Group evaluation

As an evaluation every group had to answer 7 questions that were to do with their final film. We chose to answer two questions each, and then answer the final question together whilst filming us.

I was tasked with answering question 1 and 6. Which were: In what ways does your media product, use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? To answer these questions I decided to use slideshare.

Other materials that were used to answer the questions was a podcast which was produced by Chris and a prezzi presentation produced by Steven.



1 and 6 http://www.slideshare.net/saintsjames/evaluation-media-34473664
2 http://prezi.com/svampvc6xw7e/evauluation-how-does-your-media-product-represent-particul/.
3 and 4 https://soundcloud.com/user848199157/media-evaluation
5 http://prezi.com/rmn5odrh3kmk/edit/#20
7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n_65hHGMfc&feature=youtu.be

Editing software

The editing software we chose to use was 'Final cut'. We feel this type of software is more effective than Windows movie maker and Lightworks. One of our team members used a free trial on this software for the second draft and said it was easy to use. However the only limitation of it is on a free trail there is a pop up of a voice and to get rid of this you have to buy a premium account which costs money. As a group we look to overcome this problem and hopefully we will be able to continue using 'Final Cut'. This type of editing software works well on Apple Macs. There were other editing software which we considered which were 'AviSynth' which works well on Windows and there was 'Blender VSE' which also works well on Windows.

2nd draft

Psych second draft: http://youtu.be/5vgFPTYLiPo

This draft was the first time we used the idea of the film Psych. We felt that the first film was pretty inadequate and we as a group decided to change our idea which is completely different from our first draft 'Fine Line'. For our second draft we decided to base it in the genre Drama/horror. The story to it is based on the flashbacks of a little kid who has been affected by surroundings in his childhood such as parents arguing, abuse from parents and other peers. We then switch to the boy when he's grown up where he draws a painting in a psychotic manner where at the end he draws a dagger in the heart but is questions the audience to who's heart it could be. For our opening sequence, we didn't consider giving too much away to the audience, letting the audience figure out their perspectives of the meaning.

Shooting schedule

For our second draft 'Psych' as a group we made a shooting schedule. We decided this would help us plan out opening sequence and keep everything organised. This schedule is split into seven sections such as Day/Date, Scene, Day/Night, Shots and summary, Location, Character and Equipment. These sections make sure we know how we plan out the scenes and the essential components needed in order to film effectively. As a group we made sure this shooting schedule would be appropriate for everyone free time. Now as a group, we hope to stick to this shooting schedule but we know their will be some adjustments when we go and shoot the draft. 

Multimedia feedback on 2nd draft

https://e.edim.co/7952575/chris_steven_james_class_feedback_draft2_psyche.mp3?Expires=1396202611&Signature=dRoVh-VchjoCS5O3VbL5THOTp0gTmgdoOk5zPgc4xm25uzsn-l0JMCRDpNWsIESivZaEEkI4ixLOu9MGIjtumjFq~AmybX6TKAwNvMkPI6IU3BIjYpNU4RCTiiDy-abIbD81npe9lMOIYkG-qnj7Ug6FObOEcQIr9jm8dDchHfg_&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJI74L7OXO7CNJA7Q

Focus Group

For our focus group we emailed a variety of people who we think would suit our target audience. We got them to fill in a table full of different questions which would require them to make positive or negative feedback. We aimed to get around 10-15 collated responses in order to take this action on and to make improvements. We got a mix results of both positive and negative feedback, where as a group we looked for more criticism to make our final draft the best we can. As a group we will come together and we will discuss sections of the film such as camera work, mise-en-scene, sound and editing and overall we will look to make overall improvements.

POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM FOCUS GROUP

From our focus group we got positive feedback. One of the positives we got from an overall perspective is the editing of the film. Everyone on a general basis though the editing was all put together very well. The sequences linked from one after the other. Also another positive response we got was the camera angles. The interchanging shots between the actor and the young boy reflected the idea of flashbacks.Our focus group liked the focus of the actor, where the use of close ups, eye line matches and establishing shots were very effective. Another positive response from the focus group was the use of casting. One thing which stood out was the similar looks of the young boy and the adult. The similar looks makes this opening sequence more realistic.

