The main aim of the preliminary task was to become familiar with continuity and the 180 degree rule. It was also a good oppurtunity to gain more expereince in camera work, editing, and getting a good performance out of the actors. The preliminary video was only a short peice and only ivolved basic camera work and a small variety of shots.
In my preliminary, I used very basic editing skills when editing the footage. After watching the preliminary weeks later, i realised that when it came to editing my final peice, i needed to inlcude many special effects when edditing to make it look more professional and more complex! In my final peice, I used many effects such as cross dissolve and many other transitions.
My preliminary video had a very limited variety of shots as it mainly consisted of close ups. Although close up shots is great to show a chatacter's featurs and emotions, i realised that my final peice needed to have a much bigger variety of shots in it. In my final peice, there are establishing shots, close ups, cut away shots, sceneray shots, mid-disatnce, long distance and many more. This made it a more interesting watch as the whole peice didnt consist of one type of shot.
My final peice contained A LOT more mise-en-scene than my preliminary video. The preliminary video had a very limited amount, if not any mise-en-scence what so ever.. so i realised that in my final peice i definitely needed to change that and thats exactly what i did - i PACKED it with the good old mise-en-scence. Some of the mise-en-scene in my final peice included the shot under the tunnel where Niall walks from the dark into the light, signifying how he's walking into a new life which will give him hope. I learnt that mise-en-scene is definitely one of the most, if not the most, important ingrediant when making a film to create the certain mood you're looking for!
In my preliminary, i discovered that sound and music is a major contributor to setting the mood of the peice. The sountrack in the prelimanry completley transformed the video from being a poor watch.. to a very good watch! The soundtrack worked perfectly with the video as is set the mood to just how i wanted it to be. This made me realise that i needed to do the same in my final peice. As i was aware that the soundtrack was such an important element of the 2 minute opening, i spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect song. I finally found a cover of the Coldplay song 'Trouble' performed by the unsigned band Obadiah Parker. The song fit the opening perectly and it created the exact mood we were hoping for.
Monday, 9 May 2011
How did you attract/address your audience?
In order to address an audience, first I needed to find out exactly what that audience is, and to do that I needed to place the film within a genre. This was more difficult than expected as the film idea had elements of romance, adventure and possible comedy. This turned out to be an advantage as it allowed me to attract a wider audience.
The opening of the film is very much centered around Niall leaving home and his dysfunctional relationship with his girlfriend. I believe the ethos of this opening is what would attract teenage couples to come and see the film. Another main audience I wanted to attract and later address was teenage boys as they have the potential with this opening to relate to what Niall is going through. Every teenage boy can relate to the feeling of wanting independence, getting into trouble, and experiencing different situations, characters and environments for the first time. This opening sequence was addressing those teenage boys directly.
Although the film is about a 17 year old boy and his gritty journey to find his way, and could be easily compared with gritty teen dramas like Skins; I think the innocence of the opening (the slow start, the mystery behind where he's going, the location shots, etc.) would be something that may attract older viewers who may watch the film and see themselves 10, 20, 30 years previous and symmpathise with what he's going through.
The opening of the film is very much centered around Niall leaving home and his dysfunctional relationship with his girlfriend. I believe the ethos of this opening is what would attract teenage couples to come and see the film. Another main audience I wanted to attract and later address was teenage boys as they have the potential with this opening to relate to what Niall is going through. Every teenage boy can relate to the feeling of wanting independence, getting into trouble, and experiencing different situations, characters and environments for the first time. This opening sequence was addressing those teenage boys directly.
Although the film is about a 17 year old boy and his gritty journey to find his way, and could be easily compared with gritty teen dramas like Skins; I think the innocence of the opening (the slow start, the mystery behind where he's going, the location shots, etc.) would be something that may attract older viewers who may watch the film and see themselves 10, 20, 30 years previous and symmpathise with what he's going through.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Througout the whole process of planning, reasearching, constructing and evaluating my film, the internet was my main source of gathering information and reasearch. Popular sites such as youtube and wikipedia gave me great understanding and step by step methods to allow me to complete many tasks such as editing and filming!
