Evaluation part 4

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

Throughout the course of developing my media product through the year I have tried to use as many forms of presentation as I could for many reasons. Reading a wall of text will make my blog appear very boring. Viewers will eventually lose interest; they will not recognise the actual effort which has been involved with my media product. Using many different types of ways to present my work will give the viewer a fresh approach to every section.

Research:

There were many different methods I used to produce my structure of research regarding the build up of my media product.

• Youtube/Vimeo – Youtube was a very strong method for research. Using youtube to find film trailers which I could review and learn from gave me a lot of ideas throughout the creation of my trailer. As well as finding these fantastic trailers to learn techniques from, I also used it to learn many different techniques regarding video editing.
• Google – Google was a link to everything I wanted to know. A great example of this is when I wanted to research into low budget films; an example of this is Shifty. Linking to IMDB through Google was very helpful, I could then link further to find new which don’t have so much promotion.
• Facebook – Facebook was a strong social networking site which entitled me to contact a friend to provide me permission with his music. As well as being provided with music I could also explore my age group to identify their type of interests in different movies.

Construction:

I feel saying you are going to do something and actually constructing it are two different things. Throughout the course of the project my skills have gone from strength to strength. I knew a lot of basics already about video editing; I feel my knowledge has grown a lot. Using websites like Vimeo to gain a lot more experience in the way videos are edited I have approached a totally new aspect to cinematography. The construction phase simply felt as if my skills were growing every time I edited my video, I could simply review and improve certain areas by using the internet to view other videos. Comparing was a very important part of constructing my media product. I realised the importance of sound, I then introduced sound effects to give a bigger impact. I haven’t included separate sound effects when video editing previously therefore I have widened my skills in this area.

As well as using Photoshop in the previous AS year for a magazine, I feel I have gained a lot more experience over the year and improved in that area also. I feel reviewing certain magazine covers such as little white lies have allowed me to discover many new effects. A good example of this is the cartoon effect which I have displayed in my front cover.

Websites such as Laboratory (http://lab.andre-michelle.com/wavepole-synthesizer) which include many different sound flashes helped me create many different sounds to suit anything I need in my trailer. A very good effect I created here was a high pitched frequency noise; this gave the effect of a life respirator machine and many more.

However I did also record my own sounds using my camera to capture audio only, I have included a video regarding this showing a few examples.

Planning:

The planning stage of my project was very organized. Researching deeply into many different categories such as

• Narrative Theory – We researched into narrative theory to explore how narrative can have a huge affect on the story line or trailer.
• Different directors – I researched into many different directors to have a sneak peak about their background, information and different type of films they choose to direct. This was to try and explore a trend in their editing style.
• Film Trailers – I researched into many different film trailers to find and find a suitable trailer which I could possibly see myself being able to challenge in their conventions. As well as doing this I also wanted to find a trend in different cinematography techniques regarding film types and genders.
• Mood boards – Mood boards were a vital part of planning for me. They simply helped me pinpoint many different feelings I had involving my trailer and ideas. I then puzzled these all together to make a solution.
• Times lines – Although time lines never went to plan these were to simply create a structure to try and manage my time efficiently.

Knowing I had to have permission to use certain music his came across as a huge issue at the beginning of my planning phase. I was going to use the Laboratory site throughout the trailer to create more dramatic sound effects with no music, I have seen this successful many times. However I then eventually contacted my friend who had some music which was very suitable for certain scenes in my trailer.

Overall I wanted my planning and research to appear unique and different to other people’s Blogs. I tried to mix my blog up a lot regarding how I presented my work. I have tried to do this by simply:

• Using a theme which connotes to my overall movie theme – In this case I have used dark and gloomy colours to create a scary atmosphere.
• Using video – I had to upload every video to youtube, I then used the share and embed option to display the video on my blog.
• Using a lot of pictures – Pictures are very good to look at, reading a wall of text can often be boring. Therefore pictures brightened the blog up hugely.

Evaluation:

Overall I would say without the technology I have used on the internet regarding youtube, vimeo, blogger, sound laboratory the project would have been very limited regarding what I would be able to reduce. I feel I have learn a huge ordeal from these amazing resources. I used youtube to upload my videos, google to research a lot of information and sound laboratory to create unreachable sound effects. Blogger is a fantastic feature, without blogger I would not be able to share my coursework with anyone. sony vegas, photoshop

I had a few ups and downs considering the production of my media product. I personally felt that there were a few things I could have improved while participating in this project. I finally got there using a lot of effort to explore new media technologies and use them to their full advantage in my planning, research and evaluation phases.

