"A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words"

Eventhough Camera was not going to be my priority during our filming, I still endured a masterclass to develop my techological knowledge! These are the notes we recieved and discussed with out teacher:

Digital Video (DV)
There are many great things about today's technogloy. Digital video recording have big viewfinders, which are just the tip of the iceberg. An advantage of DV is that modern camcorders have become small and portable (Batteries are small and lightweight, tapes have moved from full-size to compact). Filmmakers no longer have to lug a big videotaping contraption to each location, with modern DV cameras we can simply set up our equipment within minutes still maintaingin a high level of filming.

Dimensions Of Camera
Depth of field (DOF) is the portion of a scene that appears sharp in the image. Although a lens can precisely focus at only one distance, the decrease in sharpness is gradual on either side of the focused distance, so that within the DOF, the unsharpness is imperceptible under normal viewing conditions.

For some images, such as landscapes, a large DOF may be appropriate, while for others such as portraits, a small DOF may be more effective. In cinematography, a large DOF is often called deep focus, and a small DOF is often called shallow focus.

The focus pull (rack focus) is a creative camera technique in which you change focus during a shot. Usually this means adjusting the focus from one subject to another, it requires making adjustments such as changing filter or adding shutter.
Pulling focus on the whole picture can be done at any time simply by turning the focus ring until focus is completely lost. This can be used as an opening/closing shot or as a transition between shots. It can also be used for various effects, such as a point of view shot from someone who is drunk or groggy.

The shot below begins focused on the plant in the foreground, then adjusts focus until the girl is sharp.
In the age of digital editing, focus-pulling for effect is more commonly achieved in post-production. This adheres to the general guideline that it's safer to record pictures "dry" (without effects) and add effects later.

Hand Held Camera involves the camera operator removing the camera from the tripod and steadying the camera or your shoulder or other surface. This is a very technical skill to master however, if done well it will capture the viewer's imagination and take them on a cinematic journey.

It’s important to practice using the camera hand held before going out on location and shooting, to develop a comfortable position. Always remain fluid and relaxed, otherwise this will reflact in the shots you record.

Composition

When done right, the composition will not draw attention to itself. Instead, it will instill a sense of normalcy and stability. On the other hand, a poorly composed shot will have the opposite effect. It will distract the audience, or worse, make a scene entirely unwatchable.

Fill the frame….sometimes your mind tends to exaggerate what you see through the viewfinder of your camera. You often perceive things a bit bigger than they actually are and you also tend not to notice 'slight' distractions. What you end up with is shots with huge areas of wasted space around the edge and people with things growing out of their heads.

Make sure your subject fills the frame. The best way to do this is to move a bit closer. Before you record have a quick look round the edge of the frame and behind your subject. Make sure that you don't have acres of space full of nothing interesting and check for 'stuff' intruding into your masterpiece.


The Rule of Thirds is a basic rule of composition. This guideline gives you ideas on where to place your subject within the frame. Though your tendency may be to position your subject dead center on the screen, the rule of thirds will give you a more compelling picture. The rule of thirds suggests that the main subject in your shot should fall on one of the points where these imaginary lines intersect. The resulting image will be much stronger than if you simply place your subject in the crosshairs.

Video: Rule of Thirds http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPeOBPxV8iE

For example; when framing a person, that person's eyes are your main focal point. Whether using a wide shot or a close up, compose the shot so that the person's eyes fall on one of the uppermost imaginary intersections. The intersection you choose depends on which direction the person is looking. Frame someone looking screen left on the right third of the screen. This places the subject slightly off center and builds in another element of composition called "look room."

Looking Room, Lead Room and Headroom is the space that you leave in front of someone's face on the screen. This space gives the person room to breathe, as well as gives the impression that the person is looking at or talking to someone just off screen. If you don't leave enough look room, your subject will appear to be boxed-in and confined. Be aware that the amount of look room necessary is dependent upon the angle of the subject to the camera. A person looking directly toward the camera will require less look room than someone shot in full profile.

Moving objects such a cars require a similar buffer called "lead room." Allow extra space in front of a moving car so that the viewer can see that it has someplace to go. Without this visual padding, the car's forward progress will seem impeded.
Headroom is another element you should consider when framing your subject. Headroom is the amount of space between the top of someone's head and the top of the frame. If you leave too much space, the person will appear as if sinking in quicksand. If you don't leave enough room, the person will seem in danger of bumping thier head. By positioning the suject's eyes on the top third imaginary line, you will be building in the proper amount of headroom. When considering head- room, be sure the shot is loose enough so that you see part of the subject's neck or the top of the shoulders. However, don't be as concerned with cutting off the top of someone's head, as long this serves a purpose. Viewers do not perceive this as abnormal as long as you frame the actor's eyes where they should be.

