Evaluative Commentary

Forms and conventions

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?What was similar to your media product to others?

I think my title sequence was slightly similar to the one of Dexter.  This is because we used close up shots of props, characters, and the actions that characters were taking that would convey the genre of thriller/horror.  The close up shots are suppose to make the audience feel as if there is confined space and want to see outside the shot.  

What was your genre and what genre conventions did you follow?

The genre of my title sequence was horror/thriller.  The location in a good horror/thriller movie could be in a house, which is isolated.  Therefore in our title sequence we showed a long shot of the bedroom, which is isolated and quiet as no one is in the house except for the two main characters of Hannah and Zeba.  To convey a horror/thriller genre, films usually use jump-cuts as the quickening of the shots creates more tension for the audience.  We used quick shots in some areas of our title sequence, for example when Hannah is having thoughts about Rohan and Zeba together at school, the speed of the shots increases which also increases the tension for the audience.  Usually in horror/thriller movies, the evil character, who in this case is Hannah, are seen dressed in dark clothing.  So, in our title sequence Hannah is dressed in black clothing, which symbolises death, evil.  We normally associate horror/thriller movies to have an evil character and a naive character who ends up either dying in the movie or being heroic and killing the evil character.  In this case we have Hannah as the evil character who is planning to kill Zeba, who is the naive character and believes Hannah is her honest, trustworthy best friend.  The themes that we explored in our title sequence were death, good vs evil, and hate.  These are themes that are normally explored in horror/thriller films.  

What other film were you influenced by?

My film was influenced by Sorority Row - because of the storyline and the genre, Mean girls - the hatred between friends, and the TV show Dexter - the camera shots used to convey genre.

Role and use of new media technology

How have your shown awareness of the role of new media in your production?  How was it useful to use a HD camera instead of a traditional celluloid camera?

To build my knowledge about title sequences and what kind of music and camera shots are used to convey genre, I did some research by searching different title sequences on YouTube.  After watching these title sequences I analysed them.  This made me more aware of how the music and camera shots etc have a massive impact on how the genre is conveyed and established.  We also watched a range of DVDs and analysed their title sequences in order to understand how they are all different from one another.  In our Media lessons we used YouTube to listen to a variety of different music.  We had to note down how piece of music made us feel and we had to guess what genre it fulfilled.  This made us more aware about the sound that we should use in our title sequences and how it has to vary to convey a specific genre.  For our title sequence we used a software called Garage Band, where we created our own sound to fit our genre.  For our filming we used a HD camera.  It was much easier to use than a traditional celluloid camera as you are able to upload your footage onto a editing software such as Final Cut Pro, and cut whatever shots you don't need, add on any music etc.  HD cameras are also much better to use rather than a celluloid as it record in Hi Definition, which means footage will be much clearer.  Finally, with a celluloid camera you have to use extra lighting, however, with a HD camera you can use the natural light.

Audiences

Who were your target audience, and how did you attract them?

Our title sequence was targeted to both males and females, however we thought females may like our title sequence more as the killer and the victim are women, therefore it is challenging the traditional male killer convention.  We aimed it to young adults from the age of 15 and above, although it is a horror/thriller film, we thought it would be acceptable for them to watch with an adult.  

What feedback did you receive during pre-production? 

We had to present our idea to the class and ask our peers if they would be convinced to come and watch the film in the cinema.  Our peers told us that they would not come and watch our film in the cinemas and they thought the storyline was very similar to other horror/thriller movies such as Scream.  This was because we decided to have a male killer in our title sequence.  This made us want to twist our story and make it more interesting and unique, therefore our peers would be willing to watch it.  This made us decide to have a female killer as we thought that not many horror/thriller movies have female serial killers.  We thought this challenged the traditional male being a killer convention.  

What feedback did you get during post - production?

