Mathew created a documentary diary of his media studies coursework. For the preliminary task, he filmed a scene with classmates about an interrogation. They captured different angles and edited them together. They received feedback that improvements could be made to settings and dialogue. For the main task, Mathew's group created the opening to a thriller by filming in various locations and adding flashbacks. They refined the project based on audience feedback. Mathew documented the entire process and learned valuable skills in filming, editing, and incorporating feedback.

1. AS Media Studies Coursework DiaryMathew Allisonhttp://www.google.co.uk/images

2. My Chosen GroupI decided to work in a group with Alex Girling and Sam Webb. This was because we have worked well previously in teams and have similar ideas. We all have different skills we can bring forward and share to make a successful team.

3. My micro-aspect – Mise en sceneI was responsible for the mise en scene whilst filming. I needed to get the correct lighting, find the right props and costumes and an appropriate location. http://www.google.co.uk/images

4. Risk AssessmentBefore filming we had to make sure the area we were filming in was safe. We checked for loose wires and cables we could trip over in any rooms. For the main task where we filmed in the local town we were careful to not go close to the train tracks and stayed away from any ledges. We were also careful not to film the general public. We didn’t speak to anyone we didn’t need to. We never left equipment unattended and kept all food and water away. This applies to both Preliminary and Main tasks.

5. Preliminary TaskThis was a continuity task that required us to film a character opening a door, crossing a room, and then exchange a few lines of dialogue. I chose to work with Sam and Alex.

6. Is the process of carefully matching the movement across the two shots, filmmakers make it seem that the motion continues uninterrupted.Match on ActionImages from http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/editing.htm

7. The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is known as a reverse angle.180° RuleFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

8. Shot-reverse-shotFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaShot reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. These are mostly used in conversations.Image from http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T440/AnalExIllustrations.htm

9. 17/01/11Sam, Alex and I made a basic storyboard containing shot types and editing ideas. Eg:Long shotClose up Two shotOver the shoulder Mid shot Etc.

10. Story Board

11. 19/01/11Alex, Sam and I chose our cast, decided our location for filming, and wrote our dialogue. Location: Media room. (in storyline room that interrogator owns)Characters: Mat (hostage) Alex (interrogator) Loation:3-19Dialogue:A: [Walks through door] M:*Muffles*A: [Bag/tape off, gun on table, sits on chair] Where’s the money?M: W, w, what money?A: Don’t play games with me! [reaches for gun]A: Your time is up…[Diagetic gun noise, camera tilt to feet, Close up of walking out]

12. 24/01/11Today we were given a camera and tripod, we then began to get used to the camera and assigned Sam to be the camera man. After, we then rehearsed our shot types and role play. As I was responsible for mise en scene I made sure we had the correct props. I made sure we had both a gun and sunglasses. As costume, Alex was to wear black as it connotes as a negative colour. As the hostage it was irrelevant what I would wear, so any casual clothing is acceptable.

13. 26/01/11Today we filmed our whole scene from a few different angles. (Long shot, over the shoulder x2, and mid shot/ two shot). Before filming I made sure the setting of the scene was to look as realistic as possible I closed blinds and re-arranged tables. After completing the filming we then uploaded it onto the computer.

14. 31/01/11Today we started all our editing. We deleted unwanted shots, merged all the shots from our different angles and made a continuous flowing video. We also added beginning and end credits to create a more professional look. We finished and made a complete product.

15. Finished Product – Preliminary Task http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnA6mRdb-jIhttp://www.google.co.uk/images

16. Summary of Preliminary taskIn my opinion I think as a group we worked well together and all contributed equally. I believe the roles we picked were successful and will probably remain the same through the main task. What I would do differently next time is try to find a better setting for the scene and contain more dialogue. I’ve learnt that filming the whole scene from different angles makes it easier to edit and also leaving a gap before editing makes this increasingly convenient to edit.

17. Main taskFor our main task it required we create the titles and opening of a new fiction film. I decided to work with Alex and Sam again to complete this task.

18. Time ManagementWe arranged this with our tutors and other students time management.

19. 07/02/11Today we watched clips of introductions to films from different genres, we then analysed these and found strengths and weaknesses, this helped us get an overall idea the range of introductions to film. I took particular attention on the costume, lighting and location of the clips to help encourage ideas for our own task.

20. 09/02/11Today Sam, Alex and I brainstormed ideas for our main task. We created a storyline and started to think about the mise en scéne , shot types and roles for the task. We decided that no dialogue would be needed, and we will keep the same roles as in our preliminary task. I started giving ideas for costume and an ideal location for the filming.

21. Character ProfilesSurgeon:Currently a medical school student, disturbed and mentally ill. Describes himself as misunderstood. Devotes his life to research no matter how risky or perverse.Part time surgeon:Follows any orders from higher authority and good friends with main surgeon. Has no common sense.Captive:Lonely: single, no contact with family. Unemployed and lives in a small flat isolated from all other people. Lives in recluse.

22. 14/02/11Today we created our storyboards and I wrote a full list for mise en scéne, we then also created a filming schedule and made sure we knew what was required for us to do our filming. As my role I needed to make sure everyone knew what they needed to bring for costume and props, I delegated Alex to bring his own costume (vest) and Sam to bring a tray for surgeon utensils. The majority of other props could be collected from college.

23. Mise en Scene list.Location: college classroomCostume/Props for surgeon:-White coat (science dept.)-Surgeon mask (carpentry dept.)-Metal utensils (Science dept. And Mat)-Metal tray (Sam)-Tables (college) Costume/Props for part time surgeon:Mask (Carpentry) Torch (Mat)Costume/props for captive: Vest clothing (Alex)ExtrasWhite sheets (Alex)

24. Story BoardWe later changed the storyboard by adding flash backs and removing autopsy scene, we found this to be a lot more effective.

