Q7 Go-Animate

Q7 Go-Animate

Q1 Prezi

Q1 Prezi

Q6 Glogster

Q4 Moovly

Q3 Powtoon

Q2 Padlet

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Q7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I believe that I have developed as a film maker because going from nothing to making a preliminary task and the final product in a small period of time since starting the subject media. With no experience before I believe that I have learnt so many important new skills that I have used before. I have also learnt new media related terminology which helps when describing about different film, genres and types when reviewing.

 

 

 

 

Also in this subject I have come across new media technology that I have never used before for example online programmes which I used to produce my work on and the Macs to use to help the team edit our preliminary and the final product on. I think that the preliminary was a successful because it was like  a practice run which was very effective because we had the chance to try things out for example  like using the camera in different ways so we knew who was going to use it , what angles we would use., the actors and what they were going to do. The preliminary worked quite well because it was a good idea and the shots didn’t jump too often. For example the shot jumping without anything in-between to introduce the next shot. Linking this to the final product I would say that the opening is at a higher standard because we found from our results on the prelim and added them into our idea for the real task to show that we are thinking about our target audience and what they would like to see. Specific skills that we have learnt by making the mistakes in the prelim we have made sure the final product stuck to the rules of editing for example we made sure that the film had good speed as well as continuity where it was able to follow and make sense for the audience for example there wasn’t any cuts that looked out of place which there wasn’t so it all went smoothly. As a team we recorded our prelim in lots of different location to see which parts were the best so we had lots of different shots around the school area and mixed them together so we had some backgrounds different to the others. We wanted to keep the same sort of idea where people were chasing a man because of an unknown reason as they followed him with weapons because in the proper thriller we had soldiers hunting down a man that was on the run.

 

 

 

 

Another skill that we had to stick to was the 180° rule which we didn’t in the prelim because the camera switches to the other side multiple times. This is where the camera didn’t cut across a line and record from the other side, which we made sure the filming, stuck to the 180˚’s so it would look bad when the next shot came in. Finally the match on action was very important because depending on the type of genre the different items a film would have and because our thriller was also action we had to bring across that side so we thought of ideas and we decided to have weapons in our thriller to make sure it contained the action.

 

 

 

We as a team came up with lots of different ideas but soon came down to one which would be a mysterious man that has ran away either from the police or society where he goes and hides in an abandoned building where he is sleeping rough. The next ideas we had was that we wanted a swat style team roll up in a big vehicle to show that they are the real deal on a mission and they enter the site and start their search looking for the man. We got the name ‘On The Run’ through the character running away from the police/swat/society. It gives a psychological effect because you don’t know who the man is and what he has done. This is used for the effect it shows to the audience because it leaves they asking and want to know the answers to the questions and for that reason I believe that people would be influence to watch that film if they saw the opening. I think that the skills that we have learnt that we have used to create a great piece of media that is a lot better than the preliminary because it is more professional and it stays to the story. We went from 1 minute 24 on the preliminary to 1 minute 51 on the final product which contains a lot more action. The Mise –En-Scene for the final product is a great improvement because the lighting even though it is dark it works with the convention because you expect thrillers to be in dark locations to create the mood. Same with the props because in the prelim we used small plastic weapons but in the actual thriller it looks like the real deal because they are Air-Soft replicas.

 

Overall I think that the piece of media that we created is to a high standard because it is a very unique film opening that grips the audience’s attention I think that it is successful because we work together as a team and we have produced a good film with an excellent range of different camera shots with a good music backing that sets the mood for the thriller because it builds up tension with the film. I think an improvement next time would have to done it in more visible light because in some of the shots they aren’t too clear, but that because we had to wait for my dad’s business to close so we could use the land. The strengths the film had were that is was fasted paced with lots of different quick shots to break up the opening between the isolated area to then turn into a search party for a run away. Another strength would be the music that we created ourselves where it started off slow like the first couple of shots then it built up. In my opinion I think their wasn’t many weaknesses to our thriller but in some of the shots the lighting was poor because it was dark which made the shots hard to see.

 

Q6 what have you learnt about technologies from the process of construction?

