2. how does your media product represent particular social groups?

my character, although he doesn't appear in the opening, is the kind of character that would appeal to zombie fan or fans who enjoy fantasy like creatures. there something mysterious about it and people like characters like that. i based it on the grim reaper. this type of character would appeal to goths or emos. teenage males mostly. but it would appeal to older men  as well who like the comic side of it.

1. in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions or real media products? (i.e of film openings )

my first key frame is the first shot in the sequence and i like it because of its framing. i like the way the camera tracks from the centre of the barrel and slowly moves out of it, keeping the barrel in the centre of the shot. it reminds me of the title sequence of twelve monkeys and it is where i got the idea for it from. twelve monkeys is a very fictional mystery story which is what reaper is so the shot kind of ties in with that.

my second key frame is the shot of the bomb shelter. i like it because of the lighting. the way the shot starts dark an then slowly gets lighter looks visually stunning. the shot took a while to set up because the windows on the left side had to be in shot as well as the door at the end. i really like this shot and i think that the lighting is fantastic. it did take a while but it was worth it.

my third key frame is of an old defense wall. it wasn't in my storyboard but i thought it fitted the narrative better than some of the othershots. i like this shot because of the setting. it really feels secluded and dazzling visually.

my fourth key frame is the shot of the army vehicle and i chose it because i like the narative behind it. the idea behind reaper was that he was a war veteran so the fact that there's a shot of an army truck ties in with his past and fits the storyline perfectly.

my fifth key frame is a pan shot of bomb shells, and i like this because of it's camera movement. i did numerous takes of this shot during filming and the first one was the one i was most happy with.

my sixth key frame of the oil drums and such was chosen because i like the transitions. i think that the fade in and out looks really well done in this particular shot. the contrast effects i put on the shot itself looks fantastic as well. it looks really grittyand the colours remind me of that of sin city. very bold colours but look really earthy and almost dirty.

my seventh key frame is of the gas mask and i chose this because i like the props in the shot. i borrowed the gas mask from one of my friends and it works perfectly with the storyline and the past of the main character who used to be a war veteran. the gas mask reminded me of the doctor who episodes with the little boy and the gas mask. that was filmed in world war 2 london so i thought that using a gas mask that looked similar would help show audiences that hes a war veteran.

the eighth key frame is of the ground leading up to the hand scene and i chose this because o the effects. it isn't a floor at all, it was actually a work surface covered with leaves but you wouldn't be able to notice with out me saying so. it took a while getting it ready before filming but i'm very happy with the results. it fooled everyone i've shown so far and thats what i wante to achieve.

my nineth key frame is of the film title and i chose it because i like the typography. i think the font i chose stands out and at the same time looks epic which reflects the main character in a way and the film because the story behind it all is very far fetched on a big scale. the way the title comes in is a bit like the waythe titles come in for harry potter films. the fade in and zoom effect works well to draw your attention to it. i think it works well in my film.

4. who would be the audience for your media product?

the level 2 group that i showed all liked my surprise at the end and when i asked them they said that it made them want to watch on and were interested in what the film had to offer. this is what a film opening should do so i've attracted my audience by making them and to watch on.

the way i addressed my audience was by making it look visually dark and make the music create a mood. a mood in which people enjoyed and said fitted with the genre.

4. feedback sheet

what kind of genre do you think this film belongs to? why?
horror? action film? zombies?

who do you think the target audience of this film would be? why?
teenagers, similar age to me

what is your favourite image from this film? why?
the bomb shelter shot is good

if you were to borrow one idea from this film for your own film making project? what would it be and why?

the scene setting before it the film starts is good.

4. feedback sheet

what kind of genre do you think this film belongs to? why?

creep and maybe a zombie film

who do you think the target audience of this film would be? why?

young people, because this film seems like a scary, jumpy genre

what is your favourite image from this film? why?

the beginning with the muddy bucket, i like how the camera tracks out, it gives it an alien feel, but the ending with the hand gives a zombie feel.

if you were to borrow one idea from this film for your own film making project? what would it be and why?

i like the hand coming out the ground. it's a great shot and dramatic effect.

