Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Monday, 14 April 2014
Question 7
7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
Whilst doing our continuity exercise, the amount of responsibilities such as the planning, editing and filming where very small as to what I had to do for my opening sequence.
Within the continuity exercise I worked in a group, with Phoebe and Ciara, we were told within the lessons the exact shots we had to take and how long we needed to take them for, which was very straightforward. We filmed within our school and tried to grasp the shots as much as possible to how they are in the actually clip, we used Imovie and Final cut express to import and edit and it was done within two lessons.
However, whilst doing the opening sequence I decided I wanted to do it on my own and it was a lot harder than what I thought it would be. The amount of research put into the film opening compared to the continuity exercise was massive. For the film opening I had to choose a genre I wanted to base my film opening on, then I had to decide upon what I wanted my film opening to be about, look at different film openings, compare and evaluate each of them. I had to plan each shot on a story board, decide how long I wanted each shot to be, what characters I wanted in it, who would be the best character for each scene, what props I would need, the locations, the camera angles and whether it would all fit in to the duration of the time given for the opening sequence. I got to grips with how to use Final Cut Express and Imovie properly on my own and not within a group all helping one another, it made me feel like I had a lot more work to do but I did feel in control and I did like having the responsibility.
I do think that from the continuity exercise to now I have learnt a lot and realized how capable I am. I never really cared much for planning and story boards, but within the opening sequence I realized how important and grateful I was to have planned so much and done a storyboard as it helped me a lot.
My research I did into crime thrillers really helped me under the conventions of a typical crime thriller and gave me many ideas on my own film opening, for example, the slow daunting music which helps sit the mood.
Whilst editing my continuity exercise I did not really have any problems where as in my film opening I realized the stress and issues you can actually have. I went over my duration and I had to cut down my scenes with I was not that happy with but if I did not it would have dragged out and I would have lost the interest of my audience. I realized whilst filming that the actors are not as serious as you would want them to be if it was there own film opening, I did have to film many scenes over three times until they were correct but I did not find that much of an issue as some of the funny scenes come in good use for the flashbacks.
Overall, I feel as if I have made a huge jump from simple filming to hard planning, I did find it hard as it is very time consuming to make sure your film opening is correct, to find the right music, the right fonts and so on, but it was all worth it in the end and I am happy to have had this experience to help me in the future.
Whilst doing our continuity exercise, the amount of responsibilities such as the planning, editing and filming where very small as to what I had to do for my opening sequence.
Within the continuity exercise I worked in a group, with Phoebe and Ciara, we were told within the lessons the exact shots we had to take and how long we needed to take them for, which was very straightforward. We filmed within our school and tried to grasp the shots as much as possible to how they are in the actually clip, we used Imovie and Final cut express to import and edit and it was done within two lessons.
However, whilst doing the opening sequence I decided I wanted to do it on my own and it was a lot harder than what I thought it would be. The amount of research put into the film opening compared to the continuity exercise was massive. For the film opening I had to choose a genre I wanted to base my film opening on, then I had to decide upon what I wanted my film opening to be about, look at different film openings, compare and evaluate each of them. I had to plan each shot on a story board, decide how long I wanted each shot to be, what characters I wanted in it, who would be the best character for each scene, what props I would need, the locations, the camera angles and whether it would all fit in to the duration of the time given for the opening sequence. I got to grips with how to use Final Cut Express and Imovie properly on my own and not within a group all helping one another, it made me feel like I had a lot more work to do but I did feel in control and I did like having the responsibility.
I do think that from the continuity exercise to now I have learnt a lot and realized how capable I am. I never really cared much for planning and story boards, but within the opening sequence I realized how important and grateful I was to have planned so much and done a storyboard as it helped me a lot.
My research I did into crime thrillers really helped me under the conventions of a typical crime thriller and gave me many ideas on my own film opening, for example, the slow daunting music which helps sit the mood.