NEGATIVE FEEDBACK FROM FOCUS GROUP

Even though we gained positive points from the opening sequences there was a variety of negative feedback. One of the negative points which we collated was the meaning from the focus group. Many of the focus group members were unsure of the meaning of the opening sequence and found it difficult to interpret the situation. However, as a group we want the audience to gain a sense of the meaning of the film but we don't want too give too much away. We want too make sure we limit the amount of information we present to audiences. Another negative we collated from the focus group was the sound. The voice over for the tap was responded as unrealistic, with the dripping of the tap not being played along with the timing. Also another negative was the soundtrack that plays along with the opening sequence. A lot of the focus group thought the music didn't interact with the scenes. Also the scream at the end is another thing we look to take out of the opening sequence, where lot of people felt this was distracting and others felt the heartbeat echoing towards the end would be much more effective. The only problem which was linked to editing is the reoccurring sounds that pop up from the editing software 'Final Cut'. We had to explain the problem to the focus group and as a group we hope to look to deal with this problem. The title of the movie was also questioned. From one of the collated responses we found that the title of the movie is too basic. As a group we will rethink this situation but we think it's an appropriate title.

Group photo

From left to right: Me, Chris Malimela and Steven Lawson

Saul Bass

Saul Bass was an American graphic designer who became famous for his logos. He used simple geometric shapes in his work and their symbolisms. He often hand drew his work to create a casual appearance. His main achievement however was the way in which he revolutionized the way that people view title credit sequences.  

Saul Bass` earliest and arguably his most notorious title sequence was that of the man with the Golden Arm. In this he created an arresting image of a distorted, disjointed arm. As well as being disconnected from a body, the black arm has the appearance of being petrified and transformed into something else. Saul stated that, “The intent of this opening was to create a mood spare, gaunt, with a driving intensity… [that conveyed] the distortion and jaggedness, the disconnectedness and disjointedness of the addict’s life the subject of the film.” The soundtrack for this opening was a jazz-like score, and set against a black background, white bars appear, disappear and form abstract patterns before finally coalescing into the film’s symbol. The contrasts between the black and white heighten the loud and harsh intensity, and the separation encapsulate the mood of the main character, a downbeat drummer with a penchant for gambling and drugs. 

Link to the opening of The Man With The Golden Arm-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS76whmt5Yc

Evaluation of first draft of film

The first draft of our film actually went particularly poor.We shot this opening sequence in Summertown within public space. Our idea was meant to recall one of our actors waking up from a bad hangover and ending up outside one of the shops in Summertown. We then would film him waking up, getting up, then would film him walking off. We also thought it was a rainy and windy day which would fit in with the atmosphere of the opening sequence. The type of shots we wanted to include in our opening sequences included Pans, Close ups, eye line matches, establishing shots etc... However, since it was rainy and windy it made it hard for us to film especially when the camera was placed on a tripod. This made slight jerky movements when filming. The parts of the first draft which I thought was very effective is when our actor was walking off when the old women entered the scene and when we added the slow motion effect I thought this was the most effective part of the opening sequence. Also we used voice overs such as a sports car in the introduction which represented the cars going past. We also used a lightning voice over which represented the bad weather and his gloom when walking off.

However the pan up the characters body didn't work out how we wanted it to. This was because the panning was actually jumpy and wasn't a smooth pan up. Also the pan was slightly longer than we had hoped it would be, which may have taken the viewers attention off the film as they became uninterested. Another part of our film we may change is the music we used in our opening. This is because the soundtrack didn't really match the film we made.

Conclusively in our next draft we hope to either improve the pan we used, or get rid of this camera technique completely. We would also like to change our non diegetic soundtrack to a soundtrack that particularly matches our film opening.

Using film and analysis observations to inform our own planning

1.How many credits there are in a typical opening credit sequence? Around 30 in a typical opening.

 2.List the credits that are usually included in conventional order. Actors Director Producers Film company Production designer Music Executive producer Writer

 3. Aspects of narrative in our opening Our narrative will be a dramatic aspect.

 4. How characters are set up in opening Character will be set up in a location which exposes what kind of personality hes got.


