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."
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The main character, Niall is the perfect example of a teenager. He wants freedom, to live by his own authority, to do what he wants, to go where he likes and to do things his way. These characteristics of individuality are ones that can be seen in all teenagers and the social group as a whole.
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). Teenagers often to music as a way of trying something new and different. Something Tangible that they can work with a mold to express themselves. This is one of the main reasons we decided to have Niall as an aspiring guitar player, and with very few possessions his guitar is obviously something very important to him. This enabled us to use the guitar as a clear symbol that represents this individuality. He's casually dressed in what he feels comfortable in (he wears what he likes, when he likes).
I believe teenagers, with some exceptions, like to dress themselves in a certain way that they wish other people to view them in. Some teenagers dress brightly and flamboyantly with lots of colours and different styles. Others do the exact opposite and choose darker, plainer clothes possibly because they're trying to keep their head low. This is the exact way I wanted my audience to view Niall. He's not noticed by others and he makes his journey from his house to the park because that's precisely what he wants! he doesn't want attention; he just wants to start a new, and do his own thing.
Teenagers are complicated, misunderstood, perplex beings which you would imagine would be very hard to translate on screen, but actually it allows for me to represent my character in practically any shape or form due to the diversity of the social group.
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). Teenagers often to music as a way of trying something new and different. Something Tangible that they can work with a mold to express themselves. This is one of the main reasons we decided to have Niall as an aspiring guitar player, and with very few possessions his guitar is obviously something very important to him. This enabled us to use the guitar as a clear symbol that represents this individuality. He's casually dressed in what he feels comfortable in (he wears what he likes, when he likes).
I believe teenagers, with some exceptions, like to dress themselves in a certain way that they wish other people to view them in. Some teenagers dress brightly and flamboyantly with lots of colours and different styles. Others do the exact opposite and choose darker, plainer clothes possibly because they're trying to keep their head low. This is the exact way I wanted my audience to view Niall. He's not noticed by others and he makes his journey from his house to the park because that's precisely what he wants! he doesn't want attention; he just wants to start a new, and do his own thing.
Teenagers are complicated, misunderstood, perplex beings which you would imagine would be very hard to translate on screen, but actually it allows for me to represent my character in practically any shape or form due to the diversity of the social group.
Monday, 28 March 2011
Character Costumes
We want our character to suit a look of a teenage boy that loves music, has a relaxed attitude towards life, and wears casual clothes to reflect that. We want to show this in his clothing.
I've drawn a picture of the image I have in my head of what Niall should look like. The clothing is casual, and looks like someone who acts that way, but is ready for anything. His attire looks like it would be an easy way to stay warm, but at the same time comfortable, and easy to travel in.
There's another image below, which is an example of the kind of shirt/hoodie I'm looking for.
I've drawn a picture of the image I have in my head of what Niall should look like. The clothing is casual, and looks like someone who acts that way, but is ready for anything. His attire looks like it would be an easy way to stay warm, but at the same time comfortable, and easy to travel in.
There's another image below, which is an example of the kind of shirt/hoodie I'm looking for.
Further Location Research
I went out to certain areas around Norwich and took photographs of locations we had previously discussed and were enthusiastic about using in the film, as well as some other possible locations.
Picture 1 was the shot I was most keen on finding. This is where the opening two minutes finishes and ends and had to right. It's a plain bench, no graffiti, no litter, no rubbish bins. It's quite obviously in a park, and the natural background of the trees, the grass and the bushes give a tranquil and calming feel which fits in perfectly with the song we have chosen and the ethos of the opening itself.
Picture 2 & 3 are similar shots of paths and walkways within Chapelfield Gardens and for me just confirmed that Chapelfield Gardens is the right choice of location for what will make up most of our opening.
Chapelfield Gardens was a location we already knew well, and didn't need to think about too much. The real location research was to find locations within Norwich that would work well for the shots where our character (Niall Fletcher) has left home and is walking towards the park through various locations in the centre of Norwich. Most of the possible locations I found were alleyways or quiet streets, but Picture 4 is a location that particularly caught my eye as I believe it has the makings for what could be a strong sequence to fit into the opening. The bridge has the potential to be shot from below, showing Niall walking across the bridge but filming the shot from below. The tunnel below the bridge has a lot of interesting looking graffiti in it and if I was to film on a sunny day like when I took the photograph, I think a shot of Niall walking from the dark tunnel into the light outside could look really impressive.
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| Picture 1: Bench - Chapelfield Gardens |
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| Picture 2: Scenery shot - Chapelfield Gardens |
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| Picture 3: Scenery shot - Chapelfield Gardens |
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| Picture 4: Bridge off an estate near the forum in Norwich |
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Release Forms
I will use the following release forms when conducting my short film productionand research.