Whilst editing my continuity exercise I did not really have any problems where as in my film opening I realized the stress and issues you can actually have. I went over my duration and I had to cut down my scenes with I was not that happy with but if I did not it would have dragged out and I would have lost the interest of my audience. I realized whilst filming that the actors are not as serious as you would want them to be if it was there own film opening, I did have to film many scenes over three times until they were correct but I did not find that much of an issue as some of the funny scenes come in good use for the flashbacks.
Overall, I feel as if I have made a huge jump from simple filming to hard planning, I did find it hard as it is very time consuming to make sure your film opening is correct, to find the right music, the right fonts and so on, but it was all worth it in the end and I am happy to have had this experience to help me in the future.
Question 6
6. What have you learn about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Whilst making my opening sequence (film opening) and planning I really got use to using Final cut express, I had difficulty when beginning to use it as it looked very complicated and hard to understand but whilst working and editing on my film opening I feel as if i grew to it a lot more and now I completely understand what to do. I discovered new things such as bringing the text in and out using the speed tool.
I used Imovie to upload my film opening on before importing it on to Final Cut Express, we did not use this program very much but I did spend a lot of time on it as I had problems trying to import my opening sequence from the camera to the computer due to new technology.
I also found it rather interesting that I could put music into my opening sequence, using an app provided by the school Garage Band. Without this program I don't think my film opening would of been as gripping as it is. I used two different types of music, both very similar with the taunting, high pitched sound that toys with your emotions of being scared but at the same time sad of the situation taking place. This program was very simple and easy to get the grips with, especially if you've used music program before for your own personal use they are all pretty much the same. The fact that this program was so easy to use I think made the process a lot more easy going for myself.
Whilst making my opening sequence (film opening) and planning I really got use to using Final cut express, I had difficulty when beginning to use it as it looked very complicated and hard to understand but whilst working and editing on my film opening I feel as if i grew to it a lot more and now I completely understand what to do. I discovered new things such as bringing the text in and out using the speed tool.
I used Imovie to upload my film opening on before importing it on to Final Cut Express, we did not use this program very much but I did spend a lot of time on it as I had problems trying to import my opening sequence from the camera to the computer due to new technology.
I also found it rather interesting that I could put music into my opening sequence, using an app provided by the school Garage Band. Without this program I don't think my film opening would of been as gripping as it is. I used two different types of music, both very similar with the taunting, high pitched sound that toys with your emotions of being scared but at the same time sad of the situation taking place. This program was very simple and easy to get the grips with, especially if you've used music program before for your own personal use they are all pretty much the same. The fact that this program was so easy to use I think made the process a lot more easy going for myself.
Question 5
5. How did you attract your audience?
Before making my opening sequence I thought it would be a good idea to speak to the audience I wanted to target what they would want in a new movie. My audience range (16-24) was perfect as this allowed me to ask people around my school and friends of mine for advice which made the process much more quick and easy.
Many boys I had asked said that any type of crime thriller interested them as long as it had a good plot and story line. But one person in particular, Marc 22, said that he would have a lot more interest in the film and more sympathy towards the girls if they were good looking, therefore I choose my two friends Alice and Abigail. Girls said the same as boys, the wanted a good looking boy but he had a bad side to him or a secret to him so therefore I used Mitch, and thought that using him to be a spy or mi5 agent would be a great secret or bad side to him that the audience wanted to see.
Many people said that it would be better if the opening sequence took place in a familiar place so that it is more realistic so therefore I thought using my own home and Mitch's home would be a great idea.
After completing my opening sequence I showed it to many people I had asked for opinions on before hand and they liked that I took the opinions on the characters and the setting and that therefore attracted them more towards the opening sequence.
Before making my opening sequence I thought it would be a good idea to speak to the audience I wanted to target what they would want in a new movie. My audience range (16-24) was perfect as this allowed me to ask people around my school and friends of mine for advice which made the process much more quick and easy.
