Tuesday, 4 May 2010
End of blog.
I've enjoyed doing this course and hope that anyone who has looked at this blog has enjoyed reading it.
Monday, 26 April 2010
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Evaluation
Evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For our final film we used the conventions of psychological films e.g. mental health. We used our research to help us to comply with these conventions. The main factors of our film are substance abuse (alcoholism), mystery, mental health issues and ultimately death. These factors are very common conventions in psychological thrillers. However we have not used all of the conventions of this type of film as we wanted the film to reflect our originality. We also used elements which are typical of any film such as introducing characters, getting the audience interested and giving the audience the basic outline of the narrative. The setting for our piece was in Nathans bedroom at his home, Kirsty’s room to act as Laura’s character Katie’s room , Paston Church graveyard and the Nisa shop. The doors used were Nathan house door and Laura’s house door.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product shows two people, a boy and a girl, in their late teens. At the beginning of the film the girl is shown asleep and then waking up. This is also the case with the boy. The girl is wearing a rose print dress and a grey hooded sweatshirt which is typical clothing for a teenage girl. The boy is shown wearing a smart suit, an unlikely choice of clothing for a teenager but the reason he is in the suit is made clear as the film progresses. The girl is shown buying a bottle of vodka from the local shop. This conforms to the stereotype of teenagers drinking heavily. This particular girl is slowly succumbing to alcoholism as the film would show if it was a complete product. It is unclear which teenage “tribe” the girl falls into. It is not clear whether she is a chav, goth, emo etc. We wanted to leave the audience with a certain amount of ambiguity as to what was going on.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
As our media product is a film the most likely media institution to distribute it would be a film distribution company such as E1 Entertainment or Warner Bros. It is also possible that a film distribution company that specialises in psychological thrillers would be interested in distributing our film. For example “The Butterfly Effect” was distributed by New Line Cinema.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for our media product would be those interested in the genre of psychological thriller and fans of films. I feel that if our film were to be certified it would be a 15 or 18. This is because the content of the film involves substance abuse which tend to be in films certified at this age. In terms of gender I feel that our film would be more appealing to a male audience. However this does not mean that the film wouldn’t be appealing to female viewers.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
We addressed our audience through sound, mise en scene, casting etc. I feel that the music we used would give an audience a feeling of sadness about the events that are taking place. The cast members are the same age as the target audience, so it would be easier for them to relate to the characters. The film is set in normal houses in normal streets, therefore attracting the audience to a familiar environment.
6. What have you learnt about technologies in the process of constructing this product?
In the process of constructing this product, I have learnt a lot about the different technologies that are needed in the making of a film. Firstly, I have learnt how to use the camera equipment properly. Even though it was just a basic video camera and a tripod, the equipment was very effective and the outcome was very good. The editing software programme we used was Adobe Premier Pro CS4. At first it was quite complicated to use, but after a few weeks we managed to get the hang of it. Kayleigh Harris then took up the post of editor and finished the editing process for our film. Our lighting came naturally from the sun when we were filming outside and as we were filming mostly in the daytime there was no need to turn lamps on inside. The Mise en Scene was simply two bedrooms (the girls and the boys), a local shop and a church graveyard. We used a splitscreen to demonstrate the time shift from two years ago to present day. The girls scenes were shot in black and white, to show that she was in the past and the boys scenes were shot in colour to show him in present day.
7. Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
From the preliminary I have learnt how to use different camera techniques and how to use a tripod effectively. I took these skills and incorporated them into the final film. I feel that that working in a group is very beneficial when attempting to make a film. My particular group have all worked incredibly hard and we have achieved a great deal in the process. The final film is something I'm very proud of. I also believe that because we took on different things (One person doing the editing, one person doing the filming) we were able to finish the piece so it would meet our deadline. Organisation is definitely a key element in making a film, and my group did a very good job. I have also learnt about the four main things that are needed in film making e.g. Editing, Camera Shots/Movements, Mise en Scene and Sound.
