The edit.


Here is the URL to my final video edit.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGgUx3B6BIk&feature=g-upl

StoryBoard.


Before starting to film, we needed to have a well-planned out storyboard that includes mis-en-scene, characters, any dialogue and locations. By doing so this made our work alot more easier as we knew exactly what we wanted to do and film.This is my storyboard: 

Hello I'm Cleo Stella and i am a student here at Yale College Wrexham. I am study my first year of A-levels at the moment which are, media, english language and modern history.


This is a welcoming post to my blog, this is what is going to consist of.


- The Prelim Task is a continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom they will exchange a few lines of dialogue. This task will demonstrate our understanding of match on action, shot/reverse shot, and the 180-degree rule.



- The Main Task involves filming and editing the titles and opening of a new Crime fictional film, which has to be a maximum of two minutes in length. 

-This Blog will chart my progress from the Research and Planning, the Construction of the Main Task, through to the Evaluation of the final product. Every post that I blog will be supported by evidence in the form of either images, audio, videos and links to online resources.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task

This is a task that we were set as a continuity task. We were put into groups of 3-4 and we had to film a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom they exchange a few lines of dialogue. We had to film and edit our short clip and we had to demonstrate that we understood match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

I was working in a group with Carys and Haydn Kidd and we decided to do a mysterious detective-like video. It included a female character, who was played by myself, exiting a lift and going through a door. It isn't until the male character, who was played by Haydn, was in shot that we saw the female character's face, which created a sense of mystery. 

This is what we produced:

As you can see, we broke the 180-degree rule during the conversation that is happening between the two characters. 

The three things that I wish to improve on are:

1. Not breaking the 180-degree rule.
2. More shots used in filming as there were only a few used in this task.
3. Allow more time for editing and sound as the majority of our time was spent on filming.

Pitch.

In this post i will tell you how my group pitched out ideas to our peers. We made a power point and presented it to our class..

The feedback that I got from the class was very useful. They told me that it was slightly over-complicated, having too many characters, that I should just stick to the main two, Charles and Camilla. Just over half of the class didn’t like the reason why Charles wanted the virus, so we took that into consideration, and changed it. They also told me that they didn’t like the ending where both main characters died, so I changed it so that just one of the main characters died.
The class liked the idea of using no narrative, as they believed that it would add to the suspense and atmosphere of the film, so I stuck with having no dialogue throughout my opening sequence. They also liked the idea of having a deadly virus, as more than 75% of the class said they would watch my film in the cinema, with the suggestions they had made.
When discussing the costume of the characters, they told me that they thought Charles’ character shouldn’t be in formal clothes, only Camilla’s character should. I took this into consideration and ‘down-dressed’ Charles’ character slightly. I believe this worked because Charles is a young character.
The class told me that I had Camilla’s character spot on, and they loved the ideas I pitched about her. They agreed that she should be in formal clothes, and have no dialogue, and it would keep the audience guessing.
Overall, I used the majority of ideas that my class suggested to me, and I believe I was right to do so, as it has greatly bettered my film in many different ways.

Question 7 - looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in progression from it to your final product?

The titles used in the Preliminary task, in comparison to the final product, were very boring and plain:

As you can see, the title from the bottom picture, taken from the final product, is much more interesting and exciting, in terms of font, colour and style.

The camera was very shaky in some parts of the Preliminary task:

As you can see, the bottom picture is a lot more steady and clear, as I decided to use a tripod for my film.

The lighting used in the Preliminary task was extremely good:

We decided as a group that natural lighting looked more realistic and was generally better to use for our final product.

The acting in our final product was much better and more professional, as in the Preliminary task, the acting was not taken very seriously, and one of the characters kept laughing:

The acting in our final product was taken much more seriously, and I believe that the acting was good.

In the Preliminary task, my group accidentally broke the 180 Degree Rule:

This is how we broke the 180 Degree Rule in our Preliminary task.

Question 6 - what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?


We have used a range of different technologies whilst creating our film.

Camera.

The camera i used to film my project was a Canon HV40. I had not previously used a camera of this sort and had to learn all the key functions as to how to operate it properly to get the best result. For example, Zoom and focus, which played key parts whilst i was filming. 

Adobe premier pro.

I had never previously used this editing software before, so myself and Carys decided to let Haydn (who had previous experience editing films using the software) to do the majority of the editing, whilst constantly giving suggestions and giving it a go ourselves. However, as Haydn became ill during the editing period, both myself and Carys had to quickly learn how to use the software, so we booked extra time on the computer and tried to get as much practise in as we could. We eventually grasped how to use it, and managed to edit our film with no problems. We had to insert transitions, add titles and cut irrelevant clips.