 5.Themes of our film is that of drug and alcholoh abuse and also the fragile nature of teenages.

Target audience for our film

Our primary target audience for our film is generally for teenages at school from the age of 15-19. The reason we have set the target audience on this age is because they find the sorts of plots that we have interesting, and they like feeling the suspense and mystery of our film.  The film is generally targeted for a male audience, but it can also be enjoyed by females. Our film is primary targeted for people who live in the city rather than the countryside. This is because our film is located in a city, and people who live in the countryside may not get what the film is trying to get across, as they haven't had an occurrence like the one that occurs in the film. Our film is for an audience who enjoyed films such as: Adulthood, 21 and over and Superhood. The reason for this is that our film is linked to all these films in different ways, and is sort of based on parts of these films. Our film could also have a contrasting target audience of parents who want to become aware and educated about the kind of things that teenagers get up to in there spare. It will also give parents the chance for them to see what kind of signs there children show for them to know that they are on drugs or dealing with them. It will also give parents the chance to see how they should deal with their child, if they are on drugs or dealing with them. Some parents/adults may not enjoy parts of our film, as the film isn't really suitable for that type of audience. But they may just watch it to become educated rather than to watch it for the pleasure of it.

Focus group

A focus group is a group of people joined together to participate in a discussion about a product before its release. I will be gathering and creating a focus group of around 10 friends and family who can give me feedback on the tasks I complete leading up to the film we make.

Research into opening title sequences

The Hangover

The hangover starts with a group of drunken people in the middle of nowhere not knowing what has happened. This is very similar to the film we will be making. The opening has the theme alcohol and drugs like our film. It is also showing what occurs at the end of the movie at the start. However the very start of the film shows a wedding reception and the mise en scene of some flowers which signify weddings and happiness which contrasts from the next scene where the group of men are in the mise en scene location of a dessert panicking and not knowing where they are or what to do. Also the transition of the man on the phone in the dessert to the title of the hangover. This connotes the emptiness that the man feels, as he man looks into the sky of the dessert to find some sort of salvation only for the title of the film to be beamed across the sky. Another example of editing is in the opening scene where there slow transitions of the flowers being took out the car and the shot of the wedding cake. This connotes the calmness of the opening scene and portrays that nothing has gone wrong yet. For camerawork the pan of the wedding dress and cake clearly signifies that a wedding is about to occur. This promotes a contrast to what actually occurs in the film with the sex, drugs and alcohol in Las Vegas. Also the close up of the woman's face on the phone shows the state of panic the woman is in, and also the general she has towards the man on the phone as she is demanding to find out where her husband to be is. The music in the background at the start of the scene of the wedding, is uplifting and cheerful music, suggesting that there is a celebration or that something good is about to happen. However the next sound is the sound of the answer phone for 3 different men. This suggests that someone is trying to get hold of these men but are unable to, as all there phones are going to the well known sound of somebodies answer phone. The answer phone messages presents worry to the viewers as they are worried that something may have happened to the people who are not picking up there phones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKtHA8EFgIo

Superbad

Superbad is also similar to the film we are making as its about partying alcohol and drugs, these are all picked up in this opening scene. The themes we pick up from this opening is teenagers obsession with parties, drugs and pornography. We learn that Seth especially loves pornography. The opening shows the mise en scene of a car and Seth using a phone whilst driving car. This connotes careless and thoughtless teens as they are more worried about making a phone call then being safe whilst driving and putting themselves as well as other drivers at risk. It also puts worry towards the viewers as Seth could cause an accident by driving whilst on the phone. Also the mise en scene of the location shows a quite well off neighborhood which could be mainly occupied by people who are middle class. This is because of the reasonably large houses and lawns that are shown and because this teen is able to afford a car which suggests that he or his family are not poor. A piece of editing in the sequence is near the end where the transition of the next scene is onto a school bus. This signifies school and tells the viewers that these two characters are school students and that film is likely to be set in or around a school and likely to be school related. Also the cross cutting of the boy in the car and the boy in his house. This shows the comparison between these two friends looks and likes. For example we see that the boy in the car is very stocky whereas the boy in his house is as skinny as anything. The 2 shot of the 2 boys in the car portrays the similarities and differences between these 2 boys. For example the driver of the car is chubby and the passenger isn't, you get to see the striking binary opposites between the 2 friends. The mid shot of the boy in his house portrays his body language of not really listening to what his friend is talking about and being more interested in his breakfast. Also the sound of the boys dialogue is very typical teenager speak. For example talking about "porn", "sex", "drugs" and "alcohol", pretty much all the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQeWAZDJu8

