Woohoo!
Showing posts with label Michael. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael. Show all posts
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Closing blog
Now we have finally finished our media coursework, I feel that i have gained a lot of experience and knowledge from both the preliminary task and the final thriller project. I was able to gain a lot of of skills and hopefully will have the chance to develop them even more next year in A2 media Studies. I hope next year's project is even more interesting and challenging than this one. My team worked very hard as a group and the final outcomes shows this.
Woohoo!
Woohoo!
Naming our Thriller
As we were about to begin doing the title construction, we realised that we still hadn't chosen a name for our thriller. We all got together and began thinking of possible choices. We wanted something associated with a thrilling atmosphere, yet short and easy to remember. After scraping a lot of names, we decided to go with the titled 'THIRTEEN' or 'THIR13EN' as that number is usually associated with bad luck; the perfect score for a spooking thriller. So, we quickly added this name to the title sequence along with our credited names and roles, and that was that! 
Final Media Evaluation
1.) A ‘convention’ is a set of agreed, stipulated or generally accepted standards, norms or criteria.
Our media project is presented in a very professional manner, which has been worked on extensively to portray and emulate the sense of a real life film. We have used various tools and software to try to achieve this. My media product challenges the form, of real life thrillers as it highlights the storyline onscreen in a relatively unique way.
For example, instead of having a traditional element of surprise those ‘normal’ thrillers have, our one incorporates the viewpoint of more than one subject. Instead of simply following the protagonist alone, we show the movements, and track the location of the antagonist throughout the entire clip. I also concentrated on the scene transitioning and developed the effect that precise match cutting had on the film. It allowed the video to flow seamlessly, and got rid of the artificial feel that it originally had before we began editing.
As for aspects such as body language within the film, the protagonist is presented in a very professional manner with gives the film an immediate authentic atmosphere. We also had very good lighting in the film, even when there was very little natural light present. In real life Hollywood films, the colour used always seems to be of a high quality glow which often I the distinction between Hollywood films, and standard British ones.
2.) My media product represents its social group using ‘mise-en-scene’ as well as theme. It is set in urban London (Islington), and this made clear by the appearance of streets and buildings in the clip. The actors are also quite young and so it appeals to a younger social group / audience. Derek represents the average 21-year-old that has perhaps just gone into a full-time job. The car that he drives in the clip, a modern Volkswagen Golf model, is an ideal car for individuals around this age. The clothing he wears in the film is of a professional status, however, is worn in a relaxed way which can be considered as a ‘cooler’ way to wear a suit.
3.) An independent cinema studio would likely be the main distributer of our film. I believe this because of the low budget that our film had to start with. As it is not a ‘blockbuster’, we would need to have an affordable distributor in order for our product to be released. However, it is possible that a larger studio could put our film out there, as I am convinced that it would have a large audience turnout. It would also be ideally a very popular one, as we want it to be able to attract people and increase profits or funding.
4.) The target audience for my media product would generally be younger people, perhaps between the ages of 15 and 30. I have chosen these ages because although younger people outside of this age range tend to go to the cinema often, our thriller contains aspects of violence and so would not be suitable for minors. Also, it has an action element to it which is a genre often favoured by younger people as opposed to perhaps 45 year olds. There is no gender preference in my target audience; males and females are equally targeted. However, it is slightly aimed towards urban residents as we feel they will be easier to relate to because of the nature of our film. In addition, English-speaking people would be a more predominant audience. All social economic backgrounds are an audience for this thriller as there is no preference.
5.) In terms of attracting and addressing an audience, this will be done through the promotion process. Media outlets such as television commercials and billboard will be amongst the most valued promotion portals used. Although expensive, TV adverts promoting the film will be run at times of the day when we believe we will have a larger viewing audience, such as later of the day i.e. 8pm. I do not feel that it would make sense to run our adverts at very early times of the day, as most people will still be asleep.
On the other hand, billboards in popular areas such as gyms, libraries and outside clubs would likely attract more people than if they were located at less popular zones such as museums and galleries. We will also use larger banners on the sides of buses to promote and attract our audience, as public transport is the most popular mode of transport within our audience. We could also use other companies to promote our film such as ‘Coca Cola’ for instance. This could be in the form of our film being advertised on the sides of coke bottles, giving people the opportunity to win tickets to the screening of our film.
Finally, the internet can be used as an attraction method. Many younger people use the internet for various reasons; from shopping to instant messaging. We could use popular websites accessed by million of people daily, to get the idea of our film around very quickly.
6.) Concerning the technological aspect of media, I have learnt about just how big a part technology plays in the development as well as planning of film in the 21st century. The tools of production used to create filming utensils, materials and even editing processes have allowed films to consist of higher quality products with less effort than perhaps in the past. It also means that non-professionals can get together and create a realistic product without having experts around as guidance. We as students are obviously not fully skilled nor experienced in the filmmaking industry, but media programs such as ‘Final Cut Pro’ and ‘Soundtrack’ aided us in the production of our coursework. The interfaces of these programs were relatively straightforward, and we were able to construct our product after filming quiet easily. The editing process was based solely around technology as it allowed us to trim, cut and paste different recorded events in the order of our choice. For example, we may have filmed two different shots several weeks apart, but on screen, editing technology allows it to flow as one naturally shot without any time apart.