Blogger.

I have not perviously used blogger before. But it is a very quick and simple to use. I extremly enjoyed workig on blogger and will definately use it again in the future. From having inital ideas about the film right through to the evaluation of it. I like how i have progressed through the making of it and all the evidence has been recorded on here. 

YouTube.

I used YouTube a lot whilst blogging about my media coursework. I found it useful to find clips to compare my own film to other crime films. It also helped greatly when getting screenshots from current films, and the title sequences of those films.

Powerpoint.

I used PowerPoint to create the presentation that I pitched to my class. It was extremely easy to use and it helped me create a professional pitch.

Question 4 - who would be the audience for your media product?


Audience member profile.


Name: Lydia Jenkins.


Age: 18


Location: Hull


hobbies: Cheer leading.
 Likes: Watching films, socializing with friends,spending evenings on YouTube. 


Dislikes: Call of duty and netball.


Films: Bourne identity, inception and Hackers.


TV programmes: The walking dead, twenty four and Dexter. Celebrity juice.


Music: love indie!


Lydia Jenkins is an 18 year old film student and one day hopes to produce her own film. She's in the target audience we have aimed at for this film. She can relate to young adults and the emotions they go through at this stage in there life. Up to anything just to earn the extra cash, no matter how life threatening it could be. Being a student she doesn't get much money so finds out about new films on free internet sites such as YouTube. After seeing the trailer on the internet this will hopefully pursade her to pay some money and actually go and watch it in the cinema on the big screen where she will enjoy it a lot more. 

Question 3 - what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A production company for a film provides the money and sets the budget for the film. They may also decide upon the director and also actors can be hired. Budget often makes decisions possible or impossible. A lot budget film may not be able to film in a remote location as they won't be able to fund enough money to get there. The production companies often come attached with there own characters, directors, photographers and film editors.

         

A distribution company is responsible for releasing films to the general public, either theatrically or home viewing. Shows the film to prospective buyers representing the theaters. It also secures a written contract deciding on the amount of tickets and copies of the film to be sold. The gross ticket sale will be paid to the distributors after first deduction, this is called a house allowance.

      

20th Century Fox is the distribution company we have decided to use to get our film out to the world. We have chosen this company from it reputation over the years and its ability to sell millions of tickets and distributes thousands of films world wide. We feel we will benefit from this distribution company. We are also going to distribute our film by uploading out movie trailer to 20th century fox's YouTube channel, which house over a million subscribers world wide. This will give the audience a sneak peak as to what our film is about and it will also make the eager to watch more and want to pay to watch the film in the cinema.

Where would the money come from to fund your film?

- We plan to fund our film through sponsors as it raising awareness of criminal activity and stereotypes all around us.

Who are the people you have included in your titles?

- Carys Lloyd - actor

- Haydn Kidd - leading role.

- Haydn Kidd - Camera man.

- Editing - Carys Lloyd

- Cleo Stella - Director.

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

Our chosen social group to represent is young adults. We chose this particular social group as we feel they have been portrayed in a bad light within the media. We have created our character on a exaggerated stereotypical young adult to show that negative stereotypes can in fact provoke negative behavior.

We have targeted the social group by using the mobile phone and portraying our information via text message. The audience will relate to the use of technology as it is now plays a big role in everyday life world wide. Also we used the mobile as young adults may have more confidence talking over the internet on social messaging sites and through texts. 

I have used mise-en-scene to represent this, by located the main part of the deal in an isolated park. This is the type of place a stereotypical drug dealer and also young adults would find a place to call there own and hang out. A place where no one else goes, a place they can call there own. Also the tree's create mysterious shadows on the floor which prominent in crime genre. 

A representation in the media, which is similar to our film is called; Hackers. This film is also based on the crime genre with a sub-genre of mystery. As you can see from the screen shots of both films there is a similar dress sense for the characters. In both films they are wearing very formal clothing which makes them look more professional.

Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and convention of a real media product?

First of all we have the title of our film. 

As you can see the writing is located on a black background. This is to give it a sense of mystery and doesn't really give much away as to what the film is actually about and where it is set.

Titles - font and style.

We have used a font that would represent the crime genre. As you can see it looks a little like a type writer font. This gives off a certain amount of mystery. Also we have chosen to put our font in white and it shows off nice and bold on the back background. We've kept the colors plain and simple so the audience doesn't get confused with all the colors. 

