Evaluation on the experience.

Overall, i have enjoyed creating this thriller with my other members of the group. I felt that we worked well as a team and helped each other out by giving advice and putting alot of input into new ideas on our filming. Although, we found it hard finding days to shoot that all four of us could make and it made it very difficult and resulted our group to become a little behind in our filming, editing and blog work but it all worked out well in the end and this whole experience has taught me to work better as a team.

I have found it a very enjoyable experience as i did not take Media in GCSE and it was something that was completly new to me but also a challenge. I have enjoyed learning something that interests me. I have also learnt alot during the preliminary and main task. I have tried out new technology that i haven't previously used such as Apple Macbooks (and the software such as iMovie & Garageband)and Using a camera and tripod. I have never been used to the Apple Macs but i have now learnt alot from this experience.

For our evaluation, we all took part by creating four slides each and putting it into the presentation. This showed that we all were determained to work as a team and put even input towards our work. We then recorded ourselves evaluating each of our slides using the schools camcorder and then we were planning to upload it for the final post of one of the Evaluation Activities. Unfortunatly due to a certain format error between the mac and school computers, we were unable to upload the presentation on our blogs ontime which we were all dissapointed about.

Evaluation- Activity 7

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




From previous feedback from our preliminary we have learnt to:

-Use a larger variety of shots

-Crop our wide shot slightly to enhance audience focus


-Use a few more close-ups
during the interview


-To monitor our mise-en-scene
and make sure there is
nothing (e.g. inappropriate bracelets)

Evaluation- Activity 6

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

Evaluation- Activity 5

How did you attract/address your audience?



We attracted and addressed our audience by-

• Using young actors that will appeal to our target audience of 15-25. It is important that we use actors of a certain age as generally in movies, younger people want to watch films with younger actors in it.
  
• The film is set in the modern day which the audience will be familiar with.
  
• The music from the opening scene sounds simular to the music from ‘Kill Bill’ which is another thriller film targeted at our audiences age group. The music hopefully influences Fans of 'Kill Bill' into watching our product.

• The use of attractive actors will also appeal to our target audience.

• The location is a modern, everyday home which our audience would see as ‘normal’ as apposed to a mansion being used.

• The theme is relatable as our target audience is about to leave school or has left school and will have witnessed/understood bullying.

• The film includes murders and blood which will appeal to the age group as they may not watch PG or 12 films because of their lack of terror.

Evaluation- Activity 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our product is aimed towards the 15+ target audience as we think this age range would be suitable as our product contains a lot of violence, blood and gore. Although a 12A rating would attract a wider audience, going by Ofcom guidelines, our film would legally need a 15 certificate.

The actual targeted age range we’ve decided to use would be 15-25 as we have based our thriller on young adults aged 20+, so therefore should attract that age of audience.

They would shop in places that would buy our type of product such as high street shops such as HMV and Virgin Mega store. They would not shop at a particular clothing outlet as it depends on their stereotype which could be gothic or chav.

People aged 15-25 may listen to different types of music as quite a lot of the targeted audience have a preferred type of genre. Our product is more likely to attract young people who are stereotyped as ‘Goth’ or ‘Emo’ because our product is about death and murder and as its quite twisted so therefore they would listen to music such as Heavy Metal, Screamo, Rock or Indie.

Their favourite TV shows could be on Drama, especially based on conventions that are typical to the younger generation e.g. Drugs, Sex, Violence, such as Skins and Misfits. Other Television programmes that our target audience would be attracted to could be Prison break or Lost.

Evaluation- Activity 3

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

This is our directors commentary.

The 'Distorted Productions' Logo:

We made this logo by using a simple logo creator website online. We chose the name 'Distorted' productions because we thought it was a good way to describe a production of a thriller that is quite twisted and creepy.

Production companies are in charge of the process of producing a film. Distorted productions would be in charge of the physical production and development of the film. Production companies often raise their own money for the film, through sponsors or contracts .

Our Distributor

The distributor that we have chosen are Lionsgate. Lionsgate is a very successful company which has distributed many famous films such as Saw.
They have distributed many thriller films for the past 14 years. They have also distributed hundreds of other films under different genres.

We thought that Lionsgate would be an appropriate distributor for our product as we feel our thriller is very simular to many of their thrillers with alot of violence and gore.

