Media Studies AS Main Task

The Library - Preliminary Task

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

I have learnt a lot since doing the preliminary task. Through the progression from it to the full product I have learnt a number of things about filming and editing that I did not know before.
I have learnt about:
1. Challenging and developing codes and conventions.
2. Representing particular social groups through filming and editing.
3.Using a Canon camera.
4. Using Final Cut Pro
5. Using Garage Band and creating our own soundtrack for the opening sequence.
6. Using mise en scène effectively to create the best result in the film.

I made an Emaze presentation to explain what I feel I have learnt in the progression from the preliminary task to the full product.

https://app.emaze.com/@ALIRFIZO/what-i-have-learnt

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

I made an Emaze presentation to explain what kind of media institution might distribute our media product and why.

https://app.emaze.com/@ALIRIFWT/presentation-name


Below are links to clips of the intros that would be used for films that would use these distributors to distribute their films.

Film4: https://youtu.be/lkx0v_VPwBo

Irish Film Board and UK Film Council: https://youtu.be/l-Y7Vlb42kw

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

I made an Emaze presentation on developing and challenging forms and conventions of real media products.

https://app.emaze.com/@ALLQQLIW/forms-and-conventions

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

I made an Emaze presentation of the technologies I learnt about from the processor constructing this product.

https://app.emaze.com/@ALLQTZOQ/media-technologies

How did you attract/address your audience?

I used Emaze to create a presentation explaining the different ways in which our group attracted and addressed our audience.

The main ways in which we did this was through:
1. Costume
2. Soundtrack
3. Diegetic Sound
4. Camera Shots
5. Special Effects

https://app.emaze.com/@ALLIOLFZ/attracting-and-addressing-audience


Below are responses from our audience and how they found the opening sequence:

David

Male, 17

"I have an interest in the supernatural and feel that it was interesting to watch. I was curious about what was going to happen to the protagonist and what the antagonist's aim was"

Daniel

Male, 15

"I felt the pain and struggle of the main protagonist and felt fear for her due to how the antagonist was following her and had the power to put her in danger by threatening her"

Anna

Female, 16

"I personally have an interest in period dramas and find them very enjoyable. I am really interested in the opening scene and feel that it very easy to relate to the main protagonist and I can empathise with her"

Jenny

Female, 17

"As a female I believe that not only is this opening scene relevant to this time it is set in but it is also relevant for today. Due to this, I can relate to the main protagonist very well"

Aoibhin

Female, 17

"I liked the Irish theme. I am interested in Irish heritage and became very curious about the Irish theme. I thought it was great for teaching about Irish culture" 

Who would be the audience for your media product?

I used an emaze presentation as well as a YouTube video to explain our audience for our media product.

https://app.emaze.com/@ALLWOIFT/presentation-name

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our opening sequence represented particular social groups in a number of ways. We were mostly focusing on the power that upper class males had over lower and middle class females. In particular, we were focusing on how our main protagonist did not fit the typical characteristics attributed to women at the time, and so she was looked down upon by the upper class citizens.

Our group did a lot of research into what made these women different and the reason for them being outcasted by society. Investigations into the trial showed that they did not meet the standards of female beauty. Some of them were poor, some of them drank alcohol and some of them swore. All of the women were poor. In the eyes of the upper class citizens, any accusations against these women had to be true. It would not have taken much convincing to the authoritative figures that these women were witches.

Below are some statements made about the women from people who have researched the trial:

We also did some research into what people thought of the trial. In recent years, people have been fighting for Janet Mean, Jane Latimer, Margaret Mitchell, Catherine M'Calmont, Janet Liston, Elizabeth Sellar, Janet Carson and the other women, whose name has never been identified, to be viewed as innocent. Many have argued against this however, it seems that from all evidence given that these women were simply victims of prejudice. Below are statements from those that have researched the trial:

Our group aimed to show the main protagonist as a lower class individual being threatened by an upper class individual (our antagonist) and this character being male helped to emphasis how gender also determined people's place in society.

