Our Final Main Task 'DELUSION'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JsRsSmRSv8

Final preliminary task

This is our final attempt at the preliminary task, i am really pleased with this and I'm glad we redid our previous two to finally produce a piece of work that we think looks more professional and smooth. We decided to add more of a storyline to our piece as it would make it more exciting , we were more organised as we planned the plot and all the camera angles so when it came to filming we knew exactly what to do. The opening was kept the same with the three nervous movements, i think the non-digetic sound of the heartbeat makes this more effective and intense. We were more aware this time of the positioning of the camera when filming the shot reverse shot, you don't even notice the chair in the middle as your concentration is on the conversation. I think the dialogue was much better, even though it didn't change that much from the previous time it sounds more natural. We thought carefully about the camera angles as we wanted them all to have purpose, we decided we didn't want Kates face to be seen until the end as this would make her look intimidating and scary. We used used a low angle of her walking which makes her seem very dominant and powerful, she makes an authoritative entrance as she pushes open both doors and is still filmed from a low angles when she comes through the other side. When she waits for me to get up you just see Kates head at the side of the frame, i really like this angle i think it makes her seem in control and by the this point the audience are curious as too what she looks like. An error with the next shot is that we do actually see Kates face as she opens the door,  this defeats the point and we should have filmed from different angles to prevent this, i think she could have lost her scariness at this point but i feel the non-digetic music and the point of view shot which follows re implies this. I edited the lighting to be greyer as from when i walk down the corridor, this makes it seem more daunting and i think makes me seem venerable as I'm so unaware of what is going on. The next shot of Kate is when the audience get to see her whole face, as she gives full eye contact to the camera it becomes clear what character she is playing and gives a good effect in what genre this would be if it was continued, the backing music also goes really well with this part which was by coincidence. The close up shot of the keys makes emphasis on the storyline it is a main part in the plot therefore using a close up shot lets the audience know this, the loud and harsh sound of the keys also makes the ending exciting as to what's going to happen next. The ending where we have two people strapped to a chair seemed like a good idea at the time, as it seems like an official ending to the piece. However, watching it back and getting feedback off others I've realised it would have been more effective to have ended it at the door getting locked as there would have been more suspense.

Preliminary task- 2nd attempt

This is our second attempt at the preliminary task as we weren't entirely happy with our first video that i posted. I think this video has a better plot as we are sat having a conversation before going in for an interview, our other video didn't have much point in it. Although we planned on making this a better video, I'm still not happy with the final result. The biggest problem with this is the different angles used when filming the 'shot revere shot', its not symmetrical and this would leave the audience being confused and their attention would be on that rather than the action. When Tayler is talking you cant see the chair that is in between us making us look like we're closer together, but when I'm talking it looks like there is two chairs between us making us look really far away from each other. This was due to the camera being positioned in different places when filming the shot reverse shot, it is a really obvious mistake which i think ruins the whole video, i don't think we thought about it enough and we didn't plan what we were going to do we just thought by using a different idea it would improve our standard of the task, we have been proved wrong. I again think the conversation seems really awkward and short, this could make the audience feel bored, the video doesn't lead up to anything exciting which would keep the audience entertained and eager to keep watching. Another error is when Kate calls my name she walks out of shot, i feel this makes the video looks messy and as though we haven't put mush effort into it and Kate doesn't know what to do. The 3 actions i do at the start have a good impact and it makes my character more believable showing that I'm nervous, i think the different use of camera angles really worked in this part, the close up angles really get the audience to understand the plot and how i am feeling anxious about something. Overall, this was much better than our first attempt at the prelim and i like the storyline i just feel if we plan it more we could produce an even better video that my group and I would be really proud of. We are going to film again, using the same idea but with more imagination and awareness of the previous mistakes.

Preliminary task video

For the preliminary task we had to include-  someone opening a door and shot reverse shot with dialogue. I think the location we used wasn't very good as straight away the the smudge on the door looks like a smear on the camera. It was difficult to film with the lighting being so bright, in each shot there is a different brightness, in some shots the lighting makes the scene look really nice but when we are acting with our backs towards the window it automatically makes the room darker. i also think the dialogue and acting is slightly awkward as we didn't plan the script, when Tayler walks through the door due to the timing it seems that she takes a really long time to scare me. However, i think the continuity of Tayler walking through the door is very accurate and i liked the effect of the headphone music being quiet   when you couldn't see me and then louder when you could. I think the video isn't the best it could be and i think we will film again with a completely different idea.

Evaluation Question 1- In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Although we changed our plans for our film a few times we always kept around the same genre as its what interests us most. However, we were unsure about what genre our film would fit into (thriller or psychological thriller) After doing research into both of these genres I've realised our film incorporates elements from both and doesn't fit perfectly into just one of them, making our film different from typical thrillers or psychological thrillers.

We researched many conventions for thriller films ( see YouTube video and comments below) and wanted to incorporate as many as possible into our opening. We wanted to initially film our piece outside possibly in a filed or in a woods as this a very common location used for our type of genre. However, due to unpredictable weather conditions we decided to film in a bathroom, i think this worked just as well if not better.

