Evaluation Question 1
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)
Our film is a thriller/horror genre. Most of a thrillers codes and conventions come from the audio and editing. Some of the these are: quick cuts, use of camera angles and specific lighting, Shadows are a big thing, used to create tension and suspense (this helps to create an atmosphere and create tension). We chose to film at night, using only natural light (ambience/tungsten lighting).At the start our production, we the main character getting ready, with cuts to the first person view of the victim; adding a black and white affect to the final edit of the killer preparing, this represents how it is in the past. The fast cutting between these creates tension, making the audience anticipates something bad. When the music first starts in our film it is slow and eerie, creating an immediate atmosphere/enigma; foreshadowing the drama later on. Ryan and I created slow titles that gradually encroach in, this is to match the slow eeriness of the song we recorded; fitting the codes and conventions of a thriller. 
Evaluation Question 2
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our character is a serial killer; his intentions are not clear until later on in the movie. He goes out of his way to hunt down a woman who has hurt him emotionally, pushing him to the edge of sanity. We have based his persona on a typical horror scenario, killer is angry with someone, killer hunts down said person; killer takes down anyone who gets in his way. His appearance comes across as mysterious and this is shown by the lowered head, broad stance and low camera angles. This highlights his dominance and ominous presence. The unsheathed sword is a representation of his intentions, the moment it is revealed the climax builds. We were influenced by typical tropes/codes and conventions of the horror genre, for example the bright white hat that is prominent when the killer first reveals himself. This is becomes his signature trait making him instantly recognisable to the audience; the colour white foreshadows the character's innocence that is revealed later on in the movie. Both Mike Myers from Halloween and Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th carry similar traits to our character, such as no dialogue to enhance the mysticism of the character; also adding suspense at the moment of the kill, making the audience want to know more about his story. Additionally, The characters have weapons to symbolise their intent to kill, which is reinforced by their stance and the lighting of the shot, the strong posture and lighting from above creates a sense of power and masculinity. Most shots of the characters are shot in a film noir style, adhering to the use of blacks and grungy colours to make the viewer think of the bad, evil and dangerous. One code and convention we tried to break was trying to maintain a balance of human air to the character whilst keeping the psychopath feel. To pull this off we replaced the lifeless mask with a hat in order to help the audience empathies with him better, giving a more personal outlook on the villain instead of masking his identity.
We attempt to portray a character who’s first appearances seem sinister, like any typical villain, and then through the progression of the film as the story is revealed, the audience begin to, or at least try to understand his actions and see him as an ordinary a human being pushed to the limit. A similar story line is shown in Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2007 however, the audience has the chance to sympathise with the character (Mike Myers) early on; the character then begins to lose the audiences’ affection, as he becomes a stereotypical villain.
Our character is a serial killer; his intentions are not clear until later on in the movie. He goes out of his way to hunt down a woman who has hurt him emotionally, pushing him to the edge of sanity. We have based his persona on a typical horror scenario, killer is angry with someone, killer hunts down said person; killer takes down anyone who gets in his way. His appearance comes across as mysterious and this is shown by the lowered head, broad stance and low camera angles. This highlights his dominance and ominous presence. The unsheathed sword is a representation of his intentions, the moment it is revealed the climax builds. We were influenced by typical tropes/codes and conventions of the horror genre, for example the bright white hat that is prominent when the killer first reveals himself. This is becomes his signature trait making him instantly recognisable to the audience; the colour white foreshadows the character's innocence that is revealed later on in the movie. Both Mike Myers from Halloween and Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th carry similar traits to our character, such as no dialogue to enhance the mysticism of the character; also adding suspense at the moment of the kill, making the audience want to know more about his story. Additionally, The characters have weapons to symbolise their intent to kill, which is reinforced by their stance and the lighting of the shot, the strong posture and lighting from above creates a sense of power and masculinity. Most shots of the characters are shot in a film noir style, adhering to the use of blacks and grungy colours to make the viewer think of the bad, evil and dangerous. One code and convention we tried to break was trying to maintain a balance of human air to the character whilst keeping the psychopath feel. To pull this off we replaced the lifeless mask with a hat in order to help the audience empathies with him better, giving a more personal outlook on the villain instead of masking his identity.
We attempt to portray a character who’s first appearances seem sinister, like any typical villain, and then through the progression of the film as the story is revealed, the audience begin to, or at least try to understand his actions and see him as an ordinary a human being pushed to the limit. A similar story line is shown in Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2007 however, the audience has the chance to sympathise with the character (Mike Myers) early on; the character then begins to lose the audiences’ affection, as he becomes a stereotypical villain.Evaluation Question 3
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our production company goes by the name of StandHardProductions, this name was chosen as a metaphor of how we planned to go about our work, to work together as a team and stand against problems we encountered. I created a logo using Photoshop; I tried to keep it simple by making it a circle with SHP inside of it. Our small group, we had to split the roles; I took up the role of editor as I had the most experience in this field.i have also taken up the role of team leader picking trying to pick up the slack, motivating people within the group; I have also had to arrange the majority of the preparation in our filming. 
