Evaluation Question 7

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

There were many mishaps during the preliminary task that caused it to be worse than it should’ve been. The main example of this is that no one in my group, including myself, was willing to appear on-screen. We also spent more time planning it than we needed. As a result, the shooting was rather rushed when we finally got around to it. The variety of different angle shots we took was able to aid us in deciding on angles for the final product. It also allowed us to gain our first experience of working in a group where individuals came up with ideas that would positively affect the shooting process. We were also able to divide up the responsibilities for the shooting and editing processes in a way that benefitted the group. All editing choices were made with full agreement, as well as the soundtrack and title of the film.

Audience feedback was fairly positive and the majority said that they would be willing to watch the rest of the film if given the chance. The only significant problem that audience feedback showed was the difficulty in understanding the familial relationship between Rachel and Joseph. However, we anticipated this problem and tried to address it as well as we could by carefully selecting the title of the film to convey this point. The most important thing I have learned about film making is that it is very difficult to foresee unexpected problems that can occur during all stages of the film-making process.

Fathers Day Final Edit

Evaluation Question 6

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

Through the process of creating Father’s Day, I have learnt to use a variety of different technologies. The most common piece of technology used was my blog. I have learnt how to upload pictures and videos, as well as post my work. I also uploaded my first video to YouTube as part of the preliminary task. During the practice for filming, I also worked out how to use a digital camera to film different types of shots, angles and movements. The editing process also taught me a lot about Premiere Elements, how to remove unwanted shots, piecing different scenes together, using fadeouts and titles, and adding music. Putting the scenes into the right order is an integral part of creating the final edit so I learnt a lot about how it can be edited very quickly.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

A problem the audience had with the plot has that it was unclear as to the father-daughter relationship between Rachel and Joseph. We rectified this by using the title of the film, Father’s Day. This allows the audience to connect with the film as Father’s Day is a yearly event. The decision to have quick cuts from Rachel and Joseph in the first minute was also to emphasise their familial relationship. The majority of the audience are able to rally behind the teenagers against the primary antagonist due to their similar age while the ambiguous ending makes the entire audience want to see what happens next. This is the hook to keep the audience interested in watching the rest of the film.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience that would be most interested in Fathers Day would be the 16-24 demogrpahic. This is based on the age of the characters, and subject of the film and user reviews of films with similarities, Kidulthood and Adulthood. The film would also controlling father. These attributes will allow many young female members of the audience to connect with her.

Evaluation Question 3

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

There are several ways in which the film could be distributed. The best way would be to upload it to an online video-sharing website, such as YouTube. This gives the film access to the largest potential audience available. Other websites that it could be uploaded to include Facebook, Blogger, Daily Motion and Metacafé to further increase the potential audience. It could also be released onto games consoles or as shortly before a foreign language thriller in independent cinemas such as Cinema City.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We have represented several distinct social groups within our film, Fathers’ Day. Gender is represented through our main female character, Rachel Steele. She portrays some of the the characteristics of a traditional femme fatale, flawed and destroyed, because she has chosen to associate herself with less than savoury people, at least in her father’s mind. The distorted perception her father has is a very subtle homage to the canted angle shots used to connote a nightmare-like state in The Third Man. The social background of the primary antagonist, Joseph Steele, goes against the typical role of the middle-aged white guy, e.g. Jim Morrison's character in 24, Bill Buchanan. The setting of the film is both similar yet different to conventional locations used in thriller films. We used a location that connotes grittiness, similar to the locations used in Kidulthood and Adulthood. The film confirms a stereotype of the working class, that is feeling a close bond with friends, and a stereotype of the middle class, being more self-centred than the working class, concerned about their appearance and conforming to society.

Independent Research Into The Thriller Genre

Evaluation Question 1

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

Fathers’ Day uses themes, techniques and conventions of several previous films, as well as challenging the stereotypes of the thriller genre. For example, the costumes worn by the majority of the main characters, tracksuits, are rarely considered to be the typical garb of characters in a thriller film. Several of the aspects of the film, including costume, are based on the characters from the films Kidulthood and Adulthood.