‘Livetype’ was a program that we also used in the making of our thriller. It was used to create the credits and title in the film. Nevertheless, it was also a program that I did not personally use often; perhaps once or twice. Therefore, I was not able to grasp the full hang of it as someone such as Eni had. This was a part o the editing that I did not really understand in terms of constructing a title and making it look professional.
As for blogging, technology such as the internet and web group forums allows us media users to share our experiences and diary accounts in an online database. We can also attach and compare our films with one another very easily.
Although I naturally prefer Windows systems as opposed to Apple Macs, I found the Apple Mac computers in college much easier to use than the ones I had used in the past. I thought I would have an issue with the sensitivity of the computers, but to my delight, they were fine. There were also some functions on Apple Macs that are impossible to utilise on Windows systems.
7.) In comparison to my preliminary task, the newspaper video, I have learnt a great deal about the importance of planning required to produce a full project of high quality. In the first project, we did not have so much time to plan, so our project was more or less a project that was made up of scenes that were recorded on the first take, apart from a few shots required for the match cutting. Organisation was also a major issue as specific roles were not directly appointed in the preliminary task, and it was more of an improvisation when allocating roles and tasks. However, in our thriller video task, we were generally more organized in terms of our progress schedule, role allocation and timing.
In terms of research, during our first project, we hadn’t watched many professional blockbusters that could aid us with our film in terms of camera techniques and the effects they produce. It was only in between that we actually started to properly analyse the various shots and camera angles in films such as Mission Impossible and Collateral. This allowed us to applied better camera work towards our thriller as we had something physical to compare with.
As for editing, I found editing in the preliminary task easier than in the thriller task, perhaps because the latter was a lot more complex than the initial one. However, this is not a complaint as I saw the thriller as a more challenging feat in which I could try and utilize the skills I had learnt in lessons. There were better angels and shots to manipulate in the final task, which was pleasing as it brought out the vast effects that different camera angles could have on a film. In the first task, there wasn’t much match cutting involved. It was more of the camera panning and scaling on the screen to pick up different actions from various angels.
Filming was also a lot more fun in comparison to the first task. Due to the fact that the first task did not really involve leaving the college premises, it seemed more ‘typical’ making a film in an environment that we are in everyday. However, when we were making our thriller, we were able to take trips to various locations and try different things out, to see what would best suit the intended atmosphere on-screen.
Finally, a key element I learnt was the importance of teamwork. Being able to communicate and agree on decisions with team members was a key reason as to why we were able to finish on time, and two a high quality, regardless of the fact that there was a brief rush in the closing hours of the deadline. Work delegation was slightly an issue as I felt that certain members were more hard-working than others, but as long s we managed to involved everyone in the project at some point, was what I felt was most important above all things.
Our media project is presented in a very professional manner, which has been worked on extensively to portray and emulate the sense of a real life film. We have used various tools and software to try to achieve this. My media product challenges the form, of real life thrillers as it highlights the storyline onscreen in a relatively unique way.
For example, instead of having a traditional element of surprise those ‘normal’ thrillers have, our one incorporates the viewpoint of more than one subject. Instead of simply following the protagonist alone, we show the movements, and track the location of the antagonist throughout the entire clip. I also concentrated on the scene transitioning and developed the effect that precise match cutting had on the film. It allowed the video to flow seamlessly, and got rid of the artificial feel that it originally had before we began editing.
As for aspects such as body language within the film, the protagonist is presented in a very professional manner with gives the film an immediate authentic atmosphere. We also had very good lighting in the film, even when there was very little natural light present. In real life Hollywood films, the colour used always seems to be of a high quality glow which often I the distinction between Hollywood films, and standard British ones.
2.) My media product represents its social group using ‘mise-en-scene’ as well as theme. It is set in urban London (Islington), and this made clear by the appearance of streets and buildings in the clip. The actors are also quite young and so it appeals to a younger social group / audience. Derek represents the average 21-year-old that has perhaps just gone into a full-time job. The car that he drives in the clip, a modern Volkswagen Golf model, is an ideal car for individuals around this age. The clothing he wears in the film is of a professional status, however, is worn in a relaxed way which can be considered as a ‘cooler’ way to wear a suit.
3.) An independent cinema studio would likely be the main distributer of our film. I believe this because of the low budget that our film had to start with. As it is not a ‘blockbuster’, we would need to have an affordable distributor in order for our product to be released. However, it is possible that a larger studio could put our film out there, as I am convinced that it would have a large audience turnout. It would also be ideally a very popular one, as we want it to be able to attract people and increase profits or funding.
4.) The target audience for my media product would generally be younger people, perhaps between the ages of 15 and 30. I have chosen these ages because although younger people outside of this age range tend to go to the cinema often, our thriller contains aspects of violence and so would not be suitable for minors. Also, it has an action element to it which is a genre often favoured by younger people as opposed to perhaps 45 year olds. There is no gender preference in my target audience; males and females are equally targeted. However, it is slightly aimed towards urban residents as we feel they will be easier to relate to because of the nature of our film. In addition, English-speaking people would be a more predominant audience. All social economic backgrounds are an audience for this thriller as there is no preference.
