Evaluation

Evaluation Questions

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

Our opening sequence uses the forms and conventions of a successful media product. This was enabled through the initial research of opening sequences I carried out at the beginning of the course. Throughout the research I drew particular attention to what the main outcomes were of an opening sequence. I concluded that an opening sequence must be dramatic in order to gain instant attention and interest from the audience, to persuade them to want to watch the rest of the film. In our sequence, a high level of suspense is created through the exciting narrative which instantly captures the audiences’ attention. 

Also, during the opening sequence the main characters are introduced and their intentions are revealed. This is clear in our media product as it is clear that the woman watching is the villain and has sick intentions and acts generally in a psychopathic manner, and that Lucy is an innocent victim who suffers. Through the successful character representation in our opening sequence, the audience can make an assumption about how the plot will develop; this is a typical convention of actual opening sequences.

After research, I also found out that opening sequences reveal the genre of the whole film. To introduce the thriller genre clearly we made selective decisions about the sequence. Firstly the choice of plot, involving innocent victims, psychotic individuals and the focus on danger and a potential deadly situation which is typical amongst the dark suspense thriller genre. The opening sequence promotes the intense suspense through a high level of anticipation throughout creating tension and anxiety for the audience. The genre emphasises a journey of extreme fear where the audience is kept on the edge of their seats; I feel this is achieved in our opening sequence. Also, thrillers tend to focus more on the plot rather than the characters, we did this by basing ‘Innocence’ on the kidnap of Lucy, emphasising the physical action in the sequence rather than the characters personality. The action revolves the innocent victim who is the focal character in opening sequences.  

To follow this genre we used an idea by the German director, Fritz Lang in his film ‘M’. The plot is similar to ours in the way that it is based on the life of a child serial killer who is an implied pedophile. Throughout the beginning of this film the audience never sees the serial killers face creating suspense and anticipation, they see him through shadows instead. We used this idea as throughout the opening sequence where the audience only sees the back of Myra so they never know who she is completely. This adds a level of mystery.  Also, the use of shots through different obstructions such as trees and fences is a popular convention used across films which demonstrate that someone creepy is watching innocent victims.  

When editing, we decided to incorporate the thriller style we would add an extra layer of mystery. We did this through using a combination of black and white and colour shots which creates a sense of mystery and unknown which adds to the suspense created through the rest of our opening sequence. Also, when we superimposed the title, we used the colour red, because during research I found that the connotations of red are blood; this furthers the fear in the opening sequence. This is like "M" where the title is coloured red.

Question Two – How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We presented the brother as an average teenage boy who the audience can therefore associate with. He reflects the target audience which enables an association to be created between them; this is why the cultural signifiers are common for this social group as he wears the typical clothing of a teenage boy. Through this representation the audience can identify with the emotions and understand what he is going through. It also lets the audience realize how they would feel in his situation which creates an element of sympathy and also concern and fear for what will happen to Lucy. The image of the brother challenges the social moral panic established by the media that teenagers are criminals of the future. It shows that they do care and also challenges the stereotypical ideas that teenage boys have little emotion. The challenges to stereotypical views creates a further association with the target audience as they understand how this social group really are, rather than the harsh representation placed on them by the media.

The representation of Myra is created through the variety of shots which cleverly hide her face and her identity. The audience only sees the back of her, and shots from her point of view establishing that the character is mysterious. Also, the way that she is always hiding presents that she is a dangerous woman who the audience should be wary of. The dark hair of Myra adds another level of mystery and unknown for the audience. Throughout the opening sequence, the audience never hear any dialogue from Myra which shows that she is a reserved individual, placing emphasis on the idea that she is psychotic and has no social skills. In places a representation on women that they can be extremely evil and partake in sick doings. The way that Myra is watching Lucy throughout the sequence shows that she is evil and obsessed with children, strengthening the representation that she is disturbed. Our media product represents that socially psychotic individuals should be feared by society as they are lurking everywhere. It creates the idea that people like this are fascinated and obsessed with innocent children.

