Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Final Piece Upload
The screenshot below shows us uploading our final piece and changing the information to finalise it for Youtube.
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Josh's Evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Before starting this project we had learnt the conventions of a thriller film for example sound and editing. We knew it was important we showed the conventions otherwise we would not attract any audience and our film would not be successful. The thriller we made shows gang warfare and crime conventions and the antagonist opposing against the protagonist. However we believe we have also challenged and developed some conventions to make sure our final product would be unique.
Used
We followed and used the Enigma Code convention in our thriller film. The Enigma Code is used to create mystery throughout and get the audience asking questions, it also helps build suspense and makes the audience to keep watching, which we thought was key. I believe they use this convention in The Silence of the Lambs. They make the audience raise questions about why she is running through the woods, the audience think she is being chased when she is just training on an assault course. We believe that we have used this convention as we make the audience feel the antagonist is being chased throughout the forest and is going to attacked were as in fact the
people chasing are working for him. This shows creating tension by making him feel as if he's being watch throwing the audience in to a false sense of danger.
Another convention we used was a psychological convention of the character waking up and all the previous scene had been a dream. This is a very popular idea as it is seen in many films. In our thriller film these dreams or nightmares as they could be turn into reality and the character ends up trying to escape from his own dreams. We relate to the audience here because the audience fear this and would not want it to happen to them. An example of a thriller film that shows this idea is Inception. They make it so the antagonist cannot escape from his dreams and it becomes reality. The dream sequence is shown at the end of our opening, the character is hit by a baseball bat we make the audience think that it should be the victim of this assault waking up from the dream when intact it is the antagonist who committed the crime, this makes the audience intrigued once again.
Developed
We also develop some of the conventions of a thriller film. A convention we develop is music we feel the music and sound was very important as it helps build tension. We decided to use Drum and Bass as we felt it would be suitable as the opening involved action and was very fast paced. If we had a slower scene then drum and bass would have been very unsuitable and the audience would dislkike it. We developed the music because instead of just stopping the music when he takes the headphones out we fade it and make the sound heard from just outside the headphones. When he puts the headphones back in we make it feel like you can hear the sound as if you had the headphones plugged in. A film that does this really well is Attack the Block. They match sound with screen play as he takes out his headphones individually to answer his phone.
Another convention we developed in the opening sequence of the our media product was the Mise En Scene. Normally in a thriller you would expect people in suits chasing a character through a busy city as showed in inception. We decided it would be good if we made the men in suits be running through a forest. We did this to build a sense of mystery and make the audience raise questions. We developed a normal scenario of a thriller film by flipping it and making the audience realise the men were in suits. We found from our research and planning that in Inception this happens and we thought we should be a bit more exciting and try and draw the audience in a bit more by adding a sense of unexplained mystery.
Challenged
We also thought we should show creativity and imagination by going against some normal conventions of a thriller film. A way in which we did this was by changing the title credit. From the research and planning we found that almost all thriller films the companies involved would be shown first followed by the title of the film, then credits for the actors, cast and crew. Although this does seem to be sucesful we decided to go against
this by displaying all the opening credit right from the beginning and then the title for the film being shown at the end.one of many other films that do this is Jaws. They decided to do this because it does create tension. We display the title of our film when we do because it fits in well with the theme and the knock on the door when the character wakes up from looking and seeing 3:13 on the alarm clock. By putting the title in an important part of the sequence we attract all of the audiences attention.
A final way we challenged a typical thriller
convention is by adding in action in from the start of the film, this would not be done right at the beginning because as you could say our thriller is more a psychological thriller. Another film that does the same as this is James Bond: Casino Royale. It starts off with a fast tempo to instantly make the scene more exhilarating. By using a chase scene we drag in the audience because they want to know what happens next. We then getting into the proper psychological story when the antagonist wakes up from the action based dream.
The tension and suspense built from the chase is cut all of a sudden and built into a more interesting and bigger picture. We do this to put ideas in the audiences heads and make them keep watching until all the information is revealed. Which makes it more intriguing to the audience.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We decided to lay this question out in a Wikipedia format we thought this would be a good idea because it will differentiate our product. It shows that our media institution does not lack imagination and we have creativity shown without our coursework. Below is the link to our wiki-spaces page.
http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Andromeda
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The ideal audience member of our film would be very different from other genres such as romance. For example they would be of different age, different hobbies and different beliefs and values.
Age
The age of our ideal audience member would be between 15-25 years old. We thought because our film is quite exciting and intriguing it would much rather suit the younger generation than the older generation. Elder people may find watching this film uncomfortable as they would not have the same interest as our ideal audience member.
Gender
The ideal audience member would be a male this is because they would be more interested in the content in the film than females. However there would be a proportion of female audience as our film will be interesting as links to true stories.
Class
The class of our ideal audience member would be middle/lower class however they will aspire to the middle/higher characters in the film. Many people will give our ideal audience member a certain stereotype because of their class, gender and age. our ideal audience member may have committed a few petty crimes in his life but this could be because of his tough upbringing.
Location
The location of the ideal audience member would be in the suburbs of London although he would much prefer to live in a richer part of London. He has recently moved into his own apartment without his parents. He sees drug deals around his area very regularly however there is often police paroling this rough area.
Interest, hobbies and pastimes
The ideal audience member goes to a mediocre college within London however he is failing all of his subjects but normally somehow gets good results. He is interested in violence and crime and wants to live up to what he sees in films. He's also interested in money, music, games, clothes and cars. His favourite music genres are rap and drum and bass. He goes out a lot with his mates and is very interested in girls. He also enjoys watching and playing sports such as football.
Appearance
The ideal audience member of our film is very wary of his appearance and likes to have a good image he spends a lot of money on top designer clothes.
Money
He finds it hard to hold down a good job but he has had one is the past. He spends most of his money on his car the he very much values. He enjoys often purchasing clothes and spends money on drink and illegal substances.
Beliefs and values
The ideal audience member is an atheist and thinks he can do what he wants when he wants, he often abuses the law. He values respect from his family and close friends.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
See annotations on our final product to see how we attracted our audience.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Now I am finished the final product I am able to evaluate the final product and how various technologies had helped us along the way. During the research and the making of the product i used many software programs that i would not have been able to use without the Apple iMac. We also would not have been able to produce as good quality without the HD cameras we used.
Final cut express
Before we started i really was confident on using Final cut express however it was a program that we need to use to edit the footage we had recorded. However soon after we had been taught the basics for the preliminary task I felt I had picked it up well. I was able to play around and manipulate clips. I learnt how to use techniques by looking at tutorials on Google and YouTube for example i know how to put in cross fades and change the audio. Consequently after using this software on a regular basis I am now able to add effects and transitions and trim and audio video. Without Final cut express we would not have been able to produce a product that easily.
Blogger
I had no previous experience with blogger but it didn't take long to get the hang of it. I thought it was a really efficient place to update my work for other people to view. I found it really easy to adjust the layout as well as changing fonts and pictures. It was also very useful to embed videos. It helped me as i could put all my research for the main product in one place, it was easy to look over all of my work and helped me work well
with other people in my group.
Adobe Photoshop
Before starting the project i was aware of photo shop but had only used it a couple of times for old graphics work. However it is incredibly easy to use as all the tools are labelled for instance you can upload a picture from the internet and edit the colors and add special fonts. It helped us to create our group production companies logos which made our final piece have a professional look. I am now confident of using Photoshop by myself and feel that i would be able to create many more logos.
