Friday, 3 April 2015
Thursday, 2 April 2015
The Preliminary Task
The Preliminary Task Evaluation
Before filming our preliminary task, we had to take into consideration some fundamental rules to filmmaking. The first being the 180 degree rule. This is when the camera can only go anywhere on one side of the person. If it goes on the other side, then the viewer may believe the character has reversed positions and means they lose their bearings. There are some instances that the 180 degree rule can be broken, for example if we see the camera panning to the other side of the character, then we can acknowledge that the camera has moved and not the character.
We also included match on action in our preliminary task. This is when the same action occurs in another shot and the film is edited in a way that the action seems continuous. This is often used to focus on an object the actor is holding. In our film, our match on action was used when the phone number was dialed in the phone and also when the phone was taken out.
Another technique is the eyeline match, which is where a shot shows the actor looking at something and then the next shot is what they were looking at. We did not use this in our preliminary task though.
In our preliminary task, we replicated shots from the storyboard well. We found some very useful locations in the college that were relevant to the storyboard. However, we did have frequent issues with reflections in the outdoor shots, especially considering there are lots of windows in the college. There are some shots in the film where you can see people in the reflection, which we became aware of while editing and is something we need to take into consideration when we come to make our film. We had to consider the 180 degree rule during filming and kept to it. This was made easier though due to the minimal shots that contained more than one person.
In post production, we found Adobe Premiere to be very easy to use at first, with the razor tool being the most commonly used for us, in order to get our match on action shots to line up. We found it difficult at first with the timeline, as we did not know how to zoom in, but we found out quickly and the editing process was sped up considerably. However, we did have an issue at the end as we could not render the video. As we ran out of time, we were unable to add special effects and transitions so this is something we will hope to rectify when we move on to our film.
Wednesday, 1 April 2015
Tuesday, 31 March 2015
Evaluation Question 6: What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Filming
When filming, we used a combination of the Sony Handy-cam (3CCD) and the JVC Pro HD (3CCD).
The majority of our filming was done with the JVC, as this had a manual focus that allowed us to perform the shots such as the one with the hand in the foreground and the killer in the background, as we could focus in on both. We were also allowed to alter the depth of field in the extreme close up of the victim in the flashback. We did this by standing far away and zooming into his hand, and when we got it in focus it further blurred the background and put all focus into it. This was done to emphasize the importance of the hand and the blood stain on it and make sure the viewer was not distracted by the background. I think the camera handled this really well and got the effect we were looking for. The camera also had a built in microphone that was really helpful in catching the ambient noises of the woods. Also, the handle made it easier to perform the tracking shots which were present in our film.
Because of a shortage of time, we were not able to film some of the flashback sequence on the same day as the rest of the film, so we had to do additional filming on a different day. We decided to film these shots using the Sony Handy-cam. This was a conscious decision because we wanted the extra mobility and didn't need to film that many shots to warrant carrying the JVC. Also, we did not require the manual focus feature that the other camera has. Because the flashback shots have a directional blur to most of the shot, the quality difference would not be a problem.
We also used a voice recorder to record the sound for the flashback sequence. We wanted too give the effect that the sound in the flashback scene was cluttered and did this by overlapping the sound clips on different audio channels in Adobe Premier Pro. If we had more time, we would have tried to add an echo to the speech to further emphasize that this was a memory and that it was non-diegetic.
We did consider lighting in our film, however due to the restrictions on our surroundings, decided to correct it in post production. We used a tripod for the scenes in which the camera was stationary, but wanted to emphasize that the audience were part of the scene, so did as many tracking shots as possible, which were done handheld. We did find it difficult at times with the tripod, as the surface was not flat, however on the tripod was bubble leveler that helped to see if the tripod was level.
Software
For our editing software, we used Adobe Premiere Pro. This allowed us to import each media clip and cut it to form a sequence This process was made easy by the excellent layout of the program. We were able to trim shots down that were too long in order to retain the viewers attention. We were also allowed to add effects such as colour correction and directional blur to our film straight from Premier Pro without needing to use another program such as After Effects. The titles of our film were also added using Premier Pro, even though we could have chosen to use After Effects to get a more complex effect, however we felt that a simplistic font and a simple fade in and fade out complemented the scene well and didn't take away too much attention from it. Sound was edited in premier pro also, as the razor tool works similarly with sound as it does video to allow us to trim down the soundtrack and audio.
We did use After Effects for our company logo. We did several logo designs, with some including visual effects such as smoke and lightening, however we did not quite get a look that we liked that looked professional and fitted with the type of media products we were creating, and as a result stuck with a very simple logo, but hopefully equally as effective.
Research and Planning
For our research,we used blogger, as this allowed us to make separate posts continuously. This was important as the process was over a long period and therefore the project was separated into different parts. Another feature of blogger is the ability to import photos and embed videos. This was useful as images helped assist us with our analysis of other media products and also helped to show our recce. With embedding videos, we were able to embed our preliminary task and also our main task. This is useful as it means that you do not have to leave the blog in order to access our media product.