Throughout the opening sequence Lucy seems like a happy innocent young girl, which places a representation on children that they are vulnerable and innocent. Lucy is always happy, laughing whilst she is swinging herself on the swing. It shows that even in the recognizable happy environment of a park, children are extremely vulnerable. Lucy wears a cute purple dress which emphasises her innocence and creates a positive association with her and the audience where they are genuinely worried and concerned for the wellbeing of her when Myra is watching. Through the opening sequence, it is established that children are innocent and happy yet should be protected as they are highly vulnerable especially to psychotic characters.  The contrast is distinguished between the burning teddy bear and Lucy to make her seem even more innocent.

Question Three – What kind of media institution might distribute your media product, and why?

The type of institution which might distribute our opening sequence would be a low budget, British, independent production such as Film4. Film4 tends to screen gritty productions rather than huge budget, glossy, typically ‘Hollywood’ films. Film4 explains that they “develop and co-finance smart and distinctive feature films”. Film4 is a respected association as it has “been the driving force behind a renaissance of British cinema, producing some of the most acclaimed movies in the last 25 years of British cinema history and attracting some of the world’s most exciting international talent.” http://www.film4.com

In many ways, it seems that distribution is the most important part of the film industry.   In the UK, distribution is widely focused on the marketing campaign and the desire to create a global product which sustains in a local market.  Usually, independent films do not have their own long term financial links with distributors, so they therefore do not share a connection with exhibitors.  Companies similar to Film4 must use the producer’s rights and materials combined with cooperation from an exhibitor to be able to promote the film and show it in the best way possible.

If our film could be distributed similar to the way Verve Pictures distrusted the low budget, independent feature Bullet Boy (by a first time director), it would gain great publicity and be a successful media product.  In this situation, the feature film developed a pleasant reputation after film festivals and developed a huge level of support from local communities.  Verve pictures spotted potential with the film and focused its unique selling point, giving them a huge confidence in receiving complimentary reviews.  Verve saw a wider potential for this film, so applied for further funding from the UK Film Council's P and A Fund.  The funding application was successful, enabling the film to be distributed to a broader market which was furthered through the advertising campaign.  Like Verve Pictures, Film4 could use this technique to address a diverse, broad audience into acknowledging our film.  A successful distribution process is essential in creating a widely popular film which is why I would choose Film4 to promote and fund our film as it can apply for extra funding to broaden the distribution to a variety of audiences, like it did successfully for the huge feature film success of ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ even though Channel4, of which Film4 is part of, was suffering dramatically in the economic downturn.  This shows Film4’s strength and reliability in distributing films with potential in the global market.

Question Four – Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our opening sequence would be young adults and adults who are fans of the thriller genre.  Due to the disturbing content of the film, the certification decided by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) would be 18.   The opening sequence makes clear suggestions that the plot will develop in a way which is unsuitable and possibly disturbing for those under the age of 18.

This is what the certification for our film would look like;

As we knew from the beginning that our film would be classified as an 18, we did not have to be careful about the use of explicit content within the opening sequence.  However, we decided that we didn't want the opening sequence to be too disturbing as we thought that the whole film should lead up to a hugely disturbing climax, not begin with one.  This meant that in the opening sequence, the psychotic ways of Myra were shown which made indications what would happen later on in the film.  The end of the opening sequence ends with a burnt photo of Lucy hanging from a tree and her dress in the tree which proposes disturbing ideas which can be developed throughout the rest of the film.  We thought that this ending is intriguing to our audience as they will want to find out what Myra does to Lucy.  If the target audience was of a younger age, they may not understand clearly what the implications of the dress hanging in the tree are.  Also, for children, the burning teddy bear may seem quite frightening and the suspense throughout could be overwhelming.  This is why we classified our film as an 18.

Our film is not geared towards a particular gender, or social group as we think the opening sequence is exciting enough and creates enough suspense for a huge range of people to enjoy.  We made conscious decisions throughout the whole process to make the opening sequence appealing to as many people as possible.  I think the audience is wide as it is easily viewable and enjoyable for all young adults and adults who appreciate the conventions of a thriller.   I feel that the target audience could associate with the opening sequence as they sympathise with the brother and feel his worry because most people have experienced extreme worry themselves.

Question Five – How did you attract or address your target audience?