Many boys I had asked said that any type of crime thriller interested them as long as it had a good plot and story line. But one person in particular, Marc 22, said that he would have a lot more interest in the film and more sympathy towards the girls if they were good looking, therefore I choose my two friends Alice and Abigail. Girls said the same as boys, the wanted a good looking boy but he had a bad side to him or a secret to him so therefore I used Mitch, and thought that using him to be a spy or mi5 agent would be a great secret or bad side to him that the audience wanted to see.
Many people said that it would be better if the opening sequence took place in a familiar place so that it is more realistic so therefore I thought using my own home and Mitch's home would be a great idea.
After completing my opening sequence I showed it to many people I had asked for opinions on before hand and they liked that I took the opinions on the characters and the setting and that therefore attracted them more towards the opening sequence.
Question 4
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
As I spoke about before in question 2, I do believe that my opening sequence is targeted more at the younger generation rather than the older generation because of the representation of young adults and the confusing plot of the story. People from an older generation do not particularly enjoy watching films that are confusing and hard to follow, rather than interesting them I think it would bore them as they will not understand the plot. They cannot relate to anyone as the opening sequence only has three characters, those of which are teenagers and young adults.
The younger generation would familiarize themselves more from little clips within the scene, such as when Alice, Abigail and Mitch are sitting around and joking whilst eating minstrels, that would be something many teenagers would do with there friends or messing around tidying up and making things in the kitchen rather than just doing it. The way that Mitchs car is still quite old, hes a mi5 agent and his driving a Clio gives the humorous side out that this could be his first car, he might of just started driving. Little things within the scene would relate to teenagers way more than an older generation.
Question 3
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
For my film opening I decided to use Dream work pictures. DreamWorks Studios also known as is a California film studio which distributes films, video games and television programming. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses totaling more than $100 million each. Most of DreamWorks' films are marketed and distributed by The Walt Disney Studios under its Touchstone Pictures label. I thought that I would use Dream work pictures as my media distrubuter as it is such a well known distrubuter. Dream works have won Academy Awards for American Beauty and A Beautiful mind both very similar to my film opening, with a genre of crime fiction, and such twists and gripping scenes made me believe that this particular media distributor would be the best one for my opening sequence.
For my film opening I decided to use Dream work pictures. DreamWorks Studios also known as is a California film studio which distributes films, video games and television programming. It has produced or distributed more than ten films with box-office grosses totaling more than $100 million each. Most of DreamWorks' films are marketed and distributed by The Walt Disney Studios under its Touchstone Pictures label. I thought that I would use Dream work pictures as my media distrubuter as it is such a well known distrubuter. Dream works have won Academy Awards for American Beauty and A Beautiful mind both very similar to my film opening, with a genre of crime fiction, and such twists and gripping scenes made me believe that this particular media distributor would be the best one for my opening sequence.
Question 2
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I think that the representation of young female and male teenagers within my film opening is one that I think deals with a rather niche social group. No other characters are used except for teenagers or younger adults. So therefore I believe that this opening sequence would only interest those of that age as well as people of an older generation would not be able to familiarize themselves with none of the characters.
However, when receiving my feedback I thought I should ask a mixture of different people so I had a clear view of who my opening sequence would actually interest. I spoke to Melinda, 56, and she gave her opinion that this opening sequence would interest her as it has a twist to it but however for some other people of her age they might find it confusing and hard to follow. I also spoke to Sarah, 34, she said that she thought it would interest her children Betty 15, and Charlie 18, more than it interested her, she had to watch over my opening sequence twice as she was confused as to what was going on and she thought that Mitch was dreaming and was not in fact a mi5 agent which I did find disappointing to hear. I spoke to her children and they loved it! They believe that it would interest people more of a younger generation as all movies these days always have the same sort of catch or story line, but this is different, they enjoyed the twists and wanted to know what would happen next.
Overall I did receive a mixture of good and bad feedback, but I knew that my opening sequence would interest the younger generation more but I am glad that I got honest opinions and feedback from everyone.
