The prezi I created below answers the evaluative question that is the title of this post. The question being:
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Friday, 19 April 2013
Post 26: Question 3 - What have you learned from your audience feedback?
In order to find out some audience feedback for our film, I asked several people (all of different ages) a variety of questions relating to what they thought about the film. To begin with I showed them the film and then followed this by asking the following questions:
1. What was your initial reaction to the film?
2. What do you think of the use of music?
(This includes the music in the opening sequence, montages and any background noise)
3. What did you think about the use of montages?
4. How did you react to this topic?
5. Did you find the characters believable?
(Was the twist at the end believable/realistic?)
6. How effective do you think the ending is?
7. Who do you think the target audience would be?
8. What improvements would you like to see?
Feedback 1
Feedback 2
After listening to the audience feedback, I think overall my group and I did a good job with the film we created. Receiving this feedback from the audience members was extremely helpful as we could then recognise what parts of the film effected the target audience the most and what we could potentially change if we did the whole process again.
Some main points from the feedback we received was that the storyline was very believable and it captured the imagination of the audience straight away. Along with this the use of music added to the tense and mysterious atmospheres we were trying to create in certain points of the film. Creating a film about sexual grooming allowed our audience to realise just how easily sexual grooming can go unnoticed and I think by them watching our film it has really shown them the importance of such a topic.
If I was to create this film again I would make a few adjustments to it, one main one being that the sound throughout would be clear. We had a problem with one scene trying to get the noise correct and I would make sure that next time it was filmed to sound a lot better. Another improvement I would make is with some of the shots, for example the text messages and e-mails. These shots were very wobbly and if filmed again I would ensure they were filmed better.
1. What was your initial reaction to the film?
2. What do you think of the use of music?
(This includes the music in the opening sequence, montages and any background noise)
3. What did you think about the use of montages?
4. How did you react to this topic?
5. Did you find the characters believable?
(Was the twist at the end believable/realistic?)
6. How effective do you think the ending is?
7. Who do you think the target audience would be?
8. What improvements would you like to see?
Feedback 1
Feedback 2
After listening to the audience feedback, I think overall my group and I did a good job with the film we created. Receiving this feedback from the audience members was extremely helpful as we could then recognise what parts of the film effected the target audience the most and what we could potentially change if we did the whole process again.
Some main points from the feedback we received was that the storyline was very believable and it captured the imagination of the audience straight away. Along with this the use of music added to the tense and mysterious atmospheres we were trying to create in certain points of the film. Creating a film about sexual grooming allowed our audience to realise just how easily sexual grooming can go unnoticed and I think by them watching our film it has really shown them the importance of such a topic.
If I was to create this film again I would make a few adjustments to it, one main one being that the sound throughout would be clear. We had a problem with one scene trying to get the noise correct and I would make sure that next time it was filmed to sound a lot better. Another improvement I would make is with some of the shots, for example the text messages and e-mails. These shots were very wobbly and if filmed again I would ensure they were filmed better.
Post 25: Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
The screen grab above is a good example of how the ancillary tasks helped the main product. The main reason for this being it is a shot from one of the scenes in the film of arguably the two most important characters and it is also used on the top of the film review. It is the dominating picture in the film review that grabs the audiences attention first.
The screen shot to the left of Conor and the one below of Sammie are very significant. The reason for this being that in the poster we had one face made up of both a male and female. This can highlight the importance of both a woman and mans point of view in an unlikely situation and also helps promote the film to both genders.
The title of the film is also another part that links the ancillary tasks carried out and the main product. Obviously it is the same throughout all three documents, but it is also very bold and easily noticeable in all of them, showing the audience the title of the film so that they know and can go watch it if that is what they wish to do.
Post 24: Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
FILM
1) This is a convention of real media products as in the majority of opening sequences for short film, the production company is named just like how we named ours.
2 & 4) These show two different shots that highlight the main characters, establishing to the audience who they are and their importance.
3) This shows a transaction from one shot to the next, it fades from one to the other, this is commonly seen in most short films when going from one shot to thee next.
5 & 6) These show screen grabs from one of our montages, it shows how Sophie and Alan's relationship has developed through emailing and texting each other.
7) Again this shows how Sophie and Alan's relationship has developed.
8) This is a close up, that many real media products use to highlight important points in the film.
9) Again this shot shows the importance and how subtle the relationship between the actors is.
10) A medium close up on Alan's face, showing his facial expressions when he doesn't like what he's hearing from Sophie.
11 & 12) Setting the scene for a big moment in the plot, when Alan gets arrested, this is a significant moment in the storyline.
13) This shows the policeman waiting outside for Alan, just before he is taken to the station.
14 & 15) Real policeman, in correct uniform escorting Alan to the station after he is arrested.
16) The final shot of Alan as he leaves the end of the short film on a cliff hanger, a convention used by many to keep the audience wanting more and interested to know what may have actually happened.
FILM REVIEW
The reason I decided to use the layout of Empire magazine was because not only is it a very popular film magazine, but I think that the layout and all the information included in each review is very beneficial to the reader and extremely enjoyable to read.
1) This shows a dominating photo that can be seen in the majority of film reviews, highlighting one or some of the main characters. In most main film reviews in Empire magazine, there is a dominating picture to grab the audiences attention.
2) This shows a bold title, which is another convention as the audience want to be able to easily identify the film they're reading about. Throughout the Empire magazine, each film review has a bold title highlighting the name of the film.
