Interview - Feedback.

Here I did some interview with a variety of people who all fall under different age groups. I asked them about the opening sequence what they liked, what could be improved. Also would they go and watch the film if it was brought out at the cinema. Overall they all seemed to enjoy the opening sequence. One thing that my group and I noticed when we finished our opening was the credits and how a few of them needed to be more clear. This was one of the problems that we had with finalising our film. We had problems and lots of difficulties with Live type and once we had selected where we wanted the credits it made the transition of the credits really fast. At this stage there wasn't any thing that we could really go and do. But overall I'm happy that it has had a successful response.

As you can see from our proposed target audience our film falls under the correct category. The younger age group like it but they felt that they were to young. It was successful with the the suited target audience with 15-25 year olds. Also it was enjoyed by the older age group but the majority felt that they were too old and it was targeted more for a younger age group. So overall we were very successful with our target audience. 

Evaluation - Looking back at your preliminary task ( the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Picture 1- I really like this unique shot from my preliminary task
Picture 2 - Long shot from the preliminary task.

                                                                                   

The following pictures show some of the transitions and shots that we used for our opening sequence we had a lot more techniques and transitions and more precise cuts from my preliminary. Which mage the whole effect and execution run more smoothly and look more professional.

 

Here is the "Wash In" transition we used in our Opening Sequence.

Here is a close up of Beth Marwolaeth.

Here is the establishing shot of Beth Marwolaeth.





Overall I have learnt so much from the preliminary task and have learnt how to execute certain shots and how to resolve problems when filming.

The camera work for our Opening Sequence was considerably better. After re-watching my preliminary task it made me realised how much I have improved. For example the zoom was really messy and some of the shots were really unsteady. The editing of my preliminary was more messy than the opening sequence. There are parts where the music clashes and some of the shots are not very smooth. The improvement of my transitions and timing have improved. Although the preliminary was a practise it was really helpful for me to practise the 180 degree and the match on action. I found the match on action shot the hardest to execute as it was really hard to get the timings right. The 180 degree was easier than the match on action shot. But it was really helpful to understand what a real film company would do and why.

Here is a short film that we have made about our own independant views on our opening sequence compared to our preliminary and what we have gained from our preliminary.

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

Evaluation - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? on Prezi

Here I have created a Prezi about what I have learnt about technologies from the process of making Beth Marwolaeth.

Evaluation - How did you attract your audience?

Here is our responce to this question. Tolga and myself have used You Tube's annotation tools to create notes on top of our opening sequence. These annotations highlight the ways in which our film links to other films and attracts our "target" audience.

Evaluation - Who would be the audience for your media product?

We have looked at the film Brick for inspiration so it was only natural to take a look at its rating for viewers. It is noticeable that both males and females enjoyed this film and that they were aged between 15-25 this is a good comparison for our film that falls under the same genre that the same people would take an interest in our film.

It has also recieved good reviews on "Rotten Tomatoes" which is an online website where you can review the film and read other peoples reviews.

Here is our beginning stats and feedback for our film on you tube. Although being up only a few days it already has a comment has feedback (2 likes , 1 dislike) and is most popular with males from 13 upwards.

Here is an example of a member of my target audience.
The characteristics of my member would be:

Interested in Horror/Thriller/Drama films.
Typical Tv dramas such as; 24

Aged between 15-25.

Listen to a variety of genres of Music.

Interested in TV dramas and programmes such as "Crime Watch"

Dress casual but still be interested in fashion.

No specific race or ethinicity.

                                                       Jade: 16                         Ryan: 17

This target audience is very suitable as it includes 15-25 males that have the highest income.



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

A production company is a company that is responsible for supervising the filming from concept to completion. They hold the legal and financial responsibility of the movie. They would also be responsible for financing/funding and raising funds for the production. The production company can either be a small company or a large one.

A film distributor is a company or individual responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically at the cinema or for home viewing. This could be a variety of formats such as: DVD, VHS, and Television. They can do this directly if the distributor owns the theaters or their own distribution networks. If they don’t they will need to this through an external theatrical exhibitors and other sub-distributors.

The money for the film would normally come from big studios such as “universal” or “Paramount” that would fund the film. But if the film is independently made and is low budget the money would normally come from the producers themselves that make an investment. Some film makers would go to a smaller company that would fund them the money usually this would be government funded so there would be certain rules set in place for example a working title film owned by universal that has recently made it to the cinema screen is “Paul” this had a budget of 40-60 dollars compared to a film like “Donkey Punch” by Warp X only had a budget of £1.2 million. Our film in this case would be a low budget film that is independently funded.

An example of a government funded company would be UK film concil. However this company is closing.