Whilst editing our first set of shots, our teacher pointed out many factors that could lower our marks.  These included errors such as bad composition, dark lighting, length of shots, jump cuts, unknown characters shown in scenes etc.  These errors made us worry that we will lose marks and receive a low grade, therefore we decided to add extra shots into our title sequence and film it all again from scratch.  When our teacher saw our second set of shots, he was pleased and thought the shots flowed, the lighting was great and the length of the shots is perfect.  

Relationship between preliminary and the main task

What have you learnt about new technologies?

I have learnt how to use a new software called Garage Band, where we were able to create sound and music for out title sequence.  I also learnt how to record a voice over through the same software, which can then be transferred onto the footage.  It was a difficult to use at first but I am now confident, and know how to use the software efficiently. I learnt how to cut out diegetic sound from our original footage and then replace it with my sound effects which I created on Garage Band.  This made my title sequence look more realistic and professional.  Finally, I learnt about the three second rule which should be used when filming, which I was no aware of when filming my preliminary task.  The three second rule means that you should leave three seconds before acting the shot and three seconds after ending the acting.  This allows the shot to have some blank space before and after the shot, therefore making it easier to edit.  In our preliminary task we were not aware of the three second rule, therefore our title sequence consisted of many jump-cuts which lead to dialogue being cut off.  This made us lose marks and made our title sequence look unprofessional.  So, for my final title sequence, I was aware of the three second rule, which made my shots consistent and easy to edit and fit together.

Audience Feedback

On Tuesday 22nd March 2011, all students presented their final edits of their title sequence to the class and received feedback based on the criteria.  

Level 1 - Minimal

Level 2 -Basic

Level 3 - Proficient and Creative 

Level 4 - Excellent and Creative 

Criteria 

Holding a shot steady where appropriate  - Level 4

Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate - Level 4

Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate - Level 4

Shooting material appropriate to the task set - Level 4

Selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting - Level 4

Editing so that meaning is apparent to viewer - Level 4

Using varied shot transitions ans other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set - Level 4

Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set - Level 3

Using titles appropriately - Level 3

What did you do well?

1. The black and white effect added to the flashback scenes was done very well.  Although it was a black and white effect, you could still see the shot clearly and see what is going on with the characters of Zeba and Rohan.

2. There was a range of shots used, the close-ups used conveyed the horror/thriller genre.

3. It all flowed, there were not any jump-cuts except for maybe one or two.

4. Good use of transitions (fades)

Target:

1. The tittles were slightly unclear to see in some areas as they blended with the background.  

2. There was too much of the story given away in the title sequence.  It is suppose to create enigmas, it does however it answers most of them, which is not suppose to happen.  

3. The music at the beginning conveys a slight different genre to the actual horror/thriller genre.  

Personal Opinion

I was pretty pleased with my final edit taking into consideration I had the least time to edit due to filming errors.  I was pleased with the music and thought the beginning music worked well as well, as I was trying to portray that everything is normal between both friends, which conveys that Zeba's character is quite gullible and naive as she cannot see that her best friend Hannah wants to kill her because of jealousy.  I was pleased with the way the whole title sequence flowed and did not jump from one shot to the next, it told a clear story.  I realised that the titles were not so great, however due to a lack of time I had to stay with the basic font and colour.  I thought that the colour white would stand out when the title appeared on the shots. This was true however in some shots the titles blended into the background, which will lead me to lose marks.  Overall I was pretty pleased with my final edit and how the music suited the genre well, and how it all told a clear story.  This was also seen by my peers as they did give me Level 4 for most of the points of the criteria which was the highest level you could achieve, so I was pleased with my outcome.

Filming Day

We had to film flashbacks that Hannah will have in our title sequence in school.  So when all film crew members had a free in their timetable, we met up in school and shot scenes of Zeba and Rohan together.  These shots would be shown when Hannah is sharpening the eyeliner pencil and has thoughts of jealousy of Rohan and Zeba together at school.  This filming took place on Wednesday 16th February 2011.

