Evaluation

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

My film has numerous similarities to several different films from which i have drawn inspiration, an example would be the Slo-Mo effects from "300" and the sword flashes from anime. I have remembered the use and put into practice the 180 degree rule along with other film basics such as match on action.

I have also included a great range of different shots varying from Long-shot to extreme-close up. Editing wise I have made great use of match cutting to my benefit in this film as is necessary for a fight scene to keep the audience interested.

I have included opening titles and credits that are present in all films and reference to a major distributor and I also believe that I have created a believable opening to a story that sets a the scene for a film in its entirety.

The idea of my film was to introduce the audience to the world that the film is created around, I did this through the use of a voiceover and a short introduction to the main featured characters in the film. Being that this features a completely different world to our own possibly with magic and the like I deemed this necessary to help the audience get to grips with the fact that the film is a distinct distortion of reality. The 'hook' of the film is a point of interest being in what happened to this group of people and why have they started to disappear? This would hopefully persuade the audience to carry on watching and be 'hooked'

In terms of the cinematography, I broke the 180 degree rule at one point because it was necessary to move from one area to another as is neccessary in changing the setting. I filmed from various different positions around the action, allowing for various shots of the same action to allow for a greater dynamic style and better cuts in the editing room. This allowed the audience to hopefully stay in touch with the action completely, making the audience hooked on what's going on in the fight

For my music I based this greatly off Chinese wushu films in order to establish the foreign feel of the film alongside the drums which provided the audience with a feeling of the past and perhaps closer to home. I made the music more intense during certain areas of the fight to highlight the feel such as the inclusion of cymbals during the sword strikes.

This inclusion of the more intense music during the fight creates a sense of awe during viewing from the audience, furthering their anticpation of the fight and making them want to continue viewing the fight, and this intentionally hides the actors true abilities to swordfight.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My product represents no particular social group or age group, although there is a possibility for a young teenager based audience within the film. This film would largely provide interest in a different way of life from that of going to school everyday, it essentially gives them the lives of people very different from themselves and provide them with a peek into it.

I wanted the film to be different to everday life rather than create another gangster movie, this feeling of fantasy provides the audience with a sense of escapism from ordinary 9-5 lives. This may establish a connection with the audience and create interest because the world is different.


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

Most media instituitions that are english language based in Great Britain and America could distribute my movie, an example would be Working Title films, who readily provide oppurtunities for new aspiring directors. A disadvantage of my film is that it is not ready for foreign distribution, an area that could be interested is China, from which a lot of inspiration was drawn including that of the action. I would think that a suitable rating for the Film would be a 12 or 12A providing my film with the greatest possible audience, this would be due to the fact that there overall is not any gore and ineccessary violence.

Usually most producers look to funding from television stations when collecting money for the next big blockbuster, this would provide that television station with the hit film ready to be broadcasted on T.V. as a world premiere after the screenings have finished in cinemas. Following the possible success of the film other T.V. stations may want to purhcase copies for showing the film on their channel.

When moved onto the retail and final stages of distribution, I would make sure that the Movie would be marketed everywhere possible, anywhere that I could buy a film at I would attempt to sell the DVD's to them. Such a place may be HMV, who being a exclusively formatted distributor I may make a business deal with them for exclusivity, and then allow other electronic based retailers to sell.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

As mentioned earlier I would aim for a 12A rating providing the film with the maximum possible audience and therefore the maximum possible income. Much interest may be generated in the film from the younger age groups who will be needing to have their parents take them to the cinema and therefore generate more income.

I would aim for this rating because there is little need for copius blood and excessive violence in the genre of the film. The film would also attempt to attract members from ABC1 and C2DE economic groups as I want to appeal to as large an audience as possible to attract more income.

The appeal of the film may also generate interest from a slightly older audience, also creating greater income for the movie.

How did you attract/address your audience?

In the opening of my film I utilised a black background and powerful,interesting music, this was done to attract the audience's attention to the film. I then allowed the title to appear "The Seven Swordsmen", this would generate interest into who were the 'Seven'?

The opening explaining the world is there to hold the audience's attention by providing them with answers and more questions to generate more interest and want to continue watching.

I would attract the audience into viewing my film with an extensive marketing campaign, utilising billboards, posters, trailers, tv spots etc. This would tell an audience nation-wide about my film and attract them to the cinema to go and watch it.




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

When I was creating my film I learnt how the use of a few of the effect tools could go a long way into enhancing the proffessional appeal of my film using only a handheld video camera. This began with the blue lighting problem that was created by outdoor shooting. Arguably I could have taken a set of stage lights to help in this, but this overall for me meant either asking more people along to help shoot who are essentially standing around with lamps. I remedied this by using the white point adjust tool, because the lighting was a blue colour i decided that a very pale orange pale white point may cause the set to appear mroe aesthetically appealing and clearer. This effect also nullified the effect on lighting as the day went on and it got darker. This innovation caused me to use the browner lighting in the wood to represent earth and the bluer natural lighting to represent water nearer the stream.

I also learnt that if I wanted to produce special effects in my film it would be a better idea not to rely on iMovie as it cannot produce that brilliant effects for the standard of film that i was hoping to produce. A better idea would be to purchase Adobe photoshop.

This added to previous experience with Movie editing software of cutting, matching cuts, adding music and transitions which are all fairly basic, and not difficult to appear appealing

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

In the progression i have learnt that in order to avoid the tedious re-lighting of scenes it is a far better idea to bring a team of lighting assistants to make the film look more appealling. That filming from multiple angles rather than having a set plan of the shots is a far better idea, as in the editing room it can be cut to your desire and what looks best with the footage.

What would you like to do next?

I would like to make a music video, I think it would be a very fun experience and would be nice to try my hand at something new. It would probably be rather enjoyable to film and to edit. It would also be nice to make a film that wasn't extremely serious