The major way which we addressed our target audience was through our initial audience feedback.  Once we had filmed and started to edit our initial opening sequence, we showed a few members of our target audience who all gave similar responses.  They thought that the plot seemed very confusing and the quick edits added to the confusion making it hard to understand rather than mysterious and intriguing.  However, the feedback for the first section was good where the audience said that it was an 'interesting first shot' and the edit of the disappearing girl was also clever.  The audience feedback to our original sequence confirmed our thoughts that it was far too complicated.  This lead us to the decision to modify the opening sequence, simplifying the plot by re-filming all of the sequence apart from the opening shot.  Also, we thought that the addition of an extra character who the audience can associate with, would make a better opening sequence.

To see if the audience liked and were appropriate for the opening sequence, we handed out a questionnaire to a sample of our target audience.  Some of the questions revolved their opinions on genre, whether the sequence was interesting/exciting, whether the plot was clear and others regarding their views and opinions of  our final opening sequence.  I picked the following questions which I thought gave the most insightful answers;

This shows that the majority of the sample correctly identified Innocence as being a dark thriller film.  The next biggest genre was horror, which in terms of opening sequences, can be quite similar to thrillers.  In this way, it shows that we constructed our opening sequence successfully as the majority of the audience could categorize it into the correct genre type.

This question I think is extremely useful.  It shows that a huge majority of the sample were intrigued by the opening and want to watch the rest of the film.  This answer shows that during the sequence, we created enough suspense and tension (widely associated with the thriller genre) to make it an exciting opening to encourage the audience to desperately want to watch the rest of the film.

  
This graph shows the unanimous answer from the whole of our sample; that all the characters were realistic.  This is vital, because if the characters seem unrealistic, so would the plot so the whole plot would seem unrealistic.  Also, realistic characters enable associations to be made from the audience to gain insight into their character.  This is what we wanted to do to capture the attention of the audience.  


All our efforts to address the target audience paid off in the comments to our final piece.  We posted our sequence on a social networking site (Facebook) to find out what people thought of the opening sequence. The feedback was as follows;


The audience feedback provided us with a huge level of compliments and it seems that we addressed our target audience correctly to achieve such results.  Mostly, the comments provide fondness of the style of the sequence and many pointed out that the "music emphasized the story line" added greatly to the feel of the whole piece, "the music is very eerie and dramatic".

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

Throughout the process of constructing our opening sequence, I have acquired a variety of skills from numerous technologies including the internet, editing software, the camera itself and Microsoft programs. 

Throughout the process of creating our media product, I have learnt a huge amount about different technologies.  Firstly, for the planning stage, the main resource I used for research was the Internet.  From the internet, I could find out a great deal of relevant information about media genres to correctly establish a genre that we wanted to use for our opening sequence.  The internet was also extremely useful when looking at different media conventions such as the 180 degree rule, as you can look at images and video demonstrations to understand the media conventions more fully so that they could be applied in the opening sequence.  I also used the internet to find accurate information about Myra Hindely and the Moors Murders to enable us to create a realistic opening sequence.  

I also watched “See no evil: The Story of the Moors Murders” to gain further insight and watched the directors commentary to enable us to see their mind frame in creating a film about Myra Hindely.  It gave us a better idea of the Moors Murders which supported the research we had found from the internet.  It was also a good resource to use as it abled use to see how Myra Hindely was represented in "See no evil" to see if it was similar to our portrayal of the character.  

Throughout the filming process, we learnt many skills revolving the camera which would establish our opening sequence as successful.  The most useful and effective technique we learnt and applied to our piece was focus.  We used focus while filming so that the prominent item (teddy bear in foreground, or tree as an obstacle) was the clearest point in the shot so the audience pay the most attention to this section.  Also, when we used focus on the tree we changed the focus to be on the swing so the audience’s attention in the shot changes to the relevant place.  

Throughout the post-production stage, I learnt a huge amount about the importance of the editing software when creating any film.  It is useful to create a level of consistency with the lighting where the lighting can be changed and the contrast also.  In our sequence, the use of black and white was extremely important in establishing a clear contrast between the shots with Myra and the shots with the brother, ultimately establishing the past (black and white) and present (colour).  To make the sequence exciting, we took advantage of a different range of transitions to create an interesting opening sequence, for example the intense zoom and the flash to white which resembled the taking of a photograph.  The editing software allowed us to overlap each clip so that the whole sequence flowed well and was therefore easy for the audience to follow.

