Evaluation

My film makes use of the forms and conventions of real media products and challenges them. The footage for the opening titles is startling and sets the tone for the film. This gives the audience an idea of what the film is going to be like. We used a master shot which was repeated four times to show the setting and to help show the narrative. It gives the film rhythm and structure, this is often seen in fairytales as the story repeats- two people want to be together, someone bad intervenes, and then eventually the man and woman get together and live happily ever after. I made use of many close ups throughout the film, this conveys emotion and creates intensity. The close up of the coin is slightly cheesy like an advertisement for a product. There are also many backward tracking shots to create tension and paranoia. The back track shots also make the audience worry for the character as he is alone and you can’t see what’s behind him. There are many medium shots to show actions the characters are doing. The medium shot of the lead male leaning in to look through the box at the clown is odd as the reflection of the clown can also be seen which creates confusion and curiosity. The tight framing when the two muggers give a speech suggest that the person in green has just as much importance as the person in pink even though she doesn’t do anything. The close up of the face of the person in green is very sinister and suggests an undertone of evil within the person even though they don’t talk.

We looked at many different mechanical noises to use for the beginning titles and settles on one called distortion and played with the pitch so it was what we wanted and fitted the title properly. The distorted noise is on repeat and the volume is slowly increased to create agitation and curiosity to the meaning of it. The title music stops when the title of the film appears, the there is a sound bridge between the blank screen and the following action which creates confusion and interest as to what’s going to appear. Carnival music which has been modified to take on an odd tone is played throughout the film until the ticket is released on the final day. This plays with the location which is meant to be happy, so the music is the opposite being bizarre with a low base which is unhappy. The bass of the music gets deeper as the male is going towards his car, this shows the narrative is getting darker. We added the effect of the cello tape on the parking ticket being ripped off the screen to reinforce the image of the parking ticket. There is a minor fault in the third scene where the wind is far too loud and intrusive, but we couldn’t cut the noise as it contained the speech the mugger says. We modulated the voice of the mugger to make it sound lower which is evil and devil like. Halfway through the fourth scene where there is no coin and the man receives his fate, there is different music to signify a change in narrative. The pace of it speeds up showing the plot getting deeper and darker. The volume and pace increases when he is driving home to show the clown keeps appearing and you can’t escape it. When he gets into his house it goes silent which shows the safety of the house and that the action has stopped, however the music starts up again quicker than before and the clown enters the room.

Throughout the film there is no dialogue apart from the one statement read out by the mugger. This adds impact as its two lines of speech from the Bhagavad Gita which is a religious text and completely disorientates the viewer as there is no obvious meaning to the speech. This idea is very similar to the narrative of ‘Pulp fiction’ where biblical speeches are read out before a person is killed.

For our film we bought some wood and our group member Adele asked her granddad and he kindly agreed to make our booth for the clown as he used to be a carpenter. We got some paint and it was painted brown to age it and make it look realistic. It also had gold framing to make it appear attractive like something you would realistically look at. We designed our own tickets reading fates by using Microsoft word and printing onto yellow card. We ordered our clown outfit off a website to use in our film. We also designed our own parking ticket and printed it off. We used the lead male’s car in our film to show realism. The clown costume we ordered online was picked because it isn’t the usual happy clown it’s a sinister version that is creepy and unfriendly looking. Many people suffer with a fear of clowns which is called coulrophobia; this adds depth to the narrative of the film. The lead male wears a suit, this shows he is a businessman. His ties alternate to different colours and patterns to signify time has passed and there is another day. The two female muggers wear brightly coloured girly hooded sweaters; this is not typical of representation as robbers are usually seen in black as they want to be inconspicuous.

The lighting within the film follows the natural flow of daylight, gradually darkening which is chronological with time. In some of the scenes the lighting goes from dark to light, we did this on purpose to disorientate the audience and create confusion. We specifically used a torch to create shadows on the clowns face; this also created a reflection on the inside of the glass which is creepy and disturbing. At the beginning of the scene where there is no coin, we brightened the footage so it didn’t look odd being darker. The setting of our film is the amusements which are associated with fun and happiness, this is ironic as we twist a happy place into a desolate and creepy place you wouldn’t want to go to. The happiness is associated with the circus and carnivals which links to fortune telling; however the fortune telling in this film seems real and scary. The setting of the house symbolises safety and warmth as in your own home you should feel most comfortable. This is also ironic as the clown gets in the house and forces the male out of his comfort zone.

In our film there are scenes such as the ticket being dispensed which are slowed down. Some of the clown scenes are slowed down so you get a clearer image. The shots where the male drives by are also slowed down slightly so you can recognise the image properly. One of the clown scenes are sped up to show the clown going crazy. The lighting in many of the scenes is altered to be brighter or darker; the scene with the clown going crazy is also altered to go many colours and appears unreal and possibly a hallucination which adds to the confusion of the audience. The zoom technique is used when the clown appears at the end the shot zooms in twice to show the clown getting closer. At the beginning of each scene the editing pace is slow; as more action happens the pace quickens to increase tension. There are many dissolves which is unnatural in a film, however, this is a short film and there isn’t enough time to fit all the action in so we had to show time passing. There are many fades in and out and ellipsis’s to show a large amount of time has passed. We used a master shot at the beginning which is repeated four times to set the scene. There are a lot of reaction shots which show emotion and a connection between the action and the reaction of the characters. One part where the man is first seen, it is edited to so the music heightens as he appears to show significance in his appearance.

