evaluation questions

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our film challenges the foms and conventions of real media products in terms of the characterisation, this means thatall of the characters look authentic, realistic and how they would look in a real film, for example, in our ainal piece, Jess is wearing a long grey coat, which gives her a mysterious look, that fits well with the genre of our film. We also took the setting of  real psychological thriller and developed the ideas into our own, for example, we chose to use a park as our settign as we thought it was an ideal and sterotypical spot for a pedophile/ kiddnapper to spy on small children, i feel that our chosen setting fits welll with the chosen genre as it made the clip wysterious like it would in a full film. The visual style of the opening sequence is very dark, with black cloudy sky, this represents an idology of a dark, dingy and controversial subject matter, this is ussually the case in films that invlove the kiddnapping of children, or any other film that involves any harm  to a chil, this is because this is a very contravention subject matter.

The colours in this screen grab of the opening credits of the title from our film compares to to the opening title of this psychological thriller film 'M'. The colours red and black create a frantic and frightening atmosphere to the clip. This comparison also shows that we have taken into consideration the films that already exist in this genre, this therefore means that we too have looked at the type of audience that are interested in psychological thrillers, as we have used similar ideas, which mean people like this effect and so by using it we have ensured that we have pleased our audience right from the start, and if the start of the film is appealing and grabs the audiences attention, meaning they are more likely to give the film good ratings.  Our media product also develops the forms and cnventions of real mada productsin terms of the characterisation, we have looked at exising media products and analysed their characters, take for example the textual analysis stated previously that helped me to see a film clip in terms of the shots, angles and character representation, this helped to understand the types of character we needed. In our final media product we analysed the film 'M', looking at the characters, we used alittle girl like the film has. Also many films of this genre cast characters and shoot the from an angle where you cannot see their face, this creates an air of mystery and susspence ot the clip, which creates anticipation an the mystry of not knowing, for the audience.

 These two pictures show the comparision between  the comventions of characterisation in pur media producte and that of a real media product. This therefore shows that our media product challenges the forms and conventiions of real media products, in terms of the characterisation and development of the streotypes of the particular genre, psychological thriller.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

In our opening sequence we chose to use actors that were our own age, this is because, we knew that when it came time for the audience feedback that the majority of the audience that we showed it to would be our age, so by using actor's of our age group, we have attempted to communicate with the audience, as they are seeing people their own age and so can hopefully relate to the happenings on the screen. We chose to doa major role reversal, in that the mysterious and mean ccharacter is played by a girl,Jess, whereas it is sterotypically played by a man as they are normally seen as more domeneering than women. Similarly we changed usually female role of caring guardien of the child, to a male. We chose to do this role reversal because, we thaught it would reach out to the audience in a way te noo other film would, as it shows a sensative and careing side to the male character and a miliciuos and mean side to the female, which is not typical. This thereofre relates back to our reaserch into Myra Hindly's killings and the fact that the pupilc were more outreaged because she was a woman and could do such things. The characters hairstlye and clothes are rlevant to the time period we intened it to be set,in the moder day, this also helps the audience to relate better with the film. The film we created targeted the audience, teenagers, young adults and adult, through the age of the actors, the clothes they wore and the harsh subjact matter that is contained within the opening sequence we have filmed, the background storyline may reach out more to the few older opeople in the audience as they may be able to remember the actions of Myra Hindly and Ian Brady We targeted both men and women who ar intrested in watching psychological thrillers as their preferred choice of film, again the controversial subject means that the cilp can reach out to the audience on a personal level, any perent or family member watching the clip will go through the same emotions as Olly, as if it were someone they kew themselves, therefore showing that our film connects with its audience well as allows the audience to be int the characters shoes throughout. Due to the content and graphic background ocntext, we feel that the BBFC would rate our media product at age 18, for the safty of anyone below this age.  