5.) In terms of attracting and addressing an audience, this will be done through the promotion process. Media outlets such as television commercials and billboard will be amongst the most valued promotion portals used. Although expensive, TV adverts promoting the film will be run at times of the day when we believe we will have a larger viewing audience, such as later of the day i.e. 8pm. I do not feel that it would make sense to run our adverts at very early times of the day, as most people will still be asleep.
On the other hand, billboards in popular areas such as gyms, libraries and outside clubs would likely attract more people than if they were located at less popular zones such as museums and galleries. We will also use larger banners on the sides of buses to promote and attract our audience, as public transport is the most popular mode of transport within our audience. We could also use other companies to promote our film such as ‘Coca Cola’ for instance. This could be in the form of our film being advertised on the sides of coke bottles, giving people the opportunity to win tickets to the screening of our film.
Finally, the internet can be used as an attraction method. Many younger people use the internet for various reasons; from shopping to instant messaging. We could use popular websites accessed by million of people daily, to get the idea of our film around very quickly.
6.) Concerning the technological aspect of media, I have learnt about just how big a part technology plays in the development as well as planning of film in the 21st century. The tools of production used to create filming utensils, materials and even editing processes have allowed films to consist of higher quality products with less effort than perhaps in the past. It also means that non-professionals can get together and create a realistic product without having experts around as guidance. We as students are obviously not fully skilled nor experienced in the filmmaking industry, but media programs such as ‘Final Cut Pro’ and ‘Soundtrack’ aided us in the production of our coursework. The interfaces of these programs were relatively straightforward, and we were able to construct our product after filming quiet easily. The editing process was based solely around technology as it allowed us to trim, cut and paste different recorded events in the order of our choice. For example, we may have filmed two different shots several weeks apart, but on screen, editing technology allows it to flow as one naturally shot without any time apart.
‘Livetype’ was a program that we also used in the making of our thriller. It was used to create the credits and title in the film. Nevertheless, it was also a program that I did not personally use often; perhaps once or twice. Therefore, I was not able to grasp the full hang of it as someone such as Eni had. This was a part o the editing that I did not really understand in terms of constructing a title and making it look professional.
As for blogging, technology such as the internet and web group forums allows us media users to share our experiences and diary accounts in an online database. We can also attach and compare our films with one another very easily.
Although I naturally prefer Windows systems as opposed to Apple Macs, I found the Apple Mac computers in college much easier to use than the ones I had used in the past. I thought I would have an issue with the sensitivity of the computers, but to my delight, they were fine. There were also some functions on Apple Macs that are impossible to utilise on Windows systems.
7.) In comparison to my preliminary task, the newspaper video, I have learnt a great deal about the importance of planning required to produce a full project of high quality. In the first project, we did not have so much time to plan, so our project was more or less a project that was made up of scenes that were recorded on the first take, apart from a few shots required for the match cutting. Organisation was also a major issue as specific roles were not directly appointed in the preliminary task, and it was more of an improvisation when allocating roles and tasks. However, in our thriller video task, we were generally more organized in terms of our progress schedule, role allocation and timing.
In terms of research, during our first project, we hadn’t watched many professional blockbusters that could aid us with our film in terms of camera techniques and the effects they produce. It was only in between that we actually started to properly analyse the various shots and camera angles in films such as Mission Impossible and Collateral. This allowed us to applied better camera work towards our thriller as we had something physical to compare with.
As for editing, I found editing in the preliminary task easier than in the thriller task, perhaps because the latter was a lot more complex than the initial one. However, this is not a complaint as I saw the thriller as a more challenging feat in which I could try and utilize the skills I had learnt in lessons. There were better angels and shots to manipulate in the final task, which was pleasing as it brought out the vast effects that different camera angles could have on a film. In the first task, there wasn’t much match cutting involved. It was more of the camera panning and scaling on the screen to pick up different actions from various angels.
Filming was also a lot more fun in comparison to the first task. Due to the fact that the first task did not really involve leaving the college premises, it seemed more ‘typical’ making a film in an environment that we are in everyday. However, when we were making our thriller, we were able to take trips to various locations and try different things out, to see what would best suit the intended atmosphere on-screen.
Finally, a key element I learnt was the importance of teamwork. Being able to communicate and agree on decisions with team members was a key reason as to why we were able to finish on time, and two a high quality, regardless of the fact that there was a brief rush in the closing hours of the deadline. Work delegation was slightly an issue as I felt that certain members were more hard-working than others, but as long s we managed to involved everyone in the project at some point, was what I felt was most important above all things.
Sunday, 22 March 2009
February 12, 2009 - Choosing camera angles
Today, we spent the day choosing which camera angles we felt bets suited each scene, and what it was trying to portray. A lot of different camera angles seemed quite effective in their own right, but there are only so many times you can match cut in the same motion, and we had to sacrifice some nice shots in order to keep within our film time limit.
Eni came up with some very interesting camera angles and point-of-view shots when we were in Derek's kitchen deciding on how he would enter the house. It was between whether we would have a P.O.V shot of the killer watching him enter, or a completely different view.
