Directors Commentary-Will Smith

Evaluation Activity 8-Will Smith

Next year I will make progress by increasing our film duration as well as spending more time on filming. I would like to incorporate more technical shots in our film to improve grades. I would like to structure our filming with our group in our next production as well. I would like to use better props and spend time on ordering online the right ones to make our film look professional. I will practice my skills on Premiere at home so next year I am familiar with the software.

Evaluation Activity 7-Will Smith

Progression from preliminary task to final product

In our preliminary task we used match on action. Our actor (Matty Folkes) is filmed walking up to the door with a medium shot, we then cut to a close up of him opening the door and then back to a medium shot of him walking through the door. This is an example of match on action, giving our shot a sense of continuity.

Since learning the basics of shot reverse shot, match on action and the rule of 180° we have now since tried to incorporate these in our final product where appropriate. Match on action is a continuity shot which is similar to shot reverse shot but unlike shot reverse shot is not used during conversations, it is infact used when portraying the actions of a character. Shot reverse shot is used in many films during conversations between characters to show facial expressions and dialogue. The 180° rule is a guideline meaning filming must take place within an 180 degree angle, which is maintained during conversation. We used the 180 degree angle during the beginning shot of our opening scene as our characters walk into the woods. We didn't find any convenient scenes in our introduction to include shot reverse shot and match on action. 

In our final product we used a variety of shot types, particularly medium and long shots. We also used the point of view shot twice in the opening scene. This proves our group have learnt different filming techniques since our preliminary tasks.

Evaluation Activity 4-Will Smith

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The main audience for our media product will be teenagers and young adults who are thrill-seekers. There will not be too much blood and gore, which increases our range of viewers meaning squeamish horror fans will happily view our film. We are not targeting a specific gender for our horror which opens up our options for viewers. We will try and target audiences through YouTube advertisements on    YouTube videos about other horror movies.

Evaluation Activity 1-Will Smith

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

Here we are walking into the location for where much of our horror movie is filmed.There are three casually dressed teenagers strolling into the woods, which is the main setting for the introductory part of our film. We take shots of us walking into the woods from the front and then from behind. The characters are introduced obviously as being friends as they are seen chatting and laughing, enjoying each others company.






At the start of the film we used simple font and colouring for the titles to keep the viewers attention on the film. We get a better view of the teenagers height and clothes, giving a hint of their age.







This type of shot is typical to a horror movie set in the woods. It is showing that the teenagers are walking further and further into the heart of the woods, away from help.

The camerawork in this shot is a POV shot of the killer, creeping around in the woods watching the teenagers. This character is introduced without anyone knowing what he looks like or who he is, leaving mystery with him. This is typical of a horror opening leaving suspense with the viewers not knowing who the antagonist is.

In this scene the friends are all discussing about football. This is a subtle way of showing the three are just normal boy teenagers who love football and who commonly socialise with each other.

This shot is a key part of our film. The actors excuse for leaving is that he needs the toilet. This needs to be done so we can separate the teenagers from each other leaving them vulnerable to danger. It isn't unusual in horror films for a character to somehow find themselves alone and separate from friends.

The character is tapped on the back and suspects nothing of it-thinking it's just a friend. When he turns around we see an attempted expression of shock. This shows the audience the murderer is about to attack. We black out the ending of the opening scene leaving a cliffhanger to what happened to the unsuspecting teenager.

Evaluation Activity 6-Will Smith

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

Evaluation Activity 5-Will Smith

How did you attract/address your audience?