During this task I have learnt lots of new skills that I have never come across or used before an example of this would be camera skills. The camera that we used was Sam T’s camera which was Canon DSLR model that had lots of different new technology that we used which was excellent to record with because I had lots of memory for lots of shots, good zoom ability and picture quality because we wanted to make sure the audience could see the footage well for example the finished product was very good because the film ran smooth with no outrageous cuts, it was a clear picture so it was easy for the audience to view. I have learnt about all the different camera angles for example in our thriller opening we used a wide range that consisted of high and low angle shots, both extreme long and close ups which I have used for the first time in media. We used the different shots to make our piece of media more effective. In our media thriller task we wanted to make sure that we had a wide range of shots so it looked professional and we showed that we have lots of skills and we could put forward our knowledge into the final product. When making the product I have come across a lot of new skills, programmes and items being a media student for example tripods and other various equipment that is used when filming to make sure we get perfect shots. Different programme software’s where we used to edit the clips and make the film flow and final sticking to media rules to make sure the shots don’t jump to confuse the audience for example using the 180 rule, golden mean and different techniques to make sure our piece of media was effective.

we used the camera when taking the different shots to test what locations would be the best so we has a play around in different areas  of the location to see where the best lighting was then we took a couple of takes on each section we recorded to make sure that at least one of the shots we had taken was perfect the reason we did this multiple times was because we wanted to make sure each shot was clear, there was no shacking from the camera and there was no interference.

 

 

 

 Another skill that we had to use was the acting skills of the people who played part as the protagonist to make them look worried and scared, as on the other hand we wanted the soldiers to look powerful an if they had no fear. We knew that in the group we had some people with past experience that did drama (Glen and Sam H) this helped us out because they took big roles in the acting section because they did their part very well because Sam H took the role of the protagonist which he played very well because he controlled the part and did a good job. The same with Glen because he took the role of the leader of the soldier where he was always at the front and taking control of the soldiers.

 

When it came to the editing we all had ago using the technology  on the as a team I thought that was the best decision because we could give our points and someone of the team could edit something on the same lines. The programme we edited our media on was on iMovie because it had various tools that we used to cut, rearrange, edit and change the order. The reason we used iMovie was because it was easy to transfer the clips of a memory card straight onto the Mac. We used the different effect to change between each shot to show the effect of the screen flashing which was used to show the audience that it might be a flash back happening as it changes throughout the shots. Other technology that we used was ‘Youtube’ because we shared our work on there so people could view it, like it and give it a comment which was good because we can see if the video is popular. The final piece of technology that we used was ‘Blogger’ to post all out research and planning about the film so we could refer to our plan if we needed to.

 

 

This shot is a screenshot that we took of the Mac to show how we uploaded our music to the film we edited in the music that was created by one of the group members that we had to put in and make sure the music was timed correctly. It went well with the thriller so I am very happy with the music because it starts off slow and as the tension builds up in the film for example the soldiers moving in and searching the music also picks up at the same time which makes the audience uncomfortable because they know something is going to happen. The use of diegetic sound which is not natural sound that contains lots of different pitches from high to low and different tempos from slow to fast to show the changes in the film. The final piece of technology that we used was that we shared our film and put it onto ‘YouTube’ this meant that we could see if film was good or not from our viewers. This is a good way to find out reliable feedback because we know the people who would give use feedback which can help us improve on an area which might need improving.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theses shots that I have taken from the Macs shows how we edited our Thriller opening because in this shot it shows how we brought titles to the front to show them on the shot, a film that did this was the ‘Lone Survivor’ because the titles were over the shots in the corners so the characters and companies that were involved in the films so we use the tools on the Mac to position the title on the screen. This shot is shows the Editing options where we changed the transition of the slides as they changed because it was original and the shots just moved onto the next clip with no effect we decided to add in a flash effect to go between the shots to show that it is a flash back and to make the transition more affective. This was a good too; because you could simply choose which effect we wanted, dragged it into position and put how long it lasted. So we had a fade to white affect that lasted 0.1 s which created a very quick flash.

 

 This final shot that I have got shows the transitions that we used on the clips was the tool that edited the lighting of the shot so we could add more light to the Mise en scene because in some shots the light was dark and we struggled to see some of the characters because they were wearing black so you could barely see them. This too; was very effective because without it some of the shots would have been impossible to use.

