Final Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product does not represent a social group per-see but it can be seen as a teen representation from the mis en scene of the school and the only character being depicted as a teenager

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We believe our target audience for our film piece would be teens. We set out to attract our target audience through use of promotional material, this meant creating a both eye-capturing and interesting poster and DVD cover.

How did you attract/address your audience?

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt how to use iMovie on the Mac OS to create a piece that flows well; I effectively learned new skills such as slowing down clips for more dramatic effect alongside trimming and removing unnecessary clips from the film piece. I have also learnt how to use the HD cameras more efficiently such as the selective focus tool and colour options to change whatever is being filmed to sepia.negative, b/w etc. I also learned how to use the camera apparatus such as the tripod to give off a steady and consistent pan that would be near impossible with a human touch. I have learnt the basics of blogging and how to structure a post so that the maximum information can be taken from it whilst still remaining relevant. I have also learnt how to use computer software such as Photoshop CS3 to create DVD covers and posters, ways in which institutions can promote their product.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

I think I have learnt how to use iMovie more effectively learning how to put in text blend in colours to give of an eerie fell that makes the piece feel more like a 'horror' .

Finished piece - Abandoned

The final piece was finally completed edited on iMovie, so that text and i.e. opening credits could be input. The final piece lasts for a duration of 2mins17secs and was uploaded onto vimeo so it could be uploaded and streamed on the group blog.

The editing of the final piece took the longest compared to the continuity pieces this may be due to the duration being longer than the continuity pieces or our improvement as a group with the editing software; however overall I believe that it was worth the time. Thankyou for viewing our groups final piece.

Searching for sounds

After muting a substantial amount of the movie to remove all background noise, we decided to look for diegetic sounds for the sounds that were lost such as foot steps, creaking doors, etc. We chose to use no sounds accept for the non-diegetic sounds and a single diegetic sound of a loud bang that we used to build the tempo.

The sound was provided on iMovie's sound database.

Editing the final piece

Today we are going to edit the final piece; after we finish the edit we will evaluate the finished product to see what shots and angles that are still mising and add them in after.

We will also be going to decide were the title placements will be within the first 30-40ish seconds. Our teacher also showed us a few moreintros from movies such as KiDULTHOOD and Stormbreaker. after seeing these introductions we decided on removing some of the dialogue from the intro as we tought there was too much for the first 2minutes of a movie.

Holiday shooting

We came into school over the holiday so that we could begin filming segments of our final piece; we took the opportunity to come in over the holidays so that we could capture the school at its most empty, this was so that we could produce an eerie atmosphere complimented with an perturbed feeling. As a group we were undecided about whether our piece should be produced in colour or black and white so we decided to shoot in colour; this way if we are not satisfied with the result it can be edited into black and white. I believe that black and white will be a more suitable colour for our horror as it gives a type of nostalgic effect, also when using B/W filming can be done at any time regardless of whether (so there isn't a problem with continuity) additionally it gives of an array of colour scales giving of an eerie effect

Whilst filming we tested with a range of shots that we believed would give of a "horror" feel; for some of these shots we needed a clean pan, so we used a skateboard to get a smoother rolling effect.

Additional effects we experimented with was use of silhouettes using the flashlight feature so it gave the effect of someone watching the main character. Another skill we used was selective focusing. More filming needs to be done, this way we can edit our piece and add sounds such as footsteps and door closes.

Final DVD Cover

Above is the finished DVD cover of for our final piece. The cover was created on Photoshop CS3 and was designed with inspiration from DVD covers such as Dracula movies and the Saw movies

Final Poster

Final poster was created on photoshop CS3 and uploaded onto the main blog, I believe it captures the feel of horror to its fullest; we drew inspiration from movie posters such as the Triangle posters and others that we research.

Group relationship evaluation

I have found working with the group has been interesting to say the least. The group originally started of with 5 members, Rory, Sue, Wasil, Amin and I; however the Media A-level specification states that the maximum members that a group can have is 4 which meant that one member from our group would have to leave to join another group; this decision left us with a difficult choice since we got along and all worked so well as a group. However Sue decided that she would leave us and join another group leaving us with 4 members.

The remaining group members work well together; we listen and understand each others ideas incorporating them into our pieces and ieas. Together I believe that we were able to produce is a high standard of work with a lot more to come.

Rough poster designs

The shots that we took yesterday were uploaded onto photobucket for editing in school, below are some brief mock-ups of what we hope to have them looking like. We drew inspiration from the movie posters that we looked up (sse below); In the future I hope to be using a more advanced programme to edit the posters such as iPhoto or Adobe Photoshop.

New camera skills developed

Yesterday we used the cameras to take pictures for the posters instead of recording. I learnt how to adjust the shutter manually and change the image affect from normal to black and white; adjusting the shutter speed will either give us a clearer and still image if it is increased the image is clearer and a more blurred image is produced when if the shutter speed is decreased.

When using the black and white affect we had to remember to white balance the camera, this is by placing a white screen (plain paper) in front of the camera as it turns on, this is so that the camera understands what white is and can differentiate the difference between colours better

Below are some of the pictures we took.

