Evaluation
FINAL PRODUCT- DOLL HOUSE OPENING
Our camera shots and a variety of close ups, mid shots and long shots. We felt that if we had a variety of shots the audience would feel more involved with the film as each shot creates a different effect
We used both high angles and low angles, the low to make the protagonist feel superior when she thinks she has destroyed the doll however a high angle to make her feel powerless.
We tried to include as many movements as possible such as dolly and pan, to make the viewers get a perspective of where the teenager is, such as the establishing shots of the room.
Our main sound is non-diagetic which was the audio from the lullaby and dramatic bell chimes at the end but we also include the digetic sound from the background such as the shovel dragging across the ground. This creates the illusion that the audience is there witnessing these events.
Although the lighting is mostly natural light and darkness, we also used torches to highlight the detail in the doll. The change of lighting in the scene represents the relief the girl feels as the darkness turns to light. However later on in the opening when the light switches on and off again it demonstrates her emotions and how scared she is again.
Editing was used specifically to make the film run smoothly but also be jumpy when required to create a tension. We used transitions such as FADE but we also overlapped our scenes so their is an ominous dream like sensation while watching which refers to how she is remembering it to.
The misenscene is created by the body language of our main character, she is tense to start with then as she think she has destroyed the doll, she is able to sleep which means she must feel relaxed, however as we see her start to turn in her sleep we see the climax emerging and soon reverts back to that intense, terrified state. It is also created through the darkness of the locations and the cliff hangers, such as the doll suddenly appearing in the mirror.
We only meet 2 characters in the opening, the doll and the girl, the girl seems to be rundown and exhausted, her body language is tense and it makes the audience ask why she is on her own and where are her parents. The doll is an emotionless china doll, which the audience doesn't know whether it is possessed, haunted, evil or whether it is in fact all in the teenagers mind.
The location is only in the woods and her room, this creates a claustrophobic atmosphere, to make the audience feel trapped as the character would.
We think the narrative and plot is original and captures the audience through cliff hangers, our use of audio and the overall unique story line.
The visual style was overall quite dark, yet the audience can tell though the background in the room and the clothing the girl is wearing that the film was set in a year similar to now.
Through all these aspects we have shown the genre is an obvious hybrid of a horror and the thriller, as it has the generic conventions of a horror such as possible murder and mystery but also suspense, tension and anonymity of a thriller.
1. In what way does your media project use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media product incorporates the traditional horror generic conventions through the dark background and ominous characters.
However our film challenges these conventions because our protagonist does not fit in to a stereotypical view of a teenage.
Our conventions also lead to our film being a hybrid of a thriller and a horror as we incorporate suspense and mystery usual shown in a thriller film.Our conventions indicate that our film has been influenced by other films especially the ones we researched on PEARL AND DEAN.
We found through these recent pie charts that horror is a largely popular percentage of the film industry from the information given by our target audience.
Another way our media product follows the conventions of a normal horror film is by the opening credits sequence.
Another way our media product follows the conventions of a normal horror film is by the opening credits sequence.
From research we found that most of the title sequences follow the standardised pattern which we added to our opening:
- producers’ names ( Crystal Ball Productions Presents)
- the actor playing leading part (Molly Redpath)
- title of the film (DOLL HOUSE)
- supporting cast (Lisa Carter)
- written by (Katherine S)
- the director’s name. (Kerry M)
- film crew (Hayley B)
We found that the title should be at the end of the credits as it is most important and more valuable to the audience to read it last as it will be the most memorable.
2. does your media product represent particular social groups?
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Image from opening scene. |
As there is only one character in the final cut, there are no social groups however she may be seen as a typical teenager symbolized by the unkept room but what makes her abnormal is the serious look she has and is obviously troubled.
The use of gender in our film may mean that more of a female audience may be attracted but the audience can see that she is not passive and takes on a more dominant role.
This links to the target audience.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our film is a low budget movie which means that Multiplex cinemas may not want to feature us, therefore we would make more income on a smaller screen, which is why we have chosen to start with the art house picture film in Stratford, London.
Our research in to what TV channels may want to broadcast are show were TV movie
Our conclusion links to the misenscene visual style of our film, which helped us decide what age restriction our media product should be advised for and we chose a 12.