Q5 How did you attract/address your audience? ( Microsoft Word )

I think we did fulfil the ideas of the audience because from the questionnaires  for example  a lot of the responses said that they enjoyed  the music and they thought that it worked with the film because the tempos started off slow and then built up just like the actions in the film. Another thing the audience liked about our film is they liked the lighting that was used because some people said it worked effectively and the lighting that was used made the film more realistic because most thrillers   take place in dark locations.  we took the ideas from our audience  and added them to our planning so we knew what the audience wanted which I think we did because a popular thing that we got on the questionnaire from the preliminary that was filled in by the audience we got told to put music into the film which we did in the final product. Another improvement from the questionnaire is that they wanted more action in the film so we introduced weapons into the film which worked very well. Finally the last recommendation to improve the film was to speed up the transitions  and the time they took to change so it would keep the audience watching.

The first screenshot that I have used is the shot when the 4x4 vehicle comes through the front gate this could attract the target audience because they might like action films with big cars with soldiers on the side as they drive in. this is a good shot because it shows they have no fear because they are professional soldiers on a mission. This shows that the film is going to be filled with fast paced action between a SWAT team and a runaway in a search party with weapons.

The second shot that I have chosen is from the point from the protagonist where he is loading his weapon because he knows that he is in trouble and people are going to be after him. This shows to the audience that there will be some action because both the man and the soldiers have weapons. Also it is clear and easy for the audience to workout. That the shot type is a close up because it I zoomed in on the gun as the focus point which is in the centre of the picture because it is the main object and draws the audience’s focus.

 

This is another good shot because it is a very detailed shot that shows the facial expression of the soldiers and the concentration he has to complete the task. Also the gun stands out in the shot because they look so realistic. In most action thrillers there are weapons so we have used guns in our thriller to shows the audience that it is as good as other action/thrillers. The shot is a mid-shot because it shows part of the body in the shot where the character is standing to the left looking down his gun barrel.

 

This next shot is a close up which shows the leader of the solders taking control of the team with the different hand signals this is important because it shows the audience the main soldier because he is always ahead and leading the rest of the group. Plus it is a good clear shot of the clothing the soldier is wearing. This attracts the audience because it shows you a close up of the soldier’s figure, facial expression and body language which is important because it shows how the character reacts to things that have happened.

The last screen shot I have used is a mid shot because it shows the soldiers body and the location around him it shows another soldier moving forward into cover because they know the man has a weapon so this means they need to be aware because they know what the man has done at it is clearly bad because there’s a swat team after him.  The reason that we used this shot was because we wanted to make the soldiers look professional with all the moves to show that they have the skill, this would also attract the audience because it is a lot better than some soldiers just walking around looking for the man so the fact the audience don’t get bored.

An example on the feedback we received back from our peer in class was good because we went through everyone’s thriller production and we sat down as a class and reviewed the films. When people gave us the feedback we got lots of good feedback about the range of different camera shots that we had in our thriller film. Another positive piece of feedback that we got back from our peers is that they liked the type of music that we used in the thriller because it set the tone where the music started off with a slow speed and then built up with the film as the soldiers were looking for the man. The light was complemented because all of the other groups recorded their thriller in the day but we recorded at night which worked really well because the setting had good spot lights.

 

 

 

 

 

Our thriller opening links to the film ‘The Lone Survivor’ because it is a n action thriller that uses shots that cut together quickly  (Straight Cuts) .Which is similar to ours because we have quick flashes between the shots to add the affect that the shots are flash backs where we are watching from the view of the character’s past. Another link to ‘The Lone Survivor’ is that we have used the style of the titles where they are over the top of the shot which introduces the characters, producers and production company. The final links between the films are that they both contain a lot weapons because they are army/ police/swat teams completing a mission.

 The different range of shots of both films because they both have various extreme long shots of the area and the films also have close ups of the character from all different angles so for the protagonist the camera is looking down at him to show that he is weak, and the soldiers are being looked up at because they are powerful. Both of the films are similar because we knew the film ‘The Lone Survivor’ very well so we wanted to use similar conventions because we wanted the titles because they look really good over the top because the audience still watches the opening as the titles come up instead of a black screen with the names. When the soldiers are holding the weapons the camera zooms in to show the detail of the weapons because they are a very important prop to the film.

