Evaluation Q4

Question 4

Distribution strategy

I think that our film would fall into the category of apocalyptic thriller which is similar to the walking dead which is trending now. The strategy that we might use is by posting a couple of episodes onto the internet as most of our target audience spend most of their time on the internet and can have interest in watching our series. This is where distributors can be found as they might have interest in it. An example of a distributor that would be suitable for our tv series is the CBS television distribution company. This has been chosen because our apocalyptic thriller are similar to the other series on CBS, for example CSI Miami which is a mystery thriller genre. CSI Miami have similar target audiences at ages around 25 to 39 years old.

Blockbusters?

It is not going to be a mainstream blockbuster as it will only be episodes and series on television or streamed online such as Netflix. We decided that it would be better to release our series on the internet as it will pick up many of our audience who, as from our research spend lots of time on the internet. A way to promote our tv series would be by advertising on tv or on the internet as a trailer for the series to attract more of our audience.

Release date

Our release date for our first episode of our tv series would have to be on October 31st. This is on Halloween because it suits the festival and many people will be be attracted to these kinds of genre which are usually apocalyptic and horror thrillers. It was the release date of the first walking dead episode on its first series.

Evaluation Q2

Created with Padlet

Evaluation Q6

How we used technology to help us with creating our opening

What was used

Hardware - Laptop, Camera, Tripod, stabilizer

Software - After effects, premier 

Online - Blogger, YouTube, free license soundtrack website and tutorials

Research

We did some research to help us improve our opening. First of all, we looked similarities in apocalyptic thrillers such as walking dead which has a very dull and kind of abandoned location which has been used in our opening. We researched for a soundtrack which had a slow build up which sounded like danger was coming closer.

Planning

Planning was first done on paper where we took a few shots of the location and looked for the best spots to add to the opening. We constructed a mood board to gather up ideas which links to our film and also made a storyboard of a rough idea of which shots will be in which order. These ideas were researched on the internet as we find images which are related to apocalypse. We took several test shots of buildings to see if it was suitable for our opening. This was then posted digitally on the blog which helped us guide our way to construct an apocalyptic thriller. We took a video of ideas of what equipment we will be using in our film opening, the theme of the opening which is an apocalypse and influences that we follow which one of them is the walking dead.

Filming

Filming was taken place with the use of 2 hard wares which are the camera and the tripod. These two hard wares gave us record of what we have filmed which later was used in the opening as we selected the shots that fitted into opening the best. Props were crucial for our film opening as it gives the audience some representation of both characters in the opening. These hard wares converged perfectly which helps benefit the opening. This made it feel like it was more of a beginning of the apocalypse as both characters are still in their casual clothes and look unprepared to what they might have to face next.    

Post production

Lots of after effects has been used in our film opening such as the change in the colour of the sky to make it darker than usual. 

Evaluation Q1

Question 1

How does your product use or challenge conventions?

In our film opening, we used conventions of thrillers by using

4 of the main media concepts

Camerawork

In our film opening we mostly took our shots from a low angle and also took pan shots, for example where me and Sean was looking at the zombie lying on the floor which was a low angle shot shown in image 2. This shows the audience that the character is looking down to some creature with confused expressions on their face to if the zombie is dead or not.

Editing

We added a fade to the shot where Sean was going to hit the zombie with the baseball bat to shots of the location which are from image 2 to image 3. We made the shots of the location darker so that it looks like an apocalypse.

Mise-en-scene

In the location that we took shots from, are showing the rural part of the city which looks abandoned and has walls around the village shown in image 3 and image 5. The shot that we took where me and Sean were taking a look at the zombie, we were wearing casual clothes which means that we were not prepared at the start if there was going to be an apocalypse and were not using special equipment as we only had a baseball bat.

Sound

Diegetic sounds are made from the sound of the zombie as it lies on the floor and also the birds humming in the shots.

Characters

Me an Sean were introduced into the opening as we see the zombie lying down. We were dressed up as casual clothes and looked unprepared as my sleeves were untidy.