Evaluation- Activity 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?




Our key character is Oliver, The murderer. He is first introduced in our opening scene as our main character in our thriller
This character is similar to the Patrick Bateman in the film ‘American Physco’ – directed by Mary Harron.

The role in the film

In ‘Class of ’92’, the character of Oliver leads a double life. His friends, co-workers and family know him as an ordinary married, business man… but they don’t know of the secret he keeps locked in his shed - his alternate psychopathic ego. He is actually a serial killer determined to kill his carefully chosen victims who think they are his friends. The friends were actually people who bullied him in school and gave him a hardtime throughout his years of childhood. In comparison....
Patrick Bateman in ‘American Psycho’ also leads a double life. He is a wealthy business man who hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his friends and co-workers.

The appearance/costume

The appearance and costume of both characters are very simular. They are both wearing smart business clothing such as Black blazer, white shirt, black shoes. The point of them dressing in ordinary smart clothing is so that none of them appear like a stereotypical killer that you would find in a normal thriller and so that you wouldnt expect them to be a psychopathic murderer.

Evaluation- Activity 1

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

Screengrab 1:

This Screengrab shows the entrance scene of the opening of our thriller. As this is the opening shot, it establishes where the action will take place and the surroudings of the House, Car, Garage, Drive and neighbourhood. It so far, portrays that he is an ordinary man arriving home from work. The Large 4x4 car, shows that he could be a family man and could be quite wealthy. The freshly mown grass shows his maticulous nature and how he could be a man with alot of time on his hands and is a man who could be incontrol of the household. The lighting is kept looking natural and early evening as if he's just came back from work.

Screengrab 2:

In this screen grab, the location has narrow and enclosed walls making the scene feel more suspense. The long black cloak shown on the murderer is used on every scene involving Oliver. We did this so it was created as a character identifier. The coat contributes to his blank style of life and to help hide his actual personality with dull clothing. The hallway is empty and clutter free to symbolise his empty family life. The blank white walls shows his lack of creative imput to his home and also exaggerates his perfectionist lifestyle and also his slightly psychotic side. The lighting in this screengrab is meant to appear as natural lighting to show the regularity of his everyday life in his home but we have added the 'Day into night' video effect to keep the continuiety of the lighting throughout the entire clip.

Screen grab 3:

In this screen grab the lighting is again naturalistic with the simple 'day into night' effect to make it look later in the day. The shot of the back garden establishes that he is a normal man living in a normal house with neighbours and nice surroundings which is the opposite of what he is really like and it doesn't show any signs of his psychopathic side. The garden has a birdhouse and flowers which shows a bit of femininity meaning he could be living with a female friend. The grass in the garden is neatly trimmed and mowed which shows he might be a bit of a perfectionist and a person with alot of time on his hands.

Screen grab 4:



In this screen grab, the actor is looking suspicious as it shows him looking over his shoulder to check if anyone can see him this means that he would be covering something that he doesn't want anyone else to see. In comparison to the screen grab of the front garden looking neat and tidy, The planks of wood shown on the right side of the shed shows that towards the back of the house, things get messier showing that he doesn't want people to see the back garden. The high fence and trees shown in this scene shows that it's not easy to see into his garden making him appear a bit cautious and secretive. The font that appears in all the screengrabs look smooth and innocent but the fading effective makes it seem mysterious.

Screen grab 5:

This screen grab is a section of our shed scene. The lighting used in the shed is very dark to add and expand on the tense and scary atmosphere- We needed the lighting to be dark too make sure the postings on the wall look creepier. The newspaper cuttings are used to scare the audience as it makes it more mysterious of why this man has cuttings of murders on his shed wall. They are ripped up messily which is in contrast to his perfectionist nature of what the audience was first introduced to. This makes it seem like he has a pyschotic side to him. The map on the cabinet door was to show how he carefully plans his murders. The petrol container was there to make it look like he could be dangerous and that he could use it as a weapon in one of his murders.

