Evaluation

Hello, I know its been a while since my last post but there is a reason why. Since beginning my evaluation in which we have to show our understanding of technology I thought it would be best to combine my knowledge of other media software's, simply to showcase my capabilities and in doing so I have created a website including all my 7 responses. Also I have changed the tab name of each question, and rather than Q1 / Q2 / Q3 ect , I have named each evaluation depending on what is relevant- for example: Genre research is Question 1 simply becuase that is what has been largley spoken about.I have also made it user friendly yet I hope you appreciate the technology used as well as the difficulties overcome to make this product- here is my link, simply copy and past into your web browser...........ENJOY


http://mcmediaproject123.wix.com/michaelclark

The pursuant : Final Draft

The pursuant: Second draft

This is our second draft- we have made the changes based on our audience and our own group targets

Psycho-Title analysis: 1960 & 1998

Psycho was a film published in 1960 by Alfred Hitchcock s, and therefore was produced in black and white, however in 1998 a remake was made but Universal pictures and Imagine entertainment.

Psycho 1960:

During the opening we do not see any physical action being performed by actors instead we only have the movement of the titles as well as non-deigetic sound.Also each title is individually formulated by a white line structure which swipes across the screen in a fast fashion:

This is the structure that the animation upholds in order to show the title transition, it involves a random and unpredictable transition , of which can appear from top/bottom/left/right but the titles titles only ever exit the screen in the opposite direction from where they appeared. This not only adds mystery, but in association with the high pitched sound in the background creates an alert audience, it also makes the audience feel nervous as the title itself "Psycho" is the biggest title on screen throughout the opening sequence and it is also the also the the only title here all the words on screen are bold, therefore exemplifying the importance of this word upon the film.(a word which illustrates insanity and danger to the audience once again making them feel nervous)

And until 32 seconds the tiles stick to this pattern but shortly after they begin sprouting randomly which also coincides with the ever increasing prosodic pitch of the non-diegetic sound playing in the background. As well as the transition constantly changing the titles themselves begin erratically changing their appearance, evidently shown in this picture the title at the top has reshaped before the audience has a chance to read it properly, this title also only ends up staying on the screen for approximately 2 seconds- this contrasts dramatically against another title featured at 41 seconds in- which ends up staying on the screen for 5 seconds , and almost begins to feel awkward as it then does not keep up with the fast paced nature of the violin in the background

Titles Research & Production Company Research

Today I analysed the significance of titles upon an opening as well as the impact of colour and font.

 

(1) Se7en:  The titles adopt a white colour scheme which alternatives between brightness and shade, this effect ultimately disorientates the audience and makes the titles appear jagged, almost as if they

are made from electricity

 

(2) Insidious: The titles for insidious represent those of a stereotypical horror, in the sense that they are red, bold and cover the majority of the screen, and the low key lighting used creates shadows effectively but i think the main focus is on the devil-like font that has been used as it clearly mimics the storyline (likely to be about a demon and possession)

 

(3) Silent Hill: The chalk effect used doesn't directly illustrate the horror genre however with the contrasting shadows and even spread across the screen, we as the audience feel confused as well as unnerved as a result of this, and the white title itself also creates a sense of worry given the brightness and contrasting nature of them.

 

(4) The Nesting: By not only using a red font colour the title itself comes across as ghostly given the curly and free flowing nature of the title, but in particular the "T" on both the "the" and Nesting" appear to look like tombstones, therefore implicating that death will be apparent during the film.

 

(5) Saw: Once again we see the use of white writing which contrasts again the murky black background, this effect is often used to concentrate the audiences focus on the titles, during this example blood is flicked across the screen, therefore foreshadowing gore and death throughout, this effect is something I think would suit my production but I am unsure if such visual effects will be available for me to use.

 

(6) Annabelle: A shadow is created out of the title , as a result of the shadow effect the audience are self consciously aware of the shadows in the film, but also the the name itself "Annabelle" is an old fashioned name which therefore implies that the film will be quite traditional in its conventions as well as storyline.

 

(7) The Purge: This title contrasts against the last as it is much more technology based- we make this assumption based on the security camera perspective we see during the opening, also the background looks similar to something you would see on a screen, therefore indicating the technological aspects of the film.

 

(8) Dracula: The thin and silver-toned titles come across as elegant, perhaps something not normally associated with Dracula (a well known antagonist in the horror genre) therefore we have to consider that despite the proliferation of filming technologies growing, the classic/traditional conventions of the horror genre have not been lost.

