(Presentation)

Our presentation

This is our presentation for our opening to our film, in this we will be talking about our film. We will include information on our initial ideas, what we liked, our strengths and what obstacles we found. In the second part of the video we were given feedback from others that are also taking the course in our class. The feedback included camera shots, sound, editing and more in both positive and negative ways where we could improve them.

From the feedback we were given we were surprised with what the audience had to say about our film. For example, they said that the music worked well with the characters actions in the short film which surprised us because we thought that the music was too loud in certain parts of the film which drown out other sounds in the scene. We were also surprised when the audience said that they enjoyed the sound effects towards the end of the film, we were surprised because we believed that the sound effects weren't realistic enough to go into the film.

From the feedback given we were also surprised when the audience said that we needed to improve on our camera work because in certain scenes they said that the camera was shaky which we partially agreed on with the audience. However, most of our scenes were filmed using a tripod which helped steady the camera. The audience also said that some of the long shots dragged on too long during the film which we didn't agree with because we did it to create tension.

(Evaluation 9)

Directors Commentary

In this video is our opening two minuets of our film with some directors commentary. The commentary will include what we liked about the film and what we enjoyed about our media project.

(Evaluation 8)

What targets will you set yourself for G324 next year?

For next year we will set our selves some targets that will need to be completed for our second year of the course. Our first target for next year will be to create an trailer for the film that we did for the first year, we will need to make sure that the trailer is detailed and gives the audience information about the film and the characters in it. To make progress next year we will need to make sure that throughout the process of making our media trailer we would have to have a stronger structure and to make sure that we don't need to go back and re-film certain parts that we missed out or just needed to be re-filmed.

Some things that we will need to do differently from last year is that we would need to make sure that when we film a certain scene the audio needs to be much clearer so the audience can hear it with out having to turn the volume to the highest. This means that when we use speech in a trailer we need to speak up louder so the camera can pick up our voices. We could also use a better camera when filming our trailer because the one that we used wasn't the best at picking up sound which mean't in some scenes it became really difficult to hear the characters speaking, this means that if we use a better camera it will improve both the audio and quality of the trailer.

To improve our film making for our next production we will make our music more realistic because we want the tension to become more realistic so the audience can become more engaged into the film/trailer. We will also improve our camera composition because we want to use more camera shots and angles within our film making because we want to improve our camera techniques. Mise-en-scene could also be improved because the area where we first filmed kept being interrupted by dog walkers and trains going past, we will try to find a better filming location that is secluded from other people, our costumes could also be improved because in our short film the antagonists costume wasn't really dressed well because he was dressed too casually to fit into the role of a bad guy. Lastly editing could be improved during the next year by adding some special effects that will make the film more interesting for the audience to watch.

(Evaluation 7)

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learn't in the progression from it to full product?

Shot types- In our preliminary task we used different shot types for example we used a medium shot of the character walking down the corridor which allowed you to see the characters full appearance, we also used close ups of when the characters were talking to each other, this allowed us to show the characters facial expressions. In our full product of our opening two minuets we also used different camera shots like the over the shoulder shot which was used when the main antagonist was walking towards the main protagonist, we decided to use this camera shot because it allowed us to show the facial expressions of the character who is just about to be attacked. We also used a POV shot (Point of view shot) which allowed us to show the audience what the character is seeing, which is used when the antagonist is punching the protagonist at the end of the film.

Editing terms and techniques- In our preliminary task and full product we used different editing terms and techniques, for example we used the 180 degree rule, match on action, shot reverse shot, cutting and fading. We used all of these terms and techniques because we wanted to make both our preliminary task and full product to the best it could possibly be and to develop and improve our editing skills.

180 degree rule- In our preliminary task we used the 180 degree rule which was used when both of characters were talking to each other leading to the camera changing to each person. We used this because it allows the audience to have a greater sense of location in the scene and this would create less confusion for the audience. In our full product we used the 180 degree rule when filming most of the film, we did this because we didn't want to confuse the audience when filming because if we didn't use the 180 degree rule it would make the film look scruffy and untidy.  

Match on action- In our preliminary task we used match on action which is an editing technique used for continuity editing, this creates a visual bridge for the audience which draws the viewers attention away from the slight cutting issues. We used this when we used a close up of one characters hand opening a door and then cut to him walking through the door on the other side, this shows that the scene continues into a different room with out any big cuts. In our full product we used match on action when we used a fade to black just after the main protagonist hides behind a tree and link to back to the antagonist who is on the floor.

