'The Stalker' - Final Video

                         

Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the product?

  From our Preliminary task to now, there have been various skills we have learned and developed. 


  

Evaluation Question 6

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

  Throughout the process of constructing this product, I have learned how to use different types of technologies. 

  We learned to use hardware such as the digital camcorder. I enjoyed learning how to use this. I found it tricky to hold still in order to gain a still shot. Thankfully, we also had a tripod. This made it a whole lot easier for us to film. Another piece of hardware technology we used was the microphone. We did not use this in our product but in our preliminary task. 

  We mainly used one software throughout the production of our product - Final Cut Express. This was used for editing filming and to help post our storyboard on YouTube. 

  We also used different websites. For example, we used YouTube to upload all of our videos. We uploaded videos such as our Preliminary task, our behind the scenes footage and our final product. We also used websites like Survey Monkey to take surveys for our thriller and to gain information. 

  I have learned a lot overall. I now know how to record a film and upload it on to YouTube with the help of software such as Final Cut Express. I also learned how to record from different angles and which angles are best suited to certain scenes.



  

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

  Our thriller opening has all the conventions you would expect to see in a thriller; this is what makes it so interesting and eye catching. For example, the building drama towards the capturing of Sarah is what mainly holds the audiences attention. The audience will want to know why they should care about her losing her phone and who the mysterious man is that called her. 

  After the opening has ended, the audience will want to carry on watching; this is because the ending of the opening is a huge cliffhanger. The audience would be curious to know whether or not Sarah made it out alive or if the reason for her capture would be revealed.

  I showed the thriller to my friends and family and they all enjoyed watching it and they wanted to watch more; this shows that the opening was really good and captured the audiences attention and interested them.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Here is a link to participate in the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MSGKF5T

  
As you can see by looking at my results, the opening of our thriller seems appealing to people of the ages 14 to 29. This shows that generally young people would enjoy watching our thriller. 

  It is understandable that the younger majority of the audience would enjoy  thriller like this. It is fast paced and action packed, which is something they would tend to find rather suiting to their taste. I believe that the reason the older majority of the audience would not find this thriller as appealing is because they tend to enjoy more joyful or gentle film genres such as Comedy, Romance, or even documentaries. 
It is also understandable that younger majority of the audience(ages 10-13) might not enjoy it because they are simply too young. They might find it too frightening to watch due to their age range and in comparison to what they would usually watch, i.e. Children's Comedy, Adventure/ Fantasy, Animation etc. 

  
  Thrillers generally have a limited target audience mainly due to age; however, another factor is gender. It would appear that males are more interested in thrillers than females. Males tend to enjoy watching violent, action packed films, whereas females generally enjoy watching romantic and gentle films. 
  I believe that the majority of the audience of our thriller would be males. This is because our thriller has the content that will catch the attention of the males in the audience. This content such as; a dark night, good looking females, nice clothing, violence, suspense etc.

  To summarize, I believe that the type of audience our thriller attracts are males from the ages 14-29. This because that males enjoy content like violence and attractive females, and people around their age range enjoy a suspenseful and frightening thriller. 

Evaluation Question 3

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

Our media product appeals to many different media institutions. Specifically E4, Film 4 and YouTube. This is because our media product is an independent film. Media institutions such as YouTube are easy to help use to promote yourself with. It easy to access and upload your film on to. Film 4 also tend to distribute independent films such as mine. There are independent films being distributed on it on a daily basis. E4 also distribute many films and even television shows that were made independently. 

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

  
 Our media product displays the average teenage stereotypes, especially gender and race.

   It represents gender right at the beginning. The stereotype that females can be dumber and more forgetful than males is shown when we see Sarah’s character drop her phone and not notice. This is a very commonly said stereotype that is presented. One more stereotype that is used to represent gender is that teenage boys tend to be aggressive and rough. This is shown when we see Nick’s character and my character about to grab Sarah’s character from behind.

  The stereotype that men are superior to women is also displayed. This is shown when we see that ‘The Stalker’ is in control when he has Sarah’s phone. This makes the audience believe that he has the upper hand is now able to get what he wants. This stereotype is often used in today’s modern society. Aspects like the contrast between strength, height, energy, intelligence, and maturity between the two genders help the stereotype become more believable; which is why we used it in our thriller opening. It makes the thriller seem more realistic if Sarah comes across as inferior to ‘The Stalker’.
                                                                                                                                       

  

  Another social group represented is race. The stereotype that black people tend to go around at night is shown when we see Sarah’s character and Nicholas’s character walking on the street at night. Another stereotype that is shown is that black people tend to steal what does not belong to them. This is shown when we see Nicholas’s character, ‘The Stalker’, picking up the phone Sarah’s character has just dropped.