We also used the internet for post-production to find efficient sound effects for the sequence.  We found a high pitch sound effect which sounded very creepy which we used throughout most of the sequence.  We also used the camera to record a few soundtracks of a little girl singing a few songs.  We used the combination of diagetic (dialogue, birds) and non-diagetic sound (heartbeat, singing, high pitch effect, and other sound effects) to add to the tension in the opening sequence. 

For the final section of the evaluation, we again used the resource of the internet.  We used the social networking site (Facebook) to post our video so we could gain audience feedback so that people could share their views on our piece.  For further audience feedback, I used Microsoft word to create a questionnaire and then Microsoft excel to create graphs and charts to present the results in a visual format so that they were easy to understand.

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

When looking back at our preliminary piece, it is obvious that we have progressed a huge amount to our final opening sequence. Although it was alot more difficult and took alot more time to produce a two minute opening sequence than the 30 second preliminary piece, the opening sequence is of a much more higher standard than of the preliminary.

One of the main weaknesses of the preliminary piece was the unsteady camera shots; this was because we didn't use a tri-pod. In the main piece, e used a tri-pod to film as many sections as possible which showed a good decision in the end result. When comparing our preliminary piece and final product, the comparison between the steadiness of the shots is huge! This improves the quality of the whole sequence.

Also, the preliminary piece used quite average shots which could be percieved as being boring. However, as our knowledge of media products increased througout the process, the shots became more imaginative and interesting which creates a more effective opening sequence.

Another problem with the preliminary was the continuity errors.  For the office we were filming in, we could not use the outside because it looked really shabby.  So, we filmed the waiting outside the office in a different location, as the room has a glass wall, you can see through it slightly and can identify that it is a different location to when inside the office.  To deal with this, for the final piece we filmed in one location so there could be no confusion and no continuity errors.

When we came to watch our clips back, we found that we only had one piece of footage of Mr Zaidi's point of view so we had to use that footage.  However, if you look closely you can see someone standing in the doorway in the background.  To deal with this problem we took extra care in making sure that everyone was out of shot when filming.  Also, just incase someone did get in the shot, we filmed each section more than once so if there was a problem with one clip we could use another.

Once we had learnt more about the concept of filming, we identified another weakness with the preliminary piece; filming a character where there is a window in the background.  Filming a character sat or stood in front of a window adds extra unwanted natural light to the shot.  This disturbs the shot as it takes focus away from the dialogue and places it on the extreme brightness in the background.  When filming our final product, we did not have to worry about this as all of the footage was filmed outside.  However, we did have to take into consider the lighting in terms of the brightness of the day as we had to film on two separate occasions.  Luckily, with a little bit of editing, the two different days looked that same which kept the consistency of lighting and of the weather.

With the camera, we learnt how to use the focus to our advantage so we could draw the audience’s attention to a certain place in the shot.    This is an improvement of the constant, non-changing focus in our preliminary piece. 

In the preliminary piece, we used different points of view from the interviewee and the interviewer; however we made this much clearer in the final piece. The difference in colour represented the change in time and therefore the change in the view as the black white shots are of Myra watching the child.  We contrasted these steady relaxed shots with frantic point of view shots from the brother which demonstrated his intense worry.  The use of using the point of view shots in the context of our film made the character representations extremely clear which therefore establishes our piece as a much more interesting sequence and  is easier to identify with than the preliminary piece. 

From the preliminary piece, it is clear that we had progressed hugely in terms of the quality of footage and also editing.  After playing around with the editing software once we had completed the preliminary task, we found new interesting effects to use.  We also found that overlaying clips slightly was an extremely useful technique to improve the overall flow of the opening sequence.  In the preliminary piece, we simply cut the clips to the correct size, put them in the right order and added the sound over the top.  Whereas with our final piece, the editing was much more complex with overlaying clips, a variety of different transitions, effects and also a range of different overlaying sound; both diagetic and non-diagetic.