On the other hand I think my mental attitude was very admirable. I did literally struggle a few times when I couldn’t succeed with something but remained positive. A good example of this was when I couldn’t find any actors. Eventually I kept trying and made the best of what I had.

• I feel my writing skills have slightly improved during the course of this project. I feel a lot more experienced and comfortable when it comes to writing a lot.
• I feel as if my experience has totally widened in the space of a few months combined with the previous AS year. I have felt very motivated throughout the process of the course which drove me forward to meet my high expectations.

I feel I left my trailer directing a bit too late. At the beginning of the year I was quite ahead, this gave me the impression I could slow down a bit to take a slower approach. Unfortunately I wasn’t putting in enough effort and eventually learnt that I needed to increase my work rate. I feel this was due to the fact of having to balance my subjects equally, along with the fact I couldn’t find actors fast.

Overall I can evaluate that I did come across a few problems however in the end I overcame those problems. From this project I have learnt a lot of lessons, one of them being don’t leave things until the last minute. The whole production of my final film trailer proves that you don’t need millions to direct an affective trailer which challenges a professional movie trailer. Using a very low budget base combined with these free new media technologies you can create a trailer which is just as affective given the experience and knowledge you have.

Evaluation part 3

Audience Feedback

I am evaluating the audience feedback I have received from asking people ranging from the ages of the age limit 18 to 25. I asked the people in this age category due to the fact I feel this is the most suitable audience to view my media product.

The idea of the audience feedback was to evaluate the strong points and weak points in my trailer. Thus informing me what I did well, what I could have done better and what should be improved for if I was to create a media product in the future.

I have carefully balanced the female and male ration during the interviews to evaluate my media product in a fair and equal prospect.

Movie Trailer

Movie Poster

Magazine Cover

Evaluation part 2

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

I feel my main product was very effective. Due to being a very low budget film and being an unknown editor I feel it would be very hard to gain coverage and exploration from more known distributors.

Some of the reasons I feel it would be hard to gain distribution from known people in the media industry are due to the fact:

• I don’t really have any well known actors in my film which are big known names people want to invest in.
• I am not particularly a well known professional director which people know of.

Some of the things I could do if I wanted to increase my chances of becoming more known and distributed would be to simply release my trailer and movie poster at the same time.

• Take advantage of free media sharing sites such a vimeo.com and youtube.com as you can see from my media research coursework I have explored a few videos from there which I have shared and gathered experience from. If I was to do this also I could maybe also get promoted and get noticed.
• Little white lies would be very impressed with my media product. Having directed this trailer for the first time ever I have produced such work I feel they would see a lot of potential in a new director like me. Maybe they would give me some more coverage and promote my film poster.

To conclude my thoughts for my main product and ancillary texts I feel my movie could be a very good example of how my media product compliments itself regarding having such a strong story line which people could relate to.

I feel my media product is very unique. I have not really seen any other films of this sort where a fairly normal film can turn into a very gruesome film comparing to the likes of SAW. If I was to compare SAW and Shifty I would feel it wouldn’t be possible to make this from that combination.

Overall my product and ancillary texts are very well organized. Everything matches the mis en scene and overall storyline. The theme is the same throughout, my fonts and texts all relate to each other in the movie trailer and film posters. I feel my main product and ancillary texts are very successful.

Evaluation part 1

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

My intention from the beginning of this media project was to challenge the conventions of real media products. I personally feel my media product hugely challenges the conventions successfully of real media products regarding the horror category.

Typically my media product is a very low budget production. To challenge the conventions of real media products which require thousands of pounds would be challenging. However I feel including many of the aspects below I have included, I have succeeded.

I feel that I have successfully challenged the conventions of real media products due to the fact when I view real media products and compare them to mine I can see a lot of resemblance in every aspect.

• Camera Angles – My camera angles look very professional. I have included almost every type of camera angle.

- Over should shots – In this case an over shoulder shot was to kind of reveal that the character had 2 different sides. And him being invisible by the black lightning it was an unpredictable moment as to how he would react.

- POV Angles – This is to show a sense of a person claustrophobic or simply limited to what they have access to. I have done this to allow the audience to have very little view of the situation; this gives a paranoid affect to the situation.

