible and focus more on voiceovers.
I will be filming this from the enterance of the door and maybe in a high angle position so Sophie still looks vulerable and inferior to whats happening.

Sky and Leaf

As mentioned in the treatment, we are looking to open the film with a fresh, green leaf falling for the sky, but slow motion edit it so it looks like it is floating/drifting down to represent a life; to help represent the happiness of a life we want the sky to be clear, blue and sunny - however as Autumn is coming, this may be hard to achieve so we filmed the sky incase there isn't another nice day. To close the story we want to contradict this idea however has a similar style. We want a dead, brown, crispy leaf to float from the sky as it connotes death and misery and we are planning to get the sky quite dark, gloomy and miserable to reinforce the idea of death. 

As it was too windy to film the leave falling from the sky, we practiced doing it inside and then was planning to edit out the ceiling, hands etc on final cut pro on the Apple Macs. This didn't really go to plan as the leaf fell to the ground too fast and we couldn't capture the direction of it traveling the way we wanted it to. 

We have had a few ideas on how to overcome this (fishing wire) however we are yet to put it into practice. 

Slow Motion Leaf

Just to get an idea of a leaf falling in slow motion, we edited this clip in Imovie, however it is not suitable for short film as it has yet to be edited on final cut pro and the view of the leaf falling is not to the best standard in which it should be in.

Editing Schedule

We have both devised a editing schedule to plan out when and what we are going to editing at a cetain day and time. This is important for us to do, as it will help us break down the load we have to edit and will give us an idea on how long it will take. As we have already started filming a scene which is centred in the middle of our film, we thought this would be a better to get this part done and start editing on it as it was filmed in a different location and becuase we didnt want to leave all of our editing to the end and concentrate on just filming. This benefitted us as we could combine filming and editing together, which would enable us to get it all done quicker.



We made a deadline to finish filming on the 5th novemeber and we stuck to this, however we left extra time just in case if we wanted to add anything extra or change anything that we didn't really like. When it comes to editing our clips, we have decided to break up particular scenes which we thought would be beneficial as we can concentrate of them and then put everything together when we have all the filming finished. This meant that we would have to plan out when the clips were going to be editted and order each scene for that date and time as well; this is shown below.

Obviously, the bigger the scene the more its going to take to edit (most of the time anyway), so we wanted to make sure that we scheduled enough time for big scenes and the small scenes as well, so we wasnt rushing it or focusing too much on one particular scene.

Graveyard- 5 hours worth of editing. (Tuesday, Thursday & Friday week1)
The first scene that we was going to edit was the 'graveyard' scene, as this was the first part of filming we did. This would need a lot of editting as it was that part of the film where we need t build up a lot of moods and a huge amount of anticipation. So we gave 5 hours to this part.

The cupboard- 2/3 hours worth of editing (Tuesday and possibly Thursday week 2)
Th second part of filming was centred in the school, however we need to do a lot of prepartion to the location beforehand as there is lots of items and products in there that we either want to move or cover. This meant that we would need to get this part done and edited in less than two days as time is running out! But we gave it 2/3 hours to get it done by as it is a scene were lots of cuts need to be included.

The school- 2/3 hours worth of editing (Friday week 2)
The last bit of filming was sent in the school, so we hope it would be finished sooner than filming in a different location. However, as editing does take some time we did give 2/3 hours worth of editing to this particular scene.

The falling leave- 1 hour (Friday week 2)
This is a scene we are hoping to include if we have the time to film it, make it work to the way we want it to look and then edited it as well. However, doing practices clips of this was extrely hard to get the effect we wanted so we are basing this scene on how much time we have at the end of filming and editing; this is mainly because its an extra and isnt actually needed in the film.

My Story Board

Scene- Opening the film and introducing the characters at the school.

Scene 2- Entering the graveyard.

Recce Photoshoot

To get an idea of the type of location we wanted to base our film in, we decided it would be beneficial to visit the location before we started filming to ensure that it was what we wanted and if it would create the vital mood that we was certain we had to include.

