Showing posts with label Media Group Q. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Media Group Q. Show all posts
Friday, 8 April 2011
Decisions and revisions made in editing
Revisions we made to our opening sequence were the inclusion of non diegetic sound in the form of tracks from garageband and copyright free music from youtube. We also cut a lot of unnecessary footage out so the pace increases and tension and suspense increases as the feedback from the showcase told us the audience felt some of the shots were too long which made the sequence drag on slightly
Evaluation Commentary
It was important to create a multimodal evaluation as opposed to the traditional essay form. As a group we chose to create our evaluation as a multimodal powerpoint with text, audio and video. We all had input in answering our questions which we filmed and then imported into the powerpoint so our filmed answers follow each evaluation question along with slides and images which we feel are relevant to our film and our question answers.
Oblivious - Final Version Commentary
We have uploaded the final complete version of our opening sequence, with better edits and sound onto Youtube, the group blog and our own individual blogs. The final opening sequence is much more effective as we took on board the feedback and comments from teacher and peers when we showcased our sequence and used it to improve the film.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Friday, 1 April 2011
Problems faced in Group work
I don't feel that we had many problems working as a group as we all get on well and communicate effectively, at the beginning of each lesson we all discuss what we're going to do and what needs to be done. The main problem, for me, was timetabling. We all have different timetables so outside of our media lessons, it's not possible for us to all meet up as a group during free periods and work on the film. To counteract this, we sometimes stayed behind after school or at lunch to work on the project.
Initially there were also slight problems with managing the work, if a member of the group wasn't in but had important work that we needed then we all had to find something else to do so this was inconvenient at times.
Initially there were also slight problems with managing the work, if a member of the group wasn't in but had important work that we needed then we all had to find something else to do so this was inconvenient at times.
Film Opening Screenings - Audience Feedback
We recently showcased a rough cut of our film to our media class. This was very productives as we received positive feedback and good suggestions as to how we could improve our opening sequence.
During the critique the class told us that whilst the characters,continuity and the control of the narrative was good as they were able to follow the narrative and understood the themes,there were unnecessary shots and the duration of certain shots were too long which made the sequence drag on slightly and took away the element of suspense.
It was suggested that we cut a lot of this unnecessary footage out,cut more frequently to set a faster pace which will add to the suspense. Another suggestion was to add non diegetic sound as the current film only has diegetic sound. Adding non diegetic sound will add drama and tension and will generally give the sequence a more professional feel. The soundtrack to the film will become one of our main priorities as we wrap up the editing. We are currently searching for copyright free tracks and making our own music on Garageband to add into the film. The group also felt that our credits needed more work as the names flashed up too quickly and the font didn't fit in with the theme of the film.
The film's title has been changed from 141 to Oblivious as we felt it had more relevance to the film.
During the critique the class told us that whilst the characters,continuity and the control of the narrative was good as they were able to follow the narrative and understood the themes,there were unnecessary shots and the duration of certain shots were too long which made the sequence drag on slightly and took away the element of suspense.
It was suggested that we cut a lot of this unnecessary footage out,cut more frequently to set a faster pace which will add to the suspense. Another suggestion was to add non diegetic sound as the current film only has diegetic sound. Adding non diegetic sound will add drama and tension and will generally give the sequence a more professional feel. The soundtrack to the film will become one of our main priorities as we wrap up the editing. We are currently searching for copyright free tracks and making our own music on Garageband to add into the film. The group also felt that our credits needed more work as the names flashed up too quickly and the font didn't fit in with the theme of the film.
The film's title has been changed from 141 to Oblivious as we felt it had more relevance to the film.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Roles of the group
In order to achieve fairness and balance, each member of the group will take a turn at the different processes involved but to make it easier, the group has been divided into two halves. Hayley and Sasha are concentrating on the filming and editing aspects of the project whereas myself and Alex are focused on the planning, soundtrack and the group blog. Myself and Alex have reviewed the footage and offered suggestions and improvements to the edited footage. We also edited a few scenes ourselves although Hayley and Sasha were found to be more proficient at this. Hayley and Sasha have also contributed to the group blog, posting updates on their progress and uploading the preliminary activity. Originally we had decided that due to transport issues, we all live in different areas, our two small groups would film particular scenes of the project. However we felt that this would not be an efficient method of working as when it came to editing, the footage from each group would not match up and there would be continuity errors which would impair the audience's viewing experience.
Overall, i feel that our method of working has been successful as everyone in the group knows what we're doing and we regularly check in with each other to discuss our progress and what to do next.
