Blog Finished!

I have extremely enjoyed these past 6 months and I have learned so much about different media technologies, but this is the end of my AS Media Blog.

Repost of my final piece

This is a repost of my final piece to finish off my evaluation and to mark the end of my AS blog.

Question 7: "Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?"

Looking back at previous tasks, I feel as though I have drastically improved my knowledge of media technologies, media terminology, my ability to use different camera shots and angles, and my widened ability to use different softwares to edit my pieces. Also, I now post a lot more on my blog than what I did at the start of the course, and I am a lot more creative and descriptive with my posts.

Before studying Media at AS, I had never used Adobe Premiere, and I wasn't very confident when using it towards the start of the course. However, I am now able to confidently use this software and I know a lot more features and hidden features than I did before.

When filming our first project, we were given a camera and a list of shots to use and we were told to 'do our own thing', which is why they weren't very high quality. However, this helped me to become familiar with the technology we would be using over the next year (and the year to come) and I feel this is why my knowledge of above listed is so broad. It also gave me the confidence to experiment with different camera shots and angles, but also with different editing techniques.

After being given several different tasks and projects to shoot in the past 5/6 months, I have been able to use these newly-learned skills and use them when filming and editing my final project - False Impressions. The small tasks building up to the final project were very helpful as each taught us a small part of how to put together a full film - a continuity task, a script task, a storyboard task, and a few more.

Just as a few initial points as to what I would do differently if I reshot my final project are:

• I would use actors of the correct age for the characters as this would help the audience to distinguish between the two, and it would make the representation of them a lot more obvious to the audience.
• I would take more shots of each scene so that I had a wider range of clips to choose from when editing my project. This would allow me to change the clip I use at last minute if I need to improve my piece.
• I would also use a wider range of shots and angles in my camerawork, and make my shots more steady. This would give my piece a more professional look and I would be able to 'show off' a bit more with what I've learned over the past 6 months.
• I would also make my sound a lot more clearer, possibly by using a microphone or holding the camera closer to the actors.
• Finally, I would update my blog more in the lead-up to the reveal of the film, possibly with more behind-the-scenes footage for the audience.

However, overall, I am very happy with my final piece and I have put a lot of time and effort into the filming and editing and I think it all payed off.

Question 6: "What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?"

Below is a powerpoint I have created to answer the above question. I have researched several different methods to make my camerawork look more professional.

Question 4 and 5: "Who would be the audience for your media product?" and "How did you attract/address your audience?"

When making a film, you always have to keep the target audience in mind; from the production team to the distributors, everyone needs to target the specific audience which the film is being marketed at.

For 'False Impressions', the target audience was young adults, which allows us to have a wide enough audience to get enough money at the box office, but also allows us to use specific representations which our target audience could spot and possibly relate to.

As our film is now a 15, because of the BBFC regulations, our target audience has narrowed a little, but not drastically. By using themes in our film such as violence, crime, thriller, and drama, we are widening our target audience just that little bit more, but also allows us to distribute the film accordingly.

In relation to this, as we have a well known and trusted distributor for our film, we are able to reach people we would not be able to communicate to without 'Momentum Pictures' distributing our film.

For example, below are some posters of films, similar to ours, which 'Momentum Pictures' has distributed. They are all examples of how powerful a distributor can be when targeting a film's specific audience in order to encourage them to go and see the film.

The simplicity of these posters show just how little information you need to give about the film in order to make it succeed at the box office.

Each poster has the title of the film, the name of the main actor(s) and a tagline on them.

For example, the poster for 'The Woman In Black' has the tagline 'What did they see?' written in small font on a picture of a very eerie and spooky looking house. This creates a very dark and mysterious setting for the film, and makes the audience feel like they should go to see the film to find out what they saw, and possibly see it for themselves.

All of the film posters do the same for their film, as it intrigues the audience and encourages them to go and see the film, which is why we are using Momentum Pictures as the distributor for our film.

Question 3: "What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?"

Below is a video I have edited together of me talking over pictures and screenshots of films, to answer the question "What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?".

Comparison of Opening Titles

As a response to my teacher's comments on my 'Target Audience' post, I am going to analyse the openings of 'The Woman In Black' and 'Insidious' and compare them to my film's opening.

In the opening sequence of 'Insidious', the titles appear on a black background and then fade out into a smoke-like effect.

