Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Evaluation 7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I believe a lot has been learnt from our preliminary task to our final product piece made. It is clear to see the difference from the basic uses of camera angles, steady camera holding and many more improvements that have been made from then and now. As I took the directing role, I was able to control the camera much better and steadily as I got used to how to use it. Also, we had to adapt to a major downfall, a person who had left the group. One of the many things i learnt about myself was the patience i had at the editing stages. As we were all ametuers at it, it made the process much more prolonged. I learnt how to work in a team and developed many skills there, as it was the beginning of a new year I learnt to work with people i had not yet known. I think under the circumstances, I worked well within the group, contributed fairly and helped equally in all the processes. If i was to do this again i would perhaps focus and think more carefully on the product, how i can get better shots (by filming at different angles to add effect, especially close ups which show great emotion) and have a simple idea so more time could be spent on editing rather than filming. This brings onto my next point, timing. Timing was essential, it had to be planned perfectly as if one thing went wrong it would effect the planning (and shooting) for other days. For example, the weather is unpredictable so if it had snowed, it would be impossible to film. Also, as filming took longer than expected, created a greater time lag to edit.
The flow from different scenes are more 'relaxed' in our final product than they were in the preliminary task. This was because by adding simple transitions of fades both in and out created a more realistic change when the angle or shot types needed to be shown from a different viewpoint.
The last thing i feel i have learnt is the importance of planning. We didn't plan what to say or where to film our Preliminary Task. This created chaos as everything was so indecisive and last minute. By learning from this, we knew that if we planned ahead, we would have plenty of time to fix up in other things that may have caused problems (i.e technological devices). This clearly payed off as we managed to film our final product in a matter of a few weeks prior to the deadline.
Finally, I thought as though it would be valid to hear the opinion on what Licia had to say about my progression, who i worked with for the year on our coursework.
Evaluation 6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
A lot has been learnt in the process of producing this product, regarding the technological devices used. In this case the technologies used were mobile phones, dictaphone, a sony professional camera, flip cam and the apple mac. As i took the role of the director, i had to quickly adapt to the functions of the cameras.
The SONY HD flip cam for the preliminary task and
The SONY HDV 1000 professional tape camera.
It caused many problems and started to slow down our progression as we couldn't figure out the basic stuff such as how to turn it on, switch it to specific modes etc. But after playing around and asking the technicians, i quickly managed to get to grips with the camera. I naturally held a steady shot and was able to do things such as slow zooms and more which helped our group a lot because if not, this would have held back our group down even more so (not forgetting the fact that we were one man down!)
During planning we had to make sure that the basic things like the camera had enough battery so we were able to film at our location. During the process of editing we had to have a lot of jump cuts and edits, as that keeps our audience hooked and didn't want to bore them, so we had to go back after our rough cut and re-add more editing to construct our final piece.
Other technologies that was a major problem was the Apple Mac. The main problem was everyone had never used these programmes before. During editing, we managed to familiarise ourselves with the softwares, applications and programmes such as "Final Cut" which was where we edited and put together our film. However, we all had a go to use the programmes Final Cut and Adobe After Effects. A few problems that Final Cut created was that there was many effects available but we didn't know which ones to use. After playing around on it for a bit we realised that speeding up certain scenes and actions that were repetitive, made it look less tedious and more dramatic. The speeding up effect worked well as it made our protagonist look mad, on the verge of insanity. Furthermore we wanted the past to be presented in black and white so the audience and viewers could differentiate the two, and it only took one click of a button to do that (desaturate).
We were told that credits and titling could be created effectively on Adobe After Effects so myself and Beth had a go using it. However, after only wanting a simple crediting effect, with a transition to fade in and out, we realised that this could be done on Final Cut itself. The only thing that was used from Adobe After Effects was the end title Behind Closed Doors. It has a simple yet effective look where it appears soon after the 'blackout' of the ending scene and did not cause issues when transferring it onto Final Cut.
Our final problem that we eventually overcame was rendering. We couldn't understand why it needed to be rendered and this kept happening quite often, with the red line, we had to keep having to export the file to watch our product which wasted time and evidently couldn't always rely on technology to work in our favour. When we got told that the rendering function was "command + R", it froze a few times, so we had to save consistently in order to be safe about having our project secure. Rendering is done because some videos (quality type) aren't compatible with the software and rendering is done so the video can be interpreted and read.
The SONY HD flip cam for the preliminary task and
The SONY HDV 1000 professional tape camera.
It caused many problems and started to slow down our progression as we couldn't figure out the basic stuff such as how to turn it on, switch it to specific modes etc. But after playing around and asking the technicians, i quickly managed to get to grips with the camera. I naturally held a steady shot and was able to do things such as slow zooms and more which helped our group a lot because if not, this would have held back our group down even more so (not forgetting the fact that we were one man down!)
