Short Film Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and

conventions of real media products?• Our short film has the conventions of a typical horror/thriller. • It has a twist to the narrative.• Typical camera shots such as close ups, high and low angle shots and

point of view shots.• Uses both fast paced and slow paced editing throughout different parts

of the film in order to build tension.• Ends with a cliff hanger so they audience can interpret how the film really

ended.• Post modern – Includes a film within a film.

This is an example of an extreme close up shot we used to emphasise the emotion on the character’s face.

This is a screenshot of where the twist in the narrative occurs.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

The ancillary projects support and promote our main product. They build up people’s expectations of the film and encourage the audience to want to watch the film. They give the audience a hint at what the film will be like and advertise it.

Ancillary Magazine Article•The magazine article has a small break down of the information about the film at the beginning to give the reader a brief summary.•The layout matches the film through elements such as the images of the candles which are used within the film. The colour scheme of black and orange supports the theme and genre of our film.•The pull quotes used make the reader want to read the article to find out more about the film.•The film roll of images down the side of the page are screenshots from the actual film and give the audience a hint at parts of the film.•The fact the article is a positive film review supports the film and gives it credit.

Ancillary posters The slogan was chosen as we thought it would be appropriate due to the ending of our short film being a repeat event from the film being watched by the character. There once watched the horror film, ‘things will never be the same’.

Candles were used in both posters as the main focus image as they are associated with Ouija boards and represent an eerie atmosphere.

Both posters promote the film and give an incite in to what the film will be about. The colour scheme represents a horror film as the orange could represent Halloween, but also stands out from the dark, black background. This also makes all text and images stand out whilst keeping to the theme.

‘From the makers of drag me to hell’ lets the audience know the kind of theme the film is and the type of happenings to expect. Also, as Drag me to hell did well at the box office, the expectations of The Ouija board will now be as high.

Poster 1 Poster 2

The quotes on both Poster 1 and Poster 2 from well known film magazines make the audience trust in their knowledge and therefore are more likely to go and see The Ouija board because of these.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

The twist in the narrative surprised the audience and they liked the fact the film ended with a cliff hanger so they could interpret their own ending.

The camera shots and angles used were effective such as close ups to show emotions and hand held camera work made the film feel more realistic.

The sound could have been improved by it flowing together more rather than jumping from sound to sound and more enhanced sounds could have been used to emphasise parts of the film.

The lighting could have been controlled better so that less editing was needed on it and so the film looked more like it had all been filmed at the same time.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning

and evaluation stages?• As a group we have learned to use Adobe Premiere Pro to edit our film

and create it.• We have learnt how to use a digital camera and tripod effectively to create

a short film.• We have improved our Photoshop skills in making the film posters and the

double page spread.

Here is an example of us editing on Photoshop to put a glowing effect and shadows on our heading.

This is an example of us editing our film on Adobe Premiere Pro altering and adding sound.