How did you use media technologies in the construction and research,planning and evaluation stages?

RESEARCH
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

The livetype tutorial was particularly useful in deciding which programme to use for the title of the film. The livetype tutorial showed us all the useful font animations available and this helped in making the decision to use livetype.

PLANNING

 We started by storyboarding every shot we had

planned for our for our film, however we wanted to see if these shots synchronized with our script and if it was visually impressive.



We felt that final cut pro was the appropriate software to use as we knew it had a feature which alowed you add stills into the time line and re-order/edit this material adding differences in the time the still appears for.

We then decided to record over and add it on to the edited storyboard using final cut . We made the sound and shots appear at the same time in the way that we would expect them too in our film.

We also took this oppurtunity to cut uneccessary shots and lines that didnt work as well as we planned.

This is our finished anamatic

CONSTRUCTION

We decided to use a High Definition camera instead of a standard definition camera as we knew it would give our film a better picture quality and more detailed imagery.HD cameras generally have a larger memory therefore allowing more footage to be filmed. The camera allowed us to re-shoot things from different angles and incorporate a selection of camera shots. We filmed using this camera and due to wide range of features we were able to shoot things using affects from the camera, this sped up the time for decisions and revisions during the editing process as some tools were located on the camera.

We used  Adobe premier pro to edit our footage as it hosted a variety of features and editing tools that we needed in order to create the image we had planned during pre production. One of the tools [as shown above] was the use of the widescreen format and Adobe allowed us to alter the width at which we wanted the black strips.

We sorted through the various shots using the right viewer screen and edited using the left, this tool was particularly useful in decreasing the time in which the editing took place as it offered a form of multi -tasking.

In a specific scene we needed the editing to coordinate with the music and so we used the "FIT" option and blue icon to cut shots in conjuction with the beats of the music.

We used Adobe to create a purple filter to seperate the present from the past creating a dreamy effect. Using colour correction we were able to tint and brighten aspects of the filter incorporating othe colours such as blue,green this gave us space to experiment.

EVALUATION

I exported my film from Adobe Premier Pro into Imovie as i had experiance in using voiceovers in Imovie. However i developed my knowledge as i uploaded the voiceover from an external hardrive and edited my footage in conjuction to my voice over.

I used the 'easy speak' microphone to record my voiceover as it was easy and simple to record without having to do in one take. The ability to stop the recording meant that i could take breaths to ensure that i carried on speaking at the same rate and volume throughout. This helps my commentry in becoming as coherant as possible. 

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

Film poster

 The combination of the film poster and the the film is highly affective as a marketing tool as the poster gives the audience a sense of the serious theme within our film through the black and white colour scheme. The framing of the images is similar to various shots in the film whereby Alex is placed slightly in front of his 'friends' to highlight his importance. The poster is almost a clue to revalations in the film as the tagline; a common convention of film posters "some things are better left unseen" hints towards the hidden agenda of the film. We attempted to create instrigue with our poster as we could not give away to much as it would sabotage the films climactic ending, we felt our target audience would feel greater astonishment when viewing the film if the poster was slightly ambiguous.

Review

Despite the fact that the review is written objectivly from the film i feel it is effective in the promotion of the film and reviews are generally where films gain status.  We used a screen grab from the film as this is a common convention of reviews we also used the star rating system. We used a slightly shorter layout as the film appeals to a younger demographic and abundant text may decrease the likelihood that it is read. The screen grab used on the review similarly depicts Alex as the leader of the group which creates a sense continuity with regard to the representation of character status within the film. 

What i have learnt from audience feedback

What have i learnt from audience feedback

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In what ways does your media product, use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media texts?

Making the credits

I decided to use final cut to create our credits as i knew they had a scrolling text feature which would be able to fulfill the conventional film reel that we wanted. We decided to use the same typography as the title card so the film could have a sense of continuity. I decided to slow down the speed of the scrolling text to synchronize with the soundtrack before i added it to the end of the footage.  

Filming

After i created a second filming schedule due to unexpected weather conditions we found that filming was a lot more productive. We only encountered a few issues to do with continuity in which we organised a day to re-film.