YouTube
Another technology that helped us extremely well along the way was YouTube. YouTube is known worldwide and a large percentage of people know how to use it. I already had a lot of experience and background knowledge with YouTube, I already knew how to add annotations to my videos, trim video times and embed YouTube videos. Without YouTube we would have not been able to publish our product get back as much feedback which would have consequently meant our product would not have been as good. It would have also effected the amount of research and planning as I did a lot of research via YouTube for example looking at the opening thriller fonts of Se7en and The Dark Knight.
Prezzi
Another technology used during the process of constructing our product was Prezzi. Prezzi is a presentation software website which makes it easy for the reader to pick out key information. Before the project i had never heard of Prezzi, it took me a bit of time to get used to and at first i thought it was a bit pointless but after constructing a few presentations i thought it was very useful and was different from just writing it up in essay format all the time. After this project i am now able to use Prezzi very well and make presentations with ease I feel it is a good idea because it is less boring and can be read by any audience.
Facebook
Along with other social networking sites such as Twitter, Tumblr and Myspace we used Facebook in the process of constructing our media product. I already knew how to use Facebook as I use it on a regular basis to keep in contact with friends, I didn't really learn anything new although i was able to create a group with just the people in my media project. Facebook benefited our group as it helped us have joint discussions and live meeting over the internet. It was really useful as it let us update each other on what was happening if one another wasn't present in the group meeting for instance filming schedule.
Freeplay music
Freeplay music is a another technology that helped us during the construction of our product. It saved a lot of hassle during the editing as we could look on this website for non copyright music therefore we did not have to waste time getting permission from the author. It took us a lot of time on deciding which music we wanted but once we had decided it was easy to add to Final cut. I had no previous experience with this website but i found it by just typing in "non copyright music" in Google. It was very easy to use as it had clear instructions.
Apple iMac
During the process of constructing our product we also used offline technologies such as Apples iMac. Without this piece of technology we would not have been able to produce our product. The apple iMac was essential to the success of our product, it is very practical as it has good operating software. It has good features that differentiate itself from other computers. We would not have been able to use any of the editing software we used without the iMac.
Before the project I had very limited knowledge of the Apple iMac. I now feel a lot more confident but only in a few more areas I would be more than happy to use this piece of technology a lot more now and would be very interested improving my skills on it.
Camera
Another piece of technology I will be talking about it the camera and tripod used during the filming of the product. We would not have been able to complete the task without these very essential pieces of equipment. The camera we used was a Panasonic HD i had never used this before however it was very easy to get to grips with and we were able to film easily. It was easy to use because you only had to press one button to capture, zoom and pause. The high definition filming standard was of excellent quality and was very effective and beneficial as it gave our production a professional look.
Tripod
The final piece of technology that was used during the process of constructing the product was the tripod. This helped so much as it meant we could steady our shots, without out this piece of vital equipment our production would have looked very poor and tacky. The tripod also helped us learn from our mistakes of the preliminary task. I had used a tripod before and knew how to set it up as is very easy to do so. The tripod was very beneficial and was used in the majority of the shots taken.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We added annotations to our preliminary task which we filmed back in November, these annotations were able to remind of us what the bad and good points were consequently this would enable us to make sure we didn't make any mistakes in the final product below is the preliminary task with evaluated and analysed with YouTube tags.
After editing the footage we had taken, we decided as a group to put it together and make a rough cut to get feedback from our classmates and teachers. We decided to upload it onto YouTube to see what our target audience thought of it. We collected positive and negative feedback which was both very good so we could improve it accordingly. The video below shows our rough cut.
The video below shows our final piece and how our group learnt from the mistakes of the preliminary and the rough cut. They enabled us to improve filming and editing techniques.
Before starting this project we had learnt the conventions of a thriller film for example sound and editing. We knew it was important we showed the conventions otherwise we would not attract any audience and our film would not be successful. The thriller we made shows gang warfare and crime conventions and the antagonist opposing against the protagonist. However we believe we have also challenged and developed some conventions to make sure our final product would be unique.
Used
Another convention we used was a psychological convention of the character waking up and all the previous scene had been a dream. This is a very popular idea as it is seen in many films. In our thriller film these dreams or nightmares as they could be turn into reality and the character ends up trying to escape from his own dreams. We relate to the audience here because the audience fear this and would not want it to happen to them. An example of a thriller film that shows this idea is Inception. They make it so the antagonist cannot escape from his dreams and it becomes reality. The dream sequence is shown at the end of our opening, the character is hit by a baseball bat we make the audience think that it should be the victim of this assault waking up from the dream when intact it is the antagonist who committed the crime, this makes the audience intrigued once again.Developed
We also develop some of the conventions of a thriller film. A convention we develop is music we feel the music and sound was very important as it helps build tension. We decided to use Drum and Bass as we felt it would be suitable as the opening involved action and was very fast paced. If we had a slower scene then drum and bass would have been very unsuitable and the audience would dislkike it. We developed the music because instead of just stopping the music when he takes the headphones out we fade it and make the sound heard from just outside the headphones. When he puts the headphones back in we make it feel like you can hear the sound as if you had the headphones plugged in. A film that does this really well is Attack the Block. They match sound with screen play as he takes out his headphones individually to answer his phone.
Another convention we developed in the opening sequence of the our media product was the Mise En Scene. Normally in a thriller you would expect people in suits chasing a character through a busy city as showed in inception. We decided it would be good if we made the men in suits be running through a forest. We did this to build a sense of mystery and make the audience raise questions. We developed a normal scenario of a thriller film by flipping it and making the audience realise the men were in suits. We found from our research and planning that in Inception this happens and we thought we should be a bit more exciting and try and draw the audience in a bit more by adding a sense of unexplained mystery.
Challenged
We also thought we should show creativity and imagination by going against some normal conventions of a thriller film. A way in which we did this was by changing the title credit. From the research and planning we found that almost all thriller films the companies involved would be shown first followed by the title of the film, then credits for the actors, cast and crew. Although this does seem to be sucesful we decided to go against
convention is by adding in action in from the start of the film, this would not be done right at the beginning because as you could say our thriller is more a psychological thriller. Another film that does the same as this is James Bond: Casino Royale. It starts off with a fast tempo to instantly make the scene more exhilarating. By using a chase scene we drag in the audience because they want to know what happens next. We then getting into the proper psychological story when the antagonist wakes up from the action based dream.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We decided to lay this question out in a Wikipedia format we thought this would be a good idea because it will differentiate our product. It shows that our media institution does not lack imagination and we have creativity shown without our coursework. Below is the link to our wiki-spaces page.
http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Andromeda
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The ideal audience member of our film would be very different from other genres such as romance. For example they would be of different age, different hobbies and different beliefs and values.
AgeThe age of our ideal audience member would be between 15-25 years old. We thought because our film is quite exciting and intriguing it would much rather suit the younger generation than the older generation. Elder people may find watching this film uncomfortable as they would not have the same interest as our ideal audience member.
Gender
The ideal audience member would be a male this is because they would be more interested in the content in the film than females. However there would be a proportion of female audience as our film will be interesting as links to true stories.
Class
The class of our ideal audience member would be middle/lower class however they will aspire to the middle/higher characters in the film. Many people will give our ideal audience member a certain stereotype because of their class, gender and age. our ideal audience member may have committed a few petty crimes in his life but this could be because of his tough upbringing.
LocationThe location of the ideal audience member would be in the suburbs of London although he would much prefer to live in a richer part of London. He has recently moved into his own apartment without his parents. He sees drug deals around his area very regularly however there is often police paroling this rough area.
Interest, hobbies and pastimes
The ideal audience member goes to a mediocre college within London however he is failing all of his subjects but normally somehow gets good results. He is interested in violence and crime and wants to live up to what he sees in films. He's also interested in money, music, games, clothes and cars. His favourite music genres are rap and drum and bass. He goes out a lot with his mates and is very interested in girls. He also enjoys watching and playing sports such as football.
