Week One - Analysis of AS Level Coursework

Skills for Digital Technology
Whilst carrying out my practical media coursework piece within year twelve, I used a variety of digital technologies to aid me in completing it to a high quality. To film the scenes that were used in my thriller opening, I used a Panasonic DV camera. This type of video camera was compact so that it meant that I could easily transport it to different locations, such as to the dance and drama studios within the school site. Within my group, I filmed the scenes of when the main character is captured. I feel that I successfully carried this out because I used a tripod to make sure that it was not shaky and used a number of different camera angles such as a worm’s eye view, a close up and a point of view to clearly display the character’s panic of being trapped. Therefore, I believe that I would achieve a score of five out of five for my use of the camera for this section of filming. After it was finished, I uploaded the footage onto the Pinnacle program on the computer to be able to edit it into a two minute opening. This was easy to use and enabled my group to delete small amounts of footage that was unnecessary, add transitions to move from one scene to the next and add titles that are required to display our chosen name for the film, which was “The Unknown”. Whilst editing it, I also experimented with the system of Cubase that was linked to a keyboard to produce background music, which we unfortunately did not use in our final product. This is because I discovered music on the pinnacle program that was not copy righted and was appropriate for the genre of my film instead. However, next time I would produce my own music to make the opening more unique and make each area of it individual to me. This is because no one else would have the particular music that I would make and use within my film. Therefore, I think that I would have a score of two out of five because even though I did not use my own music, I did experiment with the process of doing this so that I know how to complete it in my next filming attempt. Finally, I used an Edirol to capture the director’s commentary for my film once it had been completed. I then uploaded it on to the computer and added it to my thriller opening. I did this by pausing sections of it to lengthen the piece so that all of the audio footage would fit in time with the film as it was played. I believe that I would reach a five out of five for this point because I managed to record a commentary, which explained my film in depth and then included it to the footage by pausing a number of sections of the opening that I felt was appropriate and in time with what was being spoken so that they both fitted with each other.

Creativity
To create the atmosphere, which was eerie and mysterious for my thriller, I used creepy music that had previously been created so that I knew that it was well made. I also used a small amount of lighting within the scenes in which the character is captured so that the audience does not exactly know what is taking place. When viewing my coursework I can see that if I was to complete it again, I would use more artificial lighting within the darker scenes by using objects such as torches and lamps. This is because the use of natural light alone meant that it became difficult in places to see what was happening so it needed to be brightened. Therefore, I think that I would reach a four out of five for my creativity used within my film because I used different methods to create the atmosphere even if they were not fully successful.

Research and Planning
The research that I carried out before planning was by watching openings to a variety of previously produced films, such as “Donnie Darko” and “Seven”. This helped to show the types of conventions that needed to be included within my own film as well as ideas for different storylines and the target audiences that they attract so that I could decide what age range to aim my film towards. However, next time that I carry out a piece of coursework, I would ask for audience feedback in the form of a questionnaire, once they had watched it. This means that I could make any improvements to it that they had been suggested before submitting it as my final product. This means that I would rate myself a three out of five for my research because even though it helped to look at other films to give me ideas for my own work, I needed to know exactly what the people watching it would think to make it appropriate for my particular audience. As well as using research for my coursework, I also planned the footage that would be shot. I did this to make sure that I knew exactly what I had to do to complete all of my coursework as well as making sure that I used the time and resources available to their fullest. This meant that I managed to reach my deadline in time. I did this by drawing storyboards and writing a script for the dialogue of the two characters so that everyone within my group knew exactly what they had to do by the time we had to film the scenes, which saved time. The next time that I carry out a piece of coursework like this, I would take still photographs to experiment with the mise en scene of my scenes, such as the lighting and costumes to be able to clearly see which points are successful and work to show a clear portrayal of the characters within the film. Therefore, I would give myself a four out of five for the planning of my opening because even though I planned the filming of the scenes in detail so that it ran smoothly and took place in time, there were other means of planning such as the photographs that I did not use this time, which would have helped to develop the film’s storyboard.

Post Production
Whilst editing the footage for my coursework in post production, I added transitions to make sure that the scenes flowed smoothly to each other as well as showing a change in time. I also added titles to show the audience exactly who was in the film and to give them an idea of what it involved through the name of it even though the title of this particular film was vague to increase intrigue. I then included background music, which was a part of the Pinnacle programme. This made the footage more interesting and eerie than simply having the sound of the character’s dialogue. When looking at my finished coursework, I can see that if I was to complete it again I would make sure that the background music faded whilst the scenes of dialogue was being used. This is because the music drowned it out so that it was hard to hear what the characters were saying, which made it less important and less focused upon while the music was dominant. Therefore, I believe that I would achieve a four out of five because although the music was slightly too loud for the piece, the other points that I added to the film in post production were successful and improved the overall product once it was completed.

Using or Challenging Conventions
Within my thriller opening I used conventions that are typical of the genre and that had all been used in some way within the opening to the films that I had watched as part of my research before the project had begun. The conventions that I used are that of a black background and a white font for the film’s titles to make them boldly stand out, eerie background music to put the audience on edge, a variety of unusual camera angles to disorientate its viewers and finally, cross cutting from the past and present periods of time to make its audience members think more closely about what is happening to the characters within it and to help them to try to work out what is taking place in the present day by finding out information about the past. I would therefore reach a score of five out of five because I had used a large amount of the popular conventions of thrillers to obviously show what genre it was a part of.