For our location recce, we used the camera on our phones, as we did not need high end equipment as this was to just give us an idea of what the location was like and any potential risks to put into the risk assessment.
Evaluation
For our evaluation, we made a video with the green screen for answering the question comparing what we had learned from the preliminary task to the main task. This green screen was then removed through the use of the ultra key in Adobe Premiere Pro, which enabled us to play clips from our films to assist with our analysis. We did have difficulty with the green screen in that there were creases in the screen that were difficult to key out, but we used the colour picker to remove as much as possible.
We also shared our video on social media to gain feedback from friends. This was helpful as it allowed us to identify what they liked and disliked for us to take into consideration in the future.
When filming, we used a combination of the Sony Handy-cam (3CCD) and the JVC Pro HD (3CCD).
 |
| JVC Pro HD |
 |
| Sony Handy-cam |
Because of a shortage of time, we were not able to film some of the flashback sequence on the same day as the rest of the film, so we had to do additional filming on a different day. We decided to film these shots using the Sony Handy-cam. This was a conscious decision because we wanted the extra mobility and didn't need to film that many shots to warrant carrying the JVC. Also, we did not require the manual focus feature that the other camera has. Because the flashback shots have a directional blur to most of the shot, the quality difference would not be a problem.
We also used a voice recorder to record the sound for the flashback sequence. We wanted too give the effect that the sound in the flashback scene was cluttered and did this by overlapping the sound clips on different audio channels in Adobe Premier Pro. If we had more time, we would have tried to add an echo to the speech to further emphasize that this was a memory and that it was non-diegetic.
We did consider lighting in our film, however due to the restrictions on our surroundings, decided to correct it in post production. We used a tripod for the scenes in which the camera was stationary, but wanted to emphasize that the audience were part of the scene, so did as many tracking shots as possible, which were done handheld. We did find it difficult at times with the tripod, as the surface was not flat, however on the tripod was bubble leveler that helped to see if the tripod was level.
Software
For our editing software, we used Adobe Premiere Pro. This allowed us to import each media clip and cut it to form a sequence This process was made easy by the excellent layout of the program. We were able to trim shots down that were too long in order to retain the viewers attention. We were also allowed to add effects such as colour correction and directional blur to our film straight from Premier Pro without needing to use another program such as After Effects. The titles of our film were also added using Premier Pro, even though we could have chosen to use After Effects to get a more complex effect, however we felt that a simplistic font and a simple fade in and fade out complemented the scene well and didn't take away too much attention from it. Sound was edited in premier pro also, as the razor tool works similarly with sound as it does video to allow us to trim down the soundtrack and audio.
We did use After Effects for our company logo. We did several logo designs, with some including visual effects such as smoke and lightening, however we did not quite get a look that we liked that looked professional and fitted with the type of media products we were creating, and as a result stuck with a very simple logo, but hopefully equally as effective.
Research and Planning
For our research,we used blogger, as this allowed us to make separate posts continuously. This was important as the process was over a long period and therefore the project was separated into different parts. Another feature of blogger is the ability to import photos and embed videos. This was useful as images helped assist us with our analysis of other media products and also helped to show our recce. With embedding videos, we were able to embed our preliminary task and also our main task. This is useful as it means that you do not have to leave the blog in order to access our media product.
For our location recce, we used the camera on our phones, as we did not need high end equipment as this was to just give us an idea of what the location was like and any potential risks to put into the risk assessment.
Evaluation
For our evaluation, we made a video with the green screen for answering the question comparing what we had learned from the preliminary task to the main task. This green screen was then removed through the use of the ultra key in Adobe Premiere Pro, which enabled us to play clips from our films to assist with our analysis. We did have difficulty with the green screen in that there were creases in the screen that were difficult to key out, but we used the colour picker to remove as much as possible.
We also shared our video on social media to gain feedback from friends. This was helpful as it allowed us to identify what they liked and disliked for us to take into consideration in the future.
Sunday, 29 March 2015
Evaluation Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?
I think our film attracts an audience because of the characters. The idea that the film follows the killer as opposed to the detective/hero will, I think, be of interest to audiences. Their curiosity may persuade them to watch our film. The age group is also of interest to the audience as the age of our characters is very close to the target audience of most horror films.
Also, the theme of murder may be interesting to horror fans as death is scary and they will want a horror film to be scary, as this is part of the thrill they are going for. Also, the use of flashbacks and point of view shots will help to create tension and unnerve them, and also help to persuade them to continue watching by increasing their curiosity for how the plot pans out.
Also, the theme of murder may be interesting to horror fans as death is scary and they will want a horror film to be scary, as this is part of the thrill they are going for. Also, the use of flashbacks and point of view shots will help to create tension and unnerve them, and also help to persuade them to continue watching by increasing their curiosity for how the plot pans out.
Saturday, 28 March 2015
Evaluation Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The primary audience for our product is 15-25 year olds. This is because the main characters in our film are late teenagers and therefore they can best relate to the characters. Also, demographics tell us that these are the most likely people to view horror films in cinema's. Our film's secondary audience is probably 25-35 year olds. This is because we feel an older audience may enjoy the psychological aspects of our film and how it leans towards potential insanity.