Another decision-making time was upstairs in the front room; where most of the action takes place. Because Derek's front room was quite compact, shots from all angles looked equally as good, but of course, a decision had to be made. Catherin got the shot from where Derek picks up the letter, just before it match cuts to a low angle, fully body shot, of him in the same motion.
Apart from these instances, the ideal angles for most of the other shots were quite obvious, and so weren't hard to decide on.
Eni came up with some very interesting camera angles and point-of-view shots when we were in Derek's kitchen deciding on how he would enter the house. It was between whether we would have a P.O.V shot of the killer watching him enter, or a completely different view.
Another decision-making time was upstairs in the front room; where most of the action takes place. Because Derek's front room was quite compact, shots from all angles looked equally as good, but of course, a decision had to be made. Catherin got the shot from where Derek picks up the letter, just before it match cuts to a low angle, fully body shot, of him in the same motion.
Apart from these instances, the ideal angles for most of the other shots were quite obvious, and so weren't hard to decide on.
January 22 -- Props!
For our project, we didn't use too many props when filming. The only major props we actually used were, Derek's car, his clothes, a kitchen knife and the furniture in his home. We felt that we didn't really need to many props to create a realistic sense of thrill in our film. Also it benefited us by making us able to work with very limited accessories, which we still did to a good quality.
Derek was very helpful in allowing us to use his house at the last minute, when it seemed that all hope was lost, and we were about to switch our storyline to an 'in-college' setting. This allowed us to keep within our original storyline; the one that we had all prepared our minds for.
Catherin had tried to get us a home, but to our disappoint, this was not possible.
When we were in the house, we used minor props such as old letters, a mobile phone, and a sky remote. Apart form that, no other props were used in the film.
Derek was very helpful in allowing us to use his house at the last minute, when it seemed that all hope was lost, and we were about to switch our storyline to an 'in-college' setting. This allowed us to keep within our original storyline; the one that we had all prepared our minds for.
Catherin had tried to get us a home, but to our disappoint, this was not possible.
When we were in the house, we used minor props such as old letters, a mobile phone, and a sky remote. Apart form that, no other props were used in the film.
Janaury 15 - Planning - Making a Pitch!
In our previous lesson, we had to sit in our groups and 'make a pitch'. This was basically constructing a plan of just how we were going to execute our projects. We are due to do a presentation in class, in our next lesson. We got a large piece of card, and brainstormed all our ideas on to the page.
We were asked to identify and describe our chosen settings and location, the type of lighting we would have, the theme of our film, the storyboard, music, target audience, and finally, our production schedule. Although we were unsure of most of these things, we believe we got off to a good start.
Hopefully, by next lesson we should be ready to present, and then begin filming, provided our teacher is happy with our project plan.
Hopefully, by next lesson we should be ready to present, and then begin filming, provided our teacher is happy with our project plan.
January 1 - Alfred Hitchcock - Let 'Em Play God
Alfred Hitchcock was a British filmaker and producer, often dubbed as 'The Mater of Suspense'.
He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. Jis ideology was that the ultimate way to portray suspense on-screen was to allow the audience to 'play God' themselves. This statement, not to be taken literally, was the act of giving the wiever prior knowledge of what was going on; knowledge that the actors/ protagonist did not have themselves.
He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. Jis ideology was that the ultimate way to portray suspense on-screen was to allow the audience to 'play God' themselves. This statement, not to be taken literally, was the act of giving the wiever prior knowledge of what was going on; knowledge that the actors/ protagonist did not have themselves.
The effect of the viewer knowning what was going to happen to the protagonist before it happened, increased suspense as you were able to witness the 'hero' walking into a trap barefaced. This, coupled with the fact that it wa simpossible to physically tell the actor that they were in danger, made the audience feel useless, and the actor helpless,w hich in turn increased the effect of supsense and thrill.
He also explained that, if the audience knew everything from the start, then less confusion would arise, and the INTENDED message or feeling emulated on-screen would hit the viewer they way ti should; i.e. if a certain scene was intended for the viewer to feel sorrow, they would feel sorry. if it was intended to portray joy, we would feel joy.
Having this advantage, the viewer would instantly feel more directly invovled than, if they were clueless to the consequences that lay round the corner, if the protagonist made one wrong turn.
February 4, 2009 - SNOW!!
A a result of the heavy snow that London has experience over the last week, our filming was brough tto a halt as our previosuly recorded material was done in good weather. It would not make sense to have a sunny setting, and then a cloudy, WHITE setting the next. So for this reason, our time track was affected because of bad weather conditions. The best we can do was get other things ready for when the weather DOES cmae back to normal, so that we aren't standing around when the sky clears up.
Janaury 19 - Presentations
Today, we presented our plans for our thrillers. There were problems. Althoguh I had made a storyline the lesson before my absense on(Thursday 15th Janaury), when i got back to lesson today, the storyline had compeletly changed. WHen I heard the new storyline, it didnt really make sense, and Mary wasn't convinvced that we were ready to film. This was all down to the issue that we did not have a home to film in, ready.
