Tuesday, 9 December 2008

Good research into similar texts.  Story boarding is included and the production log is good.  The film does not exactly follow the brief but does how understanding of most of the required elements, though the 180 rule is a little confused in places.  The evaluation sows a god level of understanding

Planning 13/20   Production 40/60 Evaluation 14/20  67/100  C

Sunday, 30 November 2008

Editing and programs used

Program used

The program that i used to edit my film with is a program made by Panasonic which came with the camera that i used. It is called Motion Studio SD and is a rather basic editing program that is easy to use. There are a few disadvantages against iMovie about the program such as the editing is not as good or effective to use. Also, i could not find a way to use my own music on the program and all the default audio clips were not as good as that on iMovie.

Editing and program









This is the main screen on the program. The blue box allows you to play your edited and non edited clips.






This is where you can get your files imported onto the program. It lets you go into your computer and import any file you want onto the program.























This shows all the clips that i used in more detail and it enables you to drag them onto the editing part.








This shows the editing part where all the clips flow together.




Camera and hardware used

To film my project i used a panasonic sdr camera which is good and holds an SD card which is light and small so it is easy to carry around. You can also put it into most computers to edit the film with.


Friday, 28 November 2008

Evaluation

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

I think that i used, developed and challenged the forms and conventions of real media products in a way that could be referred and compared to films of the same target audience well. By carrying out and researching into similar media texts and institutions i managed to get an idea on what i am supposed to achieve by making my film. By using the genre of action and seeing that cars are used a lot in action films, i got the idea of using a car in the film to show that it is an action film and not a romantic comedy. The dialogue was that of a more adult content which was kind of random, but analysing and researching into similar media films under the genre of action i found out that most of them have a minimum certificate of 15. I used all the shots that i could in the film which shows that i understand the basic variety of rules and acknowledged shots, so i took this to my advantage.



How does your media product represent particular social groups?

There are two main social groups targeted in my film. The first is the younger generation who are into fast action films, guns and violence. I believe that there is a wide market for films like this as pretty much all young men enjoy to watch an action film. I had to use the right shots, lighting, effects and choice of dialogue to make sure that the first set of targetted audience is drawn into watching my film and enjoying it. The second group of audience is males who also enjoy all of the sub divisions included in my film. I do not think that the female culture would be particularly interested in seeing my film but males would.



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

My clip is a trailor or a scene from a main film so the institution that i would be distributing it to would be cinemas, DVD companies and television companies. To go into a more broad subject the DVD companies would be institutions that specialise in making action films. Television is a very wide and is full of a variety of different specialised channels so TV would be a good institution to distribute my product to. Cinema is not really a broad institution as cinema is just a place where all films of all types are watched but it would still be a good place to distribute the product to.



Who would be the audience for your media product?

The main two groups of audience that my film is targeted at is men/ boys that enjoy action films and who are 15+. My film contains some graphic content so it would not be suitable for persons under the age of 15 to watch it. I do not belive that women would want to watch my film either so i would not expect them to be a target audience.



How did you attract/address your audience?

I believe that my film did not really need a title screen or anything to explain the scene as it is just a cut out of a film. I think that it kind of explains itself and people will get the idea on what the film is about by just watching the scene that i have created. Therefore by just having a scene of a sequence of clips that flow together explains itself as well as any other way of explaining a film would.



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


When entering this project i knew how to use a camera and how to upload images and shots onto a computer but i did not know the rules, styles, programs, the different shots and how to use the programs to edit films. By researching into all of these things i learnt so many more skills with video cameras, the rules of different shots, how to use different shots to make a film effective. I also learnt how to use a program called Panasonic Motion SD studio which is a program designed for PC's. I did not get a chance to edit my film using iMovie because my clips run on a different format than that used on apples and iMovie. This is why i had to find out the best program to edit my clips with and the format of my clips. I found Motion Studio relativley easy to use but it did not have as much effects and information as iMovie has so i had to make do with what i had. By doing research and learning new skills i am now able to easily use programs and cameras to manipulate images into the style and way that i want, better than before.

Thursday, 27 November 2008

Planning Text


My Film

I used the facilities available around me wisley as my friends in the film were available and the setting was available to me aswell. I used my own car to film in as the theme of the film is action.


Survey and additional research

Additional research

My film is for teenagers and so i believe that the best way to conduct research on teenagers is to ask them questions about different films. As all of the people who go to my school are teenagers i will go around my school and ask various questions about peoples needs and likes and dislikeas about films. I asked 20 different people and the questions and answers people gave me are listed below:


What sort of age certificate would you usually go for?

