By Becca Newton

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression of it to the full project?

Firstly I have learnt that you need to be careful about the framing of your shot because it can make the shot look unprofessional and non-realistic if the framing is not right.

Secondly I feel that, as a group, we needed to decide together what type of genre we were going to have before we started brainstorming ideas. This would have meant that we had a ‘steering’ point as to what our film will eventually turn out like instead of changing ideas.

Also I think that the preliminary task was a ‘stop-start’ sequence and when we were doing our final coursework we made sure that it flowed together by adding in video transitions.

Finally we learnt that the camera needed to stay completely still unless the movement was going to be used for effect. This ensured that the film was easily followed by the audience.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Firstly the music choice that we have used helps to attract the audience because they can relate to it and it may be something that they would listen to in their day to day lives. This could also mean that they can relate to the film and its genre because they recognise the music.

Secondly the use of the mise-en-scene for example the clothes that our actress is wearing helps to attract our target audience because they may relate to them as it may be the style of clothes that they wear.

Lastly the use of modern technology for example the photographs that were taken on a digital camera help to address the audience because it is a typical young adults behaviour. This is the way that young adults decide to take pictures at every opportunity to cherish memories and this is what our protagonist has done in our film.

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

Within our two minute opening we have made sure that we stick to some of the conventions of a psychological thriller because then our audience will understand the genre. However we have changed it slightly by using a teenager as a protagonist instead of adults. We have done this so we can attract our target audience that are in the 15-24 year old category.

Also we stuck to the conventions of our genre because we did not use any dialogue in our opening. With all of the real film openings we analysed they also did not have dialogue, so that is a convention we have kept.

Finally, our choice of clothing for the protagonist fits in with the conventions of a thriller because they are dark and bleak and many of the real films we analysed had dark clothing and a mysterious nature about them.

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

From the beginning of starting the course and we did the preliminary task, we found it hard to get to grips with using a camera and the editing program – Adobe Premiere Pro CS3. At the beginning we had to

learn how to use the editing program so when it came to editing our piece for the final coursework, we understood the program after using it on our preliminary task. However during the editing of our final coursework we came to a halt when we didn’t know how to get the music to fade at the end when the video faded to black.

So we had a look at tutorials online and found our answer. This taught us that we have to research any problems instead of just leaving it. Also Adobe can be temperamental at times, which means that a lot of patience and looking around was needed to try and get the final product as we wanted it.

Also when we first started the coursework, we were not entirely sure on how to use the video cameras provided so we had to use the preliminary task to learn how the camera worked.

Also although it is not a technology that we used the tripod was a piece of equipment that needed to be used well or it would have made the shots move. When we were doing the preliminary task, we played back the shots with sound and we found that the tripod made a squeaky noise when it was turned. However to overcome this in our final piece we used a backing track instead of having the sound that it would have had.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

If we were to make the whole film we would show characters who have good, steady jobs and a reasonable income. This then makes them act as though they are of a better class representing

the social groups that have a ‘higher class’ persona about them.

Again if we were to make the whole film and distribute it, we would include

characters that are from a different ethnic background than the protagonist to show diversity and make sure that we attract

different kinds of audiences.