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

Overall I think I have made a lot of progression from the preliminary task as there is a definite improvement between the first task and the final product. The preliminary task was created in November when I was a new student to media studies. As I was a new student I had no previous experience with cameras and editing software therefore I was rather clueless to the subject never the less I was keen on learning it!

To start with our preliminary task wasn't thought out well enough. By adding as many camera shots as we could think of we thought the outcome would be better. However when looking back there was no need to use so many shots for the sake of it as it only left the audience confused to the meaning behind it. You can also tell the camera wasn't put on a tripod as you can see the person filming's hand begin to shake towards the end of the shot.

In general it didn't make much sense. We had shots missing, the actors were last minute hence why we had two girls playing the roles of both female and male, there are classic mistakes in it (in one shot the female actors hair is up then down and there is a slight change in clothing) and as we forgot to cut the music the clip carries on for 3 minutes. 2 minutes 50 without any footage. Overall we filmed for ten minutes on two different days, the days were not planned to film on, it was done on a day which was most convenient between us and the actors which ended up being at school lunch time.

The final product was a completely different story. me and my partner decided to get organised when doing this task, we made sure we had the right actor playing for the role, we went location scouting, had storyboards at the ready and had also researched similar movie openings and the phobia itself. I think the fact that we were not under strict instructions to follow a script and film in certain locations gave us the confidence to make something original and what we thought would be seen as unpredictable. Even when editing there is a big difference in the first each clip has been cropped together with a song as the background whereas when we were editing The Agoraphobic we had to play around with sound, lighting, colours etc. Overall I feel that I have defiantly learnt a lot from the preliminary task which can be clearly demonstrated in the final cut.

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

Technology	Process of constructing
Camera/ Lenses	To film the footage for our film opening we used a Canon 700D instead of the schools common Canon EOS 550D the reason being that the camera we used was a newer model meaning clearer footage which would have more of a professional outcome. As the camera wasn’t mine I hadn’t had much experience with it, so when we first started filming I was a bit clueless on what settings to put the camera on and why. However, further on in the filming process my partner Cordelia showed me how to use the settings on her camera and gave me the chance to start exploring with her camera and learning about the different features of it on my own. For example, I learnt about the ISO settings and how you need to change it with different lighting otherwise it’ll ruin your footage as It may look too dark/light or orange/blue.  We also used a variation of different lenses such as a 60mm for close up, 75mm for an extreme close up and a 18mm to explore different angles, I learnt from using the different lenses what they are and what lenses you need for the different roles of shooting. But most importantly I learnt that you need a mixture of lenses when filming to enable the film to flow nicely instead of just having the same still shot through the same lens.
Mac/ Final cut pro	Once we finished filming everything we needed it was time to face the daunting task of uploading and editing on Final cut pro 7. As I haven’t had much experience with using a mac and final cut pro I was nervous to start adventuring around with it but once I started having a play around with it I learnt that perhaps it isn’t so hard to get the hang of it.
Tools	In final cut pro we discovered lots of new tools which contributed to making our final piece what it is today. The tools which we used regularly during editing was the razor blade tool. The razor blade tool created a straight cut at a precised time.  One of the main issues we had when editing was dealing with music we had chosen. As our original piece of music was found on a royalty free site for online music streaming the music we had chosen was under the genre of ‘Sci-Fi’ the reason why we decided to go with this piece of music was because there were parts in it which we thought really suited our film however there were also other parts where the music started to go into Sci-Fi with the high pitch striking notes. We knew this was going to be a challenge when editing but we decided to take it on as it was the closest thing we found to what we were looking for. To get the music to sound as normal as possible it was a matter of trial and error. We had to keep replaying the music and cutting it where we think it should end and then joining it up with another part of the song. However, the problem with this was it started to sound jumpy, I then discovered to solve this I would need to use the pen tool to sort out the sound which I then lowered near the end and beginning of the cuts to make them flow into each other. In some parts it didn’t work as well as others but you can say it adds to the jumpiness of his agoraphobia. At first me and my partner thought it would be a good idea to add sound effects in. As much as sound effects are useful and can create enigma of a piece we found it a challenge to find the perfect sound effect for example pills dropping on the floor. It only took us to when we nearly finished editing that why don’t we add the official sound to the recordings. It will sound realistic and most importantly will be in time. We learnt that working with what you got instead of adventuring out can sometimes work better!
Colour grading	As I haven’t used final cut pro much before I didn’t even know you could colour grade but after my teacher suggested it as he said that colour grading is used in lots of TV shows/ movies to make you establish the genre without even realising, for example made in Chelsea has a pastel filter to it which tells us that it is a girly reality show. After looking at examples of colour grading as we weren’t familiar with it we then thought it would be perfect for us to use in our film opening. However, I didn’t know how to colour grade so I had to research online on how to do it. How to colour grade Filters-video filters-colour correction- then drag the colour palette to what colours/tones you want it to have  With using colour grading we then started to make the scenes look dark and colour less to fit in with the genre of thriller, colour grading was fairly easy once we knew where to find it on final cut pro.