3) This shows a verdict the editor has had on the film. This is seen in many film magazines especially Empire as each reviewed film has a verdict and rating.
4) This is another little convention of film magazines and their reviews. An audience reading will always see the page number and name of magazine in either the top or bottom corner. I thought I would add it to my film review as it makes it more realistic to match Empire.
5) Here is some additional information about the film, which is a classic convention seen in not just magazines but newspapers also. Again, this is seen throughout Empire and gives short, sharp information about the film.
6) This is a sub heading, that hopes to entice the audience to read the review. In all the big film reviews throughout Empire they normally have a witty yet relative sub heading to the film being reviewed.
7) Here is a "IN CINEMAS" sign simply promoting the film, notifying the audience that they can go watch it in the cinema should they want to. This is conventional to Empire as they keep up to date on the latest movies out, the ones audiences' want to hear about most.
POSTER
1) This shows a bold, dominating title of the film. This is a convention seen in many other real media products as when advertising one of the first things distributors want the audience to see is the name of what they are trying to promote.
2) This slogan is enticing and makes the audience think about the film a lot more. Again this is a convention of real media products as many films have small slogans on their posters.
3) This is the additional information such as the production company and who else is involved. For the third time this is another real media product convention as it is nearly always seen at the bottom of most film posters.
Overall all the media used for the film, poster and film review relate to each other as they all help create a look for the film that can be identified in each of the different products created. The look being very serious and almost dramatic, highlighting the importance of getting a theme across to the target audience. This is recognisable in each of the products created and can help to promote the film to the audience even more.
1) This is a convention of real media products as in the majority of opening sequences for short film, the production company is named just like how we named ours. 2 & 4) These show two different shots that highlight the main characters, establishing to the audience who they are and their importance.
3) This shows a transaction from one shot to the next, it fades from one to the other, this is commonly seen in most short films when going from one shot to thee next.
7) Again this shows how Sophie and Alan's relationship has developed.
8) This is a close up, that many real media products use to highlight important points in the film.
10) A medium close up on Alan's face, showing his facial expressions when he doesn't like what he's hearing from Sophie.
11 & 12) Setting the scene for a big moment in the plot, when Alan gets arrested, this is a significant moment in the storyline.
14 & 15) Real policeman, in correct uniform escorting Alan to the station after he is arrested.
16) The final shot of Alan as he leaves the end of the short film on a cliff hanger, a convention used by many to keep the audience wanting more and interested to know what may have actually happened.
FILM REVIEW
The reason I decided to use the layout of Empire magazine was because not only is it a very popular film magazine, but I think that the layout and all the information included in each review is very beneficial to the reader and extremely enjoyable to read.
1) This shows a dominating photo that can be seen in the majority of film reviews, highlighting one or some of the main characters. In most main film reviews in Empire magazine, there is a dominating picture to grab the audiences attention.
2) This shows a bold title, which is another convention as the audience want to be able to easily identify the film they're reading about. Throughout the Empire magazine, each film review has a bold title highlighting the name of the film.
3) This shows a verdict the editor has had on the film. This is seen in many film magazines especially Empire as each reviewed film has a verdict and rating.
4) This is another little convention of film magazines and their reviews. An audience reading will always see the page number and name of magazine in either the top or bottom corner. I thought I would add it to my film review as it makes it more realistic to match Empire.
5) Here is some additional information about the film, which is a classic convention seen in not just magazines but newspapers also. Again, this is seen throughout Empire and gives short, sharp information about the film.
6) This is a sub heading, that hopes to entice the audience to read the review. In all the big film reviews throughout Empire they normally have a witty yet relative sub heading to the film being reviewed.
7) Here is a "IN CINEMAS" sign simply promoting the film, notifying the audience that they can go watch it in the cinema should they want to. This is conventional to Empire as they keep up to date on the latest movies out, the ones audiences' want to hear about most.
POSTER
2) This slogan is enticing and makes the audience think about the film a lot more. Again this is a convention of real media products as many films have small slogans on their posters.
3) This is the additional information such as the production company and who else is involved. For the third time this is another real media product convention as it is nearly always seen at the bottom of most film posters.
Overall all the media used for the film, poster and film review relate to each other as they all help create a look for the film that can be identified in each of the different products created. The look being very serious and almost dramatic, highlighting the importance of getting a theme across to the target audience. This is recognisable in each of the products created and can help to promote the film to the audience even more.
Post 23: Final Product
In this post is my groups final short film, the postcard we created and the film review of our film that I created.
SHORT FILM
Below is our final short film, the link will lead to the site in order to watch Behind Blue Eyes:
POSTER
Below is a final copy of the poster for Behind Blue Eyes:
FILM REVIEW
Finally below is a copy of my film review that I created for Behind Blue Eyes, I decided to mimic the layout of Empire magazine and how they produce their articles in the magazine:
SHORT FILM
Below is our final short film, the link will lead to the site in order to watch Behind Blue Eyes:
POSTER
Below is a final copy of the poster for Behind Blue Eyes:
FILM REVIEW
Finally below is a copy of my film review that I created for Behind Blue Eyes, I decided to mimic the layout of Empire magazine and how they produce their articles in the magazine:
The actual film review itself is below;
An unexpected secret about friends, family and mistrust comes to light in this dramatic story about Sophie, a lost teenage girl struggling with mathematics and trust issues with the ones closest to her.