Our original date for filming the whole title sequence was Monday 21st February 2011 from 1:00pm to 5:30pm.  However not all film crew members were able to make it, so we had to have another day when everyone was available for filming.  We changed the date to Thursday 24th February 2011 from 1:00pm to 5:30pm.  We arrived at our filming location which was in Dagenham at 12:45pm.  We set up the bedroom which we were going to film in and made sure we had all our props ready (eyeliner pencil, sharpener, picture of Zeba, iPod etc.)  By the time we had everything set up it was 1:15pm.  We then started to shoot our title sequence.  We approximately finished filming at 5:00pm, which was earlier than what we predicted.  

When we returned back to school on Monday, we began our individual edits using the software "Final Cut Pro".  It was a straight forward software to use as we had previously used this for our Preliminary task.  However myself and Zeba were not pleased at all with the shots that our camera man Oscar filmed.  He had cut off our heads which showed bad composition.  In another shot where Hannah was crossing out Zeba's photograph, in the mirror we could see the reflection of our camera man sitting on the bed! who was suppose to be behind the camera.  In the second shot of Zeba turning the door handle, the lighting was absolutely terrible, it was completely dark, so Zeba's hand was difficult to see.  These problems were not noted out by our camera man on the filming day.  Me and Zeba were not happy with these shots at all however Oscar and Rohan did not mind.   

Me and Zeba wanted to shoot the scenes that went bad again.  This was becoming very difficult for us as we would have to ask for permission from our friend whose house we were using to film in.  This was a big issue for us as the whole final edit was due at the end of the week.  However me and Zeba decided to take a risk and film the whole title sequence again from the beginning.  This would be MUCH easier as we can film it correctly, making it easier to edit, and so it will flow more smoothly, and it would have been difficult to match the hair, make-up and costume to match the previous shots.  Rohan and Oscar were not interested in filming the shots again, so me and Zeba went back to the same location in Dagenham and filmed the title sequence from the beginning again, without the help of Rohan and Oscar.  We were really pleased with the results and took everything that went wrong from Oscar's filming into account.  We felt the composition was great, the shots were continuous and the lighting was perfect.  We did take some extra shots which did not match the storyboard.  We did this as we thought it would make our title sequence look more effective as there would be a wider variety of shots used and explored.

When we returned to school on Tuesday 8th March 2011, we transferred all our new shots to the computer to begin our editting.  As we didnt have much time to edit, we had to try and get everything done quickly as the deadline was Friday 11th March 2011, so we were pretty nervous if we would get it editted in time to meet the deadline.  We used a final hour on the day of the deadline (Friday) to get our final bits completed.  We were lucky enough to complete our final edits to desire.  However if I was to complete this project again I would make sure all shots were filmed properly so that we could have more time to spend on editting. Because i feel like i didnt have enough time to take into consideration what kind of font I would like to use for the titles and the colours.  Due to timing I stuck to the basic font and colour.  

Music Composition

We have now come to the stage of composing music for our title sequence.  We had to understand the the music has to relate to the genre of the title sequence and if it does contain lyrics it has to relate to the plot of character, however if it does not then our title sequence will not be so effective and will make the audience confused about the genre.   Some examples from popular movies where the music creates the mood and atmosphere would be 'The Talented Mr Ripley'.   We know that the film may be set in the 60s as we hear jazz music in the title sequence.  Another example is Rocky, which uses quite victorious music connotating the victories of boxing matches that Rocky has had.  This tells us more about the character suggesting he never gives up.  The music is also quite fast-paced creating a boxing atmosphere.  A third example would be from Jaws where the music is slow, and deep creating tension which informs the audience that something bad is going to happen (the shark is going to attack).

Examples of Title Sequence's from Previous Students

In order to gain some more ideas and get a sense of what we will have to create for our title sequence, we watched some which were made by previous Media students.  Watching them made us realise the little mistakes that could be made in ours, which we will have to be aware of.