The font of the film is very typical of a short film which is the traditional white text on a black background. The credits also follow suit being white text on a black background. For the main title of the film, at first it appears as the word ‘Fate’ however we used the editing programme to make the ‘e’ disappear and the word read ‘Fatality’. The words ‘First day’ are very traditional in Hollywood films. This also originates from silent films where text was used as there was no sound. The famous director Quentin Tarantino makes use of this idea in his films for example ‘Kill Bill’.

The machine dispenses a ticket four times; this builds on the narrative as each ticket creates an expectation of action to come. When there is no coin and the machine starts on its own, this is a twist in the narrative which shows development and a turn in events. The end of the film is a cliff hanger and leaves it up to the viewer to imagine what happened as you don’t actually see anything. This is very typical of a short film as it lacks dialogue throughout the majority of the film although there is one statement within which creates impact. It is intense action and the storyline is very blunt and straightforward which distinguishes it from a normal film as there isn’t time to develop the plot to much. This is a typical showcase of talent as a variety of typical film techniques are used to show a broad knowledge of the film industry.

As well as producing a film, I also created a film poster and did a film review. I took the picture for my poster and edited it using the programme ‘Photoshop’ to airbrush the picture and create a black background. We researched what was written in the billing block which is shown on all posters and made one using our own information. As mine was for a film festival, the majority is the same layout as a poster for cinema, but I added a film strip along the left hand side and filled it with the main picture and repeated it to symbolise film making. When it came to the film review, we looked at many different reviews to get an idea of the layout. I put the typical image of the star rating in the top left hand corner just after the title. I put my review in two columns explaining my opinion of the film; I also added a photo of the film poster to draw the attention of the reader. On the right hand side of the review I added a strip of colour along the vertical length of the page which acts like a chapter marker if it was in a magazine for example. 

For our film we decided we would like to get some audience feedback to see how well we had done and experience a peer review. We showed it to a group of people aged between 17 and 18, in our classroom, with the lights off. The group agreed that they felt scared in the appropriate places and felt tense at times. However, the males in the sample didn’t say much about feeling scared. One member said they felt ‘drawn into the film’ and was very interested. The majority of the group understood the narrative and said it was ‘very impressive’ and would recommend it. I have a copy of my film which I have shown to family and friends at home. I turned the lights off to give a cinema feel so they would rate the film seriously. The group were ranged from ages 15-44 and a mix of male and females. The older viewers were surprised and said ‘it was absorbing and I wanted to see more’. The younger viewers were male and didn’t find it as scary, but they thought it was ‘really good’ and were intrigued as to how we filmed some of the action. However, we have to look at this evidence objectively and take note that the answers may not be completely valid as there are many factors which affect the response we received for example, the participant’s relationship to us would bias the result and also the environment they are in could affect their mood and judgment.

Media nowadays is a lot more digital and interactive than it used to be. Old media was linear so there was no ability to make alterations once the product was finished. However, the current media is very interactive as you can interact with media for example, you can go digital on a sky box by pressing a red button then you can play quizzes and games and even find out extra information about programs. When a film is made, we can alter and edit it at any time, it is never ‘finished’ in a sense as you can always go back and make changes. It is very flexible as you can edit any part of a film you like first as it doesn’t have to go in order. There is now a media democracy as everyone has the right and the ability to create films. Youtube is a very popular website where many people upload videos they have created in the hope they will be recognized for their talents. As the years have passed and technology has developed, the gap between being a professional and being an amateur has shrunk so the ‘average’ person is creating films almost as good as a ‘professional’. However, now that more people realize the internet is a good place to be noticed, there are now so many videos it makes it difficult for individuals to stick out when there is so much competition.

Combinations of texts are used as they all support each other in the final outcome. When a film is made, a film poster is also created to anchor and target the audience which basically promotes the film and brings in customers. The relationship between a film and a film review can vary. Dependant on if a film review is good or bad, it can either promote a film or deter people from watching it. Both film posters and film reviews affect the success a film has. However, Rupert Murdock has overcome that problem as he owns 21^st Century Fox film studios and many tabloid papers. So when advertising a film, the newspapers he own are not likely to write bad reviews as the workers know their boss owns the film studio as well so there is a chance their job could be on the line. So this shows that not all reviews are reliable just because they work for a well known tabloid. Viral reviews are a lot more honest and valid as it comes from normal people who have no reason to lie.

When doing research for my project I used the internet to find out information. I also used Youtube to see how short films are made and get an accurate impression of what they are about to help me make my own film. For the planning of our film we used camera’s to take pictures of our locations to ensure it was what we wanted and how we could use it for our storyboards. We used mobile phones to text each other to organize meeting to film. We also used the internet website Facebook to arrange dates to meet. For the construction of the film we used video cameras to capture the footage, and used an editing programme on a computer to edit the footage together. To evaluate our progress we used the internet to post our blogs showing all our work.