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

When I was set the tasks of both my preliminary exercise and my film, I  was instructed to use a number of new pieces of software and equipment, as well as some that I was partially familiar with.

• Sanyo Xacti HD video camera – In my group, Michael was labelled the director and had the most tutorials on the camera. However, it was important that myself and Selina also knew how to work the camera as Michael was a main character in the film and obviously we would have to film him. I learnt how to turn the camera on/off, white balance, take and preview images, record and playback film, use it handheld as well as via tripod and zoom.

• Apple iMac computer – The ‘macs’ have a completely different layout to most computers that I am familiar with. However, I knew that if I mastered them, then the construction of my film would be much easier. To begin with, I even had difficulties opening and exiting software such as safari but after a few hours of work a week on them, I feel confident that I can use an Apple iMac. I learnt how to save files, use safari, open programmes us using itunes, ‘hide’ programmes, view image files, create folders etc.

• Valbon Sherpa tripod – After being taught by my tutor how to handle and set up the tripod, I could complete the process in a speedy pace.

• LiveType – This software was probably the most difficult task out of the process of constructing my film. It took me a few lessons to understand how to use it, although I sometimes forgot to change the layout before I made a text. This set me back a few times where I had to restart making a text, as the file would not import into Final Cut Express. However, I soon gathered how to use it, and then became comfortable with adding in effects.

• Final Cut Express – I adjusted quickly to this editing programme and took on main responsibility in my group to edit the footage. I enjoyed editing and spent a lot of time on it, often looking for different ways that I could increase my grade by. Towards the end of the process, I became frustrated with the programme as some parts were not rendering for an unknown reason and I was constantly changing around music files etc. as I wanted it to be perfect.
• CC Mixter/Sound dogs – These are websites that I used to legally download background music and sound effects. One of the difficulties I faced when completing this section was how I wasn’t able to hear the sound effects until I had deleted them which meant it was a time consuming process. Therefore I had many files saved to my downloads and it was hard to look through and single out the ones I wanted.
• Photoshop – I used Photoshop whilst creating the 9 still frame image in my evaluation activity 1. Although I have always been put off by the thought of using this complex software, it was fairly simple and easy and did not take a long time.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically e.g. cinema, or for home viewing e.g. DVD. A distributor may do this directly or through theatrical exhibitors and other sub-distributors. Film distributors usually release a film with a launch party and continue to market the film by having a website and organising interviews between the main actors and a talk show for example in order to encourage the target audience to watch the film. Sometimes, film distributors offer a special sneak preview screening at film festivals for example comic-con. My film would play at selected cinemas such as ODEON or VUE as they are all over the country and most popular. I wouldn’t choose to screen my film in a world cinema as they are limited to foreign films. Typically a DVD is released a few months to a year after the cinema screenings; therefore I will follow this convention with my film to gain professionalism and maximum profit. The distribution rights for the film and DVD are also usually sold for worldwide distribution. The distributor and the production company share profits. The distribution part of the film industry is highly competitive as there are many aspiring film makers accross the UK who want a distributor to release their film. This can be achieved by attending film festivals with your film as many distributing companies can get hold of films this way, which is why I will attend ‘Festival de Cannes’; this popular film festival is always the height of media attention with numerous celebrities attending for the red carpet. The Twilight Saga films, distributed by Summit Entertainment, have all released the first viewing of their trailers and give out exclusive interviews with main cast at this setting, therefore I aspire to also achieve this. Alternatively another way that I could distribute my Return of the Clown film would be to go through FILM4 Online Movie Distribution. This is one of the newest methods of distribution which is becoming increasingly popular as the number of broadband users increases worldwide. Technically speaking, the file size is smaller when viewing a film on a computer but you would be hard pressed to tell the difference.

How do I attract my audience?

The film industry takes a lot of risks when creating new movies. A typical thriller movie can cost up to millions of pounds to create, and even after the film is completed, studios often spend many millions more to market the film. To ensure that cinema’s are packed and dvd sales are high, most major studio films are supported by large marketing campaigns. My campaign would include multiple methods of marketing; I would gain an association with a popular brand. For example, when Burger King promoted The Simpsons Movie in 2007 by including toy figures of the characters in meal deals and even re leasing an television advertisement in which they turn the king into a simpson character. This was a well made decision as the creators of the film were reaching their target audience of young children and families through the restaurants they visit.

Another more convential method of marketing would be through creating an official website for my film; this would include the title and blurb of the film, along with information on the actors, sneak previews, interviews with people involved in the process of creating the film eg Michael Crump, competitions, games etc. I would base my website on the official Saw website as it has many gruesome graphics to target my audience. Furthermore, I would consider adding in a page where the viewer must agree to the terms of service that they are over the age of 15 or 18.

I would create a short (around 2 minutes long) trailer for my film, and pay to advertise this on English channels such as Channel 4/E4/ViVa/MTV/Film4 as these are what my target audience of late teens/young adults would typically watch. I would ensure my trailer played inbetween television shows such as CSI:Ny or Skins, as well as evening premier league football games and the late news proceedings as to reach a wider audience. The trailer would also play in selected cinemas such as ODEON before other thriller films; this will be beneficial as thriller film fanatics would be in the cinema at that time and would be forced to watch the trailer as there is nothing else to do until they wait for their film to begin.

