questionnaire- results

edit- main section

When it came down to editing the main section today we put all of our shots onto the computer and flicked through to see what ones were unsuitable to use (for example ones that were fuzzy and contained a lot of snow). We then put them in the order that we felt matched our animatic. We had to put our filming on to iMovie at first because we found that our camera was not compatible with final cut express and therefore we edited a lot of the film on IMovie and then transferred it all to final cut express.

When editing we tried to use a variety of shot and also we tried to make our transitions between each shot a easy on the eye as possible as we didn't want it to be as harsh on the eye. Shelby and me have added a slow motion into the fighting scene we as we feel that it gives a more dramatic feel to it.

We have added sound effects to the back ground to help set the scene, we found all of the effects on iMovie and this helps to make the audience feel as if they are really there listening to what’s happening.
When editing I feel that my main role within the group was to make sure that everything was running smoothly, as we had a lot of disagreements on what we felt was best to put into the opening. I feel that if we had the chance to do it over again we should have each been given sections to edit and then tried to put it together and then given each other criticism, therefore becoming a group in the way the we edit the final piece. This would have given each of us a bigger role with in to group and helped us each to explore our individual talents with in the group.

 

audience feedback

to gain some audience feed back we have uploaded our final product to social networking websites such as; facebook and twitter. we found that we have gained a lot of positive feedback from all of our friends. 

'This film is amazing! it looks like a real film opening' Yasmin Ranger 
'I've seen this done so many times, and i still cant get over your voice! I love the continuity shot and how you also put the establishing shot in there' Rebecca Rahman- who is also a media student
'This is really good, well done girls:)' Becky Tierney

evaluation- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products (i.e of film openings.) Using Conventions:

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

 As we have used the thriller genre and therefore we have made our film try to fit within the genre as much as possible. To do this I have researched conventions and used the conglomerate that fits into the genre most and this was 20th century fox. we took shots that created tension and mystery and fit it with all the conventions of a thriller genre.

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

Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
i feel that the preliminary task has helped a huge amount in gcoming towards our finsihed product as i feel it gave us the basical skills needed in order to create unto of that to finish our final piece. i feel that the progression i have made is a big jump as at the strat of the year i had never really had that much experience in creating any type of film. i now feel confident to edit and create a movie with only a little help for my peers. the thing that i found most help was watching tutorials on youtube that showed us how to use the products.
when we came down to start editing our film we found that the camera we had used was not compatable with 'final cut express' as a result we used our knowledge of what we knew already from previously using it and put our film onto iMovie and then started to create our film and the eventually put it to final cut express to then make any final adjustments that were needed.

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

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


before starting this course I had never really done a lot of editing but I feel now I have developed my skills greatly especially now I have worked on a MAC I feel that my progress and knowledge has grown a lot. I now feel confident to edit although I was not always sure on what to do I would take it upon myself to ask around for help or start to watch tutorials on YouTube to help me understand what to do. when editing I do feel that Emma was a massive help as if there was something that I wasn't quite sure on she would know what to do as she had done media the year previous and therefore I helped her in return with the blogs. having someone in the group that knew a lot about how to use the software has helped me improve on my skills a lot buy watching and then repeating and therefore learning. I feel that I have made a significant progress in learning how to handle the mac and I know that I would like to go further experimenting more and maybe even expanding my original knowledge to much higher levels.

 
 

How did you attract/address your audience?

