Monday, 1 June 2009
Friday, 8 May 2009
My Evaluation
In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media production uses similar conventions to other sci fi genre films that we researched. We used quite fast, sharp titles with a black and silver colour scheme to relate to other metalic looking titles from other related film productions. Our production challenges many forms of conventions as there is such a varied choice of edits used. For instance, we have aimed our production at people from the ages of 12+ working class, but have used a heavy, music track for the opening sequence, which COULD put people off, but due to the rest of the production, I felt it fitted in well and shouldn’t effect the audiences opinion. I think our opening production is of a good standard that would hold a good competition between another professional opening sequence.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The media production I created represents working class and also upper class social groups. The characters at the beginning who are running, show a working class status as they are wearing casual clothes and running around through people, not really caring what the other population think. The upper class social group would be shown further on in the film with the main woman character, as she is more sophisticated fashion wise, and a well spoken accent. She looks out of place on a train because, as you can see in the small clip in the opening sequence made, she is wearing high heeled shoes, whereas the person next to her, just jeans and a top, with everyday, kick-about-in trainers.Nobody is represented badly in the production, there is just a contrast between the two.
How Does Your Media Producer represent particular social groups?
The media production I created represents working class and also upper class social groups. The characters at the beginning who are running, show a working class status as they are wearing casual clothes and running around through people, not really caring what the other population think. The upper class social group would be shown further on in the film with the main woman character, as she is more sophisticated fashion wise, and a well spoken accent. She looks out of place on a train because, as you can see in the small clip in the opening sequence made, she is wearing high heeled shoes, whereas the person next to her, just jeans and a top, with everyday, kick-about-in trainers.Nobody is represented badly in the production, there is just a contrast between the two.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I believe that my media product is of a standard in which a media institution would distribute. I would like to think that Working Title would distribute our film as it is well put together and professionally been finished off and edited. Similar conventions as other successful films should draw nice attention to the production from institutions such as Working Title.
Other Films produced my Working title are:
About a Boy
A world Apart
Atonement
A Kiss Before Dying
State of Play
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our production audience would be 12A. Our idea was to attract teenagers and adults. With research showing that most successful films of the same genre have a 12A rated we decided to go with the same thing. Our production, having cliff-hangers and being quite difficult to understand from the first 2 minute opening sequence we created, we decided a 12A rating would be better, as anyone younger would find it difficult to understand. Working class people would probably be more drawn to the film as they generally have more of an open mind and it is mysterious etc. With research, we found that upper class people usually watch more factual productions and so we aimed for a younger, less status group. With a working class, younger audience we found that we could put more TV advertisements and posters that would be effective, and me, as a consumer acknowledge the fact that a large percentage of people only go to see a film if the trailer looks good.
How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract our target audience, we used similar conventions that other films aimed at the same audience. Films such as ‘The Sixth Sense’ used metallic, silver, blue colours to give an insight to the genre and we decided to use similar colours. However, we made our titles fast and sharp at the beginning of our opening sequence, which is different to the slow, calm titles in the Bruce Willis film, ‘The Sixth Sense’. We used special, ghostly edits to make the scene seem mysterious and questionable. With our opening sequence finishing with a cliff-hanger, with the main character awaking from sleeping, it should leave the audience wanting to know what is going to happen. Doing a trailer and posters would also draw attention from the target audience to the film production.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From constructing the main task I have become aware of all the different editing software’s that can be accessed to help produce a well made film. During the production of our main production we used ‘Adobe Premier Pro 1.5’. This is a simple and effective way to edit a piece of film and make it look professional. I found this a pleasure to work with, and I think it must be such a brilliant experience to work in the film industry where there are much more technologies available. Learning how to use a camera and editing software properly has helped me to make a professional looking final piece.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Taking part in the preliminary task has given me the knowledge and understanding of how camera angles and different lighting can give a much stronger atmosphere and a general more professional appearance to the production. The preliminary task prepared me for my main task by giving me an insight to the editing software and a higher awareness of how different effects can give a stronger, more overpowering effect on their mood and what they are thinking. Learning from simple mistakes and progressing my capability with my preliminary task has given me the opportunity to come out with a main task that is of a good standard.
I enjoyed making the production and I hope that I have used the technology available to the best standard. I would love to do something like this again.
Our media production uses similar conventions to other sci fi genre films that we researched. We used quite fast, sharp titles with a black and silver colour scheme to relate to other metalic looking titles from other related film productions. Our production challenges many forms of conventions as there is such a varied choice of edits used. For instance, we have aimed our production at people from the ages of 12+ working class, but have used a heavy, music track for the opening sequence, which COULD put people off, but due to the rest of the production, I felt it fitted in well and shouldn’t effect the audiences opinion. I think our opening production is of a good standard that would hold a good competition between another professional opening sequence.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The media production I created represents working class and also upper class social groups. The characters at the beginning who are running, show a working class status as they are wearing casual clothes and running around through people, not really caring what the other population think. The upper class social group would be shown further on in the film with the main woman character, as she is more sophisticated fashion wise, and a well spoken accent. She looks out of place on a train because, as you can see in the small clip in the opening sequence made, she is wearing high heeled shoes, whereas the person next to her, just jeans and a top, with everyday, kick-about-in trainers.Nobody is represented badly in the production, there is just a contrast between the two.
How Does Your Media Producer represent particular social groups?
The media production I created represents working class and also upper class social groups. The characters at the beginning who are running, show a working class status as they are wearing casual clothes and running around through people, not really caring what the other population think. The upper class social group would be shown further on in the film with the main woman character, as she is more sophisticated fashion wise, and a well spoken accent. She looks out of place on a train because, as you can see in the small clip in the opening sequence made, she is wearing high heeled shoes, whereas the person next to her, just jeans and a top, with everyday, kick-about-in trainers.Nobody is represented badly in the production, there is just a contrast between the two.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I believe that my media product is of a standard in which a media institution would distribute. I would like to think that Working Title would distribute our film as it is well put together and professionally been finished off and edited. Similar conventions as other successful films should draw nice attention to the production from institutions such as Working Title.