 

 

 

 

The final titles are very important to the film because at the end of our thriller film the man runs away from the soldiers into the darkness which then cuts to the title ‘On The Run’ this is a very good part because as the man moves into the darkness the scene can easily change to a black screen without the shot jumping. The style of the text that we used was a torn effect which makes the film feels uncomfortable because it has a hidden meaning because it is mysterious because you still don’t know why the soldiers are after the man. So the black background with the white title is simple because we don’t want to give much away about the film.

When we were making our thriller we had to think about the different genre conventions for example the sound that we uploaded onto our film was made by the team so we knew what the timings were for the sound because it created the mood which was very important. Another convention was the editing of the film because we had to make sure that each clip went into the right order and we made sure the shots flowed and didn’t jump. The Mes that we used in the thriller was very good because we had the right sort of light for a thriller film and the props and costumes that were used in the film were excellent because it made the film look real and professional. Finally the plot  was very good because we did have an abandoned building but we wasn’t allowed there so we used my dad’s business yard with some buildings which worked really well because the lighting was dark because we recorded late but the area had spot lights which made a good shot.

 

Q4 who would be the audience for your media product?

 

With our film I would say that our target audience would be around teenagers to adults because it is a suitable age for the people to understand the conventions of the film I would say the film would be a 15 rated film because it contains action with a lot of weapons so it would be inappropriate for people younger than 15 I would say our film is mainly aimed at males because it contains lots of guns and action which is more suitable to them rather than females because they might not like the style of the film. One demographic issue would be that people under the target age they might not get the idea of the film and they wouldn’t understand why the things are happening to the person. But I think that most of the older generation would understand and like the thriller genre because they get the idea of the convention and they like the fact that the speed of the different shots because some of the shots only last a few seconds as they cut to the next shot because they don’t want to be waiting a long time for an opening.

 

Our typical target audience if we had to concentrate on a specific age groups or gender would properly be from mid-teens to young adults because they would be into these types of films because they use the newest technology so they would watch a lot of films in their spare time.

 

 Another factor would be that the audience would probably be more aimed at males because it has lots of action contains weapons which are more aimed at males. The final factor that I would like our audience to is video gamers that play violent, gun based games because it would compare to them sort of games because there is a huge market that lots of people are into and I think that would be our typical audience member because people in the age group would still be in education either at school, sixth form or university and they might be students studying media, but on the other hand lots of females are interested in media and watch a lots of films so in a way the film could be aimed at both because the thriller audience is huge and can apply to most people.

This is a random member of our ‘Vox Pop’ audience that we have picked out, we aimed to get from the ages 15 to 35 because it has a wide range of different people’s views on films and different genres that people like so the audience we got was important because we had different reviews about thrillers because we had people who liked Action/Thrillers and others with a Psychological feel. So the different conventions the audience likes can change depending on what they like. We choose people from around our school to volunteer in our interview. The people that took part were interested In sport, gaming and watching films so the people were similar but the results of watch style they liked were very different.

This is a screenshot from our ‘Vox Pops’ interview where we spoke to people of our age group to see what they liked in a thriller and any ideas for use to use in our thriller film. From our ‘Vox Pops’ interviews we found very important information that included ideas of what people in our target audience like for example a lot of our target liked action in thrillers because it kept them on their seats and stop the film from getting bored. The target audience we had been mainly aimed at males because our film contains a lot of weapons and violence which is more suited for the male gender. Another point for our target audience was the ages because we had a range from teenagers to young adults because this audience range use the latest technology so after they watched our thriller they could give it a review or any comment that would help us improve the film also the younger generation have more times and they watch more films that others because they would understand the conventions and points we were trying to put across.

If I was to link our film with the different age ratings from the BBFC I was say that our film would classed as a 15 because the film might contains any of the following:

§  strong violence

§   Frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').