Blogger	I had to use Blogger to blog everything that went behind making and contributing to the final product. Before I made a Blogger account I had briefly heard about it and how big the software is in the blogging world therefore it was defiantly going to be the site I was blog on over WordPress and other blogging sites. It was stressful at first to get my head around as there was so many things I didn’t understand and didn’t know how do but after watching a few short tutorials on YouTube there was no need to stress I started to learn things like how to insert videos, a sound cloud recording, pictures and animations. It was easy to use which only took little bit of common sense to get the hang of it
Prezi	Unlike blogger Prezi was frustrating throughout the whole process everything about it was hard and frustrating to use, I think in general if you haven’t got the premium edition it won’t be as good as you are limited on the settings to use and information to put on, nether the less I wanted a different way of showing information, which I ended up achieving. However, I couldn’t display the Prezi as a mini clip as I didn’t to buy the soft wear to do this so I ended up taking screenshots of it to present that I have done the work.
Creating a podcast	To create a podcast, I figured out that you need to make a voice memo on a standard iPhone (the only issue I had was that I couldn’t end the podcast until about 10 seconds after I had finished as I had to unlock my phone) I then uploaded it to Sound cloud as other podcasting site wouldn’t work. It was rather simple to upload but the hard bit was embedding it onto blogger. Copy-paste the embed code from 'Code & preview'. Next, copy the code and paste it into the HTML editor section of your site’s editor. After I followed these instructions I learnt how to embed It onto blogger.
Converting final cut pro onto YouTube	To convert our final piece onto final cut pro we had to follow to simple instructions: 1.         After completing your video editing, open Final cut pro window. 2.         Go to “File” option on the option Bar. 3.         Then go to “Share” option. 4.         Then select “Master File”. 5.         A small window will appear on the screen with Option “Info” and “Setting”. 6.         After clicking on “Setting” a menu will appear; you can select format for your video. 7.         After this again go to “File” option and then go to “Share” button. 8.         Click on “YouTube” to upload and get and output file simultaneously. 9.         Sign in to your YouTube account by Clicking on “Sign in”. 10.       Then go on the “Next” button. 11.       On next window Click on “Publish” to upload your video. 12.       Open YouTube directly into your web browser. 13.       Get signed in to your account of YouTube. 14.       Go to “Upload” button and click on “Video Manger”. 15.       Here you can see your video being uploaded.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I think the main audience for our film opening would be starting from ages 15 and upwards the reason being that they would have the maturity and knowledge to appreciate the film contents. We tried to address the audience by making the opening as relatable as possible. These included things like colour grading. The reason why we colour graded was because we pictured somebody living with this illness going through depression, therefore we imagined life through their eyes being dull and lifeless. We also adapted to the modern day society by setting the film in a 'newish' big house. From setting it in a new house we thought it would make a direct address to people as they would ackoledge that the illness is still happening and is not a thing of the past. With the Mise-en-scene we didn't want to make it clear that the film was set in England therefore we didn't feature any branded clothing for 'The Agoraphobic's' costumes or in fact have the actor speaking at all, by doing this we thought that if it went global it would attract more viewers as they wouldn't feel excluded in whats happening.
To help us out in what the audience would look for in a thriller we did a survey asking them question and what factors they think are the most important thing to study and how something can be addressed to them. from research they said that to address a wider audience you shouldn't specify in one specific gender.
Due to the contents the film is most likely to be rated at a 15
What might i see in a 15 rated film or video

• Strong violence
• Frequent strong language 
• Strong verbal references to sexual activity 
• Sexual nudity
• Brief scenes of sexual violence references to sexual violence
• Discrimination language or behavior
• Drug taking 

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Interview from Media Studies teacher Mr Barry.

To support my evaluation I then used the same set of question from my previous interview and interviewed Linda (Mum) as she was apart of the questionnaire previously done on genres.

From watching the film opening to the Agoraphobic would you say this film appeals to you and if so why?