- Low angle shots – In my trailer these were used a few times to simply represent my characters and show they are big and bold. This was used in a couple of scenes such as the locker scene. This generally put us in a vulnerable angle, showing they are obviously more powerful than us.

- Long/Medium shots – These long and medium shots basically evaluate a situation and entitle us to feel the atmosphere and environment.

- Close up shots – Close up shots are similar to POV shots in some ways. In my trailer they are used very successfully in creating a claustrophobic atmosphere. Also limiting the audience as to what they can see and what will happen next.

Overall these are camera angles which are all situated in real horror media products. This is evident due to the fact I have done a lot of research on many different trailers. I have typically included these angles to challenge the media conventions of real products. I feel I have very successfully done this due to the fact I have included almost every camera angle in a successful way to build a strong trailer which challenges real media products.

• My movie effects look semi rather advanced. I have included and imitated many video effects I have seen in real media products.
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- Making animations – I made a few animations which generally were very good for combining with voiceovers. This was a simple animation I created in a few minutes allowing me to add some text. You see these in many real media products.

- Using glow effects – Glow effects were very effective in my trailer. Using glow effects with a simple camera shutter sound effect really improved my trailer to live up to the scary and unpredictable plot. I really felt my media product included conventions which you would see from a professional SAW trailer on this note.

- Flashback/Sepia tones – This was very effective in a build up part of the movie to kick off the fact paced action. I simply added a sepia effect which is perfect for reminiscing on a past moment. I then lowered the opacity of one of my layers to give the effect that my character is thinking back to a past time.

- Colour Editing – Throughout my trailer I have use colour settings to contribute towards the mis of my trailer. Towards the end when the atmosphere gets worse, gloomy and scary the colours simply become a lot more gloomy, dark and overwhelming. As you can see from this scene I have rapidly reduced the brightness and played with some colour settings to create the perfect Atmosphere. This was originally a well lit room.

- CCTV Effects – You can see I have included this effect a few times. Simply reducing the saturation so it appears black and white followed by introducing a grainy effect to give the effect you are viewing the scene from a CCTV camera. A CCTV is very affective in a trailer like this, this is due to the fact CCTV is often associated with crimes. Therefore I felt introducing this would give my media product a big benefit towards my genre.

- Black and white – I made scenes black and white sometimes which related to sound effects. A great example of this is when a static sound appeared the colour appeared black and white flickering. This appeared as an act of interference, as if signal is being lost.

- Blurry effects – This was an effect I considered I included very well to enhance a situation in the trailer. A great example of this is when a character received a blow to the face, the blue effect was introduced as an act of concussion and confusion as to what is happening.

Overall I feel I have included so many of these effects what you could consider as professional techniques which you do see in real media products. I have successfully inputted these into my final trailer which makes me feel as if my trailer is successful. Not have I only included them; I have made them look very affective to match my overall targets from the start of the project.

• Sound Effects and sound usage – The sound was the main aspect in my trailer I feel I put it to full use to challenge real media products.

I put a lot of effort regarding sound in my trailer, using my camera to record real time sounds to add into specific scenes in my final trailer. My trailer challenges sound in many real media products due to the fact it brings a totally built up atmosphere. The idea of my sound usage is to slowly build up the atmosphere regarding the tension in my storyline.

- Using heartbeat sounds to nullify a very tense atmosphere, almost as if time is freezing and it leaves an audience wondering what is happening. Generally keeping them on their toes throughout the trailer.

- Using pre recorded screaming sounds to build a tense atmosphere throughout the end of the trailer.

- Using a camera shutter sound to display snapshots in my trailer.

- Breathing out of breath into my camera and then using the audio track in a running scene to give a more affective use of sound.

Overall I would say my sound usage was very successful and definitely challenge many conventions of real media products. The general aim was to create a soundtrack which went into the trailer shocking and engaging the audience. The sound did exactly this; it was then followed by a more calm sound approach while throughout the trailer it slowly built up along with sound effects. Finally at the end of the trailer the sound built up so much to the point where it stopped. The idea of this was to keep the audience attached, intrigued and on their feet. I feel the sound effects matched up to a lot of the other real media product I have viewed recently.

I generally feel my media product has challenged real media products potentially as far as it could in every aspect. The general idea of the trailer was create a horror thriller movie which signified a story line of two very close friends who eventually fell out breaking their friendship. Followed by this their love turned to hate and trouble brewed. From watching my trailer my point is revealed evidently very well.