How did you attract/address your audience?
If we was put in the situation where this was a real production we would firstly make a film trailer, this would then be advertised for people who obviously enjoy watching television making sure that its on the most appropriate channels, for example for our film would aim to put it on channels like MTV as these are aimed at around about the same age group as our film. we would also put it on channels that play a lot of films to help spread the word about our film to people that like to watch a lot of films and play it in cinemas. we would then go on to making produce posters and merchandise to help promote the film.
to help attract people to watch our film to get comments on our film we have put it on to social networking sites such as our Facebook and from this we were able to get comments on our film to help see how people have viewed it an any improvements that we could have made to it.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
our final media product represents the typical teenage, 18-22 year olds, as it includes the stereotypical gang members right at the very beginning. therefore this ties in with the fact that we are aiming our film to be for 15-30 year olds. we have clearly stated even just a few seconds into to the film that is represented that of a young gang as we have seen the first 5 characters that are all obviously around the age group of 18, without even realising it we have already associated these teens with gang violence and by the time we reach the next scene we are in the dark with loads of flashing lights which just reassures the audience that it is all set in an urban setting. this recognition between the two factors helps us to understand that the particular social group that is trying to be portrayed here is obviously that of a young teen age group that may get into trouble later in the film.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Who would be the audience for your media product?
the target audience was decided to be around the age of 15-30 year olds. we have aimed it at quite a low age group as we feel that the older age groups would not appreciate the storyline or the fact that it is a very urban styles film. we also felt that we would not aim it for children under the age of 15 because the plot is no suitable for them to view.

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

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

we feel as a group that the institution most suitable for our media project is 20th century fox as we feel that this institution has distributed the most similar films genre wise, this is why we have used the conglomerate in our opening. we have researched and found that is the institution that has distributed the most successful thriller films. They would represent our film the best because of the conventions that we have used. we have used 'Parker Productions as our fake production team as we feel that we couldn't get another production company that suited our thriller/drama genre.
 

edit- the sounds

From the research that I have conducted on the conventions of the thriller genre we can see that a lot of the sounds that are used in the back ground of the film are there to help set the mood for a film, this is to help direct the emotions of the audience and lead them to the emotions that the character is feeling or how to feel about the situation.
the first section of our film contains a heart beat we found that this is a very popular sound effect to be used in a thriller/drama this is because it makes the audience feel awkward in the fact they are put on edge also buy making the beat speed up we are helping to build that climax. we then quickly change into a 'flat line heart beat'. From research we can see that the higher the pitch of the sound the more the audience feel intimidated and eager for the next bit and so we decided to add to the conventions we had already portrayed and add this in.


For our main piece of music we have used one of Adele's well know songs 'hometown glory' and edited the music slightly to adjust it to our genre and used one of our own group members to doing the vocals. Emma recorded herself singing to our already adjusted version of the song and from here both me and Emma took the track and added it to the film. we cut things out, sped things up etc. just to the full potential out of the song.
To edit the music we used garage band, although it took a while to get the hang of we eventually found out how to work it. we found that you can add in loops on top of the track, change the pitch tempo and cut the song. We took full advantage when it came to editing the music as we felt that we could adjust the music to fit with every section of the opening.

above is the image that shows us editing the song and laying tracks together.

our film opening

questionnaires

title shot

For our title we choses to use this font as we felt this it was a very strong bold font, this helps to show the personality of the main character. We chose to use all capitals so that the font looks a lot bolder, we didn't want to over do the font with crazy edits as we felt that this was not necessary, our research shows that a lot of the conventions of a thriller show to be a very strong font rather then fancy writing and edits. This is because the want to portray the seriousness of the events. 

To edit our titles Emma and I grouped together to choose the font, we narrowed it down t0o a few similar fonts and then chose the one that we liked best, we brainstormed why we liked each one and what one would suite the genre most. In the end we chose to use Copperplate Gothic B. 

character representation- Rapheal

Rapheal 

• clothing- Raph is wearing what a stereotypical boy of his age would wear, we can see throughout the film he changes his clothes but they are all around the same style and colour to make sure that there is no confusion caused to the audience. From this clothing we can see that his is represented as being very young and therefore the audience can understand and use their recognition to figure that the film will included all that of a drama genre. We got Raph to wear the hat and the scarf so that we could cover as much of his face as possible without making it obvious that we are trying to keep him a mystery. 
• good/bad?- the opening of our film shows Raph to a very confused, angry boy with an extreme short temper. From the first few minutes we cant quite see whether he is a character that we can route for of whether he a character that we should be against. by the end of the opening we start to feel sorry from him as we can see the fact that he is starting to regret what he has done and when he wakes up in bed we start to feel sorry from him in some manner. This is why we have filmed so many point of view shots to help the audience feel as if they are him helping them to understand what he is feeling. 
• age/profession- Raph is around the age of 18 and as an audience we can see this obviously by the clothes that he wears and the body language that he portrays. Although we never hear him speak in the opening the way that the setting compliments the urban sound around him we imagine him to have that stereotypical London accent. we cannot yet see what profession he has, but it is not that relevant to the story. 
• personal life- from the fight scene the audience can tell that he is obviously a boy that has been through a lot and that he is obviously struggling in day to day life meaning his personal life may be quite hard. 
• personality- we see a big personality from Raph, we can see that he is a very aggressive boy that needs a lot of attention. we see that he is putting on a big front to make everyone feel that he is a very strong person, but after when he is walking along the street we can see that hi is a very withdrawn person thats trying to intimidate people to make himself feel better.  