4. jake and jim feedback

today two film makers (jake and jim) came in to watch our film opening and give us feedback. this was an eye opener because it was nice to hear someone's say who understand the industry.

after watching my film opening, although impresses, he did have some criticism to give. he believed that the music was a bit too dramatic. he thought that when it started to get tense and dramatic, it made him feel as if something was going to happen. his advice was that if i were to do it again, maybe have slightly less dramatic music and when the hand comes out of the ground, have the music jump in as well. although saying that, he said that because of that, the hand popping out was more surprising because he didn't expect that to happen due to the music being dramatic early on. I'm happy because that is what i wanted to achieve. i wanted that hand to make people jump.

he liked the contrast of the shots and thought that my location was fantastic. he liked my titles as well. he thought that visually they were interesting and he thought that it was good that they were spread out.

information cloud - people who helped me

information cloud - people i helped

invoices

throughout this project we used an invoice system that meant that if we helped someone on their project, we would get it marked down and we would get credit. it was a way of showing that we could work together which is more like real life work in he mdia industry.

because we were set a deadline, it wasn't easy to do everything by yourself so willing help was needed.

the images above are about the people i helped and the people who helped me. the way it works is the bigger the persons name, the more times either i've helped them or the more time they've helped me. a font size of 12 for example means that i've helped them once. a font size of 36 equals to 3 times, and so on. the closer they are to the centre refers to the feedback i got from them regarding my services. if they are near the centre, it was clar and good feedback. if they are near the outside of the centre, it wasn't very good feedback.

invoice questions

identify three practical/technical skills you feel you would like to work on developing. how could you organize this for your next project?

working sound. i had a go at doing it during this project but it didn't go so well. 

choose three people in the class that you did not assist or receive assistance from this project. ow could you go about identifying ways in which you could be of assistance to them on their next project?

3. what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? how did you attract/address your audience?

5. what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

garage band:

although the music was a piece of non-copyright music (composed by Paul Farrer), i changed the volume and pitch in garage band and added drones over it to create more depth and atmosphere. the sound for my production logo was made on garage band as well. 

after effects:

this project was the first time i was introduced to after effects and it took me quite a while to get the hang of it. i used it to create my production logo. i had no need for after effects for my actual film opening. when creating my production logo, i wasn't sure how to add a texture on to a solid. i found playing around meant that you could find your own solutions. after finding out how to add a texture, i added motion and then asked a class member how to use the light. i am now comfortable with after effects, however the tools i used were very simple compared to what some people can achieve.

final cut:

the editing software i used was final cut. i was familiar with final cut before starting this project but there were still some things i wasn't sure about. the contrast on some of my footage was too bright and i had to change it. i wanted to make it look more gritty and dark to fit with the genre and mood of the film. after invoicing someone to show me how to do it, i changed the contrast on all of the footage and i'm very happy with the results. the footage before was very amateur compared to my final piece. although i'd never put motion onto titles before, i was pretty sure how to do it. the titles i wanted over my tracking shots had to be very specific. i wanted it to slowy get smaller as the camera was moving away. i found out how to do it with no problem what so ever and the end result looks promising.

blogger:

blogger is the blog posting website we used to store everything we did for this project on. planning and research along with the links to the videos we made on youtube. it's an easy way to access all the work we've done and is very easy to use. i had trouble at one stage on how to put numerous photos onto blogger but overcame this problem by simply making the photos smaller.

youtube:

youtube is the website we used to add our films too. it's a public broadcasting website so anyone can access our films. it means we can get feedback and get real criticism that we can work on it. again, it's a place where we can access all of our films so it's easier to locate certain things. with everything online such as videos and blogs, it's easy to refer to them because you can easily just add a link to it.

macbook:

without my trusting macbook, i wouldn't have been able to do half of my project. it's what i did my research on and it's what i did editing on as well. most of my project has been done during lesson time so my mac has been used and taken advantage of greatly. 

HD camera:

this project was the first time we used these cameras and i fell in love with them instantly. before these we used smaller cheaper cameras. although they were okay, they weren't good enough for the scope that i had in mind. the HD camera's have so many different capabilities, it made filming far more experimental, and interesting. the sound was the part that i struggled on more than anything else. i got used to pointing the microphone in the right direction but surround sound was still irritating. i didn't use my footage with the sound recorded in the end though because it simply wasn't good enough. ad i believed that it didn't need it either.

all of these things have integrated to help me finish my film opening. 

evaluation

in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? ( i.e. of film openings)

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
my film is dark and has a orchestral/ heavy metal soundtrack so it would appeal to social groups such as goths and grebs. it would also appeal to people who enjoy the genre. people who go to comic book conventions and enjoy the glossy sketched out feel from comics.

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

the one i had in mind was Warner Bros. because they did a lot of tim burtons films such as Sweeney Todd and the old batman films. they have distributed other films of the same genre such as the dark knight and watchmen.

who would be the audience for your media product?

my audience is teenagers around 14-15 years of age. mainly due to the action and suspense that people of that age enjoy. the film doesn't necessarily have a strong story line but because of the attitude of the main character and the atmosphere of the film, the audience will enjoy the thrills. i believe that adults will enjoy this film as well because the comedic value will be mostly intelligent humour, moslty from the main character and villain. some people from the younger audience might not fully understand the humour.

how did you attract/address your audience?

the music played in the beginning sequence is very dramatic and loud which reflects what the film is going to be like. the film is going to be fast-pased and action-packed. the overall mood and look of the opening is dark and eery. this would attract the social groups that would find it appealing.

