Danielle Hickman
Candidate Number : 3095
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)