Other Films produced my Working title are:
About a Boy
A world Apart
Atonement
A Kiss Before Dying
State of Play
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our production audience would be 12A. Our idea was to attract teenagers and adults. With research showing that most successful films of the same genre have a 12A rated we decided to go with the same thing. Our production, having cliff-hangers and being quite difficult to understand from the first 2 minute opening sequence we created, we decided a 12A rating would be better, as anyone younger would find it difficult to understand. Working class people would probably be more drawn to the film as they generally have more of an open mind and it is mysterious etc. With research, we found that upper class people usually watch more factual productions and so we aimed for a younger, less status group. With a working class, younger audience we found that we could put more TV advertisements and posters that would be effective, and me, as a consumer acknowledge the fact that a large percentage of people only go to see a film if the trailer looks good.
How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract our target audience, we used similar conventions that other films aimed at the same audience. Films such as ‘The Sixth Sense’ used metallic, silver, blue colours to give an insight to the genre and we decided to use similar colours. However, we made our titles fast and sharp at the beginning of our opening sequence, which is different to the slow, calm titles in the Bruce Willis film, ‘The Sixth Sense’. We used special, ghostly edits to make the scene seem mysterious and questionable. With our opening sequence finishing with a cliff-hanger, with the main character awaking from sleeping, it should leave the audience wanting to know what is going to happen. Doing a trailer and posters would also draw attention from the target audience to the film production.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From constructing the main task I have become aware of all the different editing software’s that can be accessed to help produce a well made film. During the production of our main production we used ‘Adobe Premier Pro 1.5’. This is a simple and effective way to edit a piece of film and make it look professional. I found this a pleasure to work with, and I think it must be such a brilliant experience to work in the film industry where there are much more technologies available. Learning how to use a camera and editing software properly has helped me to make a professional looking final piece.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Taking part in the preliminary task has given me the knowledge and understanding of how camera angles and different lighting can give a much stronger atmosphere and a general more professional appearance to the production. The preliminary task prepared me for my main task by giving me an insight to the editing software and a higher awareness of how different effects can give a stronger, more overpowering effect on their mood and what they are thinking. Learning from simple mistakes and progressing my capability with my preliminary task has given me the opportunity to come out with a main task that is of a good standard.
I enjoyed making the production and I hope that I have used the technology available to the best standard. I would love to do something like this again.
Amy Hardings Evaluation
Media evaluation by Amy Harding
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media production uses all forms and conventions that we studied for the different sci fi genres of different films. We have added our own personal modern twist to it with a lot more special effects that we didn’t see in the sci fi films we researched. We have used titles in our production; we used a black and red theme to keep to our sci fi genre. The music we choose fits in nicely with our film production as well as our genre. We chose to use a Hardcore Rock genre and took music from an unsigned band called The Take Over. We decided as a group that our opening sequence would leave a suspense feeling amongst the audience. This was our hook to reel in the audience and make them want to watch more. Throughout our opening sequence we have used a lot of special effects on the film, which defines the production to the sci fi genre that we aimed to make it. We developed the music by dragging out the beginning of the song with the guitar rhythm going through and then cut the music so it then went straight to the vocals. We also dimmed down the music that is being played throughout the opening sequence so we could add special effects along with the “northern line” that we recorded at a Camden station, which fitted in beautifully with our production. We did meet a lot of challenges in the recording process and also editing. When recording certain scenes in London at Nelson Column, we where asked to stop filming by police, as we were breaking the law to film on the national art gallery. Luckily we had got the shots that we already needed so were still able to use the shots and we didn’t use the illegal sequence. Also when approaching editing we had difficulties adding the still pictures that we had taken onto our opening sequence. This was a problem, as the programme we used which was Adobe Premiere Plus couldn’t find the picture, and we had to locate the still shots ourselves. Another challenge we found when creating our open sequence was that we were told later on after we had filmed and uploaded our production was that the brief actually stated that only non copyright music was allowed and we weren’t actually allowed to use a signed band, which caused a lot of problems for us. We had to change the order of our film and also finding a unsigned band proved difficult. Luckily I knew a few people who where in unsigned bands who had gave me their album to listen to and were able to use their tracks for our productions, which in the long run made the production a lot better than our previous artist and songs of choice.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
When we originally planned to make our production we were aiming at it the 18+ audiences as we were going to make it a lot more horror instead of sci fi, action. Our initial audience group now is the teen to adult audience who like films that play around with their heads, and it takes time for them to suss out what is happening. We felt that by doing this it wasn’t only categorising one type of audience and would allow a variety of people of different ages to watch the film instead. Also its one of those films that you may want to watch over and over again as you may have missed one part of the film the first time and then when it gets to the end its all clicked into place. As for social groups I don’t think there is a specific group who we could target this too, as sci fi is perceived as a “geek” genre but we have made our film modern and to appeal to a lot of different social groups but keeping with the sci fi genre. There is however a separation from the people who are seen to be running and the girl whose face we do not see. It’s a separation of rich and poor, however the poor who are seen running are there for rich girl when her dreams start coming true and believe in her. I really believe that our final production fitted the genre and has reached our target audience we had expected.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
When looking at our production I can see there being a huge market and appeal for it. EM media is a distributor for East midlands films, so maybe if there was to be a South East distributor we could take our media product to them. I could see them distributing our media product as it has the key features that are needed in a film. In our opening sequence we have a lot of action, suspense and mystery everything an opening sequence to a film needs is in our media product. There are also a variety of independent cinemas around this area, we could take our media product to them and see if they would exhibit our film for a percentage of the profits. When researching the UK film council, I noticed that digital release is extremely popular now. By going to the film council and showing them our production they could grant us a digital release. Other key ways I have noticed that other films become successful is by using Hollywood stars in their films. By keeping filming short and locations cheap, which is what Working Title, do, we could follow their footsteps and as a group distributors such as Universal may distribute our media.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our opening sequence would be suitable for the 12A audience.
