CYNICAL - Final Cut

Voiceover of final cut

Here is our voiceover of our film.

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Audience feedback.

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Here is our audience feedback for our final film. This is really helpful because it gives us the views and opinions of others. It has also helped because two people said that the font could have been changed. This is effective feedback because it helps us for the future. Another comment we have had which will help us is that we may loose marks for having 'STARRING' and 'CASTING BY...' etc. This is useful for us to know because we won't do it again.

Here is a photo of our feedback we received from some of our friends on facebook:

This is really good and it helps us realise that we maybe didn't use mature enough language/shouldn't have put STARRING etc. 

Evaluation point 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Here is our video of us as a group speaking about how far we have come from the preliminary task to the full product.

Evaluation points 5 and 6 - Prezi and annotations on video!

For point 5 - as point 5 is only to add the tags to the video, here is a screenshot of that process:

Evaluation - Point 4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

I feel that the perfect audience member would be somebody who is down to earth and has all kinds of interests. There are a selection of STEREOTYPES below. (Just because I have written something about them - does not mean that it is necisarally their personality.)
 Here is a photo of a sweet and innocent little girl who could be a potential audience member. However, the genre of the film, and our film in particular is not the type of film which somebody like that because it could be considered too scary. She wouldn't be active on facebook or any social networking sites, and so would be an unreliable source to help get the word of our film around.
Here is a photo of a girl who would be generally classed as a very kind girl. She is an active facebook and twitter user, however because she is such a sweet girl, it would be difficult for her to be engaged by the film. She is a stereotypical 'nice' girl who has lots of friends, but isn't into a lot of these dark movies.
 Here is a photo of the stereotypical "nerd". Being a regular facebook, tumblr and instagram user. This would be useful for watching the film because of getting it known and advertising it around. Hashtags are a good way of getting the film known. However, a "nerd" might not be the classic aimed viewer for this particular film, however, I think that it is the kind of film which somebody would like to put the facts together and it would be the kind of film to make you think.
 
Here is a photo of the stereotypical "goth". I think that this would be a good audience member for our particular media product. This is because it is a darker film. Because of the darkness and creepiness of this film opening, it would end up being a dark and mysterious film. This would be a good audience member for us, as they are reliable with social networking and telling people about it to people.
 Here is a photo of a girl who would be seen as popular. She is also smart, and a stereotypically average teenager. She is an active facebook and twitter user, even though she is a sweet girl, she also has another side which is where her main interests lie. For example, if she were to watch our film, she would tweet about it and facebook about it. This would make others interested because they would follow her on certain other social networking sites too, and perhaps want to get involved in where her interests lie.

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

The type of institution who might distribute our media product would be a company who are willing to support a more creative and independent film such as our own. Here are two examples, which we felt would be the kind of media institution to distribute our media product... Here is an image of the Jerry Bruckheimer logo. We felt that the long and endless road would represent the ongoing troubles of our characters. We felt that this institution might distribute our media project because this company tends to support thrillers and horror dramas, for example, criminal minds, which is an ongoing television series. It is a thriller and has been running for about a decade now. This shows that the Jerry Bruckheimer institution has supported it's thriller features very well. This was the catagory which our media piece fell into and so we felt that this was an appropriate opening logo. We felt that Warner Brothers would also be able to support us because they are used to supporting particular thrillers. One of the pieces which they have supported is Harry Potter. Although it isn't a spooky thriller, it is a successful institution who seem to also be supporting imaginative pieces, like our own.

Evaluation - Point 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Here is a photo of our main actress, Jordan Jones. This is a photo of her from what would have been a follow-on from the film opening. She is still wearing the black dress from the beginning. The aim of this look is to show how she began more confident, and now she looks sad, to show that something bad happened in the beginning of the film. And now, it is having an effect. She is standing with a plan white background to portray the simplicity and dullness of her character's life. 

STEREOTYPICAL SOCIAL GROUPS -
How our film would fit into these social groups and represent them -

"Nerds"

• By saying nerds, I don't mean the stereotypical 'losers'. I mean the smart, brainy people who can put things together, and figure out puzzles and difficult scenarios and equations.
• I feel that people like this would really enjoy our film, because our film is aimed at people who enjoy cliff hangers and like to try and figure things out in their heads. 
• Our film represents this particular social group because it of the fact that it is aimed at people who enjoy mysteries - and scary/sad/moving films.

 "Cheerleaders"

• Obviously I don't mean actual cheerleaders. I mean the more 'popular' and in with the crowd girls. 
• If these kind of people were to watch our media product then they would most likely tweet about it and tell their friends. This would be good publicity for us.
• These kinds of people often travel a lot by going on the buses/tubes/trains/taxis, and by this, they would see advertisements more, which would be useful as this too would make them interested.

 "Jocks"

• I have slightly Americanised the titles of the stereotypes- but it is what everybody knows from the television media. 
• The more popular boys would most likely take their girlfriends to the cinema and see this film, because it is a scary film they would want to go. This in itself would be good publicity.
• These kinds of people are frequent facebook/twitter/instagram users, and so would publicise our product.

