Question 8: Progression

Evaluation: Question 6 Cinematic Screening Response

Evaluation: Question 8 prezi

evaluation question 8 on Prezi

Evaluation-QUESTION 8

When we first started using the camera's we were given a task to film a bag swap.  Before filming we we're told that we needed steady shots nothing out of focus.  At the beginning of our film we started with a clock.  The filming of this as you can see was extremely shaky.  As well as this the person filming had cut out the top of the clock.  The clock was not at any point in the centre of the screen.  For some reason when filming this short clip we had decided not to use the tripod.  However when filming our final film we used the tripod often or we placed the camera on the floor.  In this film we didn't use multiple sounds we just left the sounds as we found them.  Which left us with voices shouting in the background. This is something we didn't want so we changed the sound for our final film.

This shot is taken from another one of our practice films.  When filming we didn't realise how out of focus it was until we had uploaded all the shots on to the computer.  We made sure and were very aware of the fact that none of our shots were similar to this.

In this shot of Prince there is a large space above his head.  The extra space around him is unnecessary and can give away too much of the Mise en scene.  Instead of having so much space above him we could have used it as a close up or a long shot so that we had his whole body in the shot.

 These two shots however are taken from our final film.  As you can see the first one of monica is not out of focus at all.  This shot is also not shaky or fuzzy.  The shot below is of Prince and as you can see we have adjusted the shot whilst filming to make sure that we didn't make the same mistake as last time.  It was difficult to remember all the mistakes we had made in our practice films when filming our final film.  We had to keep reminding each other of the distance and to use the tripod if needed.

This clip is also taken from our final film, we decided to zoom out from the T.V screen and then pan around the bedroom.  Surprisingly we didn't use a tripod for when we zoomed out Prince did it all by hand.  However when we were panning the room we did use a tripod as we had learnt from our previous practice films that our filming can become very shaky without one.  For our final film we decided that we wouldn't use any of the sound that was from the shots.  We muted all that sound and added our own made ones.  We used a multiple amount of sounds and mixed them together to make a sound track.  This was much more effective as we could find the correct sounds and add them where they were needed.  Also whilst filming we found that people we're sometimes talking or laughing in the background.  The sounds we used for our final film were extremely and dramatically different and better to the sounds from our practice films. 

Evaluation- QUESTION 8 Pictures

Evaluation:Question 4&5

 I have done a mindmap of different ways I can promote my film. There are many ways and I want to use all of them. The film I have made is a low budget student film. I do not want to release it fully on Youtube. I want to have a small launch party inviting family, friends and maybe a few friends of friends. This will then allow us to have people telling their friends about my movie. We also are going to advertise our film through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Hopefully my friends and followers will help promote it. Also I would post a short trailer or clip of the film onto Youtube through a Youtube channel that I will create. I do not want to upload the full movie because people will copy it. I will then sell the film very cheap on dvds so that I can gain money to be able to make more films.

The video I have posted underneath is a film made by a university student. He posted it onto YouTube and so far it has 136,438 views, which is a great achievement for a student film. The maker of the film, Tom Ridgewell has now created a YouTube channel with many more videos for people to watch. He also have his on website which you can access through his YouTube page. This is quite similar to what I would like to do with my thriller because I want to make a YouTube page and post a small clip of my film onto YouTube. This will then help me be able to make many more videos.

Evaluation-QUESTION 4&5

Our media film has received a lot of feedback which has been posted on to our blog already.  Many people have been able to see our film including our peers and teachers.  Later on there will be a DVD released of two hundred copies.
      When discussing our film we made the decision that our film was an independent film.  We received no budget or help.  We were given the basics and told to make ideas about what our story line was.  I believe that with the right sort of advertising our film would be shown in cinema's such as;
We were able to view our own films at 'THE SCREEN ON THE GREEN' on the 5th of April.  As you can see below its not a major cinema.

Our film is a low budget student film and like many others will find its way onto Face book and YouTube and is already embedded into our blog.













When promoting our film I think we would use techniques such as using social networking sites to promite it, we can also use websites and magazines such as 'Total Film' and 'Empire Magazine', T.V adverts and leaflets will also help. Pop ups and adverts on the side of Facebook and You Tube are a good but subtle way of promoting.  We would also put adverts in magazines such as 'Sugar', 'OK' and 'Shout'.

One of the main film magazines is Empire Film Magazine, which advertises new films and stars, also information and advertising for the film. All of the front covers have famous characters from films.  This enables the magazine to promote even further. With the person on the front cover being recognisable it makes the reader want to read the magazine and review the film further.  They range from headshots to a longshot all of which make the film completly clear which is being advertised.  Sometimes the magazine likes to cover the pictures with some of the main title.  The magazine makes it clear that its not just talking about the person on the front cover in the example below Harry Potter.  It shows small examples such as "WOLVERINE, STAR TRECK, THE WOLFMAN, GREEN ZONE, QUANTUM OF SOLACE".  This lets the audience know that each magazine isn't just about one film and one character.  This sounds like an obvious simple thing but it can effect the reader.