Question 1
1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I thought of the title of my life 'The Last Job' to make the audience understand the man in this particular opening sequence has done something bad because he has been told to not by choice. It throws of that idea to the audience that he could be involved in some type of spy or mi5 job.
The setting was based at Mitch's house (the man played in the opening sequence) and my very own house, I thought that the setting should be in a house so that Mitch can look back on pictures of him and the girls around the house, to show the audience that he actually knew them both and they were not just strangers to him. It was also a good setting as from the girls perspective we can see that this is there house as Mitch looks back on the memories of both of them and that they have been betrayed by someone they love in there own property. I used very normal down to earth clothing for the actors. Mitch was dressed in very casual clothing, this might been seen as he has dressed himself so casual as he does not want to do this job he just wants to be his own self again. The girls are dressed in pajamas so we can show the audience that this could of been any normal night and they were dressed for a normal night in. I used casual clothing, such as jeans and jumpers for the girls on the flashbacks as I wanted the audience to see that these people were just average normal people we see everyday doing everyday things with there friends.
I found that my camerawork could of been a lot better than what it was, I found it very difficult to film Mitch in many scenes as he is very tall and did not fit into most shots unless I held the camera myself, so in the end only a few scenes were actually used with the tripod which I did find rather irritating. I found editing really fun to do, I filmed many scenes three times so that I could get the perfect one, I enjoyed using many effects to make my opening sequence the best it could be. I did not enjoy how much I had to cut down my opening sequence as I did not think it would make sense to the audience if I did not have all the scenes I planned on having but in the end it all worked out.
I used white and black for my titles, I did not plan on using two different colors but on some scenes the black would not work out with the background and on some scenes the white would not work out with the background. But I did research and looked at many different types of crime thriller opening sequences and I found that they used many different fonts and colors so I thought that I would do the same. I used a very normal, bold font just to show to go with the seriousness going on in each scene.
The story is very different, I wanted a unique story to stand out. Mitch is a mi5 agent, he works for the government and he is friends with these two girls Alice and Abigail. They are best friends, but as his final job he is told to eliminate of them which he is not happy on doing so but he has to as it is his job and if he does not serious consequences could happen. Abigail and Alice have a confidential paper which is needed by the government, the audience do not see what is in this paper but for someone to kill there best friends it must be important, so therefore this will leave the audience wanting to know more. Abigail and Alice come across as very nice, normal looking girls who would not be involved in any type of problem which makes the story even more interesting. Mitch looks very vulnerable and down for an agent, this makes the audience feel sorry for him but yet at the same time mad because of what he has down.
I thought of the title of my life 'The Last Job' to make the audience understand the man in this particular opening sequence has done something bad because he has been told to not by choice. It throws of that idea to the audience that he could be involved in some type of spy or mi5 job.
The setting was based at Mitch's house (the man played in the opening sequence) and my very own house, I thought that the setting should be in a house so that Mitch can look back on pictures of him and the girls around the house, to show the audience that he actually knew them both and they were not just strangers to him. It was also a good setting as from the girls perspective we can see that this is there house as Mitch looks back on the memories of both of them and that they have been betrayed by someone they love in there own property. I used very normal down to earth clothing for the actors. Mitch was dressed in very casual clothing, this might been seen as he has dressed himself so casual as he does not want to do this job he just wants to be his own self again. The girls are dressed in pajamas so we can show the audience that this could of been any normal night and they were dressed for a normal night in. I used casual clothing, such as jeans and jumpers for the girls on the flashbacks as I wanted the audience to see that these people were just average normal people we see everyday doing everyday things with there friends.
I found that my camerawork could of been a lot better than what it was, I found it very difficult to film Mitch in many scenes as he is very tall and did not fit into most shots unless I held the camera myself, so in the end only a few scenes were actually used with the tripod which I did find rather irritating. I found editing really fun to do, I filmed many scenes three times so that I could get the perfect one, I enjoyed using many effects to make my opening sequence the best it could be. I did not enjoy how much I had to cut down my opening sequence as I did not think it would make sense to the audience if I did not have all the scenes I planned on having but in the end it all worked out.