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

In all stages of the pre production, production, and post production of our media product it was necessary we accumulated constant audience feedback. As in any field of the media world, audience is king! Therefore we could keep on improving and developing each of our ideas in order to make our product as successful as it could be. The first audience feedback we received was from our first pitch idea. In order to gain feedback we pitched our first idea for our short film to the rest of our class. From this we learned and realised many different things. We learned that it wasn't clear how our story linked to our original inspiration colour "red". However, after we explained this to audience telling them how the themes within the film, such as love, anger, passion and revenge were associated with the colour red, as well as our key plot twist of "fire", this problem was soon resolved. From this pitch, we also learned from our feedback we needed to show the development of our characters in more depth, especially Alfie's character. We also needed to show his motivation in order to seek revenge. Therefore we decided to contrast Alfie and Johnny's characters. Johnny would be a flirtatious character always showing Marie attention, which would drive Alfie's own insecurities wild and cause him to be an extremely possessive boyfriend to Marie, always being very protective over her. The attention Johnny pays to Marie, would also be the motivation for Alfie to seek his revenge. We did this so that the audience would then understand why Alfie is so jealous of Johnny’s character, and why he acts in the manner he does. Another thing we learned from the feedback of our first scene was that the content of the flashback was unclear to people. We needed to be clearer in the pitch of what the audience would see in these scenes, and whether this is when Alfie would catch Johnny and Marie together. We decided it would be best to show the majority of the flashback scenes with just Johnny and Marie acting flirtatiously towards each other, and on the final shot of the scene show Alfie finally seeing them together, and this is were the flashback would end. By doing this we felt the audience would have a clearer understanding of Johnny and Marie’s relationship and how it had developed over a period of time. Therefore it would be more understandable to the audience for Alfie to be suspicious and jealous towards Johnny’s character. A key piece of feedback we had from our pitch was that would it be possible for us, taking our casting constraints into consideration, to be able to show Johnny and Marie's physical affection between our casts. The reason why we decided to show this physical unity between Johnny and Marie, was to open the film with a strong plot point, so the audience is aware that these actions are the cause for Alfie’s revenge. Taking this into mind we decided it would be possible, we would just have to be very selective about who we decided to cast, and ensure they were mature about the situation and were comfortable with acting in this way, as without the physical affection between the two character the scene would be lacking realism. A key point brought up in our audience feedback from our first pitch was the first scene involving a blackout. The audience was curious whether or not the action still taking place was able to be seen or not. As the scene would be filmed after school there will still be some natural daylight, so the blinds can be opened. If there is not enough light to see the action then we will add to the scene that the lights only trips out for a minute or two and then comes back on. A final piece of feedback we received from our first pitch was that there wasn't enough dialogue between Johnny and Marie in the first scene to show the scene progressing. We agreed we didn’t have enough dialogue in the opening scene to show the style of Johnny and Marie’s relationship. Therefore dialogue we added in this scene could be for Marie to tell Johnny about Alfie’s psycho ways and how it affects her. This would enable the audience to sympathise with Marie’s character so she isn’t just perceived as a cheating girlfriend. However, we will not get to in depth with the dialogue as we don’t want to use too much dialogue and keep the story simple. Taking all this feedback into consideration I was able to re-write the pitch solving all the misunderstandings and developing the advice! By using this feedback we were able to make our media product more appealing to our audience. The next stage of our pre-production which required feedback was our script. This script was drafted four times before it was finalised! The first feedback we received is that there was too much dialogue and not enough visual, so we decided to cut this down and try to add more action into the story. We thought it was more necessary to use the camera to show the characters narrative development, so therefore we cut the dialogue down. We had the same problem of too much dialogue also in Scene 4. Therefore we decided we needed to research more films in order to get some inspiration of how to move the narrative along with out dialogue. It wasn't till our 3rd draft that was finally decided we had the right amount of dialogue, as we had to keep changing and re-arranging significant parts in order for the story to make sense. The next bit of crucial feedback we received from later drafts of our script was to remove the voice over. Our audience feedback showed it wasn't necessary to have this in the scene and we could do this more effectively by just showing Alfie's character holding a newspaper with a specific headline. Therefore this would also create more suspense.
Following the script, we created a "World of the film" board so we could really understand the themes of our film and the mood we wanted to be projected. Therefore we gathered different images of what we thought related to our film and presented it to the class. We didn't get very successful feedback from this task as it seemed we were projected the wrong idea for our film throughout this board. However, after listening to the feedback, I myself found I had a better understanding of what the audience wanted from this film, and the emotions the film involved. We used celebrity images, who have been through situations the same as our characters to portray this, however the audience felt this made the mood board appear like it was in a gossip magazine. We didn't need to focus on the actual story but more on the symbols, themes and emotions of the film. However, we were told some images reflected our film such as the shadowed models face which shows a fixed intense expression, which looks quite evil. We felt this would be an appropriate facial expression Alfie would pull when he see’s Marie and Johnny together. The bottle of vodka in the image is a part of Alfie’s past as his father was an alcoholic, and possibly one of the reason’s why Alfie is so possessive over Marie, and we realised we needed to focus more on these type of aspects in our world of film board. Therefore we re made the mood board and found our second attempt was much more successful as reflecting the image we wanted it to portray.
The next step of pre-production which required our feedback was storyboarding. Again we went through several drafts of storyboarding until it was finalised and the key point which was constantly repeated through our feedback was that we did not have enough cutaway shots. Our audience thought even though our story was strong we was telling it to easily with the shots we were going to use. Even though we did finalise our storyboard, we didn't always follow this in our actual production process and on location I often found an opportunity and/or had an idea for another style or type of shot. We added many cut a way shots, and also back up shots from a variety of angles. When we was shooting scene 5 I came up with the idea to shot Alfie thinking from a variety of different angles and distances. Also in the flashback scene, the shots which we filmed in the library we decided to shoot on the actual days filming, as we had some spare time and the library was free.
After our storyboard was finalised, this was our last stage of pre-production which required feedback. We moved on to organizing our photo story board, casting, rehearsals, and then our shooting schedules and call sheets. After our actual production filming took place it was straight to the editing process! Even though feedback has been crucial at all points throughout this unit of work it became especially vital in this post-production stage. It was essential that we received feedback for each scene we put together, so we could perfect each scene before moving onto the next. After digitising our rushes and putting together a rough assemble edit it was time to edit scene one. From our feedback for scene one we firstly learned that no one really liked Marie's screaming reaction to the black out. Therefore we removed this shot as it didn't seem realistic to the audience.
We also learned it was more effective to use less shots of Marie and Johnny flirting and more cut away shots so the attention is really focusing on Alfie, as the audience said they wasn't focusing of Alfie's character which was our original intentions. We also learned that if we cut the shot when Johnny leaves Marie to go and check the door, earlier the change of angle flows better, so we adapted this change. A few of our film's reviewers thought that the shot of Alfie locking the door really dragged on, so we cut this shorter. We also had some feedback on the sound of the scene and we learned the music we use at the beginning of the scene should fade out quietly when dialogue between characters starts and be audible in the background, however it should not stop completely which is what we decided.
We also needed to add in the sound effect of an explosion after the flame is sparked, to create an effect and make the action more significant. In Scene 2, our audience fairly decided we needed to re-shoot as the continuity wasn't perfect. Some people felt the scene was rather slow paced compared to the fast, despite this being what we wanted and needed to create the mood for the scene, therefore we never took this into account. One person particularly didn't like the wind effects in this scene so we blended this with another background track. More a less all of our feed backers agreed that the ambulance sirens should be longer, so we adapted this as this was something we was intending to do anyway. According to our feedback Scene 3 was our most impressive and liked by everyone. The flashback scene had cross-fade effects which added realism and the Black & White images represent the passing of time and the past well. From our feedback of Scene 4 we learned we had already displayed the same message of the scene in the flashbacks. This scene was also poorly shot, as the continuity was bad, the camera operator was visible in the windows reflection and we didn't shoot as much footage as we should have. Therefore we decided to scrap this scene and jus interpret the good shots we had into the flashback scene. The only feedback we received in scene 5 was regarding its ending as many people felt the ending wasn't strong enough. Therefore we decided to not have Alfie's character walking away towards the camera but instead use a fade to black to end the scene, ready for the titles to appear.
After the editing process was finished the next feedback we received was that of our ancillary tasks. The first task we started on was our film poster. As a class we all discussed and incorporated ideas we thought would suit each others films. From this we learned that our poster was imagined with Alfie in the foreground with an evil expression and possibly Marie and Johnny in the background. We needed our poster to have really dark, dull colours and posses an air of mystery. Using the feedback we got, we compiled our first poster. The majority of people liked the format we produced and thought the images worked strongly. However we needed to make the writing more legible and the colour of our tagline needed to be changed to be clearer!
The next task was our Magazine Review and I thought our film would best suit a magazine such as Total Film. However once I made a review with this style of magazine in mind my feedback required my to completely change the style. Even though people thought the magazine review fitted a magazine such as "Empire" our actual film wouldn't really focus on this magazine. We also needed to add the review of other films and not focus on our own film only. Therefore I changed the entire format and style of the review to suit a magazine such as Independent Critics. I first produced the magazine review on Microsoft Publisher, but this didn’t look very professional. However, on the second draft I used Adobe Photoshop to create the review and I felt it looked much more realistic. Once I received feedback the audience felt this suited our film more appropriately however, more texts needed to be added as the reviews wasn't long enough, and therefore I had to shrink the size of the images in order to make these changes.