“12A – Suitable for 12 years and over. No one younger than 12 may see a ‘12A’ film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video or DVD. Responsibility for allowing under-12s to view lies with the accompanying or supervising adult.”
The main audience for our opening sequence would be teenagers and adults who like a film they can watch again and again and say, “I didn’t see that before”. It also involves a lot of action as well. I don’t think it would be suitable for anyone younger than 12 as the storyline is pretty complex and children would find it scary and hard to understand what with aliens and the complex storyline we have to go with our product.
In our production we represent the rich from the poor, however instead of the poor being portrayed as crazy, mental and unfit we have changed the social status for the rich to be seen as this. We see the poor come to the rich girls needs when she tells them exactly what it is she saw in her dreams and helps to stop it from happening.
How did you attract/address your audience?
The music we choose to use in our media production was of the Hardcore rock genre. It fitted in nicely with our genre and theme of the opening sequence. The use of “danger” signs shown at the beginning of the titles with special effects added and flashing of it instantly is drawing our audience in and preparing them to know what is going to happen. The shots that were used for our main characters in the opening sequence were to not allow the audience to instantly know the characters straight away we wanted to tease them and play on their minds with the thought that they don’t know what these two characters are running from or who this girl in the high heeled shoes is, which we created an enigma. We then reveal at the end of the opening sequence the young girl in the high-heeled shoes face and it reveals that everything that we have just previously seen was what she had dreamed off. We choose to use London as our location as it the capital of England and as we are a English based film production and our film is being shown to the English market we knew they would instantly know the famous landmarks we had chosen to film also this would attract foreigners who would recognise the London landmarks we had chosen to film. The use of mise en scene used throughout the opening sequence has defined the rich from the poor instantly. With the girl in the high-heeled shoes showing the rich side with the other two main characters in tracksuit bottoms and t-shirts looking scruffy and poor. By setting the two divides we thought this would attract both social groups in.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
When creating my media product I have learnt a lot about technologies. I had never even heard of adobe premier plus before, and then had to learn quickly and promptly on how to use the programme. I did this by using it a lot and also looking on Youtube websites, which have tutorial videos on how to use the programme, also using the guides that where provided by the school, I found this helped me a lot.
I was already familiar with using a camera and camera shots as I had previously studied media studies for three years before hand so I didn’t have a problem with constructing them to create my product. I feel that as I had the most knowledge on the camera and could see what shots would work well in my mind before filming I took charge of most of the directing.
Even though I’m not a stranger to media terms I did learn a few more. Also I hadn’t even blogged before, however, picked it up really easy.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media production uses all forms and conventions that we studied for the different sci fi genres of different films. We have added our own personal modern twist to it with a lot more special effects that we didn’t see in the sci fi films we researched. We have used titles in our production; we used a black and red theme to keep to our sci fi genre. The music we choose fits in nicely with our film production as well as our genre. We chose to use a Hardcore Rock genre and took music from an unsigned band called The Take Over. We decided as a group that our opening sequence would leave a suspense feeling amongst the audience. This was our hook to reel in the audience and make them want to watch more. Throughout our opening sequence we have used a lot of special effects on the film, which defines the production to the sci fi genre that we aimed to make it. We developed the music by dragging out the beginning of the song with the guitar rhythm going through and then cut the music so it then went straight to the vocals. We also dimmed down the music that is being played throughout the opening sequence so we could add special effects along with the “northern line” that we recorded at a Camden station, which fitted in beautifully with our production. We did meet a lot of challenges in the recording process and also editing. When recording certain scenes in London at Nelson Column, we where asked to stop filming by police, as we were breaking the law to film on the national art gallery. Luckily we had got the shots that we already needed so were still able to use the shots and we didn’t use the illegal sequence. Also when approaching editing we had difficulties adding the still pictures that we had taken onto our opening sequence. This was a problem, as the programme we used which was Adobe Premiere Plus couldn’t find the picture, and we had to locate the still shots ourselves. Another challenge we found when creating our open sequence was that we were told later on after we had filmed and uploaded our production was that the brief actually stated that only non copyright music was allowed and we weren’t actually allowed to use a signed band, which caused a lot of problems for us. We had to change the order of our film and also finding a unsigned band proved difficult. Luckily I knew a few people who where in unsigned bands who had gave me their album to listen to and were able to use their tracks for our productions, which in the long run made the production a lot better than our previous artist and songs of choice.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
When we originally planned to make our production we were aiming at it the 18+ audiences as we were going to make it a lot more horror instead of sci fi, action. Our initial audience group now is the teen to adult audience who like films that play around with their heads, and it takes time for them to suss out what is happening. We felt that by doing this it wasn’t only categorising one type of audience and would allow a variety of people of different ages to watch the film instead. Also its one of those films that you may want to watch over and over again as you may have missed one part of the film the first time and then when it gets to the end its all clicked into place. As for social groups I don’t think there is a specific group who we could target this too, as sci fi is perceived as a “geek” genre but we have made our film modern and to appeal to a lot of different social groups but keeping with the sci fi genre. There is however a separation from the people who are seen to be running and the girl whose face we do not see. It’s a separation of rich and poor, however the poor who are seen running are there for rich girl when her dreams start coming true and believe in her. I really believe that our final production fitted the genre and has reached our target audience we had expected.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
When looking at our production I can see there being a huge market and appeal for it. EM media is a distributor for East midlands films, so maybe if there was to be a South East distributor we could take our media product to them. I could see them distributing our media product as it has the key features that are needed in a film. In our opening sequence we have a lot of action, suspense and mystery everything an opening sequence to a film needs is in our media product. There are also a variety of independent cinemas around this area, we could take our media product to them and see if they would exhibit our film for a percentage of the profits. When researching the UK film council, I noticed that digital release is extremely popular now. By going to the film council and showing them our production they could grant us a digital release. Other key ways I have noticed that other films become successful is by using Hollywood stars in their films. By keeping filming short and locations cheap, which is what Working Title, do, we could follow their footsteps and as a group distributors such as Universal may distribute our media.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our opening sequence would be suitable for the 12A audience.