Soundtrack and Composition

Our group listened to a number of different soundtracks for period drama soundtracks and finally we decided on having a minimalist minor soundtrack with synth strings.

Our group believed that our best option was to record using Garage Band with a midi keyboard. We started off recording lower strings, playing within the scale of D minor. Our track is in 4/4 and we played semibreve notes throughout.

We then started recording the higher strings playing mostly D Db and C. These chromaticism's help to build the tension in our track so we started the higher strings around 15 seconds after the lower strings started, in order to build the texture of our soundtrack.

The tracks sounded slightly care so we dropped the midi keyboard by an octave and added a drone from the start to the end of the track. We added a D drone in order to bulk out the track a bit more and to create the atmosphere that we wanted the film to have.

Finally we decided to add a kick drum every 4 beats in order to built the tension of the witch hunt and the drums helped to add to the stereotypical 'kill the witch' type soundtrack. A similar soundtrack to our group's is Jane Eyre (2011) so we used it as inspiration for ours.

Changes In Location

During our first time filming, we were faced with a number of problems. Our group acknowledged that we had to be a lot more prepared for the second time filming the opening sequence. After a lot of discussion, we decided on how to make the shots better and also how to make the scene longer as well as help it flow better. We also went through all of the different changes that we had to make to our opening sequence based on our change of location. We also understood that the addition of a new character would also play a huge part in this.

The choosing of a new location was quite a difficult process for us. Our previous location ideas were too far away for the time that we had so instead we had to think of new ideas. This process was made easier through the knowledge that there were many forests nearby that we could use. 

We decided to change our location to the Lagan Towpath as we had easier access to it than the forest beside Bangor Abbey. We did not think that it was possible for our whole group to travel all the way back to re-film the opening sequence and also believed that there would be more time wasting due to the fact that we would have to spend a total of two hours travelling back and forth, to and from our location. The new location was easier for us to travel to as we all live relatively close to it and there would be a lot less time taken up through travelling. It is also a very suitable location as it appears very similar to our original location and filming there would have the same type of effect. It is all surrounded by tress as well as having a large field which almost gives our protagonist more room for running around before falling. We believe that through this the scene may even appear to look even better than the previously filmed sequence.

A huge problem with the need to re-film was that our actress was unable to act for us again and we therefore had to go to find a new actress that would be suitable for the role. This was very disappointing as she had helped us out a lot and had willingly took up a lot of her spare time travelling and filming with us. The idea of finding a new actress appeared to be incredibly difficult and the limited amount of time that we had made it even more concerning for us to be going to find someone new that would be willing to film for us. 

Luckily after asking around, a girl volunteered to play the role. We had found our actress and now were moving on to how else to improve the opening sequence. Our new actress goes to a drama club and enjoys acting. Our group all agreed that she would be suitable for this role based on her knowledge of acting and her enthusiasm to be a part of our mysterious to add depth to the scene and cause the audience to become more curious. We then had to go around and ask who would be willing to help us out and luckily we found our actor without taking up too much time.

Filming: Last Day and Shot Changes

After the problems with our first time filming we knew that we had to be a lot more prepared when we were filming the opening sequence for the last time. After a lot of discussion we decided on how to make the shots better and also how to make the scene longer as well as help it to flow better. We also went through all of the different changes that we have to made to our opening sequence based on our change of location.

Due to the addition of a new character, there were a number of new shots that we had to add in. We took a number of close up shots of the fire being prepared and then of the fire burning. We were adding a new male character which would help to emphasise the mistreatment of women at the time. They were no shown very clearly which age a sense of mystery to the scene. It appears as though he is coming after the woman and the other other women that have been convicted of witchcraft. This would clearly show the danger that they were in and would help to explain the risk to their lives and some of the extreme forms that their punishment could take.

We came prepared with all of our equipment and arranged to meet up with the actors ahead of time to talk them through what they would have to do. We explained what each of them would be trying to convey in their shots and how we expected the opening sequence to appear after filming and editing. This was beneficial as it helped the actors to have a better understanding of what they were doing and why they were doing it.

