The Film

Evaluation

Evaluation 1

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




Evaluation 2

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts? 




Evaluation 3

Questionnaire:

Questionnaire Feedback:

From the questionnaire, i was able to find out that the age of the target audience is somewhere between the ages of 16-25. This would comply with my research into similar films such as Star Wars and The Wicker Man.
Most of the people interviewed watched films very often, normally once or twice a week but hardly ever watch short or independent films. This was a good thing in my opinion as Samhain acted as an introduction to short films.

Overall, I feel as though the movie was received relatively well. Of the three audience members interviewed, none of them gave any serious criticism. All the boys interviewed seemed to really enjoy the movie, one saying it was "very professionally done" and another saying that it was very funny in parts but tense in others. One member of the audience did say that the sounds used on the island were not very well executed. This is a fair point that we were already aware of but unable to improve upon. This is because this was our first time properly using foley sounds in a movie and so were not completely familiar with the process.

The average rating given to Samhain was a solid 7.5 out of 10, which in my opinion is completely fair and reflects how successful the movie was.








Evaluation 4

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? 

Poster

Review

Making Poster

Group poster inspiration work

Before making the movie poster, it would be a good idea to learn a little behind the construction. I found a time lapse video of the creation of a 'The Dark Knight Rises' poster, watching this gives me an idea of home much time and effort should be put in to the design.
This also reminded me that credits should be added  to the bottom, with a date to show the release.


My favourite types of movie posters are Compilation Posters that have depth and a lot of imagery for the audience to interpret.

Film posters used in the Star Wars series have a style which can tell the audience a story before watching it, using such attention grabbing imagery, with multiple events going on at once. This is what I aim to achieve with the creation of our film's poster. 

Star Wars posters typically have the main enemy super imposed in the background, I admire this as it looks as if the villain is watching, which is a direct link to our film. I could potentially emulate this for our poster.

Looking at these montage like posters is very exciting when done right, the posters will shape an idea in the audience's mind which will want them to go to the theatre to justify it. 

 This version of The Wicker Man poster is a similar style, but using hand drawn images. I admire the border and symmetrical sky design. I wish to adapt this technique to our poster incorporating dismal colours. To do this, I will draw images by hand, scan the drawings and convert them on to Photoshop, where they can be perfected and formatted in a fashion to grab the audiences attention.

As the film is a horror, I will need to draw some ominous pictures, such as upset skies, desolate islands, and an unnerving portrayal of the Pagan Wildmen. Using colours such as Red, Black, Grey and Deep Purple, will further help the audience indicate that the movie is associated with the horror genre.

Incorporating key images you see in the film is important when emulating this style, the light house, town, boat and the three characters will therefore feature in this poster.

POSTER DIMENSIONS

Dimensions are an important factor for the poster mainly for advertisement. The movie poster will need to be a portrait image so that it is able to fit in to traditional poster holders located in areas such as bus stops, cinema walls, train stations etc.

One sheet: (27" X 41") is the dimensions of the standard movie poster. These posters are printed on a thin paper and displayed on the theatre walls. The next most commonly used movie posters size is 40" X 60" these posters are larger, but still come in a portrait format. This size of poster is typically used for advertisements on bus shelters and train stations.

Risk assessment

Shooting Schedule for Donaghadee

Overall Schedule for Feb and March

Movie / Script Plan

*Short opens with black screen, fading in to a Spearhead Productions logo*

Filmed at Donaghadee pier, Bangor:

SCENE 1

Establishing shot shows picturesque views of the beach, harbor and the pier, 3 different shots showing a dull early morning. Setting the scene of location.

Long Shot shows car pulling in to left of the shot. The car pulls right up to the camera but doesn't fill the shot, just under half the screen. 2 people get out of the car, they are characters 1 and 2. Character 1 is serious and almost aiming. Character 2 is annoyed and condescending looking at the location.

The next shot is a black screen with some muffled voices from 1 & 2 being heard in the background, the boot opens up to reveal a shot from inside the boot. We used this shot in Dropout. A bag of equipment, a packed lunch, props include cheap Halloween decorations (skeletons, costumes, masks) shots directed in similar style to Robert Yeoman POV shot.

