1. In what ways does your media
product use, develop or challenge
real media products?
2. Film
My media product, Entrada, consistently
uses forms and conventions of existing
media products from my research.
Conventions including typical use of
camera in existing short and featured
horror films, music and sound effects,
editing, mise en scene and narrative
structure.
From my research I identified a number of
camera angles, shots and movements
which I found useful for the final film. One
was allowing an inanimate to have
characteristics of a human. I identified this
technique from the short film, Mannequin.
In my first draft of the film, the mask is
seen hanging on the wall as though it is
talking to Charlie. I used the technique I
had seen in Mannequin to make it look as
thought the mask has characteristics of a
human, by creating a shot where the
camera is slowly tracking in towards the
mask. In another shot, I had Charlie sitting
on the floor in front of it to show a sense
of dominance of the mask over Charlie. You
can also see this in Mannequin as there is a
close-up of the mannequin’s face at a low
angle.
Mannequin
Entrada
3. Film
Another convention my media product uses is the filmmaking style called “found-footage”, the film is
completely viewed from a handheld camera or any other camera in the scene. I found that this was very
popular in horror films and very effective when trying to make the audience jump as it looks more
realistic than traditional filmmaking. Within my research of a found-footage film, I found many
conventions that I found useful when making the final film. These include always looking in the
direction that the character is, quick movements of the camera and switching between cameras.
Example of these are found in popular feature films such as Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch
Project and the short film A Final Message. In the final film, the whole film is filmed in this style and
these conventions helped create a scare for the audience. For example, In The Blair Witch Project, the
characters each had their camera attached to a torch. In my final product, there was a scene where Cole
is split up from the other two. He hears noises and looks around and quickly changes direction. The
camera featured a light onboard so it was easy to achieve this convention. Unfortunately one of the
cameras didn’t have this so we held a separate torch in the other hand to keep this convention featured
throughout the film. I used this convention so that people could easily see what the character was also
seeing when In the dark.
Entrada The Blair Witch Project
4. Film
Switching between different cameras in the scene
was another conventions in the scene that felt
useful when developing the story. This gave me
opportunities to see things from different angles,
see what each person is seeing if it was important.
This is done a lot in found-footage films such as The
Blair Witch Project and the Paranormal Activity
series. It was very easy filming this because it didn’t
have to be filmed at the same time as it could be
just edited together in post-production. A good
example of this is shown in The Blair Witch Project.
In the final scene, the characters are in a house and
can hear someone shouting downstairs. Once the
character goes downstairs we hear a loud thud as
the camera is dropped. The view is then switched to
another characters camera at a different location.
I’ve tried to challenge this convention by switch the
cameras more frequently. When Cole is split up from
Timmy and Danny, the camera switches between
both Cole’s camera and Timmy’s camera. We also
know that they are in two different locations
because Timmy and Danny are shouting for Cole,
but when we switch to Cole’s camera we can’t hear
anything in the distance. To help the audience
notice this even more, I made sure their names
were on screen at all times. This convention helped
a lot to give the audience a sense of loneliness
towards Cole at this time.
SWITCH
SWITCH
5. Film
Other than conventions of camera use, I have also used and challenged the forms and
conventions of music and sound effects. Even though music is only used in the first scene and the
credits, I have tried my best to challenge the conventions with that time. The sound effects are
used throughout the film whether its used as diegetic sound or to be as part of the motion
graphics or visual effects.
The music used in the first scene of the film consist mainly of violins and horns. This is what I had
identified in the films I had researched. In the short film, Scrambled, there are times where high-
pitched violins can be heard very subtle. This type of music is used as a tool to create suspense. I
have used this in the first scene, which shows a brief origin of how the spirit consumed Charlie as
his host. During the first few shots, I had added a high-pitched violin soundtrack subtly as well,
which fitted the scene quite well as Charlie’s mother, as well as the audience, are eager to know
what Charlie is doing upstairs.
6. Film
As I said before, the sound effects are used as
either diegetic sounds or sounds that are part of
the motion graphics or visual effects, which are
also diegetic sounds. There are many sound
effects used throughout the film to immerse the
audience in fear. These sounds include the
whispering sound that comes from the mask,
running sounds, stick breaks and many more. I will
talk about the diegetic sounds used in the film.
