How did you attract/address your audience?

Music

Our scene is based around tension and mystery and the murder of a young women, this is why the music was so important as it needed to have the same impact. The age group we was appealing to was between 16-25, this is because horror/thriller films are very popular with this age group as they enjoy the build up of tension and the plot twisters throughout. We knew that in order to attract our audience we would need to make the music suitable for our video, but also appealing so the audience are engaged. We used garage band to make the music, and there was a range of loops we could chose from to make our desired track. At the beginning of our track there is a short piano solo which sounds very eerie and menacing. This would attract to the audience because they would know from the beginning that this film would be spooky and scary. After a few seconds a much more fast paced and energetic beat begins to play, we decided to keep the piano in the background so it still has that spooky element, and keeps the audience engaged in the scene. We spent a while deciding whether to create a slow track, or whether to test the typical conventions of a horror/thriller and create a more fast paced track. After discussion, we decided to go for the fast paced music, this was effective as it showed that we could all work well as a team, and make decisions which would benefit our film. As a group we believed that a fast paced track would appeal to the audience, as it creates that climax of tension, and leaves the audience wondering what will happen. A strong drum beat in the background would attract the audience because it comes across as quite dominant and controlling, which represents our main character "The Ripper".                                              

This is the opening of the BBC drama "Ripper Street", which is about a police detective who solves murders in White chapel. I think that the music in this is similar to ours, as although the topic of the programme is quite sinister, the music has that up-beat element, which makes it catchy to the ear and appealing for the audience to listen to.   The way that this soundtrack has a solo piece at the beginning to draw in the audience, is also similar to ours, as we have the piano piece. I like how the music in this track matches the fast paced shots and images, which adds to the impact. With our music, we also wanted our shots to fit so that the audience can engage with them.



Costumes, sets and props

Costumes
In order for our characters to look realistic, we decided to find costumes that would fit in with the late 1800's era. As a group we believed that having suitable costumes would be effective and draw in the audience because it would be easier for them to engage in the storyline, and believe the surroundings. We decided to dress our female character in a long red dress, as this is what a prostitute in the 1800's would were. We believe that this would address the audience because it highlights the class difference between the male character, and how poverty was a big part of Victorian London.

Our victim actress

We decided to keep with the traditional "Jack the Ripper" outfit, which was all black. We decided this would be effective because it keeps to the theme of mystery and tension, as the audience would speculate about what the culprit looks like. We dressed our actor in a black coat, top hat and scarf. We believe that this will attract the audience, because as soon as they see these clothes, they know who that character is. It also fits in with "Jack the Rippers" personality, as he was a very sly man who kept to the shadows. This is how we wanted our character to come across in the scene.

Set
It is well known that "Jack the Ripper" killed his victims in London, as a group we decided that we wanted to film somewhere that would look similar to London, in order for our scene to look realistic. At first we planned to travel up to London, and actually film were "Jack the Ripper" killed his victims, however whilst making arrangements, we decided that it would not be conventional going to London, for reasons such as the cameras running out of charge. We decided that we would film in Rochester, due to the buildings and houses being similar to those in the Victorian era. It was also convenient as we all lived quite close and knew our way round. Having a set that fitted in with the era and storyline would attract the audience as it would enable them to engage more, and really invest in the characters and plot.

The majority of our shots were filmed in an alley in Rochester high street, we decided to film here because "Jack the Ripper" called his victims in the alleys of London. We also filmed in dark alleyways to attract the audience, this is because the spookiness of the alleys would get the audience on edge, also it fits in with the genre of film. Having a suitable setting was important because it not only shows the planning that went into our film, it also emphasises our characters, plot and costumes.


Props

In order to emphasise our setting, we decided to make a few props to make our shots look more realistic. The first prop we made was a wanted poster, with a silhouette of "Jack the Ripper" on it. We made it look suitable for the era by tea staining it and burning the corners slightly. This was effective as it really stood out in the shots, and attracted the audience because it created that sense of mystery and excitement at the thought of a killer being hunted.

Another prop we created was a variety of pictures/maps/newspaper articles surrounding "Jack the Ripper" and his victims. Like the poster, we burnt and stained the pictures to give them a vintage look. This prop was used for the first half of the scene, when all the titles were being shown. This was effective because we had the word "Murder" being shown, this would appeal to the audience as it would give them a small insight to what the film is based on. As a group we believe that making the different props and collecting the images really added to our opening scene, this is because all the small details are the things that the audience will pick up, and will enable them to be more involved in the film. We had no problems when making the props, and worked well as a team.

