Evaluation - Looking back at your preliminary task (continuity editing task) what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Since doing the preliminary task, I feel I have made outstanding progress to now. I have learnt so many new techniques. At first in the premilimary task I didn't know how to turn the camcorder on, then towards the end of completing the opening sequence of our film, I was able to use a camcorder, connect it to the computer and edit the shots on Adobe Premiere.
Here are some things I have learnt:

• Tromboning - this was a major problem in the pre-lim task and we manged to master it during our actual film. I also learnt when to use the different types of camera angle (long shots close-ups) and understand the right times to use them.
• Editing was the major thing I learnt as I knew absolutely nothing about it when I first started my coursework. Bur during the process of making the film i learnt about transitions, how to dip to black, cross cutting and editing the opacity (which occurs a lot in our film).
• I managed to learn how to put all the footage on a timeline.
• Continuity - we ensured all people starring in the film wore the same clothes on filming days for the simple fact of continuity.
• I also learnt the importance of mise en scene. We filmed our shots with poor mise en scence at first, but after some constructive criticism from our teacher, we went to a better location and filmed the shots again.

Evaluation - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Before starting this project I have never experienced using a camcorder or tripod before. I didn't really know much about camera shots and angles either. Also, I had never heard of 'Adobe Premiere', the editing software we used to edit the film.
As we began to start filming I got used to working the camera and tripod and learnt how to film a great range of camera shots and angles. This is me using the camera and tripod whilst filming the performance shots:

Further in the process, after we had filmed all the required shots we went on to using the Adobe Premiere editing software. It seemed extremely complex at first to me, but as I used it more and more it became simpler and I was able to edit quite well. I learnt how to arrange clips on the timeline, fading and dissolving clips, how to use special FX, and how to use the opacity, as this occurs throughout our film.

Here is a screen grab of some of the editing I have done:

 

  (This was done using the opacity technique, with text included)

(This is an example of me arranging the clips onto a timeline)




We also used a range of other technologies to produce our film:


1. Adobe Premiere - this a complete movie editor software solution. You can organize, create, enhance, and share home movies on here and I used it to edit and create my film. It is easy to get the hang of and I picked up how to edits clips quickly.

2. Photoshop - to produce edit the film title 'Stage girls'. Photoshop is an image manipulation tool where we can edit the colour and contrast of a picture, whilst taking things out of the image.

 

3. Facebook - I posted the film on my facebook profile to get feedback because Facebook is used by lots of teenagers and would be a good way of getting feedback of people around my age.

4. Google - we used an image of a mirror off Google for the Film title. Google has a wide range of images which people can take and edit (photoshop). It is used worldwide and this is how I found my image..

5. Editing keyboard - used to edit the film by quickly clicking shortcuts on the keyboard.

6. Blogger - 'Blogger' is googles free tool for creating blogs. Blogs, short for web-logs, are a form of online journal, this is where we kept a diary of our progress/ planning.

< screen grab of me blogging at an
                                                             earlier stage.

Evaluation - How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract a wide audience, we ensured the setting and locations were realistic and believable. We used a typical teenage girl (Alex) as the main character, so young teenage girls would be able to relate to her.

We also had lots of things that would appeal to the audience, such as a complicated story that kept the audience guessing, throughout the sequence we had music playing making the plot seem tense, making the audience anxious and also excited, and want to watch the whole film!

I posted our film on my Facebook profile. We got lots of positive feedback about the film, here are some of the comments:

- "Well done, you can really feel the tension. Definitely A grade standard."

- "I love it! It leaves you thinking 'what's happened?' And so you want to watch more.  Well done!"

- "I had to watch it twice to understand what is happening, but great camerawork and editing skills."

- " I liked it Kayla! Felt a bit scared when that guys stood behind the curtain at the end! Feel like shouting...."watch hes behind you!"

 

Chloe, another member of our group also posted the film onto Youtube. We received lots of positive feedback on that too.

So, overall we are pleased with lots of great feedback from the film. The people giving feedback were also teenagers and I feel it's great that they enjoyed it so much and felt that they could relate to it.

Evaluation - who would be the audience for your media product?

This is Bethany O'Grady. She is 17 years of age and lives in the Ightenhill area of Burnley. She dresses with an 'Indie' style and enjoys hanging out with her friends, shopping, listening to music, dancing and watching films. She enjoys a range of films such as chick flicks, dance movies and also movies that make you think. I.e - psychological thrillers. I regularly watch films of a thriller genre with Bethany and she seems to really enjoy them. She typically watches TV programmes such as 'Marchlands' - a psychological drama, 'Emmerdale' and music shows.
Bethany is a typical 17 year old teenage girl, and I think our film will appeal to her because it is all about girls performing (Beth likes dance) and about keeping a true and strong friendship (Beth likes spending time with friends). She enjoys films of the thriller genre such as Taken, Silence of the Lambs and Psycho.

Evaluation - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our film would be put out by a small British outlet such as WARP productions, as our film would actually be a low budget British film.
A company creates ideas and motion pictures, TV programmes and adverts etc. They may also find funding for the products they produce. WARP productions have produced films such as 'This is England' and 'Four Lions'.