Final Piece

Final Piece

Audience Feedback

Editing

Editing

Once we had filmed all the appropriate footage, we began editing on Sony Vegas Pro.

First of all, we had to select the appropriate clips and cut them down to the correct length. We then had to make sure that all the clips that were in the present in the narrative were kept in colour. However, some of the clips looked very dark so we edited them in terms of brightness and contrast. Also, we had to change all the clips with Myra watching the child into black and white to create a clear representation that this is in the past, like a flash back. We edited these clips to 100% black and white and also added a slight film effect too. The obvious difference between the colour and black and white clips creates a clear establishment that one is present and one is past. We then put the clips in the order that we wanted and which made the most possible sense.

For the first shot of Lucy on the swing, we altered the playback rate to make it slower which creates an interesting effect for the begging of the opening sequence. A few seconds into this shot we superimposed “A Cookie Monster Production” in the bottom right hand corner of the shot.

The over the shoulder shot of Myra is of her taking a Polaroid picture of Lucy. On this shot we superimposed "Starring Jessica Hutchinson" in white text at the bottom of the shot and used a fade on both its entrance and exit. We used the sound of the camera taking a picture however, when we came to film the camera would not work, but luckily we already had a previous recording of the camera making the appropriate desired sound. We therefore cut the sound from this clip and used it for the one we were using. We had to carefully match up the sound effect with when the camera button was pressed. We also added an effect onto the end of this shot which made the shot brighten and turn to a white screen as it portrays the development of the Polaroid picture. We also added another sound effect of an abrupt strange noise as soon as the shot begins so create an instant creepy and negative view of Myra.

After this we returned to the shot of Lucy swinging on the swing. This was an ideal time to add the next piece of superimposing “April Edwards” again in the bottom of the screen so the focus is still on the action rather than the text. We faded the text and once the text had disappeared we added the section where Lucy disappeared off the swing. We used another shot and spent along time matching them up exactly and then slightly overlaying them so that the disappearance looked authentic. The swing had to be in exactly the same place or else it wouldn’t match and would look out of sync. Once we had got the match as perfect as possible we added a sound effect of a “woosh” sort of noise to emphasise that Lucy has disappeared; she has been taken. Once she had disappeared from the swing the sound of her singing "1,2..." begins and continues throughout the next shots.

Next is the introduction of the brother. We edited three shots together of the same action but from different angles. We had to maintain consistent lighting on these clips so that the change between different angles remained smooth. We overlaid each shot slightly so the movement to the next shot wasn’t sudden. We then superimposed “Oliver Aird”, again in the bottom of the shot.

Throughout the opening sequence we continued to edit each clip in terms of brightness and also by changing relevant clips to black and white.  We also added the appropriate soundtrack throughout (a combination of a music box, lucy singing "1,2 shes coming for you..." and "twinkle twinkle", a heartbeat and a screeching) and used some diagetic sound of the brother shouting "Lucy".  At the end of the opening sequence, we adjusted the playback rate of the gradual zoom out to make is slower like the beginning of te sequence.

Changes

Initial Changes

When we came to film, we could not get hold of an old typewriter as we had planned so we changed the idea of the typewriter to Myra handwriting a plan. We thought this would be more interesting as there is a wider variety of shots we could use for this section and we thought then when editing, we could fade two different angles so the audience could almost see two hands writing. This meant that instead of using a close up of the typed writing on the paper of the typewriter for some of the credits, we would have to superimpose all of them.

As we were filming, we decided that the section where Myra puts the box into the car was confusing and unnecessary so we will replace this section with the new ideas that we came up with when we were filming. In the car section there was a jump shot, so we still wanted to use a jump shot in the replacement. For this, we filmed April skipping in a graveyard, holding the burnt teddy bear and would used the technique of a jump shot to show 3 cuts of her getting further and further away. We filmed the graveyard section a few different ways; one where the camera was behind the metal fence so it was visible in shot which emphasises that Myra is following the child. Another shot was where the camera followed April and another where the camera was stationary as she skipped along the graveyard. We also decided to film running around a large tree, (with the use of a wobbly camera without using a tri-pod to emphasise the following and create suspense) and then zooming in to a close up of the burnt teddy bear hidden in the tree. When we were filming in the attic we thought of another idea. To film a close up of a picture of April but with the lights off so at first, it looks like a black screen, then Myra strikes a match in front of the camera which lights up the picture to reveal the image of the innocent victim.