 

Recce powerpoint 

My film structure analysis based on narrative

The narrative of my film is very important, as there are certain features that I want my audience to pick up, for example the key information which is know as the plot. I also want them to figure events out for themsleves so that the story unfolds indiviudually for them.
I am using an linear structure on my film, as I want there to be a beginning where the characters and story can be introduced, a middle so that the story and events can be unfolded, then an end so that the story can be closed.

Beginning- My two characters can be introduced, the audience can see that the stalker is after that certain girl.

Middle- My audience can see the stroy unfoldimg and the anticapation building through the way he follows and takes the young girl.

End- I then end my film, to let the audience no what happens to her and if she dies or lives.

Treatment

Before we start making the short creating the film, my self and zoe decided to create a treatment to allow us to have a clear insight on what to include into the film. By creating this, it also records all ideas we have so none get forgotten and we can always refer back to it. 

                                                                                                                  

The characters in our short film are PHILIP SWAIN, SOPHIE WAGSTAFF (myself), and HANNAH FEARNLEY. We are shooting the short film in a graveyard located in Kettering. The plot is about a serial killer who stalks a young girl and kills her. We've chosen this story line because we want to create tension, for it to be gripping and exciting for what is about to happen.

Plot
The young girls mother dies before the film so she is now being looked after by her aunty as her father abandoned her and her mother when the young girl, was a baby. A serial killer is on the loose, yet to be caught. The girl goes to visit her mothers grave everyday at 4:00pm after school as she misses her greatly and freels alone. The serial killer spots the girls and realises she visits the grave everyday at the same time. He starts spying on her and eventually captures her and kills her. 

Locations
We want to create an eery/spooky kind of setting we thought it would be a good idea to base our film in a graveyard as they are naturally quite scary. Besides this, there are other factors in a graveyard which can contribute to the scariness. For example these could be the church, shadows, tall trees swaying in the wind, and crunchy leaves to emphasis sound. Also in the setting of a graveyard the killer could disguise himself easier behind trees when spying on the girl. Even though you suspect something bad will happen in the setting of a graveyard, we believe that we can pay more focus on making it scarier and more tense and unexpected. Tension will play a large part in our film. 
The noises of nature will always help the eariness. 



The story begins with a fresh green leaf slowly falling to the ground which will be put on slow motion and played with a voice over.
The story ends with a dead brown leaf slowly falling to the ground with slow motion and a voice over; this life journey of a leaf as well as Sophies.

Digital Technology

Throughout the whole of my project, I will be using technology to help me create my short film, help me with recording my information and thoughts and to evlaute at the end. The main piece of technology that I will be using is Blogger.


I will mainly being using Blogger throughout my projecy because I will be displaying everything on there based around the short film that me and zoe are manking. Blogger is a website that lets you create your own account, allowing you to post comments ands videos, which benefits me when as its shows the progression I will be making all through to the end evaluations. I will be using Blogger to show my progressions mainly because I have used it before and am very knowledged about how to use the website. I will also be using it as it allows me post videos, pictures and other types of presentational programs which allows my blog to be more exciting to read. The only down side to Blogger is that is it very reliant on internet access, which could cause problems for some people.

However to allow me to use programs like Blogger, I need some sort of computer to enable me to access the programs I miss to help me create and plan my short film. I will be using technology like laptops and iMacs very often, as they allow me to reach these sites and have very effiecent and benefical sites and programes.

I could potentially use programes like 'Pages' which is on the iMacs to help me create call sheets for the actors and assistants, because I will be able to set the text out easily and it will be much neater than using a pen and paper; this will avoid mistake and confusion.
Same with programs on a laptop, like 'Microsoft Word' or even 'Powerpoint Presentation', as I can editted the text, change them into color, add pictures and theres plenty of space for big amounts of writing just one slide. This will allow text to be neat and tidily produced to avoid confusion and unwanted mistakes. I could also use 'Paint' on a laptop to allow me to create a story broad, however I think Id much rather draw it by hand, as I've never properly practiced how to draw on a laptop.