Shot/reverse shot- In our preliminary task we used shot reverse shot, we used this when the characters where talking to each other in the room. We used this with the 180 degree rule because we wanted to retain continuity by not distorting the audiences sense of location with the characters. In our full product we used shot reverse shot during the film especially during the first minuet when we had both characters meeting each other with fast paced editing and music.

(Evaluation 6)

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

In this image above it shows you what equipment we used to film the film and programs that we used to edit and upload the film.

Editing program and techniques

To edit our film we used a program called Adobe Premiere Elements 10, we decided to use this program because we found it easy to use and work with. On the program we used editing techniques like cutting, fading in, fading out, transitions and special effects. For example at 5 seconds into the film we used an editing technique called a transition which allowed us to change the original colour of the image and have it fade into another colour, we decide to use this editing technique because it made the production company look professional and effective to the audience. We also used fade ins/outs and the cutting tools through out the remainder of the film to make the scenes run more smooths with out having any large cuts from scene to scene. For example we used the fade in and out tool at 45 seconds into the film, we decide to use it hear because it linked the two scenes together with out making it look messy and unprofessional. We also used a special effect on our production company at 0 seconds, we decided to make it glow around the text which made it standout and look more appealing.

Equipment

To film our opening two minuets we used a camera that we obtained from our school and also a tripod. We used the tripod to make the camera more stable instead of holding it with our hands because it will reduce the sway of the camera. We didn't re-record any sounds to make them more audible, instead we decided to source sounds from a website.

Programs

We used programs called Adobe Premiere Elements 10, YouTube and Blogger. We used Adobe Premiere Elements 10 to put together the clips that we recorded and to edit the scenes together, this helped us put together and build our film. We also used YouTube during the making of the film because any video's that we made we uploaded it to the platform for people to see. The last program we used was Blogger, we frequently used Blogger because we needed to post any work that we did to the site, this meant people were able to follow what we were doing when we updated our blog.

(Evaluation 5)

How did you attract/address your audience?

This is our annotated opening scene to our film, in this opening of our film we will be talking about our genre conventions, the use of music, similarities to other movies and our unique selling point or our opening to the film.

(Evaluation 4)

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our target audience is aimed for teenagers over the ages of 15 because our film contains

Action thriller films tend to be slightly more popular with a male audience and we think that our opening would have appealed for the following reasons:

Empathising with characters:

Our opening scene gives the main protagonist prevalence through out the scene because it allows the audience to empathise with the main protagonist. We also have lots of close ups of the main protagonist which also makes the audience empathise with the character.

Escapism:

When the protagonist first escapes the antagonist the audience question if he is going to manage to truly escape from the antagonist. This makes the audience forget about their real life problems and concentrate on what is going on in the film. 

Entertainment:

Our opening scene is entertaining because there is a chase scene which leads up to a fight scene at the end, the film is also entertaining because the film has lots of action in it which will draw the audience in. The music in the film is also entertaining because it builds up tension in the audience.  

(Evaluation 3)

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

Our production company is called KRC Production, we came up with this name when we decided to add our initials to the production name because it was easier for us to remember and because it was more catchy. We made the font blue because it stood out on the black background which made it easier to read and see. The font for the 'KRC' part was called adobe caslon pro and added bold to it to make it stand out, we decide to go with this font type because it made it look smart and clear to read. We also made the font size 217 because we wanted it bigger than the 'productions' because we believed that the 'KRC' was more important. The word 'productions' was in a font called bold italic, we decided to go with this font type because we wanted the 'KRC' part to standout more than the productions. The font size was also smaller at the size of 68 because we thought it looked better smaller and under neath the 'KRC'.

Production companies are used to help create their film and to assist in budgeting, scheduling, casting and more. They are also responsible for finding a director and the majority of the cast/acting talent, however they are also responsible if any goes wrong with the filming.

The idea of a film distributor is to help advertising, merchandising and delivering the film to the market by promoting the film using. Film distributors also produce the reels of the films and send them to as many cinemas as they can. An example of a film distributor is Warner Bros, they help advertise films and send them out onto the market while also funding the film productions. The money for our film 'Knocked Out' would of  been funded by our  production company which is KRC Productions and Red Tree Productions. A film distribution company like Netflix may decide to fund our film because they are a huge online distributor that will buy the rights to films that are made by small independent film companies and will post it on to their site naming it an Netflix Original film so people can watch it.

In our film we have various titles that pop up with each others names and jobs, for example we have both production companies added in the titles as well as the actors names, camera work, directed by and written by. We will need to put them in order of what we think is the most important. We put them in the order of Production companies, directed by, written by, camerawork and lastly the actors which took part in the film.

