Evaluation- Marking

1) Fairly thorough here. I didn't realise the fairground was a flashback!!
2) You chose two characters from different demographics and it would have been nice to have explored the differences in representation a little bit more
3) Not a great post as it doesn't really get to grips with different types of film company or where you could get funding. A little google searching might have gone a long way here. Did Hammer do anything other than horror?
4) Fairly general on audience. No profiles or attempt on primary/secondary. It would have been good to have been more specific on what constitutes a 15 and why this would be the ideal choice.
5) Some good understanding of marketing shown. I was interested in the Deadpool example. I think that there was a lot more to say on social media. No actual examples of marketing in evaluation.
6) Not very much detail in this post- it's really just a list of what you used!
7) A fairly thorough commentary on the process as a whole but without the specifics of a director's commentary.

Level 3 12–15 marks
• Proficient skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.
• Proficient understanding of issues around audience, institution, technology, representation, forms and conventions in relation to production.
• Proficient ability to refer to the choices made and outcomes.
• Proficient understanding of their development from preliminary to full task.
• Proficient ability to communicate.

Jamie 12

Evaluation 7

My preliminary task was very basic. It displayed some good editing techniques, having some very good match on action editing, allowing the film to free flow easily. The task that I was set was to show that I could use the 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot, and match on action editing. I believe that my match on action editing was very good; however, with the experience that I have gained whilst doing this, I would be able to improve my preliminary task if I was to do it again by improving my shot reverse shot. From my research I found out that shot reverse shots can be used more effectively than what I had done, as shown by the research that I did about shot reverse shots. In my preliminary task I always followed the 180 degree rule, not filming from the other side of the scene; however looking back I did break the 30 degree rule at one stage, making a cut that didn’t change more than 30 degrees. If I was to re-do this preliminary task I would ensure that I did follow this rule.

I believe that my skills have improved vastly during this process and my understanding on how to film also improving. Examples of this include my ability to techniques such as the rule of thirds in my films. My film opening displayed a good se of the rule of thirds, having characters positioned in the correct place in the frame in the majority of shots, whereas in my preliminary task I didn’t display the rule of thirds at all, normally having character towards the middle of the shot.

Another director’s skill that I believe I have improved in is my ability to use sound effectively. My film opening has much more effective sound than in my preliminary task. I believe that the music that I used in my film opening was a lot more effective than what was used in my preliminary task. I have also realised the importance of having good music in a film opening, as it is one of the most important aspects to setting the genre and the tone for the rest of the film. The music that I used I feel was very effective in setting the tone and the genre of the film to come.

I believe that throughout this process my ability to edit well has also improved. My editing in the preliminary task wasn’t too bad; however I believe that I was improved. In the preliminary task, I was tasked with trying to film match on action editing, cutting in the correct place to make the film flow, whereas as my film opening was a montage style, I didn’t have to do this as much, and instead had to decide when to cut the film by the timing of the music, and giving enough time for the credits to be read.

I believe that I also improved using mise en scene in my films as I went through this work. In my preliminary task I had very little aspects of mise en scene that I took into account, whereas it was something I was more aware of when making my film opening. The props that were used in my film opening where suitable to the type of film I was making, whereas I didn’t use any props in my preliminary task that were thought about previously. I also tried to think about the lighting in my film opening as said previously saying about having to put a filter on my footage. I also gave lighting very little thought in my preliminary task, therefore believe that my understanding and ability to use mise en scene has improved form when I started this work. 

Evaluation 6

Research and Planning:

Technologies that were used in the research and planning stage of this process include using google and YouTube. I had to use google a lot whilst Researching film openings to find out what other people had found the conventions of film openings to be, get pictures to use in my blog, methods of marketing etc. I also used YouTube a lot in my research and planning, having to find clips from YouTube to either analyse or use to back up my points made.

Blogging:

I used various technologies whilst blogging. First I used the site blogger.com, which I used to make and post my blog.  I also used software such as word and power point in my blog so that I could either draft my blog before posting it, or so that I have an alternative format to put my blog in. Power point helped me do this as it allowed me to put some blogs into sections, such as the audience feedback, where I put all feedback received n individual slides.

