Tuesday, 14 April 2015
Question 4 - Evaluation
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
Research and Planning
Google Blogger
In order to create our 5 minute film, we were required to do hours of research, planning and preparation to ensure that our film was to an excellent standard and produce the film to the best of our ability. Firstly, we set up a Google Blogger page so each member of the group could access each others work and contribute as a group. To make the blogger page more personal to the group, we changed the format and added our film little 'LOLA' to the background which allowed viewers to distinguish us from any other group. In order to familiarise our selves with the software we had a play around with the settings and also added a group picture which allowed others to identify us as a group and this ultimately allowed us to become more confident when using blogger.
Rotten Tomatoes & IMDb
Before creating our film, we were required to do in-depth research on other films with similar genres/plots/storylines/characters to ensure we has a good idea of what is expected from these types of films and also analyse the audience feedback submitted from reviews of similar films. This allowed us to get a rough idea of what the audience want to see in a film and therefore, what we should include in ours. When looking at film reviews, I frequently used the websites Rotten Tomatoes and also IMDb as they provided in-depth information about a variety of different films. I was also able to access the websites on a variety of different media platforms which was also very useful.
Celtx
When planning our film, we considered every small detail and ensured that we were organised in order to eventually carry out the filming. To create our script for our film, we used a software called Celtx. Celtx is media pre-production software, designed for creating and organizing media projects like screenplays, films, videos, stageplays, audio plays, documentaries, machinima, comics, games and podcasts. The software was fairly easy to use and allowed us to produce a detailed script for our film. The software included a variety of features which we added to our script, e.g. Character name, Location, Scene Number, Stage directions... We used the software last year when producing our AS media film therefore we felt a lot more confident when using it this year.
Photoshop Elements
To create our film Logo 'Lantern Lights' and our film poster for our final film LOLA, we used Photoshop elements. Last year we didn't use Photoshop so we were all very new to the software and had very little experience using it. At fist we had difficulty as we were unsure of many of the features built into the programme. After playing around with the software for a couple of hours, we became a lot more confident using it and discovered that it had some really useful features. I particularly liked the feature which allowed us to alter the contrast, brightness and saturation of our background image for our film poster. This enabled us to create a film noir effect by dimming the lighting on one half of Lola's face and highlighting the other side. The effect this had foreshadowed the film plot and highlighted the main theme throughout our film which is the contrast of life and death.
Final Cut Express
Final cut express is a film editing software which we have used religiously throughout our film making process. We have not only used the editing software to edit our final film, but we have frequently used throughout our planning and preparation. For example, we used it when practicing our elliptical editing by filming a long journey from one place to another. We then edited the journey and reduced it by half of the original time and compared the two. We also used final cut express when practicing shots for our final film and we also created a short makeup tutorial for our characters in our film. Final cut express has many features which we have applied to our film in order to make it look more professional and of a higher quality.
Some of the video transitions which we have used in our film are; cross dissolve, fade in and fade out, dither dissolve and Non-adhesive dissolve. We have used these transitions mainly to establish a passage of time or to change scenes. The software also includes a variety of audio transitions which allowed us to ensure that the sound in our film matched up with each frame.
When using final cut express, we were also able to use the Text feature which enabled us to add credits, names to the opening sequence and the title 'LOLA'. We were able to chose the font, text size and positioning of the text in the film which allowed us to make it our own.
We were also able to import music and sound effects from various websites which we added to our film to mirror the mood in the film and create effects and set the atmosphere for the audience.
Not only did we use Final Cut Express for our film, but we also used it when creating our radio trailer. To do this we used snippets of dialogue and sound effects from our film, various music tracks included in the film and a narrative from myself and Demi. However, Demi played Hannah in the film, therefore the audience would be able to distinguish Demi's voice in the trailer which we thought may have been a problem as we didn't want the audience to identify her as she was advertising the film, not plating Hannah. To overcome this issue, we altered the Pitch and Tone of Demi's voice using the features on final cut express ultimately making her voice unrecognisable.
Youtube
To post all of our videos we used my account on Youtube. However, before we uploaded all our videos we had to export them from final cut express and convert them into another file. Sometimes this could take up to 1 hour therefore we had to arrive at our lessons quite early if we knew a video would need exporting as it would take it until the end of the lesson. Youtube has allowed us to post a variety of videos including our audience feedback questionnaire which we used to gain even more feedback from our audience to suggest how we could improve our film and ensure it was to a high quality standard. By uploading all our videos onto one channel, it allowed us to keep on top of ourselves and more organised as we were able to see all the pre-production and post-production videos to see how much we had improved and how far we had come.
Youtube has also allowed us to research a variety of things including other film trailers, how to improve our editing and also other short films which we could then use as inspiration for our film.
Click here to go to my Youtube Page
Free music websites
The free music websites has allowed us to add both music, and sound effects when editing our films. It was as easy as downloading the music we like from one of the many free websites and then uploading it onto Final cut express where we could then edit it into our film. What this has enabled us to do is include music which is not copyright, therefore it was legal for us to use to music by the various different artists and composers. The free music websites helped us not only with the production of the film, but the planning as we were able to research different genres of music and see how we could then link them in with our chosen genre. Overall, the sound has a huge impact with the outcome of the film as it helped the audience to really connect and feel involved.