Location Release Form
I hereby give consent for the following property........... to be used in the filming of Strange World...........by Tom Dallas During the period of (dates)...........Signed...........Print...........
Image Release From
I hereby give consent for my image to be sued as an on screen performer in the filming of Strange World...........by Tom Dallas...........During the period of (dates)...........Signed...........Print......
It is very unlikely that i'll need these release forms because we are filming the video in a public park which is available for anyone to use without permision. The forms would be needed if i wished to film on a location that was privatley owned.
Location Release Form
I hereby give consent for the following property........... to be used in the filming of Strange World...........by Tom Dallas During the period of (dates)...........Signed...........Print...........
Image Release From
I hereby give consent for my image to be sued as an on screen performer in the filming of Strange World...........by Tom Dallas...........During the period of (dates)...........Signed...........Print......
It is very unlikely that i'll need these release forms because we are filming the video in a public park which is available for anyone to use without permision. The forms would be needed if i wished to film on a location that was privatley owned.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Production Company
We have decided to name our production company Optimus Productions. This is because 'optimus' is the latin word for 'the best'. And we want our project and production company to be THE BEST! We have created the logo and background for our production company which will we show at the very beginning of our film...
Music
Pitch!
We had to pitch our idea for our film and 2 minute opening to our media teacher and two other senior members of staff. The following week we recieved positive and negative feedback from how our pitch went:
Positives
- Fantastic location ideas
- Certainly fits the target audience
- Good overall idea
- Appeals to couples - lucrative market
- Good ude of powerpoint
- Clearlypassionate about idea
- Potentially a great opening 2 minutes
Negatives
- Don't run away with your passion for the project, make sure you listen to people's advice
- Make sure you have a mix of ages...Parent actor needs to be convincing. Parents are huge facotrs in young people's lifes and shape development.
Our media teacher also announced the 'top 3 pitches' and the 'top 3 ideas'... And our pitch and idea happened to be in the top 3 for both which was was ver encouraging! This gave us further confidence in our idea and we believe we can make a great fil opening.
Positives
- Fantastic location ideas
- Certainly fits the target audience
- Good overall idea
- Appeals to couples - lucrative market
- Good ude of powerpoint
- Clearlypassionate about idea
- Potentially a great opening 2 minutes
Negatives
- Don't run away with your passion for the project, make sure you listen to people's advice
- Make sure you have a mix of ages...Parent actor needs to be convincing. Parents are huge facotrs in young people's lifes and shape development.
Our media teacher also announced the 'top 3 pitches' and the 'top 3 ideas'... And our pitch and idea happened to be in the top 3 for both which was was ver encouraging! This gave us further confidence in our idea and we believe we can make a great fil opening.
Locations
The first part of our opening is set in the house of Niall. So we are going to use one of our houses that we live in. The house is in tacolneston where we live so we'll have no problem getting to the location as we already live there!
The other part of our opening is set in a park. So we identified two different parks in the city that we thought would be suitable for the film. The two parks we came up with were Eaton Park and Chapelfield Gardens. We need to make a final decision on which of the two parks we wish to use as our location of the setting.
Actors
We were looking for a male aged between 16-18 to play our main character named Niall Fletcher. We imagined Niall as a good looking and rather stylish guy so that was what we were looking for when finding an actor to play the role.
In the end we decided to use Jack Gould as our actor as he fit the look we were going for. He's also featured in a small film before so he has acting experience and has been in front of a camera before. He also got an A grade in this drama GCSE suggesting that his acting skills are more than good enough. He is also a good friend so we know he is going to be reliable and he is very easy to contact when arranging dates.
In the end we decided to use Jack Gould as our actor as he fit the look we were going for. He's also featured in a small film before so he has acting experience and has been in front of a camera before. He also got an A grade in this drama GCSE suggesting that his acting skills are more than good enough. He is also a good friend so we know he is going to be reliable and he is very easy to contact when arranging dates.
Genre
Genre is a creative strategy used by film producers to ensure audience identification with a film. Genres are constantly renegotiated between industry and audience. Genre functions like a language in the sense that it has a set of rules and a vocabulary with which to organise meaning.
Initially we found it hard to categorise our film into a genre, as it has elements of different genres. It has clear elements of romance, with adventure as well as our character Niall Fletcher struggles to stand on his own two feet. The relationships he has with other characters like his girlfriend, his father, and the other characters he meets during the film and goings on between them would put the film in the category of a drama. Combining these areas of the film we have come to the conclusion that our film is a romantic adventure.