Watching this new short film by up and coming Brit director Katie-Mai Taylor, Behind Blue Eyes, it is clear from the off that the mysterious atmosphere and the build up of suspense between characters, leads to the innocence of the girls being lost and the relationships appearing building to an unexpected shock for the audience. The film explores the emotions of a young girl, the audience easily empathising with her problems not just at school, but also at home. This sensitive topic, explored by only a few other films, captures the imagination of the viewers leading them through a story of heartbreak and confusion. Lolita, Hard Candy and The Lovely Bones are all films that link to Behind Blue Eyes, discovering an issue that everyone is aware of but nobody talks about.
Immediately grasping the audience's attention in the web of secrecy that lies within Behind Blue Eyes, the film portrays key staged in the main characters life, Sophie played by new Brit actress Sammie Lovell. She goes from a young girl seeking help with school work and some form of a relationship with her mother, to finding out just what heartbreak and betrayal really means.
It’s the two girls friendship that get the climax of Behind Blue Eyes started, with the discovery of an immoral relationship seeing Alan Thorne, played by well experienced actor Conor Janes, escorted away to a basic four walled room where yet another secret is revealed leaving the audience on the edge of their seats.
Immediately grasping the audience's attention in the web of secrecy that lies within Behind Blue Eyes, the film portrays key staged in the main characters life, Sophie played by new Brit actress Sammie Lovell. She goes from a young girl seeking help with school work and some form of a relationship with her mother, to finding out just what heartbreak and betrayal really means.
It’s the two girls friendship that get the climax of Behind Blue Eyes started, with the discovery of an immoral relationship seeing Alan Thorne, played by well experienced actor Conor Janes, escorted away to a basic four walled room where yet another secret is revealed leaving the audience on the edge of their seats.
Post 22: Post-Production Report
After we finished filming, the next step was to get all the footage together and onto the computer in order to be able to start the editing process.
The editing programme we used to edit our film together was Adobe Premiere Pro as that is what was available at school for us to use. Katie took the lead through the editing as she is very experienced at editing footage together. However the rest of us in the group managed to do some of the editing and learn new skills from watching her in the very beginning.
One of the first things we did was capture the footage onto the computer, after this we opened it up in the editing programme and created a rough cut. Basically we went through all the footage and chose the shots of the scenes we wanted to use in our film and then put them in order to create a rough copy of the film.
The editing programme we used to edit our film together was Adobe Premiere Pro as that is what was available at school for us to use. Katie took the lead through the editing as she is very experienced at editing footage together. However the rest of us in the group managed to do some of the editing and learn new skills from watching her in the very beginning.
One of the first things we did was capture the footage onto the computer, after this we opened it up in the editing programme and created a rough cut. Basically we went through all the footage and chose the shots of the scenes we wanted to use in our film and then put them in order to create a rough copy of the film.
After we made the rough cut, we went through the entire short film to ensure there were no obvious continuity errors. An example of a continuity error in our film that we were unable to change due to lack of time was when Alan and Sophie were sitting on the sofa in the living room scene. Alan's arm is around the back of Sophie but then when he goes to grab the control out of her hand his arm is actually down by his side, so that is a minor error in the film.
We also checked to ensure the film ran smoothly, making sure the camera wasn't wobbling in any of the shots. We decided from this whether we would need to re film any scenes or not.
Finally we added some of the sounds to the film, such as the opening sequence song and any sounds we wanted to use over the top of the montages.
Post 21: Production Report
This post basically explains all the decisions and revisions we had to make throughout the production process. We have had to make many decisions as a group throughout the filming process but we've done so as a group agreeing on what to do and moving forward after making it.
When we began filming our short film we were very excited to actually begin the production process. The very first complication my group and I came across was a week before we started to film one of the main actors dropped out. This made it very difficult for us as we needed to find a replacement very quickly in order to stay on schedule to get all the filming done. Fortunately we asked another student at school if they would be able to help us and they kindly enough agreed to become Sophie Freeman in the film. This taught us that when trying to create a film things will go wrong but as long as we stay focued and make decisions quickly and effectively in order to find a solution.
On the first day of filming we filmed in the canteen for the restaurant scene. This went well however there were a few difficulties. The first being that due to the time we had arranged to film in the canteen we were unable to get food props for the actors to be eating. Therefore we decided to alter the script ever so slightly from "can you pass the pepper" to "can you pass me a menu". Along with this the lighting in the canteen showed up differently on camera from what it did when we were actually filming, because of this the long shot of all the characters is lighter than the close up and medium close up shots.
The next time we filmed was in the maths classroom, the filming of this scene went really well. Everybody involved was clear on the time and location of filming, therefore whilst we were setting up all the equipment our director briefed all the actors, the main characters and extras, on their roles. We had ran through a few times to ensure the actors knew what to do then managed to film the shots afterwards.
The rest of the filming that we did for the majority of the other scenes went fairly well. The main real next complication that we came across was filming in the swimming pool, this was only difficult because of the people we needed on poolside with us due to health and safety. We needed a teacher and qualified lifeguard in order to be able to film in there. Along with this it was very difficult to get in there and film because of the popularity the pool has, there were constant swimming lessons in there when all the actors were free to film. So, because of this we had to arrange a time outside of school to come in and film in there.
Throughout the production process I feel as though I have developed some skills that I already had and learnt some brand new ones. I've developed the skills I had of operating a camera, I learnt how to use different parts of it when deciding on the type of light that could be used in certain scenes. Another skill I learnt was the importance of lighting when filming, and the effect it can have on the shots being filmed. Obviously skills such as team work, organisation and efficiently was developed throughout the whole process as working well in a team is one thing my group and I did well.