When looking at the short film, A Final Message,
the two characters hear many noises which causes
them to investigate where they came from, which
would have the same effect on the audience
watching it. In my final media product, I attempted
to challenge this convention of finding out where
these sounds came from. In one scene, all three of
them are in a tent, sleeping, apart from Timmy,
and the sound of something running wakes them
up. They then exit the tent to investigate. I used
this convention because I wanted them to
investigate and find something that makes them
want to leave the woods. In other words, I used it
to develop the story faster so that the audience
wasn’t bored with pointless shots of Timmy
playing with his camera.
7. Film
I will now talk about the non-diegetic sound
effects that help with the motion graphics such as
title sequences and also the diegetic sounds used
with visual effects. The sound effects that were
non-diegetic weren’t used very often but were
effective when they did. Music ad sound effects
are used frequently in the title sequences of the
films I’ve researched. For example, the title
sequence of Scrambled has a short music track
playing over it. In my final product, I challenged
that by adding very subtle but noticeable wind
sound over the title sequence. It gives a very
spooky effect that makes the audience eager to
know what comes next.
The sound effects used with visual effects make
the shots more realistic. An example of where I
have used a sound effect along with visual effects
is towards the end of the film when Timmy has
stabbed the spirit in the neck. When the spirit
drops to the ground, a bright light emits from the
mask. As the light flashes to its brightest, I added
the sound of a ‘woosh’ to match it. This allowed
me to create the illusion that this sound came
from the mask itself.
8. How effective is the combination
of my main product and my
ancillary tasks?
9. How effective is the combination of my main
product and my ancillary tasks?
The combination of my main product and my ancillary tasks are quite strong. There are many things that are re-
used between the different tasks. These things include fonts, color schemes, images and information used. There
is clearly a theme that also runs throughout the three media products.
I will start with the link between the poster and the film. In the final film, it is obvious that there is a very dark
theme running throughout it, considering the majority of the film is shot at night. Even in the first scene in first
draft of the film, it is obvious that the color correction seems very cold. This can also be seen on the poster. The
color scheme of the poster is blue and black, which are considered to be very dark and cold colors, especially
when used together. This gives a very serious and tense mood to anyone who sees the poster or views the film.
You can also tell this from the poster as you see the character’s facial expressions as they all have a serious look on
their face. Another way you can tell from the poster is by looking at the woods at the bottom of it. The woods
follow the theme with a blue tint in it. This makes it look as if it isn’t a very nice place to be in. You can also tell this
from the dark figure seen between the trees. Lastly, I have also used the same font as the poster for the title
sequence of the film. This is to keep consistency throughout the whole production as most feature films do.
10. How effective is the combination of my main
product and my ancillary tasks?
The posters were very effective as time was
leading up to Premiere Night. By that time
people had been looking at the poster for weeks
and they wanted to come and see it. This helped
a lot because the more people who came to see
it, the more it helped towards my review.
Other than the film, there are also links between
the poster and the magazine review. As you can
tell straight away, the magazine review features
the same blue color scheme as the poster. This is
keep the consistency as it keeps the same dark
feeling that the film may have given the reviewer
and they may not want it to loose that. There
are no other colors used on the magazine review
other than the image of the three of them sitting
on the floor. That being said, the image still falls
into this very dark theme as the image itself has
been taken at night.
12. What have you learned from your
audience feedback?
Before making this film, I knew what kind of demographic I was targeting through the
audience research. This research helped inform what this demographic was “asking for”,
which was a supernatural-horror film that didn’t have a predictable storyline, that was
realistic, fearful scenes and a good villain.
From the audience feedback, overall, the most common thing said related to how well
the film was made. The feedback I got from the Premiere Night a lot of positive
comments with very few critical comments. People seemed to like the fact that we got
the most out of the cameras by switching between them when needed. They also
seemed to like the sound effects and music used throughout the film as they helped
build the suspense and sounded realistic. Lastly, they like the visual effects that I created
and added in. I think this was what really impressed the audience as it is rare that many
people are able to create realistic special effects at this level.