The HD camera I used to shoot my two minute opening was easy to use and produced high quality, high definition footage. Having never used a video camera before, getting to grasp with keeping the camera steady and using the tripod when possible was something I needed to learn in order to make sure my piece didn't look amateurish and unprofessional. Learning about camera angles, and therefore how to position the camera, possibly using the zoom feature on the camera was another thing that through trial and error I quickly picked up on what did and didn't look good. This enabled me to try and attempt different and maybe more adventurous shots.
When it came to editing the software I used to edit my piece was iMovie. Having never edited before I struggled at first to use the software but having practised doing my preliminary task I found using it when editing Strange World was easy and useful. With iMovie I could cut and trim clips to the length I wanted them, add titles, create various transitions, import music, and piece little elements together to design my final cut opening two minutes. Although iMovie was easy to use and quick to pick up which was great for initial use, as I developed my skills and wanted to do more, I found extra professional tools were lacking and perhaps should have used another editing software.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Specialising in UK independant films, Momentum Pictures is a brand of Alliance Films. It has become one of the leading UK distributors of independant films, releasing around 20 films per year. Successful films that have been distributed in the past by Momentum Pictures include Lost in Translation and P.S. I Love You. It also ditributed the film The King's Speach which won Oscars in 2011 which means my film would be in VERY good hands. The company has recently been purchased by Paramount Pictures, which is obviously a globally well known and successful media institution.
This would be the perfect media instiution to distribute my product as it is known for specialising in UK independant films and thats exactly what my movie is. My film also has a very similar target audience to P.S. I Love You, as there is a lot of romance involved and its aimed at the couples market, which was very successful being distributed my Momentm Pictures.
Also, BBC films and Film4 would be good as they are both very interesting in making UK youth movies and thats exactly what my film is! Similar to the programme Waterloo Road (BBC), my film is a product that all teenagers can relate to so i'm sure BBC films would show interest in distributing my Product.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I orginally decided that the target audience would be teenagers. This is because I found out in my initial research that teenagers like to watch films where the character is of a similar age so they can try and relate to him. The main character in my film, Niall Fletcher, is 17 years of age so I was targetting this film at a similar age.
Also, reserach shows that 16-30 year olds are the most frequent cinema goers. Because of this, I wanted to aim the film at people within this age bracket to make sure I took advantage of the fact that they go to the cinema most often.
As well as teenagers being the traget audeince for my product, I also aimed the film towards couples. This is because couples is a lucrative market in the cinema indusrty. At the start of the film, Niall is depressed about his long term relationship with his girlfriend coming to an end. The element of romace in the film will appeal to couples and younger teenage girls looking for love!
I also wanted this film to be an inspiration to teenagers, or anyone who just wants an escape from their everday life. This film shows people that there's nothing stopping people from going out into the real world and acheiving something new. Teenagers are constantly trying to understand who they are and what they desire to do and achieve. This is something that is reflected in the film (the idea that Niall can run away from home and start a life of his own, on his own).
In my head, this is what I imagine to be the model/ideal viewer of my film..
"Mikey,17, and Emma,16, are a young couple who have been in a long term relationship for just under a year. Both are very popular at their schools/colleges and are in love with eachother. They both get frustrated with their parents and constantly want to be with one another instead of with their families. Mikey plans on going to university whilst emma is hoping of becoming a professional dancer."
Also, reserach shows that 16-30 year olds are the most frequent cinema goers. Because of this, I wanted to aim the film at people within this age bracket to make sure I took advantage of the fact that they go to the cinema most often.
As well as teenagers being the traget audeince for my product, I also aimed the film towards couples. This is because couples is a lucrative market in the cinema indusrty. At the start of the film, Niall is depressed about his long term relationship with his girlfriend coming to an end. The element of romace in the film will appeal to couples and younger teenage girls looking for love!
I also wanted this film to be an inspiration to teenagers, or anyone who just wants an escape from their everday life. This film shows people that there's nothing stopping people from going out into the real world and acheiving something new. Teenagers are constantly trying to understand who they are and what they desire to do and achieve. This is something that is reflected in the film (the idea that Niall can run away from home and start a life of his own, on his own).
In my head, this is what I imagine to be the model/ideal viewer of my film..
"Mikey,17, and Emma,16, are a young couple who have been in a long term relationship for just under a year. Both are very popular at their schools/colleges and are in love with eachother. They both get frustrated with their parents and constantly want to be with one another instead of with their families. Mikey plans on going to university whilst emma is hoping of becoming a professional dancer."
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