When we began filming our short film we were very excited to actually begin the production process. The very first complication my group and I came across was a week before we started to film one of the main actors dropped out. This made it very difficult for us as we needed to find a replacement very quickly in order to stay on schedule to get all the filming done. Fortunately we asked another student at school if they would be able to help us and they kindly enough agreed to become Sophie Freeman in the film. This taught us that when trying to create a film things will go wrong but as long as we stay focued and make decisions quickly and effectively in order to find a solution.
On the first day of filming we filmed in the canteen for the restaurant scene. This went well however there were a few difficulties. The first being that due to the time we had arranged to film in the canteen we were unable to get food props for the actors to be eating. Therefore we decided to alter the script ever so slightly from "can you pass the pepper" to "can you pass me a menu". Along with this the lighting in the canteen showed up differently on camera from what it did when we were actually filming, because of this the long shot of all the characters is lighter than the close up and medium close up shots.
The next time we filmed was in the maths classroom, the filming of this scene went really well. Everybody involved was clear on the time and location of filming, therefore whilst we were setting up all the equipment our director briefed all the actors, the main characters and extras, on their roles. We had ran through a few times to ensure the actors knew what to do then managed to film the shots afterwards.
The rest of the filming that we did for the majority of the other scenes went fairly well. The main real next complication that we came across was filming in the swimming pool, this was only difficult because of the people we needed on poolside with us due to health and safety. We needed a teacher and qualified lifeguard in order to be able to film in there. Along with this it was very difficult to get in there and film because of the popularity the pool has, there were constant swimming lessons in there when all the actors were free to film. So, because of this we had to arrange a time outside of school to come in and film in there.
Throughout the production process I feel as though I have developed some skills that I already had and learnt some brand new ones. I've developed the skills I had of operating a camera, I learnt how to use different parts of it when deciding on the type of light that could be used in certain scenes. Another skill I learnt was the importance of lighting when filming, and the effect it can have on the shots being filmed. Obviously skills such as team work, organisation and efficiently was developed throughout the whole process as working well in a team is one thing my group and I did well.
Post 20: Ancillary Task 2 - Film Reviews
After films have been released they tend to be reviewed by a number of different people, including critics from a range of different newspapers and magazines. We looked at many different film reviews of films in order to distinguish typical conventions and how they may vary in different magazines.
Below are all the different articles I looked at from different magazines and newspapers, highlighting different conventions.
The first is a film review from Empire magazine of the film New Moon:
Some typical conventions of the film reviews in this magazine are that firstly it always shows some of the film information, such as the release date, director, cast and plot. It has a distinct layout that is noticeably from Empire magazine and because this is consistent throughout all of their magazines when a reader is reading through they automatically know the review is from Empire magazine. This particular film review uses a dominating picture in order to grab the attention of the audience and hopefully entice them to read it. Finally at the end of the review there is a small section that gives a verdict and rating of the film, this is good as the reader may want to see this to decide to go see it or not.
As well as looking at a magazine, I also decided to look at a newspaper review in order to be able to compare and notice any differences. The newspaper I looked at was The Guardian and below is the review of the film Oz The Great and Powerful. I have annotated the review in order to highlight certain techniques and conventions:
Oz The Great and Powerful - Review
As some of my annotations show, a clear typical convention used with any review is a bold title, as this was also used in the Empire magazine review. The reason for this being when readers are reading the paper they will be able to identify what film is being reviewed straight away. Another convention for some film reviews is a dominating photo, this grabs the audiences' attention, again seen in the review about the film New Moon above. As seen in my annotations another part of the review is the use of actors' names. This allows the audience to find out just who is in the film and hopefully entice them to go see it.
The layout I decided to mimic was the layout that is commonly used throughout the magazine Empire. The reason for this being that I simply like the way it lays out the review and the use of a dominating picture. Below is a draft of how I will lay out my film review:
I plan to have a dominating picture of Sophie and Alan so that it's clear to the audience who the main characters are. Along with this in the section that says "info about film" I plan to follow Empire and put the release date, certificate, director, cast, running time and plot.
Below are all the different articles I looked at from different magazines and newspapers, highlighting different conventions.
The first is a film review from Empire magazine of the film New Moon:
Some typical conventions of the film reviews in this magazine are that firstly it always shows some of the film information, such as the release date, director, cast and plot. It has a distinct layout that is noticeably from Empire magazine and because this is consistent throughout all of their magazines when a reader is reading through they automatically know the review is from Empire magazine. This particular film review uses a dominating picture in order to grab the attention of the audience and hopefully entice them to read it. Finally at the end of the review there is a small section that gives a verdict and rating of the film, this is good as the reader may want to see this to decide to go see it or not.
As well as looking at a magazine, I also decided to look at a newspaper review in order to be able to compare and notice any differences. The newspaper I looked at was The Guardian and below is the review of the film Oz The Great and Powerful. I have annotated the review in order to highlight certain techniques and conventions:
Oz The Great and Powerful - Review
As some of my annotations show, a clear typical convention used with any review is a bold title, as this was also used in the Empire magazine review. The reason for this being when readers are reading the paper they will be able to identify what film is being reviewed straight away. Another convention for some film reviews is a dominating photo, this grabs the audiences' attention, again seen in the review about the film New Moon above. As seen in my annotations another part of the review is the use of actors' names. This allows the audience to find out just who is in the film and hopefully entice them to go see it.