During planning we had to make sure that the basic things like the camera had enough battery so we were able to film at our location. During the process of editing we had to have a lot of jump cuts and edits, as that keeps our audience hooked and didn't want to bore them, so we had to go back after our rough cut and re-add more editing to construct our final piece.
Other technologies that was a major problem was the Apple Mac. The main problem was everyone had never used these programmes before. During editing, we managed to familiarise ourselves with the softwares, applications and programmes such as "Final Cut" which was where we edited and put together our film. However, we all had a go to use the programmes Final Cut and Adobe After Effects. A few problems that Final Cut created was that there was many effects available but we didn't know which ones to use. After playing around on it for a bit we realised that speeding up certain scenes and actions that were repetitive, made it look less tedious and more dramatic. The speeding up effect worked well as it made our protagonist look mad, on the verge of insanity. Furthermore we wanted the past to be presented in black and white so the audience and viewers could differentiate the two, and it only took one click of a button to do that (desaturate).
We were told that credits and titling could be created effectively on Adobe After Effects so myself and Beth had a go using it. However, after only wanting a simple crediting effect, with a transition to fade in and out, we realised that this could be done on Final Cut itself. The only thing that was used from Adobe After Effects was the end title Behind Closed Doors. It has a simple yet effective look where it appears soon after the 'blackout' of the ending scene and did not cause issues when transferring it onto Final Cut.
Our final problem that we eventually overcame was rendering. We couldn't understand why it needed to be rendered and this kept happening quite often, with the red line, we had to keep having to export the file to watch our product which wasted time and evidently couldn't always rely on technology to work in our favour. When we got told that the rendering function was "command + R", it froze a few times, so we had to save consistently in order to be safe about having our project secure. Rendering is done because some videos (quality type) aren't compatible with the software and rendering is done so the video can be interpreted and read.
Evaluation 5) How did you attract/address your audience?
We wanted to keep things simple yet effective, which we beleived would have the greatest impact onto our audience. Our logo appeared immidiately, whilst an urban R&B track played in the background to appeal to our audience. The whole enigmatic effect from the beginning, with the unawareness of who was crying and why, we beleived, attracted our audience more than if the opening was clear because suspense is maintained throughout.
We kept the credits simple and bold, whereby the white writing appeared at the bottom right of the screen from the beginning. We felt as though the credits fitted perfectly as we analysed other film openings and they seemed to do so too.
The title of our film Behind Closed Doors appeared at the end solely because it had the greatest impact as the ending of our sequence was a door being slammed shut.
We kept the credits simple and bold, whereby the white writing appeared at the bottom right of the screen from the beginning. We felt as though the credits fitted perfectly as we analysed other film openings and they seemed to do so too.
The title of our film Behind Closed Doors appeared at the end solely because it had the greatest impact as the ending of our sequence was a door being slammed shut.
We think this will leave the audience in awe and willing to find out what is left to come. We understood that music plays a great role in film making, and especially to our target audience; teenagers. We felt if we had the perfect music and sounds to compliment the film then our audience would feel more into the film than if we had used speech purely. The music absorbs your brain and changes your mood into feeling like the protagonist of the film. The simplicity of the credits and titling was done to keep the attraction onto the main scenes. The font was "sans font" with a simple fade in and out transition which was more than likely to keep 'Behind Closed Doors' in the viewers minds.
Furhtermore, by being quite conventional to a thriller/drama hybrid brings our audience in closer, as they will recognise similarities in our product, to other films they have seen before. By having a 'villain' will appeal to both genders as it is quite strange to have that role taken by a female character, thus may make both males and females continue watching to see what happens in the end. This can relate to Propps theory as there are 7 character types (one being the villain who can actually either be male or female) which may make the audience intrigued to find out who the hero will be. However, this also subverts to this theory as the Hero tends to be the main protagonist, adding an enigmatic effect onto our audience and brings something different for them to enjoy.
Evaluation 4) Who would be the audience for your product?
The certificate for our film would be 15+ as by looking at other audiences and institutions, it showed that their films were also similiar with the age (with some being 18 because of their genre). We believe that some scenes would be inappropriate for younger viewers for example the crushing of the pills and making of a poisonous substance. However, as ours isn't a thriller on its own, it isn't necissary for the certificate to be 18. Our audience can relate to many gratification theories to our product, for example, the main one being 'personal relationships' as some may have the same issues and try to relate to the characters within the film, or 'diversion' where people tend to escape from their everyday lives.
The opening builds up suspense and aims to keep you hooked from the very start, and we know (as being teenagers ourselves) that we can get bored very easily so if something isn't as eye-catching in the beginning, we wouldn't want to continue watching it. Also by understanding that the majority of our responses from the market research preferred the opening to build up suspense, we aimed to apply it to our final product. The first two minutes of a film are essential, as it needs to catch your attention so that the audience can feel a part of the film. We took all these considerations into account to make our final product.
