Finished Product!

Evaluation - What Have I Learnt

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

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

My knowledge of the technologies involved in the process of constructing our film has greatly improved during the period in which we filmed and edited our short film.

Before we filmed this film, I had very little knowledge of how to even use the cameras that we were given to film. Now however, I have a much greater understanding of how to effectively use the camera to produce the ideal shot for the film, how to use equipment for the camera such as tripods and even how to upload the finished footage to a computer for editing.

To edit our footage we used the programmes included in the ‘Adobe CS4’ package. Prior to editing this film I had very little knowledge of how to effectively use any of these programmes. During the creation of this film I have had to use ‘After Effects’, ‘Photoshop’ and ‘Premier Pro’. This experience with these programmes has dramatically improved my knowledge of them and my ability to use them. 

Using these programmes made me realise how different effects, shot types and shot durations could affect the feeling a film produces. When we created my preliminary video, we used a very small range of shot types and they were all very long in duration. This gave it a very boring and dragged out feeling. Also, we didn’t use any effects, we just put the clips into a chronological order and finished. This made the film feel very boring and awkward to watch.

Now that I have had more experience with the creation of my film opening I fully realise how even the smallest aspect of a film can change the way in which it is perceived by the audience. In our finished product, to give it a ‘horrific’ feel to it, we have tinted it to appear much darker, shortened each clip dramatically to add a ‘jumpy’ feel to the film and even the static transition between the clips and the way in which we have filmed it in first person adds a much more realistic effect.

As well as the effects that mise en scene, camera shot choices and editing techniques have on a film, I have also learnt how important sound can be to achieving the desired affect. In my preliminary piece, we didn’t change the sound at all which made the film even less interesting to watch. In our finished piece however, through experimentation with different music and sound effects, we have managed to find the perfect sounds to go in the background of the dialogue to add a more tense feeling to the film whilst still keeping the film realistic sounding.

In conclusion, since my preliminary clip film was created, I have a much greater knowledge of what technologies are available to me and how to use them to achieve the designated effect for my film. I have also learnt what techniques, in terms of shot types, sound, mise en scene and editing methods are best to use in different situations to create different feels and meanings to a film. I now know how to make an audience perceive my film in a way which leaves them more involved and entertained.

Evaluation - Target Audience

Evaluation - Conventions

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

My media product uses many of the typical conventions which films of the same genre, horror, tend to use. For example, many horror films use light to change the mood of a scene and to emphasise the fact that it is a horror film. This use of dim lighting, or in some cases very bright lighting, can change the feel of a scene dramatically and completely change the effect of the scene.

Our film, similarly to other films in the horror genre, has been edited to dim the light on a scene to make it appear darker and gloomier. Without this effect, due to the fact that we have only shot 2 minutes of the film, our clip doesn’t look like a horror; it looks more like a documentary because of the ‘hand held’ style of shooting the film.

This hand held filming style challenges the conventions of real media products in the same genre as mine. Although now many more low-budget horror films are choosing to film in this way, this technique of filming still isn’t used very often. Most of the films that are shot in this hand held style only use shots that are filmed from this hand held perspective. Our media product however has also used shots filmed from a third person perspective. We have decided to use this to challenge and differentiate our film from others in our genre and to give more of an effect that the characters in our media piece are being watched (this fits with the story line of our film).

Our choice of setting for our film is also very similar to other films in this genre. We chose to film in a dark, isolated forest away from people. Almost all horror films which we have studied have also chosen to set their films in an isolated/secluded location. This, in most cases, adds an effect of loneliness and helplessness to the characters in the film; this is why we have chosen this location for our film. It adds a scarier feel to the film and makes it seem that the characters in the film have no one to help them if something were to happen to one or both of them.

The shot types which we have used challenge the conventions of a typical horror film. Horror films use large amounts of close ups and extreme close ups to emphasise emotion (mostly fear or fright) and to show gory wounds more closely to give a scarier effect. We however have used very few close ups or extreme close ups. We haven’t included them because no events which evoke emotions or wounds worth showing a close up of have occurred due to the fact that it is only the opening 2 minutes of the film.

Also, as in most films of any genre, especially horror, the main protagonists in our film have been introduced from the beginning of the film/ very early on in the film. This is another example of us using typical conventions of other films.

Evaluation - Disribution

Evaluation - Representation

TEENAGED HORROR FILM LOVERS READ THIS!

Our film is perfect for everyone who loves a good horror film but if you're a horror loving teenager, this film is perfect for you!


It contains everything that you love to see in a horror film...

• Tension.
• phychological horror.
• suspense.
• scenes that will make you jump out of your seat.

The film intro will be released on the 27th of April 2012 so go take a look at it when you can and prepare yourself for the full film!


For more information on the progress of the developement of The Last Walk keep an eye on this blog, we will update it with all the information you need!