'I would defiantly say this film would appeal to me as its a thriller. What I particularly like about it was the fact that it put you on edge as there where lots of questions I was thinking which I wanted answers to so I'd need  to carry on watching to reveal the answers'

What do you think the youngest age to watch this may be?

'Hmm I think the age group would have to be ages 15 and above as its such a misunderstood mental illness which I feel that anybody younger will not understand'

would you recommend this film?

'From what I've watched of the film I would recommend it, the only thing I would have to say is that there are a lot of jumpy/still shots which doesn't make the storyline flow as nicely'

Could you please rate our film out of five, five being excellent?

'3, if I was to compare it to another thriller of a similar topic I don't think the quality and impact is as hard hitting as others'

The reason why we interviewed or teacher Mr Barry was because he was in our target audience which ranged from ages 20-30 (young adults).

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

https://prezi.com/-u0nu_mfubax/edit/#15_30863873

Momentum Film Productions:

Famous independent films by Momentum Film Productions

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

'I think our media product represents wide social group the reason being that there's not an age limit to what this disorder targets. However, I don't think many young children would be able to watch this thriller as they wouldn't understand and have knowledge about the metal illness as it could distress them as its not a pleasant story line. social groups have also been represented through the main character being presented very strongly as a stereotypical old man suffering from agoraphobia. the reason being that he is old, scruffy and not up to date with new technology hence why he uses books and not a smart phone. This would have a big comparison to the 21st century and its technology behind showing us how in poisoned he is by his house and how he is isolated from the rest of the world. I think the reason why this would attract any gender and pretty much any age would be because that anybody could get this disorder at anytime of their life'.

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

I think our film opening does defiantly challenge forms and conventions of real media products!
When we got given the task we wanted to make our product something different to other ordinary Thriller films. Thriller was the best genre to pick for my partner and I as we wanted to create a sense of enigma. The enigma was created with the man playing 'The Agoraphobic' not wanting to leave his house and the mystery being for the viewer to think why not? and what has happened to him in his past?

When looking at different movies some Thrillers have used colour grading to create a sense of thrill to the movie. For example 'The Stepfather'. Previously when I was analysing the film opening I noticed that colour grading had been used to make us think that the character is doing wrong even though not much has been revealed about him within the first 2 minutes. My partner and I then thought this would be a great opportunity to incorporate colour grading into our own piece. As the man is suffering for Agoraphobia he's physically and emotionally not in right state of mind therefore the 'dull, dark' colours express that he is in fact depressed and living life on the edge.

Similarly Mise-en-scene plays a contribution to revealing more about the character and his condition. For example, his scruffiness of his unshaved face, messy hair and slouchy clothes show that he has nobody to impress and has given up with looking after himself as his condition has gotten to much for him to handle therefore he's let it take over his life. With the house looking cluttered and the bright garish colour of the kitchen cabinets implies that his furniture is outdated and that he hasn't been keeping up with what's in fashion as he in fact doesn't know. Going back to the way the character looks we wanted him to stereotypically look like somebody who is suffering from a mental illness therefore no makeup has been used in his face, in fact the lighting has been made to look dull so it reflects his weakness of physical body. We wanted it look like life has be drained out of him.

In conclusion the enigma has been created between the character and us. As the clip never fully explains to why the man is looking at looks of books and maps we can only assume that he is trying to overcome his illness however its still a mystery to us. There is also another section which leaves us clueless in which being the moment when a mysterious package arrives at the door. The jumpiness of shots and unanswered questions creates the enigma.

Challenging conventions of real media products
From my research I found out that not many films have decided to base their story lines off of 'Agoraphobia'  this in facet could be a good thing and a bad thing.
As not many film companies have explored the illness it would be a new thing in which my partner and I can bring to the film industry. It wold mean more people would have a chance to learn about the illness as I feel that the majority of teens and above are clueless to what its actually about and how people can feel imprisoned by it. I also think from releasing it will raise awareness and make sufferers feel that they are not alone and can turn to help to cure it.
However, what we found challenging is to think if people would actually want to watch it. Maybe the reason why film producers have not looked the illness may be because its a dead part of the industry, some people would rather see a common illness such as amnesia and OCD as its in their comfort zone and they think they'll understand it more compared to agoraphobia.

Together me and my partner Cordelia thought we would add in lots of jumpy shots. When we showed some viewers most of them would comment on the flickering shots, being that they were too confusing and too much to handle. However, after we explained to them the reason being why we added the shots to express the anxiety and jumpiness of the man they then agreed to what we said and viewed the opening in a whole new perspective to what they initially viewed it as being.