“12A – Suitable for 12 years and over. No one younger than 12 may see a ‘12A’ film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video or DVD. Responsibility for allowing under-12s to view lies with the accompanying or supervising adult.”
The main audience for our opening sequence would be teenagers and adults who like a film they can watch again and again and say, “I didn’t see that before”. It also involves a lot of action as well. I don’t think it would be suitable for anyone younger than 12 as the storyline is pretty complex and children would find it scary and hard to understand what with aliens and the complex storyline we have to go with our product.
In our production we represent the rich from the poor, however instead of the poor being portrayed as crazy, mental and unfit we have changed the social status for the rich to be seen as this. We see the poor come to the rich girls needs when she tells them exactly what it is she saw in her dreams and helps to stop it from happening.
How did you attract/address your audience?
The music we choose to use in our media production was of the Hardcore rock genre. It fitted in nicely with our genre and theme of the opening sequence. The use of “danger” signs shown at the beginning of the titles with special effects added and flashing of it instantly is drawing our audience in and preparing them to know what is going to happen. The shots that were used for our main characters in the opening sequence were to not allow the audience to instantly know the characters straight away we wanted to tease them and play on their minds with the thought that they don’t know what these two characters are running from or who this girl in the high heeled shoes is, which we created an enigma. We then reveal at the end of the opening sequence the young girl in the high-heeled shoes face and it reveals that everything that we have just previously seen was what she had dreamed off. We choose to use London as our location as it the capital of England and as we are a English based film production and our film is being shown to the English market we knew they would instantly know the famous landmarks we had chosen to film also this would attract foreigners who would recognise the London landmarks we had chosen to film. The use of mise en scene used throughout the opening sequence has defined the rich from the poor instantly. With the girl in the high-heeled shoes showing the rich side with the other two main characters in tracksuit bottoms and t-shirts looking scruffy and poor. By setting the two divides we thought this would attract both social groups in.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
When creating my media product I have learnt a lot about technologies. I had never even heard of adobe premier plus before, and then had to learn quickly and promptly on how to use the programme. I did this by using it a lot and also looking on Youtube websites, which have tutorial videos on how to use the programme, also using the guides that where provided by the school, I found this helped me a lot.
I was already familiar with using a camera and camera shots as I had previously studied media studies for three years before hand so I didn’t have a problem with constructing them to create my product. I feel that as I had the most knowledge on the camera and could see what shots would work well in my mind before filming I took charge of most of the directing.
Even though I’m not a stranger to media terms I did learn a few more. Also I hadn’t even blogged before, however, picked it up really easy.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel the preliminary task really was my stepping-stone of learning adobe premier plus. If I had gone straight to creating my opening sequence I could have seriously ruined the film. But I learnt from my mistakes in the preliminary task and was able to not make the same ones in the main task, which I why I feel have come out at a high standard. I learnt to create meaning through editing by adding special effects and slowing things down it added a dramatic effect. If we were to speed the film up it would make the film seem more energetic as such.
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
My Evaluation
Evaluation of the production
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When planning for this production I researched into opening titles of real media products to enhance my research of form and generic conventions of sci-fi genres. From this I conquered the main conventions that needed to be included into my main production of the same genre. By the word conquered I mean I knew what key elements that had to be included to suit the genre and to make the production seem real. Titles are one of the main elements that need to be exact to suit the genre for the media product to look real. I chose a black background due to the sci-fi genre I chose to base my production around. The colour of the titles is white and I added a special effect to each title to increase the look of a sci-fi genre. This special effect is a bright light behind the text. When considering the type of music I wanted for the production, I had to take into account the genre, the filming already produced and the length of the production. Music was one of the last elements to be added to the final product, this is because I had to make sure the timing worked together with the film, so there was a constant flow.
To attract an audience I knew I had to include some exciting and eye catching key shots and images. I also wanted to make my opening sequence a mysterious path of images and scenes, so the audience were attracted and intrigued to watch more. For example, being specific with my own filming, I placed still images with the opening titles alternating as they flashed twice each. I synchronised the flashing of the still images and titles with the music. This gave a sense of an upbeat rhythm, which suited the genre and mood I desired for the audience. The still images I included were of a cone and a pole. When watching this opening sequence they will seem rather random. The main purpose for these images was to create a peculiar sense of being weird and random. This would then attract the audience further, as they presume it could be interesting.
When developing my first planning ideas for the production, I thought a lot about real media productions and how their creative titles suit the genre with the font and position through the film. I suited my titles to the genre, in order to do this I chose a very sci-fi typical font. The text was big and bold spread across the screen. I placed the titles at the beginning of the film, the filming then followed. The title of the film “Crossing The Threshold” was positioned towards the end of the sequence; this is because I felt it is the main title that needs to stand out. So amongst the filming, a title would be seen more immediate.