After this the actors got changed into their costumes and we then walked them through each shot that would be taken and told them where they would have to be at the beginning of each shot and where they would have moved to by the end of the shot.

We then took a number of practice shots to make sure the actors definitely knew what they were doing. Once this was done we watched the practice shots with the actors and told them about any necessary changes to make. When we had finished all of the preparation our actors then waited while we set up all the necessary filming equipment.

Then, it was time to film and the protagonist did as they were directed to do during each of the shots. Then, we filmed some shots, without the actors, of the surroundings. To finish off, we filmed our last few shots with our other actor. We had to take safety precautions as we were using fire to help create the intense scene.

We feel, as a group, that this second day of filming was productive and an improvement on our first opening sequence. This was something that needed to be done and we are relieved that it all worked out.

Props for Our Opening Sequence

Letter of Conviction
The letter of conviction is an extremely important prop and was necessary for filming. Without it, our opening scene would not have worked. It is most likely the most important prop that we used. It is the letter of conviction that this young woman had received. It was crucial in explaining why she was so heartbroken by what was occurring. Our main protagonist was holding her fate in her own hands but she still had no control. The event was occurring as it was a reaction to her opening the letter. If she had not received the letter yet, she would be unaware that she and seven other women have been convicted with witchcraft. It was so important because it caused her to become helpless and hopeless. There could be a public execution or maybe life imprisonment. She had no idea what the future held but had a good idea that it would not be positive. The letter caused her great emotional stress as she lapsed into a state of despair. We filmed her kneeling down, sobbing, fearing for her life. This letter helped the audience to have a better understanding as to what was going on and how the young woman came to be aware of the incident and hence became so terribly upset.

Burning Stick and Paper
Our main aim in adding a new character was to add more tension into the scene as well as to create a sense of danger. These props were crucial in achieving this. Our actor was to start a fire with he stick to create a sense of urgency and trauma. Our group decided to show the fire being prepared and then, a few shots later, there was a shot of the flames as the stick was burning. This new character together with this new prop helped to add depth to our opening sequence as well as making it longer. It was effective as it gave people a better understanding of how women who didn't fit into the social norm at the time were treated and the extreme lengths the males in society went to in order to keep these so-called witches under control. These props also helped the audience to empathise with the main protagonist more easily as they could understand that her life was in danger despite her innocence. We decided to watch a music video that involved burning sticks to give us a good idea of what to use when filming. The sinister effect that our group created was similar to the music video as a result of our better knowledge from watching it. The purpose was to citrate danger and warn the audience of how truly terrifying and heartbreaking this news was.

Adding Sound

We decided to add a number of sounds to our opening sequence. This was done in a way that conveyed a sinister feel as well as the urgency of the main protagonist. We gathered leaves from outside and recorded ourselves scrunching them up, making the sound of our main protagonist running around in the forest. This helped to make our opening sequence feel more realistic. It also emphasised the sense of panic and how afraid she was of her fate. The sound fitted perfectly into our scene.

We also created and added our own soundtrack. This helped to show the sinister feeling of the opening sequence. It showed that our main protagonist's life may possibly be coming to an end. Our soundtrack was recorded on Garageband which, as a result, caused the soundtrack to sound very professional. Our group did the best we could to make it sound original and make the music fit the opening sequence. The kick drum helped to emphasise the urgency and state of panic as well as the violence that could potentially occur. It helped to make the clips with the fire seem truly terrifying and the audience would therefore feel fear for our main protagonist and her safety.

We added in sounds of crackling fire in the shots with the burning stick. This made the shot seem more authentic as the audience could not only see but also hear the danger that our main protagonist was in. It is a typical sound that would represent fire and danger in shots so we felt that it was the best way to create a tense shot with the fire.