 

Brief Notes

After having some time with zoe to discuss ideas that could be the starting point of our short film, we took some very brief notes and anotations to help us remember in aimagery form, on ideas that could be important to note down, otherwise we might forget!

Textual Analysis 2

'Roses are Red'
http://vimeo.com/31029632

Sound is straight away introduced to us at the start of the short film 'Roses are Red', which has purposely been used to create emotion. Having an instrument such as a piano as the main piece of music and only music for this exact, playing a minor key, straight away conveys to me that this film concentrates more on love and emotions, but may have a hint of unhappiness. I also think it builds a great effect to the film as we know the music sounds sad and depressing. The simply sound of the piano being played at this point of the film, suggests and hints there's going to be love involved, as the music is very gentle and I also think it says something about the boy himself, as he is the first to be displayed and it is very much concentrated on him at the start. I think it hints upon on the type off characteristics he has, being loving and gentle, however there is another emotion show when he spots the girl. On top of this, I think the moment the music stops when he approaches the women in car is very important and shows varies ideas about the boy. Firstly, I think it suggests that he is snapped back in reality by the sudden change from a piano playing, to no music at all. I think it also hints that he has to let go of something, as the music has to end at some point, I think fading the music out conveys that the girl he loves also has to fade away at some point as well. Lastly, another very important technique of sound was the voice over which was included at the start of the short film, and towards the end. It was very clever using this structure of including one voice over at the start and the other at the end, as they both linked together with what was said. I also think this was displayed in that specific way to suggest that people may leave us, but the love will never go, and by then including the music back in when he is looking at the picture, it unravels the idea that the music links with his upset of losing the someone he loved.

Mise en scene was also used in this short film, to show the type of location the film was produced in. Having the boy rush into his bedroom, suggests straight away that he may hide away in when seeing this girl and when he's upset, it implies that he feels more comfortable in this enclosed place, but also shows that he feels closer to the girl he loves. However, it obviously reminds him more of the girl, which may then upset him more, by having the radio being played to us, as if he was thinking and reminding himself of the day he heard she had an accident. I think having the location set outside in a place where there was a limited number of people was very important, as we notice the quality changes when being around cars and roads. I also think the weather worked very well to create an emotionally film, as there was overcast in the sky and it was very grey, creating a dull mood and tone straight away. This could then show connotations of the boys mood, especially when he thinks he see's the girl he loves.

Camerawork has also been used very well throughout the exact. Having a close up of the rose I think was important in this film, as it links closely with the title, meaning this particular item is very significant. Obviously its very significant, as it belongs to what he thinks is the girl that he is in love with. Having the rose as prop and making it visual, again shows transition with the title, then concentrating on it for a couple of seconds seems to make it look so important and meaningful to the boy. By including many mid-shots throughout the film also allows the reader to feel more involved, as we see the mans emotions more closely and much more in depth, for example looking shocked when he noticed the girl. Over the head shots have also been used a few times through the film, such as when the girl have her back to the camera and we see the boy looking over at her. This links back to idea of her not actually being there, as she is the one with her back to the camera and the fact she doesn't look back at him has purposely been done to back up her absence.

Lastly, editing has been used in the film especially towards the middle of the exact where there is a point of view shot of the rose, which then dissolves and blurs a tiny bit. I think this is very significant as it could suggest the idea that the boy is tearing up and could be crying whilst looking at the rose that the girl has purposely dropped for him to pick up. There is also slow motion being edited on to create the idea of the flower falling slowly out of the girls hand, instead of suddenly dropping. It gives off a 'love scene' affect and could represent the pain that the boy has been through, as the rose could symbolize his heart dropping when he heard the one he loved has died. Finally, having cuts throughout the film represents the idea of a story being told to us, and including once cross dissolves suggests to us that his pain his continuously there, even though time is moving on. 

Texual Analysis 1

Umbillical

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ2zh0kewQc

 Camera Work

At the start of the short film, there is a mid shot of the title and an a umbilical cord, which sets the scene and hints that the rest of the film could be about a a small child or could suggest that the short film is based within a womb.

