Task 7- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

As can be seen from the two videos above, the preliminary task is far more basic and less sophisticated than the thriller, both in terms of content and production. The initial planning for the prelim was minimal and little thought was put into the Mise en Scene in comparison to the thriller, which entailed extensive research into what would be appropriate for the desired effect. The planning for the Thriller included writing the script, collecting props, building the set, casting the actors in accordance with what best fit the part, storyboarding and rehearsal to prepare for the shoot day. The only planning for the prelim however was finding a free space to shoot and finding two students from the school who were willing to act for us. The storyboard was already given to us and was very basic.

Since making the preliminary task, i feel as if i have developed my film making skills significantly as a result of the challenges presented in the making of 'Aftermath'. We moved from exclusively using simple and conventional shot types to a sophisticated sequence with a visual narrative including more complex and interesting shots such as the crane shot and the tracking shot. Whereas the prelim solely told the story through dialogue, we wanted to incorporate more visual significance to the story being told as well as using dialogue with the Thriller. This made storyboarding an overall longer and more challenging task.

The use of sound differs greatly in both tasks. Firstly, in the prelim we used the basic raw sound from the boom mic whereas in Aftermath we went through all of the sound for each shot and chose the best one out of either the boom mic or the on camera mic. After this we leveled all of the volume so that it was the same throughout the sequence. We also included music and ambient sound effects for Soundtrack Pro in Aftermath which we did not do in the prelim. All non- diegetitc sound had to be leveled and sound bridged carefully.

When it came to demonstrating our ability to master new technology in the use of Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack Pro I think that the jump from the prelim task to the main task was an example of showing a more sophisticated use of the media products than was expected in the prelim task. This is because we all knew that our main task was far more important to concentrate on and put effort into, along with the longer time period to work on it meant that we all had more time to learn how to use Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack Pro at a higher standard than we did during our preliminary task. This meant that our finished result for both tasks contrasted in terms of quality. Seeing as the time limit for editing the prelim task was so short and we were all beginners to this new technology it meant that our editing skills were no where near as good as when we came to editing our main task, which, as a result was much better pieced together and as a result looked far more professional.

Task 6- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Task 5- How did you attract/ address your audience?

Task 5

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Task 4- Who would be the audience for your media product?

Much of the idea behind the focus of the film was supposed to be emotion based. 'Aftermath' was written with the intension of exploring issues of emotional instability and struggle, therefore as a result of this, i would say that the target audience for this particular media product would be the subculture known as 'emos'. The term is an abreviation for 'emotionaly unstable'. The everage age for this target audience is generally 13-25 and gender is non specific. Below is a picture of what this subgenre typically look like:






The subculture is currently reasonably small but not so small that it could be classed as a niche market. I find that this would be useful in terms of marketing in terms of the fact that the film could be made to adress the needs of a specific audience without missing out on potential sales through a target audience that is too small.

The target audience can be seen as appropriate for this media product in the title sequence through Alex's dialouge to the camera that voices many of the feelings that are steriotyped with this subculture. The metal band poster in the background shows the kind of music that is the steriotypical for both the target audience for the film and of Alex who is an emo himself.

Task 3- what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

"In 2002, Vertigo Films was created by producers Allan Niblo (producer of Human Traffic and South West 9), James Richardson (producer of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang), director Nick Love (screenwriter and, prior to company formation, director of Goodbye Charlie Bright and The Football Factory), distributor Rupert Preston (distributor of Chopper, Chasing Amy and Bride of Chucky, among others), and entrepreneur Rob Morgan. The company was formed for the express purpose of distributing and producing two films, The Football Factory and It's All Gone Pete Tong; its current stated goal is to produce and distribute four films per year."

The institution typically deals with smaller budget films than those of larger institutions such as Warner Bros. Aftermath is a very low budget production and would therefore be much more likely to obtain a distribution deal from Vertigo films. As well as this, the film is British made and would benefit most from distribution around the UK where it may receive more market interest than in the USA and other countries worldwide. Vertigo films is a British institution and has distributed films with similar target audiences around the UK, such as 'Football Factory'.
Typically films produced by smaller institutions such as Vertigo films pay more attention to the plot instead of the other aspects of the film such as CGI special effects for example. This is another reason why I think Vertigo might distribute our media product rather than a larger institution such as Warner Bros. Because in our media product we have intended to spend more time on the story board of the film rather than the after effects.

Task 2- How does your product represent particular social groups?

In our thriller we mainly focused on our two younger actors to represent particular social groups. Alex portrays an emotionally disturbed teenage boy who upholds the reasonably common opinion that todays society is greatly problemed as a result of our own failings as human beings. We chose to represent the middle/upper class society that he lives in through the public school which is attended by both Kate and Alex.
I think that this particular character represents the social group which is stereotypically known as 'emo' because they too are known to question and dwell in the 'false' morals of society that go against their own beliefs.
Kate, however fits into a very different social group that clashes with the stereotypical 'emo' social group. The female actress(Sabrina) who plays the part of Kate is a stereotypical portrayal of a socially succesful and far more emotionally stable student because of her obvious good looks, blonde hair and attitude she displays in her part. As a result of this, contributing towards her overall demenour, she represents the 'preppy' social group. This social group is stereotypically known to not be as consumed with the real issues within todays society, but more the superficial aspects such as style and popularity.

