Main Task

Click here to watch my final opening:

Preliminary Task

Click here to view our preliminary task:

Continuity editing is used as the two characters are shown outside the room entering and then the next shot which shows them entering the room.

 A two shot was used in this stage of the conversation two show the characters are not in dispute.

 We then used shot reverse shot to show point of view.

Evaluation Question 6 &7

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

To explore this question, I used the application 'Popplet' as well as part of my 'Basement' website to present all of the technologies I have learnt whilst conducting the project. 'Popplet' is a good presentation application because you can explore pictures and text in a very simple way. It was important to use pictures for this part of my evaluation so that the new technologies are easier to understand in a visual way.

Click here to view my popplet

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

Click here to see my website -

I used my Wix website to explore questions 6 and 7 as when I was looking at weebly I found this website and wanted to explore it and ended up liking the site. It also allowed me to use pictures and make the film look professional.

Evaluation - Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Click here to see my video -

I decided to make a powerpoint and recorded my presentation to the class. I used powerpoint because I could annotate my screen shots and also write extras words on the board as I presented allowing me to explain everything that I had to address.

Using a production company 

For small, independent films, production companies are often also involved in the distribution and marketing process. A late addition to my final film opening was to create a production company, I called this 'MZ Productions' to reflect it being a small, independent company with my own initials. 
Here is the logo I designed for the company:

I chose this logo as it looked professional and also gave authenticity to my opening. I also wanted to keep it plain and simple so it didn't look amateur and with the film reel design I was also trying to defend the film industry as most things are going online.

Evaluation Question 4 & 5

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

5.  How did you attract/address your audience?

Click here to see my website -

I used weebly for these 2 questions because I felt that with weebly I could also use it as an advertisement for my website and insert pictures and with a website I could link back to my research on how other films used websites to promote their films and give information.

Alongside my website, I also organised a premiere film screening of my film opening for a group of people from my target audience demographic to watch. My target age demographic is age 15+, and so I planned for a premiere of viewers of this age group. I was limited in the resources for undertaking the screening and so it took place in  my school, however, this was a way of undertaking authentic marketing for my film opening which I would not otherwise have been able to do.

Please click on this link to watch a recording of the premiere screening: http://youtu.be/a-0cyKQaerQ 

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

·         How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Click here to view my Prezi -

I used prezi in this post because prezi allows my presentation to look interactive and could engage my audience and also allows me to separate my different analysis points and elaborate on them and gives people an opportunity to ask questions as I went along.

Evaluation - Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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

Click here to view my padlet -

I used padlet because it allows me to enlarge my analysis of each conventions so the whole class could see it. It also allowed me to go through individual posts one at a time.

Production Process & Risk Assessment for my Filming

Risk Assessment for my Filming

Risk Assessment – Year 12 AS Media Recording
GENERAL AREA RISK ASSESSMENT
Ref. No.:	.	1 Negligible	1 Improbable	9 or above
Date:	Wednesday 10th December	2 Minor injury	2 Possible	further
Assessor:	Mehret Zelalem	3 Major injury	3 Occasional	immediate
Location:		4 Single death	4 Fairly frequent	assessment
.	Canonbury Square	5 Multi-death	5 Frequent	needed
Activity:	Filming	6 Multi-offsite	6 Certainty	.
IDENTIFIED  HAZARDS		SEVERITY 1-6	PROBABLE FREQUENCY	RISK SCORE
Inadequate planning of the trip		1	1	2
Inadequate supervision of pupils		1	1	2
Lack of first aid facilities		1	1	2
		1	1	2
Getting to/from the activity location		.	.	.
·         Losing a pupil on way to/from activity location		1	1	2
		.	.	.
Hazards at the activity location		.	.	.
·         Physical hazards		2	2	4
Lost pupil		1	1	2
General fatigue		1	1	2
Inappropriate footwear/clothing		1	1	2
Lack of adequate food/water		1	1	2
Attention from unsavoury characters		1	1	2
Injury During the Activity		2	1	3
		.	.	.
		.	.	.
		.	.	.
		.	.	.

