Closing

This blog is now complete and ready for assessment.

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

There are several things that I have learnt from my preliminary task that have helped me improve in this task.

Firstly I have been able to improve on my planning and preparation. I found it is very important to organise actors, props, costumes and locations in order to make my film look more authentic. In my preliminary task I used the first people I could find to star in my film, as they were not actors and I had only briefly been able to explain to them what my film was about they were not very good. In my main task I specifically cast someone that fitted the description of my main character and filled them in on the story in advance of filming, I also organised a specific location, where as in my preliminary task I filmed at college.

Although I have improved on some aspects of time keeping; organising filming dates and actors well in advance of filming, I didn’t keep time very well when doing my research and planning, this was mainly due to the fact that I had a sudden group change during the research and planning stage and had to change all of my research and do it all again on my own.

I found the preliminary task helped prepare me for using the camera and learning its different functions. It also helped me understand how to use On Location and Premier Pro, in the preliminary task I learnt how to add effects and cut and paste in Premier Pro so I was well prepared for my main task.

I learnt from my preliminary task that doing in-depth audience research changes the outcome of the film, in the preliminary task I was not making the film to meat any specific genre or audience requirements, I found that this made the film uninteresting and unappealing. However in my main task doing audience research helped me understand what exactly an audience would want from a film and how I could make my film enjoyable to watch.

The main thing I have taken away from this project is that there are many different aspects in media that have to be considered, that it is often a long and complicated process making a film and that thorough planning and research is essential to making a professional film.

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

To help with the research and planning part of this project I created a Facebook group to get audience feedback. I Created a group then invited people who I thought fitted my audience profile, I asked them what films, music and other general things they liked then incorporated as much of this into film as I could. I also used Youtube to research existing film opening from my genre.

After this I created a storyboard and an animatic to show my audience what I thought my film would look like. For this I took photos using a DSLR camera, after I had uploaded these onto a computer I used Premier Pro to create an animatic. I could lengthen or shorten the time different photos ran for to show how long I wanted the shots to last for in my real film.

I found Blogger an effective way to present my planning and research because I could separate each different area of planning in an individual blog; this makes it easier to read through afterwards. However I found that Blogger was not very easy to use sometimes, it is often hard to position pictures to where you would like them.

I used a digital camera to capture my film, I found it very easy to used the camera and got to grip will all of its functions quickly. I used the zoom function most frequently because there are lots of extreme close-ups in my film. I also found the tripod very useful to get high and low angle shots and to keep the camera steady.

After the film was captured I used On Location to get my film onto the computer then Premier Pro to edit it. In Premier Pro I cut and pasted different shots together to make my film run exactly how I wanted it to. I used sound unlinking to remove some of the original sound from the filming and replace it with the sound of a heartbeat; I then used sound gain to make the sound of the heartbeat loud enough to hear. I also used sound ….. to gradually make the music I added grow quieter. I also added some visual effects; I changed the speed of some of the clips so they ran slower than I had filmed them, as well as this I added the ghosting effect to make some of the clips slightly blurred to represent the girl getting high from the drugs she had been using. I also used Premier Pro to add titles to my film, I changed the opacity so they were slightly see through, I also added entrance and exit effects so the titles faded in and out of view.

After I had finished editing I exported the film from Premier Pro and turned it into a FLV format file, I then uploaded this onto Youtube; once my film was on Youtube I used the embed code to put it onto my blog.

I also used the digital camera and Premier Pro again during the evaluation to record and edit some audience reactions to my film.

I found that the technology was on the whole helpful during this project; it would have been very difficult to do it without all of the different software I used however when I uploaded my film to Youtube some of the title effects were lost, I tried several times to fix this problem but I couldn’t.

How did you attract/address your audience?

My audience profile:


Male: 40%

Female: 60%

Age Group: Teenagers 16-19

Demographic:

My film is mainly aimed at females, aged 16-19
My film will be aimed at B, C1 and C2.

Psychographic:

My film will be aimed at Hedonists, Rebels and Individualist




I used the following things to attract my audience:
I used sad acoustic music to create a sad atmosphere so they audience would sympathise with the main character rather than judge her.
I used jump cuts to make the audience feel a sense tension and excitement.
I used enigma codes to make the audience curious about the main character and want to carry on watching.
I edited  the film so that the audience never got a completely full or clear view so the audience were curious about her.

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I showed my film to several people who fitted my audience profile, then interviewed them to get some response on my film. They said that the downbeat music created a depressing atmosphere so they could tell that the film would be quite sad in places, they said that the jump cuts created a sense of apprehension and tension, they wanted to know what was going to happen next. They said that they were interested in the girl and wanted to know who she was and why she was doing drugs. They said that it didn't give much away about what happened in the rest of the film but they wanted to watch the film to find out. The video below shows some of their comments.  