Also, when we were watching the footage in order that we would use it, we decided that it would be wise to rearrange the order at the end of the sequence. Originally we thought that seeing the box burning and then going back in time to see Myra hanging the girls dress on her wardrobe would be effective, but after we realized that it added extra, unnecessary confusion to the piece. Therefore, we changed it so it carried on in order of chronology, with the wardrobe bit before the box burning.

Major Changes

When we began editing, we immediately noticed that the huge array of different sections in the sequence could be very confusing. Also, that the quick flashes of images and shots cut very short did not achieve the desired effect. Instead of looking mysterious and intriguing, the sequence seemed very confusing and the editing therefore looked like it was rushed and was not portraying what we wanted. After audience feedback, the responses supported our opinion which led us to the decision to simplify the plot of the opening sequence. We wanted to stick with some of the footage so we decided to keep the teddy bear and swing section. We then decided that it would make more sense if the audience saw the girl and her brother during the piece; as it would make it more obvious that she had gone missing and therefore create a high level of emotion within the opening. First of all we made sure that we could find somebody to take part in the opening sequence to play the part of the brother. We asked Olly as he is studying theatre studies so we thought he would be ideal to portray the intense emotion within the piece. Next we planned a new shooting script;

· Long shot of swing with close up of teddy bear in foreground, (same as original but edited so it is in slow motion).

· Over the shoulder shot of Myra taking a Polaroid picture, showing a mid shot of the girl on the swing. In black and white.

· Long shot of swing with close up of half teddy bear in foreground from a low angle (same as in original opening sequence)

· Same shot as previous, but with the girl disappeared from the swing (low angle)

· A variety of different long shots of the girl’s brother in the park devastated that the girl has disappeared.

· A variety of close ups of the brothers face to show his emotion.

· From then, we will use black and white shots to show Myra watching the child in the past and colour shots to show the brothers devastation in the present.

· Black and white over the shoulder shot of Myra, showing a long shot of the girl swinging.

·A point of view shot from the brothers perspective to show his frantic state.

·A close up of the brothers eyes which changes to a close up of Myras eyes when he blinks.

·A long shot of the girl swinging which is obstructed by a close up of the foreground of leaves to show that she is hidden.

· A mid shot from a high angle of the brother in a heap on the ground shouting up to the Camera.

· Panning from the brother holding his head in his hands to show the burnt teddy bear on the ground.

· A shot from over his shoulder to show him picking up the burnt teddy bear.

· A gradual zoom out from the long shot of the brother on the floor in the park to reveal the girls dress hanging in a bush and the developed Polaroid picture which has been burning hanging in front of the dress.

The simplistic plot enables the audience to understand clearer that a child has been snatched. Although the piece won’t be jumpy as we had planned, the zoom out at the end with the girls dress lying on the ground still demonstrates the psychopathic ways of Myra. This synopsis keeps Myra more of a mystery which intrigues the audience after the opening sequence to continue to watch the film as they are desperate to know what will happen to the girl. We will not need to record and additional sound as we already have the sufficient recordings but we will have to go back to the same location of the park to film more footage. Also, the fact that the sequence takes place in the same location makes it less confusing and therefore easier for the audience to follow. If we had stuck with our original idea, the audience would be completely confused by the end of the opening sequence, which initially we thought would intrigue them. But after audience feedback, we understood that the level of confusing elements would do the opposite as they learn so much throughout the opening sequence they would not be intrigued to watch the rest as they feel it would be boring, knowing the amount they do already about the piece.

In the original piece we didn't have any dialogue but we decided that there should be some shouting from the brother to create a level of worry and create tension. Therefore we needed to give the little girl a character name. We decided upon the name "Lucy". We also decided that the title for the piece was too simplistic and boring, so instead of using the title of Myra, we decided on a more interesting title of "Innocence".