Appearance
The ideal audience member of our film is very wary of his appearance and likes to have a good image he spends a lot of money on top designer clothes.
Money
He finds it hard to hold down a good job but he has had one is the past. He spends most of his money on his car the he very much values. He enjoys often purchasing clothes and spends money on drink and illegal substances.
Beliefs and values
The ideal audience member is an atheist and thinks he can do what he wants when he wants, he often abuses the law. He values respect from his family and close friends.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
See annotations on our final product to see how we attracted our audience.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Now I am finished the final product I am able to evaluate the final product and how various technologies had helped us along the way. During the research and the making of the product i used many software programs that i would not have been able to use without the Apple iMac. We also would not have been able to produce as good quality without the HD cameras we used.
Final cut express
Before we started i really was confident on using Final cut express however it was a program that we need to use to edit the footage we had recorded. However soon after we had been taught the basics for the preliminary task I felt I had picked it up well. I was able to play around and manipulate clips. I learnt how to use techniques by looking at tutorials on Google and YouTube for example i know how to put in cross fades and change the audio. Consequently after using this software on a regular basis I am now able to add effects and transitions and trim and audio video. Without Final cut express we would not have been able to produce a product that easily.
Blogger
with other people in my group.
Before starting the project i was aware of photo shop but had only used it a couple of times for old graphics work. However it is incredibly easy to use as all the tools are labelled for instance you can upload a picture from the internet and edit the colors and add special fonts. It helped us to create our group production companies logos which made our final piece have a professional look. I am now confident of using Photoshop by myself and feel that i would be able to create many more logos.
Another technology that helped us extremely well along the way was YouTube. YouTube is known worldwide and a large percentage of people know how to use it. I already had a lot of experience and background knowledge with YouTube, I already knew how to add annotations to my videos, trim video times and embed YouTube videos. Without YouTube we would have not been able to publish our product get back as much feedback which would have consequently meant our product would not have been as good. It would have also effected the amount of research and planning as I did a lot of research via YouTube for example looking at the opening thriller fonts of Se7en and The Dark Knight.
Another technology used during the process of constructing our product was Prezzi. Prezzi is a presentation software website which makes it easy for the reader to pick out key information. Before the project i had never heard of Prezzi, it took me a bit of time to get used to and at first i thought it was a bit pointless but after constructing a few presentations i thought it was very useful and was different from just writing it up in essay format all the time. After this project i am now able to use Prezzi very well and make presentations with ease I feel it is a good idea because it is less boring and can be read by any audience.
Along with other social networking sites such as Twitter, Tumblr and Myspace we used Facebook in the process of constructing our media product. I already knew how to use Facebook as I use it on a regular basis to keep in contact with friends, I didn't really learn anything new although i was able to create a group with just the people in my media project. Facebook benefited our group as it helped us have joint discussions and live meeting over the internet. It was really useful as it let us update each other on what was happening if one another wasn't present in the group meeting for instance filming schedule.
Freeplay music is a another technology that helped us during the construction of our product. It saved a lot of hassle during the editing as we could look on this website for non copyright music therefore we did not have to waste time getting permission from the author. It took us a lot of time on deciding which music we wanted but once we had decided it was easy to add to Final cut. I had no previous experience with this website but i found it by just typing in "non copyright music" in Google. It was very easy to use as it had clear instructions.
During the process of constructing our product we also used offline technologies such as Apples iMac. Without this piece of technology we would not have been able to produce our product. The apple iMac was essential to the success of our product, it is very practical as it has good operating software. It has good features that differentiate itself from other computers. We would not have been able to use any of the editing software we used without the iMac.
Before the project I had very limited knowledge of the Apple iMac. I now feel a lot more confident but only in a few more areas I would be more than happy to use this piece of technology a lot more now and would be very interested improving my skills on it.
Another piece of technology I will be talking about it the camera and tripod used during the filming of the product. We would not have been able to complete the task without these very essential pieces of equipment. The camera we used was a Panasonic HD i had never used this before however it was very easy to get to grips with and we were able to film easily. It was easy to use because you only had to press one button to capture, zoom and pause. The high definition filming standard was of excellent quality and was very effective and beneficial as it gave our production a professional look.
Tripod
The final piece of technology that was used during the process of constructing the product was the tripod. This helped so much as it meant we could steady our shots, without out this piece of vital equipment our production would have looked very poor and tacky. The tripod also helped us learn from our mistakes of the preliminary task. I had used a tripod before and knew how to set it up as is very easy to do so. The tripod was very beneficial and was used in the majority of the shots taken.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We added annotations to our preliminary task which we filmed back in November, these annotations were able to remind of us what the bad and good points were consequently this would enable us to make sure we didn't make any mistakes in the final product below is the preliminary task with evaluated and analysed with YouTube tags.
After editing the footage we had taken, we decided as a group to put it together and make a rough cut to get feedback from our classmates and teachers. We decided to upload it onto YouTube to see what our target audience thought of it. We collected positive and negative feedback which was both very good so we could improve it accordingly. The video below shows our rough cut.
The video below shows our final piece and how our group learnt from the mistakes of the preliminary and the rough cut. They enabled us to improve filming and editing techniques.
Evaluation question
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products ?
Used
We decided that we should use something that we had seen previously in another thriller film. In jaws they have used the beginning to include credits and then a suspense part is used where music is playing. At the end of this scene the title comes up. Almost all of the thriller film that we have looked at have used this technique.We though we should use this as it will add to the suspense. We have used the idea of having the title come straight after the start. The idea of this is that a sequence of suspense is used and straight after the title is shown. This is because the title relates to the sequence that was just shown. Including the title at the start of the film after a short sequence of clips we have made the title seem more important and it will make the title be remembered as well as it always being in the back of there minds. They will relate to the title trough out the film.
Another idea that we have used was the idea o dreams. We were inspired by the film inception. Inception plays on the idea of living in your dreams. We thought that if we used this it would work very well because we have played on the theme of dreams by making it seem as if the opening sequence is happening until the end of the first 2 minutes when the main character wakes up. we play on the idea of reliving a dream through reality. This is going to draw in a large audience because many people like the theme of dreams in a psychological thriller. The audience will be able to relate to times when they have relived events which they didn't know had or were going to happen through deja vu. This is why they feel they have to see the film because they like dreams and want to know more about it. In our thriller film we have a focus on a dream that the character experiences at the start of the films. the audience will relate to the opening sequence throughout because the main relives his dream in reality.
Developed
Another convention that we have developed effectively is the fade out of music. What exactly it is we have done is taken an idea we saw in a film called attack the block and developed it in our thriller film. As the main character stops and takes his headphones out the music fades out. We have developed it by fading the music back in as he puts the headphones back in his ears. It works very well as the audience feel and see why exactly the music is coming back in. As seen below is a clip from attack the block which is what inspired us to not only use but develop as well. It has been developed because we have decided that we should fade the music back in as he puts the headphones back in. This works to great effect as the audience feel like they are part of the film. It has been well
Another convention that we have developed is the sound, in other words the music which is used. We used a sounds file called 'ice shiv' its a drum and base style music. It is not usually related to thriller films however it works well in our opening scene which is why it has been developed because it works to good effect.Its fast paced which means that it works very well with the actions and movements in our opening scene because it is used to build tension.
Challenged
Something that we have challenged in our thriller opening is the idea of the chase happening in a forest when the men in suits are running in a forest trying to catch up to the main character. The idea of men in suits chasing someone through a forest was something that we liked the sounds of, and thought would seem intriguing. It has been challenged because seeing a chase in a forest where the antagonists are wearing suits is not normal. The film that inspired us was inception. The chase scene in this film is ordinary as it has been seen many times before however we have decided to develop that and use a chase scene though a forest which works well, as it adds to the mysterious tension that is built in the opening of the thriller. The mise en scene plays a big role in the film and by challenging the idea of having two men running in suits in a forest we effectively draw the audience in. as it is not the normal thing to see.