This then moves into a pan shot, showing a story-like board of a small child's drawings and colourings, this could suggest the experiences the little child has been through or the most important things he can remember. Having such a short trail of drawings, shows that he doesn't get out a lot or haven't had a lot of experience being a child and exploring different things. These drawings may suggest things the little child want or wishes he cold do more of'ten. However, the camrea shows the little child smiling, suggesting that he's happy and content. After this there's a bird side view of the child drawing, with the camera showing the cat that he has drawn. This represents how inocent the child is, how he's still a little child being fasinated by the smalliesat things.

 There is also a birds eye view of the child drawing, with the camera showing the cat that he has drawn, This represents how inocent the child is, how he's still a little child being fasinated by the smalliesat things. Innocence is also shown when the camera switches to a low angle shot where the child is looking down at the cat that he's just drawn, giggling and repeating the sound that a cat would make. As he's sitting beside the cat, listening to the purring, it suggests how lonely the little boy is, it shows how issolated he is from the outside world, and the other young children his age, considering this could be his only friend; this idea is also linked to when he was sitting stroking the cat as well . A low angle shot is then used to display the window,with light beamng through it. The camera slowly zooms into the window, portraying the idea that the little child should be drawn to it and attracted to it. Following on from this, it conveys the idea that there is a reason why the child should be drawn into this particular thing and whats behind it is significant to him. As he looks towards it like he is intrigued and interested, which portrays the idea that he doesn't know whats behind the window and that he's never been there when really he should.  

After this, there is a high ankle shot of the window looking down at the little child; this signifies that the natural surroundings outside of the window are unreachable and superior. 

Forwards the end of the film, there is a birds eye shot of the little boy and the television; this mainly shows the boy being forced towards the television, which then moves into a close up off him standing of this crayons. This shows the audience that the boy is not interested in anything else when the television is on like he is brainwashed, he has his hand on it like he needs to like a parent and the TV takes everything away from the natural things that a child should be doing. On top of this, he is also connected to it like he cant get away.

I think when it comes to filming my short film, I would want to use a pan shot, as it suggests a story and we have the perfect story which will introduce the film and end using that idea as well. This idea is about a leave fresh and green, falling from the sky and then ending on the floor, crushty and old which signifies life and death.

Sound

A non-diegetic sounds opens the short film, hinting the electrically current  as the title is displayed which sets the scene. This is then followed by a key minor sound, which creates a sad and dark atmosphere. 

This then moves into a subtle high key sound, with digetic natural sounds in the back ground This suggests that the child is peaceful, content and happy while he is drawing pictures. This feeling is later destroyed by an ambient sound when the child gets an electric shock. By including this sound it suggest the pain the child is going through from this shock, the audience gains a feeling of sorry and sympthy, as the poor chid has been hurt.
After this followes, an dialogue sound, when the child has been electrocuted from the cord again whilst looking at the window. This suggests straight away that he shouldn't have been doing this, and the cord is stopping him from growing up and interacting with the other kids outside. However, the child is attracted from the natural sounds from outside the window, which would signifiy that the child wants to hear natural sounds and be around the natural evironment.
 

Mise En scene

The mise en scene of this short film, is mainly based around a closed environment. This creates the feeling straight away that the small child is trapped and surrounded my loneliness. We also see immediately a dark and dull background as the main colours are grey and black; this portrays a sad environment and could possible signify something bad happening in the end. This then changes when the child is attracted to the window, as it is bright and joyful, with childrens toys teasing the small child. This is important at this part of the short film, as it tells the audience that the child is more attracted to the natural surrounds, then being stuck inside. This is then switches when the tv comes on, with bright colours around it, which could be representing a natural structure or surrounding, bu8t hyponotising the child to think it is better than going outside.
However, when the small child is drawing, all of his drawings are brightly displayed, signifying that he is enjoying what he is doing.
The clothing the child is wearing are dungariesd, which represents the usually clothing a small child would wear; this obviously suggests the idea that he is very innocent and naive as he is so young. It is also strange how the small boy is colouring in bright and colourful drawings, but his clothing has no colour to it; this suggests that his life is full of darkness.