The layout I decided to mimic was the layout that is commonly used throughout the magazine Empire. The reason for this being that I simply like the way it lays out the review and the use of a dominating picture. Below is a draft of how I will lay out my film review:
I plan to have a dominating picture of Sophie and Alan so that it's clear to the audience who the main characters are. Along with this in the section that says "info about film" I plan to follow Empire and put the release date, certificate, director, cast, running time and plot.
Post 19: Ancillary Task 1 - Posters & Postcards
Film posters or postcards are used by studios in order to advertise their films, hoping to entice as many people as possible, wanting them to become interested and go see their film.
Hollywood posters conventional use well known Hollywood actors to help advertise their films in the use of posters, studios know that these actors will have fan bases and therefore will use that to their advantage in order to get more people to go watch the film. Along with this the name of these actors could possibly be put on the posters for the audience to see, telling them some of the big names that are appearing in the film. The title of the film can conventionally be quite bold and easily noticeable by the audience.
Below is a picture of the poster of the film The Dark Knight (2008), I have annotated it to show some of the different techniques used to grab the audiences attention and techniques that give the audience information about the film:
British film posters can be different to Hollywood ones. There are some British films that use the same format as most Hollywood films in order to grab the audiences attention, whereas there are also some different styles. Les Miserables (2012) uses a similar technique to Hollywood films as seen in the picture below-
A British film that takes a different approach is This Is England (2006). As seen there is a dominating photo but that is of the characters, the title of the film grabs the audiences' attention first due to it being bold and big. Along with this it shows some successes of the film, that could potentially help persuade potential viewers to go and watch it.
The picture below shows how I annotated this film poster, highlighting the techniques:
Short films don't tend to have posters, instead they use postcards to help advertise their film. It can be argued that this is a more direct technique when targeting an audience.
Conventionally short film postcards consist of a dominating photo on the front that is related to the film, but also eye catching, and on the back there is a bit more information. This information could include the names of the people involved in making the film and the distribution company's that helped in getting the film out, it may also include a website that the audience can go onto to find out more information.
Below are two examples of short film postcards, I have annotated them in order to show some of the above conventions used.
The short film here is Divine;
The next short film is On A Life's Edge;
However even though most short films use postcards to advertise and sell their film to the audience, we have decided to create a poster for Behind Blue Eyes. Below is the draft of our poster:
Hollywood posters conventional use well known Hollywood actors to help advertise their films in the use of posters, studios know that these actors will have fan bases and therefore will use that to their advantage in order to get more people to go watch the film. Along with this the name of these actors could possibly be put on the posters for the audience to see, telling them some of the big names that are appearing in the film. The title of the film can conventionally be quite bold and easily noticeable by the audience.
Below is a picture of the poster of the film The Dark Knight (2008), I have annotated it to show some of the different techniques used to grab the audiences attention and techniques that give the audience information about the film:
British film posters can be different to Hollywood ones. There are some British films that use the same format as most Hollywood films in order to grab the audiences attention, whereas there are also some different styles. Les Miserables (2012) uses a similar technique to Hollywood films as seen in the picture below-
A British film that takes a different approach is This Is England (2006). As seen there is a dominating photo but that is of the characters, the title of the film grabs the audiences' attention first due to it being bold and big. Along with this it shows some successes of the film, that could potentially help persuade potential viewers to go and watch it.
The picture below shows how I annotated this film poster, highlighting the techniques:
Short films don't tend to have posters, instead they use postcards to help advertise their film. It can be argued that this is a more direct technique when targeting an audience.
Conventionally short film postcards consist of a dominating photo on the front that is related to the film, but also eye catching, and on the back there is a bit more information. This information could include the names of the people involved in making the film and the distribution company's that helped in getting the film out, it may also include a website that the audience can go onto to find out more information.
Below are two examples of short film postcards, I have annotated them in order to show some of the above conventions used.
The short film here is Divine;
The next short film is On A Life's Edge;
However even though most short films use postcards to advertise and sell their film to the audience, we have decided to create a poster for Behind Blue Eyes. Below is the draft of our poster:
Post 18: Pre-Production Documentation
This post is all about the pre-production documentation my group and I carried out before starting to film Behind Blue Eyes. Each of us contributed with the pre-production documentation ensuring that it was all completed before we filmed so that we knew what to do when filming began.
I created a prezi to show all of our pre-production documentation, and below is that prezi;
I created a prezi to show all of our pre-production documentation, and below is that prezi;
Friday, 22 February 2013
Post 17: Job Roles Research
I carried out some research to do with jobs in the filming industry in order to get a better understanding of the jobs my group and I will have to carry out when filming. Learning about these jobs will allow us to work coherently as a team.
The following headings show several different departments involved in film making; I found the information from the following website:
Direction
Within the direction department, there are many jobs, the most obvious being director. The director is in charge of the creative vision and overall style of a feature film, guiding the crew and actors. Although it’s not just the director that makes up this department, they have help from the first, second and third assistant directors and a runner.
Camera
Camera crews normally involve people who are the most highly skilled practitioners in the entire film crew. These people work with very delicate and expensive equipment. Within a camera department, there are many different jobs such as Camera Operator, 1st Assistant Camera, 2nd Assistant Camera, Steadicam Operator and many more. All of these people put in preparation and hard work in order to film the action.