I used white and black for my titles, I did not plan on using two different colors but on some scenes the black would not work out with the background and on some scenes the white would not work out with the background. But I did research and looked at many different types of crime thriller opening sequences and I found that they used many different fonts and colors so I thought that I would do the same. I used a very normal, bold font just to show to go with the seriousness going on in each scene.
The story is very different, I wanted a unique story to stand out. Mitch is a mi5 agent, he works for the government and he is friends with these two girls Alice and Abigail. They are best friends, but as his final job he is told to eliminate of them which he is not happy on doing so but he has to as it is his job and if he does not serious consequences could happen. Abigail and Alice have a confidential paper which is needed by the government, the audience do not see what is in this paper but for someone to kill there best friends it must be important, so therefore this will leave the audience wanting to know more. Abigail and Alice come across as very nice, normal looking girls who would not be involved in any type of problem which makes the story even more interesting. Mitch looks very vulnerable and down for an agent, this makes the audience feel sorry for him but yet at the same time mad because of what he has down.
Monday, 24 March 2014
So far with my editing...
So far with my editing, I have managed to put together my opening sequence whilst combining it with music and titles.
My casting had to change as the only day fit for Mitch to film was a saturday because of work and I needed him as he was the main character I had to find another girl to star alongside Abi and that ended by being Alice.
I found editing the shots really difficult as many of the shots were very long and I didn't think I would be able to cut them down and still make sense to the audience. But I overcome that by using effects to help me out.
I found finding the music for my opening sequence really fun because I enjoyed trying to find the exact music I thought would match my scenes. I went through about 40 songs each lesson until i found the two I decided to stick with. Although I do believe the music I chose were the best options, I did want a more dramatic second song to emphasize the memories of Mitch, Abi and Alice.
I messed around with the fonts and texts in each scene, to start with I used the Arial font and I found that rather boring and it didn't fit in with the plot of the story, so I changed the font to Stencil. I also changed the color of the fonts as I used a pink to start with than I later on realized that black and white would look much better.
I spent a lot of time watching many crime/thriller opening sequences on youtube and researching novels similar to my opening sequence to find the best title to click with my film, after a week of researching many I decided to go with: The Last Job. I thought that The Last Job would be a great title as it shows to the audience that he is obvisouly something to do with the government or mi5 and he has had to do this job and it has been one of the hardest things he has had to do in his life as they were friends beforehand.
Overall, I found editing quite easy compared to some of the filming I have done in the past. I think that is because I kept my storyboard alongside me the whole time to make sure I had enough time for each scene and I didn't miss out a single thing.
My casting had to change as the only day fit for Mitch to film was a saturday because of work and I needed him as he was the main character I had to find another girl to star alongside Abi and that ended by being Alice.
I found editing the shots really difficult as many of the shots were very long and I didn't think I would be able to cut them down and still make sense to the audience. But I overcome that by using effects to help me out.
I found finding the music for my opening sequence really fun because I enjoyed trying to find the exact music I thought would match my scenes. I went through about 40 songs each lesson until i found the two I decided to stick with. Although I do believe the music I chose were the best options, I did want a more dramatic second song to emphasize the memories of Mitch, Abi and Alice.
I messed around with the fonts and texts in each scene, to start with I used the Arial font and I found that rather boring and it didn't fit in with the plot of the story, so I changed the font to Stencil. I also changed the color of the fonts as I used a pink to start with than I later on realized that black and white would look much better.
I spent a lot of time watching many crime/thriller opening sequences on youtube and researching novels similar to my opening sequence to find the best title to click with my film, after a week of researching many I decided to go with: The Last Job. I thought that The Last Job would be a great title as it shows to the audience that he is obvisouly something to do with the government or mi5 and he has had to do this job and it has been one of the hardest things he has had to do in his life as they were friends beforehand.