With relation to the music, I spent hours hunting for the certain type of music I wanted. I attempted downloading, purchasing, but couldn't find anything that suited the film. Eventually I came across music from an unsigned band. The music was brilliant. The type of music is scream and is quite heavy. At first when I was planning my production, my original idea was to choose music that is contrapuntal to the meaning. But as the titles and music was edited last, my ideas changed towards this factor. This was mainly because when I come across the right music, it sounded perfect with the film, so I stuck with that.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I wouldn’t say there is definite representation of a certain demographic in my production. This is because it’s a sci-fi genre and most of the filming is a dream sequence where there's physical movement, with no such meaning to it as such. But that's the main point with the opening sequence to create a sense of mystery for them to want too watch the whole film.
The general group this is aimed at would be the male teenagers. They are the biggest population of cinema attendees. The actresses in this film are teenagers, so it appeals to most.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I have given my opening sequence the certificate 12a. I thought this was most appropriate as there is an absence of violence and nudity. Male teenagers will be the main audience due to the sci-fi genre attracting that general group. This certain sci-fi filming contains a constant relation to a psychological meaning. By this I mean, how the main actress reacts at the end of the filming with her reaction to a dream sequence. It’s relating to an event that has stalked her before. This certain part may appeal more towards adults with understanding the issue.
How did you attract/address your audience?
In relation to shots of the key characters. There is one close-up of the supposedly older character at the end of the filming. This is key, to unravelling the main purpose of the dream sequence, as this close- up is when the character has just woken up.
The locations are London and Camden Lock. Trafalgar Square and Nelsons Column are the two London locations. We chose London as its a main tourist attraction, this will attract many more viewers.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
While planning, editing and evaluating my main production I have been introduced to three new programmes I haven't used before. These were Adobe Premier pro 1.5, I used this programme to produce my film, upload music and still images and finally edit to produce the final cut and film. Photoshop, to edit the still images. Finally the blogger website to upload my film, research and evaluation onto. I also used the Internet of course for further research, this includes YouTube to investigate opening titles of real media and Long road media to get an insight about other blogs. Within the first couple of days of using the Adobe premier pro 1.5 programme I was editing the film like an expert. I knew what the different tools were and there function, which helped when editing the film.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The preliminary task now is seen as the basics compared to my main production, This is because editing the film and audio, selecting the soundtracks, editing to create meaning with transitions, titles and effects also developing planning skills with the storyboards to suit the genre rather than just the basic template was much extended on. As i said above I become expert with the programme Adobe premier pro 1.5. Editing the audio and film become second nature. Editing was my favourite part of the whole production. This was because I could apply my imagination with creating different meanings to certain parts and playing with the effects and transitions to suit the genre.
Researching opening sequences for their form and conventions increased my knowledge of the conventions for certain genre. By this I mean the transitions used with a sci-fi genre.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
When planning for this production I researched into opening titles of real media products to enhance my research of form and generic conventions of sci-fi genres. From this I conquered the main conventions that needed to be included into my main production of the same genre. By the word conquered I mean I knew what key elements that had to be included to suit the genre and to make the production seem real. Titles are one of the main elements that need to be exact to suit the genre for the media product to look real. I chose a black background due to the sci-fi genre I chose to base my production around. The colour of the titles is white and I added a special effect to each title to increase the look of a sci-fi genre. This special effect is a bright light behind the text. When considering the type of music I wanted for the production, I had to take into account the genre, the filming already produced and the length of the production. Music was one of the last elements to be added to the final product, this is because I had to make sure the timing worked together with the film, so there was a constant flow.
To attract an audience I knew I had to include some exciting and eye catching key shots and images. I also wanted to make my opening sequence a mysterious path of images and scenes, so the audience were attracted and intrigued to watch more. For example, being specific with my own filming, I placed still images with the opening titles alternating as they flashed twice each. I synchronised the flashing of the still images and titles with the music. This gave a sense of an upbeat rhythm, which suited the genre and mood I desired for the audience. The still images I included were of a cone and a pole. When watching this opening sequence they will seem rather random. The main purpose for these images was to create a peculiar sense of being weird and random. This would then attract the audience further, as they presume it could be interesting.
When developing my first planning ideas for the production, I thought a lot about real media productions and how their creative titles suit the genre with the font and position through the film. I suited my titles to the genre, in order to do this I chose a very sci-fi typical font. The text was big and bold spread across the screen. I placed the titles at the beginning of the film, the filming then followed. The title of the film “Crossing The Threshold” was positioned towards the end of the sequence; this is because I felt it is the main title that needs to stand out. So amongst the filming, a title would be seen more immediate.
With relation to the music, I spent hours hunting for the certain type of music I wanted. I attempted downloading, purchasing, but couldn't find anything that suited the film. Eventually I came across music from an unsigned band. The music was brilliant. The type of music is scream and is quite heavy. At first when I was planning my production, my original idea was to choose music that is contrapuntal to the meaning. But as the titles and music was edited last, my ideas changed towards this factor. This was mainly because when I come across the right music, it sounded perfect with the film, so I stuck with that.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
I wouldn’t say there is definite representation of a certain demographic in my production. This is because it’s a sci-fi genre and most of the filming is a dream sequence where there's physical movement, with no such meaning to it as such. But that's the main point with the opening sequence to create a sense of mystery for them to want too watch the whole film.
The general group this is aimed at would be the male teenagers. They are the biggest population of cinema attendees. The actresses in this film are teenagers, so it appeals to most.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I have given my opening sequence the certificate 12a. I thought this was most appropriate as there is an absence of violence and nudity. Male teenagers will be the main audience due to the sci-fi genre attracting that general group. This certain sci-fi filming contains a constant relation to a psychological meaning. By this I mean, how the main actress reacts at the end of the filming with her reaction to a dream sequence. It’s relating to an event that has stalked her before. This certain part may appeal more towards adults with understanding the issue.
How did you attract/address your audience?
