Race Against Time

Question 7-Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the product?

In November, my group and I where told to take on our first ever proper filming work. We where put into a group of 3 which consisted of me, Derrick and Ibukun. We where told to film a little scene where we had to include different camera shots and techniques. This included shots like; mid shot, close shot, pan, tilt, long shot etc, and camera techniques such as; the 180 degree rule, match on action, eye line match and more.The film was really short and basically about a boy that was on his way to media, but sees one of his friends that he didn't know takes media. What I gained from the preliminary task was like a little warm up experience. It was just a preparation of our final film and gave as a little practice when taking into account the different camera shots and techniques when filming.  

During my Preliminary Task, there several mistakes that took place that we didn't notice. But since it was our first attempt on making a film, it was not too bad. One mistake was that the film when I was walking up the stairs was too long. When we were creating my final film, we realised we don’t need big chunks of unnecessary walking and how it could be cut down. Another thing we noticed was that ‘Ibukun’ first appears behind the door, then all of a sudden, he was at the end of the hall way. We didn't realise this till we started editing which means we didn't take into consideration of the surroundings. Another thing I noticed was that our 180 degree rule was not that good as well. It did not extend to how long we wanted it to.  The last mistake I realised was our eye line match was not very good as well. The camera was held for too long when zooming into my eyes and the zooming in of what I was looking at were not so good as well. We also didn't take into consideration the sound because towards the end, we hear derrick say ‘Yeah’ to indicate I was doing it right.

In the creation of our final thriller, I noticed a few mistakes which we made. For example, when the killer strangles the girl, she begins to shout. In reality, when someone is being strangled, they would be gasping for breath and wouldn't have the time to shout. Another mistake we made was around 2:40. When the killer runs past Richie, we see towards the ground but the girl is not there. During the creation of the film, the girl was not available so we had to try and record what we could without her. But this part is unnoticeable. 

Within this experience, I have learned various new things between both the preliminary work and my final film.

1. The first thing I have learned is how to really use the camera. During the preliminary task, I didn’t do any filming because I weren’t to comfortable when dealing with the camera. I didn’t fully know how to operate it and how to do certain things like zooming. But when it came to the creation of my film, I kind of picked up how to use it. Reasons for this was because there where some parts where I had to film and the other members in my group weren’t able to do.

2.The second thing I have learnt was how to use the tripod effectively. Although I already knew how to use the tripod, I learnt how I could use it more in an advanced way. For example, managing the timing of a tilting and panning shot. Also, how to get a low angle and high angle shot just by adjusting the legs of a tripod.

3. The third thing I have learnt how to do is use final cut express. During my preliminary task, although I did a little bit of editing I still didn’t feel confident when using it. This meant I had to learn how to take on certain things by myself. With the editing of our final filming, derrick and me took on the role of editing, but when derrick wasn’t around, I had to learn for myself. I learnt how to add music, cut and edit certain parts, add effects and many more. This was effective because I came back a lot during my spare time to edit and get the film one to a high standard. With the sound I added and the editing, I learned how to cross-fade certain parts and the impact it has when dealing with the interference levels. Also, with the editing, I learned how important continuity was. This made the film flow more and prevent unwanted jumps which would have made the film look unprofessional.

Question 6-What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Question 5-How did you attract/address your audience?

The audience for this film is quite diverse. Reasons for this because it was originally aimed at people from the ages of 16-25 but at the same time it could be older. It is aimed at 6 to 25 year old because of the several aspects we have consisted within this film. One example is the young characters. They attract the younger teenage audience because it enables the audience to put there selves in the shoes of the actors. This because they are the similar age and they have the mentality to think like them and know how they would act. Another way we have attracted our audience is how the actors are dressed. We have dressed them in the way that people of the ages of 16-25 may dress. These are things like jeans, hoodies, bags/pouches etc. This attracts our audience more because since they may be dressed the same they may feel that they could relate to them. Another way we have attracted our audience is by where we have set our film. We have mainly set it in an alleyway, which teens could be interested in. The alleyway kind of symbolises a rough place and some teens on the roads could have been brought up rough. This means that they could automatically relate to the scene. Also, some people that were not brought up rough may be attracted to it because they would want to see what things could happen in an alleyway. Another way we have attracted our audience is the action scene. Some people may be attracted to action type thrillers which mean they would automatically want to watch it. This is where the diversity comes in because people older the ages of 16-25 may enjoy action type thrillers and the fact that the murder scene leaves them on the edge of their seats which means they would want to watch it as well. I and my group believe that our target audience is the best option due to the theme of our film and the feeling which are expressed by the characters. One more device we used was the type of spying scene. This is when the main character is on his way to the murder scene. From my opinion, I thought it would be great to use because the age of our audience is the type to like all this build up in a film.

Question 4-Who would be the audience for your media product?

For our thriller, my group and I believe it should be from the ages of 16-25 and mainly ‘Males’ for various reasons. One reason is that the film is youthful which means that the audience can take in and relate to what the actors are doing. Reasons why the audience could be males because, it shows their dominance over the subordinates. In the film, we clearly see that the male is dominant and the woman is subordinate which means it could appeal to them more. It also shows the power they have which they may want to relate to within the film. The target audience for the film could also be working- class people. This is by the way the characters are dressed which means they could relate to easier. At the same time, I would have enjoyed for the film to be present to wider age groups, but that means they may not be able to relate to the film due to it being very youthful. Also, all the characters are youths which wouldn't appeal to some people. Another thing is that the target audience is people that are interested in watching film with a lot of action. This would prevent too much dialogue because the film is mainly based on the viewer understanding and acknowledging the surroundings of the film. We also believe that our audience is the perfect option because they may understand deeply how the characters feel. This is mainly because they are able to relate to them.

At the same time, our film could be targeted at people who enjoy watching thrillers, so this could over the age of 25. People may be used to watching thrillers and the excitement they have within them. E.g. the usage of the sub-genre. They may enjoy the fact that we have mixed action with our thriller which would attract them more. On the other hand, we realised that our audience may vary so it could actually be from the ages of 11-25. Reasons for this are because 11 is the age children start secondary school. Secondary school students will be an ideally audience to watch this film because it is the time they start to mature and understand what the film is all about. This means that they should be able to understand the fast pace of the movie and twists that come along with it.

We have also used the audience which where directed at Kidulthood and Adulthood. This means that this audience would automatically be attracted to our film.

Also by the fact that more people of the ages of 16-25 answered my questionnaire, it would have been ideally to create the film directed at them. 

Also, due to more people of the ages of 16-25 answering our questionnaire means that it would have been ideally to aim it at that age group.

Question 3-What kind of media institution might distributed your mediaproduct and why?

Evaluation question 3 from RichieIdemudia

Another way it could have been distributed was by social networks like twitter. The image on my left shows a real screen shot of my twitter account and shows how I have distributed my final film on there. It has also been retweeted which means that someone else has now distributed it through me which could go on from there. It has also been favorited which means someone has enjoyed it and also wants other people to see as well. By favouriting it means that they can always come back to it.

Question 2-How does your media product represent particular social groups?