Editting
At the start of the short film, the title is opened with a flash like effect. With the electrical current sound in the background, suggests that its the current from the tv, which is connected to the child. On top of this, it signifies that he boy has watched that much tv that the current is starting to break, causing the effect to occur. With this effect on top of the cord, it also looks very spooky like with the black and white background as well.
There is also an editting technique when the window is brightly reflected in the room. The light is slowly moving towards the screen, which gives the effect that the outside is wanting the small child to follow it and attracting him at the same time as it covers the screen; this again suggests that its a good idea, as it signifies a heaven-like light attracting him him to go to the 'good side'. This then is snatched away from him towards the end of the short film as the light is immediately taken away from him when it suddenly shuts down using another editting technique.
Mainly cutes have been used throughout this short film, however they are very long ones making it seem more like a story. Many of the cuts are produced in the same area, however switched about showing different views of the child and what he is doing; this links back to the limited, confined space that he lives in.

As a whole, looking at this film and taking ideas that I would like to use, I think shots and cuts that are used to show different angles of the small child, which is good and I would possible be interested in using as it sets the story and makes it more interesting than just a mid shot of the person the whole way through. I also like that is close eye contract with different items, such as the small boy and the tv or window. I think this would work well with our story plot, when the older man is staring at the younger girl and would really inform the audience to whats happening and going on, without any dialogue.

Film Directors

Specific Target Audience

When considering the main target audience that we are focusing on for our shot film, we had to think of several factors that are listed below;

Age 
We have decided to aim our short film at the age of 12-50, so the certificate age of the film if a PG. We were thinking of making it a 15, however the same sort of film that we are getting ideas (the lovely bones) from is a PG as well. Having discussed the content, we feel that it wont be explicit enough to make the age higher, so we decided to set it at a PG. Making our age range up to 50, we thought that it would be accessible for a wide range of people to be interested in it.

Fischoff created a theory which states "gradual disengagement with the horror genre" which portrays ideas that people like the thought of scaring themselves and to see how much they can push themselves in order to test themselves. It also states that horror and thriller films are mostly aimed for teenagers and young adults as they mainly appeal to these ages. It was also suggested that at his age and through parenting, pedophiliac contents is one of the key areas that scares audiences the most.
For this reason we will be putting the age range quite young so we can get as much interest from the younger audience as possible.

Gender
We are basing our film on both males and females as we both believe that the content of our film will suit both genders. We think that basing our film on one gender would be hard, as it will illuminate half of the population which could possible reduce sales and interest levels. We also think that the content of our short film is a neutral genders genre, meaning it would be hard to focus on just one gender.

Lifestyle 

We believe that the lifestyle of our target audience, would either be based around families and a young generation, for example teenagers and young adults. We have purposely aimed at these two lifestyles as we want to create a message to families and young children and adults, to stay safe and be aware of the dangers that could occur in the real life. 

Interests

Our film doesn't require any interests, as it concentrates on the subject of a serial killers and a pedophile, which I personally think no one should be interested in as it is such a serious matter. 

Social-Economic Group

We think that our short film doesn't fit in a set social economic group, however we think that it will suit lower class to middle class people.

Its difficult to define an audience for a short film, from their social group. Middle class people will most probably be more interested in short film and more aware of them as well.

Key Information

To help form the bases of our short film, we had to decide on the audience, the genre, the narrative and the representations that it will portray. Our thoughts are shown below in more detail.

Audience 

We have decided to base our film on both males and females; this is mainly because both genders have different tastes for different types of films so there is a possibility that the majority of both genders will like it. We have also based our age range on 15-50, as the content that is featured in it wont be that explicit for a thriller/ drama. We decided to put the age range up to 50, as people other this age may not enjoy it or be interested in the plot. 