A convention that we have challenged was the idea of the opening sequence being similar to that of a action film. We decided that this would challenge the audience in a way that they would be made to think and start to ask questions. Its the idea of not having the normal opening sequence that most thriller film would have, but working with making it a fast chase instead. We have efficiently done this by the use of fast paced music and lots of close ups. We showed more elements of a action film making the audience feel involved and urges them to keep watching. We have challenged it so well by using an action film type opening sequence which then turn into the psychological thriller that we wanted it to be. The chase scene will relate to many parts of the film, which is why it is so important to the rest of the film and its plot.The idea of this will cause the audience to be dragged in and keep them on the edge of there seats for the duration of the whole film.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why ?
http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Andromeda
4.Who would be the audience for your media product ?
This Post will summarise what kind of person would be the ideal audience member for our thriller film.
Age
The ideal age for someone going to see 3:13 would be between the age of 15-25. This is because it would certainly not be suitable for anyone younger than the age of 15 and anyone who is older the age of 25 will not find it as appealing as someone within the specified range would. It appeals to this age group because the film contains scenes showing drug use and violence. Someone who is older would find some of the scenes in this film inappropriate due to them not having seen it before because it wouldn't have been allowed to be shown in cinemas in when they were younger.
Class
The class that our thriller film is aimed at are those who are middle and lower class. This is because of the content of the film. This film is not something that higher class people would watch and enjoy because they would not be able to relate to it. The film contains a lot of violence, and is something that a middle classed person would watch because they can relate to some of the things that will be seen in our thriller film. The gang warfare that our thriller film is based around is would appeal more to middle classed people.
Gender
The ideal audience member would be a male, this is because the story evolves around males and the violent aspect of a males life living in a suburban area. This is why it appeals mostly to males however some females may find this film appealing if they had grown up under similar circumstances.
Location
Our thriller film is based in the suburbs of London. The specified location is Brixton. Having been raised in London the main character has recently moved into a flat and is experiencing a range of violent behavior in his new neighborhood. Someone who was raised in London will be able to relate to this.
Interests and Hobbies
The interests that the ideal audience member should have would be spending a lot of time on social networking sites as well as playing video games such as Xbox and ps3. They should also be interested in violent films and films involving gang warfare. A social person who enjoys going out and spends a lot of time with there friends.
Beliefs
The ideal audience member is someone who believes in showing respect to those who deserves it and is someone who will stand up for what they believe. Not someone who spends a lot of time praying and going to church.
Money
Someone who spends money on themselves and mostly on there car and other personal items i.e. phones, pads and vehicles. Spend time and money improving there personal image by often getting haircuts.
Age-18
Gender-Male
Location-Apartment in London
Class-Middle/Lower
Interests-cars,music and socializing
Appearance-Relaxed
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWGLTDLuizU&context=C375dd51ADOEgsToPDskLJlXVLY6rN4jlhfegZbOoq
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product ?
In order for us to get the music that we wanted to use as the background music we had to import the files from a website called 'FreeplayMusic'. It was from this website that we found 'ice shiv' this is the music that plays during a large proportion of time in our thriller opening. I now know how to export a media file and then import it into final cut express.
We used a presentation making website called Prezi. It is something that i did not know how to use but now feel comfortable using it. I am now able to quickly make a presentation by using prezi. I know how to easily and efficiently construct a professional looking presentation.
During the making of our product i was able to learn new things about all kinds of software and programs. For example i am now able to effectively use final cut express as well as Photoshop to create logos. I also have learnt new skills using things like blogger and now know how to upload clips into YouTube.
This screen shot shows me using Final cut express. This is towards the end of the product as it is very nearly finished. I am now able to use fades appropriately both using the audio as well as cross fading scenes. I am now able to modify and use effects where they will work well. I now find Final cut quite simple to use and am confident in editing both the audio and the visual material to good effect.
In this picture i am using the apple Mac and more specifically final cut express. I have already spoken about the simplicity of it. However i feel i need to re-iterate my previous points by saying that i now feel i would be able to do almost all of the editing my self were we to make another thriller opening.
Here i am using the camera, now this is not the best video camera in the world. However it was good in a way that it was also simple to use and the resolution was in fact quite good. After it had been exported from the camera and i had transferred it onto the mac ready to be edited.
This is a shot of us as a group setting up the tripod ready to do some filming. the tri-pod was something that we used for 98% of our shots as we felt a steadier shot meant a more professional shot. However a hand held camera shot was used and it added to the suspense as it was used effectively, in the point of view of the main character.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product.
The preliminary task has annotations which shows the things that we would use in the opening part of our thriller. Things that we thought were good and bad have been highlighted and annotated clearly. This preliminary footage has been analysed carefully and we have used some of the shots and camera angles in our final product.
The video below shows our final product and you will be able to see some of the things that we have taken from the preliminary task and used in our final product. See annotations for question 7.
Used
We decided that we should use something that we had seen previously in another thriller film. In jaws they have used the beginning to include credits and then a suspense part is used where music is playing. At the end of this scene the title comes up. Almost all of the thriller film that we have looked at have used this technique.We though we should use this as it will add to the suspense. We have used the idea of having the title come straight after the start. The idea of this is that a sequence of suspense is used and straight after the title is shown. This is because the title relates to the sequence that was just shown. Including the title at the start of the film after a short sequence of clips we have made the title seem more important and it will make the title be remembered as well as it always being in the back of there minds. They will relate to the title trough out the film.
Another idea that we have used was the idea o dreams. We were inspired by the film inception. Inception plays on the idea of living in your dreams. We thought that if we used this it would work very well because we have played on the theme of dreams by making it seem as if the opening sequence is happening until the end of the first 2 minutes when the main character wakes up. we play on the idea of reliving a dream through reality. This is going to draw in a large audience because many people like the theme of dreams in a psychological thriller. The audience will be able to relate to times when they have relived events which they didn't know had or were going to happen through deja vu. This is why they feel they have to see the film because they like dreams and want to know more about it. In our thriller film we have a focus on a dream that the character experiences at the start of the films. the audience will relate to the opening sequence throughout because the main relives his dream in reality. Developed
Another convention that we have developed effectively is the fade out of music. What exactly it is we have done is taken an idea we saw in a film called attack the block and developed it in our thriller film. As the main character stops and takes his headphones out the music fades out. We have developed it by fading the music back in as he puts the headphones back in his ears. It works very well as the audience feel and see why exactly the music is coming back in. As seen below is a clip from attack the block which is what inspired us to not only use but develop as well. It has been developed because we have decided that we should fade the music back in as he puts the headphones back in. This works to great effect as the audience feel like they are part of the film. It has been well
Another convention that we have developed is the sound, in other words the music which is used. We used a sounds file called 'ice shiv' its a drum and base style music. It is not usually related to thriller films however it works well in our opening scene which is why it has been developed because it works to good effect.Its fast paced which means that it works very well with the actions and movements in our opening scene because it is used to build tension.