U: 1

12: 2

15: 4

18: 13

What sort of genre do you usually go for?

Action: 3
Comedy: 6
Horror: 7
Romance: 0
War: 3
Documentary: 1

Do you take notice on different camera shots and angles in films?

Yes: 6
No: 14

Do you enjoy new generation films aimed at your own age group?

Yes: 18
No: 2

Would you say that audio effects play an important role in a film?

Yes: 19
No: 1

This research has made me think about the target audience and their needs as a consumer. I now know what content to put into a film for this target audience and what they get out of a film.

Research

Happy Gilmore:

The following sequence of screen shots is from the film Happy Gilmore. The scene that i chose from the film that i felt best represented the theme of the film i am going to make includes a character entering a room with two people talking, talking to someone, closing the door and sharing a few lines of dialogue with another character:










Monday, 24 November 2008

Research

Storyboard Research


This scene analyses a scene in the matrix when two characters enter a room and share a couple lines of dialogue with eachother. I believe that it relates to what my film is supposed to be like because it follows the specific guidelines listed.





This sequence is from the terminator when the terminator enters the police station and speaks to a policeman at the desk. It represents one of the many different ways that you could interpret the theme of the film we have to make.

Friday, 21 November 2008

Target Audience

Target Audience
When making a film you need to think about the target audience that are going to waatch the film. If your target audience is of a niche market then you will not get very many people watching the film. Below is a list of the needs of the target audience:



  • The age of the person viewing the film.

  • The genre of the film.

  • Whether the viewer is male or female.

The Age


The age of the viewer is important because you are more likley to have a larger audience in the range of 16-30. I do not really think that you will have a very large audience betweeen the ages of 0-10 so i will not be making a film for this range of viewers. There will be an average target audience for people aged 30+ but i think they will be more picky with the films they watch. This is why i will be targeting my audience between the ages of 16 and 30.


The genre


There are many different genres of films that i could do. The most popular are comedy, horror, crime and action. I think that i will set the film under the genre of action. I believe that the most popular genre for 16-30 year olds is action so i will be making an action film.


Gender


Most females like to watch films about romance and comedy, whereas men are pen to all kinds of genres. I do not think that women will want to watch an action or horror film but men will so the target gender of the film is going to be targeted at males.

Monday, 17 November 2008

Different camera Shots

Below i have listed the three main camera shots; 180 degree rule, match on action and shot reverse shot:

180 degree rule
The 180 degree rule is a rule that moslty all film producers use. The rule is displayed in a film when two characters are speaking to eachother and the camera keeps the same characters on the left and the right of the shot. As each character speaks it will show their face as they speak and half the other person's face will be shown on the other side of the screen. If the 180 degree rule did not exist then it would be very confusing for the viewer e.g. if a car is moving along a road to the right of the shot, then the camera cuts to the other side and now it is moving to the left of the shot, it would be confsing for the viewer.





Match on Action
In a film when the film producer wants to show the impact of the shot and where the shot is coming from, the camera will film the source of the action firing the shot, then will show the shot travelling towards and hitting the target. An example could be in Robin Hood when the camera shows the person firing the bow and arrow then cuts to the arrow hitting the target. It helps show the impact of the shot and explains to the viewer in more detail, what is happening in the film.





Shot-Reverse Shot
Within Shot reverse shot, the 180 degree rule may be included, as the director of the film cannot uninclude the 180 degree rule. Shot reverse shot is when two characters are speaking to eachother and the camera zooms in on the person who is speaking's face. It would not make much sense if the camera did not how the source of the speaking.

Thursday, 13 November 2008

Research

Similar Media Analysis
The first film that i analysed was Terminator. This particular scene is situated in the office of a police station. There is a policeman at the desk and another one is walking out of the front door and stops just by it. The terminator then walks in behind the policeman and walks up to the desk in the office. There is then a few shot-reverse shot parts between the officer at the desk and the terminator, both camera shots are taken from different sides of the desk. This scene finishes with a close up of the terminators face before he leaves the building. I will post the storyboard sheets up later.

The second film that i analysed was the matrix. It starts off with two people walking up a set of stairs and up to a door. They then open the door and see morpheus standing at a window. There is then a match on action shot where morpheus turns around to face the two other characters. They then share a few lines of dialogue; the camera shot is now shot-reverse shot. The scene then finishes.