Screen grab 6:

This screen grab is of the second flashback scene. It is filmed in a wooded area surrounded by tall trees and crisped leaves which also shows that he had planned of where he could hide the evidence of the murder. The house in the background shows the domestic and local setting of the murder. The clip was edited with the 'dream' effect to make it look like it was a flashback from the past. The location was quite dark at the time so there was alot of shadows making the scene look more creepy. The leaves were purposely placed infront of the camera to make the area seem like its sheltered and well hidden to hide evidence. The low angle shot we used helped mystify our murder victim till the very last shots of showing her face and body.

Screen grab 7:

This is the inside of the yearbook. The black and white portrait photos shows that it was taken years ago when technology hasn't really updated. The dark lighting used in this shot was great to make the scene more eerie in contrast to the scene in the light. The red coloured ring represented danger and blood which is a typical convention of a thriller and signified that the victim was going to get killed. The close up shot of the page in the yearbook shows what victim(s) he is focused at and also shows the point of view from the murderer.

Screen grab 8:

This shot is a point of view shot. We used this shot to make the audience feel like they are in the scene or watching the murder taking place. The angle is at a perfect position as the main feature, which is the murderer, is in the centre of the screen so your eye is drawn to him but also the surroundings. The victim is reading a newspaper which is a normal thing to do and shows she's not expecting to get murdered. It also shows that she is vunerable.

The dream effect was added again as it was a flashback into his foggy mind.

Screen grab 9:

The screen grab is of the opening title which is positioned at the end of the clip. We used a simple fade in transition because we wanted to make an impact but didn't want it to look too dramatic or to break the contiunety of the shot. We used a bold white font to stand out on the black background to keep it simple yet effective. We used American typewriter font because we felt that it looked proffesional and school like.

Other ways that we have followed the conventions of a typical thriller are by….

-Using the signature long black cloak for character identity as a murderer. This is in comparison to Patrick Bateman in ‘American psycho’, Who also worn the long black cloak and lead a double life. We thought this worked very well for a thriller.

-We also looked at the opening titles of Se7en by David Fincher for inspiration. Se7en has a similar storyline about a book with crossed out photos of victims. We have used the idea of newspaper cuttings of headings such as ‘Murder’, ‘torture’, ‘Girl aged 21 stabbed to death’ as we thought it would be a creepy idea that a person who had just murdered the victim have pinned up the headlines in the newspapers of their death.

-We have used the typical intense music that all thriller movies use. Our product’s opening has a high pitched piano sound as a background noise to hold tension and suspense then a deep piano tone when something dramatic happens.

Final Piece

This is our final outcome of our thriller- Class of '92.

As a group, we were extremely pleased with the outcome as it is only a 1:49 second clip.

Editing Clips using iMovie

We decided to experiment with editing the clips by using a video effect called 'Day into Night' to make it look more eerie than being in the middle of the day.


We used the Dream effect for the flashbacks as it was in a sepia tone with blurred edges.




We also used transitions in between clips such as 'Cross blur' and 'Ripple' to make the scenes flow and add effect.





To make the clips more effective, we had to make sure we edit the sound into the right place of the clip such as in the flashback and when the camera pans around the walls of the shed. We also found that there was really effective sounds on 'iMovies Sound effects' called 'Drone' which we used throughout the whole clip.

When adding the titles, we decided to use 'American Typewriter' font as we thought it fitted the theme of a yearbook well and it made the scenes look more proffesional.

Editing- Music

We explored different kinds of music on the Apples 'GarageBand'. We looked at different loops and genres of music such as 'Dark' and 'Tense'. It was hard to find the appropriate sound as most of them were too dramatic for our thriller.

We wanted to start the opening scene with a piece of music to represent him as an ordinary guy so eventually we found a sound which is upbeat and is simular to the style of the opening of the thriller 'Kill Bill'. We then added a dark undertone sound effect over the piece of upbeat music to increase the tension and to keep the continuety throughout the opening. This made the audience know that somethings not right and the man isn't what he appears to be.

When it got to the shed scene we had to build up the tension so we added some short low piano notes for everytime a person is crossed out from the murder.

For the flashback scene we used a sound effect called 'Boralis' which was really effective because it had a clock ticking sound which emphasised the tension and the flashback of time from the past.

As a group, we were very pleased with the outcome of music.

Filming- Shoot 3- Shed Scene.

The shed scene was a bit we finally got to shoot on the last day.