Challenged
Something that we have challenged in our thriller opening is the idea of the chase happening in a forest when the men in suits are running in a forest trying to catch up to the main character. The idea of men in suits chasing someone through a forest was something that we liked the sounds of, and thought would seem intriguing. It has been challenged because seeing a chase in a forest where the antagonists are wearing suits is not normal. The film that inspired us was inception. The chase scene in this film is ordinary as it has been seen many times before however we have decided to develop that and use a chase scene though a forest which works well, as it adds to the mysterious tension that is built in the opening of the thriller. The mise en scene plays a big role in the film and by challenging the idea of having two men running in suits in a forest we effectively draw the audience in. as it is not the normal thing to see. A convention that we have challenged was the idea of the opening sequence being similar to that of a action film. We decided that this would challenge the audience in a way that they would be made to think and start to ask questions. Its the idea of not having the normal opening sequence that most thriller film would have, but working with making it a fast chase instead. We have efficiently done this by the use of fast paced music and lots of close ups. We showed more elements of a action film making the audience feel involved and urges them to keep watching. We have challenged it so well by using an action film type opening sequence which then turn into the psychological thriller that we wanted it to be. The chase scene will relate to many parts of the film, which is why it is so important to the rest of the film and its plot.The idea of this will cause the audience to be dragged in and keep them on the edge of there seats for the duration of the whole film.2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why ?
http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Andromeda
4.Who would be the audience for your media product ?
This Post will summarise what kind of person would be the ideal audience member for our thriller film.
Age
The ideal age for someone going to see 3:13 would be between the age of 15-25. This is because it would certainly not be suitable for anyone younger than the age of 15 and anyone who is older the age of 25 will not find it as appealing as someone within the specified range would. It appeals to this age group because the film contains scenes showing drug use and violence. Someone who is older would find some of the scenes in this film inappropriate due to them not having seen it before because it wouldn't have been allowed to be shown in cinemas in when they were younger. 
Class
The class that our thriller film is aimed at are those who are middle and lower class. This is because of the content of the film. This film is not something that higher class people would watch and enjoy because they would not be able to relate to it. The film contains a lot of violence, and is something that a middle classed person would watch because they can relate to some of the things that will be seen in our thriller film. The gang warfare that our thriller film is based around is would appeal more to middle classed people.
Gender
The ideal audience member would be a male, this is because the story evolves around males and the violent aspect of a males life living in a suburban area. This is why it appeals mostly to males however some females may find this film appealing if they had grown up under similar circumstances.
Location
Our thriller film is based in the suburbs of London. The specified location is Brixton. Having been raised in London the main character has recently moved into a flat and is experiencing a range of violent behavior in his new neighborhood. Someone who was raised in London will be able to relate to this.
Interests and Hobbies
The interests that the ideal audience member should have would be spending a lot of time on social networking sites as well as playing video games such as Xbox and ps3. They should also be interested in violent films and films involving gang warfare. A social person who enjoys going out and spends a lot of time with there friends.
Beliefs
The ideal audience member is someone who believes in showing respect to those who deserves it and is someone who will stand up for what they believe. Not someone who spends a lot of time praying and going to church.
MoneySomeone who spends money on themselves and mostly on there car and other personal items i.e. phones, pads and vehicles. Spend time and money improving there personal image by often getting haircuts.
Age-18
Gender-Male
Location-Apartment in London
Class-Middle/Lower
Interests-cars,music and socializing
Appearance-Relaxed
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWGLTDLuizU&context=C375dd51ADOEgsToPDskLJlXVLY6rN4jlhfegZbOoq
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product ?
In order for us to get the music that we wanted to use as the background music we had to import the files from a website called 'FreeplayMusic'. It was from this website that we found 'ice shiv' this is the music that plays during a large proportion of time in our thriller opening. I now know how to export a media file and then import it into final cut express.
We used a presentation making website called Prezi. It is something that i did not know how to use but now feel comfortable using it. I am now able to quickly make a presentation by using prezi. I know how to easily and efficiently construct a professional looking presentation.
During the making of our product i was able to learn new things about all kinds of software and programs. For example i am now able to effectively use final cut express as well as Photoshop to create logos. I also have learnt new skills using things like blogger and now know how to upload clips into YouTube.
This screen shot shows me using Final cut express. This is towards the end of the product as it is very nearly finished. I am now able to use fades appropriately both using the audio as well as cross fading scenes. I am now able to modify and use effects where they will work well. I now find Final cut quite simple to use and am confident in editing both the audio and the visual material to good effect.
In this picture i am using the apple Mac and more specifically final cut express. I have already spoken about the simplicity of it. However i feel i need to re-iterate my previous points by saying that i now feel i would be able to do almost all of the editing my self were we to make another thriller opening.
Here i am using the camera, now this is not the best video camera in the world. However it was good in a way that it was also simple to use and the resolution was in fact quite good. After it had been exported from the camera and i had transferred it onto the mac ready to be edited.
This is a shot of us as a group setting up the tripod ready to do some filming. the tri-pod was something that we used for 98% of our shots as we felt a steadier shot meant a more professional shot. However a hand held camera shot was used and it added to the suspense as it was used effectively, in the point of view of the main character.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product.
The preliminary task has annotations which shows the things that we would use in the opening part of our thriller. Things that we thought were good and bad have been highlighted and annotated clearly. This preliminary footage has been analysed carefully and we have used some of the shots and camera angles in our final product.
The video below shows our final product and you will be able to see some of the things that we have taken from the preliminary task and used in our final product. See annotations for question 7.
Monday, 20 February 2012
Jack's Evaluation
Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Whilst creating our opening Thriller scene we included many conventions, some of which we challenged and others, we developed. We new it was important to include Thriller conventions to pull together the scene and we also recognised the importance of going a bit further and altering the basics of the conventions.
Used
One convention we used in our opening Thriller scene was the Enigma Code. This is the idea where questions throughout are being raised. The opening scene should use mysterious elements to make the audience feel confused yet at the same time have a huge desire to know what is and will happen. It is a technique mainly to keep the audience intrigued and create build a puzzle of ideas as to what will happen next. An example of another thriller film that used this is Silence Of The Lambs. In Silence Of The Lambs, the enigma code is used well to raise questions for the audience, like why is she running, who's chasing her. Then the idea is flipped on its head, the audience thought she was being chased, when really she is just training. This is a great technique to build as many unanswered questions then flip the whole the whole scene to setback the audience. We used this by showing the main character being watched then later being chased. After looking round feeling watched, the men in suits caught up and instead of the normal capture, we made it so the men in suits were with, not against the main character. This works so well as it breaks the tension and throughs the audience after a build up of who's chasing him, why is he being chased, the scene if flipped on its head and the outcome is not at all what the audience where expecting.
A second idea that we used whilst creating our opening scene was the idea of 'Dreams'. We played on the classical psychological thriller theme of dreams. We used this idea of cannot escape dreams and dreams becoming reality because it plays on a huge fear with the audience. The thought of dreams and nightmares affecting an individual displays huge levels of no control. Dreams and nightmares are so associated with no control, they just happen, this takes a large effect on the audience as they can relate to the events yet fear the idea of 'no escape' from them. Another media title that is so successful with playing upon the unknown is Inception. Inception uses the idea of dreams and goes into detail about them. They display how dreams are reality and play on the idea of no escape between dreams and reality. We included the theme near the end of our opening scene when the main character wakes up after the scene of interrogation very disorientated and confused then hears a knock at the door. That one moment where there was a knock at the door raises multiple questions, creates a hugely intriguing effect for the audience and helps tie together the psychological elements of our opening Thriller scene.
Developed
We also developed some of the normal conventions of a Thriller opening sequence. One of these is music, we new the importance of good opening music, to not only build tension but create a sense of action in the scene. We chose Drum & Bass music to help increase the tempo and build suspense but we took it just that one step further and developed the music for the scene by linking it with the action on screen. Instead of the music just fading out for when the main character checks to see if he is being followed, we twinned it with the screenplay, as the main character takes out his headphones we faded out the music, then as he put the headphones back in and began to run we bought the music back in, this time much faster and harder. One other film that shows this technique well is the film Attack the block. They bring in music and instead of taking it out when the characters phones rings, they develop the music convention by combining it with the action on screen to help fade the music is a very unique way and at the same time create a nice effect. We new the importance of good music from our audience research, so we wanted to try and take it that step further and I believe the music link really helped the scene become more professional and at the same time helped the building of tension by establishing a clear link with the tempo of the music and the characters awareness of being followed.