Storyboard - Draft 2

After recieving feedback from out first storyboard draft we learned our main problem was that we needed more cut a way shots. We learned that this was especially the case with Alfie's character in Scene 1. More shots of Alfie pouring petrol would be neccessary and then switching inbetween shots of Marie And Johnny getting closer to the action.
Therefore only two more storyboard sheets needed to be added before we had our final draft. In my opinion however, I thought Scene 3 & 4 needed to have more shots, as these were flashbacks. The intention was to show the flashback represented a time period of the past, to show the relationship between the characters had existed for a while. However, this was dependant on the different settings available to us within our constraints!

Storyboard

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

In order to create a successful short film we decided to use, develop and challenge different forms and conventions from the "thriller" genre. The general target audience for our media product is older teenagers (15+) and therefore we used typical conventions of the thriller genre for inspiration into our media product.
Our original idea stemmed from the stimulus we was given: the colour red. From this colour we decided the themes our film could entwine which involved: anger, passion, love, revenge, murder, betrayal, and fire. We felt the majority of these themes matched the ingredients of the thriller genre. We decided to focus on revenge and betrayal as our main themes, ignited by the passion between two characters. Therefore our film uses the convention of stereotypical themes for the thriller genre. Films such as "Don't say a word", where a psychiatrist's wants revenge for his kidnapped daughter, use similar themes of betrayal, anger and jealousy and also like our film use a stereotypical isolated character. However, our film does develop the conventions of a stereotypical thriller film, as it entwines the themes of romance and passion. This is similar to the themes portrayed in the film “Obsessed” staring Beyonce, as this film also develops the typical themes of thriller.
Like in many thriller films our short film has the stereotypical "psycho" character which is reflected in our character Alfie. This character is a typical convention of thriller films as this typical “psycho” character is used in films such as “Scream”, “Waz” and even the character Sam in Kidult/Adulthood. His character is paralleled in typical thriller characters, whereas our character of Johnny develops stereotypical characters of a thriller genre as he is not aggressive and eager to get revenge, yet he makes an important role in the film as he is motivation for Alfie's revenge. This is similar to Marie's character as even though it is not typical for her style of character to be the lead in a thriller film, this convention can be challenged against the usual "damsel in distress" and she can control the trouble she has caused.
In our film, the setting in my opinion uses the conventions of a stereotypical thriller genre.
The setting of our short film consists of long isolated corridors and the small classroom which create a typical environment yet these conventions are developed as we had to make this work in a school setting, working with our constraints. One key convention our setting challenged in our film was that way it was set in broad daylight. It is common in thriller films for the main plot action to take place during the night, such as “Prom Night” and “The Dark Knight”.
A way in which we used camera in our media product strongly reflected to me a clear use of typical thriller convention. The extreme close up of Alfie's eye in scene 2 shows the intense emotion, which is similar to "Psycho" when there is close up of Marion's eye after she has been stabbed. Both shots hold focus for a few seconds to add to the realism of the emotion. It is hard to match a typical shot type to a specific genre of film as camera is used to be creative rather than always reflect the genre. However, the slow paced panning and tilting shots in scenes 2 and 5 are typical of a thriller genre as they are used to create suspense. This similar style of shot was also used in one of my group members AS opening sequence, and this was also a thriller genre.
We also used the convention of fast, snappy editing for our flashbacks to show the characters mind over playing the past in their mind, which we felt was typical of thriller protagonists, as they usually are reminded of their motivation for their flaw before they commit it, for example, this happens in the film "La Haine" and also in “Don‘t Say A Word”. Our scene 3 flashbacks are also similar to Matt Damon’s “Bourne Ultimatum”, which again shows quick flashing shots. We incorporated this style of editing and developed the convention as we added the black and white effect which we felt added realism. This way we felt it was easier to identify scene 3 as past events. The sound we chose for our film built tension in the way that was typical of a thriller genre. The first track played in our film was very slow paced with the hunt of a soft drum being beat in the background. It is a very gripping track which gets the audience enticed and filled with mystery which is the usual motif of thriller film openings. Overall, I think our film both, used, developed and challenged typical thriller conventions, and think the films of the genre were able to give us the inspiration we needed to make our media product a success.

How effective is the combination of your main product and your ancillary tasks?