This picture represents the audience that we hoped to adderss. It shows a picture of olly, who featred in our product as the little gilrl, April's, brother, who is worried and looking for her in the park where the kidnapper has taken her from his care. This also represents thge socil group that our media is aimed at, people 18+, and although Olly is not eighteen he plays the character well and looks the part. This is backed u by  the clothes that Olly is wearing in the film, he looks as though he iod just a normal boy out for the day with his sister, this too helpes the audience relate to it as they can put themselves in his place.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our film would come under the title of a low budget independant british film, this means that i scompletly different to a high budget hollywood film that is distributed all round the world. Our film would only air in the UK, and would be in association with film4, on channels such as, film4, channel 4, more 4 etc.

Our film would be in the same catagory as other low budget film that fiml4 hae distributed, such as 'Bullet Boy' and 'Slumdog millionaire'. The fact that this is low budget ma give theimpression that the films that are distributed by fim4 are not good enough to win awards, for example, like the big and expensuve Hollywood blockbusters. However this is not the case, the proof is the hit of a film, 'Slumddog Millionaire' which won countablle oscars and various other awards for is outsatanind perfomance. This shows that films do not have to be on a hight budget or be made in Hollywood for the audience too like it and for it to then go on and win many big awards. This therefore shows that all a film has to do to be successfull is to appeal and connect to its audience, and i feel the our media product has done that. (through the character representaion, for example)

Our film is on the same level as the other low budget picture 'Bllet Boy'.  this is mainly ue to the fact that they both deal with contravertial content. 'Bluuet Boy' deals with the inner city of London, and the gang toruble that is so often the cause of many deaths.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience at whom our media product may be aimed at, could be anybody rangeing from the age of eighteen to 50+. The film cannot be seen by anyone under the ege of eighteen due to the horrific nature off this film genre, psychotic thriller. It would most likley appeal to men more as it is common that men go for films that have violent or graphic scenes, all of the above generally feature in films rated 18, this shows that films use genre conventions to appeal to its target audiences. Our film has used its genre conventions to appeal to the audience, as involves scenes that imply stalking, this appeals to the age range 18+ because, from fresearch i have found out that this is the kind of film people would like to see on TV, a psychotic thriller that grips you right from the start and has a controversial topic, all of which our media product has. Sterotypically films become more gory and horrific when they reach the 18 age bracket, this pleases the audience as when they turn 18 this is the type of film that they want to see as they were restridted on what they could watch before, now they can watch whta they like and the majority prefer it to be gory, horrifis or contraversial in content. Our prouct may alslo appeal to people who have young children, parents off children. This is bbeacuse thre is a child that goes missing in our clip, this means theat the audiencs can relate to the characters, in that they would know what the actirs are feeling as they would be feeling the same thing if their chil had gone missing or been kiddnapped ad the child in our media has.                                          

  this picture shows April looking vulnerable and innocent, which makes the audeince fell more sorry for her later in the clip.    

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

We attraced/ adressed ou raudience mainly through facebook, this is because between all four of us we could get hundereds of poeple to watch it and feedback their thaughts on what was good and possibly how to make things better. Overall our audience feedback was quite possitive, in that most of the audience liked the final product and wanted to go on and watch more, if it were available. I feel that we attraceted the audience through the actors. They were all of a similar age to our target audience. This is attractive to the audience as it allowed them to be involved in the film because they can easily relate to the actors and their circumstances and emotions in the clip.

From our first lot of audience feedback we found that th eaudience didnt like our piece very much and so we decided to change the majority of it to please our target audience, i feel that this was the best decision to make as the data that came from it was outstanding in relation to oue first attempt at creating an openingsequence.
Form the data results that we collected from place such as facebook  we have created two bar charts and a pie chart the ahows our collected data in a more clear ans precise way, this means that next time we intend to make ans opening sequenec of this genrre we have the satistica and data that will help us to determind whatr peopl like and what they dont like within the film and therefore genre.

 

The graphs and pie chart show the results from the audience feedback that we got form facebook and from questionaires we asked people to fill out that , This represents what the target audience thought of our piece, it is clear that many of them said that they would want to go on and watch the reat of the film if there was one ever nade, as they were intrigued and hooked by the first small bit that we showed them. They were also able to put the film into the correct genre catagory, this means that we portraied the sterotypes of the genre well, meaning the audience got what they were expecring to when they heard the genre of the clip we were going to show them.

