Media Evaluation

Final Production - Karma

180 degree rule

We decided to create our own version of the 180 degree rule!

Camera Angles in our final production

The camera angles in our final production worked really well, we used a wide range making it more exciting and real for the audience. The final production began with a point of view shot, Amelia filmed in the car between Anna and I, so the audience could feel like part of the action.

We then did a tracking shot of the car driving past, capturing the wheels and the speed of the car, building up tension. The sound of the car also added to this effect.

A close up was used when Joanne had been hit, this emphasized the seriousness of the situation and the blood dripping down her face gave a really good effect. A long shot was also used, this allowed the audience to get a clear view of all three characters and were able to understand what was going on. A two shot was then used to film Anna and I talking about what had just happened. This also worked well and allowed the audience the understand what was going on without getting confused. A long shot is also used when Anna and I get back in the car and drive off. On our way to the party, a long shot is used again filming Anna and I walking in, next a point of view shot from someone opening the door. The following day the first shot is of Anna waking up and running down the stairs, for this we used a high angle shot. Once she opened the door, another point of view shot was used following by a shot reverse shot of Mine and Anna's conversation. A low angle shot is used when we walk up the stairs, this is effective as it created tension. A framing shot was then used through the bedroom door of Anna and I talking on the bed. A close up is then used when the necklace is flushed down the toilet. When I am leaving a high angle shot is filmed of us walking down the stairs. A framing shot is used when I leave of me walking down the street but it is also a high angle shot, this shot was very effective and worked really well as it created tension. The audience would have been unsure what was about to happen next. The last shot is a close up of my eyes, having flashbacks of Joanne. For the flashback we switched from my eyes to a shot of Joanne.

Naming our Thriller

KARMA -the belief that all of your actions will have equal reprecussions, affecting you.
We thought long and hard about naming our final production. We wanted something that was short and to the point but also catchy.
We decided on the name 'Karma' because we thought it did exactly that.

Final Production

We filmed our final piece over two days, we did this as we needed time to plan and discuss what was actually going to happen and what order we needed to do everything. We also needed a scene at night and a scene in the day so having a break in between allowed us to develop further ideas. We filmed the first part of our production down my road, a quite road in Weybridge, this allowed us to capture the driving to the party, it built up the tension as we were listening to the loud music and set the scene. We drove to St Georges Hill in Weybridge which was only up the road. This is where we were picking up Joanne, we were still listening to loud music at this time when she ran out in to the road and we hit her. After we drive off, the next scene is the scene at the party, there is not much to this scene but it also builds up tension as it goes straight in to days later where I am ringing on the doorbell wanting to see Anna. This is where I tell Anna I am still seeing things and that Joanne is still alive and out to get me. We decided to flush the necklace down the toilet, we made this a big part of the production as the visions and flashbacks still continue once the necklace has been flushed away. This is shown at the end of the scene where I leave Anna, and stop half way down the road to have another flashback of Joanne.

Costume

For our final production, the characters were wearing dresses. Myself and Anna were ready to go to a party so were dressed up for a special occasion. Joanne wore more casual clothing as in the production she is more of a tom boy compared to Anna and I who were girly girls. Anna wore black to build up an ironic atmopshere as people would assume she was playing an evil character. I wore a pink dress which also was ironic as I played the evil character but was made out to be sweet and innocent as after my actions I then realised what I had done and payed for it, this is shown by me having changing in to a black dress for the party portraying my true colours.

The transformation

We were experimenting on the mac books using all the different effects, we thought it would look good and would be a fun idea to show Anna and I getting ready for the party. The idea was to show that we were in a happy and up beat mood ready for the party.

Making Fake Blood

For our final production we decided to make fake blood. We thought it would make a more realistic and thriller like effect. We used food colouring and syrup to make the blood and added a touch of water to water it down a little to make it thinner and more realistic. The final outcome was really succesful, it looked very effective in our final production which was pleasing as it was the look we were going for.

Target audience and Rating

We thought about the audience we were going to target our final at and we thought a 12a age certificate was appropriate. We compared our final to other thriller movies that we had seen and believed ours had minimal violence and the language used was not very strong either. We thought if a child was to watch it, they would have to be supervised which is what 12a stands for.

Development of Final Task

We have thought some more about our final piece and we have developed and edited a few things in which we are going to do. We are keeping the idea of filming in a car and knocking over our friend. We didn't want our piece to look like a trailer so have focused more on making it look like an opening scene of a thriller. Our plan for our final piece now consists of:

• The opening starts with the car driving around the estate, along the winding roads, creating a great atmosphere as we are surrounded by tall trees, at its being filmed at night time.
• The next scene is of Me and Anna in the car, two friends having a good time, oblivous to what is going on around us, we are listening to our favourite music and singing loudly and messing around.
• Anna then recieves a text message on her phone and is excited about what it says so she shows me.
• I then loose control of the car and we hit something.
• We suddenly stop, unaware of what we have just hit.
• Both of us get out of the car and see the girl lying in front of the car with blood running down her face.
• The girls are scared and don't know what to do.
• Anna suggests we tell the police and I disagree as I don't want to get in trouble for the event that had taken place.
• We argue about it and decide to drive off, but before doing so I\take the young girls necklace.
• The next part of the scene will be a few weeks later..I go to visit Anna at her house to tell her that I've been seeing things and that I'm convinced what happened a few weeks ago has come back to haunt me.
• Anna thinks I'm being stupid and am imagining things.
• The necklace is a key prop in our task as the necklace is used as a reminder of what happened that night.