In order to promote our film and market the product successfully, we produced a cadhesive campaign, just as all media companies do when distributing a new film. We created a magazine review as well as a film poster in order to work together to help promote and support the success of our film. Firstly, the audience would see the film poster as the purpose of a film poster is produced to incite awareness and create a general hype for the film. Our film poster works extremely closely with our short film as they both imply the theme of revenge, through Alfie's intense expression which is his clear motivation throughout the film itself. The dark, dull colours used, such as blacks and greys, create a sense of mystery and suspense, which is again parallel in our film especially in scenes 2 and 5. This similar mood is reflected in the dark lighting used. However, the contrasting high key lighting on Alfie’s face suggests him as the protagonist of the film and the main focus. The extreme close up of Alfie in the foreground of the poster also suggests him as the main focus of the film. In our film poster, Alfie’s costume is a hooded jumper, which is a key trait in the short film, as Alfie always wears his hood up. This can also reflect the mystery and darkness of Alfie’s character. The setting of the corridor in our main film poster represents isolation which is essential to the film, as the relationship between Johnny and Marie does leave Alfie feeling this way. With the setting only being visible in the background of the poster it implies that the setting doesn’t hold a central role to the film. I think the poster gives away a certain amount of detail about the films plot, because if I was to see the poster without seeing the film, I would think that the main character is jealous of the couple in the background who are obviously flirting. The body language of Marie and Johnny is very united and engaging towards each other. Their facial expressions show they look content and pleased to be in each others company and the fact they're in the background would make me think they are being secretive which supports the plot of our film. However the poster doesn't give the main plot twist away which is what we intended, as the audience will still be surprised when they watch the film. The unity and close proximity of Johnny and Marie in the background really emphasises the physical relationship between them in this image and therefore is really effective in my opinion as it causes a stark comparison with Alfie's expression. The second version of our film poster is the only film poster which holds a significant prop. The prop of the petrol can is the cause for biggest plot point of our film. However, without seeing the film this wouldn’t be clear to the audience, and therefore acts as almost a teaser. Therefore, I think the magazine is extremely successful in supporting the film as there is a house style across both the poster and the film which is visibly clear as I feel the mise en scene of the film poster is reflected in the cinematography of the film.
The next step of promoting the film, after the distribution of the film itself, is the magazine film review page we produced. The purpose of a film review is to let the audience know a bit about the film, whether it’s a blockbuster or an under the radar independent movie, and most importantly to give an opinion on the films watch ability. In order to work as cadhesive campaign it is essential to place the review in a magazine which has the same target audience as the audience of your film. As Independent Critics has a wide target audience we thought this works effectively alongside our main product. Independent Critics features a variety of different reviews, from Saw to Wallace & Gromit, therefore we are aware it is read by a wide varied audience. Therefore as an independent film we thought this would be a clever way to create an interest for the product as it can be read about by a wide audience, as well as our own target audience. The layout of the review almost mirrors the layout of an Independent Critics page except our magazine review has the “film of the week” feature. The initial fact the film is "film of the week" alone also works successfully in promoting the film as it draws the audiences attention to that part of the review, again sparking publicity for the film. The language of the review reflects the style of the thriller film as the relaxed language makes the target “teenage” audience comfortable with the film. “Hooded psycho” is slang language the audience can relate to as well as a phrase which relates to the thriller genre! The review reveals the typical thriller themes of the film, such as jealously, yet it doesn’t give away the surprises of the plot, which is key of film reviews! Therefore, I think overall the combination of our main media product and our ancillary tasks work very effectively in order to create a cadhesive campaign.

How did you use new technologies in the research, construction and planning stages?

In our media product we used new media technologies throughout every stage of our production. New media technology has become digital technology and has enabled us to become more creative and have more choice during the course of our productions, giving many advantages. Digital technology is universal, meaning it is widely accessible, therefore through this developed media, primarily being the internet, we have been able to construct, market and distribute our film, without paying a penny. The internet has become the key in new media technology and was used in many ways throughout my production. I used the internet to research other film films from the "thriller" genre. More specifically I used "youtube" to find many films similar of our genre as well as the film website "IMBD". As well as using these sights to research other films I was able to research different cinematographers as well as experts in title sequences such as Saul Bass. The internet has become the key in new media technologies as it is time efficient and cost less. Instead of taking time to research through books and film magazines we are able to find the same information through search engines such as “Google” in minutes. I also used the internet to research for copyright free sound for our media product, however I didn’t have much luck. Even though it would have been quicker to do so online, we imported our music and sound effects through CD’s.
In the research stages of our project we used each others blogs to compare work and research and in the planning stages of our media product we again used blogs. We also used the schools department blog to help us organize our time planning of what tasks was to be completed, as well as a form to receive feedback. I used the blog especially to show the development of my work and different stages of each task, and how I used the feedback we received to better my product. Through the blogging technology I felt many benefits. I was able to access my blog from anywhere with internet access, demonstrating the accessibility advantage of this new media technology, and therefore see what deadlines had been set on the school’s department blog. I used the blog to communicate with my teachers and other members of my group and also compare the standard of my work against other students.
In my planning stages of this media product I used many different software’s. For example, I used slideshare to display pitches and the feedback I received. For the location reccee, call sheets, and shooting schedules I used a word document. For the location reccee and photo storyboard I used the technology of a still camera to take pictures of possible locations and the storyboard of our film.
In order to prepare for the actual production we took part in camera and sound workshops which involved us handling the equipment, including Canon HD cameras and a full sound kit. We had to set up the equipment as if we was going to use it and then dissemble it and from this we learned how to deal with common problems of the equipment.
Therefore we used this equipment in our production stages. The digital revolution has made filming easier, as with today’s technology it is straight forward to learn how to use a camera and has become easier to film, compared to film cameras that was used in the past. The Canon HD camera and XLR lead was a key part of the equipment as well as the sound boom and microphone. The equipment we used was the same as the equipment we used during our AS production therefore we already had experience using it, yet through using this new media technology my skills become more advanced and I was able to use the equipment more efficiently. For example, I learned how to auto focus the camera, and also blur the background of my frame.
In this production we had a completely new editing software, Adobe Premier. Therefore in our planning stages, we practised editing a short scene of the iconic "Psycho" shower scene together in order to practise for our film edit. This editing software I found was much more advanced in terms of effects and transitions and I also found it was easier to incorporate sound onto the timeline than before and adjust the sound levels.
I also found that an advantage of this software was that we was able to do our editing in a non linear sequence, which was especially beneficial for my group as we experienced many problems digitising our rushes onto the computer. As we edited our film onto a lacie drive we had no problems with our film being portable. We was therefore able to edit our film on any workstation we chose to. This was an advantage for me and my group because often we edited the film at different times, without all group members being there. The portability of the lacie drive made our editing a much smoother process as another advantage for my group was that when problems occurred on one computer, we was able to move to another station and edit our film from there.
In the evaluation stages of our project I used the technology of blogging once again. This was the way in which I posted my answers to recieve feedback, as well as looking through the labels on my blog to reflect the work which I've put into my production, which was necessary to answer some questions, particularly the question on audience feedback. Within the blogging technology I felt a sense of familiarity. I often use social networking websites and could see a parallel between these, and consequently I felt comfortable using the blog.
Due to our access to new media technologies our product has been of a better quality. For example, if we were to create our film posters on the software Paint compared to Adobe Photoshop, our result would have been a less professional, simplistic poster. Also the media convergence of Adobe, with both Photoshop and Premiere, was an advantage as both software’s shared similar features therefore made it easier to use. For both ancillary tasks, the film poster and the magazine review, I used Adobe Photoshop to produce these. It was the software which was most able to make my final products look professional and realistic.
Overall, there were a variety of different ways in which we used new media technologies in our media product, and I believe as long as the technology carries on developing, the better quality of product we will be able to produce.