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

During the process of filming and editing our piece i have learnt a lot obout many different technologies. Firstly i lernt hoe to use a camcorder and how to make all the effects, for example, changing the focus and the mode to make the foreground clear end the background blurry i also lernt how zoom in and out on the camera, which can be used to give a wide angle shot, that is ussually used as an establishing shot to help set te scene for the audience. I also lernt that the brightness of the daylght effects the camera, and the camera must be adjusted before ues in an innapropriate lighting, the light can also be manipulated to give  brighter effect on a dingy day, for axample. From using the sony vagas editing ssoftwhere i have learnt a vast amount of knowledge on how to edit and add post-production effects to an existing film, i was able to add effects such as fade in, fade out and  the crackle effect at the end of the sequence. We also used technologies like facebook to post our video to get audience feedback, this hekped as it ment we couldd reach lots of people ina short space of time. the vagas softwhere also helped, in that i learnt how to construct two minuite film, which before starting  iwouldnot have been able to do. i managed to put the audio clips with the visual ones with no faults in the end. However my existing intrest in photography helped a considerable amount. The editing softwhere is the technology that i feel i learnt the most about whilst completing this tast. This is due to the fact that i had never used it befor and it was a whole new experience for me, and this i liked. I also feel that the technologies that i have used were very usefull, in that they completed the job that we wanted them to, and to, what i think, is a good standard.  
From watching films with directors cuts we i was able to learn the shots tht were used and for what reason in the given cirsumtanes. i also learnt alot from the textual analysis that i did at the begining of the cores they helped me gain greater knoeledge of the range of shots , amgle and movements avaliable to use when filming.
Also in the process of making the media cilp, we used technologies like Sony Vagas editing softwhere that helped tremendously in that it hepled us put effects like blurring onto the film.below is an example of this

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

Looking back i feel that i have learnt a lot in progression for the preliminary task to the full product. I also feel that the progression that i made was a big one. This is because the two are completly different, in therms of the gender and the camera work. In the preliminry piece i did not use a tripod which ment that lost of it were shakey and out of focus. Also the first task was a very basic story line and now, looking back, i can not seeany possible way to take it any further, whereas this final task is different, i, and the audience, can imagine the film that would follow shouldd our film ever feature in film4. one weakness of the preliminary task is that we did not use a tripod in some bis, resulting in shaky footage, this porblem was resolved when it came to filming the final film as we borrow a tirpod from schoola dn used it to steady the camera in the bits that needed a steady hand, however, we didnt use a tripod fro allof the filming. When in the tripod the camera was easy to focus which ment that the film became less blurry than the preliminary task. In the final piece we have managed to show different point of veiw, we have flash backs fro the future to the past, that i have applied a black and white transition to, to show the two different time zones/flashbacks. We also had to make sur ethat the final piece was more consistant than the first one as in the first task, after editing, we found some inconsistancies, so we ensured that all of the props in the locations used stayed the same throughou the filming process, this made the end result seem more authentic and realistic for the audience.

I also found that foro the final task we had to stick to the story board and the shooting script alot more, i thnk this is because the last task had to be so precise and consistant. In the end all  of the big and small progressions payed of and with the addditions of thing, such as a tripod, the finish material had benefited and we had a much better end result.

 

main piece

Research for our final piece

Before we could begin to film our work we had to do research into the topics that fall under our chosen genre, psychotic thriller. After brainstorming some brief ideas and watching some existing opening sequences, we decided to base our storyline on Myra Hindly and the Moors Murders. we chose this horrific and heart wrenching story because we thought that it would leave our audience the best insightt into the minds of the characters we were trying to put forward, i.e, psychopaths.
This is an all-to recognisable photograph of Myra Hindley, who committed those horrific and unsaughtafter crimes.  