The bathroom was small are quiet closed in which gave it a cold feeling, we removed all pictures and decorations to make the room look empty, the wooden floorboards and white walls gave contributed to the look we were hoping for. In order of the audience to understand what genre the film is in a short amount of time we used a very typical convention of using blood and setting the scene as if a murder had just taken place, straight away the audience will know that 'delusion' is either a horror or thriller. I think first impression of the film due to the amount of blood and dark colours it could be seen as a horror, but because we decided not to show a body and used blurry effects we've created a sense of mystery and suspense implying theirs a story behind the murder which reveals it is a thriller. Our film opening is almost very like 'black and white', we edited the colouring tremendously as we filmed in broad daylight, this would have ruined the effect completely if we hadn't of edited this, it now looks as if its night time which is a most common time a murder would happen making it look more professional.  Another convention we used is the background music, we played around with a lot of different music and we thought that we found one which fitted perfectly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0LwGL8QMCA this music has a very mysterious feeling to it and the jolty harsh beat i felt reflected on our character, however at the very last minute we decided to change it as we considered using narrative so using a song with lyrics wouldn't work, and also the lyrics aren't suited to our piece as it talks about love. Another reason we looked for a different type of music is that we noticed our film looked more like a music video, it made it even harder for it to be categorised into a genre. For this reasoning we searched for instrumentals and found a piece of music which actually fits better than the original and due to the positive effect it has on our piece we decided that we wouldn't need narrative as it could possibly ruin our film. We used the music all the way through but used the natural sound of the girl coughing and being sick, this creates realism and bring the character to life rather than her actions being muted out. We decided to use a young adult play the main character as we felt it would be more disturbing to witness a young woman go through unpleasant events which lead to the final scene (the opening scene) our target audience would also be able to relate and sympathise with her.

We used  many typical conventions and this made it easier to film and plan. The fact we use a woman as the main character and playing the 'murderer' i feel we have challenged typical media conventions in this genre. This could go either way, that more people are interested to watch something different and more originally or it could have a negative impact in that it doesn't fit in to a typical thriller film and doesn't sell. Most of the elements we used in our piece are typical conventions of thrillers as we conformed to the media which should overall get a positive response, making it easy to watch and sell.

Evaluation Question 2- How does your media product represent particular social groups

The only character show in the opening of our film is a woman therefore i will look at how women are represented in our film 'delusion'.

In the opening she could be seen as a murderer, alcoholic and maybe a bit of a psychopath, this straight away goes against the stereotypical character of an aggressive male playing the murderer in a thriller film. She could been seen as being represented as a strong character as she has just committed a murder but she is actually more of a venerable and soft character as she shows clear emotion whilst cleaning up the blood.  In this way i think we have conformed to the media in making her character a  stereotypical woman as she shows weakness and remorse  to something that takes courage and power to do. She isn't happy with her actions, and this is shown when she has her head down on the bath and when she is crying in the mirror. The shot of her hands on the sink show her hands covered in blood, however, she is trying to scratch the blood off showing she is ashamed and guilty, she also throws up in the bath after she drinks the vodka implying she cant handle her drink or the situation she is in is so unbearable and sickening that it makes her vomit. We also used a close up shot on her face, her eyes are covered in smudged makeup showing her emotions and clearly showing she has been crying. She keeps looking at the blood in the bath showing regret for her actions.The use of the plastic in front of the camera which gives a blurry effect shows she isn't thinking straight, the audience could question this as it could be implying that she is a deluded alcoholic or she is drinking the vodka to calm her from the crime she has just committed, the use of vodka represents her as remorseful and possibly scared as she wants to try and forget what she has done, whereas usually a male would murder someone and show no emotion or regret. At the very end we film her from a very high angle making her look small and powerless, the camera then spins up to the ceiling to create a 'dizzy like' effect.

Although we conformed in many ways the amount of blood in the bath suggests it was a brutal murder, this drives away from the petty classy stereotypical use of poison and drugs used in films by woman to kill with, i think this shocking and unusual start to a film will keep the audience questioning her actions and continue watching. As the film continues the audience will obviously gain more knowledge and understanding of her character, in the film we have decided we would have represented her as normal middle classed working woman, but through a series of event it leads her personality to change which leads to the final result of murder. We don't want her to be presented as a cold blooded murder in the film we want the audience to see her actions and reasoning from her perspective and possible sympathise with her. Something horrific and significant must take place in her life that results in her murdering someone, even though we present her as unstable, its obvious is must have taken courage and strength to commit such a inhuman murder.

Evaluation Question 3- What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our choice in making our film a psychological thriller i think gives it an automatic mainstream audience. This popular choice in genre could possibly give our film a positive response however, due to its popularity it would have a lot of competition which could result in our film having a negative response.

I would expect to see our film being played at an 'odeon cinema', rather than an more independent cinema due to its story-line and as mentioned before its genre, if it was more original and unique in terms of the genre it would most likely be shown in the Phoenix Picturehouse.

Lionsgate Entertainment Corporation is the most commercially successful independent film and television distribution company in North America. Lionsgate distribute a wide range of horrors/thrillers and have in the past produced films such as, The Eye, American Psycho all of the Saw films. This would definitely be a potential company that would be interested in distributing our film as it fits into their genre, 'The Eye' is a psychological thriller as is ours.



Columbia Pictures Industries is An American film production and distribution company founded in 1919. Being one of the biggest media distributors Columbia distributes films from a wide range of genres from comedy family film- 'Daddy Day Care', to the horror series 'The Grudge' and Science fiction films. 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' a hugely successful thriller film is also distributed by Columbia. I think they would be a great distributor for our film in terms of making it a success and widely heard of.

Overall, if i had to choose between the two companies i would pick Lionsgate. I think they would be best in distributing our film as they already have a lot of experience in distributing psychological thrillers, they would know the best way in how to market our film. I would trust them best in order to make our film successful as they are hugely experienced in selling our film genre, whereas Columbia distribute many genres Lionsgate specify more on thrillers and horrors.