Sound Equipment

Sound Masterclass.

These are the notes we recieved from our sound masterclass and which we went through and discussed with our teacher:

Though we might think of film as an essentially visual experience, we really cannot afford to underestimate the importance of film sound. A meaningful sound track is often as complicated as the image on the screen. The entire soundtrack is comprised of three essential ingredients;
• the human voice
• sound effects
• music

These three tracks must be mixed and balanced so as to produce the necessary emphases which in turn create the desired effects.

The Human Voice

Dialogue serves to tell the story and expresses feelings and motivations of characters as well. It’s interesting to note how dialogue is used and the amount used varies widely among films. Large amounts of dialogue force the audience to bounce from conversation to conversation and there is no time for audience reflection or to challenge the viewers. Consequently, the audience are caught up in a whirlwind of dialogue simply managing to follow the plot. This film presents pure escapism largely due to its frenetic dialogue.

Sound Effects

Synchronous sound are those sounds which are synchronized or matched with what is viewed, contributing to the realism of film to create a particular atmosphere.

Asynchronous sound is not matched with a visible source of the sound on screen. Such sounds are included to provide an appropriate emotional nuance, they may also add to the realism of the film.

Music

Background music is used to add emotion and rhythm to a film. Usually not meant to be noticeable, it often provides a tone or an emotional attitude toward the story and/or the characters emotions. In addition, background music often foreshadows a change in mood. For example; dissonant music may be used in film to indicate an approaching (but not yet visible) menace or disaster.
Background music may also aid the viewer understanding by linking scenes. For example, a particular musical theme associated with an individual character or situation may be repeated at various points in a film in order to remind the audience of salient motifs or ideas. Film sound is comprised of conventions and innovations. We have come to expect an acceleration of music during car chases and creaky doors in horror films. Yet, it is important to note as well that sound is often brilliantly conceived. The effects of sound are often largely subtle and often are noted by only our subconscious minds.

Dimensions of film sound

Rhythm is on of the most complex features of sound. Rhythm involves a beat or pulse a pace or tempo and a pattern of accents or stronger or weaker beats.

• Music has rhythm
Rhythm is most recognizable in film music, since the beat, tempo, and accent are basic compositional features.

• Speech has rhythm
People can be identified by "voice prints" which show not only characteristic frequencies and amplitudes but also distinct patterns of pacing and syllabic stress. In fictional films, speech rhythm is a matter for the performer's control, but the sound editor can also manipulate it at the dubbing phase (post-production).
• Sound effects have rhythm (e.g. rhythmic qualities)
The plodding hooves of a farm horse differ from a cavalry company riding at full speed. The vibrating tone of a gong may offer a slowly decaying accent, while a sudden sneeze provides a brief one. In a gangster film, a machine gun's fire creates a regular rapid beat, while the sporadic reports of pistols may come at irregular intervals.
• Images have rhythm
Any consideration of rhythmic uses of sound is complicated by the fact that movements in the images themselves have a rhythm as well, distinguished by the same principles of beat, speed, and accent. In addition, the editing has a rhythm. Short shots helps create a rapid tempo, whereas shots held longer tend to slow down the rhythm.

In most cases the rhythms of editing of movement within the image work in parallel with the sound. The most common tendency is for the filmmaker to match visual and sonic rhythms work in unison to each other.

Fidelity refers to the extent to which the sound is faithful to the source, conceive the audience. For example; if a film shows us a barking dog and we hear a barking noise, that sound is faithful to its source, the sound maintains fidelity. But if the picture of the barking dog is accompanied by the sound of a cat meowing, there enters a disparity between sound and image, a lack of fidelity.
Fidelity has nothing to do with what originally made the sound in production. A filmmaker may manipulate sound independently of image (in post-production). Accompanying the image of a dog with the meow is no more difficult than accompanying the image with a bark. If the viewer takes the sound to be coming from its source in the diegetic world of film, then is faithful, regardless of its actual source in production.
Fidelity is purely a matter of expectation. Even if our dog emits a bark on screen, perhaps in production the bark came from a different dog or was electronically synthesized.
When we do become aware that sound is unfaithful to its source, that awareness is usually used for the comic effect. Unfaithful sounds may have dramatic functions as the accompanying sound to a kick or punch.

Space

Sound has spatial dimensions because it comes from a source. Our beliefs about that source have a powerful effect on how we understand the sound. If the source of the sound is a character or object in the story space of the film we identify it as diegetic sound. Likewise, if the sound is represented as coming from a source outside story space we recognise it as non-diegetic sound.
One characteristic sound is the possibility of suggesting the sound perspective. This is a sense of spatial distance and location analogous to the cues for visual depth and volume which we get with visual perspective.

Theorists
Jane Knowles Marshall
David Bordwell
Kristin Thompson

Sound Equipment
Nagra
Windshield Modular System
Shotgun / Directional Mic

The shotgun microphone can be used onboard the camera or on a boom pole. Best for on location and spontaneous shoots. As it is a directional mic the onboard camera can pick up sound directly in front of the camera and cuts out most sound left, right, up and down. The boom mic requires a specific sound person or appropriate stand. This microphone is extremely accurate as you can get up close to the subject and the directional properties reduce background noise.