One of the teachers proposed us a third storyline which would mean our filming would be within the college; a feat that I wasn't really enthusiatic about. As a last-minute attempt, I quickly made a storyline, wrote it down on paper and presented it. Although it wasn't perfect, Mary seamed quite pleased with it, and it was now our new storyline. We will spend the following two lessons drawing the storyboard for the story as we will not be allowed to begin filming without them being completed, checked, and authorised. Bummer.
We aim to get all the 'paperwork' down quickly so that we can begin filming. We are already theoretically one lesson behind most of the class as we still have drawings and writing to hand in before we can even touch a camera. Hopefully with hard work, we can quickly get back on our feet, and catch up to everyone else.
February 23 - First lesson back!
Today, we had our first lesson since before half term. Although 1 or 2 of our group memebers were a few minutes late, we were able to jump back onto track quite quickly and get things going once again. Today's aimw as to dedicate quality time into editing our project to perfection. With the deadline just days away, we knew that time wasn't on our side, and because there wasn't much work put in during the half-term, we knew we had to pcik up the pace if we were banking on finishing on time. We began 'trimming the edges' of our film through match-cutting, and getting the video to flow seamlessly. This is an important apsect as, without a natural feel to it, no matter how much energy and time we put into our project, it would not look very pleasing if timing was completely messed up.
We also managed to squeeze in time to go over the soundtraack once again. With the soundtrack starting to take shape, we knew we were getting closer to the finish line.
However, we still needed to improve the credits and such, on-screen. Eni had done quite well to design the credits for our film title, producers, editor and actors, but we wanted it to have a greater impact, as it was currently in plain font and size. We plan on improving these flaws in our next lesson, which will be our deadline lesson.
However, we still needed to improve the credits and such, on-screen. Eni had done quite well to design the credits for our film title, producers, editor and actors, but we wanted it to have a greater impact, as it was currently in plain font and size. We plan on improving these flaws in our next lesson, which will be our deadline lesson.
January 24, 2009 - The search for locations!
Although we had a decent storyline on our minds, materialising it was the problem. We had no secure location at which we could begin our filming, so we spent almost half an hour driving around the borough looking for ideal places to shoot.
We drove around Angel and Essex road, but here was nowhere ideal in sight. We then drove towards Islington Green, and Packington, were we started seeing possible locations for shooting. At the end of our journey, we came to Packignton Square, were we decided we would begin shooting; we had to start somewhere or we would be going around in crcles all day.
So, we jumped out of the car, and quickly set up our equipment across the road. From here, we would shoot Derek pulling up, stepping out of the car, and walking towards the 'door'. We intended to do all outdoor shooting today, but we wern't able to finish and get all our required shots. However, today did not feel like a waste at all, and were are quite proud of our progress.
Hopefully in our next lengthy lesson, we will finsh our major outdoor shooting, and will be able to focus on the indoor scenes more.
February 6, 2009
Although we had already done the dya's work in our lesson, I had a free period today,a nd decided to begin editing on ym own in the computer room. I was able to generally piece together and quickly construct a sensible timeline which we could then begin to perfect in our follwoin glesson. The process took me about hlaf an hour, but it was worth it as in the following lesson, it will be easier on the group as a whole, and we will have more time to focus on other things.
However, i still needed to 're-capture' some of the shots as who ever had uploaded them had accidentally skipped some vital scenes in between of the ones that they did log and capture. Anyway, I was able to replace the important scenes, and construct the storyline. Intially, I began to worry that the clip would be much longer than two minutes when I actually saw just how much footage we had; all of which seemed as imporatant as each other. Nevertheless, i still believed that after good editing, we would be able to cut it down to an ideal length.
February 5, 2009
Today, we edited the first 30 seconds of our thriller. We uploaded the clips that we had recorded earlier. these were not the original clips though, we ha dinfact filmed on two earlier occasions, but we were not happy with them as we did not have a house to do the interior shooting in. Also, the heavy snow period basically destroyed our storyline as we had already recorded all of the outdoor shots in very good weather. it woudl not make sense to have a clear sky, and then 10inches of snow, in our shot. So, to compensate for these flaw, we went and re-shot for the thrid time in Derek's house. We then uploaded these clips and the 'log and captured' them.
We plan to begin editing in our next lesson which is February 9th, next Monday.
March 12 - THRILLER SCREENING @ VUE!!
Today, we took a trip to Vue cinema in the N1 Centre to see all oru films on the big screen. it was quite an interesting experience to see our work put ona pedestal,a nd some of the videos were actually quite humourous. Anyway, we were there for an hour, watching the thrillers of the entire AS Media year. there were approximately 45 videos in total, as there were 9 different Media classes each consisting of 5 groups. Athough tiring (we were there for 2hours), it was a very good experience. All groups displayed clearly worked hard on their projects, and it showed on-screen.
hopefully, next years project will be even more challenging :)
February 23
Today, we spent the whole lesson choosing which soun effects we were going to use in our thriller. We went through a huge list of possible candidates for sound, and after some time, we were able to add sounds such as doors, knives, drawers and stairs, to our clip. Although it took a bit of shifting here and there, we were able to eventually time the sound with the video quite well so all looked quite natural. I was even shocked that some of the sounds were actually no-diegetic as they sounded like there were actually coming form the story space.