 

 

Final Decisions on music score

After discussing the options i had short listed for our soundtrack we decided on one track:- MC Scarlatti mass for four voices. We felt it would accompany the actors monologue and flashback sequence and the choral voices are dramatic. I downloaded the music from un copyrighted website http://www.freeplay.com/

Main image for poster

I decided to draw a design for the main image on my film poster to promote our short film Exodus i took a lot of inspiration from 'the social network' and tried to embody the style of image within the poster. I decided use the widescreen format as this is one we would like to use in our film. I attempted to draw an extreme close up of the protagonist 'Alex' as this only gives the audience a small idea of the narrative and creates curiosity. I feel the main image is extremly important as it is the first thing the audience is attracted to and the only visual code the audience is given. The main image helps to portray our main theme isolation, as the use of widescreen suggests entrappment, the ambiguity of the image is its main selling point. I plan to use plain small white text on the bottom half of the black strip which will in small text list the actors, production company, directors,writors, producer and any awards the film may achieve. The simple black and white colour scheme implies the film has serious themes and the structure of the poster suggests (absence of star appeal) the film is being marketed rather than the actors or production company.The title of the film will be situated in the bottom left hand corner which subverts traditional film poster conventions.

Real Media Influences

1. Hard Candy
2. The social network
3. Identity
4. Is anybody there?
5. Kill Bill

Film posters

Before creating a film poster i felt it would be useful to search for  film posters that incorporate similar themes to my film in order to identify common techniques used to reach the specific target audience. i decided to briefly analyse the codes and conventions of  film posters within two drama film posters with similar themes; isolation.

Common codes and conventions within film posters:-

• To have a focal picture that will entice given demographic of target audience.
• To display a large title that is easily read.
• Suggestion of the film genre.
• May use famous actors to promote the film.
• A tagline is usually evident on the poster.
• Age certification usually displayed.
• Coming soon or release date displayed.
• Directors and Production Company displayed.
• A website is increasingly displayed on film posters

I felt that each of these films were relevant to analyse as they all suggest a sense of isolation which was my groups focal point each of the following film posters are ones that I would personally be intrigued by, these posters remain interesting whilst conforming to the conventions of a drama film poster. Each of the following posters contains a focal picture that will invoke curiosity.

Poster one;- Identity

   














the main image is intriuging as it manipulates the idea of fingerprints to link directly to the title 'identity' as a fingerprint is unique to the individual and therefore what seperates them from others.The face within the palm of the finger i would interpret as the protagonist as he is constructed in the centre of the poster.The use of the fingers as silouttes of different people suggests he either suffering from multiple personality disorder or the other people that appear within the fingers are character subplots that relate back to the protagonist. The use of white as the background further accentuates the main image and gives it an almost 3d appearance. The main image shows a man with his mouth open which is suggestive of shouting, the combination of this and the use of red in the colour scheme suggests a thriller element or bloodshed. Identity conforms to most conventions of film however subverts the convention of having cast names on the poster. I feel this is intentional in restoring the idea of diagesis, the association of characters within the film with actors or actress could ruin the films intention.

Poster two;- The social network    

The subversion of typical film poster conventions is what drew me to this poster. The idea of the tagline text overlapping what is usually the most promonant and remembered part of a poster the image. This poster does not clearly display a large title it is constructed on the side of the poster, similar to a toolbar tab.This suggests that the film relies heavilly on other forms of advertising as the fact film doesnt need its title to be large oreasily legible suggests the film already has a high profile and the advertisement is therefore there to create further intrigue rather than create awareness.There is no release date or indication of when the film will be in cinemas.The absence of the director, production company and any age certification and 'star appeal' suggests the film doesnt need to association in order to be successful. The lack of knowledge is a tool to create curiosity around the themes of the film.The main image of the male alone is an indication that the film surrounds his hardships, in that sense it conforms to the idea that film posters often suggest the genre and narrative within the poster.

I would like to make posters similar to these two for my short film, these posters are both very effective in selling the 'idea' of the film in an inventive way.

Evaluation of group presentation

What went well?

• visual aides were very useful
• we managed to conduct the presentation effeciently without notes
• each member of our group spoke equally

What would you change?

