Final Product

Final Product

After speaking as a group and with our teacher, we made some final adjustments to make sure that our opening sequence was aligned with the task set us.

The edits that we made:

• Fade from black with a higher contrast so the grey was not too dark
• Fade from black in scene 1 transitioning into 2
• Larger title screens
• Tightened edits
• Extra shot of an actor's face

This is our final product in full.

Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what have you learnt in the progression from it to the final product?

From my preliminary task, I feel that I have improved on planning and setting up a variety of different camera shots; before the preliminary task, I would usually plan the shots and angles at the set, but I have now learned to better prepare for shots and the general aspect of the production beforehand. I also believe that I have now started using much more original and experimental shots that make my media products stand out from my past work that usually had very bland and unoriginal camera angles.

Another very important point that I learnt during my preliminary task is that I needed to leave a buffer of about 5 seconds to make the editing process easier; before the preliminary task, we would start talking/moving immediately after the person on the camera called action, this made it very awkward and difficult to edit the videos afterwards. These buffers allow for the film to run a lot smoother which is shown by the way that all the shots blend very well together as if there are no stops between them (except for when transitions like the cross fade are used as they are meant to show the passing of time).

Another improvement that I have made is the framing of my camera shots. Before the preliminary task, a lot of the shots would have important body parts of the actors cut out of the frame, or even important props cut out; Since then, I believe that I am now able to properly frame my shots which links to my previous point as I have planned them properly. In the preliminary task, there was nothing that was cut out of frame unnecessarily (except for the shot in the alleyway where one of the actors was out of frame on purpose as he was supposed to be hidden).

In conclusion, I believe that I have made a vast improvement in all aspects, bot off and on camera. Beforehand, my tasks were very poorly planned and poorly shot, whereas now I am using diverse shots and angles that give my work an original feel. The editing is also a lot better in the opening sequence compared to previous works which makes it clear that my editing has vastly.

Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

Question 2

How does your media product represent different social groups?

Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop, and challenge forms and conventions of media products?

How To Answer Evaluation Questions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

How To Answer Evaluation Questions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

For this question, I must explain what producer's and production company's I feel would take on my film idea based on their previous productions. I must also explain why I feel this would be appropriate. 

Who would be the audience for your media product?

For this question I must address the importance of the audience and who the film is targeted towards.

How did you attract/address your audience?

This question means that i have to address what the best form of promotion would be to attract viewers.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

For this question, I must identify the types of technologies that I have used; explain the advantages and disadvantages of them. 

I could answer this question by describing my experience using different technologies such as the editing software that was used.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what have you learnt in the progression from it to the final product?

I can answer this by saying what areas I have improved in and areas that I am still able to improve.

Overall, it is very important that my group and I have a detailed understanding of how to answer each question so that I can answer each question accurately and with a lot of detail. I also need to think of unique ways in which to answer all of these questions.

How To Answer Evaluation Question 2

How To Answer Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent different social groups?

For this question, it is required that I explain why I picked the people to play the parts in the final product.  I must explain how the final product represents different social groups, therefore I need to give reasons for why different costumes and actors were chosen and how I think each of them represented different social groups.

I must also address any stereotypes that I may have included (purposefully or not) within the final product and how the final product may have dealt with these stereotypes.

Our group is going to answer and address these representations with the style of a directors commentary track, I think that this is an effective tool to use because it allows each member of the film to give their own ideals and opinions about the final product.

How To Answer Evaluation Question 1

How To Answer Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop, and challenge forms and conventions of media products?

This question requires me to express my knowledge and understanding of the forms and conventions of films and film language; and how I have used this in a film/media product of my own.

i.e. 

• Camera shots, camera angles, camera techniques
• Sound, diegetic, non-diegetic,
• Mise-en-scene, lighting, props, costumes
• Editing, cuts, length of shots

I will also need to talk about the research that I carried out throughout the course and how they impacted and changed my own final task; for example, I could explain how the actions of a director, cinematographer or actor has changed the outcome of my final product. Directors, cinematographers and actors can effect the outcome of my final product by giving me an inspiration of the type of direction I would like the film to go in.

The task allows for this question to be answered in numerous ways like:

• Audio podcast
• Review style
• Presentation 
• DVD commentary track 

Production Diary Part 7

Production Diary Part 7

The Opening Sequence

This is the final product of our opening sequence. The opening sequence itself was filmed by Michael King. We all edited the film into our template for the opening sequence that we made earlier.

Actors:

Thomas Logan

Alfie Sherlock

Will Hawtin

Production Diary Part 6

Production Diary Part 6
Editing The Final Task

To edit our film we used a program called MoviePlus.