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

Throughout this process I have been introduced to a wide range of new programmes which have thoroughly aided our group in the creation of our opening scene. To make our film as interesting as possible, we used programmes such as garage-band and imovie, we did this so we could use a range of transitions and editing techniques, and create a solid sound track to go with it.

                                                         Video Camera

    

At first our group decided to do our filming with an iPhone, we made this decision because we believed that it would be easier to film on, and the battery life was longer, which enabled us to take more shots. However, we then decided that using a video camera for some shots would be more effective, as it was easier to handle the camera, and get the shot we needed. I think that it was useful for us to learn from that because it enabled our group to make a decision which was best for the filming of our opening scene. I was quite new to using a video camera, and it took me a while to work out what buttons meant what, however due to the short amount of time we had to film, I picked it up quite quickly. I found it quite simple to handle the camera, which was helpful as some of our shots needed to be filmed in awkward situations.

I Movie

Editing our opening scene was the first time that I had used imovie; at first it was slightly daunting as there were so many editing techniques , and ways to alter our shots. After a few tries and getting to know how to work the tools, we were soon under way with our editing. The first thing we did was connect the camera to the computer and import the shots onto imovie.  I then worked out how to save my video under a title which I would remember the next time I came to editing. I then selected all my clips from the library at the bottom, and selected the ones I needed to edit. This was quite simple to pick up as the instructions were clear, and the clips are easy to access. I then had to drag my clips into the project area, to see the duration of my video. I then began to start trimming the clips that were too long, or had errors in them. This was tricky at first as I had to work out how to actually trim the clip, but once I worked out how to do it, it was quite simple and quick to get it done. One problem we came across was that our video could only be a maximum of two minutes long, this was a problem because once I had dragged the clips into the project box, it was over five minutes long. As a group, we knew that we had to edit a lot of the clips, in order to make the video the correct duration. We discussed what clips could be edited, and then began to cut of parts of the shot we didn't need. Although at the time it seemed like we wouldn't be able to get it down to two minutes, we took the best parts of each shot and created a video that was two minutes. Once we had finished editing, we then began adding titles to make our video look more appealing and interesting. Throughout the process of making the video we each had our own role, we decided to put these roles on the video, as this is a typical part of an opening scene. Putting the titles on our video was simple once we knew how to do it. Personally, it took me a while to work how to  edit the titles, such as colour, size and font. However, once I worked out how to do it, it became easier to use. For me, one of the most important editing techniques is transitions, this is because it can alter the mood of the shot, and really attract the audience. As our opening scene is based around mystery and tension, we knew that our transitions had to be appealing and suitable for the shot. We spent quite a lot of time on transitions, because as a group we wanted to be sure that we had picked the correct ones. To improve, I think that we could spend less time on transitions as there are other parts of our opening scene that are equally as important. We also used techniques such as editing lighting, speed and sound. One of the last things we did to our opening scene was add the soundtrack. This was the most difficult part for me because we had to make sure it fitted the length of the scene, and we also had to edit the end of the track so it didn't just stop. To edit the end of the track I had to fade it out towards the end, this was tricky because I had to make sure that it didn't fade too quickly.

                                                                    Garage-band

My role in the group was to create the music for the opening scene, I put myself forward for this role because I really invested in the theme of the video, and liked the idea of creating a tense track. From looking at comments on the internet, I had the impression that garage band would be quite difficult to use, however after talking to other people, and discussing with teachers, I soon picked up the basics and was able to create a suitable track for our opening scene. The first thing I did was browse through the different loops to try  and get an idea on what sounds I want to use. Before I began to create the track, our group had a discussion on what we was aiming for with the music, we decided that we wanted it to be eerie sounding, but not the typical slow music. This is because we wanted to attract the audience, and make our opening scene stand out. The first thing I decided to do was find a loop which would act as the base sound. This is so that I could build up sounds onto it. This helped me a lot because I could test different loops against the base sound, and see if it worked well. I then just gradually added loops to create a track which would work well with the opening scene we created. I spent a lot of time creating the music, this is because it was very time consuming finding the right loops, and editing it to fit the clips. One problem I came across was making the loops fit to certain shots, for example, on one shot we wanted a bang sound, however this loop didn't really fit in with the rest of our track. I decided to make the sound slower so it was more suitable. Overall I really enjoyed making the music because it allowed me to be really creative, and at the end I felt like I had achieved a lot, due to not using garage band before. 

Me using imovie

In order to get feedback on our opening scene, we decided to put it on YouTube. This was so that if anyone had any and constructive criticism, we could take it into consideration, and alter our video to accommodate their views. Although we didn't receive any comments, we gained 27 views, which shows that people liked watching our opening scene. It was very simple putting our video onto YouTube, and as a group we are glad we did this as it shows that we are committed to making our video the best it can be. 

