Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Video upload
Me and Jesse have uploaded our project to Youtube. Click the on the video bar that is labelled final to view it.
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Evaluation of the main task
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
It develops on the themes of tragedy by signifying cowardly behaviour with the character of the kid running away and leaving the tramp to his fate. It uses the conventions of real TV dramas by making the film surprising with the different plot twists and keeping the audience guessing what will happen next which means that the audiences attention is likely to be kept. TV dramas, such as “Heroes” are particularly effective at conveying this.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our project shows the difference between different social groups with the tramp representing the difficulty of being lower class. It represents the stereotype of the higher class citizen looking down the noses at some of those who are lower down ‘the social hierarchy’.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?Institutions such as the BBC or ITV might like to use it, because they may need them for documentaries and use it for areas, such as reconstructions. Homelessness and car crime are two of the big issues and an institution such as BBC or ITV may want to outline them in the form of a documentary. BBC is known for this with the broadcasting of programs, such as Horizon and Panorama. Also a company may want to use it as an advert, such as The Police for the themes of crime and not looking where you are going.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
People who like drama films and like the many surprises and action of a drama film. These people would be fans of films, such as the Oxford murders. This is, because a lot of dramas are unique and that’s why they attract a large audience and I think my film is a case in point.
How did you attract/address your audience?
It tries to get the audience to feel sympathy for the tramp. This is done by the random kid taunting him and the film also has surprises in store, such as the car appearing out of nowhere and the car hitting the tramp while the random kid leaves the tramp in the road and doesn’t help him .It attracts the audience by the themes displayed by the part such as tragedy, loss and selfishness.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
You have to patient as it takes a while to properly edit a film. The technology doesn’t always work properly so that was another benefit of having plenty of time to edit. I took the view “If at first you don’t succeed try try try again”. I got used to the Macs eventually, but I needed time to get used to them. It was an important new skill to learn though and one that could prove useful in the future.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I think that I’ve learnt how important it is to make your film as unique as possible like in the film industry when you try to come up with something that no-one else has done. Another thing that I’ve learnt is that using different filming techniques such as match on action is important in order to convey to the audience where the plot is going and the feelings and emotions that are being shared between the characters.
The main task was the opening of a two minute thriller film. A tramp enters the scene walking down a road in the evening. A random kid runs across the road following the tramp. However as the tramp crosses the road followed by the random kid a car suddenly appears and the random kid yells: "I'm getting out of here!" and runs off up the top of the street. However the tramp is hit by the car and is left on the road and that's when the film ends. The target audience were people who like a film that’s unpredictable and exciting, in short primarily people who enjoy thriller films that contain different real world issues.
I was inspired by the work of classic films like I am legend and the effects those types of films have on their audience. I was influenced to do a thriller film as the film industry has seen plenty of high standard films that were of the thriller genre and have had a big impact on the industry especially films like “Mission impossible” , “North by North west” and the “Bourne” films.
There were plenty of positives to take from the project. For instance most of the footage we got in one take which meant that we didn't have to get rid of as many outtakes as we expected. Another good point was that we handled the apple Mac editing tools quite well and were able to successfully add sound effects and a soundtrack to our film. The uploading like the preliminary task was pretty simple and we mostly were able to stick to our filming schedule and managed to film and return the equipment on time. As well as that we managed to incorporate some useful filming techniques, such as match on action.
However there were some negatives. Firstly we had to cancel our first scheduled day of filming, because it was raining. This put me and Jesse under more pressure to get it done before the end of the week. As well as this we found it hard to fit everything together well and editing the film took about a month to do. Sound effects were also hard to come by, because on the websites with free downloads it was sometimes hard to find the effects that you needed. For example me and Jesse had to search thoroughly in order to find decent footsteps sounds and to download them for free from a website. When filming we also had difficulty matching our storyboard to our acting and as a result it took us more time to do even the simplest of filming. Another one was that the dialogue wasn't as clear as it could have been which meant that it would be more difficult for the audience to understand what was going on.
To analyse this project I think we did well, because we managed to combine normal filming and amateur footage filming in our film which was done in order to see the situation from the random kid's perspective and to engage the audience and more effectively. We also managed to fit in match on action which is a key filming technique. As well as that many themes were involved in the film, such as anguish, regret and death. This can help to draw attention to the audience. I think the use of the tramp connotes loss, despair and poverty and the random kid immaturity, disrespect and arrogance. Filming at night also signifies suspense and unpredictability with the car representing speed, risk and responsibility. Responsibility is linked to the person who was driving the car. To conclude I think that the main task went well although not as smoothly as the preliminary task which is predictable considering we had to plan this task a lot more carefully and particularly the filming schedule as the main task took about a week to film. We also managed to work well on the Macs. For next time we could try and spend time at home researching sounds and music ready for lessons so that it doesn't interfere with our editing time. We could also try incorporating more filming techniques like 180 degree rule into the film to make it more effective as a whole. As well as that we could change the speed of the credits, and make it lighter so the darkness isn’t a problem. Overall the audience feedback was very encouraging and the video got an average rating of 3 out of 4. They liked the music and credits, the camera positioning, heart beat and the fact that the film was tense.