"the most hated woman in Britain".(BBC NEWS) 

"The crimes committed by Hindley and her lover, Ian Brady, shocked the nation and became the benchmark by which other acts of evil came to be

                                measured." (BBC NEWS)

From extensive Reading and research into the murders couple we found that most of their inspiration came from the Nazi's wartime antics. Brady introduced Myra to the ways of Nazi life, convincing her it was the right thing to do, the right path to follow. On further research into the Nazi's we found that their hatred fell mostly upon the Jews, and their love fell upon the Arian Race, people they thought were perfect, people with blond hair and blue eyes. So  we chose to use April, the little girl that features in our final video, because she fits the Arian race's stereotype of blond hair and blue eyes, this therefore is what leads the protagonist's, Myra, fascination with the little girl, which leads her to follow  her and watch her every move. Throughout this murdering epidemic, Myra was not alone, at her side was her lover Ian Brady. However, we have decided not to feature him in our film because we thought that's a solo woman stalker/killer is more frightening and unpredictable for the audience, it, we feel, is also more disturbing as it shows that this woman has no motherly instincts that a normal woman would have, that would therefore prevent them from humiliating and killing the vast amount that this woman did. Her and her lover killed, tourchered and burried five innocent children, and one body was recently found that appears to be another victim.





These pictures show the innocent child victims that suffered and were brutally murdered under the power of Myra Hindly and her 'lover' Ian Brady.

planning of final piece

first we made a brief brainstorm, this helped us to explore all the possible genres and the types of film that would fit into them. By creating a brainstorm we were able to come up with some breif storylines that fitted into our psychotic thriller chosen genre. i feel that doing a storyline before ahnd really helped us think of some good ideas, which means that we didnt rush into it and spoil it.

A womnen, played by Hannah, will play Myra Hindly, kiddnapping, tourchering and killing children theses acts will not be shown in this clip but would be revealed later in the film. This leaves the audience in suspence and wanting to see what happens to the child, April, they will therefore want to watch the rest of the film. As well as seeing April during this cilp the audience will also be able to hear her singing and playing happliy, this creates a contrast with the merder.

character representetion

We  chose to dress our characters in contrasting clothes. The woman is wearing all black and all her clothes are dark and dingy, whereas the child is dressed in a little cute dress, which only excentuates her innocence, making her look cute and vulnerable, this contrasts to the not innocent character of the woman, played by Hannah.

risk assessment

We chose to film our piece in a park in a that is surrounded by houses, this is because then if a problem was to occure then it would be easy for one of us to get help if we needed it. Also the fact that we filmed in a park where two out of the four members of our group knew where they were giong, which reduces the risk of getting lost.

we also made sure that the little girl was wearing bright colours when we were not filming so she remained visable when it got a little dark.

when burning the picture and the bear we made sure that we were stood well away from. We also made sure that one member of  the group was on hand with a glass of water, should the fire get out of hand.

We also made sure that the little girl was never laft alone, this means that she didnt get lost.

storyboard for final piece

This is a pictur of the final storyboard, however we did change some of the ideas shown here, to make the final piece fit in with our chosen genre.

 

Our opening shot would be a Mid-shot of a typewritter, with the diagetic sound of the typewritter over the top, as we thaught this would be a creepy sound, which creates the creepy atmosphere we hope for. The second box shows the second shot, wich would be a jump shot to a close up of the womans hands on the hands typing, Again with the diagetic sound of the typing.

 the third shot would be, an over-the-shoulder shot fom over the

protagonists shoulder showing the typewritter, this reinforces the face that it is the woman on the typewritter. It also introduces the main characeter for the first time. All the time over the top of this would be non-diagetic sound of a redcording of April singing a nursery ryme. The second box here shows a close up of the name of our piece "myra, this will be on the paper that the woman takes out of the typewritter. this to will be accompnaied by the sound of April singing.

The first box of these two shows the fourth shot, which is a mid shot of 'Myra' hanging Apirl's clothes up on the wardrobe. followed by a close up of newspaper cuttings. This to is accompinied by  the non-dieagetic sound of April singing "1 2 shes coming for you..." the freedy song.

In the first box is the next shot, a close up of  the woman's lips smoking but in reverse so the smoke is going in her mouth instead of coming out, We also intend to have the whole shot in black and an white with the lips in a vibrant red colour, this would be done in the post-production stages.
Next would come a close up of little April's face, this would as quick flash of the image. All the while in the background would be the non-diagetic sound of April singing to give a creepy tone to the piece.