  Most of these social groups seem to be portrayed in a negative aspect. I think this is good because it means that our opening scene looks more realistic. If it was to display all the characters in a completely positive aspect, then the opening scene would highly fictional. Most of the representations are stereotypes; in my opinion, it was good to do that. It is not shown too obviously but they should be recognizable.  

Evaluation Question 1

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

Our media product consists of some of the main conventions of a thriller. It uses the basic features in most thrillers. Our media product’s best use of a convention was the Cliff-hanger. This featured right at the end of the opening sequence, when Sarah has been captured and the scene ends with nothing but the sound of her scream. This is a cliff-hanger because it leaves the audience in suspense; they will want to know what happens next. Another commonly used convention was the powerful villain. In this case, the villain is ‘The Stalker’. He has gotten, innocent, Sarah’s phone and that is now the best source he has to luring her into his trap.

  Compared to real films, our film is not too different (especially compared to the current thrillers). Thrillers such as a ‘Zodiac’ and ‘No Country for Old Men’ and several other thrillers, tend to have an opening scene which consists of an intriguing, criminal act. Our film uses this as it is an excellent way to entice the audience. The opening crime scene in our film is Sarah about to be abducted by ‘The Stalker’. We found this to be a good way to open our thriller as most thrillers tend to include violence, action and suspense.

  Some thriller conventions have been included as well, one of them being a red herring; in this case, Sarah’s phone. This is ‘The Stalkers’ best link to capturing Sarah. Another convention that was used is the ‘damsel in distress’. Sarah is the helpless female in this case; she is in trouble and must be rescued. Generally, our opening scene used the basic thriller conventions, and they were all successful.

Studio Idents

A Studio Ident is the logo that filming studios use to represent themselves. It is important for a studio to have one because it is what they must use to help themselves gain recognition for a film they have produced.



One of the most well known Studio Ident's is Universal studios. Their ident consists of the globe; this is very smart because it makes the studio look very important. People will remember Universal studios mainly because of the globe in their ident.




 Paramount Pictures is also a very well known studio. Its is very famous for its studio ident, which consists of some very tall mountains. This helpful in gaining recognition because the size of the mountains are supposed represent the company's importance and quality of film.










Lastly, another extremely well known studio is MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) Studios. This studio is easily recognized for its ident; The Lion! It's trademark roaring lion is the easiest way to recognize an MGM production. 








All of these studio's use big and powerful symbols to represent themselves.

Title Sequences

The title sequence of 'Se7en' is the title sequence expected of any thriller. It consists of different, sharp sounds that just about help make an instrumental. These sounds were chainsaws, police sirens, screams etc. It also consisted of different flashing images; pages being turned, guns being loaded, blades being used, graphic drawings of a man's hands etc. Another useful effect in this title sequence is the font used for the credits. The font is very sketchy and dark, which really tells a lot about the type of film this is.




Another great title sequence is the one used for the first Spiderman film. This consists of a fast and powerful instrumental to get the audience ready and excited. A great aspect of the title sequence is the images in the images of different tall buildings in New York and the webbing in the background when the credits are shown. The use of the colours blue and red, symbolizes the main character himself. This is a really good title sequence for an Action/Thriller movie.




The title sequence for 'Catch Me If You Can' is very different to the title sequence of most thriller openings. In this one, it consists of an instrumental that sounds mysterious yet cheerful at the same time. Another different aspect to this title sequence is the use of a short 2D animation. It almost tells a little story of somebody being chased but the person who is doing the chasing is being slowed down by different obstacles.

Nicholas' Voice Over

During the production of our film, we came across a problem. In the shot were The Stalker calls Sarah to inform her that he has her phone, he said "meet me in 20 minutes" ; this was a problem because in 20 minutes, it should be as dark outside as it was already, if not even darker. We had not realised this whilst we were filming so we finished. The next day, we shot the scene were Sarah goes to pick up the phone from The Stalker; however, it was much more brighter than it was when we were first filming. 

We then decided to record a voice over of Nick as The Stalker telling Sarah to meet him the next day, instead of 20 minutes.

Second day of filming 'The Stalker'

Today, we filmed the second part of our opening scene. This was the scene were Sarah arrives at the address given by the stalker. This part was easier to film, in my opinion, because it was much brighter and warmer. Today was a successful day of filming. This is because we were able to capture many more shots. We used high angle shots, pan shots etc. We immediately went back to school to edit the film and Nicholas was able to get some very good transitions between shots. 

Filming the phones dropping scene (First day of filming)

Today, we filmed our first scene. It was the scene were Sarah is walking very quickly and drops her phone. This scene was hard to film as it was rapidly getting darker. Another problem was the damage that was made to the phone. As we had to shoot the scene were she drops the phone so many times, it seemed easier to put a case on it.
We then shot the scene were Nicholas (Stalker), had to call Sarah and tell her that he has her phone. However, we came across one issue; Nicholas said "meet me in 20 minutes", when he was supposed to say "meet me tomorrow"

Stalker Trial Shots

Today was our first day of filming 'The Stalker'. We were able to record many great shots for the first part of the opening. We decided to record different shots, multiple times to decide which was best. This was useful as now we have a variety of shots we can use when it comes to editing. 