13. What have you learned from your
audience feedback?
Other than the feedback from the film, the feedback for poster was also consistent. Even
though we didn’t note down any feedback specifically, I know what people thought of it
through comments said to me. Overall, the comments that were said to me were, similar
to the film, quite positive with very few critical comments. First of all, people seemed to
like how the poster looked overall, saying that it looked very realistic as if it were an
actual feature film. They also like how the shadow figure between the trees teases the
how the villain looks which gives them another reason to go watch the film. Lastly, the
critical comments. The main critical comment was that the cast names, at the top, were
a bit small to read. This was easily fixable and was done for my final version. Another
critical comment was something concerning the character on the right. His hair was
much more visible on than the other two characters. Again, this was easily fixable and I
did so for my final version.
14. How did you use media
technologies in the construction
and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
15. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
Throughout the whole project, there was a variety of software and technology used.
There were different pieces of software that were used effectively to do different jobs.
These jobs include carrying out my research and presenting it, creating storyboards,
editing the film, creating visual effects in shots, creating the poster and also the
magazine review.
I’ll start with the technology and software used to carry out my research and presenting
that research. When gathering information from the audience to research the
demographic to target for my final film. For this, I used a website called Survey Monkey.
This is a website that lets you easily create a questionnaire to send to people. I then
condensed the information found using Microsoft PowerPoint with different charts and
tables. Another website I used to present my research was SlideShare. This website
allowed me to upload PowerPoint presentations on my blog. Using this, I presented my
research on horror film sub-genres.
16. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
To create the storyboards from the early stages of the project, I used an iPad application
called Brushes. This is an application that allows people to create artwork on their iPad. I
also tried to use Adobe Photoshop to create the storyboards, but decided not to use it
because I found Brushes easier as you can use your hands on the touch-screen.
To edit the film together, I knew I wanted to use Adobe Premiere. This because I have
had much experience with it in the past. Also because it is much more flexible than
editing in iMovie. When trying to use iMovie, I found that it was very hard to find the
tools that I needed to edit clips. Even when trying to do simple editing, I found it very
difficult. So I stuck with Adobe Premiere. This allowed me to edit the film together
properly and flexibly. It allowed by to edit sound and title sequences very effectively also.
17. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
When creating the visual effects for the film, I mainly used Adobe After Effects for two
reasons: one, I have had a lot of experience with this piece of software also, and two,
because its one of the industry’s standard for creating visual effects and motion graphics.
I also chose this because the whole Adobe Suite can work together simultaneously. For
example, in Adobe Premiere, if I need to edit a clip in After Effects, but have already
trimmed the clip to the way I want it, I can just right-click it and choose “Replace With
After Effects Composition”. This opens up a new project in After Effects with the clip
inside. Now I can add any effects to the clip and it will update automatically in Premiere
after I save it. This also helped when editing the sound of the clips. If I want to edit the
sound of a clip, I can right-click it and choose “Edit Clip With Adobe Audition”. Adobe
Audition is a sound editing program which is also used by professionals. Again, just like
After Effects, it will open a new project with sound of the clip in it, which will update in
Adobe Premiere everytime I save.
After Effects was also used to create the title sequence for the film. I found this
incredibly easy because there was no advanced knowledge of motion graphics needed. It
was just a simple title sequence that was dynamic yet effective.
18. How did you use media technologies in the
construction and research, planning and
evaluation stages?
Both the poster and the review were created in Adobe Photoshop. I felt very comfortable
using Photoshop because I knew it was the right piece of software to use. I didn’t try to
use any other software because I felt like I could do everything I needed to do in
Photoshop. The only thing I found difficult was editing the text together when creating
the review. When changing the position of the text columns, there were a lot of times
where I had to move pieces of text to the next column because I was resizing the text
box. Overall the creation of the review went by swiftly. As did the creation of the poster.
When creating the poster the only flaw I found was making the text visible enough to
read. I was told numerous time that the text wasn’t readable straight away. But this was
easily fixable.