Character 1 walks over to character holding the props in his hands

Character 1- ‘Here, you hold all this’  handing some props to character 2. character 1 

Character 2 looking at the props disheartened, and sighs ‘Why have we not just given up this movie's gonna be horrible’

Character 1 ‘well you could have actually done a bit of preparation for this and it wouldn’t be so horrible’

*Mid way through Character 1’s response, camera switches from a Mid shot from behind the 2 characters to a symmetrical Over the shoulder shot, with 1 and 2 in the middle of the screen filmed from the boot of the car, there is an unknown person walking towards the 2, tension builds as C1 and C2 bicker about how 2 did not prepare.

This is going to be a, popularly used in horror, 'false scare' where the viewer may expect it to be a monster reveal, but it is just Character 3 in a onesie. An anti-climax. 

The next shot is over the shoulder shot in the middle of character 1 and 2 reveals character 3, arriving to the set dressed in a pathetic monster pyjama onesie outfit.

Character 3 makes a loud 'monster' noise to scare 1 & 2

2 shot of C1 and C2. Character 1 is unamused and his annoyance is shown growing, while character 2 sees the funny side of it and starts laughing, the two shot shows the contrast between the two. 

C1- 'what is that... why are you a lion'

C2- *still sniggering*  'yeah where's your da's Freddie Kreuger costume'

C3- 'He's using it today'

The 2 just look at him in complete confusion again.

C3- 'Do we have everything?'

C1-'Have the props, shot list, camera, script etcetera etcetera...' *As he lists the accessories, shots show C1 from a POV angle grabbing them one by one. on 'etcetera, etcetera...' it will show character 2 holding said necessities for the film.

C3- 'right sorted, and... where's the boat'

SCENE 2

* 3 quick shots show the all over the boat, inside, front and side of the boat *

* A mid shot pans across the boys one by one standing together looking at the boat *

* Enter Captain Cooper, shot from outside the boat walking to the edge holding a mug of coffee*

Cooper- 'What are ya waitin' for! Jump on, we don't have all day!!' (He laughs a little and walks back in to the inside of the boat)

* The first shot on the boat, shows the 2 sitting together in boredom twiddling thumbs, while character 1 is at the edge getting some establishing shots for 'Monsters and Caves' *

Cooper- 'don't be lookin' all dull and spiritless, there's a lot in store for you today'

C3- im so cold and hungry, i'm just gonna eat now

walks over to C1, while he's filming outside of the boat

'what do you think of the islands, any good pictures'

'Well theres no lighthouse on lighthouse island and yeah I'm taking some video'

*Captain shakes head and walks to the middle of the boat to make an announcement*

Captain - "Have any of you boys ever heard of Samhain? Or better yet...

C1 - "What... chicken and samhain sauce?"

Captain looks at C1 with a serious expression, C2 looks at him with a blank look on his face and C3 sniggers.

Captain - ‘You think this is something to be joked about?’

C1- ‘sounds like it’

Captain - ‘Well we’ll see if youre laughing about it by the end of the day. I dont know what i expected from a bunch of kids, so naive to the ways of the world.’

C3 is beginning to look worried

C1 and C2 laugh at each other

Media Language - Dropout

Media language is the way in which the meaning of a piece of media text is conveyed to the audience. One of the ways which media language works is to convey meaning through signs and symbols. I will be applying media language to my short film from last year, Dropout. Steve Neale states that genres are instances of repetition and difference. Dropout is a teen film created as part of my AS Media studies coursework. This short film tells the story of the dilemmas faced by a teenage boy as he wakes up for school. 