Lighting
The lighting in any film is a very important aspect. Often in dramas a wide range of lighting is set up in order to help create different moods as well as the perception of different times of day. Some of the lighting is essential in helping enhance how a character is portrayed. Jobs within the lighting department consist of Director of Photography, best boy and sparks.
Production Sound
The sound within a film is extremely important as the dialogue conveys a lot of the storyline and emotion of the characters. Ensuring the dialogue is clear is very complex, as the sound department need to get rid of any unwanted noise and place the microphones in the best possible positions. Some jobs within the sound department include the following, Production Sound Mixer, Boom Operator and the Sound Assistant.
Art Department
The art department set the scene for films. This department is normally the largest on any film crew and a great deal of work and imagination goes into constructing the appropriate backdrops to any story. Some jobs involved in this department include Production Designer, Art Director, Set Decorator, Storyboard Artist and many others.
The lighting department will work closely with the camera department in order to make sure the shots being captured have the right feel and emotion the director wants to communicate. The camera department will also work with the sound department as the Boom operator will want to know the best position to place the boom in order to catch the dialogue without being in shot.
The following headings show several different departments involved in film making; I found the information from the following website:
Direction
Within the direction department, there are many jobs, the most obvious being director. The director is in charge of the creative vision and overall style of a feature film, guiding the crew and actors. Although it’s not just the director that makes up this department, they have help from the first, second and third assistant directors and a runner.
Camera
Camera crews normally involve people who are the most highly skilled practitioners in the entire film crew. These people work with very delicate and expensive equipment. Within a camera department, there are many different jobs such as Camera Operator, 1st Assistant Camera, 2nd Assistant Camera, Steadicam Operator and many more. All of these people put in preparation and hard work in order to film the action.
Lighting
The lighting in any film is a very important aspect. Often in dramas a wide range of lighting is set up in order to help create different moods as well as the perception of different times of day. Some of the lighting is essential in helping enhance how a character is portrayed. Jobs within the lighting department consist of Director of Photography, best boy and sparks.
Production Sound
The sound within a film is extremely important as the dialogue conveys a lot of the storyline and emotion of the characters. Ensuring the dialogue is clear is very complex, as the sound department need to get rid of any unwanted noise and place the microphones in the best possible positions. Some jobs within the sound department include the following, Production Sound Mixer, Boom Operator and the Sound Assistant.
Art Department
The art department set the scene for films. This department is normally the largest on any film crew and a great deal of work and imagination goes into constructing the appropriate backdrops to any story. Some jobs involved in this department include Production Designer, Art Director, Set Decorator, Storyboard Artist and many others.
All of the above departments are crucial when making a film, with each department collaborating and working in conjunction with the other. We will ensure when we film that each group member has a particular role and that we communicate effectively with one another to help guarantee a good final outcome.
The lighting department will work closely with the camera department in order to make sure the shots being captured have the right feel and emotion the director wants to communicate. The camera department will also work with the sound department as the Boom operator will want to know the best position to place the boom in order to catch the dialogue without being in shot.
In our group, the main job roles we will need to fulfil would be Lighting, Camera Operator, Boom Operator, Director and possibly a Production Designer. These are essentially the roles of each head of department and will ensure all aspects of filmmaking requirements are met.
There may be a few difficulties when dividing up the jobs within our group and getting them completed. One difficulty is that there are only four people in the group and a lot more job roles than four. This is where we will need to work together at dividing them up fairly so no one gets given more jobs than anyone else. Along with this we can divide the jobs up according to people’s individual strength so that we are working efficiently together and everyone in the group knows what their role is. With good communication and cooperation we will be able to create a successful short film.
In the group, just like all the others, I had a variety of roles. When filming outside the house when Alan gets arrested I was the camera operator, whereas when filming the office scene I was boom operator. Being able to have a variety of roles allowed me to enhance skills I already had and work to my strengths in the group cooperating well with the team.
In the group, just like all the others, I had a variety of roles. When filming outside the house when Alan gets arrested I was the camera operator, whereas when filming the office scene I was boom operator. Being able to have a variety of roles allowed me to enhance skills I already had and work to my strengths in the group cooperating well with the team.
Post 16: Why make a short film? Who is the target audience?
Task A: Why make a short film?
I decided to research into why
people decide to make short films, the two articles below have helped me in
developing my understanding.
The above article begins
talking about the history of short films, and how back then it was the ‘norm’
for them to be short. The article then goes on to mention how in the early
1900’s technology developed and so did the films being produced. Films became
longer and more favourable than watching a short film. It mentions how in the
period of World War 2 short films were used to show servicemen actively
fighting, allowing the Government to place its messages in British cinemas.
However the article then goes on to speak about how in the 1960’s music videos
allowed short film makers to make music videos. As technology is continuing to
develop in this day and age the use of short films is, arguably, increasing as
Hollywood directors are releasing their own on the internet for all to see.
I think this article has been
useful as it has given an insight to the history and background of how short
films developed from way back in the late 19th century. It can help
with our group and our short film as we now know short films are popular within
certain audiences and can be enjoyed once made and released.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-life/7593767/Short-films-that-launched-big-names.html
The above article looks at 10
films that have helped in launching some actor’s careers and established major
studios. Some of the films on the list within this article are Bottle Rocket
(1996), Machete (2007) and Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (1994-2004). All
of the films mentioned in the article explain how young people wanting to kick
start their careers in the film business whether it is a writer, directors or
actor and mention how they managed to produce their short films.