If we look at the UK box office on the week commencing 10th January 2015, we see that The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death is seventh on it's second week, grossing £3.97 million. This is a horror film and shows that there is a market and an audience that are keen to view horror films, and therefore I have no doubt that our film could be a success once distributed.
The media industry target young adults and teenagers for horror films by the use of marketing. For example, they may make sure the posters and trailers try to invoke fear, as audiences want to be scared by horror films and this is one of the main selling points.
We gained audience feedback by presenting early drafts of our film and also by pitching the initial idea. Our classmates, who are in the age group targeted for our film, offered us recommended changes and also opinions. In our initial ideas, the killing was actually going to be included in the opening, but after advise from our fellow students we realised that it would be difficult to make it look convincing and actually build fear with the audience.
We decided to use YouGov profiler to determine the audience of a film similar to ours. We chose Psycho because that also shows a young killer who is revealed to be insane. We found out that the most popular age range for this film was 40-59 year olds. Despite this conflicting with our audience research, I didn't read too much into it as the film is from 1960 and therefore those within the age range of 40-59 were likely to be teenagers when they first saw the film. In terms of the regional demographics, the film is the most popular with those in the South Coast. We can use this information when distributing our film because we can show it more regularly and also advertise heavier in that area. We also found out that they are likely to be a user of Facebook. This is key as we can use advertising via social media to bring attention to our film.
The primary audience for our product is 15-25 year olds. This is because the main characters in our film are late teenagers and therefore they can best relate to the characters. Also, demographics tell us that these are the most likely people to view horror films in cinema's. Our film's secondary audience is probably 25-35 year olds. This is because we feel an older audience may enjoy the psychological aspects of our film and how it leans towards potential insanity.
If we look at the UK box office on the week commencing 10th January 2015, we see that The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death is seventh on it's second week, grossing £3.97 million. This is a horror film and shows that there is a market and an audience that are keen to view horror films, and therefore I have no doubt that our film could be a success once distributed.
The media industry target young adults and teenagers for horror films by the use of marketing. For example, they may make sure the posters and trailers try to invoke fear, as audiences want to be scared by horror films and this is one of the main selling points.
We gained audience feedback by presenting early drafts of our film and also by pitching the initial idea. Our classmates, who are in the age group targeted for our film, offered us recommended changes and also opinions. In our initial ideas, the killing was actually going to be included in the opening, but after advise from our fellow students we realised that it would be difficult to make it look convincing and actually build fear with the audience.
We decided to use YouGov profiler to determine the audience of a film similar to ours. We chose Psycho because that also shows a young killer who is revealed to be insane. We found out that the most popular age range for this film was 40-59 year olds. Despite this conflicting with our audience research, I didn't read too much into it as the film is from 1960 and therefore those within the age range of 40-59 were likely to be teenagers when they first saw the film. In terms of the regional demographics, the film is the most popular with those in the South Coast. We can use this information when distributing our film because we can show it more regularly and also advertise heavier in that area. We also found out that they are likely to be a user of Facebook. This is key as we can use advertising via social media to bring attention to our film.
Friday, 27 March 2015
Evaluation Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think our film is similar to The Shining, in that the plot of ours involves insanity as a key concept. The Shining was financed and distributed by Warner Bros and made by Hawk Films. It had a budget of $19,000,000 and made $44,017,374 domestic total gross in the USA box office, with $622,337 of that coming in the first weekend.
Using this information, I think that Warner Bros would be the best option to finance and distribute our film. I researched that Warner Bros have distributed several horrors in recent years, such as Annabelle, The Conjuring and Texas Chainsaw. Therefore, I believe that they will have a keen interest in investing into new Horror films to appeal to teenage film viewers. I think that a suitable budget for our film would be $10,000,000, as it the majority of the film will be set in the woods, which will be inexpensive to film at. Also, because the main characters of our film are all teenagers, inexperienced actors will likely be employed, which will be inexpensive.
I project that our film will make around $50,000,000 in the box office, as there is a real demand from teenagers for horror films. I believe that the secondary audience of young adults will also be keen as insanity is often very interesting in films.
I also think our film gives the audience what they want, as there is a demand for horror films and as long as they keep coming out, the production companies will keep making money.
Using this information, I think that Warner Bros would be the best option to finance and distribute our film. I researched that Warner Bros have distributed several horrors in recent years, such as Annabelle, The Conjuring and Texas Chainsaw. Therefore, I believe that they will have a keen interest in investing into new Horror films to appeal to teenage film viewers. I think that a suitable budget for our film would be $10,000,000, as it the majority of the film will be set in the woods, which will be inexpensive to film at. Also, because the main characters of our film are all teenagers, inexperienced actors will likely be employed, which will be inexpensive.
I project that our film will make around $50,000,000 in the box office, as there is a real demand from teenagers for horror films. I believe that the secondary audience of young adults will also be keen as insanity is often very interesting in films.
I also think our film gives the audience what they want, as there is a demand for horror films and as long as they keep coming out, the production companies will keep making money.
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