This film was made by other AS level students, they gave it the name of "The devils playground".





I chose to review this film because I thought that the titles and editing was well put together.  They got hundreds of hits on You Tube to be precist around 20,289 hits.  This is something they should be very proud about.  There sound works well with the film and doesn't give to much away from the genre.
        Here are some of the comments that this video received.  The feedback was amazing considering it was such a low budget film.

• Hey, you're media coursework is brilliant
  I'm from Newcastle and we had to do the same and choose a product to create for 'prime time productions' and i did a horror movie trailer and a website
  have you done a2 media? if yes did you do critical investigation?
  my trailers on my channel if you want to check it out :D
  well done, the effects were brilliant and i love the copy you used throughout the video it was amazing!
  very scary when that man was coming towards the video :| brilliant!
  artisticphase 6 months ago
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• @artisticphase Thank you!! :D I loved it, it was awesome coursework! Yes iv done A2 got an A in media overall :) and now studying at lincoln uni doing film, TV and drama. Go on my page and look for a film called numbskull, that was my A2 film for my coursework. Checked out ur trailer very creepy! Loved the voice over! nice audio editing! x
  jordyeddytally 6 months ago

Evaluation: What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When we got told we had to make a film we decided to use Youtube to search for different openings. We then made a mindmap of ideas that we had and finally decided on one idea. We spent 3-4 hours recording our film, which we used a camera, tripod and a camera light to tape. Because we have used the cameras before for two short films we made, so we were quite confident with them. Once we finished filming we started editing using FinalCut Pro. I only know how to do the simple editing on FinalCut Pro, so it was easy for me and the rest of my

 group to make the rough cut. Then using HandBrake we converted the video to an mp4 so we were able to put it onto our blog. When we done our first ever short film, 'Bag Swap' we were shown how to use HandBrake and since then I have found it easy to do and it was quite simple.

After the rough cut was posted we were left with one more week to finish the whole film, adding effects, sounds and titles. Our technician showed us how to use the effects and the different effects on FinalCut Pro so we decided to use an earthquake effect and fade the colour, so it looks more black and white. After doing this we done a bit of sound, but decided to move onto the titles because they were the most important. It was easy to find the different fonts and effects on LiveType but it still took a long time to do. I enjoyed using LiveType because it is very different and I have never used it before. The hardest was SoundTrack Pro because it was hard to get the sounds at the perfect time and for some sounds we wanted a specific part of them which took time and patience. This took many lessons to finish and get perfect timing. We then used HandBrake to post the final cut onto our blog.

In my opinion, without having used the above software mentioned, the video, audio and titles would not have come together in the way that it did. Throughout the making of our film we all blogged about our journey and about using FinalCut Pro, SoundTrack Pro, LiveType and HandBrake using Blogger. I enjoyed using Blogger because it helped me keep an up to date record of each step throughout the journey of making our film.

Evaluation-QUESTION 7

When my group first began the filming and editing process we noticed that we would have to get used to a lot of different formats.  The first format we were introduced to was 'Blogger'.

We use it to explain what we are doing throughout the time of filming.  Blogger was one of the easiest formats to use once we we're shown what we had to do.  We added images and films to our blogger page, this made it more interesting than just pages and pages of writing.





Another format we used is google, it helped us a lot when searching for ideas about our film.  It was a quick and easy way to find ideas, and enabled us to look at other films to give us inspiration.  Google was easy to use and none of us had to be shown what to do.
 
We often used google to search for images for our blog and to search a lot about 'Arlington Road' this is the film that most alike to our film.

We then used YouTube to search for other film trailers and opening sequences.  We also used to help us find sound examples, such as; whispering and voices mumbling and to ensure that we didn't copy anything that had already been done.  We didn't want to make a complete replicate of something that had already been done.

Before we started filming we had a whole lesson in which we we're taught how to use the cameras and the tripod.  This however wasn't that hard once you had been taught and had actually put it into practice it became very easy.  We all had to make sure that we could use it because when it came to filming we all did a bit.  The camera's we're fairly easy to use as they do look quite complicated.  I personally was surprised at how easy I found it.

Once we had finished our filming our teachers introduced my group to Finalcut Pro.  It took me a few attempts, roughly about five lesson before i generally got the hang of it.  Finalcut Pro made editing our film very simple everything you need is there and again I was surprised that I got the hang of it.  If I need to edit anything again I will now find it much easier.