For a short moment, we had a problem with the sound being out of place, and repeating itself in the relative parts of the video; i.e. kitchen knife sounds coming up when the knives were pulled up, but then coming up again when Derek was walking up the stairs. Mary quickly helped us sort this out, and all was well. We were quite pleased with the end result for the day. The only thing e still need to sort out was the transitions within the video; some of the match cuts were slightly overlapping themselves.
FALWED CLLIP! - RE-SHOOTING :D
As we were getting closer toward the completion of our thriller movie, we re-ran the enitre edited clip from the beginning. However, at about half way through thte clip, we realised that someone had left the tripod inside of the shot! Thsi inperfection felt like a huge blow to our project and we quickly contemplated whether or not to rush back and re-shoot the shot. We had 2hours before the deadline was reached.
So me and Derek quickly rushed back to his house to re-shoot the scene. Within half an hour, we had re-hot the enitre scene, and were able to get back to college in time to add the final piec to the puzzle. Although it would not have altered our marks greatly if we had left the flawed clip in, felt that we HAD to do our best to have our project as good as we could have it.
I was then able to add the new clip to the timeline quite accurately, and it didn't even see as though it was a diffrent atmosphere on screen as it had been, beforte we removed the old clip.
So me and Derek quickly rushed back to his house to re-shoot the scene. Within half an hour, we had re-hot the enitre scene, and were able to get back to college in time to add the final piec to the puzzle. Although it would not have altered our marks greatly if we had left the flawed clip in, felt that we HAD to do our best to have our project as good as we could have it.
I was then able to add the new clip to the timeline quite accurately, and it didn't even see as though it was a diffrent atmosphere on screen as it had been, beforte we removed the old clip.
Monday, 26 January 2009
Monday 26, January 2009
Today, we began the first part of filming for our thriller coursework. We began by going to a suitable location, and filming the opening scenes of the detective. He had Derek smartly dressed in formal wear, and used his car as the opener for the clip. By using different angles, such as low-angle shots, followed by a slow pan upwards of him, we were able to establish a sense of high status and authority; something we were trying to achieve. We also had the car coming into the frame, and several different possible match cuts were filmed i.e. Derek pulling the car handbrake, followed by him stepping out of the vehicle.
Throughout filming, we ensured that we didn't reveal the face of the detective. This was done to create a sense of mystery about the protagonist, as well as incorporate the 'slick' demeanor of such law enforcement positions; putting him higher than the typical police officer. We managed to capture a lot of useful shots in a relatively short period of time, as everyone was co-operative with one another, and able to work efficiently.
However, we did run into some expected and unexpected difficulties. For one, the car itself was quite dirty, and so it didn't have a crisp, professional feel when we saw it later on the Macs. Secondly, some factors of Derek's outfit were not as sophisticated as we had hoped i.e. the Kickers and cartoon socks. Nevertheless, we were able to film what we wanted to film, and will likely re-do some of the shot during our next lesson. Also, we need to find a house in which we can film the rest of our thriller.
Throughout filming, we ensured that we didn't reveal the face of the detective. This was done to create a sense of mystery about the protagonist, as well as incorporate the 'slick' demeanor of such law enforcement positions; putting him higher than the typical police officer. We managed to capture a lot of useful shots in a relatively short period of time, as everyone was co-operative with one another, and able to work efficiently.
However, we did run into some expected and unexpected difficulties. For one, the car itself was quite dirty, and so it didn't have a crisp, professional feel when we saw it later on the Macs. Secondly, some factors of Derek's outfit were not as sophisticated as we had hoped i.e. the Kickers and cartoon socks. Nevertheless, we were able to film what we wanted to film, and will likely re-do some of the shot during our next lesson. Also, we need to find a house in which we can film the rest of our thriller.
Monday, 19 January 2009
Past Work Observation (Lessons on Thriller Openings)
In class, we had to watch a compilation of thriller opening clips that had been created by students from last year's AS Media course. The diffrent clips all had their own strengths and weaknesses; some better than others. We were instructed to take notes on how mise-en-scene, audio, visual effects, and camera angles were used to convey a thrillign sense of tension, mystery and anticipation.
After watching a few, you could identify some of the editing qualities that made some of the videos seem far better than the rest, especially the first one we watched. That clip in particular had a very proffesional feel to it, throughout the entire clip, regardless of the fact that there was very, very little physical action by the actors themselves.
There was no diegetic sound in any of the clips, and this is the main restriction that has been given to us when we create our own thriller openings. At first I thought it would be very hard to create an effective thriller without some sort of actual sound coming from characters or objects in the clip itself, but after watching the videos from last year's groups, my view quickly changed.
After that, we then watched a documentary on the importance and effect that openings have on the film interest that they are in. The documentary gave detail of effects ranging from changes in 'traditonal' title sequences, to the way the camera pans to show the landscape / skyline of the city itself. After seeing it, it gave me a few ideas which I can adopt when I start making my own thriller opening. =]
After watching a few, you could identify some of the editing qualities that made some of the videos seem far better than the rest, especially the first one we watched. That clip in particular had a very proffesional feel to it, throughout the entire clip, regardless of the fact that there was very, very little physical action by the actors themselves.