Our film is similar to the film 'Taken' because it is an action thriller film which involves a main protagonist who is turning to stop the main antagonist from causing harm to people around him. The main characters are also similar to each other because they are similar in appearance and their roles in the film. Our film is also quite similar because the production companies are not extremely popular with audiences, the production companies are Canal+, M6, EuropaCorp and RatPac-Dune Entertainment. 

(Evaluation 2)

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The first image on the left is the main protagonist from our film and the image on the right is of  Liam Neeson who is the main protagonist in Taken. We decided to compare these two characters because the film genres are the same which meant we could compare it easier and to see if the characters have any similarities or differences in their appearance, costume or role in the film.

There are some similarities between these two characters in the picture above, for example in there appearance, costume and their role in the film.

Appearance- Similarities between these two characters are that they appear to look similar and have the same type of body build/structure. Both of the characters have serious facial expressions which make the characters look threatening.

Costume- Similarities between the two's costumes are that they are both wearing the same type of coat/jacket which makes them look interesting and like they are the good guys. These types of costumes also make the characters look smart and well educated due to the clothes worn by the characters.

Role in film- Similarities between the two characters roles in the film are pretty similar because they are both trying to find out why they are being attacked by the antagonists. Another similarity is that they are forced to use violence in situations where they don't really want to because they don't want to fight and cause harm to others.

There are also some differences between these two characters in the picture above, for example in there appearance, costume and their role in the film.

Appearance- Differences between these to characters in there appearance is that Liam Neeson is taller and older than our character in our film, another difference in there appearance is that Liam Neeson looks more mysterious because he is in a darker and misty area compared to our character who is out in the day time.

Costume- Some differences in the costumes are that Liam Neeson's characters has a better quality coat/jacket which is made from leather, compared to our character who is wearing a less quality fabric. This makes Liam Neeson's character look smarter and more stylish to the audience.

Role in film- The differences between the two characters roles in there film is that Liam Neeson's is trying to save someone who has been taken by his main antagonist and he has to try and get them back at any cost, compared to our character who is trying to find out why he has been attacked by his main antagonist when he's done nothing.

(Evaluation 1)

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

Title of our film

Our media film title subverts the conventions of media film titles because normally the film titles appear at the end of the dramatic opening scene, where we've added the titles at both the beginning and end of the scene.

Setting and location

Our location for our film conforms the conventions of a typical action thriller film because the area was pretty excluded from the public and wasn't very busy. The area that we decided to pick was very open which mean't we had lots of space to film.


 Costumes and props


Our costumes conform the conventions of an action thriller film because our main antagonist (on the right) is wearing clothes that hide his identity which makes him mysterious. The main protagonist (on the left) is wearing smart clothes which makes him look professional which conforms conventions because main protagonists look well dressed to show they are good.

Camerawork and editing

This is our second production company 'Red Tree Productions' which conforms conventions because it makes the film look professional. To get this we copied an image of a tree from the internet and pasted it onto a black back ground on Adobe premiere element 10, once we did that we added the writing to the image and added some affects onto it make it look more professional.

In this picture you see an over the shoulder shot which conforms the conventions of an action thriller movie because it has a stare down between the two characters which will lead to an interaction between the two.




In this picture you see a close up of the main antagonist which conforms the conventions of an action thriller movie because you get to see the facial expressions of the character which shows you how he feels about the other character.

In this picture you see a medium shot of the main protagonist leaning from behind the seen, you also see that the imaging is fading out. This conforms the conventions of an action thriller movie because during the scenes they would have affects that fade the image in and out.

In this image you see our main production company which has some special affects on it to make it stand out and look better. This conforms the conventions of a action thriller movie because there production companies have special affects on there productions as well. 

Title font and style

The font we used made the productions stand out and easier to read, we decided to go with this font and colour because not many other production companies go with this so we thought why not be one of the first.

Story and how the opening sets it up

This is a long shot at the beginning which establishes the setting and one of the main characters in the movie. We wanted the audience to be able to see the profile of the character so they could get the first impressions that he was the main protagonist.

Genre and how the opening suggests it

Our film genre is action thriller, our film opening suggests this because it includes a chance scene which leads to an fight scene. This conforms the conventions of a action thriller film because there is usually some kind of fight scene between both the antagonist and the protagonist.

How characters are introduced

The characters were first introduced when the protagonists was walking down the path and the antagonist jumps out of now where and starts to attack the protagonist for a reason the audience doesn't know. This conforms the conventions of a action thriller film because the characters are introduced to each other and usually leads to a fight between them.