The film begins with various time-lapses in quick succession. These establishing shots of the clouds moving through the sky signify the passing of time and in the case of Ryan, the teenage boy, this could be the daily, inevitable stress and dread that comes with school. The final time-lapse shows the outside of a house in the early hours of the morning as one room suddenly lights up. This signifies the start of a new day and a continuation to the cycle of teenage stress. The screen then cuts to black and after a few seconds of darkness four individual shots appear at the each corner of the screen. These shots show the progression of Ryan getting ready for school, symbolising that this is a routine that happens on a regular basis. This sense of routine gives this scene a feeling of normality, which would comply with the first point of Todorov's Equilibrium Theory which states that every movie starts with a state of equilibrium. Propp also has a theory which says that there are seven main character types; the hero, the villain, the donor, the helper, the princess, the false hero and the dispatcher. The normality and the relatability of Ryan may create the impression of Ryan being the hero character type to the audience as he is doing everything that he is supposed to be doing on a school morning. The screen then cuts to black before showing a title. This break in the movie could be said to symbolise the end of the process of Ryan getting ready for school. The next shot then shows Ryan, fully dressed and walking, presumably making his way to school. This shot of Ryan walking transitions into four separate shots connected using graphic matching to show him continuously walking across the screen with a changing background. This shows the next leg of the process he endures on a daily basis. As Ryan approaches a gap in the trees, he turns and enters. This would not have been expected by the audience and could be a way of symbolising the unpredictability of teenagers. Ryan drops his schoolbag onto the ground and opens it to reveal several items of clothing. This clothing includes a bomber jacket, Doc Marten boots and jeans, similar to that of a punk or skinhead. As this is happening, some heavy rock music begins. This reinforces the impression of rebelliousness that would be associated with both a teen and a punk. As Ryan gets changed from his school uniform into his regular clothes the equilibrium discussed by Todorov is broken. This further complies with Todorov's theory as a whole as he goes on to state in his theory that every movie starts with a state of equilibrium, which is then disrupted before being restored. This would be an instance of Ryan going against his normal, daily routine and disrupting the equilibrium of the movie. This may create suspense and tension amongst the audience as the movie has taken an unpredictable turn and they can no longer predict what is going to happen. The heavy rock music continues as Ryan is seen leaving the cover of the trees and walking in a residential area. Ryan is seen to be wearing a hat which could potentially be interpreted in one of two ways, either it is a fashion statement used by Ryan to set himself out against the rest or it is a method of disguising himself, creating the impression that he knows what he is doing is wrong and doesn't want anyone to see. Ryan then walks down an alley way and stops. The camera pans around Ryan's shoulders to reveal another individual resting on the bonnet of a car. This person is dressed similarly to Ryan and this would create a link between the two. The audience may begin to assume friendship or association between the two. The two boys get into the car which Rudi, Ryan's friend was sitting on and they drive away, leaving the audience only able to guess where they are going. The rebellious Ryan at the end of the movie is in stark contrast to the Ryan shown at the start. This complies with Strauss' theory of binary opposites. 

Overall, there are a number of signs and symbols used in our movie that could be interpreted in a number of ways. From the fast-moving clouds in the sky, to the rock music played throughout. Narrative theory also applies to various aspects of this movie. Ryan could be viewed as both a hero and a villain in line with Propp's seven main character types and with Strauss' binary opposition theory. This coupled with the individual interpretations of each viewer would create a divide in the audience as some would be on the side of Ryan and agree with what he is doing, probably be a teenage viewer that relates with Ryan's views on school, and some would be opposed to what Ryan is doing, probably an older viewer with kids of their own.

Making the costumes

Rudi, Ryan and I, along with the rest  of our media class went to Helen's bay in order to collect the materials needed to make our costumes.

We collected seaweed and shells. These will be used to make our costumes. The seaweed will be glued to a burlap robe along with some of the shells.

We drilled holes in each of the shells using the equipment in the technology department. When all the shells had holes in them, we threaded string through them and tied a knot after each. These shells will be suspended from one of the costumes and some of the other shells will be glued onto another.

These are two of the finished costumes (shown above and below), modelled by Rachel and Rudi. Each costume will be worn along with a mask or a hood. The costume shown (left) is a real pagan dress that inspired the first costume. As you can see, the costume contains a large amount of hay joined to the body.  Instead of using hay, we decided to use seaweed as the main decoration of this costume.











When this costume had been made, it looked quite bare and so we decided to glue some shells around the seaweed.

This is the pagan dress that our second costume was modelled on.  This dress used clam shells suspended on strings but we decided to use more generic, white shells instead as we felt these gave it more of a seaside feel.

Costume Research

Below are several images that have inspired the costume making process.

Pagan Wild Men

Krampus

Irish Paganism

Tengriism

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