The reason behind having titles at the beginning of a film is so that they all have recognition of their part they played in the film. No matter how small a part they played with the production of the film they still need to be credited and acknowledged. Title will normally run in a sequence not all films follow the exact guidelines but they will follow a similar suit. They will usually follow this format:

STARRING FILM'S TITLE FEATURING CASTING/CASTING BY MUSIC BY PRODUCTION DESIGN/ PRODUCTION DESIGNER EDITOR / EDITED BY DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY PRODUCER / PRODUCED BY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER BASED ON THE BOOK/NOVEL/STORY BY BASED ON THE CHARACTERS BY / BASED ON THE CHARACTERS CREATED BY STORY / STORY BY WRITER(S) /WRITTEN BY DIRECTOR / DIRECTED BY

We have reflected this with our opening sequence as we have credited the people that were a vital part of our development and production. For an example we have “Directed by” “Produced by” “Written by” “Music by” and “Director of Photography”.

Our film is similar to other films that have already been released in the film market. Some films that would be distributed in a similar way could be low budget films that are not distributed by large companies and are not Hollywood blockbusters. For some examples:

All Tomorrows Parties – Low budget. She, a Chinese – Low budget. Submarine – Low budget. The Blair Witch Project – Low budget.

Like our film these were all low budget films. But just because they are low budget doesn't mean they cannot be successful. For example The blair Witch Project was a very successful low budget film.

Social Networking sites such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter would also be used to create awareness for our film. We could create groups for fans, therefore more publicity for the film.

Evaluation- How does your media product reresent particular social groups?

Here are some screen grabs of Beth from our production Beth Marwolaeth alongside Emilie De Ravin who plays Emily in "Brick".

Our overall influence came from the film Brick (2005), and we wanted to use some of the dramatic shots they had used but in our own style. Both characters are very similar. But yet very different. Emily has long blonde hair and has her eyes shut in the shots of her, whereas we wanted our character Beth to have her eyes open as we felt this was more dramatic and creepy. Beth has long brown hair, but I think this is a good difference because we didn't want our whole production to be exactly like Brick.

Beth (Played by Myself) and Emily are very similar, around the same age, 17, long hair, and are portrayed to the audience as being very vulnerable and supposedly dead.

The top two images are of the Brick establishing shot and our productions establishing shot.

We really like this idea of the tunnel effect creating in the brick film so we chose our desired location. This worked really well with the mood of the film and really represents a young teenager social group. For example this location could be where they regularly hang out, or it could be a quick route home for the young teenagers after a hard day at work. Both opening link in with the questions the audience ask themselves how/why/who?

We also loved the individual close ups from the opening from Brick. How she looked so pale and ghostly. We liked this idea of how this character - a girl of 17, who normally would take pride in her appearance, is left in a dirty unsafe environment. We played on this idea with our character Beth. Although having nice earring in and a pretty blue dress. Her character and charisma is drained from her. Through the pale skin, dirty environment, scruffy hair and smudged make-up. Now being left in this state she is no longer able to take responsibility for herself and she is just left alone in the cold waiting for someone to find her body.This links in with the representation of this age group again. Young teenagers getting drunk, taking drugs etc. The fact that Beth in laying in a river with the rain falling around her and her pale bare skin exposed gives an even more eerie feeling of cold and mystery.

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

Our own media product uses techniques and conventions from real film openings.

Our first design for a typical opening sequence is the Production Company opening.

Every Film will open with a Production Company appearance before the start of the film. To make our opening appear more like a real film as possible we decided to create our own Production Company. We chose ours to be called "Unique Productions" Normally the logo of theme would move in some way or make a sound. So with this in mind I created this 8 second appearance of the Production Company. This immediately made the beginning of the opening sequence feel more like a film. I used a sound and an effect over the top of the logo to make it more interesting than just starting with a basic still frame of the logo.

The next design technique we chose was the very beginning credit over our film that introduces the film presented by the Production Company. So in our case this was “Unique Productions Presents...".

Whilst researching film opening I noticed that this was a recurring technique. So we thought it necessary for use to do this as well. The above two pictures show our one next to an example from the Film Forest Gump.

The next convention that we had to consider was how film opening start with an establishing shot. We took inspiration from Bricks establishing Shot of Emily. This gave us the confidence and purpose to create our own. We needed to create an establishing shot as this is what many films do. We needed to set the scene like a real film that would draw our audience in.

All films will introduce their film title at the start of the film. So this was a vital aspect to consider when creating our production. We first needed to come up with a name and execute it in the opening sequence. Like Brick our film opens with a dramatic scene. So with this in mind we wanted a simple title that didn't distract too much from the film. We decided that a title on a black background would be suitable and the font to be very simple. Although our font was very simple it was really effective as the shots from behind the background were visible through the outline of the letters. I really liked this technique and felt that it worked really well.