The soundtrack was inspired by the The Third Man but with a contemporary twist, to add suspense and keep the soundtrack alongside the modern setting of the film. Camera angles were also chosen to enhance the genre of the film as several Extreme Close Ups were used to show emotion on the faces of the characters. Character types both conform to and challenge film conventions, by keeping the traditional “damsel in distress” character, the romantic interest, although the two are already in a relationship, coming to attempt a rescue and with loyal friends alongside him. The biggest challenge to characters stereotypes is the primary antagonist, Joseph Steele. Middle-aged, respectable looking men are rarely perceived as the “bad guy” in almost all styles of film, he is styled to be the polar opposite of Mr Miyagi of The Karate Kid trilogy.

The lighting and location of our film also differ greatly to the claustrophobic rooms of the Saw series and the dark-lit labyrinthine alleyways of The Third Man. Instead, it is set in a relatively open space during the middle of the day. While people normally feel safe when they are out during the day, the film is supposed to make the audience question the safety they feel when they are outside. From 4:38 to 5:52 in the video link below was the inspiration for our setting. The claustrophobic and unglamorous feel given from the Essex Marshes, despite being outside and the presence of several vans is a significant reference to the opening scene of the 2000 film Essex Boys.

The plot takes advantage of the typical ominous attack by using the soundtrack, similar to the shark attacks in the Jaws series. It also shows show all of the characters are connected to each other, despite the short amount of time. The title of the film, Fathers’ Day, was chosen to emphasise the relation between Rachel and Joseph Steele that was lost during editing.

Miriam "Mimi" Spencer

Name: Miriam “Mimi” Spencer

Age: 17

Actor: Frankie Morley

Background:

At a young age, Mimi was labelled as ditzy and hasn’t improved since, leading to frequent embarrassment when asked to answer a question at school. To prevent herself from looking stupid she has given up on school, preferring to make it look like she doesn’t want to do well rather than look like she can’t.

Strengths/Weaknesses

• Socially conscious
• Cares deeply for her friends
• Good negotiator

• Ditzy
• Slow learner
• Anti-authority

Reasons for character name
We wanted one of the female characters to have a name similar in connotation to Stevie. As it would make more sense for the main character, Rachel, to have the same surname as her father, we decided to give the second female character a very common sounding name. She also prefers to use a nickname, another similarity with Steie.

Reasons for choice of actor
She was readily available for filming shoots and had the clothing that the character required. Se also played a similar character in another media project. The four teenage actors are very good friends so they have a good chemistry.

Character Inspiration
She was very loosely based on several characters from the 2004 chick flick, Mean Girls. The ditzy aspect of her character is based on Amanda Seyfried’s character, Karen Smith, while her decision to look unwilling rather than unable to succeed at school is similar to the main character, Cady Heron, portrayed by Lindsay Lohan.

Adam Peyton

Name: Adam Peyton

Age: 17

Actor: Will Haynes

Background:

Adam doesn’t seem to be the kind of person that would associate himself with Stevie, due to his middle class family and above average intelligence. Despite this, he has been Stevie’s best friend for most of their lives and he has often convinced Stevie not to go through with something that could end up going wrong

Strengths/Weaknesses

• Intelligent
• Loyal
• Morally knowledgeable

• Troublemaker
• A “disappointment” to those who thought he would excel at school
• Doesn’t react well to authority.

Reasons for character name
This name was chosen as it sounds more middle class than the other male character but still sounds fairly common. The spelling “Peyton” over “Paton” was used to emphasise this aspect of the character.

Reasons for choice of actor
He was readily available for filming shoots and had the clothing that the character required. He also played a similar character in another media project. The four teenage actors are very good friends so they have a good chemistry.

Character Inspiration
This character is loosely based on the James McAvoy’s character, Steve McBride, from Channel 4’s hit TV show, Shameless.