These are copies of the timetables of our cast. Duniya and I printed these out in order to be able to contact our cast especially the year 9s because some of them didn't carry phones on them and they didn't check their emails. We would go in their lessons and pass any messages that they needed to know.

This is the copy of our shooting schedule. We followed this on both days of Production. The wo main locations were the TENNIS FIELD/TREE and HISTORY 4. Therefore we booked both these locations for both days because if there were any shots that we didn't finish we could carry them on the next day.

This is a copy of the call sheet we created. It had all the details every member of the cast and crew needed so they knew who eachother were, the roles they played and numbers to contact them.

Question 4

When making my film i used many different types of technology. To plan my film I used blogger.com in order to show my work and show my developmental stages. I used this to keep a record of everything I had done so far. I also used emails and telephones in order to keep in touch with cast and crew and in order to organise auditions and rehearsals. We also used digital cameras in order to take pictures of what we were doing so we could put it onto our blog. Blogger was the only new technology to me in the construction stage however I found it quite easy to use. I managed to put a background on my blog representing the genre of my film, Mock Horror. In research, the internet played a big part in the technologies i used as i gained a lot from it. The internet was used in order to research other films similar to my own as well as researching cinematography. I also used my blog in the research stage as i posted all my research onto this. When constructing my film the main technologies I used was the camera, sound equipment and editing software. Although I did not use the camera or the sound equipment as I had the role of continuity, i did spend a lot of time using the editing software. This was new to me, therefore took some getting used to, however, once I had used it a few times it became clear to me how to use it. While editing we noticed a mistake made in the camera, there was a jump in the scene on the field however, there was nothing we could do about it. In the evaluation stages of my film i used the internet in order to research marketing.

Question 3

My audience feedback has aided me a great deal in improving my film and turning it into what the audience would like to see. As a media student I know that my main aim when making a film is to please the audience because without them, I will have no one to view my film. Taking this into consideration I knew that the feedback I would receive would be very important. After creating a pitch for my film we presented it to class members who fed back to us that they saw similarities between our film and ‘Son of Rambo’ and ‘The Goonies’. This encouraged us not only to watch these films to get an insight into how these films portray their characters but also take pieces from the film, develop it and make it our own. We then included more clumsy behaviour from Rodney and an ‘I can take on anything’ attitude. This is similar to the main character from ‘Son of Rambo’. We also gained from feedback that our original ending was a bit of an anticlimax and a let down; therefore we changed it to something more interesting to children. We changed Mr Vamping having a Halloween themed lesson to actually revealing himself as a vampire. This was much more interesting and gained more positive feedback. From the feedback on the pitch, I learnt that in order to make a good film, the ending must fulfil desires of audience and if they are not happy with something it is essential to change it until gaining positive feedback. I also learnt that observing other films which relate to my film help a lot in developing my own characters and adding different characteristics in order to make them my own. We also received feedback from our script. In the first draft of our script we used blackouts while Rodney runs to the class room late, yet after feedback from fellow class members who were not too fond of these blackouts we felt we needed to change them. Feedback showed that blackouts did not fit in with the fast paced, hyperactive, comical mood we were trying to portray therefore we thought it would be much more effective and pleasurable to the audience to replace the blackouts with quick cut shots teamed with typical ‘late’ music. We wanted to create humour at every opportunity possible. This was well received from class members. Through this I learned that despite being adamant that you have a great idea, it is your audience and your audience only that can decide this. We have to take into consideration that it is them that will be watching your film therefore it is them that should decide what looks best. We then moved onto making a collage on ‘The world of my film’. We included lots of words from magazines we felt related to our film for example ‘dark secret’, ‘fantasy’, ‘gullible’ and ‘bullies’. We also included images of vampires and schools. This was not understood by classmates when we presented our collage to them as they felt confused at what our story was actually about. They also said it gave the impression of being too serious which was not what we aimed to show. After receiving this feedback we did I second and final draft of the collage bearing in mind we were trying to portray the fun, Halloween side of our film. We added lot’s of oranges, blacks, yellows and purples in order to show the Mock Horror side of Halloween getting the message across to the audience that our film is not serious, it is simply a children’s Halloween film. We also added images of cartoon pumpkins, comical cartoon vampires, a little boy in boxing gloves with a comical expression and other various cartoon images. We felt this gave the message of a light-hearted, fun film for kids. From the feedback on the collage I learnt that it is easy to go off into different genres when trying to portray something in my film, therefore I must be aware that in order to portray my genre only I must include a lot of obvious things which relate to Mock horror for example music, cartoons and colours. After the collage we made posters promoting our film. The first poster we made had a purple mist surrounding the edge of our poster to create a mysterious illusion and reflecting the genre of Halloween. This however, was not received well by fellow classmates and they fed back to us that we should remove it as the poster looked too busy and cluttered. After removing this we changed the idea of the poster completely and put 4 different images in the 4 corners of the poster. We felt this represented the childishness of our film and was favoured by classmates. From this I learnt that posters with a minimalist style can be the most effective.