Initially we found it hard to categorise our film into a genre, as it has elements of different genres. It has clear elements of romance, with adventure as well as our character Niall Fletcher struggles to stand on his own two feet. The relationships he has with other characters like his girlfriend, his father, and the other characters he meets during the film and goings on between them would put the film in the category of a drama. Combining these areas of the film we have come to the conclusion that our film is a romantic adventure.
Initial Idea
Inspirational Films:
Pursuit of happiness - shots of Will Smith walking through streets like we will have have our character doing.
Forest Gump - sitting on a bench similar to what we aim to do in our opening sequence.
Our Idea - Our initial idea is to have an opening shot of a 17 year old teenage boy holding and playing a guitar. This is a close up shot of the guitar where the audience can just see the his fingers strumming. The camera zooms into the hole of the guitar and the screen goes black. Then we jump to the show the guy's journey from his house to the the park. The opening sequence finishes by the screen going dark and then the shot coming back out of the guitar and zooming out shot by shot showing him sitting on a bench, in the middle of a park during the day.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Preliminary Task
We needed to do a preliminary task in order to show the 180 degree rule and eye line matching!
ACTION PLAN!
What has been done so far:
We have made a final and confident decision on what we are going to do for our film. And we have a location sorted (either chaplefield gardens or eaton park). We have found the actor that we want to use (Jack Gould - our fried who is very good at drama and has featured in a small film before!). We have also decided the music/song in which we are going to use during the opening. We found a unsigned artist on youtube that we liked and his song. We sent him an email and he replied saying he was happy for us to use it. We have also created a mood board and we have done the story boarding. we have done the initial audience research which has helped us decide what we are going to do for our film.
What needs to be done:
When we go to our locations to film we need to make a short video saying why we want to use the location and how it fits our idea and storyline. Ideally we'd like to get a focus group and film them giving us feedback on our idea and giving us any advice based on their preferences when watching films. we also need to write out the script in proper. Then all is left is to film and edit!
Schedule:
1st March - Write out final script.
We have made a final and confident decision on what we are going to do for our film. And we have a location sorted (either chaplefield gardens or eaton park). We have found the actor that we want to use (Jack Gould - our fried who is very good at drama and has featured in a small film before!). We have also decided the music/song in which we are going to use during the opening. We found a unsigned artist on youtube that we liked and his song. We sent him an email and he replied saying he was happy for us to use it. We have also created a mood board and we have done the story boarding. we have done the initial audience research which has helped us decide what we are going to do for our film.
What needs to be done:
When we go to our locations to film we need to make a short video saying why we want to use the location and how it fits our idea and storyline. Ideally we'd like to get a focus group and film them giving us feedback on our idea and giving us any advice based on their preferences when watching films. we also need to write out the script in proper. Then all is left is to film and edit!
Schedule:
1st March - Write out final script.
Monday, 14 February 2011
Analysing other opening sequences
Halloween- VERY simple opening with the black background and the pumpkin being the only shot. However, the music is very effective and that's what makes the opening sequence good. The music, pumkpin and black background give us an extremely spooky and creepy feeling which fits the genre and storyline.
This showed me that the opening sequence doesn't always have to be very complex! This is anextremely simple opening sequence yet it is still very effective. It gives you a scary and creepy feeling before any characters or setting is even introduced.
This showed me that the opening sequence doesn't always have to be very complex! This is anextremely simple opening sequence yet it is still very effective. It gives you a scary and creepy feeling before any characters or setting is even introduced.
Tuesday, 1 February 2011
Synopsis - Strange World
Niall Fletcher, a 17 year old boy, has just been dumped by his long term girlfriend who he was in love with and literally obsessed with. To add to his troubles, Niall ad his father are always having arguments about why his mother left the family.
The story starts off with Niall and his father having a huge argument which results in him collecting his few belongings including his guitar and leaves home. He goes to the local park where he usually busks to think about what he should do with himself and his future.
He leaves to go and see his friend to seek advice about what he should do next, and his friend says he can stay at his for a few months until he has enough money to move out and start a life of his own. Niall needs to get money, and fast. He begins with braking into his house and taking anything of value from his room to sell, including his xbox, his TV, his stereo, his laptop, and any expensive designer clothes. He considers stealing from his father, but thinks better of it and leaves with what he's got.
The story starts off with Niall and his father having a huge argument which results in him collecting his few belongings including his guitar and leaves home. He goes to the local park where he usually busks to think about what he should do with himself and his future.
He leaves to go and see his friend to seek advice about what he should do next, and his friend says he can stay at his for a few months until he has enough money to move out and start a life of his own. Niall needs to get money, and fast. He begins with braking into his house and taking anything of value from his room to sell, including his xbox, his TV, his stereo, his laptop, and any expensive designer clothes. He considers stealing from his father, but thinks better of it and leaves with what he's got.
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