GPGC Present

s

Our Evaluation

BY BIANCA GOLDMAN, ELYSIA POLIN AND CATRIN GEORGE-CAREY

Before we made our film we researched other opening sequences to get an idea of what genre we wanted to do. Whilst researching we found the opening sequence of “Tormented” which is a teen horror. Our opening sequence is similar to “Tormented” as we have created a similar female character in a similar location which is a secondary school.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge

forms and conventions of real media products?

TITLES

PLAYGROUND TORMENTED

To create our titles we used ‘final cut pro’. We decided to make our titles a simple white font which is unlike the bold, colourful titles from Tormented. We decided that it would not be relevant to our opening sequence to include bold titles as the tone of our opening sequence appears to be slightly more serious/dramatic than Tormented.

MISE EN SCENEWe decided not to use school uniform for our opening sequence. This was partly due to the fact that our opening sequence it set at a small private school whereas Tormented is set at a larger school. Our costume at the beginning of our opening sequence is dark and ripped to show that the girl has been in danger. In terms of mise en scene our opening sequence is unlike Tormented.

CONTINUITY EDITINGOur media product is conventional in terms of our editing. We have edited our opening sequence in a continuous way which is similar to ‘Tormented’. However we have also used jump cuts which is unconventional and unlike ‘Tormented’.

MUSIC

PLAYGROUND TORMENTED

Here are two clips, one from our opening sequence ‘Playground’ and one from teen horror movie ‘Tormented’ which inspired our film in many ways. The music which we have used is similar to Tormented as we felt the creepy, dark effect was relevant for our opening sequence.

How does your media product represent particular social

groups?

Our film represents teenagers and the conflicts which can occur between that schoolgirl image and the reality lurking underneath. The scene showing interaction between three schoolgirls in detention also depicts an undercurrent of tension between one character and the supervising teacher - crossing the boundaries of authority and social convention by hinting at an inappropriate connection between them.

TEACHERSOur media product presents school teachers in a negative way suggesting that they are ‘perverted’ or ‘interested’ in young school girls. We have also suggested that school teachers are of a lower class as our teacher is reading ‘The Sun’ newspaper which ironically implies that he is not well educated. This differs from other media products where teachers are presented as kind and sensible people.

TEENAGE GIRLSWe have presented teenage girls in a negative/stereotypical way as we imply that young girls are weak and vulnerable and we suggest that they would “run” off with a teacher without thinking twice. We also see at the beginning of our opening sequence that the girl has been physically damaged which further implies that young girls are physically weak. However this is unlike ‘Tormented’ as the teenage girl appears strong and confident.

•Tormented, a film with the same target market as ours, was distributed by Warner Brothers. Warner Brothers is one of the five largest distribution companies in the world and therefore had the ability to release films on a large scale.

•We would like Playground to be released in this way, across a large number of screens nationwide, as its content will appeal to all teenagers no matter what part of the country they live in.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Distribution companies that we would like are film to be distributed by:

Who would be the audience for your media product?

How did you attract/address your audience?

CASTING TEENAGERSIn order to attract a young audience, we cast young teenagers to act in our opening sequence. This would therefore attract young teenagers to watch our film.

GENREWe attracted our audience by selecting a genre which is popular with teenagers. This genre is ‘teen horror/thriller’ and we knew that it attracted audiences based on Tormented which is of the same genre.

We have learnt a lot about technologies since we started making our film, also it has allowed us to be more creative with our ideas, such as using a film camera, editing, sound and converting our film into a DVD. As well as using YouTube to distribute our film.

What have your learnt about technologies from the process of

constructing this product?

RESEARCH AND PLANNING

IMDB CELTX

PRODUCTION

HD CAMERA TRIPOD

EDITING

FINAL CUT PRO LIVE TYPE

DISTRIBUTION

YOUTUBE SLIDESHARE

Catrin George-Carey: ‘Looking back at the preliminary task, I realized that I had no clue on how to use a film camera nor how to edit the film together. From making this two minute film, I have learnt a lot more. I now know how to make a scrip in proper format also using the different editing techniques and making titles and music.

Bianca Goldman: Since making my preliminary task I have learnt many skills such as how to construct a sequence of different shots, how to create an interesting script, how to use a digital camera and how to edit a film using sound and other effects. It has been a very positive experience.

Elysia Polin: I feel that I have become more confident in using a digital camera and editing. Before I did this task I didn’t know how to make a film. I feel I have really learnt a lot in this task. This task and the technologies have let me be more creative in the work I have been doing.

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