Things to look out for• Keep a close eye on the camera operator, as a boom mic can often appear in shot.
• An onboard boom mic will still pick up camera noise and remember you are close to the mic, although it is directional it will pick you up to some extent.
• Be aware of surrounding noise. If a dog barks, phone rings or siren goes off, don’t be afraid to stop the recording and inform the interviewer the sound is not useable.

Final Title Sequences

After we incorporated all the idea's for our title sequences, here are screen shots of the final title sequence used in our film.

3 Final Film Posters

Film Poster - Version 3 (Final)

Film Poster - Version 3 (Draft 1)

Film Poster - Version 2

Magazine Review - Final

Magazine Review - Draft 2

After having a class dicussion regarding our magazine reviews, there was some feedback I collected. From this feedback I learned that I needed to shrink the size of the images and focusing on adding more text onto the review. I decided it would be beneficial to create my review on Adobe Photoshop compared to the Microsoft Publisher software, as it looked more professional in this format.

Other Title Sequence Idea's

Other idea's I got from watching a variation of different title clips was to have our typography creating the impression of blood. As the text would appear it would be dripping and in blood-red. This could relate to our psycho's character and also contrast against the dull, lifeless background. Another option I see was to have a spotlight slowing revealing the credits against a dark background. This mysterious opening would create suspense, reflecting the mood of the film we want to portray.

Title Sequences - Westside Story

Westside Story
Robert Wise
1961







Bass uses both open and end credits for the title sequence of Westside Story. The ending credits display a live-action montage of graffiti scrawled upon worn urban surfaces. The composition scrutinizes each wall, zooming, panning, and then halting patiently on each credit. Occurring after the tragedy that closes the film, Bass’ hand-scrawled type authenticates the environment and conflict of the environment where this tragedy has taken place.
An idea we could take from Westside Story's ending credits, to duplicate in our own film is the scrawling of grafitti on a brick wall. Like in Westside Story, this would emphasis the conflicted, run down setting of our film. As grafitti can also be an iconic theme of crime, this can also reflect a part of Alfie's character which can be associated with crime.

Title Sequences - Casino

CASINO
Martin Scorsese
1995







In the title sequence of Casino, the first shots are kept very simple to contrast with the car bomb exploding, creating maximum "shock factor" for the audience. Fire takes over the screen with the character Sam Rothstein falling across and transitions into the crimson lights of the Las Vegas Strip. Flames shoot up from the bottom of the frame, showing a screen covered with abstract shots of iconic Las Vegas signage and illumination. This vision of hell created by Bass summarizes the narrative ahead, without ruining any of the surprises Scorsese has in store. The combination of image and sound urges the viewer to consider theme: Las Vegas as the most tempting hell on Earth, just as it was for Scorsese's protagonist.
As fire plays an important concept in our film, the Casino title sequence had a specific relevance. An idea I had was to incorporate the fire explosion transition, after the lighter is sparked in our film. I thought at this dramatic point of the title sequence it would be the perfect time to display the film's title. However, as we were limited to the editing software we used, we learned that we wouldn't be able to create this effect.

Title Sequences Research - Saul Bass

In order to get some ideas for our own title sequences, we looked at the work of Saul Bass. From analysing many of the opening title sequences he has created we were able to take away many possible title ideas for our own film.

Title Sequences

If the opening credits to a film bore us, we would be forgiven for feeling the whole film will be boring. If they're exciting and manage to push our cart to the top of an emotional roller-coaster, then there we'll be, sitting at the edge of our seats, strapped in, waiting to be thrown around. The first few minutes of a film will often either leave the audience full of excitement and eager to see how the story of the movie will play out, wondering what hints they were shown in the opening credits to what they're about to watch. When producing a title sequence, creativity and thought must go into what message you want to portray through the first few minutes of your film. Some title sequences are made to match the action and almost give taster of the film, whereas others do the opposing, telling the story of the film in an style which completely contradicts the rest of the film. This is done to create a sense of unexpectedness for the audience. A good title sequence must share many qualities such as being original in a way that it is either daring or challenging and it must also be visually unique. As well as the image within your opening title sequence, in some opening credits, typography can also be a big focus, and used to open the story of the film.

Magazine Review - Draft 1

When I showed this review to my class and teachers for feedback these are the comments I recieved:

- Make our own films the main focus, yet add other films into the review to make it look like an actual magazine review page!

- Give the magazine a specific house style to suit a chosen magazine.

- The page will suit a magazine such as Empire.

- The images work well and it does look like an actual review.

From this feedback I decided to place my magazine into a review page such as Independant Critics.

Independant Critics

Independant Critics Magazine, is focused on giving breif reviews from different view points. The multiple reviews on the same page is an idea I could interperate into my own magazine review, however I would like to think our film would be featured in a more specific film review magazine. Independant Critics have not described the plot or events of the film but give their own opinion on the films style, and whether it is worth going to see.

Making Props!

In our film we wanted to show the audience that the fire Alfie's character had set up, caused the death of Marie & Johhny's character. However, as we wasn't able to film a real fire, or have the editing software to do so, we had to think of an alternative way to show it. Therefore, we decided before Alfie's face is revealed, he could be reading the newspaper which holds the headline "2 School Children Die In Fearsome Fire" or something to that effect. This would happen during Scene 2, just before Alfie's face is shown to the audience.
To make the front page of the newspaper, I produced this on Microsoft Publisher. I used clipings from "The Sun" newspaper to give our front cover realistic newspaper elements. I then wrote a brief article of what I would have expected the artice to say, but with main emphasis of the newspaper on the headline.

Total Film Spiderman Review

Like the language used in Empire Magazine, Total Films style is also rather relaxed compared to formal, and is full of opinion. The rating chart at the bottom is an element we could incorporate into our own film review page, with the star ratings! The review informs a little about the plot, with an obvious foreknowledge of other spiderman films , and passes personal opinion on the film. In my opinion, Total Film's language is targeted at young adults and teenagers as the review is written in a very casual style. It suggests to me the review is written for film lovers who are already fans of the superhero compared to naivists of the film.