Like any film we decided that having opening credit would make our film a lot more professional and feel like a real film. We developed our credits and thought a lot about their style and appearance. We really liked the credits we chose on Live type as they had this wispy appearance that faded away with the smoke in the beginning shot. Credits for a film are a very important aspect so it was important for us to consider this.

Another aspect that we had to consider and develop was our variation in shots. This is also another very important aspect when making a film. Film producers and directors will spend hours making a scene flawless so its important to have the right shot, make it effective and execute the take with out any flaws. It was important to us that we thought of a variety. It would be very plain and boring to have just one shot throughout a whole film.

We also challenged our film by finding creative and exciting ways to edit and cut from shot to shot. Like any film they would have transitions and special effects to make the film more interesting. We challenged this technique with the resources that we had to create a more interesting film for our target audience.

Final Piece - Beth Marwolaeth

I have really enjoyed creating our opening sequence. I have learnt lots of new skills along the way. I have learnt how to use new technology and I have learnt how to use a Mac computer as I have never really used one before. I am now more confident with using the camera and tripod to create professional shots. I am now more aware of not just the subject matter being filmed but the outer frames and locations which is a vital part in filming. I have really enjoyed coming up with ideas for our piece and watching them take shape. I really enjoyed featuring in the film as it was an interesting experience for me and good fun. I have really enjoyed updating my blog and creating prezi's for the progress of the opening sequence. I feel that the film has turned out really well and I'm very pleased with what we have produced. Although being relieved to have handed it in, I will miss the production very much. I look forward to another challenge such as this one.


Here is our final production.

Feedback Lesson

In our media lesson we sat down and watched every ones final opening sequence. Whilst watching them we had to fill in feedback sheets for the other groups. I really enjoyed watching other people’s films it was really interesting to see what the other groups had created. It was interesting to see what they had done and their own storylines. When it came to our opening sequence I felt really nervous I didn’t really know what to expect it was the first time that I had actually sat down and watched it all together as a whole piece. Because when we were editing it there was always one thing we were focusing on, one week it would be the shot, or the camera movement, the credits or the music. So it was really good to watch it in fresh as if it wasn’t my own and it was another group. When it started I was really nervous. I had mixed feelings I was wondering whether it would making sense to people and more importantly did they enjoy it. After our being shown I was really pleased. It was a lovely relief to have finally have finished it.

Here is some feed back from a member of you tube:

Here is the feedback from our lesson :

Feedback: Harry Jackson: Just watched your media, the ending goes on for too long because its just a black screen fro like 15 seconds, and the only other things, is you can only just about see your names when they come up, but the rest is really good.

Finalising Our Film

During the week up until the Friday of our deadline, we spent time just finalising the position of our credits and music and just making sure that everything was in place. We got our Unique Productions Company bit imported to Imovie. Although we did have some complications along the way: The last week up to handing our film in was very stressful by this time we just wanted to hand it in and concentrate on other things. By the time that it had all started to come together we had watched it so many times and for us as a group it was losing its feeling for us. At the time we had problems with Imovie where it kept crashing every time we opened our film. When I made the “Unique Productions” it had been saved as a windows computer file so that meant we couldn’t put it into the Mac computer. After this problem my hard drive broke so that meant we were delayed getting things that we needed for our film into Imovie. When we were working with live type we found that live type sped up the duration of the film and the credits so when we exported it our film was in fast forward mode.

After planning our film schedule there were only a few changes that were made apart from that everything was really successful. This schedule was really helpful for us to know what we were meant to achieve and shoot.

Here you can see there were only a few minor changes that we made. These weren’t problems but we just decided to change them. As you can see all of our filming went very successfully and didn’t pose us any problems. This was good for us as it meant we became more confident with the camera and filming. This meant that we could easily film one scene to the next without hesitating or having any complications.

Title/Text- Development

Over the past few media lessons we have been working on the opening titles for our film.
We looked “Brick” for the font that they used for their opening sequence.
We decided we didn't want anything to fancy or distracting that would distract from the effect of the opening. We wanted something that was very plain but also effective.
we decided to use live type as it had some really effective fonts that we could chose from it also had a list of effects to chose from which we found really useful. The advantage of using live type instead of Imovie was that you could chose the position of the text within the frame of footage, whereas
Imovie you had limited options.

Filming Changes

During the production of our film there were some changes made. Some of the changes were made due to the deadline approaching, but some were minor changes that we thought would make the final film better than we had planned.
The first change we made to our film was that we had planned to have a voice over though out the opening sequence this was going to be scripted over some of the shots. After completing our footage and putting it into Imovie and watching it back. We noticed that when played with the music, the power of the shots and music together was enough on its own. We thought that the voice over would be too much and too distracting to the dramatic shots of Beth and the music.
The next change was that we decided to change the location of the bathroom scene. The reason behind changing the location was that we had planned to film it at Becky’s house. However we found it quite hard to film all that was necessary in the time that we had during our media lesson. As the deadline was approaching we decided that the best thing was to do it at school. So that if we needed to re-shoot the footage it was practical for us to do so.