Next would come a mid shot of a clock which we will speed up, so as to give the impression of the passing of a long time. The second box here shows a two shot. A long shot of April on the swing, playing and laughing,  and in the foreground, a close up of the teddy burning. The shot will start with the swing out of focus and the teddy in focus, this changes so the swing comes into focus to clearly show April playing, and the teddy slowly goes out of focus, blurring a little.

The shot then carries on, but April will slowly disappear, this gives the audience an insight to the rest of the storyline and it gives the film a creepy  tone that we hoped for. This will be shot from a low angle so as to make the teddy seem bigger that it actually is, this is because it is burning, witch creates danger, which makes the teddy domineering over the little girl. Then there will be another quick flash of the girls face lookking sad, as though she is about to cry, this represents the sad and moving botton line to the film.

Next, there will be a mid shot of April lying on her front with her dress open, giving the elosion of repe and tghat she has been kidnapped, this will be shot from a high angle to show the vulnerability of the little girl. She will also be surronded by fairy lights and a bayby's blanket that make the scene look childish. this would be followed by the quick flash of a close up image of an innocent looking baby. This is where the sound of April singing begins to fade out.

This will then jump to a mid shot of the womans hand in a sink, washing blood off, with a blood covered knife o the side of the sink. Here there will be no music but the Diagetic sound of the runnign  water. Followed by a close up of  the sink plug hole this to will be all in black and white with just the blood in its natural colour, a vibrant red. This will be accompinied by the sound of the sink clogging.

There willl then be another close up of newsparer cuttings shown as a quick flash. Then we will show a long shot of the woman walking along a driveway carryig a box. At this point the sonud of the little girl singing twinkle twinkle  little star will kick in, this is to represent that it the same little girl that the audience hve previously seen in the box that our protagonist is carrying.

The previous long shot will then jump to a midshot of the woman by the side of the car. This then fades into a shot of the boot  of the car slaming shut. The audience will see a brief glance of the box in the boot, this tells the audience that she has put the child in tyhe box in the boot of the car and is therfore taking her somewhere.

Next there will be a close up through the handle of a shovel, showing the same box as before in the background. The camera will then zoom in through the handle to reveal a close up of the box and the childs arm hanging out of the side, to reinforce the fact that the little girl is limp and lifeless inside the box. This will have creepy music over the top that is quite loud, creating a tense atmosphere, to this part of the film.

This is followed by a long shot of 'Myra' in a conspiciouse black dress hanging the little girl's dress on the door fo the wardrobe. Ffollowed by a midshot of the same blanket seen before, but covered in pills, pictures and a half ampty bottle of vodka, to show she has been drinking and that she mayt have fourcefed the girl the pills.

This is all followed by a close up ofthe box that the audience have seen before, on the floor burning, this givees the impression that the girlis burning inside the box as the audience have not seen her come out of the box and so can only assume she is still in there. The camera than zooms ou to reveal a long shot of the same box. All of the above is accompanied by the sound of creepy music.

Next is an over the shoulder shot that shows the protagonist walking towards the box, the shovel is close to the camera to show that it is the sameperson and that she is carrying the shovel. This then jumps to a behind veiw of the woman, where the audience can still see the box burning. This too is accompanied by the same creep music as before.

This then fades into a close up of a pile of ahses. This leads the audience to believe that the box and the child within have birnt and they are being shown the remains. Then the audience are exposed to a quick flash of the burnt teddy seen before with the words 'burnt to death' on the top of it. This clarifies with the audience that the small girl has in fact burnt to death. The sound heard here would be the diagetic sound of the woman laughing, this shows that she is content with her actions.