The first title sequence we watched was called 'The Fat and the Furious'.  The title sequence uses a range of shots which was really effective, however the title sequence was too long which made it very boring to watch, as not much was going on.  We just see the regular behaviour of the male character, who wakes up, brushes his teeth and gets dressed.  I think this was completely pointless as it didn't really convey the genre at all.  For background sound all we could hear were police car noises, which had no relevance to the title sequence.  At the end of the title sequence we see a close up of the male character sitting in a car where the title 'The Fat and the Furious' appears.  I don't think the title of the title sequence was good, as it is a copy of the popular film 'The Fast and the Furious'.  The title of the film looks as if the student who edited it forgot to place the 's' in 'Fat'.  To improve this the student could have put speech marks around it so the audience know that this may be a spoof or that the editor didn't make a mistake with spelling.  The font of the title also did not convey the genre, and the title sequence as a whole did not tell the audience anything about the main character.  Overall I did not like the title sequence at all.  I thought it was boring, too long and was not effective at all.  The whole beginning of the title sequence was completely pointless, I think it could have been cut down shorter and should have shown a little more about the male character and shown if he could drive or not.  This would have told us a little more about the plot.

The second title sequence we looked at was called 'Dead Revenge'.  In the title sequence we see a female character and her actions - getting dressed, putting on make-up etc.  There were also a range of shots used but mainly close-up/extreme close-ups.  This makes it more clear for the audience to see what is happening and feel eager to know see what the female character is doing.  The title appears quite fast on the screen as the female character carries on getting dressed.  I liked the fact that it was clearly seen and the faded away.  The title sequence did tel us that the character is a woman, this was shown through the clothes she was putting on and the mascara and red lipstick.  Props like the red lipstick to connotate that the film may involve some type of death/murder.  The black clothing that the female character was putting on suggested a mysterious genre.  However the font of the the text used in the title sequence changed during the sequence, therefore this showed a lack of effective editing and also did not look professional.  Overall i thought it was a good title sequence as there were many elements used to create an effective title sequence. 

Story Board

We weren't too sure about the fourth shot on this storyboard where Hannah imagines stabbing Zeba in the eyes.

We thought this would give too much of the storyline away making the film boring to watch.

The last three shots on this storyboard were not effective at all. We decided to edit these and take some out.  This was because it was making the title sequence too long which is only suppose to be under 2 minutes.  We also thought too much of the plot was being given away in just the title sequence.

The third shot on this storyboard was of Hannah imagining of smashing a mirror in Zeba's head.  This was also going to make the title sequence too long and give too much of the story away.  We want our title sequence to create engima's for the audience making our title sequence more effective.  Therefore we placed our ideas on the title sequence just as a draft to get an idea of what we could do for our final.

We took this shot out of the title sequence which was of the fourth character Oscar, who was the mastermind behind killing Zeba and was encouraging Hannah too.  In this shot we would see oscar watching Hannah from the window.  However we had to keep in mind we are not telling the whole story in the title sequence, therefore we could not show all the characters at once in the first 2 minutes.

The third shot here, has been sightly changed now as we decided not to show Hannah's face when the title appears.  We decided that we would show Hannah's face with a smirk and then a blackout, where the title will appear.

Troubleshooting

When planning for our title sequence, we were experiencing some difficulties.  The first difficulty was naming the film.  We decided to name our film 'Bitch' as the word itself mean't  a female dog which connotated the role of Hannah in the title sequence.  However when we dicussed this with our teacher, we realised that having a film named 'Bitch' would not appeal to many people or stores, therefore our film would not sell.  We experimented many different names then finally settled on one...Death Kiss.  We thought the 'Death' could represent the film will be horror and involve someone dying however the word 'Kiss' suggests there may be some romance linked in the film which is between Zeba and Rohan.  Another problem that arose was where the film would take place.  We decided Zeba's house however we thought that there would be too much ambient sound due to family members being present at the same time.  We then had to change our location and ask other friends if we could use their house.  Our friend agreed however it depended on when she would be available for us to come and film in her house.