Overall, i feel that our method of working has been successful as everyone in the group knows what we're doing and we regularly check in with each other to discuss our progress and what to do next.
Media Group Q - Personal Response
Our media group consists of four members; myself, Alex, Hayle and Sasha. I was already friends with Alex as she was a former West Hatch student but Hayley and Sasha hadn't previously attended West Hatch so working together as a group allowed us to mix with new people which is always exciting and challenging. I feel that we all work well as a group as we are able to communicate effectively by listening and further developing people's ideas and suggestions. Our film idea is based around the thriller genre, a young girl is kidnapped the morning after a party. There are flashbacks from the night before to create intrigue and give the audience more of an insight into the young girl, Hollie's, character but there is an element of mystery as the identity of the kidnapper is kept hidden from the audience which sets up an enigma code. Each member of the group contributed to and further developed my original idea which was a young girl waking up from a party to find that her house is a mess. Alex suggested that we further develop the party idea and the significance of it to the film this was done by incorporating flashbacks from the night before. Hayley thought of a mysterious cold caller, this is what generated the title of the film, 141. A call from an unknown number. Sasha created the identity of the Hollie and plays her in the opening sequence. She also came up with the kidnapping idea, particularly the actual process of the kidnapping. Hollie is making a cup of tea when she is forcibly attacked by her kidnapper.
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Individual Response to Opening Sequence Idea
I think that the idea for our opening sequence is a good idea. It follows the conventions of the thriller genre in that a young girl is kidnapped by a mysterious figure. This idea has been used in thrillers such as Taken which I think is a prefect example how a kidnaping can be the base and the subplot of a thriller film.
I think the opening sequence has an interesting twist, the flashbacks to the party the night before create an extra dimension. It gives the character, Hollie, more of an identity. She is a young girl who enjoys partying and having fun but pays for her wild lifestyle when she is kidnapped the following morning.
This sets up an enigma, it makes the audience wonder who she is and why she's been kidnapped. What could a seemingly harmless young girl have done to warrant being kidnapped? There is also the element of mystery behind the masked, mysterious kidnapper. You want to find out who it is.
I think the opening sequence has an interesting twist, the flashbacks to the party the night before create an extra dimension. It gives the character, Hollie, more of an identity. She is a young girl who enjoys partying and having fun but pays for her wild lifestyle when she is kidnapped the following morning.
This sets up an enigma, it makes the audience wonder who she is and why she's been kidnapped. What could a seemingly harmless young girl have done to warrant being kidnapped? There is also the element of mystery behind the masked, mysterious kidnapper. You want to find out who it is.
How does the planned opening fit with the codes and conventions of our chosen genre?
The brainstorm we scanned onto the blog just consisted of ideas for the horror genre but initially we brainstormed other genres thoroughly before choosing the genre that fit our film idea best . First of all we brainstormed different film genres and then tried to expand on them. The genres we wrote about were Horrors, Action, comedy and Thriller. As our brainstorm shows our ideas of a thriller I wont expand on that genre. Our film is called 141. This represents a phone call from an unknown number. This can be put into the action genre through the girl getting kidnapped or trying to find out what has happened at her party. Horror could be expanded that maybe a dead body could be found in the closet or there was a murder at the party and blood everywhere. From the horror ideas, the film could be put into a mystery genre by having the audience feel they are helping to catch the murderer throughout the film. The film idea could be made into a comedy but this would be particularly difficult as everyone has different views on humour and wouldn't be able to catch a target audience through it.
We settled on the thriller genre as it seemed simpler to do and can appeal to all different audiences.
The conventions of this genre that feature in the opening sequence are as aforementioned, a kidnapping, mysterious figures in dark clothes. The codes in this film are phones ringing and the phone cord being cut, dark leather gloved hand, the reflection of a mysterious figure in the surface of the kettle, bloody footprints. The audience will recognise these codes and assosciate them with the thriller genre.
We settled on the thriller genre as it seemed simpler to do and can appeal to all different audiences.
The conventions of this genre that feature in the opening sequence are as aforementioned, a kidnapping, mysterious figures in dark clothes. The codes in this film are phones ringing and the phone cord being cut, dark leather gloved hand, the reflection of a mysterious figure in the surface of the kettle, bloody footprints. The audience will recognise these codes and assosciate them with the thriller genre.
Commentary: Things learnt from preliminary activity
The prelimnary activity was very useful. I learnt about the myriad of shots you can use in a scene and the different effects you can get from positioning the camera in a particular manner.