The choice of music came after I had edited the final cut for the filming. At first I had the thought of contrapuntal music but then changed my mind; when I came across two tracks form an unsigned band that worked perfectly and flowed extremely well with the and still had the effect I wanted the music to create. The music would come into the group of scream rock genre. I spent hours working with the music cut and slicing it towards the end to make it fit with a specific section of the film. I wanted a certain style to be created which if worked would be brilliant. I was successful with this by editing the music to suit it. We of course had to have more than one song through out the filming. So I chose two.
The filming in our main production is mainly of the two main characters running through various locations on different occasions. The different occasions is shown by the change of clothing. There was not a specific clothing restrictions for these two characters, it was basically casual. On the other hand there was specific clothing I wanted the third actress to wear. This was smart clothes. My reason for this was because I wanted her to look the adult in the filming and the other two the younger generation.In relation to shots of the key characters. There is one close-up of the supposedly older character at the end of the filming. This is key, to unravelling the main purpose of the dream sequence, as this close- up is when the character has just woken up.
The locations are London and Camden Lock. Trafalgar Square and Nelsons Column are the two London locations. We chose London as its a main tourist attraction, this will attract many more viewers.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
While planning, editing and evaluating my main production I have been introduced to three new programmes I haven't used before. These were Adobe Premier pro 1.5, I used this programme to produce my film, upload music and still images and finally edit to produce the final cut and film. Photoshop, to edit the still images. Finally the blogger website to upload my film, research and evaluation onto. I also used the Internet of course for further research, this includes YouTube to investigate opening titles of real media and Long road media to get an insight about other blogs. Within the first couple of days of using the Adobe premier pro 1.5 programme I was editing the film like an expert. I knew what the different tools were and there function, which helped when editing the film.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The preliminary task now is seen as the basics compared to my main production, This is because editing the film and audio, selecting the soundtracks, editing to create meaning with transitions, titles and effects also developing planning skills with the storyboards to suit the genre rather than just the basic template was much extended on. As i said above I become expert with the programme Adobe premier pro 1.5. Editing the audio and film become second nature. Editing was my favourite part of the whole production. This was because I could apply my imagination with creating different meanings to certain parts and playing with the effects and transitions to suit the genre.
Researching opening sequences for their form and conventions increased my knowledge of the conventions for certain genre. By this I mean the transitions used with a sci-fi genre.
Friday, 1 May 2009
Research On Audience
When researching Audiences, we had to look at the age groups that are set for films. We got all our research from:
By finding out what is and isn't acceptable for each age group we can now go on to plan what age group to set our own opening sequence for.
It is impossible to predict what might upset any particular child. But a ‘U’ film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. U films should be set within a positive moral framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror.
'PG' Parental Guidance - General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young childrenUnaccompanied children of any age may watch. A ‘PG’ film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children.
12A – Suitable for 12 years and over. No-one younger than 12 may see a ‘12A’ film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. No-one younger than 12 may rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video or DVD. Responsibility for allowing under-12s to view lies with the accompanying or supervising adult.
'15' – Suitable only for 15 years and overNo-one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video or DVD.
'18' – Suitable only for adultsNo-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video.
Problems With Our Production
Several problems occurred during the production. One of them was when we were going to film. The problem being that there are three people in our group and one of us is in the above year group. This caused a problem because she had lessons that she was unable to miss and when she was free we had lessons we where unable to miss this made it hard to go and do our filming in London. Another problem we had was that for originally we were a group of four, then just before we went on to our main task our fourth member, decided that she would like to leave sixth form all together which by being a group of three made it a lot more harder. When we were filming, due to only having three people in our group we found it difficult to allow each of us to film at some point throughout the production. We also found it hard if one member of the group was to be ill, as throughout our main film production we see a lot of two people instead of one and it was hard to have someone film and also have the characters in instead.
Friday, 20 March 2009
Location
The location of the opening sequence is in London. It was a group decision to use the city because there are several landmarks, which seems more relevant for the storyline. An alien invasion wouldn’t take place in a little town like Wickford. Also, we thought that it would be better because people would know the area's that they see in the film.
We needed big area's so that we could run and not cause trouble.
London found to be the most suitable with the underground trains, landmarks and space.
We used locations in London such as:
Camden;
We needed big area's so that we could run and not cause trouble.
London found to be the most suitable with the underground trains, landmarks and space.
We used locations in London such as:
Camden;
Nelsons Column;
Genre, Storyline, Title.
We have decided that the initial genre would be Sci-Fi and Action for our opening sequence of the film that we will be creating. The two minute long opening to ‘Crossing The Threshold’ will contain a dream sequence of the main character's dream.
The idea behind our opening scene, is that there is an alien invasion. However only the people who believe in the invasion, can see. The Girls are running from the places which they believe are being invaded, but the public cannot see it and are acting normal and oblivious to the invasion. It also shows the main character whom we later see in the ending of the opening sequence showing that it was actually a dream, dreamt by her.
If we were to produce the rest of the film, it would be based on the woman who has the dream at the beginning opening sequence.
She is the main character who has dreams that take place in the future.
This is how we come up with the title ‘ Crossing The Threshold’. The two other girls who we see in the opening sequence would become her companions helping save the world from the invasion, as the audience watches the main character hunt down the girls to help her save the world as them girls where destined to help her from the dream we witness in the opening sequence.
Similar films are ‘White Noise’, ‘Seven’ and ‘The Ring’.We have studied the opening sequences to these films and have used similar conventions.
The idea behind our opening scene, is that there is an alien invasion. However only the people who believe in the invasion, can see. The Girls are running from the places which they believe are being invaded, but the public cannot see it and are acting normal and oblivious to the invasion. It also shows the main character whom we later see in the ending of the opening sequence showing that it was actually a dream, dreamt by her.