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For our final film we used the conventions of psychological films e.g. mental health. We used our research to help us to comply with these conventions. The main factors of our film are substance abuse (alcoholism), mystery, mental health issues and ultimately death. These factors are very common conventions in psychological thrillers. However we have not used all of the conventions of this type of film as we wanted the film to reflect our originality. We also used elements which are typical of any film such as introducing characters, getting the audience interested and giving the audience the basic outline of the narrative. The setting for our piece was in Nathans bedroom at his home, Kirsty’s room to act as Laura’s character Katie’s room , Paston Church graveyard and the Nisa shop. The doors used were Nathan house door and Laura’s house door.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product shows two people, a boy and a girl, in their late teens. At the beginning of the film the girl is shown asleep and then waking up. This is also the case with the boy. The girl is wearing a rose print dress and a grey hooded sweatshirt which is typical clothing for a teenage girl. The boy is shown wearing a smart suit, an unlikely choice of clothing for a teenager but the reason he is in the suit is made clear as the film progresses. The girl is shown buying a bottle of vodka from the local shop. This conforms to the stereotype of teenagers drinking heavily. This particular girl is slowly succumbing to alcoholism as the film would show if it was a complete product. It is unclear which teenage “tribe” the girl falls into. It is not clear whether she is a chav, goth, emo etc. We wanted to leave the audience with a certain amount of ambiguity as to what was going on.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
As our media product is a film the most likely media institution to distribute it would be a film distribution company such as E1 Entertainment or Warner Bros. It is also possible that a film distribution company that specialises in psychological thrillers would be interested in distributing our film. For example “The Butterfly Effect” was distributed by New Line Cinema.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for our media product would be those interested in the genre of psychological thriller and fans of films. I feel that if our film were to be certified it would be a 15 or 18. This is because the content of the film involves substance abuse which tend to be in films certified at this age. In terms of gender I feel that our film would be more appealing to a male audience. However this does not mean that the film wouldn’t be appealing to female viewers.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
We addressed our audience through sound, mise en scene, casting etc. I feel that the music we used would give an audience a feeling of sadness about the events that are taking place. The cast members are the same age as the target audience, so it would be easier for them to relate to the characters. The film is set in normal houses in normal streets, therefore attracting the audience to a familiar environment.
6. What have you learnt about technologies in the process of constructing this product?
In the process of constructing this product, I have learnt a lot about the different technologies that are needed in the making of a film. Firstly, I have learnt how to use the camera equipment properly. Even though it was just a basic video camera and a tripod, the equipment was very effective and the outcome was very good. The editing software programme we used was Adobe Premier Pro CS4. At first it was quite complicated to use, but after a few weeks we managed to get the hang of it. Kayleigh Harris then took up the post of editor and finished the editing process for our film. Our lighting came naturally from the sun when we were filming outside and as we were filming mostly in the daytime there was no need to turn lamps on inside. The Mise en Scene was simply two bedrooms (the girls and the boys), a local shop and a church graveyard. We used a splitscreen to demonstrate the time shift from two years ago to present day. The girls scenes were shot in black and white, to show that she was in the past and the boys scenes were shot in colour to show him in present day.
7. Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
From the preliminary I have learnt how to use different camera techniques and how to use a tripod effectively. I took these skills and incorporated them into the final film. I feel that that working in a group is very beneficial when attempting to make a film. My particular group have all worked incredibly hard and we have achieved a great deal in the process. The final film is something I'm very proud of. I also believe that because we took on different things (One person doing the editing, one person doing the filming) we were able to finish the piece so it would meet our deadline. Organisation is definitely a key element in making a film, and my group did a very good job. I have also learnt about the four main things that are needed in film making e.g. Editing, Camera Shots/Movements, Mise en Scene and Sound.
Reshooting Changes
FILMING.
This shoot was to make improvements from the footage we had already taken ready for our final film, and all of these improvements are subject to opinions that had been given to us.
We re filmed -
The girls shop scene to make sure the camera was the same distance away from the entrance as it had been for Nathan's similar shots. We also added in the smashed vodka bottle scene to replace the headlights scene. We realised it would be quite hard to film a smashing bottle in motion, so we thought to smash the bottle on the ground, then film the aftermath with a link that way.
160410. 11.45am-12.45pm
LOCATION
Nisa Shop.
Re filming girl's walking scenes.
CHARACTERS.
Laura as Katie.
DOCUMENTATION.
Kayleigh Harris - Filming.
Grace Bovan - Photographs.
COSTUME.
Rose print dress and hooded jacket.
PROPS.
Vodka bottle.
220410. 1.30pm-2.45pm.
LOCATION.
Girl's house.
CHARACTERS.
Laura as Katie.
DOCUMENTATION.
Kayleigh Harris - Filming.
Grace Bovan - Photographs.
COSTUME.
Rose print dress and hooded jacket.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FILMING.
This was to once again improve the footage we had already taken, subject to opinions and pointers that had been given to us. This was our last re-shoot before we started editing everything together for our final cut. From doing this, we can document that we have listened to outsider's point of view and opinions in order to improve our own work. This would be the same if we were to make the whole movie, and would also help if we were to advertise, distribute and produce a whole feature length movie.
We re filmed -
Laura's scene of her walking out a front door. We did this so that the distance away from the camera was the same as to what Nathan's was in his shots. We also made sure that the shot remained on the left hand side, to help with our split screen editing.
Also with our re - shoots we decided that all of the girls scenes will be changed into black and white instead of filming at night. This way, we can still create a contrast between the boys and girls scenes whilst not having to make sure the darkness of the night was the same each time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)