There is a relatively low risk in filming my movie. To avoid any potential hazards before  filming I'm going to walk my cast around the area and make them aware of what could be dangerous. I could also make them take extra care in crossing roads and tell them to avoid traffic.


Production Process

My filming took place over two days ue to the availability of my actors and they were only available on different days. I filmed all the scenes I needed to film with Lauren Mae Kidd on the first day in the Canonbury Place area. 

On my second day of filming I set up the noticeboard with the pictures of Lauren and did my filming with James Stenning. We had to time bus schedules in order to make sure the same bus went past in both shots and we managed to do this and demonstrated continuity editing.

Research into Film Titles and analysing the first draft of 'Basement' using peer feedback

Research into Film Titles

Film titles are often the most important part of a film; they set the tone, atmosphere and characters for the audience. The opening sequence can either break or make an opening scene.

I looked at http://www.creativebloq.com/design/top-movie-title-sequences-10121014 and read some reviews on what people had to say about different films opening sequences. For the BATMAN opening sequence said how it ‘’was one of the first films I ever watched at the cinema, and I can clearly remember the impact it had on the unnerved audience.’’ This shows us how the opening sequence clearly sets the audience up for the rest of the film.

For the film Jackie Brown one man said ‘’by sending the audience on a journey around a single poster with applicable typography and motion, it's a fantastic example of setting tone with a simple idea.’’ This shows us that it’s paramount to have the opening scene made so that it leads into the plot of your film and hint to the audience what your film is going to be like.

For the movie Se7en which we also watched and wrote notes about someone commented saying that ‘’ The maniacal amount of detail that went into the title sequence (with a vast amount of props created just for giving the audience a few glimpses into John Doe's deranged mind), coupled with the remixed NIN track 'Closer', make you shift uncomfortably in your seat, anxious for what's to be unleashed, and in one fell swoop it made title design cool and relevant again.’’ Personally I think that I am going to take ideas from this particular opening sequence to use in my short film as it was effective and I can make it have relevance to my plot.

Here are some of the titles available on iMovie which is the editing programme we are using to edit and piece our movies together. I think the third one works best as it looks quite professional. The first one is okay however I do not like how the main bit is in bold and the description isn't. I like the second one a lot as I think it will look goo with a fade transition. The font title I am using is called Helvetica Neue Light. The second one is called Line Lower Third but I changed the size of the description as my whole name wouldn't fit on one line. The first one is called Reveal Lower Third and the third one is called Standard Lower Third.

Analysing the first draft of my film opening 'Basement' using peer feedback: 

In order to gain some feedback on the shot choices, plot and initial draft of my film opening, 

Click here to watch my first draft:

I produced a first draft using imovie and asked one of my peers a series of questions relating to the draft of the opening. The questions were as follows:

Please click here to see a filmed recording of the draft feedback session. There is a pause for each question to be discussed after the relevant sequences in the film opening the question relates to.

The main findings of this analysis which will inform my work going forwards are:

Research into the Concept of the Dramatic Question, or 'Suspense'

Research into the Concept of the Dramatic Question, or 'Suspense'

A dramatic question is always a specific point of curiosity. We see it in a way where we want to know weather something in particular will happen or not rather than wanting to know what will happen next. Suspense is a way to hold the audiences interest and keep the audience captivated and wonder about the outcomes of certain events. 

A dramatic question however is not the same thing as exposition a if they were meant to be the same thing there would then not be s successive chain of dramatic questions. Exposition is more of the foreshadowing sequence of a film before the main action where the plot is hinted and the setting is laid out.

When dramatic question is used they are generally arranged so that they can be solved. However, there are some authors that would chose to intentionally frustrate the audience's wish for a resolution to the dramatic sequence.