Overall, I found editing quite easy compared to some of the filming I have done in the past. I think that is because I kept my storyboard alongside me the whole time to make sure I had enough time for each scene and I didn't miss out a single thing.
Monday, 24 February 2014
Friday, 14 February 2014
My Final Cast
For my opening sequence I will be needing one male and two females.
From the beginning I have decided the male I will be using in this production is Mitch.
I want to use Mitch as I think he will work well acting and take it more seriously then some other people I had in mind as he is very confident and behaved.
For the two girls needed for my filming my preferences are Abigail Grieg and Ella Wood.
How ever because of work, I have a standby Alice Hall if she is needed to replace one of them.
I have chosen these three out of everyone because I find all three of them very confident on camera and trustworthy to not let me down on the day.
From the beginning I have decided the male I will be using in this production is Mitch.
I want to use Mitch as I think he will work well acting and take it more seriously then some other people I had in mind as he is very confident and behaved.
For the two girls needed for my filming my preferences are Abigail Grieg and Ella Wood.
How ever because of work, I have a standby Alice Hall if she is needed to replace one of them.
I have chosen these three out of everyone because I find all three of them very confident on camera and trustworthy to not let me down on the day.
Wednesday, 12 February 2014
Location of filming:
My opening sequence will be filmed at my house, with the two girls Abigail and Ella. I think that filming in my house is a good decision as it is a familiar area and has each room needed for my opening sequence. In the scene of Mitch driving away will be filmed on a road near mine, The road Quinta Drive is a long steady road so it will be easy for Mitch to drive on and for me to film steadily.
My opening sequence will be filmed at my house, with the two girls Abigail and Ella. I think that filming in my house is a good decision as it is a familiar area and has each room needed for my opening sequence. In the scene of Mitch driving away will be filmed on a road near mine, The road Quinta Drive is a long steady road so it will be easy for Mitch to drive on and for me to film steadily.
Thursday, 6 February 2014
Planning - Digital Storyboard and Shotlist
I have now completed my digital storyboard and added titles- I will put the final video on as soon as it has been converted. I have also spent time completing a shotlist to help with my organisation and time management as I move towards filming (Dates- 21st Feb- 23rd Feb). I have uploaded a picture of my shotlist below and it will remind me what shots to complete in which locations and the actors and props I should take along.
Tuesday, 28 January 2014
Typography
I have researched many different typography's and why they are important in media. Typography is the art and technique of printing. Showing the audience the type of genre the film is just from the font of the title. For example:
Orphan: Very child like writing, to show as if this scary child has wrote it. Reinforcing that this is a horror film as they use very different and unusual fonts.
P.S I love you: the colour red shows the audience that this film must have something to do with love. The fact that the title is handwritten shows that this film could possibly have something to do with Gerard Butler writing Hilary Swank love letters.
Scream: The bold and red colour's show the audience that there could be very crude and bold actions that happen throughout this movie, the red suggests blood so therefore there could be possible murders that involve blood and people dying.
Iron man: The fact that the title is gold and metallic/iron like shows the audience straight away the title is exactly like the iron man in the movie as he is made of iron and is of the colour gold.
Orphan: Very child like writing, to show as if this scary child has wrote it. Reinforcing that this is a horror film as they use very different and unusual fonts.
P.S I love you: the colour red shows the audience that this film must have something to do with love. The fact that the title is handwritten shows that this film could possibly have something to do with Gerard Butler writing Hilary Swank love letters.
Scream: The bold and red colour's show the audience that there could be very crude and bold actions that happen throughout this movie, the red suggests blood so therefore there could be possible murders that involve blood and people dying.
Iron man: The fact that the title is gold and metallic/iron like shows the audience straight away the title is exactly like the iron man in the movie as he is made of iron and is of the colour gold.
Pulp Fiction: The fact that the colours are bold and yellow so that this film has a slight edge to it, the bold colours show that moves can be bold in this movie. Which they are as this movie is based on crime.
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