We have looked at all the camera angles in which we are going to use when filming our final piece.

• Long shot
• Wide angle shot
• Close up
• Two shot
• Low angle shot
• High angle shot

We have also thought a lot about the sounds we are going to include, and we had to consider the atmospshere they were going to create.

The Planning of Final Piece

For our final task we decided to create story boards to give us a bigger and better idea of what we were doing. By doing this it allowed us to develop our ideas, from the plot, to the camera shots and angles we were going to use as well as sound effects and props etc. We looked in to all the type of thrillers we could of done and we decided to go with action thriller. Our final task is mainly set in a car and is very action filled. The story boards definitely helped us in the planning and developing of our final. 

The different sounds used in Media

We use all different types of sounds in media for many different reasons. It adds effect and creates atmosphere where needed.

Special effects

Special effects using sound to suggest a story element such as background, time, place, character, etc. Also used to heighten and intensify action or evoke an emotional response.

Digetic Sound
Sound that exists within the world of film.

Non-Digetic Sound

Sound that emerges from outside the world of the TV, eg film soundtracks.

Music

Music can be digetic or non-digetic.

Sound Bridges

The use of sound to help transitions between sequences pass more fluidly. E.g. the editor may cut to a completely new scene, but allow sound from the preceding scene to run for a short time. Alternatively, we may hear the sound of the next scene before we see it.

Ambient Sound

Sound/music used to create a particular atmosphere or a sense of place.

Selective Sound

Emphasises key sound elements within a sequence.

Asynchronous

Sound that is separate from the visuals, such as a voiceover or dialogue from another scene.

Synchronous

Sound caused by some event on screen, so that sound matches the action.

Idea for Final Task 

For our final task we have decided to film in St Georges Hill, a private estate in Weybridge. We are going to do our filming around the same time we filmed our preliminary task as it was just getting dark and gave a perfect thriller effect. St Georges Hill is surrounded by huge trees and there are plenty of roads. We chose here as it is a quiet location where it is going to be good for us to film as there will be no distractions. The shadows and night time lighting of the estate will add to the effect we are trying to create. As it is the opening of a thriller we are creating, it took us a long time to come up with something that will work. We decided that two girl friends are going to be in a car driving along a road at night with very loud music playing when suddenly they hit something..

We are going to have hit a person and the two girls will be left petrified not knowing what to do. We thought this was something different, something a bit more exciting and realistic. I personally think it will work really well. We have focused on what camera angles we are going to use aswell. We thought to capture the speed of the car we would film it from a distance in front and the same from behind. We also thought it may be quite effective if we filmed along side the car as well as in the car to really pick up on the mood and atmosphere of the whole story. We are still building and developing our ideas for our final task as we want to make it as good as we can. The photos above I took of St Georges Hill, these were taken in the day as you can see but at night time you can imagine the shadows from the trees and the long windy roads creating a brilliant effect. 

Preliminary Task

The Editing of Preliminary Task

When we filmed our preliminary task we had a lot of footage to work from and a lot needed improving and editing. We used the mac books to edit the work. We took all of the sound out of the clip so we could add sound effects to it. This worked really well as it created much more of a thrilling effect. The slow starting music built up a very tense and spooky atmosphere. The darkness and the mist added to this. When the close ups and short clips of Anna appeared we used a sepia glowing effect on her. This worked really well as it created a very interesting effect and made it more clear to when we were creating flash backs. The sepia glowing effect gave a old and haunting feel to the scene. We sped up and slowed down some of the scene when needed, this created a lot of suspense and tension for the viewers as well as added something a bit more interesting to the scene. During the scene we had to include some speech, the sound of the voices had an echo to them as the space in which we were filming was so big. The close ups of the holy cross and the candles made it very clear to the viewers where it was being filmed and it also added a very religious feel to it. We also added some sound effects such as the door opening, this locking sound gave a jumpy effect and worked well seeing as the music that was playing throughout flowed at a steady pace so key sounds really stood out as they were different from the background music. The overall setting of the church was a great location for a thriller and once it was all edited looked great. From doing our preliminary I got a real feel of using the camera and trying out different angles. I also personally found that from using the macs to do the editing I got a real feel for the different effects we could add to our work to improve it and I am looking forward to exploring different and new techniques when it comes to editing our final task.

Editing shots taken from the Macbook

The green bar underneath the clips of the scene are the music and sound effects which we added.

These effects above were the details we added to our scene to break bits up and add a different effect.

This is where we could edit the contrast and colour to our scene.