Another maijor role i preformed was acting as the main character, this allowed me to but my thoughts and ideas straight into the character; manipulating the way the film looked. The other roles, such as filming, story boards, mise on scene etc were done by Liam Oliver, Ryan Newsom and Francesca Williams (with help and prompting from me). As i have said i desided to be protagonist (the murderer), as I feel my body type fit the character persona. Heather Steele, is not a member of our media studies but, we choose her to be our actress (the victim), Liam as a ‘yob’ and William Page as our stunt double; These names are in our titles. 
Evaluation Question 44. Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our film would be targeted at an audience consisting men of an age range 18-30 years old. They would probably go to see it with a girl friend, giving free low-key advertising by telling his close friends about the film. These friends would probably view horror movies when they visit the cinema as it provides them with an adrenaline rush; films with blood, gore and action would probably be their type of film, where as the girl friend would find the more physiological side of the film interesting; Some programmes such as true blood, have the same attractions as our film.Evaluation Question 5
The major conventions we used when making our media was form the genres: Horror and Thrillers, using low-key lighting this is typicaly done in films to create an emphasised sinister and powerful look to our character. The same techqnice was applied to the rest of the media to create a grungy and dark atmosphere, emphasising the sinister feeling of the opening. The backing track was a slow, piano and vocal based piece that added to the eerie atmosphere.
One way our audience was attracted was by; Facebook groups, YouTube channels, and Rough cut viewings. We created a Facebook Group called ‘StandHardProduction’, allowing people to view our news blog posts, videos and updates on what we have been doing, raising awareness for our production. The best thing we took from this group was feedback on videos and polls.
By creating a YouTube channel we could upload shots we were unsure about for the world to view and comment on; this also applied to rough cuts, etc. this gave us a view as to whom potential audiences might be, also helping us tailor make our final product and what it might look like.
I have also created a teaser trailer for our film, to entice audiences and start spreading the word a bout a new film that is forth coming.
we not only gained feedback from the internet; Also presenting a rough cut to our class in a Media lesson to get feedback from other students and how to improve on it.
Evaluation Question 6
Evaluation Question 6
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have used many different forms of technology throughout my media, some that I knew how to use already: cameras, editing software and some, where I have quickly picked up new skills, blogging, etc. quickly . I have edited the videos and the main title and Ryan’s titles into our production, I have also taken over for Liam as camera man for some shot where he has had to act. My skills of editing where limited, so throughout the production I have been learning new techniques and developing skills I already had. Since this production I have learnt new skill to do with editing such as, titles and special FX, this was through online tutorials called videocopilot. These tutorials allowed me to edit our video and help create amazing titles. Although I did not film, I have understanding of cameras which allowed to offer advice to Liam I also learnt more about filming whist talking with him about camera angles. I also feel we did well to edit the film together against the difficulties of cutting out scenes which wouldn’t be able to be filmed due to lack of special effects, we edited it in a way so that the audience could put it together themselves and be able to work out what happens. My confidence in all the aspects of our production has improved, since we first started. Blogging came naturally tome as I have a reasonably extensive knowledge of computers and there workings; however I had to get to grips with the new software learning to post blogs and add html snippets.
With some of the technical difficulties we had, loosing footage and expiry with software i had to learn how to use new software such as I movie; an editing programme for Macintosh users.Evaluation Question 7
7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
Our final production is a greater performance compared the shaky, low quality preliminary product; this due to not only better equipment, it is also due to the new and improved skills that the group has learnt. Such as, editing, filming and preparation; I myself have spent hours looking through different camera angles, and shots to create the perfectly edited final production. After much deliberation and assessment, Ryan, Liam and myself decided on some more shots to include in our production. This is a level of devotion we haven’t show with any project before, will retake shot after shot until we have the perfect take.
when we first made our preliminary exercise we had limited experience with creating a film. for example our editing was over the top and not simplistic, camera work was shaky and uneven as shown on the left screen grab. then comparing that to the right screen grab you see an instant difference; the depth of field is more prominent in our final production were as the appears to be no depth of field in the preliminary, the stability of the shots are also dramatically different.
you can compare the difference by watching the videos at the same time, the shot angles, audio, transitions, acting, match on action and the 180 degree rule.
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