Personally I think most of the
people in the article who created the short films did it in order to produce
money and create short films for everyone to be able to watch. Judging by some
of the films that were released, such as Bottle Rocket 1996, they helped in
moulding the beginning of some actor’s careers, such as Owen Wilson. Reading
this article has been useful as it shows my group and I that no matter how low
a budget someone has or how little backing from a big studio they have, great
short films can be made.
Task B: Who is the audience for a short film?
In order to get a better understanding of the audiences that watch short films, I have decided to research into it in a lot more depth.
The website above has got some
great information on it about the demographic and psychographics of a short
film audience. The demographics being people who watch a short film in order to
find a potential director or actor, they can then invest in the young talent
and watch them grow in their potential careers. People in this category would
also watch the short films for inspiration as some of the people in this
category could be young amateur film makers. The psychographics can be divided
into 3 separate sections in order to divide the audience up, an audience that
is completely different from a mainstream audience. The 3 sections consist of
Succeeders, Aspirers and Individualists. The website gives a definition for
each explaining who would fall into each category:
·
Succeeders
– People who like to think they’re in control, ambitious and successful
·
Aspirers
– People who strive for bigger and better things
·
Individualists
– People who want to be separate from the crowd, individual thinkers
Following this I decided to
research about how short films are distributed, from most of the research I
carried out one main point that kept popping up is that most short films are
distributed through the internet. This can be through a website such as
YouTube. However a lot of short films are also distributed and rely on
festivals. Most young, ambitious film makers take their short films to
festivals in order to get them out and hope that someone of importance will see
their short film and want to know more about the film itself and potentially
the people who created it.
The use of distribution can
matter to some filmmakers as whichever route they decide to go down can
potentially determine the type of audience they receive. For example at a short
film festival there is more likely to be people who show a great interest in
short films, whereas by distributing on the internet, theoretically, anybody
can watch it and not everyone knows it’s been released.
Film festivals are important to film makers and can help in raising awareness of the short films that are being produced and distributed.
London Short Film Festival
http://shortfilms.org.uk/
One major film festival is the
London Short Film Festival. This has only been around for 10 years but it
allows for the country’s raw talent filmmakers to showcase their short films.
It screens over 220 films and the amount of people going to the festival has
grown in the last decade.
Shorts International
Another short film festival
that shows short films to America, Europe, Asia and anywhere that has a movie
theatre. It’s the world’s leading short film company with the biggest short
film catalogue, showing all the short films that have recently been released.
Shorts International does just about everything there is to do within short
films, they even have an Annual Shorts Award every year that recognises
extraordinary contributions to the short film industry.
Both of the festivals mentioned above are just two of the many film festivals that take place every year, showcasing the most recent and upcoming short films there are for audiences to watch.
Potential target audiences I
think there are for short films are Hollywood successors who are interested in
the young, raw talent there is and young people who take a great interest into
the short film industry. These people would be extremely interested in what
types of short films are being made and would want to make their own opinion on
whether they think they were successful or not.
Task C: How are short films distributed?
Short films have got many
genres, such as Thriller, Romance, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Documentary and
Horror, some say the great thing about short films is that they can be anything
and the only limitation is the cost of production. According to the Internet Movie
Database website the most popular
short films are animated as the top three are The Snowman (1982), Frosty the
Snowman (1969) and Prep & Landing (2009). 
However my group and I do not
have the specialist equipment to be able to create an animated short film,
therefore I continued researching and found out that after animated films one
of the next most popular genre was drama. This immediately makes me think about
how my group’s short film could be classed as a drama genre due to the fact it
is about sexual grooming and is very dramatic. This will influence my thoughts
on the script as we will need to add possible lines from the characters that
can help add to a dramatic atmosphere that the audience will enjoy.
From the research I’ve carried
out and films I’ve witnessed, the duration of a short film can range from 5
minutes to 30 minutes. However, it can depend upon what the film is about and
who is producing it, many film festivals can put limitations on just how long
they will allow for films to be, with the very, very maximum being 40-45
minutes. The average time of a successful short film can range from 15-20
minutes, as long as the storyline can be successfully maintained throughout
this time. After researching this and looking at the time limit my group and I
have on our film, being 6 minutes, we are going to need to have a simplistic
storyline that can be presented clearly, but at the same time can get across
all the features us as a group want in our short film. We are going to have to
be extremely careful of not babbling on in the storyline and showing parts of
the film that may not necessarily need to be in the short film.
A short film can be structured
in the 3-act structure, which consists of a beginning, middle and end.
http://www.cgdirector.com/learn-how-successful-short-films-structure-their-story/ Having a short film structure that consists of a beginning, middle and end allows the audience to realise that there are 3 main points within the storyline. The effect that we would want on the audience is that in the beginning the audience can get into the plot and start to get to grips with what is going on. In the middle we want the audience to begin to string questions together about what is going to happen next and we want them to want to carry on watching the film to find out what does happen. Finally in the end we want the audience to have not only enjoyed watching but also to have the film stuck in their minds, possibly even continuing to ask themselves questions.
With our storyline and the way we are going to film our short film, hopefully we can have this effect on the audience.
