Dear Moderator,
Thanks for taking the time to look around my blogs. It's been a long process, but hopefully it's been worth it! My group blog is linked to my individual blog. The link to the group blog is on the left hand side, along with the other guys in my group (Winnie, Michael and Jess.) Other links you can find there are for our teacher's central blog which is BLK Blog, which has links to all the other student and group blogs.
On my individual blog you can find all of my individual research, initial ideas and planning which was mainly done in the beginning of the project, before I started with my group. There is also work from the preliminary task, which includes the video clip, reflections on the project and answers to the evaluation questions.
I have also linked my finished film opening sequence at the top of my individual blog and the group one.
I hope you can get around the blogs easily and enjoy looking at all our work. I've organised all my work chronilogiaclly on my blog and we did the same on the group blog. I have used labels to identify my Research, Planning, Production and Evaluation that I have completed on my individual blog. We have done the same on our group blog and also labelled the posts we were individually responsible for, so for example posts that I have done say 'Published by Anisah.'
Thanks, again for looking at my blog
Anisah Audu
Candidate Number 4055
Monday, May 24, 2010
Note to the Moderator
Posted by LATYMERMEDIA at 2:33 PM 0 comments
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Blog Closed!
This blog is now closed.
It's been a long, hard, fun task to do and it's finally over!
My work can be navigated using the links on the left hand side of the page.
BYE!x
Posted by LATYMERMEDIA at 2:30 PM 0 comments
Monday, March 29, 2010
Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Continuity task involving filming and editing a character:
- opening a door
- crossing a room
- sitting down opposite another character
- a couple lines of dialogue
- demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and 180 degree rule
- titles throughout
- some form of copyright-free soundtrack, including SFX
- evidence of understanding of continuity editing
- clear generic signifiers through character, action, MES, dialogue
- a single narrative event or idea
- only a few characters
- one location ideally Things to think about:
2) Our actress forgot vital parts of her costume, so we spent a lot of time waiting for her to bring the right clothing. In future we should definitly make clear to each other what is expected so we don't waste time sorting everything out.
Posted by LATYMERMEDIA at 1:33 PM 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 7
Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this project?
As I had worked with most of the hardware and software before, I found it quite easy to use. The only difficulties I had were figuring out some settings on the digital camera, which did not prevent me from filming what was needed.
Posted by LATYMERMEDIA at 1:33 PM 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 6
Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?
Firstly, we placed a member of the target audience (teenage girl) in the film, so that any viewer could identify with her or her situation.
Women in thrillers often portray a vulnerable character:
Examples of films with women:
Popular films such as Halloween (Carpenter, 1798), Scream (Craven, 1999), Babysitter Wanted (Manesseri, 2008), Hostel Part 2 (Roth, 2007) etc all use women who are attacked in some way by powerful men.
Context:
We chose a topic that was relevant to society. The audience can relate to Dark Summer as there have been many cases involving kidnapping in the media. The Madeleine McCann case is still fresh in everyone's minds, as she disappeared 3 years ago and the story was publicised so much. She was taken from her bedroom while her parents were near, similar to how Summer is kidnapped from her own home while Zoe is only one floor below.
Other stories such as the Joseph Fritzel case are even scarier, as the victim's kidnapper was her own father. This shows that nobody is safe-in this case, not even from parents. When watching Dark Summer, the audience could draw on this case when wondering about the identity of the stranger.
Audience Gratifications:
Information:
As there have been real life cases on kidnapping, the narrative can shed some light on these situations and engage the audience.
Social Interaction:
>During the screening of Dark Summer, I noticed that when the masked man first appeared, many people were whispering about this.
>Important parts provide a basis for social interaction, when the audience are intrigued by what they see.
Entertainment:
>Pass time by watching an interesting film.
>Escapism; many people won't have experienced kidnapping or be able to identify with it, so it allows them to understand.
>There are many twists in the opening, such as the man at the window and simply Summer being gone. The audience have more knowledge that Zoe, but this knowledge is incomplete, so enigma builds up which engages the audience.
We used different platforms to attract the young audience. As nearly all of the audience use the internet, we thought it would be a good idea to post an event on Facebook, a platform that is used worldwide. The internet is an example of cross media convergence, as all kinds of platforms come together for anyone to use.
Examples of websites we used include:
- The name of the film as Dark Summer
- The genre as Horror or subgenre of Thriller
- The target audience as teenagers or young adults
Nearly everyone gave the film a high rating and said they would like to watch Dark Summer in the future, which indicates we addressed our audience well.
Posted by LATYMERMEDIA at 1:32 PM 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 5
Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?
Posted by LATYMERMEDIA at 1:31 PM 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 4
Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Where would we distribute our film?
At first, as the film may not be a hit, we would try exhibiting Dark Summer in independent cinemas like The Phoenix or Rio. A typical audience for this kind of exhibitor is slightly older than teenagers but this would not be a problem. As our secondary audience is 28-38 year olds, we would have the chance for them to watch it. It is usually harder to attract older people to watch films anyway, as teens are more likely to go as a social event.
Posted by LATYMERMEDIA at 1:30 PM 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 3
Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The social groups that Dark Summer mainly appeals to are AGE and GENDER.
In Dark Summer, Zoe who is 18 is a chatty character, with a Blackberry, nice clothing which would signify she is a popular sort of person. She gives the impression of a typical teenager who would go out with friends, have a part time job (babysitting) and possibly a boyfriend.
Women Stereotype
Zoe is the modern day woman. As she is 18, we expect her to be a student, studying in college or university. The fact that she has a job and is left to look after a child shows that she is responsible and independent. Unlike British films like Shank (Ali, 2010) which depict teenagers as loud, aggressive criminals, Zoe embodies the hard working, normal youths of London.
Posted by LATYMERMEDIA at 1:29 PM 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 2
Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Dark Summer:
- Genre: Thriller (Psychological)
- 2 Main Characters
- Zoe: female teenage babysitter
- Stranger: masked man. It is assumed that he has kidnapped the child
- Other characters: Summer and Mrs Matthews
- Good/evil: I think we established this particularly well with the shot below, where both characters are seen. The audience sees the stranger, but Zoe does not, which signifies that he has more power and Zoe isn't; even the audience have more knowledge about the situation than her.
- Interior/Exterior: The same shot is also a good example of outside and inside as the stranger is standing behind the door. In a way, the fact that he is outside, in the unknown is more chilling as the audience cannot see if there is anything or anyone else out there.
- Fear/happiness: The equilibrium is disrupted as soon as Zoe hears the scream. Along with the strange music, the frantic running and shouting, the atmosphere is a scary one as nobody has the knowledge of what will happen.
- Absence/Presence : We see the man at the door, then he’s gone. Also, the audience expect Summer to be in her room but she is never actually seen.
The thriller genre has become so lucrative by repeating successful formulas, such as the 'psycho killer' character in films like Halloween (Carpenter, 1978), Friday the 13th (Cunningham, 1980), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper, 1974) etc. but also adding something so that audiences don't get bored. This is what we have tried to accomplish with Dark Summer
Posted by LATYMERMEDIA at 1:23 PM 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 1