Evaluation Question 2

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

·      As this was the first time the three of us had ever made a film, it meant we had no previous experience. The first steps to making a film are research and planning. This was good for our group because we could start from the very beginning and work out every step we had to take. We planned the film out on storyboards, allowing us to visualise every shot we had to record, something which made the actual filming process much easier.

When it came to film the opening, we used a DSLR. This is the easiest way to film a production like this because of the ease of file transfer, and the cheapness of the technology. Although this was the first time we had made anything like this, using the camera proved intuitive and easy. Once we had finished filming, we transferred the files straight from the SD card to the computer. Then we had to learn how to use the editing software, Adobe Premiere Pro. This was a more complicated process, as there are many different aspects to editing a film. We learnt about different kinds of cuts, how to add audio and how to add credits. These are all key parts to a film opening and learning how to add them massively improved the film.

Evaluation Question 3

How do your products engage with audiences and how would they be distributed as real media products?

 According to our survey, our target demographic for who would watch the film is 13-18 year olds. As well as this, thriller was the third most popular selection for our preferred genre, and just under 50% of people said that they had watched a thriller in the last 6 months, meaning they were likely to watch another one. This meant we were aiming towards making the opening for a mainstream audience.
In order to appeal to our audience, we decided to end the opening with a plot twist. This is what 50% of our responded said they preferred in a film. This would also keep the viewer watching if this was a full length feature. As well as this, 78% of our survey respondents were Caucasian. Whilst we didn’t intend to only represent one race, the 22% of people who weren’t Caucasian in our survey response may feel unfairly represented in the film opening.
If our film was a real thriller, it should have been distributed online. 63% of our target audience said they preferred to watch short films on YouTube, with another 9% saying they watched short films on designated websites. However, 25% of people said that they would watch a short film at the cinema. We would probably distribute it on YouTube because it’s free and easy to reach a wider audience. It also becomes easy for viewers to share the film if it’s on YouTube and attract more viewers that way. Many low budget short films like ours do the same. Considering a large percentage of our target audience said they would watch a short film at the cinemas or at a screening, it’s important to try and cater for them as well. However, distributing a film at cinemas is a lot more limited than online, and also far more expensive than releasing it online.
If we were to release the film at cinemas, it would be much easier to do so now thanks to modern technologies, and the BFI making sure cinemas now have the capability to play films from digital files, not just expensive analogue copies of the opening. However, other modern technologies like Vimeo and YouTube make it easy and cheap for anybody to distribute a film. These technologies have made it so much easier in producing our film, as YouTube is where we upload and watch the finished product.

Evaluation Question 4

How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

·       We integrated technologies such as software such as Adobe Premiere Pro, hardware such as our camera and online technologies such as Blogger.

      In terms of the software we used, Adobe Premiere Pro enabled us to edit the shots we took to create the opening sequence. We used different features, such as dip to black using the software to enable us to create our desired opening sequence. We realised that some of the shots which we took were not as good as we originally thought, so we decided to use the effects in order to keep the action flowing. The long moments of black create suspense while the action continues. We also used the technology to be able to create credits to close the opening sequence. In terms of the hardware we used, our small, lightweight camera enabled us to film shots on the move. This gave us a live effect, as if the audience are right behind. We also used a stand for the camera in certain locations, enabling us to be able to have focused shots.

In terms of the online technology that we used, Blogger gave us the ability to store our planning and research. This saved us having to create physical copies of the log sheets and also helped us to maintain a good level of organisation.