If we were to produce the rest of the film, it would be based on the woman who has the dream at the beginning opening sequence.
She is the main character who has dreams that take place in the future.
This is how we come up with the title ‘ Crossing The Threshold’. The two other girls who we see in the opening sequence would become her companions helping save the world from the invasion, as the audience watches the main character hunt down the girls to help her save the world as them girls where destined to help her from the dream we witness in the opening sequence.
Similar films are ‘White Noise’, ‘Seven’ and ‘The Ring’.We have studied the opening sequences to these films and have used similar conventions.
The Logo
When I planned to make the logo for our institution, I had to think about the copyright infringement and also the relation from the image to the title of our company.
I decided to have an image of a monkey on the logo, as this would make sense because of our name being ‘Monkey Chops’.
I looked on Internet Explorer on Google Images to find a suitable image of a monkey, and I came across a photo that I liked:
http://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/4/4b/MNKY07.JPG/300px-MNKY07.JPG
Due to copyright I thought it would be best to edit the image to make it my own; original.
I used Microsoft Paint for the transformation.
I decided to have an image of a monkey on the logo, as this would make sense because of our name being ‘Monkey Chops’.
I looked on Internet Explorer on Google Images to find a suitable image of a monkey, and I came across a photo that I liked:
http://www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/4/4b/MNKY07.JPG/300px-MNKY07.JPG
Due to copyright I thought it would be best to edit the image to make it my own; original.
I used Microsoft Paint for the transformation.
- Before
- After
To make the image different from the original Internet image, I made it look more feminine. Adding eyelashes and pink flushed cheeks with bunches as hair made the transformation. However, the image still didn’t suit the type of genre our production group was creating.
I decided to relate it to the current film production which comes into the sci-fi paranormal genre, Therefore I came to the conclusion to instead of changing the image, I would change the effect of the image.
I inverted the image and chose a font that I thought suitable for the production and came to a satisfactory completion of this:
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Costume Mood Board
After deciding on what theme to put the actresses in, I did a mood board by cutting "casual" clothing out from various magazines and sticking them on a piece of paper to help determine what costumes would look best for the characters. We as a group initially decided upon having a casual clothing theme. The use of having casual clothing for the sci fi genre we had decided to place our film genre as, and with all the effects and themes running through our opening sequence by using a normal person, dressed casually in a well known famous London locations would keep our opening sequence believable. We also had to use a different dress code for the other main character, by wearing heels and a dress we separated the working class from the upper class characters. On the mood board that i created we see the variance of the casual clothes i found with the upper class dress and heels.
This is a zoom in on the mood board's title, we know that it is for our production "Monkey Chops".
Friday, 13 March 2009
Research of Opening titles
For my main task I have focused on the genre paranormal, Sci-fi. I have researched opening sequences and titles to help me structure my own production, they are below.
Panic Room:
The opening titles of this film have very similar conventions to the genre I am using for the production of my film. During the first 2 minutes of the opening titles there is a distinct contrast between the two types of music being played in the background. At first the music is slow and instrumental. Dietetic sounds are heard for example, car horns and sirens. This is done to highlight the fact its set in the city. Then suddenly the music changes it becomes deeper, more shallow and the tempo increases, also the instrumental phases become more staccato which automatically draws in the audience and increases tension. Below is a link to the panic room opening sequence video.
- 28 Weeks later
- American Psycho
- Warlock
- Lord Of The Rings
- Golden Eye
- Casino Royale
- Quantum Of Solace
- Panic Room
- Catch Me If You Can
- Se7en
- Twilight
- White Noise
- The Ring
Luminaries of this Genre:
- George Lucas
- Gene Roddenberry
- Fritz Lang
- Steven Spielberg
- James Cameron
- Harrison Ford
- Ridley Scott
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Paul Verhoeven
- Will Smith
Panic Room:
The opening titles of this film have very similar conventions to the genre I am using for the production of my film. During the first 2 minutes of the opening titles there is a distinct contrast between the two types of music being played in the background. At first the music is slow and instrumental. Dietetic sounds are heard for example, car horns and sirens. This is done to highlight the fact its set in the city. Then suddenly the music changes it becomes deeper, more shallow and the tempo increases, also the instrumental phases become more staccato which automatically draws in the audience and increases tension. Below is a link to the panic room opening sequence video.
Creating the DVD front cover
I researched quite alot of DVD covers so i could get an idea of the contents that are included with the genre Sci-fi/supernatural.
When creating this front cover; I thought about the directors, actors and actresses, the front cover image, institution logos and the title of the film.
Danielle and I come up with the title of our film "Crossing The Threshold" due to content of the film. I come up with the idea of having video footage of a train arriving at a station because it leaves mystery to the audience as well as making them intrigued with the following events. The film that then follows, is repetition of Danielle and I running in various different locations. Many of which are set in London and Camden. We wanted to make sure the locations were interesting as well as well realistic to the type of invasion that is occurring in the film, so we chose; Trafalgar square, Camden high street and Nelsons Column.
Also when designing this front cover I had to consider the genre so i could co-ordinate the colour accordingly. I chose black as the background as it indicates a dark film. I then wrote the title in red to also indicate the genre of the film and the fact its going to be about death and mystery. I had to include the logos of the institutions we wish to use on our front cover. We have created our own logo to use, which is shown below:
I then had to insert an image to reflect the film and attrract attention, so i had to make it interesting. I thought to include the main actresess. I then had to edit the image to make sure it suited the genre. I edited it in the programme Adobe Premeire Pro 1.5.
Below is a draft of the front cover:
Below is a draft of the front cover:
Spiderman Analysis
Once the film starts we instantly get the tension building action music. This lasts throughout the titles building up the tension of the film with the music. The music that is used which is to add tensions works effectively with the film, as we know that it is going to be a "nail biting" film, with cliff hangers and won't be one of them films that are easy to guess the ending too.