There was no diegetic sound in any of the clips, and this is the main restriction that has been given to us when we create our own thriller openings. At first I thought it would be very hard to create an effective thriller without some sort of actual sound coming from characters or objects in the clip itself, but after watching the videos from last year's groups, my view quickly changed.
After that, we then watched a documentary on the importance and effect that openings have on the film interest that they are in. The documentary gave detail of effects ranging from changes in 'traditonal' title sequences, to the way the camera pans to show the landscape / skyline of the city itself. After seeing it, it gave me a few ideas which I can adopt when I start making my own thriller opening. =]
Tuesday, 16 December 2008
Newspaper Thriller Evaluation
The newspaper video clip
For our 'thriller' project, we were given the task of taking a standard newspaper and using it to create a short thriller movie based on it. We first constructed our storyline of exact what was going to happen in the short clip, and my our group came up with the idea that one person ( a fan) would be sitting and reading a newspaper in a public area, and would then spot the famous face on the newspaper in real life.
The objective of the task was to create a clip that could build intense suspense, and we had to try and achieve this through the use of a range of diffrent camera angles, 'mise-en-scene', sound and other effects. To begin, we had 'subject a' walk into the set building that the scene was to take place in. Throughout the whole thing, he does not say anything, and simple walks around. The lack of speech was used to create a form of suspense and make the person seem a lot more mysterious since we do not know nything about him.
We used diffrent camera skills that we had learned in pervious lessons, such as a 'long shot' of him walking across a hall inside. The long shot was used to show the large size of the setting and to show that he was the only person there. We then used a medium shot when (Eni) was buying a cup of tea in the hall to show in a little bit of detail exact what he was doing. He then goes to sit down at a table and starts reading the newspaper. At this point, we switched it to an 'over the shoulder' shot which gave the effect that the viewer was sitting next to him reading it aswell.
Suspense
Straight away, we switch to a 'first person view' of what Eni is reading to show in detail the image of the famous person that he is looking at, so that when the person does appear in real life later on, the viewer can make out the resemblence and connection between the newsppaer and the scene. Not to long after, the star (Derek) is about to walk into the same hall that Eni is in, and we switch to an 'over the shoulder shot' and follow Derek into the hall. Once he was in the hall, we then used a 'low angle' shot from Eni's side against Derek. This was done to emphasis the difference in status between the two; Derek being a famous star, and Eni being a standard individual. We also did the opposite from Dereks point of view, and did a 'high angle' shot against Eni to make him appear more timid, smaller and less powerful than Derek.
Those were the major shots that we used in our clip.
Editing
Editing was reasonably easy to do as we had done it in pervious lessons, so it wasn't very hard to get used to again. The software we used on the Macs was called 'Final Cut Pro'; a proffessional editing tool. In editing, we had to connect the video camera and basically run the entire clip onto the hard drive so it was one big file. We then began to 'cut' the file into diffrent parts; about 18 of them. After that, we took them one by one, ran them and cut out the irrelevant parts with errors or overlappings. It was pretty straightfoward as there weren't many parts that were unuseable or done incorrectly.
Our editing was successful because it came out relatively smooth and the viewer could make sense of exactly what was going in each scene. Obviously it was not perfect and there were a few minor mistakes, but nothing significant. we also added a soundtrack to give it a more cinematic feel to it, and to increase the effect of the clip. The was no digetic sound apart from Eni shouting Derek's name at the very end of the clip when he spots him and recognises who he is. The clip wasn't exactly the typical thriller but it made sense.
There were no conventions used is our thriller as were trying to make it as orignal as we possibly could.
Mise-en-scene
We used mise-en-scene to show the viewer various aspects of the clip. For instance, the building that it was set in was a very modern design (City And Islington College) which showed the viewer that the timer setting of it is modern. Inside also showed that it was possibly a formal environment. The way in which Eni was dressed was casual cothing which identified the time setting as well as his social class as an individual. Props used such as the newspaper and drank gave an impression of what the clip was about and also what type of chaarcter Eni was in the scene. The outcome of the clip proved that mise-en-secne has a huge impact on how the viewer first approaches the film mentally. If it was dark and gloomy, the viewer would take it more seriously than if it was bright, loud 'fun'-looking.
Conclusion
Things that could have been improved are:
For our 'thriller' project, we were given the task of taking a standard newspaper and using it to create a short thriller movie based on it. We first constructed our storyline of exact what was going to happen in the short clip, and my our group came up with the idea that one person ( a fan) would be sitting and reading a newspaper in a public area, and would then spot the famous face on the newspaper in real life.
The objective of the task was to create a clip that could build intense suspense, and we had to try and achieve this through the use of a range of diffrent camera angles, 'mise-en-scene', sound and other effects. To begin, we had 'subject a' walk into the set building that the scene was to take place in. Throughout the whole thing, he does not say anything, and simple walks around. The lack of speech was used to create a form of suspense and make the person seem a lot more mysterious since we do not know nything about him.