 

(9) Halloween: Typically given the conventions of Halloween its no surprise the colour is in orange, given that the festive celebration always involves pumpkins, however the simple orange title could be leading the audience into a false sense of security.

 

(10)Silence of the lambs: I think that with this example its a case of simplicity- for example the black filling of the already bulky font- implies a sense of danger, whilst the white outline could create the idea of an illness as perhaps it represents the pale and ghostly appearance of the antagonist

Potential titles & Updated story board

This is one of my first sketches of our main title, I specifically used a stitch-like affect to resemble strong capabilities of our antagonist as stitches are often used to heal a heavy/open wound, which would therefore reflect the resilient physical attributes of our antagonist. The jagged and uneven size of each letter as well as the individuality of each letter further represents our antagonist as a character unlike any other, and therefore the audience will be weary of his capabilities. Especially as they have never encountered him before. Whilst also maintaining a scared affect throughout as well we can further illustrate that perhaps these scars are a symbol of experience and that they should be worried about this character. But also that scars are representations of gradual mistreatment, and therefore is another thing that the audience should be apprehensive of: Also the stitch effect is used to reflect our antagonist in the sense that he is a character who can cause pain, because typically stitches are used to treat an open wound- which would reflect the gruesome capabilities of our antagonist. But it also shows how he has overcome an excessive amount of pain in order to still be alive and therefore could suggest he is seeking revenge.Perhaps the stitches resemble the failed abductions of the antagonist and the only way to mask these failures is by claiming revenge.    



Today we went about updating our storyboard and adding a larger variation of shots, we did this prior to filming so we good go staright into production with a fresh mindset- after which we felt that we had completed our estimate shots as well as combining our knowledge to invent some more shots. Some of which we are really exited to edit!!!      

Audience feedback & self evaluation: Initial opening

Self evaluation: Initial Opening

Did we meet our aims?

In my opinion we successfully met our original idea, and obtained a few of the shots we wanted. And we managed our time well despite having a tight schedule. Also I think we reached our minimal target for our first draft- this was important as we had numerous problems we had to overcome throughout our planned filming progress such as: members of other groups misleading our recording camera, as well as our location not always being available and prepared, therefore it was important that we overcame these obstacles throughout our filming process. Nevertheless, I enjoyed filming for an extreme close up as I has never tried this shot before and felt as if it came our a success.Moreover it was important that we achieved our aim of performing/editing/filming our opening to a reasonably high standard and also gathered our minimal target of footage.In particular I am extremely happy to have achieved a tracking shot so soon in our production! At first I thought it would be hard to keep it steady, but luckily calmness enabled us to be as productive as possible, and I am also proud of the creativity behind our editing and when experimenting with it we added a slow motion effect and a spooky inwards shot transition.

  

Would you enjoy the film yourself?

Yes. I think I would enjoy watching the film, as being a predominantly horror/action viewer I feel it is vital to intrigue the audience as well as make them feel nervous, and I think that even the basic frame of our production contains enough information to lure the audience into a sense of false security. And our feedback suggested that despite the small time frame we had the basic outline that just needed to display more information- perhaps this was because we left almost too many enigma codes to be uncovered.

What changes can I see need to be made?

From my position, the most important factor is titles, as these can display further information-whilst converging with the horror genre. But other than our titles I would say we perhaps need to include a wider / vaster array of shots as well as perhaps describing our storyline in more depth (through the additional shots) and then our opening will be complete.

Audience feedback: First draft 

 

After our initial display we received the following feedback:

 

Positives:

• The music successfully converges with the horror genre and accompanies the action in the scene. 
• The combination of darkness and music makes for an uncomfortable viewing, which therefore matches the intentions of the opening.
• Good basic structure of a storyline.

Negatives:

• The shot transition subtracts from the originally created tension
• Slight confusion do to the lack of information/context
• Not enough shot variation 

After considering the positives and negatives, it clearly illustrates the importance of feedback otherwise the shot transition included could either have been a success or a failure-in this case failure), but with regards to the future we need to describe the context /reasoning behind the opening as well as including a wider variety of shots - of which we have already planned and will be including for our second draft. On the opposite side we also discovered we need to keep our music, and ensure we maintain the same levels of lighting, but more importantly that  our original idea was a deemed success