A second element we developed is Mise En Scene. We took it upon ourselves to flip the normal conventions of clothing and surrounding by making the men in suits run through a forest. The normal chase of important men in suits with guns chasing a man dressed more casually is done without a doubt in a very industrial area, a city or town. We took this idea and turned it around and made the men in suits chase the main character as he runs through a forest. This was done in a effort to raise questions and build suspense and a sense of mystery to the men in suits. A film that displays men running in suits, chasing someone, in a very crowded area is Inception. Inception portrays the cliche chase of the main character being ran down by mysterious men dressed very formally in a very big, busy location. We however developed this idea of a cliche chase and flipped it. We did this to help raise questions about why are the dressed so formally in such a informal location and create and element of unexplained mystery for the audience towards men in suits. This helped develop our sequence into a more thriller associated opening scene.
Challenged
Aswel as developing some of the known thriller conventions, taking them just that step further, we challenged some. This meant we took the elements that are usually ensured in a thriller and went against them, we challenged the roots that make up very frequent conventions. One way we did this is we challenged the title credit. In almost all films the companies involved will be shown, then the title to the film, then the credits for actors, cast and crew. However we displayed all opening credits first, then introduced the title of the thriller after. Another film that does this is Jaws, they display their credits, then introduce the film title after a sequence of action to help link the thriller title more with the screenplay. It brings in the title much stronger and acts almost as a tension breaker after the build of suspense in the opening scene, we also incorporated this idea aswel. We challenged the normal opening credits by displaying all credits then as he wakes up from the dream and their is a knock at the door, we bring in the title credit with a much louder and fitting to the theme of the thriller font. This creates a great effect as the title is emphasised much more from what has just happened. It is shown in a way to the audience that will be much more attention grabbing and will lead to a effect that will create a link between the title and action as the tension that has just been broken, begins to fade.
A final way we challenged thriller conventions is we to the idea of a thriller and opened the scene as a action scene. This challenge is visioned as taking the idea of a normal opening thriller scene and playing upon it, bringing in more action. Another film that displays action with arguable elements of thriller in the opening scene is James Bond: Casino Royale. This film uses the action in the opening scene to instantly bring in fast speed, tension building shots, it leads to an effect that will catch the audience and drag them very quickly into the screenplay. The attention of the audience is dragged towards the action and sucks them right into the story. It makes them more involved and gives them the erge to find out what will happen. We did this in our chase scene. We displayed a lot more elements of action than psychological thriller and made the scene appear to be much more action filled, then is flipped to psychological when the main character awakes from the dream. We challenged the normal psychological thriller opening by displaying more action, then turning it on its head to let the audience see the action is only a part of the psychological side to the film. This works so well as the audiences attention is caught much earlier on but is then revealed to the fact it was all just a dream and the tension and suspense that has been built, is cut. This leads to an effect that involves the audience and puts ideas in their head, then flips all those thoughts and questions and reveals they are all just a part of bigger picture. This throughs the audience in a way that has almost instantly caught their attention and made them interested and intrigued to find out what will happen next.
Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Andromeda
Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?
The ideal audience member for our opening Thriller scene is determined on many things like age, class, interests. This post will break down our ideal audience member.
Age
The age of our ideal audience member would be between the ages of 15-25. We originally targeted our opening scene at the younger generation because our Thriller opening is based on gangs and aggressive out of control people. This means the younger audience would in theory find it more interesting and intriguing because more older people would see the events as wrong and not enjoy the opening scene as much. This is why the age of our ideal audience would have to be in a much younger range, 15-25, they would find the events more interesting and could relate more to it, because they see and hear it happening around them.
Class
The social class for our ideal audience member is definitely middle/lower class. His age and class may bring him into situations such as benefit fraud, the following article is a Direct Gov article on benefit frauds in the UK, http://www.direct.gov.uk/benefit_fraud/. The reasons for this is because like previously mentioned, the opening scene is based upon 'gang warfare' and I think this would definitely appeal and be approved more so by the lower social classes. The reasons for this is that middle/lower class can relate a lot more to the actions, they see it happening much more than the higher social class. Whereas if our a much higher social class would be watching and not being able to view the story in the same way.
Gender
The gender of our ideal audience member is male. The reason for this is the story creates a 'boys film', very reckless and aggressive based on the story line of criminals. This would appeal in most cases more so to males than females.
Location
The location of where our ideal character is in the suburbs of London. He has grown up in London and has recently moved into an apartment in this city. This would be because London is renowned to be in places fairly aggressive and poor. This means someone living in these sorts of areas could relate very well to what is happening on-screen. They are aware of the 'gangs' in our opening scene as some places in London do undoubtedly have gangs of people. He was also effected quite badly by the riots in London, the following link is a article about the riots from The Atlantic, (http://www.theatlantic.com/riots).
Interests/Hobbies/Pass-times
He finds 'gang warfare' intriguing, maybe he are in a gang. Our ideal audience member is interested in how they can promote their image, interested in criminal and violent films. They also want to live up to what they see in the films, they are interested in violence and crime when he watches it on the news. Our ideal members hobbies include football, basketball. He listens to rap/hip-hop/grime/dubstep/drum & bass and is incredibly interested in cars and how to make his faster. Always going out with friends, getting drunk. Enjoys parties and will play PS3/X-Box 360 to pass time. Our ideal audience member is very interested in girls and often tries be with them to impress his friends.
Appearance
Our ideal audience member would be very wary of his clothes and how he looks. He shops at stores such as Nike (http://www.nike.com) and Lonsdale (http://www.lonsdale.com). He would wear chinos, dark hoodies and caps.
Beliefs
Our ideal audience member believes in respect to those who deserves it. He is an atheist and attempts to live his life to his own rules, he wants to be and do what he wants. He upholds a lot of respect for his family and closest friends.
Money
He tends to spend most of the money on his car, he always wants to make his car look better and run faster. He always enjoys browsing round Auto Trader (http://www.autotrader.co.uk). He also buys a lot of clothes, he is always aware of the way he looks and finds it important the way he is viewed by others.
Profile
Age - 18
Gender - Male
Siblings - Brother
Location - Apartment in London
Class - Middle/Lower
Interests - Cars, music, football
Hobbies - Football, running
Appearance - Relaxed
Ambition - Football coach
Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?
See annotations on the youtube video for this question
Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Through the process of creating our opening Thriller sequence I have learnt a lot more about both online and offline technologies.
One thing I have learnt to use is Final Cut Express. Before i had no real knowledge on how to navigate around the interface and use the software to create effective and entertaining film. I learnt many things when taught how Final Cut Express works, I learnt how to do things such as add in transitions. I had no previous knowledge on how to perform this task, but now, I know how to add in an appropriate transition to bring to sequences together instead of a straight cut, this has made the film flow much better. Another element in Final Cut Express I learnt to use it the audio editor. This is a way to bring the volume of specific parts in a clip up or down dependant on what you want. This was a feature in Final Cut Express that we used quite often to be sure the dialogue could be heard and unnecessary background sounds could be cut out. This helped us create the opening scene in a much better way as we had the ability to tweak the audio and make it much more pleasing to listen to when watching.
Another thing I learnt to use was blogger. I had never really been on the website and has no background knowledge on how to create a blog and successfully create good looking blog updates. I now know how to add pictures, embed video and link a specific phrase or word to a website. This is very helpful information to know and have the ability to use, especially as before I had almost no real background knowledge on how to navigate and operate throughout the website.