The next change we made to our filming was the opening scene. In our plan we had decided to film Beth lying dead with a note in her hand. We decided to change this as we thought that it was too distracting from the pure shot of Beth.

When we had watched our animated story board and associated our shots with the actual footage. We started to put the footage in the right place. Whilst going alongside our animated story board all the footage was in its correct place but we noticed that to have all the shots of Beth at the start was too much. We felt that the power of the establishing shot lost some of its effect. Then of course came the remaining footage of the other characters. We felt that the link between Beth and the other character wasn’t clear enough, they didn’t really fit in and as an audience we would have been asking our self what is the association with the characters and Beth.
With this problem we decided to open with a brief shot of Beth in the river, and then cut to the shot where Dave is burning the pictures. After this shot it cuts back to Beth and then back to another shot of Dave, and so forth. We thought this would be a good technique as you are constantly reminded of the dead body and the association of these characters and what they are doing.

Another change we had to make was the bin used when Dave is burning the pictures of Beth. Unfortunately the bin we had planned to used was plastic and because the pictures were being burnt, the fire would melt the plastic, so instead we decided to use a metal wheelbarrow. It still gave the same effect, just was a lot more safer and appropriate.

Last but not least the change to the shirt we had previously agreed that the featured shirt that Jack would be washing would be covered in blood and he would be washing it. Whilst filming this shot we found it increasingly hard to find an alternate to using real blood. Everything that we tried either looked to fake or just wasn’t working in our favour. As a result of this minor dilemma I came up with the idea of Jack washing Mud of, of the shirt instead of blood. This was more practical for us and also looked effective because the association was still there as Beth is featured lying wet and muddy. This was a successful change and made our shot look more realistic and believable.

Music Studio

On Monday I went to the music studio to have a go at putting lyrics to our music piece. I wanted to try the music with lyrics because I thought it would be effective. After listening to the song in the "Brick" opening and other songs with lyrics they felt really powerful. I wrote some lyrics that I thought would work well with our footage of Beth for our opening sequence. Then I asked permission from my mum if she would sing the lyrics. I asked my mum because I knew she would be capable and it was practical for me and Alex as we didn't have to rely on someone else. We practiced singing all together and trying out different notes and styles of singing. After some practise Alex recorded the singing in. We listened to certain bits to see if it worked. We re-recorded any bits that didn't sound right or were out of key.

Below is the music that we have pre recorded a few days back with the lyrics.

 I have included some pictures and lyrics of the song to add some interest.

Progress

Today we did a screen recording of the film and what we have so far. At the beginning of the project we planned to have the opening start with all the clips of Beth. But while putting them all together in Imovie it lost its feeling and there was too many shots of Beth one after the other. So we decided to have the establishing shot start with Beth then cut to the other characters making links between them and Beth then it cuts back to Beth again. We plan to have the last clip of Beth laying alone and cold to leave the audience with that last powerful shot.

Film Progress

This is the Title for our Film 'Beth Marwolaeth'. We felt that this was really effective because it was simple and wasn't too distracting. We really liked the fact that the behind scene was still visible through the letters of the title. With the water flowing in the background it shimmers which is really striking.
                                                                                      


These pictures below show transitions used within our film. We have fades when the picture fades to black then fades in again. We also have an overlay of two shots this is unusual and creates interest between shot transition.
                                                                                     



Production Development

   


Here is the development of the Production Company Logo. I have also made a short video (see right) of the Production Company in animation. I used Windows Movie Maker to create this animation. I am really happy with it and hope that we can use it at the start of our film.

Music

                                                     

With the help of my friend Alex we made the piece of music in Logic Pro.

Alex recorded in the piano piece as our starting point. Then we recorded it into sections with different chords. We then quantised the whole piece. We added the ambient sound which goes behind the whole piece. The next stage was to put a female choir part into the back ground to add some varation.

These are some screen shots of development of the music piece in Logic Pro. This is where we built up the different parts of the music.

 

Version 1: Piano Solo

                                                        Version 2: Piano with ambient sound.

Version 3: Piano, ambient sound and choir.

Music Development

This is the proposed piano piece for our music. I decided to change it to this one as the previous one had a fast beat that didn't flow with the opening sequence of our film.

Brainstorming

These are some of the words that sprung to mind whilst thinking about the production of our film Beth Marwolaeth. I have been jotting down some words that are really powerful that could be made into lyrics for our music piece.