We also put our video onto Facebook to get more comments and feedback on how to improve the video. We received a few comments saying that we had done a good job, and that our video showed potential. We also received a comment saying that our music was slightly repetitive, to an extent we can agree with this as our music is quite continuous, however we believe that that the music adds to the tension.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product represents the differences in class in the Victorian era, and also a typical murder which may have happened in this particular era. Due to our opening scene being based on a real historical event, our characters do not necessarily represent a typical social group. This however does not hinder how our target audience views our film, as they are invested in the storyline. Taking into account the time in which our opening scene is set, our characters represent the typical types of people which would have lived in that time. Our group decided to stick quite close to how the real "Jack the Ripper" was portrayed, as that's what the audience find interesting. This is due to the mystery and tension which comes with his persona.

 Although Jack the Ripper isn't the typical 21st century killer, there have been murders which the media have portrayed as mysterious and gruesome. An example of this is a man named "Rodney Alcala", he is a convicted serial killer and rapist who was sentenced to death in 2010. There was a lot of speculation over the murders he committed, this is because in his presence were photos of girls who the authorities were not sure if he killed. Like "Jack the Ripper", Rodney Alcala was given a nickname "The Dating game killer", because he used dating games as a way of meeting woman. The media used the mystery revolving around this case to spark interest and engage the audience. This is very similar to the media following the "Jack the Ripper" case, as their use of headlines and stories really engaged the audience, and still to this day nearly 126 year later, people are still fascinated on how he managed to hide from the police.

Our second main character is the woman who is killed by the Ripper,

Jack the ripper headline

    like him, the woman is an accurate portrayal of what women in the Victorian era would have been like. We achieved this by finding accurate costumes, make-up and hairstyles to fit what they would have looked like. This not only made our opening scene look more authentic, it was interesting for our group to research what kind of things poor Victorian women wore.

Gender

Rodney Alcala headline

Although the notorious killer "The Ripper" was never confirmed to be a male, it has been widely speculated that he was in fact a male. In our opening scene, we try and give the impression that our character is male, by the way our character walks, their height and their body language towards our female actor. Taking this into account, it can be commented that it is quite stereotypical that Jack the Ripper has been perceived as a male, as it is most publicised that men are the typical serial killers. As the female character in our opening scene doesn't necessarily portray a particular social group, we can take into account women during the late 

                                                    1800's, and how they are thought about now. It is well known that the Ripper only killed prostitutes, due to their easy access, and poor personal background, this would enable him to cover his tracks easier. In the late 1800's, it was quite common for poor woman to end up prostituting, due to the lack of occupations available. This can be seen as quite stereotypical, because even now men are seen as the dominant gender, alike the 1800's when men were better of then women. Due to the fact that there are only two characters in our scene, we tried to really show the contrast in their genders by emphasising the Ripper's dominance over the whole situation.

Class     

Differences in class are a big theme of our opening scene, as it is closely linked to the Ripper killings. Due to our target audience being between the ages of 16-25 we wanted to be able to show the difference in class, but not to the extent that they would get un-interested. It is clear that in our opening scene, the female is off the lower class, this is due to her shabby clothes and her way of making money. The Ripper on the other hand is in a black coat and top hat, which strongly suggests he is of a higher class. This is quite stereotypical of women, as it is most common for woman to be prostitutes, and to be exploited in the ways the Ripper did. 

Our Final Film

Our Final Film

 Our group posted our video onto “Facebook” so we could receive some constructive criticism and some comments on what the viewers liked about our opening scene. As a group we agreed with the last comment about our music being a bit repetitive, that’s one thing we know to improve on to make our opening scene more effective. We also received a few comments saying that our video was really good and our work was excellent. We had 15 views on Facebook and overall we were really happy with the response.

Our group also posted our opening scene onto YouTube, this was so we could receive any feedback or comments people may have on how we could improve our video. Although we received no comments, we still gained 27 views which shows people were interested in watching our video. Our group is glad we put our video onto different sites as it shows how we are committed to making our video the best it can be, by gaining constructive criticism. 

