Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you think you have learnt from the progression from it to the full task?
From filming the preliminary task we learnt the basics of using the cameras, for example achieving different shot types such as high angle and establishing, and using the tripod when needed. We also learnt from the preliminary how to come up with ideas of which shots to use in a sequence, to make it run smoothly and look professional.
When we first used the final cut pro software to edit our footage from the preliminary task, we found when putting two separate shots together, in order for it to be a smooth cut, everything in both shots needs to match up and be in exactly the same position. We remembered this when filming our main task.
When using the editing software at first, we were unsure about how to use it to create the type of look we wanted. For example, with different transitions and fonts for the titles. To overcome this we watched tutorial clips on youtube about how to use final cut pro, this helped us a lot.
This is one of the tutorials we used, to help us add and change the style of text:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEVcn1owl5Q
Friday, 7 May 2010
Evaluation
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
From filming the flickering light of the candle for our final piece, we learnt how to get an out of focus shot by adjusting the zoom. This helped us a lot as we needed the shot to be blurred.
We also found out how to use the effects on final cut pro to achieve the look we wanted by experimenting with it in our free time and getting to know how to use it. This is where we found the ‘glow’ effect that we used on a shot of Naomi surrounded by candles. Without the effect we felt the shot wasn’t good enough to use and would have discarded it.
Towards the end of the time we spent editing we felt we had got to grips with how to use final cut pro successfully and felt confident when adding clips and music to the timeline and changing certain aspects of the production.
From filming the flickering light of the candle for our final piece, we learnt how to get an out of focus shot by adjusting the zoom. This helped us a lot as we needed the shot to be blurred.
We also found out how to use the effects on final cut pro to achieve the look we wanted by experimenting with it in our free time and getting to know how to use it. This is where we found the ‘glow’ effect that we used on a shot of Naomi surrounded by candles. Without the effect we felt the shot wasn’t good enough to use and would have discarded it.
Towards the end of the time we spent editing we felt we had got to grips with how to use final cut pro successfully and felt confident when adding clips and music to the timeline and changing certain aspects of the production.
Evaluation
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience for our film would be teens and young adults, aged from around 15 to 24, as the main character involved is a teenage girl. This would also attract more of a female audience. Our production as the opening of a film, doesn’t give much away, so it would appeal to people on the basis of the genre. Therefore anyone interested in teen dramas would enjoy our film.
How did you attract/ address your audience?
When the titles of the film appear on the screen, as if they are being typed, we added in quick extreme close up shots of Naomi’s face, to immediately let the audience know it is going to be a dramatic film about a teenage girl, and invite them to wonder what the story is about.
We added the whip pan shots of the fast cars into the introducing pan shot of Naomi to introduce the exterior part of the film before jumping straight into it. We also did this to put across to the audience that although there are dark elements to the opening of the film, for example the extreme close ups of Naomi, there are also some more exciting elements to it, to appeal more to the target audience.
As the film came together when we were editing, we felt it was becoming more and more dramatic, so decided instead of using an up tempo piece of music, to go for something a bit more dark and mysterious to fit the mood of the film.
As the plot of the film is about a teenage girl receiving a letter and being afraid to open it, we decided to add in clips with low key lighting to represent the dark place in her mind and her confusion
The target audience for our film would be teens and young adults, aged from around 15 to 24, as the main character involved is a teenage girl. This would also attract more of a female audience. Our production as the opening of a film, doesn’t give much away, so it would appeal to people on the basis of the genre. Therefore anyone interested in teen dramas would enjoy our film.
How did you attract/ address your audience?
When the titles of the film appear on the screen, as if they are being typed, we added in quick extreme close up shots of Naomi’s face, to immediately let the audience know it is going to be a dramatic film about a teenage girl, and invite them to wonder what the story is about.
We added the whip pan shots of the fast cars into the introducing pan shot of Naomi to introduce the exterior part of the film before jumping straight into it. We also did this to put across to the audience that although there are dark elements to the opening of the film, for example the extreme close ups of Naomi, there are also some more exciting elements to it, to appeal more to the target audience.
As the film came together when we were editing, we felt it was becoming more and more dramatic, so decided instead of using an up tempo piece of music, to go for something a bit more dark and mysterious to fit the mood of the film.
As the plot of the film is about a teenage girl receiving a letter and being afraid to open it, we decided to add in clips with low key lighting to represent the dark place in her mind and her confusion
Evaluation
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
We feel our film is representative of troubled teenagers, particularly girls, as the main character is a seventeen year old female. As there are no other characters involved in the film, it is not representative of a specific range of people. We believe, because our film is simplistic and realistic, that many of the target audience will be able to relate to it as it resembles real life situations.
What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?
After looking on the IMDB website at other genres of films similar to ours, such as Harry Brown, we think that British film companies might be interested in distributing our film such as Marv Films and WT2 productions. Also, because it is similar to a ‘Skins’ type production, which is based in Bristol, a city in Britain, people from Britain will be more familiar with the type of production our film is.
We feel our film is representative of troubled teenagers, particularly girls, as the main character is a seventeen year old female. As there are no other characters involved in the film, it is not representative of a specific range of people. We believe, because our film is simplistic and realistic, that many of the target audience will be able to relate to it as it resembles real life situations.
What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?
After looking on the IMDB website at other genres of films similar to ours, such as Harry Brown, we think that British film companies might be interested in distributing our film such as Marv Films and WT2 productions. Also, because it is similar to a ‘Skins’ type production, which is based in Bristol, a city in Britain, people from Britain will be more familiar with the type of production our film is.
Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The genre of our film is drama, we were originally aiming to produce a thriller, but as we came up with new ideas we found ourselves going in a more dramatic direction. We decided it worked well because we were able to come up with ideas that would be just as effective but simpler to create. As the shots came together we saw that our film had a ‘Skins’ type feel to it, through the use of interesting shots and editing. For example, we combined fast and slow motion to contrast the feelings of calmness and chaos that the main character was going through.
The genre of our film is drama, we were originally aiming to produce a thriller, but as we came up with new ideas we found ourselves going in a more dramatic direction. We decided it worked well because we were able to come up with ideas that would be just as effective but simpler to create. As the shots came together we saw that our film had a ‘Skins’ type feel to it, through the use of interesting shots and editing. For example, we combined fast and slow motion to contrast the feelings of calmness and chaos that the main character was going through.
Some of our Original Ideas...
This is a still of the original whip pan shots we captured. We decided not to use them because the way the camera moved on the tripod made the shot seem at an angle, which was not the look we wanted. Instead we filmed the cars coming up to the camera and driving past, which we felt looked a lot more effective and fit the feeling of chaos we wanted to convey, as the cars were coming towards the camera at a fast speed.Some of our Original Ideas...
This was the first bit of footage we captured for our opening sequence. As you can see, we changed the location, as there was not many people walking behind Naomi so we didn't create the busy look we wanted. Also, when we sped up the footage when editing, there were people walking in front of the camera which didn't fit the style of our film and looked unproffesional.
As well as this, Naomi was wearing her hair down so when the shot was playing at a high speed, you could see her hair moving in the wind when it was supposed to look as if she was still.
To overcome this problem, we cut out the background of the shot on final cut pro, so it was just Naomi. We then slowed this part of the shot down, so it was almost completely still. However, when we then added in the fast motion background, parts of the footage had merged in with the slow motion and people in the shot were disappearing and re-appearing. This was obviously a problem as it looked messy. To improve, we re-filmed this part of the film in a more busy location, and Naomi tied her hair back so it wasn't blowing in the wind. However, when putting all the footage together, we decided not to use a lot of these shots because our ideas had changed slightly, instead we used fast snippets of the clip instead of the whole thing.This is part of the original footage we captured:
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Changes...
We carried out most of our original ideas, but changed some elements as we were filming and editing, because they didn't feel right to use; the shot of Naomi sat on a bench in town was originally supposed to be sped up, but with Naomi kept still as we wanted it to seem as if everything in her life was moving quickly and she was stuck in the same position. However, when we started editing we found this didn't work as we hoped and looked unproffesional. As a result, we decided to do the opposite and slow down the pace to represent to the audience the feeling of apathy by Naomi.
We also originally wanted to use whip pan shots of fast cars going by, but when filming them we found it didn't look as good as we'd hoped. We tried speeding them up when editing, but we felt they didn't suit the type of shot we were going for and looked messy. As a result, we went out to film them again and got some better shots by changing the position of the camera, so the cars going past were filmed as if they were coming towards the camera, rather than going straight past it. When we were putting the shots together we found this worked well and represented the sense of rush we wanted to convey.
We also originally wanted to use whip pan shots of fast cars going by, but when filming them we found it didn't look as good as we'd hoped. We tried speeding them up when editing, but we felt they didn't suit the type of shot we were going for and looked messy. As a result, we went out to film them again and got some better shots by changing the position of the camera, so the cars going past were filmed as if they were coming towards the camera, rather than going straight past it. When we were putting the shots together we found this worked well and represented the sense of rush we wanted to convey.
Titles
We found it difficult adding titles and didn't know how to acheive the look we wanted, so we looked at some clips from youtube giving tutorials on how to use final cut pro which helped us a lot. At first, the transition of the titles we used was just a simple slide accross the screen. However, after looking at different effects we found a transition called 'typewriter', which types each letter of the text on the screen. We felt this was best suited for our film as it is about a letter. We then had an idea of using a handwriting effect, as if the text was being written on the screen instead of typed, however we couldn't find an effect that enabled us to do this, so we stayed with the typewriter effect.
Music
The song we decided to use on the finished peice of film has a slow pace, to match the pace of the film. It has a low pitch with
harmony added on, which we feel adds a sense of hope to the dramatic feel of the film and portrays a sense of calmness. Originally we had chosen another piece of music which was much more up tempo, but when we added it to the film, the pitch got higher and more uplifting so it had a more positive attitude than we wanted to put across to the audience. We felt it didn't fit the feel of the film, therfore, we changed the style of music completely to better suit the genre. After watching the final production, we feel it makes the film seem more mature.
harmony added on, which we feel adds a sense of hope to the dramatic feel of the film and portrays a sense of calmness. Originally we had chosen another piece of music which was much more up tempo, but when we added it to the film, the pitch got higher and more uplifting so it had a more positive attitude than we wanted to put across to the audience. We felt it didn't fit the feel of the film, therfore, we changed the style of music completely to better suit the genre. After watching the final production, we feel it makes the film seem more mature.
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Transitions
HI Blog..
We have just finished editing our short film. We tried to keep our techniques simple as to resemble the genre and plot we have chosen, which is drama, but aimed at teens and young adults aged around fifteen to twenty-four.
After experimenting with different transitions such as additive colour and dissolve, the ones we chose to use were fade in, fade out, dip to colour and cross disolve. We decided these were the best type of transitions to use because they slowed down the pace of the film and we felt they merged different clips together smoothly , which is the effect we wanted.
Cross Dissolve
Fade in fade out
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