Question 2

I feel that the combination of my main product and ancillary tasks is quite effective in promoting my film. The posters are mainly purple, black and orange linking into the theme of Mock horror as it does not give the impression of our film being too series. This also suits the characters presented in my film for example, the class idiot with his clumsy character. The font used in our poster is very spooky and scary, however at the same time is very childish and immature. This fits in with the plot of my film in which the spooky atmosphere is played down with humour so as not to scare children. The images of Rodney on one of the posters also fit in with the comical genre as Rodney is pulling various different funny faces creating comedy. The title sequence of my film represents s the childishness of my film as does the film. Instead of using computerised graphics to create a title sequence, I scanned an A4 piece of paper onto the computer filled with doodles and cartoon drawings which links into the school environment and children’s films. It signifies the immaturity of my film and directly targets my target audience of children. After researching marketing of films through film posters I found that the main aim in making a film poster is to show a ‘narrative image’ which sums up the whole film through one image. I feel that our poster does this well through the pictures of Rodney pulling strange faces at the camera. Not only does this sum up Rodney’s personality but also shows the plot of the film, a young boy who is quite clumsy but in strange circumstances believes he can save the day. This is supported by the fonts and colours which suggest immaturity. I would not locate my posters in places such as sports centres and billboards as these are not likely to be taken notice of by children, however, I would be more likely to locate my posters in places such as school canteens, bus stops and cinemas. These are locations in which children regularly visit and are likely to come across.

Question 1

The theme of my film was Mock Horror, aimed at children. In order to target my audience and make my film enjoyable I used codes and conventions similar to other children’s film of the same genre. One of the films I used was ‘Home Alone’. I chose to use parts of the little boy’s character for my own main character ‘Rodney’ as he seemed very appealing and loveable, yet mischievous and portrayed the image of a typical young boy. Although I new these characteristics alone would appeal to a young audience, I developed Rodney’s character by making him very clumsy and appearing to his classmates as a laughing stock. Not only do I feel this added humour to the film but it also made Rodney more realistic and easy to relate to. I also spent time observing the children’s T.V series ‘Mona the Vampire’. From this I used the typical setting for a film aimed at children and set my film in a school. This allows the audience to relate more to the storyline despite it being quite unrealistic as it is a familiar environment to them. I noticed from ‘Mona the Vampire’ that props were a vital part of representing the genre of Mock horror to the audience, therefore made using typical props relating to Halloween an important part of the film. I understood that some things needed to be made obvious for children and by using Halloween decorations in the classroom scene; it was much clearer and easier for them to understand the genre and the plot. From watching T.V series such as ‘Grange Hill’ I observed the attitudes and personalities of younger characters and I noticed they all had a very modern, up to date approach. I decided to make my characters very modern in order to make them easy to relate to. I developed this however, by including slang in some of the dialogue, something all young people are aware of. For example in the scene where Rodney is thrown into a bush the other characters chant ‘Bang out Rodney’ meaning ‘Beat up Rodney’. By using this slang I have developed the typical modern attitudes of young people appearing on T.V and gone one step further in trying to connect with my audience. I do feel that the representation of social groups was quite typical in my film. There were typical characters you would usually find in a children’s mock horror film including the bully, the followers and the class clown. I felt this suited the film despite the stereotypical characters as it provided pleasures of predictability. Bearing in mind my target audience are children I did not want to complicate my film too much. It was simply a light, comical film for children and I believe that some of the main enjoyment in the film the film came from these stereotypical character, therefore chose to include them. After creating s plot for my film, I realised through researching that it was very similar to the recent film “son of Rambo”. Again, I made my character “Rodney” very similar to the main character in this film, especially the “I can over come anything and take on anyone” nature of this boy which applied perfectly in my film. This created humour and trigged emotion in the audience as Rodney was petrified as a lovable character. I challenged Mock horrors and children’s films in the ending of my film by giving the implication that what the audience though was fantasy could in fact be reality. I felt that his left my audience leaving shocked at the twist, however satisfied too as this is not what they were expecting.

This is the 3rd draft of our poster which our classmates liked however we recieved feedback that the poster should include a credit block.

This is the second draft of our poster which we presented to classmates. They commented on how they liked the layout and fonts and colours as it all realted very well the Halloween theme. We did however, recieve some negative feedback:
-Matts head does not work well at the top as it seems to be very random and in the middle of nowhere, it looks quite strange.