Finally, the audience will see a close up of a jack-in-a-box from a low angle, naking it seem domanearing. The jack will be timed to pop up in time with the music, an authentic janck-in-abox theme tune. This is the interupted by a shot where the film gies crackly, accompanied by a crackly film sound.

after creating the storyboard we created a shooting script. Wich enabled us to ensure that we had a good range of shots and angles.  This meant that we could ensure that there is a good range of shots and angles that sre nessessary for a good consistant openig sequence. Below is the shooting script we came up with:

Mid-shot of type-writer

Close-up of typing hands

Over-the-Shoulder-shot of woman taking paper out of type-writer

Close-up of credits & title on paper

Mid-shot of woman pinning paper on wardrobe

Close-up of newspaper cuttings

Close-up of woman's lips smoking

Close-up flash of child's sad face

Mid-shot of clock

Long-shot of girl on swing, with teddy bear burning Close-up in the foreground

teddy bear burning Close-up, girl disappears off the swing

Close-up flash of girls sad face

high angle Mid-shot of girl on the floor

Close-up flash of baby's face

Mid-shot of woman washing blood off her hands over a sink

Close-up of blood going down the plughole

Close-up flash of disturbing words (newspaper cuttings)

Long-shot of woman walking down driveway

Mid-shot of woman next to car

Close-shot of woman slamming the car boot shut

Close-up of wooden spade handle, Long-shot of burning box through handle

Close-up of burning box

Long-shot of wardrobe

Mid-shot of alcohol and pills on blanket

Close-up of burning box

Long-shot of burning box

Over-the-Shoulder-shot of woman walking to box with spade over shoulder

view from directly behind woman

Close-up of ash left over from burnt box

Mid-shot of teddy bear 'Burnt to Death'

Close-up of Jack-in-the-Box

Crackly film transition.

prop list

By writting a prop list it enabled us to check weather we had all th right equiptment to make the scene and locetion look authentic, any compramise here would lead to the film becoming inconsistant, meaning the audince feedback would not be very good, resulting in, a bad overall review of our work. So authenticity is key. Below is the prop list we came up with.

Clock

Table

Child

Newspaper Cuttings

Spade

Pills

Blood

Jack in the Box

Children's toys

Matches

Lighter

Red Lipstick

Nail Varnish

Heels

Drawing Pins

Children's Clothes

Bed sheets

Knives

Alcohol

Sweetie wrappers

Ransom Note

preperation:

After creating the storyboard, creating a props list and shooting script, we were able to begin preperation for fiming.

We started by buying the props that we didnt already hev at the location.

From a corner shop we perchased, a nespaper that we cut all of the clippings shown in the stotyboard from. We also got matces hat were used to burn the teddy later in the day. We also invested in some bluetac that was used to stick the nespaper clippings to the walls and wardrobe of our filming location.

Also as part of ouur prperation we ad to buy a small teddy, that would later be burnt. To do this we went to a charity shop, which ment we could buy a cheap teddy that was ok to burn, and one that had no sentamental value to any of us. We brought two of the same small berow bear, as a backup just incase somethign went wrong with the first attempt. The picture here shows one member of our group looking for the right teddy to use.

We also hasd to make fake blood to feature. To do this i bought 3 sachets of angle delight, a bottle of strawberry ice cream sauce and red food colouring. Then we all mixed it together, and found that the consistancy was good but the colour was a bit off, so we added brown sause and a small amount of water and the mixture looked like blood and was good enough to feature in the filming.

when we finally found a location and had sorted out all of thew props we needed we did a   

 risk assessment:

We chose too film our piece in a park that is surrounded by houses, this is because, then, if we were to come across a problem it would be easy for us to get help. Also the fact that we filmed it in a park that members of the group knew well meant that we knew where to go, so we reduced this risk of getting lost.

We also made sure that the little girl was wearing bright clothes so that she remained visible when it became a little dark.

When burning the picture we made sure that all of us were stood well away from the fire as soon as it was lit. we also made sure that one of us was at hand with a glass of water to douse the flames, so there is lea of a risk of people getting burnt.

We also had to ensure that the little girl was sat securely on the swing so the she didn’t fall of and hurt herself.