Similar to the titles in 'Insidious', the title of my film appears on a black screen and is in a smokey-style font, and then fades out again. This effect is used to contrast against the black background, but also to give an imperfect look.

Contrastingly, the titles for 'The Woman In Black' fade in with a smokey effect, rather than fading out. I used the effects of titles from 'The Woman In Black' and 'Insidious' as an inspiration and an idea for the title of my film, and I thought it would create a similar effect, as they all belong to a similar genre.

The first scene of Insidious is in the bedroom of the young boy. The room is extremely dark and the only light in the room is the light you can see in the picture above. This is use to create a mysterious and eerie atmosphere and an uncertainty for what is ahead for the character.

Just like in the Insidious opening sequence, the room in my film is only lit up by the fading sunlight peeping through the curtains, and some tea light candles above the fireplace. Again, this creates a mysterious atmosphere for the audience.

In the 'Woman In Black' screenshot above, you can see the black outline of the back of a woman, the 'Woman In Black'. This creates mystery and sparks a question amongst the audience as to who she is and what role she will play in the film.

Just like in 'Woman In Black', we only see the shadow of a woman and, again, this is in the first minute of the opening sequence, so it creates an eerie atmosphere but also appears in the opening minute of the film so it leaves the audience wondering who's shadow it is.

Just like how I used the effects of titles in both films as an inspiration for my film, I used the fact that both main characters in 'The Woman In Black' and 'Insidious' are hidden until the very very end of the film as an inspiration for my film, but I shortened down the time it takes for the hidden character's face to be shown, as he is one of if not the main character in my film.

Completed Interview

Me and David filmed our evaluation interview with our media teacher on Thursday.
We were asked several questions about our film:the editing process which was involved, the representations we included, how we targeted our audience, why we used 'Momentum Pictures' as our distributor, and several more questions specific to our film.

It allowed myself and David to evaluate our piece and look at it from different perspectives, but also to explain our certain choices to our teacher. It is also useful for our blog as we can compare it alongside the actual video and see first-hand the decisions we made and why we made them.




Media Interview from Amy Washbourne on Vimeo.

Question 2: "How does your media product represent particular social groups?"

Before I started to film 'False Impressions', I made sure I had the best idea about what the stereotypes of British policemen and detectives are, and I did this by researching police and crime films and TV Dramas, mainly more cinematic TV. I looked mainly at the iconography used to represent them in order for the audience to be completely aware of this stereotypical representation.

The detectives are represented as being very middle-class, and this is shown through their clothing and through their speech codes. For example, Alex Cross addresses John Walker as 'Sir' and they shake hands, both of which are a formal way of greeting each other.

As you can see below, John Walker is dressed very formally, even though he is at the scene of a murder and is about to investigate a dead body, and this is a representation of middle-class police as being very formal and not very 'hands-on' when it comes to investigating the actual crime scene.

As previously mentioned, I studied cinematic TV aswell as films, and Sherlock Holmes is represented in a similar way to the detectives in 'False Impressions'. They both turn up to the crime scene very smartly dressed and both use more elaborate speech codes than those around them, and this is a representation of the middle-class.

Just like in Sherlock, James Bond is always exceptionally dressed for such a 'hands-on' job. He is pictures below in the underground of London, yet he is dressed in a very expensive suit which is later ruined in a fight. Even though he gets a lot more involved than the other detectives, he is shown as a representation of the middle-class.

After a deep analysis of both British and American films and TV dramas, I have noticed that this representation of different social classes only occurs in British films, and only very slightly in American films. This could be because there is a very blurred line between American social classes, whereas British classes are very distinct.

Question 2: "How does your media product represent particular social groups?"

In terms of representation in the film, we tried to use shots and dialogue which would portray the characters in a certain way:

For example, the younger detective is a lot taller than the older detective, which implies to the audience that the older detective does not has as much authority now that he is not the only person on the case.

Also, they both use quite sarcastic tones and comments, which portrays them to the audience as being in a higher class (or seeing themselves as being in a higher class) than those around them, even though the only difference is the way they pronounce words, and they have different job titles. The difference in social classes between the two detectives themselves, but also between the detectives and the victim. The two detectives stand over the body and stare down at it with the camera facing up as if it is from the point of view of the victim; this is used to show the authority they have over him.

