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

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

1. Preparation and Planning

Planning our preliminary task and our main task there was a difference in the amount of work we had to put towards to each one.
The preliminary task was our first shooting assignment; most of us were not very familiar with using a camera and how to shoot shots so we were given guide lines to follow. We were given a script for our actors to read, it told us how to set up our filming equipment. We were given a choice where to film, we chose the class room. The guide lines made it easy for every group to do this task because it told us what to do.
The preliminary task was quicker to produce. Instead of planning our shoot day (when, where, what angles, what props) like our main thriller task we were given a media lesson to go off in our groups. We had to find two actors around school to take part in our preliminary task. So when it came to planning we had very limited time which evidentially ending with us making up the shots as we went along by using examples from the guide line sheet. This meant that we had to think up different shots, decide how to arrange the scenery and work out how to interpret the storyboard in our own way.
With our main task a lot has changed in terms of preparation and planning. It took ages at first to come up with an idea, we all went down separately in our group and wrote a idea down which was roughly about a page long, we then returned together and pitched them to one another and this was really helpful because it gave us four different options and it also helped us to get to our final idea. Once we had our final idea we could then move onto the planning of producing our thriller. We had to look into the location; the actors, the shoot days, the time limit, the script and this took a lot more time than the preliminary task. If we had planned our main task in the same time period as the preliminary task we would have ended up producing another amateur piece of work like the preliminary task.
As this was the main task preparation also took longer than the preliminary task because our main task was part of our exam so we took care that everything we needed was there. Our shoot days were shot off campus, it was crucial that we had all the equipment and props we needed with us and we come out with some successful shots. Luckily it all went according to plan due to our good preparation. Our second shoot was shot on campus so it wouldn’t have been as much of a disaster if we had forgotten anything, but again we had everything we needed with us and everything went well.

2. Development of your film-making skills

In the preliminary task we were all given a storyboard to follow with a basic story line already set out for us. This gave room for some interpretation but with everyone focusing mainly on the technical side of the task due to everyone being only just introduced to it, it meant it gave everyone little time to develop a good story to be told visually rather than with dialogue.
Between the filming of our preliminary task and our main task we had learnt a lot more about film-making during lessons and we gained more knowledge of what to put in our main task. I think that the fact we had a lot more time to concentrate on our story board for our main task meant that we had a much higher chance to produce a better piece of work that had a visual narrative.

3. Use of camera

Comparing the preliminary task with our main task it was easy to see that we had become more familiar with the camera and we had a lot more shots to choose to use in our task. In our preliminary task we were all fairly new to the camera and with the short time limit we were only able to produce four of five shots maximum which understood after a small introduction. It was also easy to tell that with more experience we could have made those shots better if we were to re-do our preliminary task now I very much think it would be shot with a more professional angle to it.
Our main task is a good example to show how we have improved in terms of camera work. At the beginning of the year we weren’t aware of the different shots and the rules behind them. However now that we have learnt about such things as the framing for eye line matches, 180 degree rule and use of close ups we were able to use a lot more in our main task which as a result would make it look more visually appealing and interesting to watch that was better quality.
The shots we used in the preliminary task were basic and made the sequence altogether rather slow and jumpy to watch. In our lessons we have learnt how to decide on what shots would be best to use in each part of our main task and which would make the sequence flow better and look more professional.

4. How you use of sound has developed

The sound in the preliminary task was very basic, consisting of just dialogue and the background noise of the room. This was because when editing our preliminary task it again was new to most of us so we didn’t feel comfortable to start playing around the sound and we just need to focus on placing the shots together. However when it came to using sound in our main task we had a longer period of time to develop our knowledge of using sound I was put in charge of the sound a making the original score. Due to learning about the sound I was able to incorporate different sound effects which might have been a non-diegetic sound track to create an element of fear or suspense for example placing in the backing music. We also had the option of adding in sound effects that we perhaps weren’t able to achieve on our shoot day such as rain fall or passing traffic. This helped us to save a lot of time when it came to editing, instead of using a microphone to record these sounds we had samples on the computer to use instead.