I had not previously used the Final Cut program before so the preliminary activity was the perfect opportunity to familiarise myself with the program and the editing techniques. When we actually edited our preliminary sequence, we used very few editing techniques as the group wanted to convey a fun, natural sequence.
I had not previously used the Final Cut program before so the preliminary activity was the perfect opportunity to familiarise myself with the program and the editing techniques. When we actually edited our preliminary sequence, we used very few editing techniques as the group wanted to convey a fun, natural sequence.
Inspiration behind Opening/Thoughts about choice
Films which inspired our opening sequence
This is a classic party scene from the film 'Can't Hardly Wait'
Despite the fact that the film is a comedy and therefore this scene features comedic elements and our own film is a thriller, i thought it was a good example of a party scene and would provide inspiration for our own sequence
This is a classic party scene from the film 'Can't Hardly Wait'
Despite the fact that the film is a comedy and therefore this scene features comedic elements and our own film is a thriller, i thought it was a good example of a party scene and would provide inspiration for our own sequence
Inspiration behind Opening/ Thoughts about choice
Films which have inspired our opening sequence
This is a scene from the Masters of Horror film 'Fair Haired Child' It is not a well known film but it provided good inspiration for 141 as it featured the kidnapping scene of a young girl. The kidnapping scene in Fair Haired Child exposes the kidnappers, you can clearly see their faces and where they are taking their victim whereas in our opening sequence we decided to create an element of mystery by masking the kidnapper and hiding his identity.
This is a scene from the Masters of Horror film 'Fair Haired Child' It is not a well known film but it provided good inspiration for 141 as it featured the kidnapping scene of a young girl. The kidnapping scene in Fair Haired Child exposes the kidnappers, you can clearly see their faces and where they are taking their victim whereas in our opening sequence we decided to create an element of mystery by masking the kidnapper and hiding his identity.
Planning your opening sequence
PLANNING YOUR (OPENING) SEQUENCE
Please describe or explain the following:
1. The action: identify the event your idea is based around; what actually happens
The kidnapping of a girl from her house, the morning after the party
2. The theme(s): what should it make it the audience think about or feel, what ‘issues’ will it raise
Teenage drinking, kidnapping, murder
3. The narrative: how is it structured – classic narrative pattern or break with convention; real time or different time zones, flashbacks/ forwards, dreams etc. Will there be dialogue? What about diegetic/ non diegetic sound?
Real time (morning sequence), flash backs to night before, flash forwards to morning after, diegetic and non diegetic sound (music)
4. The character(s): who are they, identify their roles, what are their characteristics, including gender, appearance etc?
Main character – Female, Hollie – Long dark hair, dressed up for a party
Partygoers
Kidnapper – Mysterious, identity unknown, dark clothing
5. The setting and choice of location : where is it set?
In a house (Holly’s house)
6. The mise-en-scene: identify colours, lighting, dress codes, the overall visual look
Costume
Kidnapper – dark clothes, gloves, mask to hide identity
Holly – Clothes from night before and slippers
Visual Look – Messy room, bottles, things on the floor
7. The camera work: the style you are aiming for
Handheld, steadi cam- Lots of POV shots
Please describe or explain the following:
1. The action: identify the event your idea is based around; what actually happens
The kidnapping of a girl from her house, the morning after the party
2. The theme(s): what should it make it the audience think about or feel, what ‘issues’ will it raise
Teenage drinking, kidnapping, murder
3. The narrative: how is it structured – classic narrative pattern or break with convention; real time or different time zones, flashbacks/ forwards, dreams etc. Will there be dialogue? What about diegetic/ non diegetic sound?
Real time (morning sequence), flash backs to night before, flash forwards to morning after, diegetic and non diegetic sound (music)
4. The character(s): who are they, identify their roles, what are their characteristics, including gender, appearance etc?
Main character – Female, Hollie – Long dark hair, dressed up for a party
Partygoers
Kidnapper – Mysterious, identity unknown, dark clothing
5. The setting and choice of location : where is it set?
In a house (Holly’s house)
6. The mise-en-scene: identify colours, lighting, dress codes, the overall visual look
Costume
Kidnapper – dark clothes, gloves, mask to hide identity
Holly – Clothes from night before and slippers
Visual Look – Messy room, bottles, things on the floor
7. The camera work: the style you are aiming for
Handheld, steadi cam- Lots of POV shots
Initial idea for film
My own initial idea for the film was that a young girl wakes up from a house party to find that the house is a mess. I submitted this idea to the group and it was received favourably, this idea was then further developed and improved and eventually became the opening sequence for 141
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