   

WARP productions tend to look into giving a ordinary picture of British life, and work off quite a low budget. They get funding from outlets like the National Lottery and the UK Film Council, they have funded St. Trinian's and Kidulthood who have influenced us hugely.

('WARP' logo taken from http://www.google.com/)

Our film fits into the types of films that WARP studios produce. It is gritty, set in Britain and centres around everyday people lives.

Evaluation - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film has a positive representation towards teenage girls today. It shows girls who have true friendship and girls who play  classical music, and so avoids the perception of teenagers drinking, taking drugs which is usually what is seen as the typical negative stereotype.  

It also shows girls to be wary  of some men who may be seedy and dangerous. It stereotypes young men as sneaky, perverted dangerous, and so there is a sinister/negative representation of men.

Our film also shows characters from a different ethnic background, i.e Asian. Our characters are like that of Bend it like Beckham characters, which also represents middle class teenage girls of different ethnic groups. Because shaista, who is of an asian background, is not wearing the stereotypical clothes ie, burka, this has a positive impact too.

So, our film will appeal to a wide range of teenage girls of different ethnic origins.

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

The title of the film.



Our film title is shown at the end of the opening sequence. It was produced by using an image from http://www.google.com/ and editing it on Photo shop. The contrast and brightness was edited to make the title look more effective and how I imagined it to be.

The title 'Stage Girls' resembles the fact that there is a stalker who follows girls who perform on stage. This sort of title may not be common in psychological thrillers in, for example, 'Silence of the Lambs'. However, my film is all about mystery, and because the title doesn't give away that the film is a psychological thriller, the audience would be pleasantly surprised and feel hooked to watch the rest of the film, after watching our opening sequence.

Setting/Location.



My location shot is outside the theatre and then inside the theatre. This links to the title of 'Stage Girls' I shot the theatre as empty, to show that there will be an element of mystery and mind games within the film, and this is reflected in the shot of the empty stage. The film 'Taken' has an element of mystery and comes under the thriller genre, this uses empty location shots. Our shots, obviously are much more simple than the shots in massive movies like 'Taken' but I still feel it gives a great effect and feeling.

Costumes and props.

Every film has costumes and props, and this is a typical media convention. In my film you can see the stage girl dressed in an evening gown, this is the costume. She is playing the piano, the piano is the prop. Like may films in the thriller genre, we closely relied on costumes and props to make the film clear and see the characters journeys. For example, Kim from 'Taken'.

Camerawork and editing.

This frame shows the transition between Alex waking up and Shaista and I about to be kidnapped. We have used the 'layering' effect and made the two shots opaque by reducing the opacity. This gives the effect of one character thinking about the other character they have been layered onto. In this shot, Alex is waking up and thinking about where her friends have gone. We have also used a close-up shot in this where Alex wakes up, this gives a great feeling of emotion towards her, it is very dramatic.

Here is another close up, this time of the stalker sniffing the scarf that Shaista dropped. This is a 'creepy' element and we really want to make the audience feel scared of the stalker, so we used a close up to emphasise this.






Title font and style.

Our production company title 'M.A.S.C Productions' is a combination of our group members initials. When we realised it was pronounced like 'mask' we thought it would be witty to add two theatre masks to our logo. This adds the element of irony to the production title.
The title 'Stage Girls' in the mirror, has a girly element, but because the writing is in a thick black font it also gives the impression of gloom and darkness, which our film reflects.

Story and how the opening sets it up.

The opening gives a sense of mystery, the fact that someone is waking up makes would already make you ask questions such as 'what is she waking up from?'. Because the film's genre is a psychological thriller we do not want to give too much away too soon, a lot of people who have watched the film do not understand what is going on, but after watching it a second time they understand that myself and Shaista are performers who are getting stalked and have gone missing, and Alex, the girl waking up is looking for us and remembering shots from where she's seen us last. We have used a lot of layering, this is to show Alex remembering and having flashbacks of different shots. This sets up the scene for the whole film as it will be based on Alex trying to find us with lots of twist and turns.

Genre and how the Opening suggests it.

Because we have used a piano playing over most of the opening, it gives a eerie effect and gives a sense of mystery. The layering effect also gives the impression of flashbacks and mind games, hence our genre being based on mind games with it being a psychological thriller.

How characters are introduced.

Alex is first shown on screen, and she appears to be waking up lost. She has a worried expression and therefore she would be seen as a serious character.
Then there's myself, playing the piano, I would come across as a creative character as I am a performer on stage. But, as I am shown screaming with Aaron behind us this shows I am young and naive.
Shaista is introduced slightly with me, walking in the park, dropping her scarf and screaming. She also is a performer but later will also be seen as naive and unaware until being kidnapped.
Aaron is the male stalker who follows girls who perform on stage. He is introduced watching the girls, picking up Shaistas scarf and sniffing it. This shows he is psychologically unstable and will make the audience understand our genre more.

Special FX.

Our film contains lots of special effects, varying from slow motion, change in opacity, 'staggering' effect as alex regains conciousness. The opacity technique is used to show alex's memories and what she remembers from where she remembers her friends. the slow motion adds to the dram and tension of the film.