Before the titles start we have the institution of the film which is Sony Pictures and Marvel Comic Books. As there original creator of Spiderman. The institution of a film gives the audience the knowing and understanding of knowing who and what produced/funded the film.
The titles begin with smoke in the background and a white font used through out the opening titles. The titles then jump to a Spiderweb. The writing once placed onto the web has had an effect added to it which gives the effect that the writing is falling off the screen. From this beginning the titles are already linking with the theme of Spiderman what with the spider's and spider webs it is already establishing what the film will involve, and linking obvious figures to the film.
Then written on the middle of the spiderweb is "Spiderman" in large, bold, white glowing font. By the change of font that is used this is letting us the audience know the film now showing its significance
The names appear to be stuck on the web when they get on the web.
The background is moving constantly through each frame. A red like mist appear and grows bigger becoming more solid through the different frames. The red mist then reveals into a red arm. A faceless red and blue body is moving with the change of names knocking the "casting by" frame off the screen revealing his body. By linking a mist and then changing it to a human body which is a Spiderman arm its linking all the key elements from Spiderman that everyone has grown to know together, what with the red mist and then the famous Spiderman outfit.
Through the opening scene we have seen that the faceless red and blue man is a good guy as the music the director has used for him gives off a superhero vibe, Which if already watched we know Spiderman is. When the Green Goblin mask appears glowing a green smoke a dramatic change in music happen, giving us the audience an eairy weariness that the mask resembles something bad.
Before the titles start we have the institution of the film which is Sony Pictures and Marvel Comic Books. As there original creator of Spiderman. The institution of a film gives the audience the knowing and understanding of knowing who and what produced/funded the film.
The titles begin with smoke in the background and a white font used through out the opening titles. The titles then jump to a Spiderweb. The writing once placed onto the web has had an effect added to it which gives the effect that the writing is falling off the screen. From this beginning the titles are already linking with the theme of Spiderman what with the spider's and spider webs it is already establishing what the film will involve, and linking obvious figures to the film.
Then written on the middle of the spiderweb is "Spiderman" in large, bold, white glowing font. By the change of font that is used this is letting us the audience know the film now showing its significance
The names appear to be stuck on the web when they get on the web.
The background is moving constantly through each frame. A red like mist appear and grows bigger becoming more solid through the different frames. The red mist then reveals into a red arm. A faceless red and blue body is moving with the change of names knocking the "casting by" frame off the screen revealing his body. By linking a mist and then changing it to a human body which is a Spiderman arm its linking all the key elements from Spiderman that everyone has grown to know together, what with the red mist and then the famous Spiderman outfit.
Through the opening scene we have seen that the faceless red and blue man is a good guy as the music the director has used for him gives off a superhero vibe, Which if already watched we know Spiderman is. When the Green Goblin mask appears glowing a green smoke a dramatic change in music happen, giving us the audience an eairy weariness that the mask resembles something bad.
Titles
Monkey Chop Productions
Stacey Smith – Roxy Wickes
Rose Flynn – Danielle Hickman
Sarah Day – Amy Harding
Music – The Take Over
Directed by – Amy Harding
Produced by – Roxy Wickes, Danielle Hickman, Amy Harding
Film Editing – Roxy Wickes, Danielle Hickman
Customes for our production
The aim of our production was for it to be as if it where a real life situation but as the genre is sci fi we would add a supernatural twist. The costumes that we used where based on every day clothing that you see every day people wearing. As our production genre is sci fi we added the sci fi effect with the transition and special effects on our production, keeping the location and costumes completely normal. The two characters seen to be running are dressed in plain clothing symbolising that they are normal people running away from something, the next character who we see in heels and dressed smartly is seen to be the main character sticking out from the other characters and surrounding. We do not show the face of this main character as we wanted to create a tense cliff hanger to the beginning sequence of our production leaving people wondering who this mysterious character is and what she is going to happen. The costume used for the main character who’s face we do not see throughout the main part of the production, when you do see it you see that she is laying in bed and has just woken up. We used pyjamas as the costume as that is what is usually worn in bed and it would not have fitted in with what we are trying to achieve if the character had still been in normal clothes whilst being asleep.
Target Audience
The target audience we aim for our production to suit is from teenagers to adults.
We will be giving the film a 12+ Rating.
We have decided to do this as the on the edge of your seat cliffhangers we have used throughout our production especially the opening sequence we find that children will not understand it.
The 12+ audience are a good audience as we have found out through research that this age range
is the primary targer audience to watch our sci fi production we have created.
We also realised that our opening sequence will be easier for someone of the age 12+ to understand rather than anyone younger.
We will be giving the film a 12+ Rating.
We have decided to do this as the on the edge of your seat cliffhangers we have used throughout our production especially the opening sequence we find that children will not understand it.
The 12+ audience are a good audience as we have found out through research that this age range
is the primary targer audience to watch our sci fi production we have created.
We also realised that our opening sequence will be easier for someone of the age 12+ to understand rather than anyone younger.
Friday, 6 March 2009
Music
As we were told we were not allowed to use copyright music we had to locate a band our self or create our own music. We found this really hard as the music we had planned from the beginning was a signed artist so we had to change the opening sequence to fit with another song.
We listened to many non copyright tracks and then,a band called The Takeover who are an unsigned band allowed us to use their music
and we decided upon two of the tracks chosen from the 6 songs that were on the album, and it was perfect.
This is their Myspace music page:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=384271167
We listened to many non copyright tracks and then,a band called The Takeover who are an unsigned band allowed us to use their music
and we decided upon two of the tracks chosen from the 6 songs that were on the album, and it was perfect.
This is their Myspace music page:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=384271167
Monday, 12 January 2009
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