(Our opening two minuet film)

Opening two minuets 

Are opening two minute film is called Knocked Out which is an action thriller film, we came up with this name because at the end of the opening two minutes the antagonist knocks out the protagonist. This creates confusing because the audience wants to know what has happened to the protagonist which also engages the audience because they are left on a cliff hanger. In the opening two minutes you see the protagonist walking down a small foot path and is then stopped by a stranger who comes out of nowhere which confuses the protagonist because he doesn't know what is happening and what is going to happen. The antagonist then walks up to the protagonist and pushes him, then the protagonist pushed him back knocking the antagonist down to the ground, then he runs away and hides behind a tree. Next the protagonist finds a tree and hides behind it which he is using to try to use so he can jump out at him, the antagonist then wakes up and follows the protagonist where he believes he has gone. When he reaches the tree the protagonist jumps out and pushes the antagonist which causes him to stumble and walk backwards, then they stop and fight which ends up with the antagonist getting beaten up and left of the floor. But at the end he stands back up and knocks the protagonist out. 

(Time sequence)

Time sequence

Filming session 1- Wednesday 23rd November 2016, 12:10-13:50

Scenery vlog 1- Wednesday 30th November 2016, 12:10-12:30

Filming session 2- Wednesday 7th December 2016, 12:10-13:50

Filming session 3- Wednesday 14th December 2016, 12:10-14:30

Editing session 1- Tuesday 3rd January 2017, 09:45-10:45 and 14:15-15:15

Editing session 2- Monday 9th January 2017, 11:05-12:05

Editing session 3- Tuesday 10th January 2017, 14:15-15:15

Retake session 1- Wednesday 11th January 2017, 12:10-13:10

Editing session 4- Thursday 12th January 2017, 14:15-15:15

Editing session 5- Tuesday 17th January 2017, 09:45-10:45 and 14:15-15:15

Retake session 2- Wednesday 18th January 2017, 12:10-13:10

Editing session 6- Monday 23rd January 2017, 11:05-12:05

Editing session 7- Tuesday 24th January 2017, 14:15-15:15

Editing session 8- Thursday 26th January 2017, 14:15-15:15

Editing session 9- Tuesday 31st January 2017, 9:45-10:45 and 14:15-15:15

Editing session 10- Monday 6th February 2017, 11:05-12:05

Editing session 11- Tuesday 7th February 2017, 14:15-15:15

Final editing session 12 - Thursday 9th February 2017, 14:15-15:15

Finish- Friday 10th February 2017

(Representations in our film)

Representations in our film

Asian stereotypes:

In our film there will include an East Asian antagonist who will be trying to stop the protagonist who is European. Some East Asian stereotypes are....

• Intelligent
• Hard working 
• Determined
• Sinister
• Martial arts
• Obsessed with electronics
• Quirky
• Physically weak
• Ruthless
• Lacking emotion
• Submissive women

This means that in our film we will need to include some of these stereotypes to make the film more realistic and stick to the stereotypes set by East Asians. This will appeal to the audience because they would want to recognize these stereotypes and it will appeal to them more.

White British stereotypes:

In our film there will include an White British protagonist who is trying to escape from the antagonist who is East Asian. Some White British stereotypes are....

• Affluent
• Educated
• Socially awkward
• Restrained
• Moral
• Rational
• Arrogant
• Represses

This means that in our film we will need to include some of these stereotypes to make the film more realistic and stick to the stereotypes set by White British. This will appeal to the audience because they would want to recognize these stereotypes and it will appeal to them more.

(Institution for our film)

Our Institution

This is our institution for our film which was created on adobe premiere elements 10, we created this by going onto paint and creating a black background and saving it as an image. We then uploaded the picture on to adobe premiere 10 and made it the first clip, then we added the text to the black background with a font which stood out to make it easy to see. We then decided to edit the text so it faded to black at a certain time and added extra text on to the next slide which would fade in after the first part finished, this next part would also fade to black and then the title of the film will appear and fade out leading to the next production team. We also added a transition to the clip which was called glow harsh which created a glow around the text which made it stand out.

We then decided to add another production team to our film which was added into the institution for our film at a later date. We did this by getting an image of a red cartoon tree and putting it into paint, we then decided to make a boarder to go around the image to make it stand out and fill the outside in black, we next added our text to the image and then saved it as an image. Next we opened adobe premiere 10 and pasted the image in twice because we needed to make on of the images black and white so when we added the transition to the clip it would turn it into colour which will make it stand out and look cool.