Another technology I learnt to use was Photoshop. I did have some previous knowledge on how to operate this application and use it. However this knowledge was limited, I can confirm now that I have a much greater knowledge on how to use the application. We used Photoshop to help create the opening logos for the production companies involved, this was very important and is crucial that we knew how to do it. I now do know how to perform the task and have a better idea of how to operate the application, Photoshop.
I also got to use Youtube a lot in our coursework. I already had huge amounts of background knowledge on this website. We had to upload our video multiple times and change the information to fit what cut it was. We also had to use annotations in our opening scene. We had to know how to fit the duration to the appropriate part of the clip and talk about what we had done well and what we could have done better. I already had background knowledge on how to do this, this knowledge on how to create specific annotations and make them fit in well with the screenplay was well used when trying to perform these tasks.
A final technology I learnt to use online was Prezi. Prezi is a great way to represent information in an intriguing and entertaining way. Prezi can be used to show information text in a much more animated an fun way. It can be used to embed videos/photos and can create link between arrows to jump from one selection of text to another selection that is linked. I had no previous knowledge on how to operate this website, however I now have learnt a lot about it and how to create fascinating presentations, why before I had no idea how to do.
Another website we used that came in very useful when planning the dates we would be going to film on and easy to keep in contact about any issues involving each other or our piece, Facebook. This worked to our advantage as we could almost always keep in contact with each other. This meant if one of us had to change the timings or couldn't bring a prop for the scene we needed to film, we could let each other in our group know so we can either solver or at least work around the problem. Our media group was set up very early in the stages of research and planning which I believe definitely did benefit the group as we could have many conversations, very direct, through all members of the group. I had already large knowledge on this website and I think it was a great advantage for our group to have the ability to speak, whilst not in lessons.
A website we used in the editing of our final piece is a website called FreePlayMusic. This website I had no background knowledge on how to navigate around and select and preview the music. I now have a much better idea on how to do this as the website was very easy to learn and simplistic enough to not have to have others help to work out how to use. I believe this website benefited our group very much as from our audience research we new that a good soundtrack is one thing our audience really wanted. After a long search we found the perfect piece of music to build tension and suspense for our chase scene and really helped the overall professionally of the opening thriller scene.
A final website that I learnt to use was Wikispaces. This website is designed to display information on a spreadsheet that can be layer out and formatted to what the user desires. We used this website in our evaluation to help display information about what our thriller entails and which companies would be involved. The website benefitted us as it gave us choice when dip laying information. I had no background knowledge on how to operate the website, however it was a very simple user interface so this changed quickly.
I also gained a lot more knowledge on how to use other technologies, that are not used online. One technology I had the chance to use was the iMac's. The iMac's were great to use as I did already have a large amount of background knowledge on the Mac OS X system and how to navigate around it and use it to its best ability. These skills came in very useful as I had a good idea how to perform a lot of tasks already which helped me do these tasks more quickly and efficiently and I could avoid problems that I encountered.
A final technology I got to use was the camera's and tripods. I had very, very basic background knowledge on how to operate cameras like these but didn't really have much useful information on how to use them to their full capability. The cameras were used are the Panasonic HDC-SD9's, these are great very mobile cameras that gave us the ability to film in HD. When we equipped the camera with a tripod it helped us really get a great feel of high class video, very professional stable shots. I really had very basic, near to no previous knowledge on the camera, but now I can say I know fully how to operate to take both picots and shoot video. I also am aware of how to connect it to the tripod and use the lever on tripod to help the camera film very stable panning/different angled shots. Finally I have learnt how to connect the camera to the iMac's and log and transfer specific shots of video in our editing program we used, Final Cut Express easily and efficiently, which I had almost no knowledge on before.
Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you
feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The preliminary task had annotations on it already of what we wanted to do in our final opening scene, also I did a post to evaluate the preliminary task, the link and first video below show the evaluation of the preliminary task and what we wanted to do better.
http://nfgsandromeda.blogspot.com/2012/01/evaluation-preliminary-task.html
The video below shows the progression from the preliminary task to the final piece, see annotations for question 7.
Whilst creating our opening Thriller scene we included many conventions, some of which we challenged and others, we developed. We new it was important to include Thriller conventions to pull together the scene and we also recognised the importance of going a bit further and altering the basics of the conventions.
Used
One convention we used in our opening Thriller scene was the Enigma Code. This is the idea where questions throughout are being raised. The opening scene should use mysterious elements to make the audience feel confused yet at the same time have a huge desire to know what is and will happen. It is a technique mainly to keep the audience intrigued and create build a puzzle of ideas as to what will happen next. An example of another thriller film that used this is Silence Of The Lambs. In Silence Of The Lambs, the enigma code is used well to raise questions for the audience, like why is she running, who's chasing her. Then the idea is flipped on its head, the audience thought she was being chased, when really she is just training. This is a great technique to build as many unanswered questions then flip the whole the whole scene to setback the audience. We used this by showing the main character being watched then later being chased. After looking round feeling watched, the men in suits caught up and instead of the normal capture, we made it so the men in suits were with, not against the main character. This works so well as it breaks the tension and throughs the audience after a build up of who's chasing him, why is he being chased, the scene if flipped on its head and the outcome is not at all what the audience where expecting.A second idea that we used whilst creating our opening scene was the idea of 'Dreams'. We played on the classical psychological thriller theme of dreams. We used this idea of cannot escape dreams and dreams becoming reality because it plays on a huge fear with the audience. The thought of dreams and nightmares affecting an individual displays huge levels of no control. Dreams and nightmares are so associated with no control, they just happen, this takes a large effect on the audience as they can relate to the events yet fear the idea of 'no escape' from them. Another media title that is so successful with playing upon the unknown is Inception. Inception uses the idea of dreams and goes into detail about them. They display how dreams are reality and play on the idea of no escape between dreams and reality. We included the theme near the end of our opening scene when the main character wakes up after the scene of interrogation very disorientated and confused then hears a knock at the door. That one moment where there was a knock at the door raises multiple questions, creates a hugely intriguing effect for the audience and helps tie together the psychological elements of our opening Thriller scene.
Developed
We also developed some of the normal conventions of a Thriller opening sequence. One of these is music, we new the importance of good opening music, to not only build tension but create a sense of action in the scene. We chose Drum & Bass music to help increase the tempo and build suspense but we took it just that one step further and developed the music for the scene by linking it with the action on screen. Instead of the music just fading out for when the main character checks to see if he is being followed, we twinned it with the screenplay, as the main character takes out his headphones we faded out the music, then as he put the headphones back in and began to run we bought the music back in, this time much faster and harder. One other film that shows this technique well is the film Attack the block. They bring in music and instead of taking it out when the characters phones rings, they develop the music convention by combining it with the action on screen to help fade the music is a very unique way and at the same time create a nice effect. We new the importance of good music from our audience research, so we wanted to try and take it that step further and I believe the music link really helped the scene become more professional and at the same time helped the building of tension by establishing a clear link with the tempo of the music and the characters awareness of being followed.