4. Who would be the audience of your media product?
Through our research we found similar films and averaged the age and gender, we found our film would be most suitable as a 12 as it enables a much larger audience, but we are focusing on 14-20 year olds, and we found that males are more prone to go and see a horror film so by using a female actress we hope that it will invite a wider gender range. The age of our protagonist appears around 16-18 therefore we hope it will also interest an older audience as they may consider it to be a more mature film to appeal to their taste, which why we would produce film adverts on a wider media range then just television to reach the greater part of the world on FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE.
Other films that our similar to ours are and they appeal to were the ones we researched such as THE SEED OF CHUCKY and DONNIE DARKO, we had to find a balance between the two as DONNIE DARKO is rated 15 where as CHUCKY is a 12A.
This is why our research to age groups influenced our use of generic conventions and how important it was to attract the target audience and not have a psychological affect if it is seen for the wrong age group.
We chose to rate it 12 and not an 15 because there would be no scenes of strong sexual scenes however there would be images of violence, mild language and disturbing scenes.
5. How did you attract/ address your audience?
We attracted our target audience by having a preview of the film to an audience which will then spread the information, we thought this was affective because it is free advertising and the more trusting secure way of getting news around.
There are particular points in the film that would attract and terrify a certain age or gender which is probably people under 12 which is why we made the certificate a 12.
The camerawork use such as points of view shots draw the audience in and make them part of the film.
The film suggests that the audience puts them self in the role of the girl who is being tormented by a china doll however there are a few shots that allows the audience to switch roles and see the view of the opposition.
When we interviewed some target audiences we found that their opinions matched our expectation, this has a big impact because it means that the right type and age audience will be attracted to our film.
We think that not having a script, so their is no dialog in the opening also demonstrated in the film THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE REED http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jmu5flghF1g
This links to the generic conventions and the creation of suspense, tension and anonymity. We think the soothing audio creates a false sense of security which means when the dramatic music starts the audience feels more intense and unsuspecting.
This links to the generic conventions and the creation of suspense, tension and anonymity. We think the soothing audio creates a false sense of security which means when the dramatic music starts the audience feels more intense and unsuspecting.
Some responses from target audiences.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
The strengths and weaknesses of the camera equipment was there was no light or night-vision which made it very hard to film in the dark morning. We did not consider that the camera did not have a light on it, but luckily we resolved this through using a torch for lighting and also deleting or re-filming some of the original scenes because the shot was to dark to see. Some of the strengths were using the tri-pod to help get a structured shot but also we learnt by varying how he used and held the camera we could make it seem like the shot was more of a point of view shot if you were holding the camera instead of filming from a fixed position.
The film process created a lot of problems so we had to cut a lot of the initial ideas which is how we resolved the issue. This was our first time using FINAL CUT PRO and TITLES, but we picked up how to edit fairly quickly. We learnt a lot on how to make the transactions between shots run more smoothly by using edits such as FADE and we also learnt the benefits of audio editing.
We believe the equipment and software enhanced our thriller/horror especially the effects we could create on the software.
We did also experiment with GARAGE BAND however we felt that we couldn't create the right effect.
7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We found that the planning stage was even more important in filming the main task then the preliminary as it was important that each shot ran smoothly, as if there was a mistake that we could not edit, then it would be very hard to film in the same conditions we did before, where as being in side while filming the preliminary meant there was less pressure for it to be accurate.
We also discovered how much research was needed for the story board to fit in with the genre however the detailed planning did mean that our film went pretty much to plan and ran a lot smoother as everyone knew their position, role and duties.
The preliminary task helped us to incorporate the specific shots such as match on action, which we used her coming thought the front door again. Also a lot of shot reverse shot and 180. shot such as when she is looking at the doll.
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Final cut pro |
The preliminary task helped us to incorporate the specific shots such as match on action, which we used her coming thought the front door again. Also a lot of shot reverse shot and 180. shot such as when she is looking at the doll.
We felt that we were much more confident with the equipment as well since the preliminary , so we were quite prepared to start filming.
And finally we think our film turned out successful, as it was conventional but different at the same time.
