AS Media Evaluation-
Research and
planning
My AS coursework included a lot
of research and planning. We spent quite a bit of time looking at what genre of
film we would choose and what making a film opening actually involved. Once we
knew our genre, which was horror, we started looking at other factors we needed
to consider like location, props, actors, costume etc.
Location was a very important part of making
our film opening, especially when thinking about our budget and time, which is
why we spent so long making sure we made the right decision. We looked at a few
different possible locations which would be good for our genre. Eventually we
chose an old abandoned hospital for mental patients; we chose this because we
knew it would work well with our horror genre. We had to get permission to go
in there from the security guard who was in charge of the building, in a way
this wasted time and meant we had less time to get footage. We also faced a big
problem when we went back to film the second part and the building was being
checked for asbestos. Because of this, we ended up filming in a different
building.
Our research and planning went
fairly well except for a few problems. If we were to do it again we would
definitely choose a more stable location that we would not need permission for,
although taking the risk of filming at Warley asylum did work out ok. Luckily
it had good lighting and added a spooky feel to our film opening. We also
should have spent more time working on a storyboard. We had a very basic
storyboard which we did not stick too when filming. Having a clear storyboard
would’ve given us an understanding on the exact shots we had to get and
would’ve made things a lot easier. It would have also made our filming quicker
and more fluent, I think that we spent too much time on filming and not enough
on other aspects such as recording what we had done and evaluating.
Following the
conventions of real media text
First
of all we had to research the conventions of the horror genre. We looked a
trailers and openings for recent horror films that had been released. This gave
us a good understanding on what the common conventions of a horror film that we
needed to include like mise en scene, editing, sound etc.
A feature
that we found very common in horror films was Foley sounds; they are used as an
effect to add tension. Although we found these very common, we did not use many
of them in our film opening, which means we could’ve possibly got more marks by
using them effectively. A soundtrack was also a key feature which is used to
build suspension in horror films. We picked a slow song which got louder
throughout the clip, therefore building suspension and helping us to easily
reveal our film as a horror to the audience.
Part of
editing our film included making a production logo. We had to make it specific
so it linked with our genre, which is why we made ‘hanging hill productions’.
It had a spooky looking image and the word ‘hanging’ which immediately gives
the audience an understanding of the genre. Overall I think our AS work was
edited well and followed most conventions of a horror film. To improve for my
A2 work I think we should take a little bit more time editing than filming,
because a lot of marks can be gained when editing is done well.
When it
came to looking at mise en scene, lighting clearly stood out as a key aspect
for a horror film. If we filmed in a light room or even outside in the sun it
would be a lot harder to portray our film opening as a horror and to build
tension and fear. As we filmed in an old hospital, some of the lights did not
work, and we were able to turn the others off, this enabled us to add a spooky
feel to our film opening. As soon as the abnormal part of our opening was over,
we went back to normal lighting to show that our other part was an old clip
from the past and this part was up to date.
Overall I think that we understood the conventions of the
horror genre fairly well, however I think in the future, we need to make sure
that we present the genre more to the audience through our editing and filming
techniques, using more mise en scene.
Creativity and
originality
Although
we followed the conventions of a horror film fairly well, we did put our own
touch into our work and tried to make it as original as we could. One of the
things that helped us do this is by filming at the hospital. We did this
because it was different, most people in our class who were also making a
horror filmed it in their own houses, which has its advantages, but doesn’t
give as much of a horror impression as an abandoned hospital.
We also
used a black and white effect during the majority of our film opening which
made our film seem like it was shot in the past. This also added enigma to our
film opening, making the audience wonder why it was in black and white. Our
film opening also included speech, which gave the audience more of an insight
to our characters and their personalities.
To make
our opening more creative, we could’ve picked a different location to film the
last part in, instead of using the school. We did this because we ran out time.
If we had planned ahead more clearly, we could’ve filmed the last minute in a
more original location.
Overall,
I believe our film opening went well, although we lacked planning in most
areas. In our A2 work we will need to make sure we plan ahead so we know
exactly what to do and how long it will take when we come to film and edit.