We designed the shed to make it look creepy with newspaper cuttings pinned on the wall saying headlines such as 'MURDERER', 'GIRL STABBED' and 'TORTURE'.

We also pinned pictures of young adults onto the walls to make it look like they were his victims.

There was also a map on the cabinet door to make it look like he was plotting his next attack.

We got this inspiration from some of opening titles of Se7en.

We thought it turned out really well and showed the contrast between the ordinary man that we see at the beginning of the scene to the pyscopathic side of the man.

Filming Equipment

As we couldn't take out the schools video camera on certain days, especially on weekends, We used a member of our groups parents pocket-sized camcorder which was high definition and was better quality then the schools camera. We also used Cissie's dad's tripod which fitted on the camera. We found it easier using this equipment because we could use it any time we wanted and the handheld camera was good for some of the scenes.

This is a picture of the Hand held pocket camera we used:

Props- The Yearbook

Because our thriller is based on a yearbook, We had to make our own version of a yearbook full of photos of past students.

We did this by using a member of the groups old yearbook and designing our own frontcover which we had teabagged to look older and designed it appropriatly to look proffesional and as if it was an old school yearbook from the nineties.

We then printed off some pictures of past students from the 90s from the internet and blutacked them on certain pages in the book. We also made sure those pages were teabagged to keep it looking like it was old.

Re-filming of First Scene

We decided that the shots of Michael walking through Cissie's hallway were not appropriate and didn't edit together right so we needed to re-shoot the scene.

We eventually did the entrance scene at Chloe Mackenzies house and it turned to work out very well. The hallway in Chloe's house was a little bit more darker so it made the atmosphere in the scene a little more tense (which we wanted as well as establishing a family house).

We then used Cissie's house for the scene of the murderer walking through the garden into the shed and opening the yearbook as Cissie had the best location for those scenes.

This is a picture of the scene of the murderer walking away from the car and into the house. (Set in Chloe Mackenzies House).

Second Murder Filming & Editing.

Our Second Flashback murder was taken at the end of February. It was of Me, acting as a woman whose just walked back from work and walks through the woods and is approached by the murderer. We decided to do this at the woods at the Oatlands Park area, which was right behind chloes house and is also quite a dark, gloomy wooded area. We decided to photoshop the photos of me dead with airbrushed blood and bruises using Paint on windows 7. We didn't have any blood at the time and thought that this came out well done and realistic.

Costume & Make-up

For Costume & Make-up, we started by making Sam's and Michael's character look like a normal, ordinary businessman with a long black cloak and bag. We also thought the black cloak would also make the character seem a bit more mysterious. We didn't decide to use any make-up on them, as we felt we didn't need to. We made sure their hair was normal and relaxed and wasn't styled with gel to make it look like he was younger.

This is a picture of our first actor, Michael Heyburn's outfit:

My character was roled as a woman in her early 20's coming back from work so therefore we didn't keep it too smart but casual as well. We made sure i had some neutral make up on so i would look older...

We also made sure that my hair was tied back in a tight bun to give the viewers an impression that i was a girl who's just come back from work...





This was my outfit. I wore a smart grey blazer over a grey hoodie to give the look of smart/casual. I also wore Brown uggs as footwear to give the impression that i've just changed my shoes from work. I think it could of been smarter but it was only a 5 second clip so there wouldn't of been much seen.





Jasmin's costume was kept casual with a plain top and jeans as we wanted to portray her as a young innocent woman. Neutral make up was given to her too!

Actors

For our Main task, we used 3 Actors. Our Main actor which was our Murderer was played by Michael Heyburn but due to him not appearing to shoots we decided not to use him anymore as he was never available when we were. Michael appeared to 2 Shoots (a flashback scene and an entrance scene), but neither of the material turned out suitable.

So we decided to look for someone who was more flexible and in the end we used by Sam Cheasley. We used Sam as a Bully in our Preliminary and thought he would be ideal for our main task. We used Sam because he was one of our friends at school so therefore it was easier to communicate with him and we also needed someone tall and had the ability to act.

Our Second actor was Me, Asia Castle. I was used for a 4 second sequenced Flashback as a 20 year old Victim, who has just come back from work and was walking through the woods and has got murdered. It was easy to use me for a flashback because there was no acting skill needed and as i am part of the group and i knew what they needed.