Construction:

Whilst filming and putting together my film opening, I used various technologies. First whilst filming, I used to camera on my iPad. My whole opening was filmed on an iPad. I was going to buy a camera to film it, however decided against it as the quality of my iPad camera was good enough. I then had to use iMovie on a mac to edit my footage together.  Over this experience I learned how to and not to film using a camera, and how to edit properly, and effectively using iMovie. 

Evaluation 5

Evaluation 4

The target audience that I am targeting my film towards the age group between 17-26 year olds as my market research showed that this type of film is most suited to. However, there are lots of different age groups that I could have targeted my film towards. As I have selected this target audience, they will have certain tastes in different things, and will enjoy doing things that other age groups wouldn’t tend to do.

This age group is at an age where they are constantly using technology and are on their smart phones constantly. This age group has grown up with this technology and are can easily adapt to changes in technology. As all of this age group use their smart phones, and are also constantly on their social media apps, it is fairly easy to show them something and promote a film in a large way, showing lots of people. This makes the marketing of the film easier as you could just advertise on social media, and it would show the advert to a lot of the target audience.

I believe that this target audience would enjoy my film as it is of a genre that they enjoy, and involves the conventions of many other successful thriller films. As my target audience is aimed towards both males and females, my film will, and has, include elements that will attract both genders. I have included violent scenes in my opening and would include more of these scenes and would use more graphic scenes in the rest of my film. This would be tailored towards the male audience and is a convention that males enjoy to see in thriller films. Because I will include fairly graphic scenes in the film the BBFC rating will have to be at least 15. This is a certificate that would be ideal to my film, as it attracts my target audience because there is violence in it, and eliminates people under the age of 15 from watching the film. This however isn’t a problem as there aren’t many people under the age of 15 who watch many thriller films. My film would also be suited to females as it would include psychological questions asked towards the audience, and makes them think about the film after coming out of the cinema, like The Others for example. This is something that females like in thriller films, and prefer watching a film that includes this, rather than a film that contains gory scenes. I would aim to merge both popular conventions in my film so that the film would appeal to both genders, by having both graphic scenes and including some psychological questions that make the audience think about the story narrative.

My target audience would also enjoy films such as The Others, Pyscho, Cape Fear, Sutter island etc., because these films use conventions of thriller films that appeal to my target audience and both genders. 

Evaluation 3

Evaluation 2

I have chosen to do a comparison between John Doe and my villain, who as yet does not have a name. These 2 characters possess both similarities with each other and also various differences. Both these characters take the role of the villain in their films, and decide that it is their jobs to murder people. They both possess a desire to kill people, and are very clever and methodical about how they do it and how not to get caught. In terms of appearance these characters look very different having different ages, skin tones and build. The costumes that these characters wear is also very different as the character from my film is wearing a black hoodie and a balaclava to hide his face, and look more intimidating, whereas John Doe isn’t wearing anything to hide his appearance in any scene, and actually wants to be caught by the end of the film, so that he can finish his work, and have the final kill. 

The representation of these 2 characters is very different as they belong to two different social groups. The character from my film is seen as and represented as a troubled teenager, whereas John Doe is seen as a psychopathic middle aged man. I have a male villain in my film, as I believe that having a female antagonist wouldn’t be as effective, as the thriller audience has become so encompassed to having a male antagonist that having a female wouldn’t be as effective. I believe this is because males are typically more interested in the violence side of films, and that they are the gender that is stereotyped into murder more than females, which is why you see more male villains than females. The audience are also most use to seeing a middle aged villain such as John Doe in thriller films, alongside with little children, rather than teenagers, as they are seen as more dangerous than a teenager. I do regret not using middle aged actors in my film as they come across more scary than a teenager. 

Evaluation 1

These screen shots show the setting and location of my film opening. I believe that these screen shots follow the conventions of some other thriller films, as a number have been shot in a forest location. Typically thriller films are normally set in either an isolated place, such as a forest, or in an urban area such as a city. I have also included a location in a flashback of a fairground, as this adds to the creepy effect that the opening is hopeful portraying.