Our group also added some sounds typically heard in  forest such as birds chirping. The aim in this was to show that the nature around our main protagonist had been unaffected by this event. Other creatures were safe. This emphasised her loneliness and isolation in the opening sequence. It also helped to add life to the scene and, as a result, created realism.

Media Products and Marketing & Distribution

 “Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices.”

The dependence upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience compared to good production practices in successful media products varies. Many media products such as films only make money if they sell at the box office. Films will make a lot more money when the marketing and distributing techniques stand out from others. This is known as ‘blank marketing’. If the film production is fantastic, but the film has not been displayed in distribution and marketing to an audience, then it will not sell well as the target audience will not hear about it and so won’t watch it. For some film franchises, their popularity along with well-known directors and actors mean that marketing and distribution are not that important. However, if the film is the first in a franchise or is just one film then relying on marketing and distribution techniques is a very good idea. Many famous film franchises will focus more on the quality of the film production and less on marketing techniques. This is due to public interest in the film being wide and so big marketing campaigns are not needed because fans will already want to go. Film production should always be focused on ensuring the film lives up to previous ones and meets the expectation of fans as letting fans down means upcoming films will have much less media attention and so marketing and distribution techniques would be very important.

An example of this would be the film Life of Pi that had a very large marketing campaign, calling it the next ‘Avatar’ due to computer generated technology in film production.The film became a hit just as James Cameron’s Avatar was. Life of Pi was based on the 2001 novel by Yann Martel but no other films had been released so, as a result, anyone who hadn’t read the book needed a marketing campaign to give them some idea of the film’s plot. However, Marc Webb’s hit The Amazing Spiderman had quite a small marketing campaign and still gained over $752,000,000 in the Box Office, which is more than Life of Pi. The marketing and distribution of the film was not as important as fans of the previous Spiderman trilogy didn’t need to be persuaded to watch it as they were willing based on their view of the previous films. It also had a well-known cast list, for example, Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. People would be encouraged to watch if they enjoyed something these actors had previously starred in. In Life of Pi however, the main actor Suraj Sharma had never played a role in other film.

I also agree with this statement as different marketing techniques help the audience to engage with the film and this helps in the balance of distribution. In Star Trek, the head marketing body for the film released an app where members of the general public could watch trailers and read an in depth analysis of the film without any of the best parts being ruined. So, the marketing techniques as well as production are balanced and of equal importance. Some separate films will push distribution and marketing on films, for example, the Weinstein Company. They will push medium budget films. One of their biggest hits was The King’s Speech and after a slow start they pushed the production team and, as a result, it won Oscars and received great reception from a number of critics around the world. It also made $414,000,000 in the Box Office.

Distribution, however, is always key in films. If a film is distributed in only top-end cinemas then the film’s popularity will decrease as it will have a smaller audience. The Life of Pi and The Amazing Spiderman were distributed by large American distribution studios (20^th Century Fox and Columbia pictures) and so they were distributed in a theatrical release and home entertainment release. Films released only on DVD and not in cinema would have a smaller profit than a film released in the cinema and on DVD. This is due to consumers paying to watch the film in the cinema and later purchasing it in stores when it is available, resulting in an increase in profit. However, if the quality of film production was not high, it will not be as successful even if it is released through a large distribution studio. Popularity occurs in the combination of high quality production and distribution.

However, I would disagree with the statement due to the fact that some lower budget films do not need big budget marketing as they are a smaller market of films and will be more interested in showing the quality in the production. An example of this is ‘Kill List’. The film was not set out to receive a massive profit and instead was used to show the quality of new talent through the director and actors. It had a budget of $500,000 and took $171,000. The film was considered to be a moderate success because of its critical reception. The film is an exception to the statement as it was made for quality, not to be a massive sell out.

To conclude, I agree with the statement. I believe that in the media industries, marketing and distribution is key as the media has to be endorsed with the public to become a success. With today’s flourishing new technology it is a fact that marketing is by far as important in media as production. We can see this in looking at media in which production was poor, for example, the film World War Z and it still made a huge amount of money.