Post 15: Media Language: The 5 C's of Cinematography
The 5 C's of Cinematography by Joseph V. Mascelli
I decided to read an article from the book above in order to develop my understanding of how Joseph V. Mascelli explained cinematography through the 5 C's. The article gives a short summary of the book itself and helps explain the 5 C's simply and concisely. The 5 C's standing for the following:
1. Camera Angles
"Camera placement is determined by narrative significance"
We can use the camera angles in our film to help represent the groomer as being powerful over the victim. We can do this by using a low angled shot looking up at the groomer showing authority and a high angle shot looking down on the victim showing vulnerability.
2. Continuity
"Good continuity encourages the viewer to become absorbed in the story-telling, without bothersome distractions"
Continuity in our film could include ensuring accurate match on action as well as ensuring there is continuity with any props we use. By ensuring there are no bothersome distractions we would need to make sure that a prop doesn't suddenly moves when filming one shot to the next.
3. Cutting
"It is possible to cut away to anything happening anywhere at any time"
Putting the shots together one after the other is important as the specific series of shots will need to mean something to the audience. Therefore when we are putting together all the footage and cutting from one shot to the next we should ensure that each shot is making a point and putting two shots next to each other will have a combined effect to the audience.
4. Close-Ups
"The stronger the motive for using a close-up, the more the close-up can help make the story-telling truly effective"
Our use of close-ups when we film will be important as we will want them to show the audience specific facial expressions and points within the story that, again, help move it along.
5. Composition
"Good composition is the arrangement of pictorial elements to form a unified harmonious whole"
Good composition encourages the eye to concentrate on the important elements within the frame that help with the narrative. Not only should each frame be a composition in its own right but it should work in conjunction with the next shot so the story can be understood visually as well as through the narrative.
Post 14: Research Short Films and their use of lighting
I decided to look at some films and carry out a textural analysis of them, the main reason behind this being I wanted to explore the use of lighting in each of the short films.
The first film I watched was:
Playground by Mark Kuczewski
The lighting in this short film is very interesting as it starts off with a small light directed at the bottom right hand side of the characters face, only revealing half of his face to the audience. It then goes to a close up of the man’s face, firstly his mouth and then his eye, again only with the light coming in from the right side leaving the other half of his face in the shadow. After the title appears, there are several shots showing different parts of the car. The lights under the roof of the tunnel that the car looks to be driving in reveal the different areas of the car and then hide them again.
After this darker period, the scene becomes lighter as the headlights of a car are clearly noticeable. Throughout the journey, we only see one side of the man's face and only one side of the women's face, this is possibly suggesting that they are both hiding something. Throughout the film the storyline line goes back to the man speaking, like he was at the beginning, in these shots only half the man’s face can be seen, this again adds to the fact that we as the audience believe he is a very mysterious man. However at the end of the film, he turns his head and a bit of blood on his forehead becomes noticeable. This adds to the mystery of where he actually is and whether or not the women was the one that done it to him.Overall the lighting effects in this film are very good as they add to the atmosphere and suspense throughout, thus helping the audience to feel as though there is going to be a twist near the end of the film.
The second film I decided to watch was:
Flung by Fiona Walton 
This film is shot in black and white. However it doesn’t use as many lighting effects as the previous film did. When the young boy has his hood up his face is darker due to the small shadow the hood is causing. This suggests that there is a darker, possibly meaner, side to the young boy which is revealed when he makes fun out of an old man. Both of the characters in this film have dark clothing on which could suggest that they are lonely characters. There is obviously some natural light used as the film is set outdoors, but the use of shadows on the characters throughout the short film can help to add tense and mysterious atmospheres.
Post 13: Media Language Lighting 3 (Source & Colour)
The final two features of lighting are source and colour.
Fill light (fills the entire scene, helps diffuse the shadow)
Back light (focuses on the background, again diffusing the shadow)
Three Point Lighting Exercise
As seen in the video from the link above, below are some of the examples we discovered when our group tried to create the different lights in three point lighting:
As the pictures above show, each of the different lights in three point lighting illuminate a different part of the scene, key light illuminating the main person, back light illuminating the background and the fill light covering the entire scene.
When speaking about the source of the lighting, classical Hollywood film makers developed three point lighting. Three point lighting simply consist of setting up three different lights in order to illuminate a certain object or person. The three different points are as follows:
Key light (focuses on the subject) Fill light (fills the entire scene, helps diffuse the shadow)
Back light (focuses on the background, again diffusing the shadow)
Three Point Lighting Exercise
As seen in the video from the link above, below are some of the examples we discovered when our group tried to create the different lights in three point lighting:
Colour Gels & White Balance
Colour Gels can be used to change the colour of the scene, there are CTOs and CTBs. These consist of colour gels being used in order to alter the lighting, for example blue colour gels work by making the room seem warmer, whereas orange colour gels are used to make the room seem cooler.
White balance helps in filming with making the colour seem realistic, we can identify white light sources but a digital camera has difficulty doing this. Therefore understanding digital white balance can help in avoiding scenes looking an unsightly blue, orange or green colour.
We created an experiment in order to test the different colour gels to find out what sort of effect they would have when watching the footage back afterwards. We carried out this experiment by setting up the camera and lights in the corridor, setting the camera to white balance and then placing the appropriate colour gels over the lights in order to discover the effects they had.
Below are the videos we created with setting the camera to white balance and placing different colour gels on the lights in order to look at the effects:
White Balance to Half Orange
The above videos shows the effect of white balance to half orange and white balance to half blue, and the above pictures help to compare the two different colour gels and their effects.
As seen the white balance to half orange can make the room feel extremely cold and almost very dull, whereas the white balance to half blue can make the room feel a lot warmer and brighter.
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