 "Goths" 

• "Goths", being people with a slightly darker interest would engage with our film because it is quite a heavy film. 
• It is intended to be quite a twisted film. 
• We would get good publicity from these sorts of people because they would hopefully enjoy it and tell their friends who too would enjoy.

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

1. The title of the film - CYNICAL - The title 'Cynical' represents the belief that people are motivated purely by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity. We also thought that it would go well with our genre because it is thriller. We have made our film more of a horror type thriller.
2. The setting - The setting of our film opening is on the school grounds. We had a part at the beginning with Jenny Richardson inside. We had her inside to represent the fact that she is enclosed, and not free. We have Jordan Jones sitting on steps behind the railings to represent her being behind bars - not in the way which could be interpreted as in jail, but as though she is alone and trapped in her own thoughts. We have Robert Peck walking along a road for a majority of the opening, as roads represent the way to somewhere, and journeys and adventure. We filmed most of it outside because we wanted it to seem as though they have the whole world in front of them.
 3. Costumes - The costumes which we had the actors in represented their feelings. We planned for Jordan to wear the black lace dress because black represents sadness, darkness and loneliness. We had Robert wearing his every day work clothes. The point of this was so that it seemed that Jordan had dressed up as though she was ready to go somewhere, however he was just treating it like any other day. Therefore, he did not prioritise his supposed love. We had Jenny wearing an every day dress to show her innocence, normality and simplicity compared to the other two actors.
 4. Camera work and editing - The shots which we took were different from our planned shots. This was due to lack of preparation and inability to access the right props. However, we managed to keep a similar story line just without the dolls. Our cameraman was Jemma, who filmed the different shots which Emma and I thought would be appropriate for the film.
5. Font and Style - the font which we used in our film opening was American Typewriter. We felt that this was an effective font as it was simple yet eery. The style we used was fade ins because we felt that the fading made it more spooky and in-sync with our film.
6. Story/narrative - Our story line from our film opening ended up being a little different from our original plan. We felt that our original plan was telling too much of the story in the opening two minutes and so we arranged for a slightly different plan. We kept more or less the same storyline, just without the dolls which would have given away too much.
7. Genre and suggestions of it - Our genre is thriller, however it is more of a spooky/horror thriller. We felt that it would grab the attention of the selected audience more if we were to add more suspense to it. Hence the flashbacks/flash forwards we used in our film opening.
8. Characters - The characters which we had in our film opening were effective because they all had a mysterious edge to them. The little girl, Jenny, was always in black in white and she always looked sad. The aim of this was to make the audience wonder what was up with her. Jordan - who played the little girl's mother was always looking deep in thought and worried. Robert Peck - who played the man was the character of a Phedophile.
9. Special FX - We used a range of special effects. One of the main ones being slow motion - also, black and white. We felt that this was nesasary because each of the effects which we used represented the feelings of the characters at the time, or made the scene more effective.

28(cont.) - Editing process

Here is a few screenshost of our editing process. It is on Imovie, which has been successful for us throughout the editing process. We have screen shotted a plan of our next shot we need in order to leave the film on more of a cliff hanger. We need to find an opening sequence which we will find and put at the beginning of our film opening. Using the imovie editor has been challenging at times for getting the correct soundtracks in time with the film, however it has been helpful by providing the soundtrack and fade ins and outs etc.

POINT 28 - Rough Edit of final film opening

Here is our rough edit to our film opening. We will of course add more titles etc, but we have enough time to touch it up from now until then. We had to make a few changes to our plan due to lack of organisation with the dolls, however, we think that this is more effective and we hope that you enjoy watching it!

Point 27.5 - Rough Edit - In progress. Plan for Monday filming:

All except for Jenny meeting up at dance at 2.30

Jay and Mr Peck are changed into their going out outfits.

Mr Peck walking away from Jay, point of view shot of Jay watching him walk away- side of her face in focus, Mr Peck stops, close up of his face – looks back without turning his head, keeps walking. Film this up by the dance studio – shot of view.

JAY AND MR PECK CHANGE INTO CASUAL COSTUME

Jenny meeting at Hopeman House at 3.15 on Monday

Film shot of setting

Film shot of Jenny with her doll, hiding in her bed – Mr Peck comes into the room and tries to take doll away

Shot of Jenny looking at herself in the mirror – in Hopeman – wearing dress up dress

JENNY CHANGE BACK INTO CASUALS

Go to Cumming/Round Square path, film Jenny walking past Jay with her doll, close up of Jay’s face, close-up of doll

FINISHED WITH EVERYONE.

Spend Monday evening and Tuesday morning editing for the rough edit. After deadline - look for re-shoots and completely tighten everything up. Upload to blog,

Point 27 - Props and Costumes.