We added in every clip that we recorded on our day of filming, even the ones that we didn't use or didn't want to use. This is because we wanted to review all of the clips we filmed to see what was best, we also had one last look at the clips to see if there was anything we wanted to improve or to see if there were any errors in continuity (which we couldn't find).

This shows all of the clips that we recorded, we recorded multiple versions of each take to make sure that we had back ups and to make sure that we could use the best take.

This is the MoviePlus timeline, it shows all the video and audio throughout the whole film, this timeline allows the user to edit where all the audio and video goes. You can also add video effects to the film. We used some video effects in our final cut, for example, we used a blurry take after the man wakes up from being hit.

Here you can also turn on and off tracks by using the eyes on each track. This means that you can isolate one track that you focus on rather than listening to all the sounds and videos at once. This makes it easier to edit and adjust the different shots to how you want them. Then you can turn them all back on and see how they interact and fit together. 

Production Diary Part 5

Production Diary Part 5

Location

As part of our pre-production we took a visit to the location we were going to film at; we previously found the location on Google Maps. We took photos of the location so that we knew where we could film all of our scenes, taking pictures also helped us plan as we were able to specifically point out what all of our visions were as they were all different. 

We chose a tight alleyway so that we could give off a sense of claustrophobia.

The only problem with the location that we chose is that it is near a busy main road, but we will be able to make it seem as if were not in the final cut.

Production Diary Part 4

Production Diary Part 4

Props

During our pre-production, props were a big focus for us.

The props were very important to us because the whole story of our opening sequence revolves around them; from the bag we use, the bat and even the files we made.

We managed to obtain a messenger bag/briefcase that was essential for production as one of our characters needed to look like a business-man.

We also borrowed a blunt weapon that we could use during the film. The blunt weapon was to be used as a bridge between scenes as the film would cut to black after it was used.

One of the most important props that we need to use was a few personnel files that we, as a group, made. These files were one of the most important props because we put a lot of detail into them. There is information contained in the files that isn't even shown in the final film, I believe that these small details add a new level of authenticity to our film as some of the information written in the personnel files won't even be seen by the audience as the camera does not give enough time for the viewer to read it. The files have enough details in them to set up the rest of the film after the title sequence, however we would only be making a short opening sequence.
This is a link to the personnel file that we made:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2QJBYdqEf1XdTFwcWNNbU1rbU0/view?usp=sharing

Production Diary Part 3

Production Diary Part 3

Scheduling + Script

We made sure that we properly scheduled for our filming so that we weren't wasting any time and so that we could make sure we knew everything that we were doing and in what order.

This is our production schedule: 

This shows all of our plans for what we are going to do when we finally get to filming our project. 

As you can see we have written out short summaries of the scene itself. We also give the location of where we are going to film, the actors we are using, the props, costume and what equipment we will use.

Script

We did not make a script with dialogue, as our film has no dialogue in it, but we did make a script of sorts. This script would go into brief detail about what would happen in that scene and what type of shots we would use, this was very useful to us as we knew exactly what we were going to do when it came to filming our opening sequence.
Below is the link to view our scene play-by-play:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2QJBYdqEf1XQjlVbFVDRzZ0cXM/view?usp=sharing

Production Diary Part 2

Production Diary Part 2

Story Board + Live Action Story Board

The story board was an important part of the production process as it gave us all a clear idea on exactly what shots we wanted to use. The story board also helped us establish exactly how our film would be formatted in a way that made perfect sense to a viewer who has no previous knowledge of our film.

Our first story board was hand drawn so we could establish exactly what we wanted before we went out and filmed our live action story board. Having a hand drawn story board saved the process of filming and editing as we were still not exactly clear on what we wanted.

This is our hand drawn story board:

After we finished our drawn story board, we started to go to work on our live action story board. The drawn story board was a necessity as we needed to establish what shots we would use before we started the process of filming and editing.

The live action story board helped us a lot as it gave us a very clear view on exactly what shots we wanted and when we wanted them. The live action story board also gives us a nice example of how the opening scene will flow.

This is our live action story board:

Production Diary Part 1

Production Diary Part 1

Brainstorming

The first step in our pre-production stage was to actually come up with an idea to film. We had to make sure that there was enough story for the opening sequence, but we also couldn't have the story be too long as we only had around a three minute time window for the sequence.

In order to come up with the idea for the film we created a mind-map and wrote down any ideas that came to our head, no matter how ridiculous the story was, or how it would even be possible to film.

This is our mind-map:

    

This clearly shows that some of our ideas were purely ridiculous and could be incredibly hard to film, but we took one idea out of all these and it has evolved to the point of a very achievable yet effective story that we are making.