Genre 

Relating to the ideas and contents we have decided for our short film, the genre will be based on a thriller/drama. The film that we have got our ideas from, has based their genre on a thriller/fantasy. To make our short film individual and different opposed to the ' The Lovely Bones' plot, we are making sure that we make our film much more creepier and scary, in comparison to using ideas for a fantasy, which we don't want to do for that reason. 'The Lovely Bones' has a lot of dream-like actions which represent heaven, a good place and a child's thoughts on the world; this obviously create fantasy, which we don't want to create, we want to replace fantasy with a thriller genre.

Narrative

The young girls mother dies before the film so she is now being looked after by her aunty as her father abandoned her and her mother when Sophie (myself), the young girl, was a baby. A serial killer is on the loose, yet to be caught. Sophie goes to visit her mothers grave everyday at 4:00pm after school as she misses her greatly and feels alone. The serial killer has been stalking the girl for months, plotting and planning his attempt to kill the girl. He realises she visits the grave everyday at the same time and finishes school the same time everyday as well. He eventually approaches her and commits his kill.

Representations

When making our film, we want to convey certain representations that are mainly negative, as bad things happen mostly throughout. However, we do want to present a positive message o audience, which are to be wary of your surroundings and think about your safety first, your actions, where you travel alone and to keep contacting people so they know where you are at a times.  
In relation to the character, we want the main character (myself) to be quite naive and vulnerable to what can happen in real life and not to trust anyone. On top of this, we want to represent the serial killer as dangerous and scary.

Research methods

Below I will be talking about the potential researching methods I will use based on their advantages, and the ones that I want to reject due to their disadvantages. There are four possible methods that I could use throughout my project, which are shown below:

Primary:

Primary research is based on work done by a individual. It can be collected through various ways, such as questionnaires, surveys, observations and interviews. 

Advantages of this method are that the researcher will receive direct feed back from participates that took part in it, and also it is highly controlled, which means that the information is relevant to what you are finding out about, there are no questions that aren't specific to the information needed. i think i will be focusing on using this research for my evaluations, when I will be interacting with other people in order to get their opinions.

Secondary:

This type of method is based on research which someone else has carried out and published, which is mainly accessible for others to use. This kind of data can be found on the internet, in books, in the library and in newspapers. An main advantage for this method is that it isn't expensive, may not even cost to view and it doesn't take much time to find as the work is already done for you, all you need to do is search for it, which should already be ready to find especially on the internet. I will be using a lot of secondary research within my project as it will help me research certain things I will be writing about, such as history of my texts, the brand of my text and the directors that are relevant for my genre. However, I will have to be aware that there could be a  possibility that the information is out of date or not reliable.

Qualitative:

This method is based on work that has a lot of detail and is more in depth in regards of peoples attitudes, behaviors and opinions to certain topics. This information can be found through very elaborative answers from interviews and emails. An advantage of this method is that certain people can be studied in more detail allowing different information to be found about them and there views, this can obviously be used within my evaluation when asking people their opinions on our short film; this could give us ideas for improvements or things we did well

Quantitative

 This method is normally based on numbers and statistics of what your researching. These can be done from closed questions in interviews, surveys and questionnaires. The main advantage for this type of researching method is that it is highly reliably and trustworthy, and the results can be finalised easily.

I can use this for my project, as they can show how many people liked our short film, and maybe how many people also disliked it. I can also use this by finding out reviews and statistics on other short films.

Potential Sounds

Looking through the 'iMacs', we have come across some possible sounds that we could use, from the range on 'imovie Sounds', which could potentially create a eary and spooky feeling for our film. The ones that we liked are listed below:

- Alien Impact

- Borealist

- Bogma

- Farewell

- Mystery Accents

- Suspense Accent

I have also picked up on some other sounds that we could use as ambient sounds that could be going on in the background of the location, which could again create eerie sounds, and maybe hint certain ideas. These are also listed below:

- Cave water drops 

- Dogs Barking

- Door mental Squeak

- Elysium

- Footstep

- Flurry

- Grandfather Clock Strike

- Police Car Siren

- Pursuit

- Radio Station

- Clock Wind-up