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

i've learned that filming the sequence isn't the most important part. the planning process is one of the most important part. i believe that without the planning and commitment to the idea the film won't be as good. if you don't understand where the film originated from you can't fully understand the film and then it will flop. it was the first film i did planning for, so i found that the final film came out better with the planning than past projects. i also learnt that you should experiment with ideas and always get too much footage while shooting. if you have the equipment at the location, you might as well try out different angles and new shots while also referring to the storyboard as well. the storyboard is a vital part as well. on location if you don't have the storyboard your missing the point of doing all the planning because all of the planning and priliminary ideas went into the storyboard.

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

i learnt that you must never lose interest and stay loyal to your initial ideas. you should always be enthusiastic about it as well and give it 100%. if you give it 100%, the final piece will always look better. you should always shoot more footage than you need. we were aiming for 2 minutes on this project and i got about 11 minutes including 2 scenes i didn't use in my final film opening.

what i changed

to begin with i was going to have a short scene where two teenagers find the reaper and confront him and that's when you find out that he isnt bad. the reason why i decided not to use this in my film opening is because i didn't feel it needed it. the hand at the endsets the tone for the rest of the film. you don't know what it is yet so it creates atmosphere and tension. it also makes youwant to watch on becasue of the mystery behind it.

not only did i not feel my opening needed it, but the sound wasn't very good so i felt that if i used it, it would ruin what was a perfectly good opening anyway.

what would i do differently

if i had more time to work on my film opening, i'd work more on the contrast. make it slightly darker looking and then possibly play around with black and white and see how that looks. the introduction to batman returns is in black and white ad has the same theme and genre as mine. it's the same idea, its mostly pan shots and trackig shots of the sewers. it sets the location for where the film is going to be set. that's what my opening is trying to achieve. batman returns was part of my inspiration.

final film opening - reaper

this is my final film opening after i'd worked on improving it. using my feedback i managed to develop the sound track so it wrks better with the film and the contrast has been improved. i've added the titles and the film title is now on as well.

what i need to do to improve my film opening

i need to concetrate on putting in good titles. the font has to work with the films theme and genre. i need to adapt the contrast level on some of the shots because it looks too bright at the moment and doesn't look professional enough. it isn't at a high enough standard. i need to play around with the music somehow so that it works with the flow of the film opeing. the hand popping out scene needs to be more dramtic so i'll need to play around with the music for that scene.

i need to put my prodution logo and long road logo at the beginning of the film as well. i'll slow down some of the footage to avoid making it look shaky.

feedback from rough cut

we watched all of our rough cuts through class and had to give feedback so we could maximize our films potential by making them the best we possibly could. the feedback was another way of getting someone elses opinion so it was a good thing to do.

different people had different things to look out for and give criticism on. for example, there was sound, camera, mise en scene, editing and titles.


sound:
.music works well but might be too dramatic for what your film opening is showing.
.music is good but gets dramatic quite quickly, should peak in towards when the had pops out.

camera:
.good establishing shots and could framework. i like the blend of shots although i think it was a bit shaky at one point.
.lots of good track and pan shots. the slowness helped set the scene.

editing:
.good transitions between shots, works well.
.the contrast of some of the shots is amateur looking and needs improving.
.the hand scene at the end needs to work with the music, at the moment it doesn't.
.the shots should be darker to compliment the dark genre.

titles:
.there aren't any titles and needs them.
.needs a font that works with your genre.

mise en scene:
.good choice of loation, has a sense of mystery about it.
.not too much is given away, the hand at the end is a good ending for the opening. good way to start the film.

moment im proud of

the part of my filming that made me feel good was when i was prepping my actors on what they had to do for my scene. when i went to film it they did exactly what i wanted so it made me feel as if i was doing a good job. unluckily the scene that i'm referring to didn't film because i had problems with battery and it didn't record which is a shame.

tips for next time

always give yourself enough light to film at night

don't be afraid to change your ideas

look back at what you've filmed before you go to upload it

overall, how did the shoot go?

overall i think the shoot went okay. it could of gone better but i managed to get everything i wanted done. even with the problems i faced, i managed to still get some footage of the same idea. the problem i came face to face with tought me that things don't always go the way you plan. you need to be smart though and rethink what you can do with the resources you have.

i enjoyed filming and found the camera to be easy going. didn't have any problems with it at all. if i were to do it again i don't think i'd change anything. i might try and film the hole in the ground if the water was evaperated but i'm happy with what i got instead of it.