The first close up shot we used was one of the older detective. This shows the audience just how authoritative he is, but also tells the audience that he is going to be the main character in the film as he is the main focus throughout the opening scenes.

Also, we frequently used low angle shots to imply authority and dominance. The fact that a low angle shot is used over the dead body shows just how desperate the detectives were to regain authority over those around them.

The first shot we see the older detective in is when he instructs a CSI specialist to ask around the neighbourhood for witnesses. As in every crime drama / film, this is seen as the younger detective's job. However, he is making Crime Scene Investigators do this, which represents him as wanting to have dominance and authority in all aspects of the job.

A detective's first visit to a crime scene normally portryas police as not being very 'proactive' - they direct orders onto other people working on the crime scene. Also, it adds to the stereotype of policemen and detectivee being very demanding and foreceful when on duty, but the detectives we see here are dealing with the crime scene 'hands on' and investigate the room themselves, with the added help of a CSI specialist.

All of these representations are only ever implied subtly and are done mainly through the use of camera angles and shots, but this method is very effective as it leaves the main representations up to the audience.

Question 1: "In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?"

Below is a Prezi presentation of my response to the first questions, which is about how 'real' I think my project is. I have compared screenshots and the voiceover from my film with that of screenshots and a voiceover from different films.  I have explained the forms and conventions of my film and compared and contrasted these with that of similar films.

'False Impressions' Reactions

Below is a video of two sound clips - these are reactions to mine and David's 'False Impressions' video.

I showed the video to two friends on two separate occasions and then asked them the same questions (what were your initial impressions? would you go and see it? and what could I have improved on?) and recorded their answers.

'False Impressions' Reaction Video from Amy Washbourne on Vimeo.
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My Final FINAL Cut

After working on the advice and constructive critisism given to me by my media teacher, me and David and have been working on these comments to make our project the best possible, and this is the final FINAL cut of our project.

I am very proud of this piece and me and David have put a lot of time into making sure this is the best it possibly can be, but we have also put a lot of time in outside of lessons.

Planning The Evaluation

The evaluation is worth 20 marks, so I am going to use different types of media to evaluate my film.

I have started to ask people to watch my film and I am voice recording their reactions to the film, asking questions such as 'What were your initial thoughts?' 'Would you go to see the film?' and 'Is there anything I could have done to improve my film?'.

Mine and David's group interview with Mr Earl is coming up, so we will record the interview and upload it to our blogs. This will help us look back at our film and see what we could have changed about the film, or what we would like to change about the film.

Also, our group presentation is soon, and this will allow us to premier our piece to the rest of the group, and explain why we made certain choices and what the representations are within our film and etc. This will give the group a chance to ask us questions about our project, and give us constructive feedback.

Below are the questions I am going to answer in my evaluation, through the medium of videos, voice notes, blog posts, a Prezi presentation, and several screenshots.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
 
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
 
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
 
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
 
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
 
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
 
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

False Impressions - Final Cut

So here is the final cut of mine and David's opening sequence to our film 'False Impressions'.

http://vimeo.com/m/88652376

Age Rating Change

Unfortunately, due to the nature of our film, we are going to have to use the age rating of '15'. This will drastically decrease our target audience and could result in the film not getting the views we had hoped.

We realised that, throughout the rest of the film, the violent and brutal nature of the murders increase, and this would not obide by the BBFC regulations of a 12A film.

The following points have been taken from the BBFC website, and state the scenes you may witness in a 15 aged rated films:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

In our film, there will be some strong violence in a struggle scene with the murderer and the victim, infrequent strong lanuage mainly from the detectives themselves, discriminating langauge and behaviour will be used during the interview scenes with some suspects, and some drug use will be shown, but only briefly.

The above scenes increase the age rating of our film from a '12A' to a '15', but this will not effect our film or how we shoot or edit it, because this category is quite lenient towards what the content involves, including the amount of violence.