Total word count : 1293
It develops on the themes of tragedy by signifying cowardly behaviour with the character of the kid running away and leaving the tramp to his fate. It uses the conventions of real TV dramas by making the film surprising with the different plot twists and keeping the audience guessing what will happen next which means that the audiences attention is likely to be kept. TV dramas, such as “Heroes” are particularly effective at conveying this.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our project shows the difference between different social groups with the tramp representing the difficulty of being lower class. It represents the stereotype of the higher class citizen looking down the noses at some of those who are lower down ‘the social hierarchy’.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?Institutions such as the BBC or ITV might like to use it, because they may need them for documentaries and use it for areas, such as reconstructions. Homelessness and car crime are two of the big issues and an institution such as BBC or ITV may want to outline them in the form of a documentary. BBC is known for this with the broadcasting of programs, such as Horizon and Panorama. Also a company may want to use it as an advert, such as The Police for the themes of crime and not looking where you are going.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
People who like drama films and like the many surprises and action of a drama film. These people would be fans of films, such as the Oxford murders. This is, because a lot of dramas are unique and that’s why they attract a large audience and I think my film is a case in point.
How did you attract/address your audience?
It tries to get the audience to feel sympathy for the tramp. This is done by the random kid taunting him and the film also has surprises in store, such as the car appearing out of nowhere and the car hitting the tramp while the random kid leaves the tramp in the road and doesn’t help him .It attracts the audience by the themes displayed by the part such as tragedy, loss and selfishness.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
You have to patient as it takes a while to properly edit a film. The technology doesn’t always work properly so that was another benefit of having plenty of time to edit. I took the view “If at first you don’t succeed try try try again”. I got used to the Macs eventually, but I needed time to get used to them. It was an important new skill to learn though and one that could prove useful in the future.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I think that I’ve learnt how important it is to make your film as unique as possible like in the film industry when you try to come up with something that no-one else has done. Another thing that I’ve learnt is that using different filming techniques such as match on action is important in order to convey to the audience where the plot is going and the feelings and emotions that are being shared between the characters.
The main task was the opening of a two minute thriller film. A tramp enters the scene walking down a road in the evening. A random kid runs across the road following the tramp. However as the tramp crosses the road followed by the random kid a car suddenly appears and the random kid yells: "I'm getting out of here!" and runs off up the top of the street. However the tramp is hit by the car and is left on the road and that's when the film ends. The target audience were people who like a film that’s unpredictable and exciting, in short primarily people who enjoy thriller films that contain different real world issues.
I was inspired by the work of classic films like I am legend and the effects those types of films have on their audience. I was influenced to do a thriller film as the film industry has seen plenty of high standard films that were of the thriller genre and have had a big impact on the industry especially films like “Mission impossible” , “North by North west” and the “Bourne” films.
There were plenty of positives to take from the project. For instance most of the footage we got in one take which meant that we didn't have to get rid of as many outtakes as we expected. Another good point was that we handled the apple Mac editing tools quite well and were able to successfully add sound effects and a soundtrack to our film. The uploading like the preliminary task was pretty simple and we mostly were able to stick to our filming schedule and managed to film and return the equipment on time. As well as that we managed to incorporate some useful filming techniques, such as match on action.
However there were some negatives. Firstly we had to cancel our first scheduled day of filming, because it was raining. This put me and Jesse under more pressure to get it done before the end of the week. As well as this we found it hard to fit everything together well and editing the film took about a month to do. Sound effects were also hard to come by, because on the websites with free downloads it was sometimes hard to find the effects that you needed. For example me and Jesse had to search thoroughly in order to find decent footsteps sounds and to download them for free from a website. When filming we also had difficulty matching our storyboard to our acting and as a result it took us more time to do even the simplest of filming. Another one was that the dialogue wasn't as clear as it could have been which meant that it would be more difficult for the audience to understand what was going on.
To analyse this project I think we did well, because we managed to combine normal filming and amateur footage filming in our film which was done in order to see the situation from the random kid's perspective and to engage the audience and more effectively. We also managed to fit in match on action which is a key filming technique. As well as that many themes were involved in the film, such as anguish, regret and death. This can help to draw attention to the audience. I think the use of the tramp connotes loss, despair and poverty and the random kid immaturity, disrespect and arrogance. Filming at night also signifies suspense and unpredictability with the car representing speed, risk and responsibility. Responsibility is linked to the person who was driving the car. To conclude I think that the main task went well although not as smoothly as the preliminary task which is predictable considering we had to plan this task a lot more carefully and particularly the filming schedule as the main task took about a week to film. We also managed to work well on the Macs. For next time we could try and spend time at home researching sounds and music ready for lessons so that it doesn't interfere with our editing time. We could also try incorporating more filming techniques like 180 degree rule into the film to make it more effective as a whole. As well as that we could change the speed of the credits, and make it lighter so the darkness isn’t a problem. Overall the audience feedback was very encouraging and the video got an average rating of 3 out of 4. They liked the music and credits, the camera positioning, heart beat and the fact that the film was tense.
Total word count : 1293
Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Adding effects
Yesterday me and Jesse added fading and new sound effects to our film. We could soon add more by exploring different sound effects library websites and downloading sounds ready to add to our film.
Wednesday, 7 January 2009
The start of editing
On Monday me and Jesse used the macs to start editing our project and we got it down to about 1 minute and 15 seconds with the removal of outtakes and the shortening of scenes. Next lesson we're planning to add sound effects to it. I hope it goes smoothely and according to plan !
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