For our props and costume planning -

Costume -

Mr Peck -
  We will have Mr Peck wearing his every day work clothes. Most likely a casual work suit.

 Jay -
   We will have Jay wearing a black lace dress, with her hair curled, looking all done up.

Jenny -
   We will have Jenny wearing a plain dress or a plain T-shirt with subtle trousers. Jenny's costume won't represent much to her character.

How we would film - #26.5

Parts with Jenny - pink
Parts with Jay - red
Parts with Mr Peck - Green
Parts with all three - Black


Firstly -

All meet at Hopeman House - in less done up costume.


Then shots of Mr Peck taking each of the dolls away, (separate shots). - Each doll that comes away, we 
put up names of cast/names of directors/cameramen.


Shoot scene with Jenny and Mr Peck - taking dolly away.

Then Jenny saying 'Daddy, where have all my dollies gone?'

Then we will film Mr Peck taking the doll apart in Emma's room. 

Then Jay waking up with doll next to her head. Scream.

Get Jenny dressed up and then shoot her scene with Jay.


Secondly -

  Go to the South Lawn, by the path. Film Jenny walking past Jay with Doll in her bag.

  Jay put on dress - dressed up for the beginning shot. 

 Finished with Jenny.

Thirdly -

  Go to the dance studio, film Mr Peck walking away from Jay - they are dressed up.

Finished with cast.

Point 26 - Casting film.

In our film we are using three different actors. One man - Mr Peck, who agreed last term, and I will send him another email to confirm this term. One older looking year 13 girl - Jay Jones, who I hope will be able to help us, however I will also send her an email to assure. We are using a younger girl, who is in fact the daughter of the Bruce Housemaster, Mr Richardson. I knew that we needed permission for this, and so I emailed Mr Richardson to make sure this would be alright - here is our permission :
 The reasons we have decided to cast this way is because we believe that all of the actors we have chosen are capable:

 Mr Peck- I believe that Mr Peck has the right look and way about him in order to perform our character.

 Jay Jones- Ie believe that Jay would be the perfect for playing this character in our film. Jay is a very good actress who takes A-level drama, which shows that she is capable. She is also a strong media student, and so will understand what kind of time and effort that it takes in order to complete this. Jay is also a very good looking person, and so will work well with the camera.

 Jenny Richardson- As I work with Jenny in creche for my community service on a Wednesday, I know that Jenny would love to be involved with our film. She has a very strong personality, and so I believe she will be very good at adapting to this role as it is a rather abstract role.

Point 25 - Risk Assessment

For Olivia's bedroom - This is where we will shoot the woman waking up and seeing the doll in her bed. We would also film the little girl coming into the room and the woman walking towards the window. We will be using the camera above the actress sleeping, and so to be sure she doesn't get hurt, we would hold the camera securely to assure it does not fall on her face and injur her - this is unlikely as we will most likely have a tripod to hold the camera securely. We will also assure that the actress does not fall up the stairs when getting to my room - this is unlikely because we will use a soficticated actress who is able to walk up stairs without tripping.

For Jemma's bedroom - This is the room that will be used as the little girl's bedroom with the dolls on the shelf. We will assure that one of the girl's parents is in the room with us at all times - this is so that she is comfortable with her surroundings at all times. We will assure that she is comfortable with all of the acting she will be taking part in within the bedroom. We will make sure she does not hit her head off the shelf when sitting under it. We will also make sure she does not get any splinters from the shelf - we will keep her a distance from the shelf, and if she wants to see one of the dolls off-camera, we will tell her to wait while we hand it to her safely. As there will be a man in this scene, we will assure there are no girls present on the corridor at the time, and there is an adult in the room with us while filming. For

Emma's bedroom - As there will be a man in the room, we will assure that there are no girls in the corridor as we take him through to the room. We will put a sign on the door to say 'No Entry' so that nobody finds themselves uncomfortable with having a man in the house. There will be scissors and knives in the room when he is taking apart dolls. We will assure that there is another adult with us in the room when we film the scene, and that the knives are taken away as soon as we have finished the filming. We will also assure that our man is over 21 so that he knows how to use the knives safely.

For The Dance Department - We will assure that nobody trips up or falls down the short flight of stairs outside the dance department. There could be a risk of getting a splinter when the woman holds onto the bannister to get up. We will make sure to bring tweezers and a plaster in case.

If in any case an accident occurs, we will call for help as we will have a mobile phone on us at all times. For most of the scenes, we should have an adult present, however if not we will be sure to seek the help we need when nessisary.

Point 24 - Planning locations and taking location shots. Permission.

The locations we have decided are three bedrooms in Hopeman House. I emailed Mrs Sills to ask her if it would be alright to use the rooms. She hasn't yet replied, but I will post up a screen shot of the email if/when she replies with permission. We are also going to use outside the dance department, which I believe doesn't need permission as it is outside. Here is our permission from Mrs DaBell. She answered another question of mine in the reply. Here is our permission from Mrs Sills for using the house.