Phone dropping trial

Today, we decided to do trial on what it will look like in the scene were Sarah drops her phone. This was generally a successful trial as we established that it will look believable and realistic when her phone falls out of her pocket. We also practised high angle shots as you can see and it was quite a good shot to use. We considered different shots such as tracking and pan shots but we didn't feel it was the best way to record the scene; mainly because it looks less believable when the phone came out of her pocket. 

Our Studio Ident

Today, we made a Studio Ident. We need a studio ident because it makes our film look more professional. We used Final Cut Express to make the ident. Firstly, we went to google to get a picture of the London skyline. We chose the London skyline, because most big studio ident's represent something big and iconic; for example, Universal studios uses the globe because it is highly important, which gives the idea that Universal studios is also highly important. Once we got the picture from google, we imported it on to Final Cut Express.

Mood Board for 'The Stalker'

Risk Assessment for 'The Stalker'

Risk Assessment Sheet Title: The Stalker Writer: Nicholas Ahoritwere Producer: Dapo Awofolu Director: Dapo Awofolu Date: 05/02/2013

Major Issues: If we film when it’s too dark, we might not be able to see the characters clearly at all.    Filming times are not convenient for everyone in our group.    The weather might not always stay the same. Solutions: We must make sure we film as quickly, yet accurately, as possible. This is to avoid the brightness/darkness changing too much, whilst we film.     Some members in our group have other, important occupations to attend. Therefore, we must find convenient times for all of us to film.     We must always check the weather forecast before we go out to film. Contacts: Nicholas Ahorituwere:  07960 402448 Sarah Mboso: 07415 621588 Dapo Awofolu: 07944 714146 Seye Adebowale: 07887 606174 Emergency services: On Site Services: Local Police:     Dagenham Police Station     Address: 561 Rainham Rd S, Dagenham, Essex RM10 7TU     Phone:020 8984 1212 Local Fire:      Ilford Fire Station      Address: 460 High Rd, Ilford, Greater London IG1 1UE      Phone:020 8555 1200 Local Hospital:     Queen’s Hospital     Address: Rom Valley Way, Romford, Essex RM7 0AG     Phone:01708 435000

Animatic for 'The Stalker'

This is the animatic for 'The Stalker'. It contains pictures of each block in the storyboard. This helps to tell the story in the form of a brief plan, with the help of short annotations between images.

Storyboard for 'The Stalker'

This is the storyboard for our thriller opening 'The Stalker'. We used it to help with our filming and it has brief annotations to help with certain aspects of each scene.

Cast and Crew for 'The Stalker'

This is the cast of our thriller, 'The Stalker'

Sarah Mboso, 17, Chingford

Sarah plays Sarah in 'The Stalker'

She plays an innocent young girl walking through a dark street in fear, and manages to drop her phone without noticing. Unfortunately, she is the stalker's best link to his ex girlfriend.

Akua Ntiamoah, 17, Dagenham 

Akua plays Alicia in 'The Staker'

She plays the girl who recently cheated on the stalker and is about to be his first main victim.

Nicholas Ahorituwere, 16, Dagenham

Nicholas plays The Stalker

He is a mysterious character who seems to have mental issues, especially when it comes to betrayal. He has set out to destroy his ex girlfriend, Alicia, who recently cheated on him.

Seye Adebowale, 16, Barking

Seye plays Shezz

He plays Alicia's new boyfriend. He is a possible target for 'The Stalker', as he was the person that Alicia was caught cheating on the stalker with. 

Dapo Awofolu, 16, Dagenham

Dapo is our top camera man. He is the one who gets all the good shots in any of our filming tasks. 

Location Sheet for 'The Stalker'

Production Schedule Location Visit Sheet Programme Title: Client: Writer: Nick Producer: Seye, Nick, Dapo, Sarah Director: Nick Date: 18/01/13

Rough Sketch/Explanation of location and key points to note ·         Dark Street ·         Someones home Access to location via: Public Transport (Bus, train) Car  Name and number of location contact: Nicholas Ahorituware: 07960402448

Health and Safety Issues to note: ●

Potential Filming Problems : ●       The problems that could occur are miscommunication. In our group we have many people who do active sports such as Rugby and Football and they have a commitment to their team. Also, we have people in our group that go to work so we must make sure that we communicate effectively making sure that everyone knows when and where to meet and start working. It is important so that our work will be completed before the deadline.

Additional Notes:  (map of area/weather forecast etc) We will be filming in Dagenham and it is very likely that it is going to snow, so it is important to make sure the weather stays the same for all outdoor shots.