UK broadcasters are now also directing the conversation about their programmes, events, or shows, to one predefined place though Twitter. The # symbol, called a hashtag, is used to mark keyword or topic in a Tweet. Any Twitter user can categorize or follow topics with hashtags. Twitter is the newest method of marketing, for example on the television show Britain’s Got Talent, frequent hashtag suggestions are made in order to get the twitter users talking about the programme over the internet. And that is a phenomenal amount of people…in March 2011 there were an estimated 225 million users with 460,000 new accounts on average being made per day. Furthermore, this allows the film to receive feedback from celebrities which can be very influential. For example,

Piers Morgan, on Twitter:

“When @SimonCowell says yes to a weird German in giant gold wings, then you know he’s had a rare good night’s sleep. #BGT”

As the internet is such a successful method, I would continue the theme of it’s use through other popular websites such as Facebook where I could create a fan page. Another way of viral marketing is banners on the side of websites which are relatively cheap compared to other ways, where website views could click on and the official website or youtube trailer would appear in a new tab.  I would rent billboard spaces for my film poster on populated areas such as motorways or tourist areas. The film poster would also appear on the sides of buses; this is a good idea as buses are mobile therefore there is a higher chance of more people seeing the poster, especially my target audience.

I would also have a film lauch premiere in Leicester Square, where the stars of the film would walk the red carpet and be involved in interviews with the press and have photograph’s with their fans. The winners of competitions that I would preview in newspapers such as The Daily Mail and The Sun, as well film magazines would be granted special access to this premiere.

Looking back at my preliminary task, what do I feel I have learnt through the progression from it to a full product?

After my group completed the preliminary exercise stage, we used it as a basis for filming. The shot list and story board (presented on the preliminary video) was my guide for when I began my filming. Before I could use the camera, I had to set up the tripod; this was achieved by firstly unfolding the clips (two on each of the three legs) and allowing the legs to expand, then closing the clip to secure it. The legs of the tripod were spreaded evenly so that the camera would be placed at the subject’s eye level. After this was completed, the camera was screwed firmly onto the removable plate so that the stick was pointing towards the director in order for them to do pan/tilt shots. When the camera was switched on, I had to white balance by pressing the corresponding button on the camera’s menu and aiming the lense at something white in the setting I was to shoot in. Finally, once the camera lense protector was popped off easily, I was ready to shoot. Before the process, I did not consider how I would have to reshoot parts of my scene and only realised this once the footage was put on the editing software for playback. Consequently, it took around 3 filming sessions to complete the video part of the film.

I uploaded the footage onto an editing programme called Final Cut Express in which there are four main windows that I worked with; these are called the browser, viewer, canvas and timeline. I imported my footage into the browser and dragged the icon into the first video channel in the timeline so that I could edit out all of the bloopers etc. I began to cut out all of unwanted footage by using the ‘razor blade tool’. Once I had singled out all of the clips carefully that I wanted to keep, as to keep in with continuity editing rules, I closed the gaps so it flowed. On top of this, I started to add in effects. Some were simple such as ‘cross fade/dissolve’ (which I used heavily to remain professional) whereas others were more advanced such as ‘Bad tv effect’ when the clown attacks Lola. Although this effect resulted in this part of the opening having low verisilimitude, it kept the audience on edge and raised tension which I felt was more important at this stage. Once all the video editing was accomplished, I added in the music that I downloaded from the ccmixter website. I searched for several appropriate songs as I wanted them to be circus related, for example the ‘Ghost lullaby’ background music audible at the beginning of the film. To add them in, I decreased the volume of the footage by dragging the red line lower, imported the file and dragged it from the browser onto the audio channels positioned below the video channels. Furthermore, I added in sound effects from sounddogs in a similar way. The next software I had to use was LiveType; this allowed me to create the titles of individuals involved in the exam, for example Director Michael Crump. After changing the presets on project properties, I typed my desired text into the text box on the right of the programme and positioning it as I required. I then continued to save the file and import it onto Final Cut Express.

Name: Mollie

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Occupation: Part time supermarket assistant

Education: Law degree at Sussex University

Status: In a relationship

Favourite actor: Leonardo DiCaprio/ Johnny Depp

As the film’s certificate is undecided but will probably fall between the 15/18 categories, as it contains scenes of violent nature, it is essential that my example of target audience is above these ages so that she can legally watch the film in cinema’s and buy the DVD. The British Board of Film Classification states that “no-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema, rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video work.” Therefore, Mollie is 19 years old, and theoretically will have no problem accessing the film. Mollie’s decision to study a law degree at University was influenced by her favouritism of watching television crime drama’s such as ‘CSI:Ny’. Her preferences in television programmes are similar to that of film; Mollie loves to watch thriller films with her boyfriend, particularly psychological subgenres, such as ‘Silence Of The Lambs’ and ‘Shutter Island’. However, she dislikes silent movies and movies of the science fiction genre, such as Star Wars as she becomes easily bored at the repetitious narratives and commonly unrealistic effects. As the protagonist of our film, Lola, is a female, our target audience would be mostly women as they can relate easier to the character. This way, the audience become more involved in the film and therefore easier to “heavily stimulate the viewer’s moods giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and/or terror” which is a characteristic of thriller genre films. Mollie typically shops at HMV for xbox games such as Call Of Duty, and preferred films. For other assets, she chooses to shop at high street stores like Topshop and H&M. She is a fairly typically young adult, especially for the South West area she has lived in for her whole life, and is a perfect example of a typical target audience for my film, Return of the Clown.