It is a stereotypical assumption that most boys tend to like thrillers, whilst the girls swayed to the dramas so we knew this would appeal greatly to both genders. Having done our first edit, we received audience feedback (from our class and people we knew both in and out of college) which showed both males and females liking the opening. We decided to take their notes and suggestions on board and adapt to what we believed would be the best outcome and managed to complete our final product.Just before we made our first edit, one main thing that needed to be changed were the credits as the colour and font was illegible as it clashed with the background, so we changed that to big and bald white writing so it was clear for all to see.
One of the feedback comments we received were "the music worked well" which made our decision clear that we should work with it and change our rushes to expand our first edit into our final piece.
The opening builds up suspense and aims to keep you hooked from the very start, and we know (as being teenagers ourselves) that we can get bored very easily so if something isn't as eye-catching in the beginning, we wouldn't want to continue watching it. Also by understanding that the majority of our responses from the market research preferred the opening to build up suspense, we aimed to apply it to our final product. The first two minutes of a film are essential, as it needs to catch your attention so that the audience can feel a part of the film. We took all these considerations into account to make our final product.
It is a stereotypical assumption that most boys tend to like thrillers, whilst the girls swayed to the dramas so we knew this would appeal greatly to both genders. Having done our first edit, we received audience feedback (from our class and people we knew both in and out of college) which showed both males and females liking the opening. We decided to take their notes and suggestions on board and adapt to what we believed would be the best outcome and managed to complete our final product.Just before we made our first edit, one main thing that needed to be changed were the credits as the colour and font was illegible as it clashed with the background, so we changed that to big and bald white writing so it was clear for all to see.
One of the feedback comments we received were "the music worked well" which made our decision clear that we should work with it and change our rushes to expand our first edit into our final piece.
Evaluation 3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
There are many institutions that may have distributed our product as many institutions are now vertically integrated with what they produce (conforming to more than one genre) to engage a wider audience.
Obsessed, our researched product was distributed by Screen Gems Pictures.
They are an American subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Screen Gems produces and releases films that fall between the wide-release movies traditionally developed and distributed by Columbia Pictures and those released by Sony Pictures Classics. Many of its releases are of the horror, thriller, action, and comedy genres. I think they would have produced our product because our film genre conforms to what they seem to specialise in. They produced other films such as “Vacancy” and “The Messengers” which are two completely different film types however they all follow the typical codes and conventions of a thriller film and I think our film would appeal to this institution. The certificate for Obsessed was 12A, Vacancy 15 and The Messengers also a 15. Our film would clearly fit into their institution as our target audience was aimed towards 15-18 year olds, therefore would hold a 15 certificate.
Furthermore I think our film product would attract other media institutions as our second researched product, Prom Night, was produced by Alliance Films which is a Canadian production company who have produced a diverse amount of films; therefore our product would have no problem in falling into their category. They grossed a profit of $57,197,876 worldwide for Prom Night, which shows that that genre was popular and successful, and should hope our product will follow its
lead too.
Obsessed, our researched product was distributed by Screen Gems Pictures. They are an American subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Screen Gems produces and releases films that fall between the wide-release movies traditionally developed and distributed by Columbia Pictures and those released by Sony Pictures Classics. Many of its releases are of the horror, thriller, action, and comedy genres. I think they would have produced our product because our film genre conforms to what they seem to specialise in. They produced other films such as “Vacancy” and “The Messengers” which are two completely different film types however they all follow the typical codes and conventions of a thriller film and I think our film would appeal to this institution. The certificate for Obsessed was 12A, Vacancy 15 and The Messengers also a 15. Our film would clearly fit into their institution as our target audience was aimed towards 15-18 year olds, therefore would hold a 15 certificate.
lead too.
Evaluation 2) How does your product represent particular social groups?
Our product represented a few social groups such as females, general interests in romance/drama/thriller films and those with relationship issues. We presented a breakup between the couple which we think teenagers can reflect on as it happens a lot in this day and age.
However, our main focal social group represented is teenagers. Our film shows how a young romance can swivel out of control and turn into an obsession leading to inexplicable consequences. It gives the audience an insight of the thoughts of a teenager that is going through a harsh breakup. The representation of a vulnerable teenage girl shows severe emotions spiralling out of control. This can be seen as a stereotypical view of an archetypcal female as they are known to be quite emotional and sensitive, expecially over situations such as this.
However, this may solely conform to the female gender as opposed to males, which is why we believe that by making our protagonist the antithesis of a hegemonic female will target a larger audience; the males. I think this is presented effectively through the idea of using crushed pills, having an enigmatic effect onto the audience.
Furthermore, our decision to present teenagers was purely due to our market research results, we thought if we followed through what they desired from our results, then we would satisfy our target market and audience. The mise-en-scene followed through perfectly as the setting was in a messy teenage room, and seeing as Bethenay is a teenage girl, nothing needed to be done as her room was messy as it is!
The music is of an R&B genre which can present the youth as it is young and current which is something they conform to when listening to music. Also a lot of people said it was catchy as it was a beat that would stay in the mind for a long time which is exactly what we wanted, to be remembered.
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