We used diffrent camera skills that we had learned in pervious lessons, such as a 'long shot' of him walking across a hall inside. The long shot was used to show the large size of the setting and to show that he was the only person there. We then used a medium shot when (Eni) was buying a cup of tea in the hall to show in a little bit of detail exact what he was doing. He then goes to sit down at a table and starts reading the newspaper. At this point, we switched it to an 'over the shoulder' shot which gave the effect that the viewer was sitting next to him reading it aswell.
Suspense
Straight away, we switch to a 'first person view' of what Eni is reading to show in detail the image of the famous person that he is looking at, so that when the person does appear in real life later on, the viewer can make out the resemblence and connection between the newsppaer and the scene. Not to long after, the star (Derek) is about to walk into the same hall that Eni is in, and we switch to an 'over the shoulder shot' and follow Derek into the hall. Once he was in the hall, we then used a 'low angle' shot from Eni's side against Derek. This was done to emphasis the difference in status between the two; Derek being a famous star, and Eni being a standard individual. We also did the opposite from Dereks point of view, and did a 'high angle' shot against Eni to make him appear more timid, smaller and less powerful than Derek.
Those were the major shots that we used in our clip.
Editing
Editing was reasonably easy to do as we had done it in pervious lessons, so it wasn't very hard to get used to again. The software we used on the Macs was called 'Final Cut Pro'; a proffessional editing tool. In editing, we had to connect the video camera and basically run the entire clip onto the hard drive so it was one big file. We then began to 'cut' the file into diffrent parts; about 18 of them. After that, we took them one by one, ran them and cut out the irrelevant parts with errors or overlappings. It was pretty straightfoward as there weren't many parts that were unuseable or done incorrectly.
Our editing was successful because it came out relatively smooth and the viewer could make sense of exactly what was going in each scene. Obviously it was not perfect and there were a few minor mistakes, but nothing significant. we also added a soundtrack to give it a more cinematic feel to it, and to increase the effect of the clip. The was no digetic sound apart from Eni shouting Derek's name at the very end of the clip when he spots him and recognises who he is. The clip wasn't exactly the typical thriller but it made sense.
There were no conventions used is our thriller as were trying to make it as orignal as we possibly could.
Mise-en-scene
We used mise-en-scene to show the viewer various aspects of the clip. For instance, the building that it was set in was a very modern design (City And Islington College) which showed the viewer that the timer setting of it is modern. Inside also showed that it was possibly a formal environment. The way in which Eni was dressed was casual cothing which identified the time setting as well as his social class as an individual. Props used such as the newspaper and drank gave an impression of what the clip was about and also what type of chaarcter Eni was in the scene. The outcome of the clip proved that mise-en-secne has a huge impact on how the viewer first approaches the film mentally. If it was dark and gloomy, the viewer would take it more seriously than if it was bright, loud 'fun'-looking.
Conclusion
Things that could have been improved are:
1) We could have left a 5 second gap for each scene as we only did this for a couple. this might have made editing easier and less 'tight' when putting scenes together.
2) We could have also added more camera angles for more important scenes to capture its affect from every angle.
3) Better camera handling - There were some scenes in which the camera was either too focused or wobbling.
However, on a whole, I believe the project was successful and I am pleased with the outcome. It was easy to work with the members of my group and we didnt waste the time we had. I was able to see understand how exactly the video camera worked and how the footage is transfered to computer for editing. This experience wil be very useful in the future for larger filming tasks in which we can apply our gained skills.
Monday, 15 December 2008
'The Shining'
In today's lesson, we watched a DVD called 'The Shining' in our media lesson. It was a thriller about a caretaker who lives in a huge empty hotel with his wife and son. However, he slowly starts to go crazy. At the start of the film, we the audience are informed of what is going to happen throughout the film.
I enjoyed the film for a variety of reasons; most predominantly because of the large inclusion of suspense the whole time. The film used different sounds such as high pitched screeches and low droning tones to build suspense for the viewer, and it also used different camera angles such as first person view and bird's eye view to keep the viewers engaged and interested.
Another sound effects that aided this effect was the intro soundtrack. It was a 'heart beat'-like sound. At the same time on-screen, there was a bird's eye view and the camera was following a car in a predator's style. This established isolation and remoteness. Later on in the film, the child is playing with toy trucks. Again, it is a bird's eye view shot and then you slowly see a ball roll into the frame. You re unaware of who threw the ball, and so when the camera pans upwards from the POV of the child, suspense is created.
I enjoyed the film for a variety of reasons; most predominantly because of the large inclusion of suspense the whole time. The film used different sounds such as high pitched screeches and low droning tones to build suspense for the viewer, and it also used different camera angles such as first person view and bird's eye view to keep the viewers engaged and interested.
Another sound effects that aided this effect was the intro soundtrack. It was a 'heart beat'-like sound. At the same time on-screen, there was a bird's eye view and the camera was following a car in a predator's style. This established isolation and remoteness. Later on in the film, the child is playing with toy trucks. Again, it is a bird's eye view shot and then you slowly see a ball roll into the frame. You re unaware of who threw the ball, and so when the camera pans upwards from the POV of the child, suspense is created.
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