• i would talk in more detail about scripting
• i would have included a picture of the focus group i conducted
• We could have included our filming schedule

What were you individual contributions to the planning and research so far?

• I created a mood board of inspirations for our film
• I conducted a focus group
• I wrote the script for the film with Adeel
• I casted the actors for the film with Adeel
• I chose appropriate costumes for the actors with Adeel
• I selected music for the film with Ryan

Music

Me and Ryan searched through various uncopyright music websites in order to find non diagetic music for our film, we finally found www.freeplaymusic.com in which we found various options for music. We narrowed our alternatives down to two track options per scene, and we are yet to discuss our final tracks with the rest of our group members.

Casting

 Me and Adeel then went on to cast the characters based on the image we had been creating whilst deciding character traits and scripting. We thought it would be sensible to cut down our list two options per character.After making the neccersary alterations to our cast list, we decided to find out the acting experiance of each candidate and discuss the commitments we would expect them to make for our film. Only then could we finalise our eight cast members, we felt that our final selection fit the visual codes and conventions of their character type perfectly.The cast members were also confident that they could give there personal time up for filming.

In order of appearance; top row left to right  Alex Eagles as Alex, Adeel Khan as Eddy, Feargal Parham as Parham, Maurice Enwright as Maurice.

bottom row left to right Nathan Jameson as Tyreece, Ellie Goffe as Stacey Taylor, Aidah Namugenyi as Imogen, Alice Marks as Bianca

Scripting

Me and Adeel scripted the entire film, we felt it was very useful to incorporate role play during the creative process in order to fully embody the characters.

We then numbered the script to correspond with the shot numbers, we thought this would help with filming process.

Results

After compiling the notes i made during the focus group i found that most people felt they could relate to the characters myself and Adeel had created. Members felt very strongly about the character 'Parham' a member of the group added " everyone knows a someone like that". This information made us feel comfortable in the knowledge that we would not have to alter any of our characters. The plot was also very popular with the focus group members felt that it was definently something they would enjoy watching and it was an interesting concept in the portrayel of isolation. Noone withn our focus group had seen a short film and or knew where they could go to watch one. six out of eight members strongly expressed there love for comedy as there preffered genre. After discussing this with my goup we have decided to add comical elements to our script.

Audience Research

I decided to conduct a focus group as a form of qualatative data as the previous research done by my other group members were all forms of quantattive data and i feel its important to have a mix. The aim of my focus group was to find out our target audiences perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes towards our film narrative and characters. I felt this would help us to make any neccessary alterations before scripting our film idea.

I decided rather than having a formal list of closed questions i,e how often do you go the cinema? it would be better to have a list of conversational prompts in order to allow the people within the focus group to ellaborate whilst answering the questions in order to provoke responses from other members of the focus group whch may be useful to our research.

My four discussions topics were;

• The charcters within our film
• The narrative
• interest in short film and its appeal
• favourite genre

Conventions of drama

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moodboard

I decided to create a moodboard consisting of various films that i felt had relevant themes. The films within this moodboard i found particularly interesting and i felt our group could use it as a stimulus for our idea.

Drama film definition

A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, crime and corruption put the characters in conflict with themselves, others, society and even natural phenomena


-Wikepedia

Group disscussion #1

After receiving the initial brief for our coursework my group and I had already decided we would like to make a short film rather than a documentary.  We then began discussing genres within film we looked at the conventions of Horrors, Comedies, teen films, film noir, sci-fi, social realism and drama. Having previously enjoyed making a social realism film opening I felt it would be beneficial to base our film on something realistic however as we discussed it as I group we found that we wanted to do something different to social realism that deals with real life issues. We decided to do a drama, as it is very similar to social realism though the conventions vary.

Brief review

What i felt was particularly interesting and effective about this short film was the gradual build up in tension between the the main character and what he believes to be 'manikins'.The concept of the film itself is quite abstract and the film is ambiguous in terms of  meaning. i personally interpreted the film as the main character isolating himself from society, the fact that the film opens with him on a journey suggests his 'past' is crucial in understanding his actions. I would like our film to be similar in that the meaning is open to interpretation i feel it would be useful to brainstorm ideas around the idea of feeling isolated when surrounded by others.