I thought that this image was a good portrayal of the character 'Alex' because of the wreckless and rebellious connotations of underage binge drinking and 'rowdy' behaviour. It suggests that they do not care about the consequences in life which is exactly what we were trying to show through Alex's character.

I think this image was a good portrayal of 'Kate' because of their similar appearance and attitude perceived through their good looks. Her appearance would suggest that she is consumed by the superficial lifestyle which most people who belong to the stereotypical 'preppy' social class are known to be. Also, easily impressionable by what is said to look good and what isn't.

Before we had begun work on our thriller we were researching for ideas when we came across this video of a teenage boy who was a suspect of a US shooting in his own school. Incorporating this real story into our research adds an higher level of intensity to our thriller due to the fact that it is not based on fiction, but reality.

US Shootings Suspect: 'My Genocide School'

Arizona shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner described his college as a "genocide school" and talked about "the torture of students" in a home video
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Article/201101115896026

Task 1- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?



Distributor

This is our first title card, upholding the traditional form of most opening sequences in the sense that conventionally speaking, it is the distributor of the film, who provides the funding on which that film is not only made, but also advertised, introduced to the market and sold on. Therefore due to the fact that it is the distributor (in our case Vertigo Films), that takes the biggest financial risk in terms of the films success, they are mentioned first in the title card. Being a low budget film, typically we could expect the distributor to potentially spend up to one and a half times more on the films distribution than the actual budget involved in making that film. Clearly it is therefore the distributor that plays the key role in the films success due to the fact that typically, any film is only as valuable as it's distribution deal.   





Production Company

This again upholds generic convention in terms of the chronology of our title cards. The production company also plays a huge role in the succes of the film. In this case, i have chosen to name the production company 'SIRATED' as a result of the fact that the name seems to fit the genre of the film without conforming to the seemingly mundane conventional spelling of the word 'serrated'. The production company is funded by the distributor to put together all aspects of the film, from research and development to the final cut of and post production. The company provides the final cut of the film for the distributor to find an audience for. The production company is an absolutley crucial aspect toward both the life and success of any film, they are therefore typically assured a significant mention within the title cards/ sequence of said film.









Director

Again, sticking to the codes of convention, we have mentioned the director third in our opening sequence. The film is (or should be) a result of the director's artistic vision due to the fact that it is thier concept on which the film is based. However, there is no way that the film could possibly be made or recognised/ succesful without the presence or help of both the distributor and the production company, therefore they take presidnce before the director in terms of the title cards of a film.





Title

We have chosen to include the actual title of the film after the initial opening sequence and not alonside the opening titles for two primary reasons which have become commonplace in modern films. Firstly, seperating the display of the main title card from the crediting title cards gives it a greater sense of significance and impact on screen. Secondly, the attention span of a modern day audience is generally less than that of audiences of prior generations, as a way of aknowledging this, we have incooperated our titles into an opening sequence as is the modern convention as opposed to opening with a leangthy title sequence. The opening seqence does not feature the word 'Aftermath' until it has established that the film to follow will portray the aftermath of the events depicted in the sequence, therefore following chronological convention. The title 'Aftermath' is also a slight pun in the sense that Kate says she was 'in maths' before the incident took place.

The establishing shot of the sequence is of Alex's video confession which as we can see from the logo on the bottom right hand side of the screen, he posted on 'YouTube'. The shot follows the conventions of our intended steriotype for this film. Firstly, the 'Sirated' poster that we can see in the background is representative of the specific genre of music that such a character would listen to (metal/hardcore). The black T-shirt underneath his schoolshirt was a specific choice in terms of Mise en Scene as it can be argued that it is a subtle indication to the darker person that Alex was beneath his external image, hence why the shootings came as such an apparent shock.

This shot presents us with two different frames of narrative from Kate. It is meant to signify the fact that although she is the narrative figure, she is telling a story from a subjective point of veiw. The film as a whole was intended to reffer back to her interpritation of events and showing her telling the story within this kind of shot may encourage us as an audience to interprate what she says in a different light, setting us up for the the discovery that she may not in fact be telling the truth. This is to some degree conventional, however with particular regards to the 'Neo Noir' style films. 

The sequence makes frequent use of conventional shots such as the 'over the shoulder' (OTS) seen above. As well as this, we ensured that we tilted the camera for a slight upwards angle on the inspector to give him a stance of power and importance within the shot. Whereas shots of Kate are all tilted at a sligtly dowward angle to somewhat victimise her within the shot.