§    Portrayals of sexual activity

§   Strong verbal references to sex

§    Sexual nudity

§   Brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

§    Discriminatory language or behaviour

§    Drug taking

 The people under this age might not understand the meaning and conventions of the thriller; I also feel that it would be inappropriate because there are lots of guns shown in the opening which shows that the film might contain a lot of violence which isn’t the best for younger children being introduction to gun war at a young age. The reason that we put our film as a 15 instead of an 18 was because if we had less audience then the film wouldn’t get as many views because it would restrict them from watching so we would have a smaller audience by 3 years. Through our research we found out what people liked in thrillers for example we used ‘Vox Pops’ to gather information on what people liked about thriller to give our team some valuable points about what we should include in our thriller because we want to make sure that a wide audience liked our thriller because the audience’s opinion is very important because if we get key information by using a Vox Pop and don’t use it people won’t watch the film because we haven’t taken their views into considerations.

Q3 what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

 

Burton Productions

 

This is our production company logo ‘Burton Productions’ the reason that we chose this logo was because it is a camera which shows that we are a company always looking for new shots or new possibilities that we always have an eye on if there is something out there that is different we will give it a try, we are a company that is hardworking to try and make the best films with what we have. The reason that there is a globe in the lens is because we are always looking for new opportunities whether it is from the local area or across the world. Burton Productions are always looking for new challenges to overcome trying to make new breath taking films in the thriller industry. Overall I think the emblem of the company is good because it shows that we had a wide range of audience groups so this would increase the size of our target audience because we are a company that makes all films appropriate for everyone I think that company would aim at teenagers and above because we are in the Action/Thriller section which is a huge section that lots of people are into. We got inspiration from production companies like Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures and Eon Productions because they all have produced films in the Thriller genre and most of the films that we have compared our film with are all created by these producers.

 

 

A production company is very important to small film owners because an owner can’t produce the film because it cost so much money so they get a production company alongside them to control the budgeting of the money, advertisement, and getting big actors involved. The production company do this for a percentage of the profits. Without a production company’s backing the film will never get made. For our film we would aim for either ‘Universal’ or ‘Eon Productions’ because they are suitable companies who have both produced  films like James Bond collection (Eon Productions), Lone Survivor (Universal Studios) and finally The Expendables (Lions Gate) these were similar genre as our film (Action/Thriller) but I would be happy with any offer off any company because it is difficult for film producers to get an offer because if they don’t think it is good or they think it won’t be successful they won’t invest their money and skills.

These are some of the production  companies that we looked at as a team when we were  planning for our own thriller because we chose a couple of different companies and looked what films they did for example the top three that we look at was ‘Paramount Pictures’, ‘Eon Productions’ and ‘Universal’ the reason that we chose to research these companies was that they all did action/thrillers which we wanted to base on film on that for example Eon Productions did the James Bond films so we knew they were experienced in Action. A film from universal that we look very close at was the ‘Bourne Identity’ because we liked the titles in the film as them came on the screen over the picture. So we decided that we would do something similar to the titles in the ‘Bourne Identity’ because it shows quick shots with lots of different titles over the top in the corner of the shot the reason we wanted to do this was because it looks effective when the shot change.

In these shots from the opening we wanted the start to be effective so we had long shots of the area with a mixture of close ups this worked really effectively because with the pace of the different shots and the titles over the top it was good. We change shots from the area to the protagonist to introduce the first character. The text of the title that we have used is really effective because it is a torn broken down effect which shows you what the film might be about, this give the audience clues about the film. The titles we used was to shows the company name, different roles in the company and the actors that took part in the film we put the Company’s name first to show the audience who we are so they knew the makers of the film. We then put the directions name to show that came up with the overall idea and to shows whose vision it was to make the film the way it was. Then we showed the roles of everyone in the company and who took on what tasks. Finally when a clear shot of the characters came along we displayed the actors name to show the audience who featured in the film.

 

If I had to link our film to other on their similarities I would say that the first film I would compare it to would be James Bond because the series is based on Action and Thriller. So there is lots of guns and people are after the man same with Bond because their after him. Another film that I would link our film to would be ‘The Lone Survivor’ because we have use a similar style on the opening titles and again it is based on the Action/ Thriller genre which contain lots of gun but is like a spying film like bond but ours isn’t that type its more swat and breaching where they are looking for a person.

This is the timeline that we created to help us structure the times of the titles that we would use in the film, so we made a plan to put the titles in order from the most important like the producer and production companies then followed by the actors and crew this was important because we wanted the titles over the top of the shot so it had to be timed correctly because the when the actors  came up on the screen the title with their names showed up.