5. Demonstrating your ability to master new technology

When editing our main task we used Final Cut Pro. We used this programme when we were editing our preliminary task. However at that point in time not everyone got to spend very long using the programme and coming to grips with how to use it.
We were allowed to go up to the edit suite and use Final Cut Pro on our own. This meant I had time to learn how to use the programme through trial and error, learning how to use different tools. I can say due to these both tasks I have become a lot more experienced than when I started.

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

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

The main attraction of our film is the fact that it is based on "Social Realism" meaning that is addresses current affairs that are going on in the world today, unlicensed cabs are a big issue in The United Kingdom today and action needs to start to take place to sought out this issue / Crime. I think that if teenagers were to see our film it would perhaps make them think twice and make them more aware about getting into a strangers car in the future that has no indication of it being licensed. When parents here about this film they will edge their children to go and see it so that they may think again next time before they go to get in an unlicensed taxi in the future. The film also has a thriller attraction to it, The theme of kidnapping and murder in the film will attract and address our audience.

Task 4. What kind of media institution might distribute my media product and why?

The institution that would possibly make our film would be vertigo because they produce and distribute low budget films. They want to produce and distribute commercially driven independently made films that enable them to make a profit.Their aim is to compete with the mini majors such as fox searchlight, who distributed the film Taken, in the U.S.A. so they would try and produce and fund an equally as successful film as Taken. Similar films that are made are ‘Hitcher and London to Brighton as they are both about people running away from someone.

I feel that my film would cost around about half a million to the maximum of Three million. Vertigos film budgets range between about half a million to about three million so for us as Directors this would work comfortably. Vertigo have made a series of horror/thrillers such as the Children, The Cove and Outcast which shows that they have a niche audience from the ages of 15-24 that would watch our film. Our film would mainly be first attracted by a male audience so we have a female protagonist to attract female viewers. ‘Vertigo Films’ sell the films abroad before the film is made so that they can put money into the film whilst making it which enables them to fully fund it and make the most out of the film.

How does your product represent particular social groups?

The two social groups that we have chosen to represent in our media product are; teenagers and our driver who is suppossed to be a stereotype of a rough edgy man from a poor background. We have focused on using the idealogy that in society you do come across some taxi drivers that sterotypically do seem to be from a poor or foriegn community. Then you also do have the sterotypical naive teenagers who will get into any taxi without thinking twice.

In terms of choosing our actors we have tried to portray these two sterotypical social groups through their appearance and their actions within the title sequence.



This Is a Photo from the film of 'Taxi Driver' This film gave us the idea of the taxi driver.



This Is a Photo of a stereotypical girl that could be vunrable in the films situation.

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

           

This first image is taken from our first shot of the sequence. It is used to establish the fact that our victim is on her own after leaving a club. This upholds the conventions of a film sequence because the fact she is on her own makes it more believable for her to be vulnerable and to be kidnapped by the driver.

We wanted to show the difference between a licensed cab taxi and an unlicensed taxi. By having the real taxi drive off and dismiss the safety of the girl conforms to the conventions of our sequence because it is no longer definate that she is getting into a real taxi.

This screenshot is to show that the girl was first of all in a busy town with little chance to be hurt because she was around the public. You could argue that this image subverts the conventions of a thriller film sequence because she is safe, however this changes when she enters the taxi. So it quickly conforms the conventions of a Thriller film.

In this shot the driver is showing the girl her driver's license that he has stolen. This conforms to the conventions of a thriller film sequence because even before he had shown her the audience were already catching onto the idea that this driver wasn't normal. However when he shows the stolen driving license the audience now definately know he is not normal and infact very dangerous and has been following the girl or keeping track of her in some way

This screenshot is to show the struggle and dispair of the girl when she realises she is in danger from the driver. This conforms to the conventions of our thriller sequence because the viewer now knows for definate that something is wrong and she is in danger.

The last image shows the driver in the foreground and the Girl in the background placing them at different levels of power between the two. This image conforms to the conventions of a thriller film sequence because the audience can tell that the driver has power over the victim by the menicing look in his face and the fact that he has her life in his hands by him being behind the wheel of the car.