Filming

After doing all the preperation we bagan to acctually film our piece. We made sure that we followed the shooting script and the storyboard, so as not to create an in consistansy between the two. Also we made sure to check the weather and film on a sunny day. We chose to film this story on a sunny day as we believed that it would give the ideology of innocence to the piece. On the right day we all picked up the little girl and went down to a nearby park to begin filming. we decided to film the park parts first, because it gave us time before the sun went in and because then we could use the burnt teddy in the later shots. We then got April to swing on the swing and laugh as loud as she could. while she was gaining some height on the awing we placed the camera on the ground on a small piece of brown cardboard,  this was to level the ground out, to make sure the shot was straight and not wonky, we could not have used a tripod here as we wanted the shot to be from a low angle to make the burning teddy seem bigger than it is supposed to be. Once the teddy and April wre in place we carefully started to set fire to the teddy. We fimed approximatly 2 minutes of the burning teddy in the foregorung on the left and April laughing and swinging in the background on the

right hand side. 

on rout back to the indoor location we began to think of new ideas, such as, A pril skipping down the street with the camera tracking her, and we also thaught that the cemrtry would give a good effect to the film, so we filmed April skipping through it, however we were stood on the other side of the fence to her, filming through the bars of the fence. This gives the ellusion that someone is watching/stalkign the little girl. All throughou twe kept April in the same little purple dress, this is so our piece did not loose its consistacy.

The rest of the filming was done at the inside location, we filmed all the outside bits in one go to prevent any inconsistancy in  the weather. Again whilst in the attic we bedan to come up with new iseas. We thought that the shot that shows Hannah, the woman, walking towards the wardrobe would look better if she stood directly in front of the camera creating a black screen that would then get smaller as Hannah walked away, reaveling the rest of the scene. For most of the indoor shots we used a tripod, this is so the shots were steady and not shaky. We also shot some of the clips more than once, each time changing the lighting to see wich one gave the best effect and atmosphere to the clip.

When wee finally had all the shots that we needed from the attic, we went downstairs and began to film with the blood we had made previously. We put  some of the blood on the edge of a sharp kitchen knife, to imply that she has harmed the little girl. We also covered Hannah's hands in the makeshift blood. Whilst filming these shots we had to make sure that all the house was silent so we could record the sound of the sink with no interuptions.

As well as adding some shots we also took quite a few out, this was to make the whole thing less confusing and more simplistic, giving a good effect, that the audience would find easier to follow. We took the first 5 shots out. When we had finished filming we had to start editing all the shots together.

audience feedback 

after showing some people the first final product we found that they didnt really like or enjoy whatching what we had produced. They said that teh footage was more of a short film father than a short opening sequence, many of them said that teey found the whole thing too confusing and that theyy thaught there was too much going on in such a short space of time, and that it was too much to take in and process.

So we decided to listen to our audienc's feedback,a nd we changed some of the shots and came up with another short and basic storyline to follow. We asked one member of our group's boyfriend, Olly, to play the part of April's big brother, we chose to use him as he is an A-level drama student and so had reliable acting skills. We also changed the main character looks and had Jess, another group member, to play teh part of the woman stalker.

From our original filming we only kept two shots, the ones of April on the swing, we thought this was best because, it would make a good focal point of the clip. We also took out the second location and decided to film only in the park, we filmed April on the swing, the same as before, but this time from different andles and shots.We then filmed many shots of Olly's face and body language, showing that he is becoming more and more stressed that he can not find his little sister.

After creating this second synopsis we created a second shooting script:  

Long shot of April swinging on the swing in the background, with the burning teddy bear in the foreground (the only original shot that we kept; however we would edit this piece of footage so that it was in slow motion)

Over-the-Shoulder shot of me holding the polaroid camera 'taking a picture'. You can also see April swinging on the swing in the background. (Black&White).

Long shot of April swinging on swing in the background, with the burning teddy bear in the foreground, the same as before; the opening shot (and the original piece of footage; however this time we will keep the shot at its normal speed).

Same shot as before; but this time with April disappearing from the swing, (this will also be shot from a low angle the same as the other shots with the burning teddy bear).

Long shot of April swinging on swing, with tree leaves and branches blurred in the foreground; as if someone was watching her. (Black&White).

Several long shots of Oliver looking around the park for April. We will shoot him walking past the same part of the park but from three different angles.