I also uploaded the video to my facebook group this is some of the feeback i got off them:

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

Metrodome, distributors of Shifty, would be ideal to distribute my film.

Metrodome are especially good at creating cost effective release strategies. On a very small budget they can make very successful films. For Shifty they created a web campaign where people framed their friends with a fake police photograph to promote the film.














This ad campaign got banned by the advertising standards authority, which gave the film even more publicity.
They still use conventional ideas such as posters and websites etc. Other revenues my film would be advertised on would be radio - independent or even pirate radio stations, this would appeal to my target  audience because individualists would not listen to radio stations like BBC and rebels would probably only listen to pirate radio stations.



My film would be shown in small independent cinemas such as the Electric in Birmingham,  The Conerhouse in Manchester and  Cube Microplex in Bristol. Because my film is aimed at individualists there would be no point in having my film showing at Vue and Odeon cinemas because no one would ever see it. My target audience are more likely to go to smaller, independent, 'cooler' cinema's so this is where I will screen my film.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I think my product displays some aspects of emergent ideology, my main character is a female and in the opening sequence we see her doing dangerous but slightly exciting things, this would usually be a man's role and the woman would be doing something safe like housework.

I feel that I have given a different representation of women than most films would, films with women as the main character are usually chick flicks, I feel my film represents women as more daring, but sensitive at the same time.

I think that the font shows how women are portrayed in my film, instead of delicate, floral writing, my font is bold and quite plain. This connotes that women are not all ways as feminine as they are portrayed in most films, but can be bold and tough.

I feel the sound could also be used to show how women are being represented differently; instead of upbeat pop music connoting that girls are bouncy and happy, I chose downbeat acoustic guitar music to connote the dark, tortured side of my main character.

The props used in the film are props that you would normally not associate with the type of women that are usually portrayed in films: needles, lighters, tobacco etc all connote a sense of danger and attitude.

I also think that in some ways class is represented in my film, it is clear to see from the mise-en-scene and costume that the main character is quite poor. I do not feel as though I have challenged the stereotypical representation of class because it is quite common for lower class people to be portrayed as drug addicts, living in messy houses, wearing dirty clothes etc.

I feel as though my representation of teenagers is quite a typical stereotypical representation; teenagers are irresponsible, drug users, dangerous, violent etc. My character fit's in quite well with this general stereotype, she is irresponsible and reckless.

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

My film is quite similar to other media products from this genre, firstly the downbeat music is demonstrated in other films within this genre such as Kidulthood, Sweet Sixteen and Shifty. This creates a general atmosphere that is connoted through films in this genre, a sad, trapped type of feeling around the main characters.


I feel the use of jump cuts and extreme close ups links my product to other products of this genre, for example the opening of Kidulthood has extreme close ups of the spinning drill, and jump cuts of one of the boys running through the playground, this creates a uneasy, jumpy tension that subconsciously makes the audience want to know what is coming next. I tried to use jump cuts and extreme close ups to the same effect.









However I feel that I have slightly challenged the conventions of opening sequences by having lots of jump cuts, this is usually quite unusual, I chose to do this to make my film unique and stand out, to make the audience really want to know what happens next. It also connotes tension, and an uneasy but slightly exciting atmosphere.


I think my titles are quite similar to others from this genre, especially Kidulthood.

This is my title in comparison to Kidulthood's title. The bold, stark white writing on the black background represents the bold, stark  storyline. It seems that there is some irony in the combination of black and white because the films both have stories that deal with the conventional ideas of right and wrong and that things are not always as black and white as they seem.

There is a definite sense of enigma in my film, the audience don't know who this girl is or why she is important, but they want to know, they want to understand why this girl is taking drugs and why she seems so sad and alone. Because this creates a sense of mystery the audience are curious about what will happen and will therefore watch on.

I think the mise-en-scene is similar to other films in this genre for example Trainspotting has very similar locations.

The mise-en-scene in Trainspotting consists of mismatched, old furniture, weirdly decorated walls and drug related paraphernalia, the mise-en-scene of my film is very similar. I feel that the mise-en-scene in my film makes it seem more authentic and believable, this makes the film more enjoyable to watch because it flows better.

Final Video

This is the final edit of my opening sequence

Facebook group update

A rough version of the video was put on facebook to get some feedback from my target audience this is what they said:

Rough footage

This is a rough version, it has been edited and had music added but needs improvement.