Our third actor was another member of a group, Jasmin. She was used for the second 4 second sequence flash back. Her role was to be the second victim of a murder and had to sit at a park bench innocently reading a newspaper then would get murdered.

Inspiration towards Main Idea

For Inspiration, we looked at several different clips on youtube of students thrillers from other schools. We found that this was very helpful and has gave us some ideas of what we could add to our main task to make it more intense.


We also looked at the Opening titles of Se7en by David Fincher, which has a simular plot to ours and we thought that the cuts were very effective and useful.


This is the link of the clip we looked at: http://www.watchthetitles.com/articles/00169-Se7en



These are some screenshots of how we've tried to include some of se7ens shots and the comparison between them.

First Murder Fliming & Editing

Our first filming was shooting our flashback park murder scene. This was of Jasmin innocently reading a newspaper on a park bench and then she gets suffocated by the murderer. We started filming towards the end of january. It took us approximatly one hour to shoot the scenes but it was only going to be a 3 or 4 second clip. We edited the clip around february using the mac's imovie using the clips with the camera angles we thought looked best. We wanted to make the clip look fast paced and choppy like a flashback. We then added the 'Dream' effect to make the film cloudy with a sepia tone. We thought it worked really well and came out very effectively.
This is the clip:

The Main task Final Idea

Our idea for our main task is that theres this guy who used to get badly bullied when he was at school and in his younger years. He grew up an ordinary man with a house and wife.
But our clip starts by him coming back from work and going into his house and checking if his wifes home, he then puts his briefcase down and head towards the garden where there is a secluded small shed. He then picks up a key which is hidden underneath a slab/brick and enters the shed. Once he enters the shed, the camera would pan around the room where there is loads of newspaper cuttings of murders from the local newspapers around the wall and pictures of girls and boys and maps and locations of places. He then goes into this draw and picks out a yearbook. This yearbook is his old yearbook he had in 1992. The camera then goes onto an over the shoulder shot of the man flicking through the yearbook and there would be all the pictures of the kids in his old school. Some had red circles and crosses over their faces. The red circles would mean that he is going to kill them and that their next and the crosses would mean he had already killed them. So, when he is flicking through the yearbook, the camera focuses on a specific person with a red circle already around their face then there would be a 3 or4 second flash back of him in the past killing them and then it would flash back to the future and you see him crossing out their face. This then repeats two times (with obviously two different murders). It then ends by the camera focusing on a girls face without a circle or cross and then it goes onto a scene of the woman who was the girl in the yearbook doing something and acting innocent but the audience knows that she's next. It then goes onto the murderers hand circling the girls face with red marker pen.

Planning of Main task and Location Shots

We started planning our main task just before christmas. We all came up with 8 storyboards and ideas then chose the one we liked best by narrowing it down to 3.

This was the chosen storyboard:





We started planning out locations, actors and props during the snow days so therefore when the snow has cleared we can get prepared and ready to film.



Some locations that we planned to shoot at were:

-A dark alleyway located in staines but we wern't sure whether we should travel all the way to staines to shoot a 3 seconds clip but it was a great location.


- Someones House, Hallway and garden which looks ordinary and that doesn't look creepy etc..




-Weybridge park (for one of the murders)



We decided to look at chloes house for one of the locations:







We also experimented with looking at small alleyways around our local area too!



This was a shot we took with our temporary actor:

First Day Shooting

For our first day of shooting, we decided to shoot it at Cissie Heffernan's house as we decided as a group that this was the most suitable location for our idea and it establishes a 'family mans' house very well. These are some pictures of our location of the house:

These are pictures of the shed and the inside that we used which is the main part/location of our idea. We think that the shed is at a great location as its small and hidden and has a perfect space inside for our story.

This is us shooting the entrance scene of where our actor, Michael will walk through the drive and go through his house.

As you can see, we have tried to make the location look like a family lives there and that he looks like he has a wife so we made sure you can see feminine objects such as flowers, paintings, birdhouse etc.. This is because we want him to seem like the ordinary genuine family guy but then the viewers realise that he is actually a creepy killer.

We thought that the First day of shooting went well but we had still needed to improve the shot of Michael walking through the garden and also do the shed scene.