Long shot of April swinging on swing through the park fence; tracking shot. (Black&White).

Long shot of Olly looking around a different part of the park; getting more and more worried.

Mid shot of Olly continuing on from the previous shot; he is looking in the same part of the park but the shots are from different angles and they join together.

Over-the-Shoulder shot of me, 'Myra', leant up next to a tree, watching April who is seen in the far distance background, still swinging on the swing. (Black&White).

Mid shot of Olly getting more worried; this time with dialogue. This will be done with the hand-held camera...

...Point-of-View shot. Hand-held as if its from Olly's point-of-view looking around the park. This will lead on from the previous shot; the dialogue will continue to give more authenticity.

Intense close up of Olly's eyes; this will fill the shot; he will blink and when his eyes open again, it will be an intense close up of my eyes - (Black&White).

Long shot of April swinging on the swing, still. This is another hand-held point-of-view shot as if someone was looking at her again, only this time through a wire fence. (Black&White).

Mid shot of Olly rushing around even more frantically; looking in a different part of the park, the camera will be placed as if its attached to the piece of play equipment. He will be speaking in this shot also.

We will then place the camera, on the tripod, in a place that shows a wide shot of the whole park. We will leave it in the same place while Olly rushes around in all different directions; when editing we will cut bits out of this footage so that he jumps around from piece of play equipment to another.

Very low angle shot of Olly falling to his knees so that his is on top of the camera; this is to enhance his facial expressions.

Over-the-Shoulder shot of Olly reaching for the burnt teddy bear.

Panning shot, from a low angle, moving down Olly's body; him still being on his knees; and then zooming into the teddy bear.

Long shot of April swinging on the swing, blurred, with tree branches in the foreground. (Black&White).

High anlge shot from directly above Olly; him screaming.

A gradual zoom out from the Long shot of Olly on the floor. The full zoom out of the shot will show April's dress in a tree and the polariod picture, that was taken earlier in the sequence, with burnt edges.

Some of the shots will be black and white, this is ment to represent the past, so all the bitd that the woman is watching April, has happened in the past, and all the bits that include Olly, that are in colour are all happening in the present.

filming2

So after creating a new storyline and shooting script, we bagan to film the new parts of the film. We used the same location as the original footage, the park. for all the shots that are in black and white and form a point of view, the camera was not on a tripod, this is because we thought that the shakiness would make the point-of-veiw shot more realistic. For all of the point of veiw shots we changed the mode of the camera, which means that the things in the foreground, branches for example, are slightly more blurry than the things in the backgound. we filmed shots that were at eye level eith Olly this is to fukky show his emotions. We also filmed him form above, this is to show that he is helpless and inferier to thekidnapper as there is nothing he can do, he can not get his sister back, so the kiddnapper is more dominant than he.

editing

To edit our work we used the Sony Vagas softwhere. In this editing process we worked on putting all of the new footage with the exisisting footage, we added effects such as fading. We also ovwrlapped some of the clips to give it that disolvoing effect, that you get when one clip runs smoothly into another. Also we changed the colour of some of the shots and made some of the black and white, we did this using the effects part of the softwhere, all we had to do was find the right one, the one that looked the bast and drag the application onto the part of the clip that we wnated to be blacka and white, or in the past, in our case. After appling all the effects that we wanted, we put the shots into an order that made the most sense and looked the best and most appealing.

audience feedback2

For our second audience feedback we posted the video onto facebook, as this is a popural site that most of our family and friends look at and so we thaugfht it would be a good way to judge weather people liked it or not.

Above are some of the commentys that our piece recieved whan posted on facebook.....:

final video

Evaluation

Overall i feel that our final oiece went really well, despite all the last minute changes made to please the audience. I fell that changign the storyline was what made the piece stronger, this is because we changed due to the audiece's feedback, therefore we gave the sudience what they wanted, making them happy, and the aim of our video id ro please that audience and make watching our film a pleasurable experience for them. This means theyy will want to watch on and see the rest of the story unfold, this is what we aimed for, and looking at the final audience feedbak i feel that this has been achieved, we have managed to please oue target audience as we had hoped we would.