EVALUATION QUESTIONS

0. In the evaluation the following seven questions must be addressed:
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   1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.
2.  Our film adhered to the common codes and conventions of a horror or thriller.
3.  We set our film in a secluded location to create a sense of isolation. We also did this so that Meabh was the solo, female character and we didn't have to introduce any other characters. A female character such as Meabh was intended to evoke sympathy and empathy from the audience. The loneliness of Meabh as a character and the location that she is in was meant to make the audience feel her utter helplessness as well. 
4. In terms of music, we researched lots of Royalty free tracks that built the tension throughout, so that the climax of our film was when Meabh sees her house. As a sound effect, we had Meabh breathing very loudly. This is a convention of a thriller film as well. 
5. As for common cinematography in a thriller, there are usually lots of close ups of the protagonist that are used to show their emotions. 
6. Makeup was dark and natural, fitting for the time. The clothing and hair style were also  true to the time. The lighting and props were authentic, making the film feel more realistic. 
7.  In retrospect, we probably should have included more jump cuts as this builds tension and sets the pace at which the editor wish the actions to appear, however I believe we set our pace with the soundtrack. 
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    2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?
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12. Our film is set in Northern Ireland, which at this time would have been called Islandmagee. We have hoped to represent old Irish culture and race throughout with minimalistic and simple clothing, makeup, hair and surroundings. We had to film this in a rural setting and not in a busy street or anywhere with extremely modern settings. This is because we didn't want a harsh contrast between the 1700s when Meabh supposedly died to 2017 when Meabh wakes up in Bloody Bridge. 
13. The only character, Meabh, is presented in an oppressed and mistreated way. The bruises on her wrists, face and neck are noticeable. This is typical of the time in which it was set, where women were tried and killed for witchcraft. They were treated with suspicion and distrust.
14. We also wanted it to be obvious that Meabh was from a lower class. With mise en scene we showed her financial situation with the use of basic clothes and minimalist makeup and hair. 


0. 3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
1. A distributor's job is to make a film accessible for the viewer in whatever way is necessary. There are loads of ways that a film can be distributed by cinema, DVD, Blu Ray or internet streaming. In fact, the income for internet streaming is greater than that of actually buying the films in general. In order to raise awareness for the film there are lots of ways to do this. For example: Gamification, Facebook, Blogs, Festival Screenings and Trailers are only a few. Trailers are shown in cinemas before the full film is released. 
2. I chose the distributors Film4, Lionsgate and BFI because they are all linked to independent and often scary films. The genre of horror is one that we wanted to stick close to, however there is overlap between horror and historical drama and mystery. 
3. Film4 is based in the UK and so would be distributing directly to our target audience. This production company has backed lots of films in the UK and is commonly known for its gritty, kitchen sink style. This is different to our film however a film such as ours wouldn't be uncommon for Film4. 
4. Lionsgate is, as of 2013, the most commercially successful independent film and television company in North America. 
4.Who would be the audience for your media product?
0. With a character like Meabh, a teenage Irish female, we felt that our film would be most appealing to people like this. Anyone who finds a situation relatable will be more interested in it. For females watching this, perhaps they could relate to a time they have felt isolated like Meabh. This can be accessible for men too of course. 
1. Our film falls under the genre of horror, as well as mystery or historical drama. The general age of audeinces for horror films is 15-40. While this is a large age range, I feel that Meabh's character could cut it down. 
2. However, in class we did a survey for who would watch this as a film, and 9 out of 9 wrote that they would. This was regardless of gender because there are 4 girls and 5 boys.  
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   5.How did you attract/address your audience? 
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2. Attracting and addressing audiences is usually the distributor's or marketing department's job however there are other elements that are used within the film that are meant to attract the audience's attention. For example, often sticking to the codes and conventions completely isn't a good idea as it makes the film very predictable. We decided to break some of the codes such as shot types. We didn't incorporate lots of jump cuts because we wanted it to be smooth to watch and create a sense of mystery as opposed to surprise. We didn't want any particularly scary parts, just haunting in a way. 
3. We knew that our film would attract young Irish females, perhaps with an interest in history and we played upon this. By this I mean that we focused a lot on the costume as females tend to pay close attention to the clothing of the characters. Everything Meabh wore was minimalistic, we didn't want to take away from the acting and we also were adhering to common styles of the time. 
4. The location was important for addressing the audience because our target audience is mostly Irish females so we felt that the location in Newcastle would be relatable and easy to imagine that they were actually there. 
5. A final way that we managed to address the audience was with sound. We added most of our sound after recording except for Meabh's heavy breathing and her screams. Although perhaps keeping the natural noise of the location in would have made it more realistic, we didn't feel we could because of the extensive background noise. The soundtrack fits nicely with the video, we have tried to make it link with the footage well. 
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   6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
8. In the process of constructing this product, I have become familiar with using a Apple Mac. We have been using these all year in class and I have grown accustomed to them. 
9. To make our animatic, we used iMovie to put the pictures of our storyboard together. This is an app on an iPhone.
10. In terms of cinematography, we used a camera that our school provided for us, (get name)
11. I was already familiar with a tripod but we did learn in detail how to use this as well. Although we didn't use them on the day we also planned to use lights to brighten the shots because it was a very grey day. 
12. For sound, we struggled with the background noise in the shots. The day we filmed was very windy and rainy and we weren't sure how to deal with this. However, there was no dialogue or monologue so we weren't very worried. 
13. On Final Cut Pro I learned how to layer up tracks so that we could give the audience the idea that Meabh was remembering her life the last time she was at her house. The sounds of a baby crying, a girl laughing and animals walking around were all taken from a free sound clip website. Although we didn't end up using it, we did play about with Garageband, experimenting with different sounds and how to use them. 
14. In terms of editing, we used Final Cut Pro. This was the first time I had used this piece of software however I was already familiar with another editing software called Cyberlink Power Director. When using it we cut down all the clips to the length we wanted and put them in order. We then put the sound in over the clips and finally worked on the titles. Some of the scenes had to be slowed down, including the one of Meabh jumping out of the water. This was to add drama to it. 


0. 7.Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? 
1. Looking back at our preliminary task, which was completed around November 2016, the progress that I have made is obvious. In making the preliminary we realised the problems that we had and the mistakes we had made. These mainly were to do with continuity. We were very very careful to make sure there were no issues of this sort in our actual film. 
2. In hindsight, we didn't have much experience with cameras and the actual camera work is poor. The shots are basic and don't flow very well. There is no doubt, however that the work we did for the preliminary helped us build up skills and techniques with the camera before our main task. 
3. Another thing that I feel I have progressed in is organisation. We had so much planning to do for the day we were filming in Newcastle. We had to plan buses, look at risk assessment and organise what we had to bring. Below are some screenshots of the plans we made, as we recorded everything on the blogs. 
4. Also, at the start of the year in our preliminary, I didn't know about codes and conventions and how to use them or which to break to make the film effective. However, this became a main thing for us to focus on in the making and planning of our film. 
5. Lastly, I developed my skills in terms of editing and working with sound. This was my first time working with Final Cut Pro and it took a while getting used to it but I was able to navigate my way round it and work as a team while editing.