credits

credits-

• A Parker Production
• Raphael Michael
• Cihan Isikgun
• Edited By Rupert Wride  
• Music By Katie Frost
• Written By Edward Taylor and Shelby James
• Directed by Emma Frost

filming location

for our filming location we choose to use the sovereign Blvd as our filming location as we felt it was necessary to have it is a busy place with a lot of traffic so the we could have an urban/street feel to it. we made sure that we did it quite late so that it has that stereotypical feel of teenagers walking the street at night. In our film we have included a lot of stereotypical things and most of them are contained with in to the location we have set it in. For example we have the bright lights, and the dark setting around it to show the urban scene and we also have the loud noises of cars in the background to show the night life of the city- these are just a few of many that you will be able to spot through out .
one of the things that we have to watch out for when filming in the lighting as we are shooting outside. we are going to have to film all on the same day and make sure that we are able to get a constant lighting throughout so that it doesn't seem scattered.

exact shots

• In the first 5 shots there is quick shots that help introduce all of the characters. from these shots we have most of them as about the waist shots or full body shots this is so that the audience have quite a detailed view on the characters but so that they can also see what's happening around the characters and the settings. A lot of films tend to use a panning shot to start off to show the audience the scene but we decided not to use this as we felt that we could use one later we wanted to introduce the characters first.
• the next shot is a shot that reads 'A Parker Production' this is to introduce the makers of the film as we have found from research that all films contain this.
• we will then see a still shot of cars passing, this shot is also to help set the scene for the audience and help them get a film for the city/urban genre. We then finish this shot with a zoom into lights to help carry onto our next shot as we feel that this would make an easy transition between shots.
• the next shot is a shot above the waist of our main character. We have decided to use this shot because it makes him seem really strong as he is facing straight down into the camera lens, we then zoom into a close up of his face to help get every detail as he swings the bat at the camera. this will help the audience feel they are part of the film.
• we then transend into a shot that shows the fighting scene this is just a simple two shot of people fighting this helps the audience to see everything that is going on instead of confusing them with quick cuts.
• this is when we reach our panning shot, this is a panning shots of different lights on the street to help with he urban scene and nature of the film.
• the out of focus effect will give us an advantage later in the film as it goes with the confusion that the main character is experiencing and how he is feeling lost etc.
• we switch back to one of the previous shots but this time with the cars going in a different direction to show the passing of time and the reversing that will come later in the film.
• we then see a shot of the camera moving from the bottom to the top of the screen and then focusing on a extreme close up of the cars moving forward.
• the next shot contains the main character dropping the bat that he has used in the fight scene the shot does not contain his face as we feel that the audience may concentrate on his facial expression rather then the fact that he is dropping the bat.
• we then see an unfocused shot of him walking away to show the confusion of the situation that he is in and to help portray his feelings.
• we then turn to the front of him making sure that we obeyed the 180 degree rule. he starts running  towards the camera and goes past this will make the audience feel that he is running past them as if they are an onlooker.
• we then fade into another panning shot that follows the direction in which the main character looks. this helps the audience to see what he is seeing and also helps them to see through his eyes and how he if feeling.
• switching to the opposite side we obey the 180 degree rule and it shows him looking back from where he has come from.
• we then have a point of view show, we felt that we need to make the audience feel as if they know what the main character is feeling as much as we can and this is why there are is so many point of view shots.
• we then see an close up that transends into an extreme close up to show the fact that the character is obviously upset and feel lost, confused and dazed and this is where we can see why the unfocused shots tie in.
• we then get all the shots in reverse to show the fact that the character wishes that he could go back in time to change everything that has happened.
• we then see a close up shot of him waking up in bed dazed.
• the shot then appears with a zoomed up image of a phone with a message reading 'this isn't over' this is to show that what has happening isn't a dream and then the cycle starts again.
• the final shot is of the title that reads 'hometown'.