A second element we developed is Mise En Scene. We took it upon ourselves to flip the normal conventions of clothing and surrounding by making the men in suits run through a forest. The normal chase of important men in suits with guns chasing a man dressed more casually is done without a doubt in a very industrial area, a city or town. We took this idea and turned it around and made the men in suits chase the main character as he runs through a forest. This was done in a effort to raise questions and build suspense and a sense of mystery to the men in suits. A film that displays men running in suits, chasing someone, in a very crowded area is Inception. Inception portrays the cliche chase of the main character being ran down by mysterious men dressed very formally in a very big, busy location. We however developed this idea of a cliche chase and flipped it. We did this to help raise questions about why are the dressed so formally in such a informal location and create and element of unexplained mystery for the audience towards men in suits. This helped develop our sequence into a more thriller associated opening scene.Challenged
Aswel as developing some of the known thriller conventions, taking them just that step further, we challenged some. This meant we took the elements that are usually ensured in a thriller and went against them, we challenged the roots that make up very frequent conventions. One way we did this is we challenged the title credit. In almost all films the companies involved will be shown, then the title to the film, then the credits for actors, cast and crew. However we displayed all opening credits first, then introduced the title of the thriller after. Another film that does this is Jaws, they display their credits, then introduce the film title after a sequence of action to help link the thriller title more with the screenplay. It brings in the title much stronger and acts almost as a tension breaker after the build of suspense in the opening scene, we also incorporated this idea aswel. We challenged the normal opening credits by displaying all credits then as he wakes up from the dream and their is a knock at the door, we bring in the title credit with a much louder and fitting to the theme of the thriller font. This creates a great effect as the title is emphasised much more from what has just happened. It is shown in a way to the audience that will be much more attention grabbing and will lead to a effect that will create a link between the title and action as the tension that has just been broken, begins to fade.A final way we challenged thriller conventions is we to the idea of a thriller and opened the scene as a action scene. This challenge is visioned as taking the idea of a normal opening thriller scene and playing upon it, bringing in more action. Another film that displays action with arguable elements of thriller in the opening scene is James Bond: Casino Royale. This film uses the action in the opening scene to instantly bring in fast speed, tension building shots, it leads to an effect that will catch the audience and drag them very quickly into the screenplay. The attention of the audience is dragged towards the action and sucks them right into the story. It makes them more involved and gives them the erge to find out what will happen. We did this in our chase scene. We displayed a lot more elements of action than psychological thriller and made the scene appear to be much more action filled, then is flipped to psychological when the main character awakes from the dream. We challenged the normal psychological thriller opening by displaying more action, then turning it on its head to let the audience see the action is only a part of the psychological side to the film. This works so well as the audiences attention is caught much earlier on but is then revealed to the fact it was all just a dream and the tension and suspense that has been built, is cut. This leads to an effect that involves the audience and puts ideas in their head, then flips all those thoughts and questions and reveals they are all just a part of bigger picture. This throughs the audience in a way that has almost instantly caught their attention and made them interested and intrigued to find out what will happen next.Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?
How does your media product represent particular social groups? (Jack) on Prezi
This prezi aims to display information on particular socials groups and how we used these details to create our final opening Thriller scene.
This prezi aims to display information on particular socials groups and how we used these details to create our final opening Thriller scene.
Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/Andromeda
Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?
The ideal audience member for our opening Thriller scene is determined on many things like age, class, interests. This post will break down our ideal audience member.
Age
The age of our ideal audience member would be between the ages of 15-25. We originally targeted our opening scene at the younger generation because our Thriller opening is based on gangs and aggressive out of control people. This means the younger audience would in theory find it more interesting and intriguing because more older people would see the events as wrong and not enjoy the opening scene as much. This is why the age of our ideal audience would have to be in a much younger range, 15-25, they would find the events more interesting and could relate more to it, because they see and hear it happening around them.
Class
Gender
The gender of our ideal audience member is male. The reason for this is the story creates a 'boys film', very reckless and aggressive based on the story line of criminals. This would appeal in most cases more so to males than females.
Location
The location of where our ideal character is in the suburbs of London. He has grown up in London and has recently moved into an apartment in this city. This would be because London is renowned to be in places fairly aggressive and poor. This means someone living in these sorts of areas could relate very well to what is happening on-screen. They are aware of the 'gangs' in our opening scene as some places in London do undoubtedly have gangs of people. He was also effected quite badly by the riots in London, the following link is a article about the riots from The Atlantic, (http://www.theatlantic.com/riots).Interests/Hobbies/Pass-times
He finds 'gang warfare' intriguing, maybe he are in a gang. Our ideal audience member is interested in how they can promote their image, interested in criminal and violent films. They also want to live up to what they see in the films, they are interested in violence and crime when he watches it on the news. Our ideal members hobbies include football, basketball. He listens to rap/hip-hop/grime/dubstep/drum & bass and is incredibly interested in cars and how to make his faster. Always going out with friends, getting drunk. Enjoys parties and will play PS3/X-Box 360 to pass time. Our ideal audience member is very interested in girls and often tries be with them to impress his friends.
Appearance
Our ideal audience member would be very wary of his clothes and how he looks. He shops at stores such as Nike (http://www.nike.com) and Lonsdale (http://www.lonsdale.com). He would wear chinos, dark hoodies and caps.
Beliefs
Our ideal audience member believes in respect to those who deserves it. He is an atheist and attempts to live his life to his own rules, he wants to be and do what he wants. He upholds a lot of respect for his family and closest friends.
MoneyHe tends to spend most of the money on his car, he always wants to make his car look better and run faster. He always enjoys browsing round Auto Trader (http://www.autotrader.co.uk). He also buys a lot of clothes, he is always aware of the way he looks and finds it important the way he is viewed by others.
Profile
Age - 18
Gender - Male
Siblings - Brother
Location - Apartment in London
Class - Middle/Lower
Interests - Cars, music, football
Hobbies - Football, running
Appearance - Relaxed
Ambition - Football coach
Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?
See annotations on the youtube video for this question
Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Through the process of creating our opening Thriller sequence I have learnt a lot more about both online and offline technologies.
One thing I have learnt to use is Final Cut Express. Before i had no real knowledge on how to navigate around the interface and use the software to create effective and entertaining film. I learnt many things when taught how Final Cut Express works, I learnt how to do things such as add in transitions. I had no previous knowledge on how to perform this task, but now, I know how to add in an appropriate transition to bring to sequences together instead of a straight cut, this has made the film flow much better. Another element in Final Cut Express I learnt to use it the audio editor. This is a way to bring the volume of specific parts in a clip up or down dependant on what you want. This was a feature in Final Cut Express that we used quite often to be sure the dialogue could be heard and unnecessary background sounds could be cut out. This helped us create the opening scene in a much better way as we had the ability to tweak the audio and make it much more pleasing to listen to when watching.
Another website we used that came in very useful when planning the dates we would be going to film on and easy to keep in contact about any issues involving each other or our piece, Facebook. This worked to our advantage as we could almost always keep in contact with each other. This meant if one of us had to change the timings or couldn't bring a prop for the scene we needed to film, we could let each other in our group know so we can either solver or at least work around the problem. Our media group was set up very early in the stages of research and planning which I believe definitely did benefit the group as we could have many conversations, very direct, through all members of the group. I had already large knowledge on this website and I think it was a great advantage for our group to have the ability to speak, whilst not in lessons.
A final technology I got to use was the camera's and tripods. I had very, very basic background knowledge on how to operate cameras like these but didn't really have much useful information on how to use them to their full capability. The cameras were used are the Panasonic HDC-SD9's, these are great very mobile cameras that gave us the ability to film in HD. When we equipped the camera with a tripod it helped us really get a great feel of high class video, very professional stable shots. I really had very basic, near to no previous knowledge on the camera, but now I can say I know fully how to operate to take both picots and shoot video. I also am aware of how to connect it to the tripod and use the lever on tripod to help the camera film very stable panning/different angled shots. Finally I have learnt how to connect the camera to the iMac's and log and transfer specific shots of video in our editing program we used, Final Cut Express easily and efficiently, which I had almost no knowledge on before.
Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you
feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
http://nfgsandromeda.blogspot.com/2012/01/evaluation-preliminary-task.html
The video below shows the progression from the preliminary task to the final piece, see annotations for question 7.
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