The costumes and props that were used in the opening and are shown in the screen shots follow the typical conventions of thriller films. I decided that I should include weapons in my opening, as this is something in which nearly all thriller films include. The use of these weapons in my opinion help establish the characters in the film, as the weapons are of those that the villain would typically hold in thriller films. They also should create tension as the villain is in total control of the other characters fate as these weapons could be considered and will give connotations with murder. The choice of costumes was that I should make the villain wear a black hoodie as it believe that this would make them look most like a murderer. I also made him wear a balaclava to hide his face as this would make him look more menacing and intimidating. I made the victim wear casual clothes as it would make him more relatable to the audience, making him wear something that looks like something the audience might wear. The majority of victims in thriller films are wearing casual clothes for the same reason and therefore my opening does follow conventions of general thriller films. The villain’s costume doesn’t exactly goes with conventional thriller villain costumes. Normally the villain would wear a scruffy suit for example, or a smart costume worn in a scruffy way. This makes them look like outcast to society and makes them look very psychopathic. I went against this as I believe that having him wearing a black hoodie with a balaclava would make him look just as menacing in this opening. I also didn’t want to show the villain’s whole face from the very beginning as I believe it would ruin the rest of the film.

The font that I have used generally follows the conventions of most thriller films. I purposely chose a font that looked like it was hand written as it is something that a lot of successful thriller films include. It makes the opening look a lot scarier as it looks as if the credits have just been scribbled in a poor handwriting over the top of the sequence.

The opening sequence’s aim is to suggest the genre of the film. I believe that my film does this as it involves the stereotypes that are commonly found in thriller films, such as a weapon, and an easily established villain. Having these in the opening help to establish the genre and is something that should be done in a film opening.

There are various ways that actual thriller films first show their characters, for example in Se7en they show the villain in the opening credits, however you don’t see his face, whereas in The Shinning you don’t actually see the character at all in the opening credits as they are driving in a car to the location of the film. This therefore means that I am showing my main characters to the audience in an unconventional way, by 2 of the main characters in my opening sequence. 

Film Opening- Marking

Level 3 36–47 marks There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:
• Producing material appropriate for the target audience and task;
• using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions;
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;
• shooting material appropriate to the task set;, including controlled use of the camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mise-en-scene;
• using editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects

I like this Jamie!

The material is appropriate for a crime drama/thriller. Shame about the sunny day but that's difficult to plan for!
The titles are conventional but your choice of font has got a bit lost on the mottled background of the grass. I like the way the title comes up as the music kicks in.
The sound is appropriate and there are several occasions where you have timed the stresses in the music nicely with an edit or the credits. 
You have a pretty steady hand but why did you not use a tripod for some of those shots?! I think the choice of shots is good on the whole and it helps communicate the ideas to the audience (low angle/high angle etc). I was a little curious anout the shot of the shoes and the final shot was a strange one to end on. I liked the juxtaposition of the helter-skelter.

Jamie 44

Research and Planning- Marking

I really liked Jamie's introduction, analysis of his preliminary and especially his post on title sequences. He demonstrated an excellent knowledge of the different types of opening and their various impacts on audiences. At the same time, he was able to make insightful comments about the approaches of the specific films that he had chosen to discuss. He showed a detailed knowledge of the thriller genre and it was a shame that he did not explore his mood boards in any detail. I thought his analyses of Se7en and Cape Fear, showed a really good analytical approach and insight into the task. It was a shame that his analysis of Se7en missed out the full opening and focused solely on the title sequence.

Jamie's audience research was in depth and informative although I would have liked to have seen some more evidence rather than just conclusions. The nature of blogs could have afforded some more variety here- video/podcast etc. 

Jamie showed evidence of his thought processes in putting his film together. His brief showed a good understanding of how he wanted his audience to react. I liked his font but it doesn't work on the background of his opening! His work on props, lighting and costume showed an understanding of how directorial choices have an impact on the audience's reading of the film but it was a pity that these were so brief. His work on the BBFC was too short- he could have explored the workings of the relevant ratings (15 and 18) and could have even used examples to illustrate his understanding.

The post on Problems in particular demonstrated how Jamie's idea evolved and adapted but the editing diary was too short and somehow set in the future??!

Jamie's marketing post showed an awareness of marketing strategies but there was very little specifically in terms of ideas. He mentioned 'an act' for guerrilla advertising but did not specify what. He described a film poster when surely it would have been better to have produced it!

Jamie's early posts demonstrate a good understanding of the task and an excellent ability to communicate his ideas. However, it is as if he ran out of time towards the end as his posts became shorter and there was very little in terms of variety of posting style on the blog. He communicated an understanding of appropriate research methods but increasingly, as the blog moved into the planning stages, the work became less thorough.

Jamie  14/20