Response to 'False Impressions' Improvements

Below are the improvements left on my blog by my media teacher about my first rough cut, in order to help me improve my final project. Over the next week or two, me and David are going to work on all of the below comments and making sure it is improved for the next rough cut. For example, we are going to:

• change the order of the logos at the start of the opening titles
• snap in the music rather than fade it in
• put the credits in the following order: 'Momentum Films presents', 'a Rising Star production', 'a film by David Smith', 'directed by Amy Washbourne', writer, producer, editor, camera operator, actors.
• shortern the time of the credits
• fade out the music as the dialogue starts
• try to use a more varied range of shots
• try to make the dialogue easier to hear
• improve the continuity, in terms of directions faced by the actors (180 degree rule)
• improve the continuity by improving the lighting of shots
• improve the action match of placing the paper in the plastic bag
• improve the blackout at the end
• use more cross-fades in the time lapse
• increase the volume of the voice over on the time lapse
• change the end of the time lapse to remove the gap
• decide whether to have the time lapse at the start or the end of the sequence, and add actors names into the titles

0:00 - I like the studio logo, but this would usually come after (not before) the distributor logo
0:12 - I would snap into the music rather than fade in... sounds a little weird the way you've done it.
0:34 - Credits are not really in the right order. You would expect to see something like "Momentum Films presents", then "a Rising Star production", then "a film by David Smith" (or similar). "Directed by" would be the last credit you see (preceded by writer, producer, exec/ producer credits and others such as editor, camera operator etc. as well as actors)
0:38 - I think you hold on the credits for too long; aim to make them 2-3 seconds max
0:49 -The music cuts out very abruptly - is this deliberate? Sounds a little odd
0:57 - You have chosen to use some very long takes; this has implications for marks I can give you for range of shots and editing. Within the first minute of the piece you have only used four shots, two of which are roughly the same in terms of time (medium-long shot). Some of the dialogue is hard to make out - again, is this deliberate?
1:02 - The continuity here is a little ropey in terms of the direction that you're facing, as well as a slightly dodgy lack of adherence to the 180 degree rule
1:09 - The mise-en-scene (csi guys in the background, costumes, locations etc.) is good
1:16 - It might be just me, but the way you've shot the conversation between yourself and James looks a little odd in terms of where you are both facing...?
1:24 - I like the combination of shots you've used when dealing with the body - these are quite inventive
1:39 - Again, the continuity is a little odd here; in this case, I think it's something to do with the light
1:52 - You just about get away with the "paper in the bag" sequence...
1:56 - The blackout is a little odd...?
2:09 - I quite like the "time-lapse" shot, although you need to make more of it; a lot more cross-fades
2:23 - You will need to normalise the v/o with the rest of the audio; it's a little quiet, comparatively
2:18 - You have an odd gap at the end of the v/o
3:01 - The use of crime-scene photos for the credits is quite good, but you need to make more of this; perhaps treat them slightly, and you will need more than actor credits. I would be tempted to use this device at the start rather than at the end, so you can include the film title as well.

Overall, your piece is quite rough around the edges, as you might expect with a rough cut, in terms of editing and audio. I would like to see slightly more of a range of shots used in the early part, and you should be more careful in terms of editing for continuity. The credits need a lot more work (not just the actor names but the production credits as well).

Interview and Presentation

As part of the research / planning / final steps of our final project, me and David are going to have an 'interview' with our media teacher in order to gain insight into our project. We will be asked questions such as 'what was our inspiration for the piece' , 'how did we come up with the storyline' and 'how did the shooting go' etc. This will be a part of our evalutation, and will allow us to reflect on how we spent our time and what the making of our project involved.

Then, the week after, me and David will be presenting our final project to our media class. I will create a Prezi presentation and include infromation on the shooting, production, editing, and planning of our project. We are then going to interview our peers and voice record their reaction to our video. For example, what they like / dislike about, how they think it could be improved, if they liked the music and the storyline etc. This will help us to get an insight into how we can improve for next time, but this will also aid us in our evaluation.


Below are the dates for our interview and presentation, and more posts will be made in the run up to these events:

THURSDAY 21st MARCH - period 4, interview with Amy / David
THURSDAY 28th MARCH - period 4, 15 minute presentation Amy / David

First Rough Cut Edit

Below is the first rough cut of mine and David's final piece.

We still need to add in the names of actors etc but they are just temporary titles until we finalise the rest of the shots.

In Response To My 'More Behind The Scenes Shots' Post

The shots in the post portray and represent the character of the dead body as mysterious, living in an eerie house. The lighting is crucial for this, as we see only a few candles are lit to create light for the whole room. This creates a dark and unnerving setting. It also adds tension to the scene, which is a necessary factor of this specific genre. This is attractive for the audience as it intrigues them and encourages them to watch on.