21 and over

21 and over similarly has an opening with a group of boys wanting to go out and buy alcohol. The character who house seems threatened by alcohol and doesn't necessarily want to have it. Whereas as the others are very keen. The low angle shot of the boys dad talking to his friends suggests the overriding power and authority that he has over his friends, the friends seem particularly scared. Also the over the shoulder shot showing the face of the Chinese teen shows genuine fear and fright about talking about the subject of alcohol whilst his parents were in the house. The mise en scene of the teens backpack connotes school and school life. It also tells the viewers that these group of friends are likely to be school students. Also the mise en scene of the lighting on the dads face. This signifies that he has far more authority over the teens and that he can say what he likes without being answered back to. The background is also blurred out which makes the dad out to be some sort of God figure with the light shined on his face. The rapid cuts when the teens start talking about alcohol signify tension but also excitement on the boys account as they are figuring out a way of get holding some alcohol even though it is against the law at there age. Also the sound of silence when the boys dad walks in shows the authority and aura that he possesses. Also the frightening nature of him as everyone stops speaking because they dont want the dad to hear anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwyjBL53Mc4

21 jump street

21 jump street is about two men who went to the same school becoming undercover police partners to try to undercover a drugs mule in a school. The opening goes back to the school days of these officers and shows the loneliness of one the officers faced. Firstly the mise en scene of the school bus suggests that this film is going to be based about or around a school, the bus is a key indicator for this. Also the costume that the boy who looks like eminem is wearing, shows that eminem is his idol and he is paying tribute to him by trying to look like him. The reason we know he is trying to look like eminem is because of his bleached blonde hair and also because of the non diegectic soundtrack of eminems song "slim shady". For the camerawork in the sequence the over the shoulder shot of the boy asking the girl to prom, shows the awkwardness in the face of the girl at having to be asked to go to prom by this boy, the shot then switches back onto the boy and shows the embarrassment on the boys face. Another shot was the pan down onto the eminem look alike where the camera was first in the air but is then panned down onto this main character who looks like eminem. For editing the blurred and pixelated background of when the boy is asking the girl to prom portrays the almost surreal nature of the occurrence and also the hope of the boy that no-one else was watching but it turned out that almost the whole school was watching which promotes the embarressment even more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN_aEGCLn4Q

Finally the film American Pie is similar to our film, because it portrays the troubles and fun teens go through throughout this period. Also the pan across the teens room signifies the typical state of a teenagers with cloths and everything on the floor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LvdUekq7K8

Photomatics sequence

The photomatics sequence was done on microsoft powerpoint but I decided to upload the sequence onto slideshare. The link is found below.

http://www.slideshare.net/saintsjames/photomatics-2

Photomatics

This is the camera we used for our photomatics sequence.

This is the bloggy we used to take the picture of the camera we used.

This is our completed storyboards for our photomatic sequence.

Prelim task evaluation

Our prelimary task didnt go as effectively as we wanted it to. For example the film we recorded wasn't long enough and the picture quality was too blurry. The way we can learn from this in our real film make sure we record enough film, and also to make sure we use a proper video recorder to record our film so there isn't a bad picture quality. Another thing that went wrong in our video is that the editing software we used (video pad) wasn't the best. This led to a few obvious mistakes in the narrative. However this isn't such a bad thing as for our real film opening we have learnt not to use this software as it isn't quite good enough. We also found sound a problem in our prelim video as the dialogue between the two actors was drowned out by the loud background noise of the wind and the sound of children shouting. This background noise should have either been silenced by the editing. Or instead a piece of a non diegetic soundtrack should been installed to accompany the narrative and to silence the background noises. In our actual film opening a non diegetic soundtrack will definitely be used to match the film. However not everything went wrong in our group, for example the group had a good chemistry and the group worked well. The group was very organised and always met the deadlines that were set by the teacher. The only thing that was stopping us from making an excellent video was that we didn't film enough narrative. However as the group worked so well together, it would be great if the group could work together again for the opening credit sequence.