Comparing "Twilight" Reviews.

Empire Magazine



"Let’s assume that you’re going into the second episode of Stephenie Meyers’ vampire saga with an open mind, having been pleasantly surprised that the first film didn’t turn out to be Vampire High School Musical. If that’s the case, you’ll probably enjoy this slice of high melodrama. If not, stay away. This is a series almost entirely lacking in irony, one that takes its central tortured romance too seriously to waste good gazing-soulfully time on filling in the background or winning over naysayers. There’s moping to be done, after all.
That’s not entirely a criticism. To berate the Twilight saga for indulging in moping would be like suggesting that perhaps John McClane and Hans Gruber could have sat down and talked their differences out. This is a series about the all-encompassing, deadly seriousness of first love, and judged on those terms the first Twilight did convey that feeling of mad romance and the second film picks up that theme and snogs it senseless. But in the same way that most second superhero movies are about our hero trying to give up the cape, this sequel is about the heartbreak that almost certainly follows such unthinking passion.
Robert Pattinson’s upright, buttoned-down Edward gives up Kristen Stewart’s Bella for her own good (as it seems to him) and disappears from her life. After turning into a virtual zombie as a result, the heartbroken Bella finds some comfort in the friendship of Native American Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), himself afflicted with a searing crush on the self-effacing heroine. Unfortunately, it turns out that that’s not the only thing Jacob’s afflicted with, as he starts turning furry and lupine and also abandons Bella for her own protection.
Amid such masculine faffing about, Bella’s character is the only constant, and she comes across as a little stronger this time around, gradually pulling herself out of the fog of depression and fighting to keep both men in her life – if only in hallucinations in Edward’s case. Stewart still relies a little too heavily on the tactic of blinking a lot, but then the same could be said of the male leads’ reliance on slight frowns, and all three are doing a good enough job to win over the fans and convey the high drama of the novel. Incoming director Chris Weitz, taking over from Catherine Hardwicke, is more reserved and perhaps slightly less attuned to his teenage stars, but handles the action and the effects well despite the breakneck production schedule.
While there’s only a tiny and very occasional hint of humour from the love triangle members, however, the addition of Jacob’s fellow Wolf Pack members and more traditional high vampires the Volturi allow for a little looseness and the opening up of the Twilight world. The Wolf Pack are given, at best, momentary character sketches but receive just enough attention to establish them for future instalments, while the Volturi threaten to romp away with the film in just moments onscreen. Then what can you expect when they’re led by Michael Sheen’s deliciously dangerous Aro, and boast a psychic torturer played by an immaculate Dakota Fanning?
The plethora of shirtless men (sometimes shot in – god help us – slow-motion) and general fetishisation of Bella’s love interests may raise a giggle or an eyebrow in audiences more accustomed to seeing women in their scanties, and the pace does sometimes slow to a crawl, but this is another faithful and largely successful adaptation of Meyers’ old-fashioned love story."

The layout of this review is minimalistic suggesting the main focus is on the actual language and writing style of the review. The language is very relaxed and at times even sarcastic. A truely honest judgement of the New Moon saga, it describes a little of the plot without giving away any twists and points out both good and bad points of the film. The slang language such as "snogs" and "faffing around" can be related to by the older teenage audience, who is our own target audience. Therefore this is the style of language we could use in our own film review.


The Guardian Newspaper



This newspaper review is simplistic and almost bare as a review which I don't think would benefit our film. The independant broadsheet newspaper doesn't have the target audience of our film and therefore would almost be pointless putting our films review in this type of media. It breifly summarises the plot rather than reviews the film, and only gives the opinion of one critic.

Empire Magazines Web Review Page

This is a typical layout of Empire's web review page. It shows a variation of different film genres as well as exclusive interviews, representing the magazine as universily accessible as there could be a film on here for everyone. The black, white and red colour scheme creates house style, and is the colours also used on nearly all the magazines covers.




The front page features hollywood actors, well established actors who are known to all the public and not just people involved in the film world. This attracts multiple audiences and suggests the magazine focuses on mainstream films rather than art house films. However, this also proposes the magazine focuses on the most awaited films rather then the best made for example. Therefore there is aspects of Empire Magazine where our film review would fit as there isn't really a specific target audience or film genre as it is aimed at people who genereally like films, however it could also be out of place.

What Is A Film Review?

Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory.
Many people use film reviews to create a judgement, or back up their own opinions. Others use film reviews to decide what they're best of watching at Orange Wednesdays. However, all film reviews inform the reader a little about the film and its plot, and more importantly a biased judgement on whether it is worth going to see!
Some magazines are dedicated to film reviews such as Empire Magazine, and Total Film Magazine. Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008. It is the biggest selling film magazine in Britain, and is also published in Australia, Turkey and Russia. In common with most British film magazines, Empire is populist in both approach and coverage unlike less irreverent and more 'serious' magazines such as Sight and Sound. It reviews both mainstream films and art films, but feature articles concentrate on the former. Our own film review could feature in Empire magazine as their is an interest in arthouse films, however I don't think this would be the most relevant magazine for our films review to be published in.
Total Film, published by Future Publishing, is the United Kingdom's second best-selling film magazine. It offers film and DVD news, reviews, and features. The magazine was launched in 1997 and is published every four weeks. Each month, TF provides a range of features, from full-length interviews, with established and up-and-coming actors and directors, to major film previews, from Top 100 lists to retrospective pieces — all illustrated with film stills and profile shots. All issues contain The Total Film Interview — an in-depth chat with a celebrated actor or director, along with a critique of their body of work and a rating of each major film to date. I feel our own film could feature in this magazine as their is a strong focus on up and coming productions.
As well as these two leading film review magazines there is also many independant reviews, as well as those in newspapers and gossip magazine, as well as on blogs and other parts of the internet.

Editing Feedback.

After we had finished editing each individual scene, we recieved feedback from other class members and different media teachers. Here is the feedback we recieved for each scene:

SCENE 1:

- Remove the shot of Marie's character screaming, when the lights black out, as it didn't seem realistic.

- Use less shots of Marie and Johnny flirting and more cut away shots so the attention is really focusing on Alfie.

- When Johnny leaves Marie to go and check the door, cut the shot earlier so the change of angle flows better.