Planning: Filming

Shot list:
Cut in of girl's hands rolling cigarette
Point of view shot of girl looking down into the mirror cutting cocaine on it
Mid-shot of girl reaching for spoon
Cut away to belt and girls hand reaching for it
Mid-shot of girl holding belt
Extreme close up cut in of girls hand cutting cocaine on mirror
Extreme close up of girl licking cigarette
Cut in to girl lighting lighter under spoon
Close up of girl lighting cigarette
Close up of girl exhaling smoke
Cut in to girl putting belt around her arm
Mid-shot of girl smoking
Cut in to girl slapping her arm
Cut away to spoon and hand holding needle
Mid-shot of girl standing up
Extreme close-up cut away to ashtray and girl putting out cigarette
Mid-shot of girl snorting cocaine
Cut in to girl raising needle to her arm
Close up of girls face
Mid-shot of girl falling
Mid-shot of girl lying down (canted angle)
Close-up of girls face (canted angle)
Extreme close up of girls eye ( canted angle)

Planning: Filming

Risk assessment


Possible risk that could occur during filming:
The actress could burn herself with the lighter or cigarette
Outcome 
A painful but not too serious burn
Actions to avoid potential outcomes
The actress will be careful when using the lighter and cigarette, they will not be kept lit when they aren't being used.
Further comments
As the actress smokes she is used to using lighters and cigarettes so is less likely to accidentally burn herself and will take full responsibility if she does.

Possible risk that could occur during filming:
Someone could get cut on the blade
Outcome
Potentially a serious cut
Actions to avoid potential outcomes
The blade will be handled with extreme care and only when necessary.
Further comments 
If any cuts are sustained they will be cleaned and dressed immediately.

Possible risk that could occur during filming
Someone could stab herself with the needle
Outcome
A minor injury
Actions to avoid potential outcomes
The lid will be kept on the needle unless it is being used
Further comments
The needle will be a new and sterilised needle to ensure that if somebody does get stabbed with it they will not get any infections.

Possible risk that could occur during filming 
Somebody could trip over the tripod
Outcome
A painful fall which could result in serious injury
Actions to avoid potential outcome
The tripod will be kept packed away unless it is being used
Further comments
The area we are filming in will be kept clear of things that could cause serious injury should a fall occur

Facebook group response

This is what my facebook group said about my anamatic.

Planning: Filming

Cast, costume, location, props and camera organisation. 

Before I started filming I had to organise cast, props, location and costumes. The only actress I had in my film lived quite close to me so arranging dates to film was easy we decided that it would be best to film during the holidays because we would both be free during this time. 

The location I chose to film in was the garage in my garden I chose this location because I knew I could change it as much as I wanted to suit the style of my film, also it already fitted slightly because it had a small, cramped, slightly depressing atmosphere already, which would be appropriate for a girl using drugs. I painted some of the walls so they looked slightly weird and dirty and hung a big, old sheet over the last wall, I moved in some mismatched, old furniture and put down an old carpet to make the place seem slightly quirky but neglected.

The costume my actress wore was mainly her own clothes that hadn't been watched to make her seem like she didn't take care of herself, the jacket was brought from a charity shop. We did her make up to make her look rough, like she didn't sleep properly and was slightly sickly looking. We made her face and lips very pale and used eye shadow to make dark bags under her eyes. 

Some of the props were easy to get and some were more difficult; the spoon, mirror, lighter, belt and flower used as cocaine were easy to get however we needed someone to buy the tobacco and the needle for use. The needle was brought from a pharmacist. 

I booked a camera from college for over the Christmas holidays, this included a tripod, I had to fill in a sheet saying when I  would take the camera and when I would bring it back.

Locations

This is the location I chose for my film, it is my garage, I chose this because it is easily assessable and I could change it to look how I wanted without needing to get permission. I painted the walls, laid down a carpet, put up a big sheet and put in some old furniture to make it look appropriate. These are some photographs to show what it looks like.   

Props

The props that I will need for my film are:

Tobacco, rolling papers and filters
A mirror
Flour to be used as 'cocaine'
A blade to cut the 'cocaine' with
A spoon
Water and brown food colouring to be used as 'heroin'
A belt
A needle
A lighter
An ashtray
A rolled up note to snort the 'cocaine'
Cushions to sit and lie on
 

Facebook group update

I put my anamatic on facebook to get some feed back from my target audience.  I am hoping to get some creative feedback so I can add parts in, change shots or take bits away, depending on what my audience says.

Planning-Fonts and Titles

This is going to be the title of my film - Quixotic means; visionary, impractical,or impracticable, impulsive and often rashly unpredictable. I think this works well because my film is about drug addiction which is impractical, impulsive and unpredictable. 


The writing is sans-serif which I think will appeal to my target audience more that serif font because it isn't as high market. The bold font represents my film well - it's a bold storyline about difficult issues.