25. 28/02/11Today we collected our props from different courses in college and the majority was received for the science dept. We also brought our props from home and decided on adding flashbacks to the clip to lengthen the task. This would mean filming on locations outside of the college, we decided on the train station (which we asked permission for) and two separate bridges.

26. 02/03/11Today we found an appropriate room for our filming and decided on the layout of the room. I made sure the lighting was appropriate, by adjusting blinds and lights, to give an effect we wanted to fit the genre of our task. As the location of our task was not in an ideal setting, we adjusted the room to make it as clinical as possible. I decided to get the best effect we would need to film against plain walls. We then filmed half our task. We decided on adding another scene before the start of our storyboard. We then uploaded the clip.

27. 07/03/11Today we began editing our clip and adding the title sequences and finding appropriate sound for the filming. We also talked about where to film our flashbacks and the content of them.We also decided on a title, after much thought of mysterious, creepy names we decided on ‘Krankheit’. This means ‘illness’. This related to our film as the surgeon character is mentally ill.

28. 14/03/11Today we found a new room to film in as last room was continually unavailable. We decided to restart our filming because of the continuity when editing. However we found this to an advantage because the lighting in this room was better and the layout was easier to establish. After finishing all the needed filming we uploaded and began editing again. This time we added super imposition into the film to give a professional effect to the product.

29. 09/03/11Alex, Sam and I went out and filmed our flash backs today. I purchased a newspaper for a prop used in a scene. We asked permission in the local train station and was careful to only film our group. We also were careful in the other two more populated areas we filmed in (the two bridges). We were happy with the outcome and uploaded the film to our current progress. As I was in charge of mise en scene, I was careful that the costume was different than the inside filming, to give the impression of change of time. The light was appropriate as the flash backs we decided would be a brighter, almost dream- like.

30. 21/03/11Today we continued with editing and continued refining our flashbacks and overall editing. We also created a questionnaire for our film ready for audience reviews. We made the flashbacks slower and also made the lighting a lot brighter for the dream like state. Whilst editing we made sure we did not infringe any copyright laws and only used sounds from the software.

31. 24/03/11Today we handed out our questionnaires and received audience feedback. Sam then volunteered to write up and analyse the audience feedback. We decided to use qualitative feedback as it is rich in information and helpful data that we can easily act upon.

32. Audience feedback analysis.The first question we asked was ‘What genre do you think our film is?’. Roughly everyone gave the answer of a thriller which is correct. But a few people said sci-fi and horror which is guess the are clip could represent these genres. Next, we asked ‘Do you think the film makes sense?’. Half of the people said it was clear and easy to understand while others said that the transitions could be improved and the flashbacks need to be made more noticeable. ‘How did you rate the continuity within the film?’ Was the next question we asked . We recieved great feedback from this question almost everyone gave the answer of 4 out of 5. One person gave us a 3 but we still see this as a positive.After that question we asked ‘Do you think we have used a variety of shot types?’ The entirety of people said yes. We also included a point of view shot that people saw as very effective We asked ‘What emotional response did you receive from this film?’ What happens next, excited, scared where all the responses we received which is excellent there the exact answers we were looking for.Next we asked ‘Add any improvements we could use to help enhance our film?’ The main response we has was on improving are flashbacks within the film which we are prepared to improve on to make the film better.The penultimate question was ‘Did you enjoy the film? Everyone said yes which is great feedback for us. The last question was ‘ Please rate out film out of 5’ Everyone gave us a five which we found was very positive.

33. Acting upon audience feedbackWe then analysed the data and acted upon it. By doing this we feel we improved our film significantly. We added non diagetic sound to our flashbacks and improved the transitions between them. This helped bring across the genre of the film to the audience, making them feel a better sense of the genre. We also added an image of a walrus for our productions logo. We decided on a Walrus as it was a humorous image, we tried to portray how production companies who originally only produced a certain genre of film have diversified to expand their audience.

34. Research into similar productsThere are some films similar to our one, in terms of genre and filming techniques. For example, Memento (2000) used flashbacks like ours, shown in this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0L-Ssm4MxYHalloween (1978) is also similar to our film due to the genre and the way it uses point of view shots found in this clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxRGw0l-b18

35. Finished Product – Main task http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyzBidARaEU

36. Evaluation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-h6XpnvwiY(See written script in appendix).

37. Technical equipment used HD cameraTripodTape CameraiPhone 4iMacMini bookhttp://www.google.co.uk/images

38. Appendix Our main task stays to the conventions of a thriller/horror film. Conventions common within this genre that featured in our task were point of view shots (used in films such as Halloween), no dialogue for tension and the use of flashbacks. The location also followed the conventions of thriller/horror, the use of lighting, costume and the environment (a stark white clinical room) helped to identify the genre.While we didn’t necessarily portray a particular social class we did portray psychopaths and killers in a way that we have seen in various other films such as “Psycho”. Hammer Horror would be an institution that may distribute our film because it is a similar genre to that of other films they have distributed. The audience would be people aged 16-25, most likely males as well due to the genre convention of violence. The audience in our main task is similar to that of Halloween, and so we appealed to our audience in the same way. This was through the tension created by certain camera shots such as point of view shots. Through creating the main task we became more skilled in using technology to create films. For example, we became familiar with features on iMovies such as creating title sequences and different transitions. We alsodeveloped camera skills. From the preliminary task we learnt and developed on our continuity, as there was a couple of errors in the preliminary. We also felt we our cuts were far better in our main task.

39. Thank You For Reading http://www.google.co.uk/images