Location/setting.  

As you can see this is the front of the house where the trailer of the film starts. The house is very big and posh which shows someone of a wealthy background may be living here. But at the same time it doesn't give to much away.

The main part of the title sequence is set in Bellevue park. As you can see on this picture, it looks like a very lonely and isolated place. Perfect for doing dirty business without the police sniffing about. It is very mysterious and the audience will know something shifty is going to happen

The location when the suitcase swaps hand from Camilla to Charles is in the living room of the house. It is quite formal but also very secretive as there is no security cameras and also the deed is done inside the safe walls of Charles' house.

Costumes/Props.

The costumes that the characters are wearing are suitable for the characters and how we wanted them to look and also how they come across to the audience.

Charles Dixon (played by Haydn Kidd) was dressed in every-day casual clothes; jeans, a shirt and a jumper. His hair was styled with wax to look “normal” to portray a realistic, young-adult. The reason for this being that at first glance, his character is not the average criminal, which is different, something the audience will appreciate.

Camilla Dawson (Carys Lloyd) was dressed in smart, formal, business clothes; black trousers, a stripy top, a long black cardigan and  black high heel shoes. Her hair was tied up to show professionalism, as I wanted the audience to think that she was going somewhere business related.

The props that were used are:

• Briefcase

• Brown shoulder bag

• Mobile phone

• “Virus X”

As you can tell we did not use many props as we didn't want to over complicate our film. we have included all the main props which all pull together too create a huge sense of tension,mysteriousness and tension at the same time. These props inform the audience what the films all about and also shows how Charles is the main criminal (bad guy.) in the film. 

      Virus X transfers location from the first shot from inside to the suitcase to in the park where Charles is sitting on the bench with the virus in his brown leather over the shoulder bag, waiting to meet that mysterious individual. 

      The mobile phone is used as a source to communicate with the audience and also between the characters in the film. After we filmed our prelim we all decided it was best not to include dialog as it came across as a lot less formal. I feel using the technology creates a lot more suspense and tension which is the main aim of the film. 

Lighting.

In our film we decided to use natural light as we were trying to portray everyday life to the audience.I feel that natural lighting also helped create more tension. As we filmed in the day light, it was mainly sunny and bright light. At the end of the title sequence there is a beautiful shot when Charles (played by Haydn Kidd.) holds the Virus up in the air and the strobes of the sun gently shine through behind it. This lets the audience know the virus is the main part of the film and also the most dangerous element of the film. 

Characterisation. 

As you can see in this screen shot, Charles (as played by Haydn Kidd.) is behaving very shifty and mysterious. As he checks out the door when Camilla enters, as if he feels as though some one some was is waiting outside for him. This creates a certain amount of guilt in the atmosphere and this will be portrayed to the audience through this shot.

In this screen shot you can see Cammila's whole outfit from behind. As you can see she looks like an average everyday professional business woman, just doing what she does best and getting on with her work. She doesn't look suspicious one bit. Holding her head up high she looks very confident.

Camera Angles.

We have used quite a number of different camera angles to create tension and suspense. They also reflect the genre of our film. 

                                               - Mid shot.

- Pan Shot.

- Close up.

- Extreme close up.

Editing, transitions/ visual effects.




Genre. 

As you can see from all the points i have made further up in my blog all the aspects join together to make the genre of my film. The genre of my film is crime with the sub-genre of mystery.

Shot list.


This is the schedule for our shot list. This shows the order were going to film in and what camera angles will be used to create the best effect for our chosen genre which is crime.

Question 5: How did you attract/ address your audience?

Here a member of my group has interviewed a person who fits my audience profile.
Some of the questions we asked Lydia are..

- Initial thoughts on opening sequence?

- Would you want to watch the film?

- What film/s would you compare it to?

- How did it make you feel?

Here we have Charles actually opening the brief case in his house when the switch of hand was made. This makes the audience eager to find out whats inside this mystery briefcase.

Here Charles is checking to see if  there safe, see if anyone has followed Camilla to the house. This creates a certain amount of tension as the audience will know a key element of the film is about to begin.

Here the virus is being shown to the audience for the first time. Now they will fully understand what the characters have been hiding so sacredly but also at the same time they don't know the damages this could cause.

Here's our use of technology. The audience will relate to this as technology is used in every day life. Texting is also the main way people communicate with each other at the moment and also makes them feel a lot more confident about themselves rather then face to face.