- The music we use at the beginning of the scene should fade out quietly when dialogue between characters starts and be audible in the background.

- Make the shot of Alfie locking the door shorter, so it doesn't drag on.

- Add in the sound effect of an explosion after the flame is sparked, to create an effect and make the action more significant.

- Remove the 2nd shot of Johnny and Marie flirting or add a shot for Marie's character to react to.


SCENE 2:

- Re-shoot this scene as there was bad continuity and the shots didn't flow, however once we re-shot this wasn't a problem.

- Possibly shorten the length of this scene as it did seem rather slow paced compared to Scene 1, however we needed this effect to create the right mood for the scene.

- The ambulance sirens should sound for a longer duration, up until the tapping of Alfie's foot is shown.

- Remove the wind sound effects or make the volume of it extremely quiet. Instead use background music for longer to increase the tension.


SCENE 3:

- Best scene, shots used are really good.

- The cross-fade effects add realism.

- Black & White images represent the passing of time and the past well.

- Remove shot of tilting up Alfie on the staircase as it takes too long to reveal his face.


SCENE 4:

- Some shots were not digitised properly and therefore had limited shots.

- Alot of background sound changes, which would affect continuity.

- The camera operater and the camera was visible in the window reflection behind the characters and the action.

- Pointless scene as Scene 4 does already send the same message.

- We didn't shoot as much footage as we needed to for a successful scene and therefore was advised to scrap this scene and use the shots we were able to use in our flashback scenes.


SCENE 5:

- Not to have Alfie's character walking away towards the camera as it isn't an effective ending.

- Use a fade to black to end the scene, ready for the titles to appear.

The Editing Process.

Once we had finally finished shooting, the editing process started, which took place during our free lessons and after-school. Adobe Premiere is the software we used to edit our films. Firstly we had to digitise all our rushes, which took my group a while as we had many technical problems with the computer not capturing our rushes. Once we had finally finished doing so, it was time to start a rough assemble edit. Meeting the deadlines our teacher set, we had to edit each scene onto the timeline and use the feedback we recieved to make changes. Once all five scenes had been edited we started to focus more on our background music and sound effects and add this onto the timeline. Once our film was visually and musically complete we had to recieve our final feedback.

Shooting Day Adjustments Causing Schedule Changes!

14/10/09
During our filming, due to problems we worked to overcome, we couldn't follow the guideline of our shooting schedule. We started as we meant to go on shooting Scenes 2 & 5 first, however when we came to shoot Scene 1, the science lab had been overbooked therefore we has unable to film there. Instead we skipped to filming Scene 4 and used the afternoon to shoot Scene 1 in another science lab which we found was free. As we was unable to finish shooting Scene 1 this had to be finished on our second shooting day.

15/10/09
On our second day of filming we started by shooting our flashback scenes. We started with the areas of the school which got busier during the day as this was shot before school hours. As the assistant director I checked the different flashback locations before me and the crew moved to them, and chose the most appropriate place to shoot the next flashback. As we were only given an hour during second period to use the science lab again we had to finish filming Scene 1 in between our flashback shots.
Once we finished shooting all our scenes, we decided we had to reshoot Scene 2, as we needed to use a newspaper to reveal the headline of two school children dying. Therefore we re-shot this scene on the afternoon of our final shooting day.

Rehearsals.

On Monday 12th October, our first official rehearsal was held. However it was then when Emine Hassan, our Marie character, decided she did not want to play our part. Aswell as this problem, our main character played by Danny Martin also fell ill! As the main character is my brother, lucky enough I was able to rehearse his scenes and lines with him at home! Therefore this rehearsal consisted of running Kieran Roberts, Johnny's character, through his scenes. It was then we was able to cast Georgia Jones, a year 13 student to play our character of Marie as she was willing to help.
On Tuesday 13th October, (yes the day before filming!), we had our final rehearsal with Johnny and Marie's character. However as Alfie was still ill, he was unable to attend any rehearsals.

Auditions?

As we had a minimum response to our ask for sixth formers and drama students help, we had to rely on school pupils we knew to be able to play our characters. In order for our film to be a success, we knew the actors would have to understand the characters personalities and the lifestyle they have, to make their performance believable. Therefore on Thursday 8th October, we finally had our cast and a brief audition where we talked each actor through what would be required and how we expected their character to be played.
On Friday 9th, we sent out call sheets to our characters and also their costume requirements aswell as the expectations of our actual filming days.

Photo Storyboard.

As we had many problems with our cast just days before our filming was due to start, for example actors dropping out and our main character falling ill, we had to use substitute characters to fill in for our actors. Also, as we had problems finalising our storyboard, as we kept changing shot orders etc, this photo storyboard only roughly follows the shot order which was captured in our film.

Film Poster - Final Draft.

After a class discussion, we recieved some really posotive feedback from this third version of our film poster. However, from our feedback we learned:

- The names of our actors could of been brightened up so they are more legible, however we felt this wasn't nessecary as we didn't want to add to much colour onto our poster.

- The credit block is done very well and works on our poster.

Overall, the feedback was very posotive, with only a few minute changes needing to be made, and our next aim is to produce another two film posters with the same message and house style.

Film Poster - Draft 2

From our audience feedback we learned that overall this was was a much better format for our film poster. We had some really posotive comments and only a few changes needed to be made.

For example, we needed to:

- add a credit block to make the poster look more professional.

- play around with colour on the tagline as the audience were curious whether it would look stronger in an outline and not in red.

We adapted these changes and produced the final draft for our film poster.

Film Poster - Draft 2

Film Poster - Draft 1

After a class discussion we recieved feedback we could use to improve this poster. From this we learned:

- to remove the red eye which suggested fire in Alfie's eye, as it gave too much of the story away and also removed the intensity of his evil expression.

- to change the font on the actors names and the tagline as it didn't look very professional and didn't match the look of our poster.

- to come up with a new name for the film, as "pyscho" was very predictable and didn't think it was an effective title for our media product.

Therefore we had a group discussion and decided on the film name "I.C.U". We decided this would work well as I.C.U is a pun on our tag line, and would get the audienceinvolved with the film as the pronoun is directly aimed at the reader. It also generally stands for the "Isolation Care Unit" which is an accident unit, and we thought this pun is relevant to the themes of our film.