After all our final editing was done us as a group had to learn how to use Soundtrack Pro.  This was out of all the formats the most difficult one for me to use.  I've begun to get the hang of it but I still think I would need help I would not be abel to edit sound with out someone else to help.  However I do believe I have become more familier and confident with it.  Soundtrack pro, already as plenty of sounds and music tracks for you, this enabled my group to find to music very easily we also found some music on You Tube and edited it in.  My groups music was extremely mysterious.  I believe that it was one of the best pieces of music used so far from everyones i've heard so far in our class.  However my opinion could change on Friday when we are able to see everyones.

The final format we used was called Livetype.  I found this very hard to use and didn't really ever manage to get the hang of it.  Whilst in the editing process I much preferd doing the sound or general film editing.  However the format was very useful and contained lots of different font styles and ways in which the text would enter the screen for example 'BOUNCE' and 'DROP'.  We did the titles within one day, and we were told they were very effective.

After we had finished all our filming and editing we converted our film into HandBrake, which then enabled us to put our film on blogger.

Evaluation: screenshots for question 7

Evaluation: What Media Institution Might Distribute Our Media Product

Evaluation: Who would be the audience for our media product

Evaluation: How does My Media Product Represent A Certain Social Group

Audience Feedback

Everyones films were shown in class, to see how people would react, and so that they could give us some feedback. I was quite worried about what people would think of it.  Also our group had never watched it on a big screen so it was good to see it up front.  We decided that 'Amnesia' was going to be certificate 15 so it was helpful that the people in our class fitted into that age gap. We recieved a lot of positive feedback, such as great editing and sound, this was very reasuring and made us feel more confident about our work.  Lots of people said it was scary, some people even said that it kept them on the edge of their seat purley because of the music.  However we were then told that the lighting was too dark and in some cases it was difficult to see.
      We then wrote all our comments into a program called 'Wordle' which gives ourselfs and others the ability to read the feedback we recieved quickly and easily.


This is an example of what our wordle image looks like.

Evaluation: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Lauren is 17 years old, and is studying her A levels at City and Islington Sixth Form Centre. She enjoys going to restaurants and the cinema with her friends, when she has time, due to the amount of studying she has. Once every three weeks she enjoys going shopping with her sisters and shops from places such as 'H&M' and 'New Look'. She loves following the fashion and enjoys wearing dresses and skirts.

She owns the a MacBook Pro which she uses to do her homework on and to access Twitter and Facebook to talk to her friends. She also has the blackberry storm which uses to contact her friends when she doesn't have access to her laptop.She travels on the train everyday to go college and get home. She loves supernatural and fantasy novels. She also watches shows such as 'Gossip Girl' and 'True Blood'.

I think Lauren's lifestyle fits well with our film because our film is a psychological thriller and contains ghosts, which is similar to the novels she reads. Also shows such as 'True Blood' contain supernatural beings, vampires, which means she likes films with supernatural characters. Also our main character is around her age and the shows she watches are characters between 17-20. Also because she goes cinema regularly with her friends it means she is most likely to go watch the film

Evaluation: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our film's main character is shown having flashbacks in our opening title sequence. Another film I know that starts like this is 'Memento'. The two characters are completely different but have a few similarities. Both characters are young males, which is quite popular for thriller movies. Both openings start with a flashback of a murder, but the murder in 'Memento' is created by a gun whereas the little girl in our film is murdered with a knife. Also we actually see the main character of 'Memento' shoot the victim whereas we never actually see Prince stab the little girl. 

Both characters show us their memories in the opening scene which gives us a bit of understanding of their character. When we show the memories we made the clip a faded grey colour whereas in 'Memento' the scene is re-winded. The main character of 'Memento' is shown holding a photo of the dead body which may be something he enjoys doing, but on the other hand, our character is not given any sign that he is the killer and that he wanted to do it.

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

'Amnesia' starts as a narrative opening, showing the audience the main characters and the beginning to the film while the titles come up on the screen. The audience our shown the protagonist having flashbacks of a little girl, who has been killed. We used effects to separate the flashbacks from real life. This allows the audience to understand why he was having bad dreams. As Alfred Hitchcock once said the audience need to know what is happening or they will not be interested. We let them know by introducing the death, but we make them want to carry on watching by not letting them know who the girl is.









 We found it very hard to find a movie to compare 'Amnesia' with, because we didn't use one film as inspiration. We like the idea that in 'Memento' the main character has flashbacks, so we decided to use that for the beginning of our film and our character. Also we liked the idea of the fuzzy TV from 'Poltergeist', so we used it in the beginning of our film. Just like 'Poltergeist' we zoomed out of a fuzzy TV.

I chose the image from 'Memento' where we see a cutaway of the bullet used. This reminded me of the cutaway we used to show our main character holding the knife. The comparison of us using a knife and 'Memento' using a gun may be that it is conventional for thrillers to use a gun whereas horrors use knives.