Question 6

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

During filming, I found that there were many shots which didn’t go to plan as we did not have a tripod during our practise shoot. There is great importance in having the correct equipment as if you do not, the filming will look extremely amateur. When filming supposedly still shots by hand held camera, we found it was very hard to get a good shot so in the end we had to re film those shots when we had the right equipment. When using the tripod we found it much easier to get a very smooth shot, the panning shots were very effective using this method. When experimenting with the point of view shots, we decided that they looked much more realistic when using a hand held camera rather than a tripod.

When filming we had some issues with lighting as we were not able to see most of the footage from our practise shoot, we had attempted to film with dimmed lights yet it was not enough light to see the shot when it came to uploading it to the software on the computer. We resolved this issue by re filming the shots in ‘half lighting’ rather than full or dimmed which we found to be the perfect balance and we were able to view the footage perfectly.

When we started filming we used my own video camera, however after filming we found it was not compatible with the schools system, although this was not an issue as our footage was too dark to use in our final cut. We used the schools camera to film the rest of the footage which was very easy to work and had a tripod which it fitted into. The effects on the camera were not difficult to use however we decided to film all of the shots in full colour and edit them on the computer instead of filming some shots in black and white, just in case we decided to change our idea slightly, we needed all of the shots to be as versatile as possible so we could edit them as we wished.

During filming there were some issues with availability of the actress (Lucy Tyson) and myself as I live over an hour away from both Lucy and Kirsty (the second group member) and Lucy was very busy during the time we were shooting, a combination of these meant we had very little time to film but we managed to complete the filming in time to complete our edit. We never had any communication issues and we would always be in contact if there was something not up to standard with either the planning or the shoot and I think we corresponded very well as a team.

When capturing the film on premier elements we did not have many troubles, some of our footage was deleted from the tape where the rest of our footage was stored but we had that footage on a memory stick so we were able to upload it just after we had captured the footage.

We had some instruction when adding sound and titles as we were not able to work out how to do so, but once shown it was very easy to continue and finish the job on our own. Premier elements has taught me many things about technology which I would not have known if I had not used the program, it has made me confident with editing footage.

Using blogspot to upload my work is very interesting and has made me much more aware of different forms of media such as websites and videos. I have learnt how to use the internet to aid my research into certain aspects of the course and I have used a number of media programs such as Photopeach and prezi to complete my evaluation questions.

Question 5

How did you attract/ address your audience?

We attracted our audience through our use of a modern, realistic setting and plot. The decision to film the opening of the thriller in a garage was a conscious choice to involve the audience and to help them relate to the plot. A low budget film would have a larger impact on the audience if it was somewhere familiar to them rather than a Hollywood production in a very unbelievable location as the familiar place would seem like a ‘nightmare scene’.

Another way of attracting the audience is marketing; we would market the film on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace because these websites are growing in popularity  and therefore, many more teenage girls are using them. Youtube and Tumblr are also good places to market the film as these sites will help the film gain popularity.

The opening of the film has many jump cuts and fast cuts which make the style of editing seem more modern and tense, this is inspired by ‘Skins’ as the program is filmed and edited in a very modern yet unrealistic way. When researching into the programs people like if they are interested in skins, I found that most E4 shows such as ‘Misfits’ have the same audience and a similar style of editing and filming- this concludes that a more contemporary style of filming and editing attracts a younger audience.

High street fashion is a large part in the attraction of the target audience, the contemporary costume of Bridget is appealing to the target audience as they can relate to the style and the reality of the situation. The costume is casual which shows that she was having a normal day at college when she was abducted- this shows the audience that she is a normal girl wearing normal costume and this makes the situation more blood curdling for the audience as they would feel the situation could easily happen to them. 

‘Desolation’ is designed to make the audience realise the reality of abduction situations and tap into their collective fear of being mislead by someone you trust most. The film is a psychological thriller aimed at bringing up the audience’s inner fears and nightmares and making them look realistic. The reality of the situation was proven when I typed in ‘abduction’ to Google news and found over 5,240 results.

Question 4

The target audience for ‘Desolation’ is a 16-25 year old demographic because this group is most likely to enjoy the raw, gritty look of the low budget film, they are also the most likely to be able to relate to the characters as Bridget and Annie are both 17 years old. The audience will also be predominantly female as both characters in the opening of ‘Desolation’ are female, this means the audience can again, relate to the characters. As we would be aiming to distribute our film through Warp productions we would have an English audience who are interested in alternative or niche films and who are interested in films such as ‘This is England 86’ rather than a mainstream audience who are interested in multiplex cinemas and films like ‘ Love actually’. The contemporary clothing of our characters shows that the film is set in the modern day and is very up to date, yet the plot is very versatile and the idea of abduction has been used many times before- each with a different twist. The 2008 film ‘Taken’ is a very good example of this, it is about a young girl who gets abducted on holiday and is sold into the sex trade; this is much more mainstream and high budget than ‘Desolation’ would be yet it is a very big influence. After researching the user reviews on IMDB I found that Taken was best liked by ‘males under 18’ and ‘under 18’- this is due to the predominantly male cast, whereas Desolation would appeal to a female audience as it is a predominantly female cast.

Our choice of location appeals to generic thriller conventions as it is isolated and secluded, this will appeal to the target audience as it is very realistic and easy to relate to. The idea of using a garage originated from ‘Essex Boys’ as the first scene is set in a grimy garage. The reality of the mise-en-scene is very engaging for the audience as it grasps hold of their worst fears and brings them to life; the thought of becoming imprisoned in a place so familiar to you (your best friend’s garage) is a nightmare scene as it ‘Desolation’ is about deceit, mistrust and torture which should be thought provoking and scarily realistic.

DESOLATION- FINAL CUT

Question 2

Question 1

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

Question 3

"What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?" on PhotoPeach