Continuity editing

Editing and Representation

Action match

This is when following a certain character (e.g Harry Potter casting a spell) which is a purely technical device. When a action match is used for inter cutting, it can heighten the contrasts between two different characters in two different situations.










Eyeline match

This is usually used to provide insight into a characters thoughts. For example the picture below suggests what Jamal from Slumdog Millionaire is thinking what the answer to the question is.






Final shot

This is where in any scene in which characters or a character is shown in the final shot of the sequence. This is normally the character who the audience have to identify. The image below is a final shot used in Eastenders which are usually cliffhangers.







Intercutting

This is used to draw two storylines together, this can be structured to create tension,
and therefore heighten the audience’s identification with a particular character.  In Hotel Babylon, intercutting
offers both tension and juxtaposition: just as Adam is saving his colleague’s life with a jar of jam, another African immigrant, Ibrahim, is being lost. The tension and juxtaposition lead the audience to identify with both
characters.






Jump cuts

These are rarely used in TV or film; when they are, they tend to suggest either chaos and disorder,
self-conscious ellipsis (drawing attention to the rapid pace of the action) or by a director who likes

to break the rules.






Continuity editing

A highly standardized system of editing, now virtually universal in commercial film and television but originally associated with Hollywood cinema. A key element of the continuity system is the 180 DEGREE RULE, which states that the camera must stay on only one side of the actions and objects in a scene. An invisible line, known as the 180 DEGREE LINE or AXIS OF ACTION, runs through the space of the scene.

In an instance of two people facing each over you would have a load of shots throughout the passage. Foe example: establishing shot, re-establishing shot, long shot, medium shot and two shot (shot with two people). These shots usually alternate between the two speakers, with the camera placed at more or less opposite ends of the axis of action between them.This pattern of alternating shots is called the SHOT/REVERSE SHOT.

Cross cutting and Parallel editing

Cross cutting is a pattern of editing that alternates shots of two or more lines of action occurring simultaneously in different places. For example there could be a shot of someone in pain after being stabbed, then a shot of an ambulance driving.

Parallel editing involves the same pattern of alternation, but does not necessarily imply temporal simultaneity (two events happening at the same time). An example would be contrasting two scenes of happiness and sadness.

Prelim video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRtIBLnrRWI Here is the link to our prelim task. The process of filming was done at the cherwell school with a iphone. The editing software we used was videopad. 

Codes and Conventions Menu

Genre- Horror   

Starters 

Location- A house in a small village nothing unusual about it.

Casting- Actors who have an experience in horrors, teens and adults in late 20s-30s required and preferably English actors.

Make up- For all the actors and stops lighting from shining off actors faces. Used heavily for the teens who turn into zombies.

Mains

Lighting- Natural lighting in the day, but then at night under lighting for the zombies to create horror effects and key lighting to highlight the main character.

Hair styling- Chavy hairstyles for the teens and then usual hair styles for the rest of the cast.

Costumes- Chav clothes for the teens like tracksuits, and then posh clothes for the adults as its in a posh area.

Desserts

Background- The background of the film is a forest behind the village. This creates suspicion for the audience as there curious why there's a forest. 

3D- This is because our film will be in 3D.

Set- Our set needs to be made purposefully to suit the needs of 3D. The set will also be natural and not a man made set.

Filming Preliminary Task

Our task involves us filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. The task also has to demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

 Front of storyboard

 Back of storyboard












Our story is about a man coming back to his house and wife after cheating on his wife. His wife is not pleased and acts angrily. The genre of our film is romantic, mood is tense and the title is Cheat.

                                                  The camera we will use to film is a iphone. This camera is good as it was easy to upload to a computer. The editing software to be used is called videopad.

Our Shooting schedule