Filming

On The Day

Our group was very prepared when it came down to filming; this is because we had our filming schedule, which allowed us to take shots efficiently. We all worked well with our roles, and listened to each others opinion in order to make the shots as good as they could be. We started of by taking a few shots of houses and buildings in Rochester; this is because it fitted in really well with the setting of our opening scene. We then took some shots of our poster stuck onto the wall; we took shots from different angles in order to make the editing easier to do. We then filmed our ‘Jack the Ripper’ actor walking down the alley; we made sure that the camera wasn’t shaking, as that may ruin the effect. We spent quite a lot of time filming these shots, as we wanted to have them walking from a few angles, so that when we edited we could add different effects. We then filmed the ‘Victorian girl’, for this we needed to decide if we wanted her to just stand still, or actually walk up the alley. We took different shots of her, so that when it came to editing, we could decide what one looked best. When we were filming the ripper and prostitute scene, we needed to make sure that the stabbing was effective and had impact, this is because it is the main part of our scene. We used two cameras for this shot, as we wanted to get the reactions of the characters from all angles. We then filmed our shots of the bloody footprints on the floor; we made sure that we didn’t film to fast, as it would ruin the effect and atmosphere. Using fake blood we wrote our film title “Red Jack” on the pavement, we then filmed it at a sideward angle at a slow pace, this was going to be at the end of the film. We filmed it like this because it was a creative and different way of letting the audience know what our film was called.   

                                                                               

I had the task of filming the indoor shots; we had already made the props so my first job was to prepare them in order to take the shots. I arranged them on a wall, and then took numerous shots from different angles in order to see which shot looked best. I also filmed in different lighting, so that when it came to editing we could see what type of lighting gave the props the best effect. Once I had taken shots of the pictures I looked over them to make sure I had enough shots to edit with. Overall I think the filming went really well, this is because we all had significant roles that contributed well to the planning and the filming. 

Our Filming Schedule

Our group decided that to be efficient when filming, and to make sure we get all the shots when we film, that it would be a good idea to make a filming schedule.  This schedule included things like; what days we would film, how long we would spend filming each part, what props we would need and who films what. I think that having a filming schedule really helped on the days we filmed, this is because it allowed us to take the best shots we could, as everyone knew their role and what was going on. 

Filming Schedule 

Thursday 14th November 2013

Equipment Needed                                Roles

. Victorian outfit                                    . Jack the Ripper- Nicole O’Brien 

. Jack the Ripper outfit                           . Victorian girl- Carla Dawkins

. Camera                                                . Filming- Marnie White and Bukky Odumosu

. Poster

. Fake blood

2:00pm- Leave school and make sure we have all the props and equipment.

2:50pm- Arrive at Rochester and find a suitable alley to do our filming in, then make sure our actors have all their costumes on, and any accessories needed.

3:00pm- Film the first shots of the buildings and the castle, making sure we have enough shots to edit.

3:20pm- Film our Jack the Ripper actor walking down the alley, making sure we have different angles in order to make our editing easier.

3:35pm- Film our Jack the Ripper with our Victorian character, making sure that the lighting is appropriate and fits the scene.

3:50pm: Film our Victorian actress by herself leaning against a wall, making sure we get a range of shots.

4:00pm- Film Jack the Ripper stabbing the Victorian character, then pausing the camera.

4:00pm- Apply fake blood to the Victorian character and film her arms and hands.

4:25pm- Using the fake blood, write the title of the film ‘Red Jack’ on the pavement, making sure we get a range of shots.

4:35pm: Film bloody footprints leading out of the alley.

Wednesday 11th November 2013

Equipment Needed                                          Roles

. Camera                                                        . Filming- Marnie White

. Candle

. Food colouring

. Newspaper articles and images

3:30pm: Film board with pictures, making sure to get lots of shots in order to edit correctly.

3:50pm: Film individual pictures.

4:15pm: Film candle.

4:30pm: Film letter.

4:45pm: Film titiles on ink bottle making sure to get lots of shots.

Our Storyboard

In our storyboard we decided to have two film institutions at the beginning of our opening scene, when we came to editing we decided to only use ‘LIONSGATE’. This is because it took up to much time having two, so we agreed to use one. When it came to filming the indoor shots of our film, due to the limit on how long it could be we changed the shots. Instead of having different shots of things, we made a board of pictures related to the Ripper, and filmed one long shot at an angle. This made it much more flexible to edit, as we could change the lighting and the tempo. Our group decided that this shot looks more professional and more like an opening scene. It also made the titles stand out more. We did stick to our original plans of following Jack the Ripper from behind, as we believed that this was an effective shot, we also slowed the shot down. We also stuck to the shots of a Victorian girl down an alley, as when we went to the location, it worked really well. We decided to stick to our original plans of filming in an alley, as it fits in with the story of ‘Jack the Ripper’ and also with the era of the Ripper. We added a few extra shots of pictures, to add to the effect of the scene. We stuck to the idea of making a poster with a title on it, as when we went to the location, it looked really good with the poster on the wall. We also finished the scene with the title of the film on the pavement, this was in our original storyboard as we believed it would make our opening scene stand out. Overall, I think our group stuck to our original plans well, and adapted shots when needed.