Some stories rely upon only a single dramatic whereas others rely on a chain of dramatic questions which in turn result to another that results in another. These dramatic questions then mean the plot has some logical dependence for example the result of one question being the condition for the next being relevant an example of a film that uses this is Inception and Se7en which we watched and wrote notes about.

In Se7en suspense is used. At the beginning of the movie suspense is used when the two detectives shine a torch on something but we don't get to see what they're looking at until they had both seen it and reacted. This was effective as when we were able to see the mans hands and feet tied up we were able to react and understand their reaction. 

Dramatic question was used sequentially throughout the film. When one of the detectives begin to figure out the reasons behind the first two murders we realize it's based on the seven deadly sins and from then on we began to expect that there would be five more murders to follow. This was dramatic question as we began to wonder who would be next, who it could be murdering, and why they were doing it.

Using Prezi to Plan and Receive Feedback on my Storyboard for the Main Task

I created a presentation on Prezi.com on how I planned my main task. Here' the link to my presentation.
http://prezi.com/2b0rv7vmnssi/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Using all of your Research, what are the Main Conventions of a Horror Film Opening?

Using all of your Research, what are the Main Conventions of a Horror Film Opening?

From all my research I have decided that the main conventions I'd use for a horror opening is the use of thrill and suspense, foreshadowing, relevance, unrealism and excitation.

A main convention of a horror openings is thrill and suspense. This is supported by Mark Zuckerman's theory that people who have a high score on the sensation seeking scale had a greater interest in horror films. There is evidence to his theory from a study he did in 1979 and other researchers have found correlations. However, this is said to not always be significant as even Zuckerman himself admitted that only looking atone trait misses the fact that there are lots of things that draw people to horror. Despite this contradiction I plan to use thrill and suspense in my task as it is something used in the majority of horror movies and seems to be successful in selling movies and therefore is a successful convention. 


A key feature in horror film openings is foreshadowing. This is when there are hints at the start of the movie which are signs of whats to come in the  movie. This incites an emotional or mental strain which is called tension. An example of this in horror films is in the opening scene of Scream 4 where they are talking and decide to watch a horror movie and one of the girls starts playing with a knife. In this opening scene they are also talking about a stalker who threatens to kill one of the girls who is talking to her on a fake internet profile which gives s the idea that something is going to happen to the girl by this person. This convention is something I want to use in my opening as it gives the allure of mystery. Mystery keeps audiences captivated and makes them want to keep watching, this also makes the story become a jigsaw as the audience have to start figuring things out for themselves. 

My research has shown that a key convention associated with horror film openings is relevance.
In order for a horror film to be watched it has to be relevant to it's potential viewers. An example of this is Final Destination, the movie is about teenagers who went to a theme park and is therefore going to attract younger audiences and as they are going to be able to relate to the story they are more likely to watch the film. I am going to use this convention as if the viewer has personal/subgroup relevance with the film they are going to be more captivated as they'll identify the protagonist in a way that condemns the antagonist to their fate.

Another convention of horror film openings is unrealism. Despite the graphic nature of horror films we all know at some level that what we are watching is not real. An example of this is Chucky Child's Play where a doll turns into an evil killer. The fact we know what we are watching is fabricated reality gives us more reason to keep watching. Movies are edited from multiple camera angles with many different soundtracks. I will not go out of my way to make my horror film look completely unreal I am going to keep it looking as realistic as I can I will just make sure my story line has the element of unrealism.

Excitation is another convention I want to use in my horror opening. This is a theory argued by Dr. Dolf Zillmann in 1978. He argued that the negative feelings created by horror films intensify the positive feelings when the hero triumphs in the end. There are however movies where the hero doesn't triumph at the end but even small studies have shown that peoples enjoyment was higher during the actual horror film than at the end. I may use this in my opening by making the audience like the protagonist and dislike the antagonist so there is excitement throughout the whole movie where at points different people are defeating the other. 

According to the researcher Walters movies that bring high levels of tension, relevance and unrealism have a greater horror appeal. Therefore I'll aim to use these conventions in my opening and throughout my whole film.