Edit- heart beat section

we started editing our footage today we started by using all of the first section clips that we had gathered and picking the ones that we most favoured when we ran through them we found that we had a bit of an issue with some of the lighting in some clips. The lighting ended to over contrast in sections. Firstly we put them in the order that we wanted them in and then we started to adjust the lighting of the shots- we did this by adjusting the contrast and brightness levels. we then added the heart beat effect behind it, we found this effect on the sound effect options and put it so that the beats sped up as the shots were about to finish, this is then when we added 'flat line heart beat' to add that of tension and as the flat line came is our shots transcended to a black screen. In-between each of the shots we added a black faded in and out screen quickly to help our shots move smoothly.

conventions

Conventions

we can place films into different genres by looking at the conventions that have been followed within that specific film, these are common effects or similarities that are portrayed during the film. our film will be a mixture of both a thriller and a crime drama. Crime drama quite often comes under the thriller genre. The genre thriller has a wide range of different sub-genres that can come under it, for example horror. other examples of films that fall into the thriller category are films such as the silence of the lambs. 

 

camera angles- a lot of thrillers contain the famous birds eye view shot, also known as the helicopter shot. This is how directors normally show that there is some sort of chase scene happening and there is some sort of danger, it is also a good way of changing shot or scene. another shot that is used a lot in thrillers is that of different heights this is so that the audience can get a clear understanding of who to feel intimidated from and who to thrive for. Most camera angles are to help the audience with what if going on helping them to see from different perspectives and in a thriller, most are to make the viewer feel there are part of the scene.

 

titles- most of the titles that fallen into the thriller genre start on a plain black screen, from this we instantly use our colour representation to realise that the colour black portrays death, danger and tension. the darkness helps to immediately build tension as the viewer does not know when the shot is about to change. all films contain the film companies initial logos and credits followed then with either the names of the most popular actors or in chorological order of when the actors appear. 

 

camera movements- panning and tracking are commonly used in thrillers as it creates the feeling the the character is being either followed or they are following someone, it is a very good way of creating tension. these shots are often used when they are following characters through busy places or crowds. quick cuts are another commonly used convention in a thriller as this also helps to build tension in the film. the most tension that is created in a thriller films the more often the film is a success. zooming in onto important pieces if information is a key in thrillers as this helps the viewer to not miss anything, often in thrillers it is important for the audience to know what is going on otherwise they can become lost and the film becomes uninteresting.

 

lighting- lighting changes constantly through out the film but normally we see a more bright setting when the 'good guy' is on the screen and when the 'villain is being portrayed we normally see the cliché of the dark hideout or darkened den.

 

shots- long shots are the most often used in thrillers as it gives the audience and idea of where the scene is taking them, as thrillers often have a very detailed story line it can be hard for them to follow,So by using a long shot the viewers become familiar with the settings. we also see a lot of close ups this is so that we are being showed accurately the details and the emotions on a characters face, this can be key when following the story- this shot also helps because shots at are maybe further away the audience may miss key information.

 

setting- when it comes down to settings there isn't a specific setting that all thrillers have in common. it is more about where its set- most are set in the city where there is a lot of loud noise and lots of lights. it is most common for the thrillers to have a lot of night scenes and for this to happen they need suitable light this may come down to the light from cars ect. the weather is also used as an indication of how the film is going to play out, just as when we see rain in a scene it often means that something sad is happening. 

 

sound- music is often added to have an effect on the viewer watching, different types of pitches can be used to do this. the higher the pitch the more awkward and tense the view will feel and the more soft and normally low the more relaxed the viewer will feel. the editors normally use non-digeric sound to help them understand how the character is feeling.

 

cuts- directors normally tend to use jump cuts so that the audience can see everything from different perspectives meaning that they wont miss out on anything.