We will be using these pictures to create mock-up posters and DVD covers using inspiration that we drew from

Movie Posters/DVD Cover Inspiration

I had a look at different covers and posters (old and new) so that we could draw inspiration from these to use for our ow DVD cover and poster in order to convey the feeling of 'horror'

Old cover for a Frankenstein movie
The red font in the header is effective as it is symbolic of blood and it gves the viewer a feel of 'horror'

Saw IV cover

once again the red writing symbolises blood

As a group we looked at all of these as inspiration. In our group discussions we viewed various others. We began shooting our main character so we could create a promotional material such as DVD covers & posters. Once we finish the pictures we will create mock-up versions and then advance on them later on.

Next stage of development

Now that we have sucessfully produced both of our continuity pieces we will be focusssing on the main movie which will last 2minutes and will contain the bulk of our coursework marks. In our horror we want to capture the school empty, and in order to that we will start top come in over the weekends to film.

Continuity piece 2 finished

Today we successfully finished shooting the 2nd of our continuity pieces. The 2nd continuity piece shows the improvement in our camera skills and use of a wider range of camera shots and angles. We are currently mid-way through the editing process of the continuity piece and which I hope will be completed by next lesson so that it can be upload alongside our 1st piece and so that we can move onto our main piece.

Continuity piece 1 video

Continuity 1 completed

Today the group was split into two halves, the editing of the first continuity piece was completed whilst the second was being filmed.

Firstly all the clips were imported from the video camera onto the Mac so that the camera could be used for filming whilst the editing still took place. The first piece was successfully edited in iMovie on the Macs and will be uploaded to the main blog alongside it's storyboard very soon at a later date; we hope for the second continuity piece to be completed by the end of this week so that the editing of it can be done either over the weekend or during the next lesson of next week so that we can move onto our main 3 minute film.

Gathering of ideas

Before the lesson start today the group briefly assembled to decide on the plot for the 3 minute introduction of the main film. Amin had previously presented us with an idea and after viewing all ideas from each team member we decided to further his; the storyboard will be drawn up over the weekend and we will hopefully begin shooting mid way next week after the completion of the second continuity piece.

Continuity

Today we finished the first of our two continuity pieces; the piece shows us exercising various yet suitable camera angles and shots such as panning, tracking, canted angles etc.

However, compared to the other groups our group is slightly behind on their coursework, therefore we have decided that tomorrow the group will split into two halves; one half will be aiming to fully edit the first continuity piece and the other half will aim to finish filming the second continuity piece.

By splitting the group into two I think that we can maximize our efficiency and be able to move onto our main film piece faster without sacrificing the quality of the work.

Fruits of the Brainstorm

After the re-evaluation of our genre from a teen romance to a horror it was decided that each member go of to find inspiration for the new genre and plot from movies etc. Today the other group members and I were presented with a brainstorm and general idea or 'brief mock-up' from Amin (a more detailed explanation of his idea can be found here).

Tomorrow we will decide whether to develop on his idea or decide on another idea from another group member.

Continuity Start

Yesterday the groups finally were able to leave the classroom to begin shooting our personal productions. Our group began shooting the first of our 30 second continuity pieces. We encountered minor problems such as finding silent and empty corridors in the busy school.

The first continuity piece was not successfully finished as it requires a few more shots and then will to be edited on iMovie; I hope that all this will be accomplished by the end of today.

1st Impressions of new cameras

My first impression from using the cameras. I personally found the cameras relatively easy to use from remembering the previous' day demonstration and the quick refresher we were given before we were handed them. I think that with practice the cameras will become easier to handle.

Camera Practice

Today each group was given their cameras that we will be using to shoot out film productions with, the cameras however were to remain inside the classroom for today just to give each group a feel of how to use them.

The lesson consisted of the group members taking it in turns shooting small pieces using different shots and angles such as pedding, crabing, panning etc. this was to help us improve our shot awareness which will aid us when putting together our main piece as well as our 2 continuity pieces. The cameras we are using are the JVC Everio GZ-HD40

Angles and shots practiced in today's lesson

Arrival of new cameras

Today the new cameras that we will be using for our media film finally arrived. The class was given an introduction about the new cameras and also shown a demonstration of how to use JVC Everio GZ-HD40 hi-definition cameras. The cameras have numerous features which were explained to us as well as a demonstration of the navigational buttons such as the menu buttons. We should start using the cameras in the next lesson.

The new cameras

Research into the chosen genre

To help create the plot for the film, we all set out individually watching the first 3-4 minutes of some horror based-films to see how the were constructed and to help understand what truly makes a horror film. The main focuses that we looked at were the mis en scene and the camera angles used during the into.

During my research I looked into the movies Final Destination 3, Saw III and The Hostel

Re-evalutaion of Genre

Later on the group decided against having the genre of the film as a teen romance; we re-evaluated and decided on having the new genre of the film as a horror. The group came to this conclusion as we believed that it would be easier to produce, more interesting and unusual camera angles would be needed, and mis en scene would be more interesting to reproduce in order to create tension and suspense.

Project Start

I am Idris Azeez currently studying media studies in A-level; my coursework consists of creating a 2 minute film introduction idea that we have. The class will be working in group that consist of 4 people; my other team members are Amin, Rory and Wasil This blog will contain my personal ideas and thoughts along with information about the progression of the group production

The first task as a group was to decide on the genre of the film; from a selection of a teen, teen romance, horror and comedy we decided on producing a teen romance.