Font and title

In our film opening, we used creepy and horrific type of font make it look like a apocalyptic thriller and also made the font seem a bit rusty. Our title for the film is 'dead alive' which are the opposite of each other. This relates to the zombie as we are not sure if they alive or not.

Location

The location of this place is a rural area and has seemed to be abandoned as the area is very dirty and leaves are not cutted up which is in image 5. There are walls around the village which shows that it is being protected from the zombies which is a good place to be in for a good defensive base. These shots of abandoned car parks and protection of walls shows that the opening of this film is a thriller genre.

Sub genre

The sub genres for our film are horror, apocalyptic and maybe mystery as they have to find a way to survive.

Techniques used

We picked a soundtrack of the opening which has a build up to the end of the opening where the title is shown. This gives an intensive and excite feeling towards the opening which allows it to become a thriller. Lots of panning shots were used to show the audience the abandoned area of the location. We used a low angle shot shown in image 2 which was used because both characters were standing next to the zombie. This makes the characters more powerful as it makes the characters look larger.

Evaluation Q5

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

At the beginning of my AS media studies course, i had no information of  the subject but since the first day of the course i have been improving my skills ever since and now have been significant in each criteria of skills.

Codes and Conventions

I was very confused to what media studies would teach me about film making. Going through film opening in class with the teachers explanation of the representation which creates meaning for the film which would show which genre the film is. I feel that I can refer all the micro-elements which could affect the meaning of the opening. I feel confident with my skills of using codes and convention which has been used in my Film opening.

Beginning of the course 3/10
Now 6/10

Planning and organisation

I have always been weak at organizing for a huge tasks like this task. This has happened during the production of my 1 minute film challenge which was a good start for my first film but could have been better if I had planned more efficiently. After I finished the Dead alive film opening, I felt that I helped my group and organization have been very important which led us to be able to gather many ideas to produce such an opening.

Beginning of the course 2/10
Now 5/10

Camerawork

Before beginning this course I had difficulties in taking shots of scenes and the different types of them. During the production of dead alive, I had a little time using the camera which I learnt in class about different shot types. Now I am able to use different types of shot which had been taken In dead alive.

Beginning of the course 2/10
Now 4/10

Visual effects

Visual effects was brand new to me and It was very difficult for me to understand. I had my hands on some use of visual effects and applied it to our film opening. I still do not feel confident with it but felt that I made an improvement.

Beginning of the course 1/10
Now 3/10

Editing

For the 1 minute film challenge, I had to do some editing which went well for my first ever attempt. Since then I have improved slightly in this skill as I have edited couple of scenes in the dead alive film opening and it went very well.

Beginning of the course 2/10
Now 5/10

Creative confidence

My confidence in bringing up ideas was very poor during the planning of the 1 minute film challenge as I was not sure if it would mix into the genre or not. Although during the planning, I came up with many ideas as I became for confident as I gain knowledge of codes and convention which helped me understand the concept of film making which gave me notice of what I could add to the film opening to make it better.

Beginning of the course 3/10
Now 7/10

Evaluation Q3

3.









Target audience - Age around 25 to 39 years old male and watches lots of apocalyptic movies such as Zombie land and dawn of the dead which has lots of violence in them. Plays lots of video games and uses the internet around 36-40 hours per week. Favorite hobbies are video games and going to the cinema and also watching TV at home. The video games being played by our audience are playing many post-apocalyptic video games such the resident evil series and left 4 dead.He is usually depressed and think of the world in a pessimistic way which matches apocalyptic films as they would want to see the world in a different way if something goes wrong. He is also into science and technology which has been used in apocalyptic films when something goes wrong in a lab which causes some kind of virus that spreads to turn people into zombies. He is more of a socialist who sees the world where people are working together to help each other with their issues. This links to our film opening as two of the characters show a friendship between each other which help them go through the chaos going on in their world. He also listen to aggressive music such as Metallica and the Prodigy.

Location Survey

Location Survey