As well as having a very successful trailer I feel I have challenged the media products very successfully. Along with this I have also kind of incorporated a method from a totally different type of film which doesn’t belong to a horror thriller trailer. After exploring shifty, there feels like a huge part of shifty regarding the friendship exploration you can see when viewing my trailer. I feel as if I have combined two trailers together creating a very successful trailer which challenges a lot of aspects in the real media products.

How am i finding the progress of my film?

I feel very comfortable with the progress of my film. I feel I am really coming to terms with Sony vegas movie maker, everyday I learn something that I didn't know before.

I'm currently Three quarters of the way through my trailer project. Within the next few days I will be completing the final parts of the trailer and adding those extra wow factors which can improve it slightly.

Movie Poster

After a lot of experimentation and fiddling with pictures I have decided to piece together two slightly different film posters.

Final Complete Trailer

Music Confirmation

After wondering for a short while where I can get some interesting music from which could match some of my scenes I decided to ask a friend who produces a lot of his own made music. I saw some songs which suited my film trailer and proposed to ask his permission for them. Karlton accepted my offer, therefore i decided to use some of his songs from the list.

Photoshop VLOG

Running through small processes I did during the course of making my magazine cover and film poster.

Trailer Chronology

Here are two screen shots displaying the planning of the chronology which will include my film trailer. However these are early stages, it is a start to try and puzzle together which order my trailer will appear in.

Here is a kind of mood board showing each location as it may appear in my final trailer.

My current progress, January 2011

questionnaires

I asked five people four questions each about my blog. This was merely an idea to receive some feedback to initially improve my blog from how it is now. I have come to the point where I am trying to find some amazing ideas.

1) What are your first impressions of my blog and storyline?

- Mum: I personally think your blog is presented nicely; I like the colours and the overall theme.

- Asad: I like the blog, however it feels sometimes like it is hard to navigate anywhere

- George: The blogs appearance is nice, however I feel there is too much text to look at.

- Dad: The blog needs some excitement. Maybe more pictures and multimedia.

2) What would you change about my blog if you could?

- Mum: I would add more pictures and multimedia objects.

- Asad: I would add more navigation, almost like a website.

- George: I would limit the text a bit more and add a bit more fun and attraction to your blog.

- Dad: I would maybe change the theme, something which appeals to everyone.

3) Are there any improvements you could suggest to me to input into my blog?

- Mum: separate the blog with links at the side linking to different sections.

- Asad: add a lot more buttons to be able to reach other pages.

- George: I feel you should consider adding a lot more video, pictures and widgets.

- Dad: Add a lot more multimedia.

4) What do you think makes a successful film trailer?

- Mum: a film trailer needs to be exciting and keep the viewer on the toes.

- Asad: I feel the questions need to be unanswered, this makes us want to go and watch the full film

- George: The film needs to be fun; the trailer should start with attracting the audience.

- Dad: a trailer should definitely highlight the best parts of the film

5) Rate my overall blog appearance out of 10.

Movie Photoshoot

Before creating I start to create my magazine covers I have firstly taken a photo shoot of my two main characters in my upcoming trailer.

As you can tell from these shots I have tried to bring out each individuals inner side with the editing of my photos.

I have tried to display George as a dark sided person who has a lot of evil inside him, you can simply see this from the way I have displayed him in darkness the majority of the time.

On the other hand this is a picture of Asad where I have tried to withdraw his personality. From using tints of green and blue, this brings out that he is a very open minded, free going and good person.

In my movie trailer these personalities happen to contradict each other in quite an ordeal eventually. I have tried to display this in the photo shoot by having George intimidating Asad in some way. As you can see I have instructed him to lean on Asad. This acts almost as he is crushing him slowly. This resembles to certain scenes in my upcoming trailer.

Extra Movie Screenshots

While editing my final trailer I realised I need to include some snapshots to make my trailer extra affective. As you can see I have included a lot of tools, this gives the feeling that they are being used to harm someone when there is blood displayed next to them.

If I was to include these in my trailer with still pictures I feel I could make some amazingly dramatic scenes using sound to my advantage.

Little White Lies Detail Experiment

Here are a couple of different texture designs i have experimented with in Photoshop. I have tried to mimic the little white lies low texture theme.

As you can see this isn't quite an exact match and wouldn't really relate to little white lies. I have continued experimenting for a more suitable effect.

Front Cover - Little White Lies