Here are some links to some of the websites we used;
Jamendo
Freesound.org
proundmusiclibary
freemusicarchive
incompetech
Zoom Recorder
The zoom recorder was extremely useful during our production of our film. It was simple enough to use and allowed us to record characters voices for our film and radio trailer. The zoom recorder was a efficient, quick and effective way of recording short snippets of sound we needed for our film. An example where we used it was for the voicemail scene where Lola phones Tom and he doesn't answer. To do this we recorded Danny (Tom) on the zoom recorder saying his lines, we then proceeded to editing the pitch, tone and adding a audio transition on final cut express to create a realistic effect. At first we found t challenging to work the zoom recorder but after a good 10 minutes of playing around with it we became a lot more confident and I would 100% use it again when recording sounds.
Mobile Phones
We often take advantage of day to day technology such as mobile phone but something as simple as the smart phone has significantly aided us during the planning and production of our film. Being able to access blogger/email/internet on our phones has helped us to carry out our production and planning in various different locations as a pose to sitting behind the computer for hours on end. We used our Iphones to take photo's of possible locations and created a group Imessage to exchange pictures and ideas spontaneously and communicate with each other.
Facebook/Twitter
Through the use of social networking, we have been able to communicate with a large target audience and receive feedback of what to improve on and our strengths. This was particularly effective when carrying out our online questionnaire of our rough copy and receiving feedback on how to improve it. Each group member has around 500 Facebook friends each therefore by sharing our questionnaire online we aimed to receive feedback on a large scale and we privately mailed a few individuals of our target audience to ensure their opinions and views were taken into account. Facebook and twitter are also access on a variety of various media technologies e.g. phones, laptops, tablets... therefore they were also a quick and convenient way of communicating with people on a larger scale.
Camera/ Tripod
To film our short video, we used a Sony HD 1000 camera and connected it to a tripod to ensure it was stable and secure when filming and also to keep it steady. The camera itself was really good to use and because I used it in our AS year, I knew how to use I and felt extremely confident when using it this year. The camera had various functions including night vision and manual and auto focusing. Throughout most of our film we used the manual focus button and focused each shot individually to ensure it was of good quality. This was also very useful when doing shallow focus shots and focus pulls. The tripod also allowed us to do a variety of shots such as pans, high/low angle and tilts. The tripod had handles which were retractable which made it easier when carrying our tilt and pan shots an ensuring the camera wasn't shaking. In total, we used 3 tapes when filming our 5 minute film as we included so many shots. Even though we thought some of the shots may be unnecessary, we filmed them just in case so we had a variety of shots to choses from when editing. Last year, we made the mistake of filming each shot only once and we encountered problems when editing as it some shots didn't look continuous and match on action shots didn't match up in different frames, therefore this is why we took extra precautions this year. We all took it in turns to use the camera and ensured that we all did our bit. I think what motivated us this year is that we felt we had an advantage as we were familiar with the camera and that's what pushed us to try out knew shots and experiment more with it. I feel that all our hard work has paid of and I am extremely happy with the outcome.
Research and Planning
Google Blogger
In order to create our 5 minute film, we were required to do hours of research, planning and preparation to ensure that our film was to an excellent standard and produce the film to the best of our ability. Firstly, we set up a Google Blogger page so each member of the group could access each others work and contribute as a group. To make the blogger page more personal to the group, we changed the format and added our film little 'LOLA' to the background which allowed viewers to distinguish us from any other group. In order to familiarise our selves with the software we had a play around with the settings and also added a group picture which allowed others to identify us as a group and this ultimately allowed us to become more confident when using blogger.
Rotten Tomatoes & IMDb
Before creating our film, we were required to do in-depth research on other films with similar genres/plots/storylines/characters to ensure we has a good idea of what is expected from these types of films and also analyse the audience feedback submitted from reviews of similar films. This allowed us to get a rough idea of what the audience want to see in a film and therefore, what we should include in ours. When looking at film reviews, I frequently used the websites Rotten Tomatoes and also IMDb as they provided in-depth information about a variety of different films. I was also able to access the websites on a variety of different media platforms which was also very useful.
Celtx
When planning our film, we considered every small detail and ensured that we were organised in order to eventually carry out the filming. To create our script for our film, we used a software called Celtx. Celtx is media pre-production software, designed for creating and organizing media projects like screenplays, films, videos, stageplays, audio plays, documentaries, machinima, comics, games and podcasts. The software was fairly easy to use and allowed us to produce a detailed script for our film. The software included a variety of features which we added to our script, e.g. Character name, Location, Scene Number, Stage directions... We used the software last year when producing our AS media film therefore we felt a lot more confident when using it this year.
To create our film Logo 'Lantern Lights' and our film poster for our final film LOLA, we used Photoshop elements. Last year we didn't use Photoshop so we were all very new to the software and had very little experience using it. At fist we had difficulty as we were unsure of many of the features built into the programme. After playing around with the software for a couple of hours, we became a lot more confident using it and discovered that it had some really useful features. I particularly liked the feature which allowed us to alter the contrast, brightness and saturation of our background image for our film poster. This enabled us to create a film noir effect by dimming the lighting on one half of Lola's face and highlighting the other side. The effect this had foreshadowed the film plot and highlighted the main theme throughout our film which is the contrast of life and death.
Final Cut Express
Final cut express is a film editing software which we have used religiously throughout our film making process. We have not only used the editing software to edit our final film, but we have frequently used throughout our planning and preparation. For example, we used it when practicing our elliptical editing by filming a long journey from one place to another. We then edited the journey and reduced it by half of the original time and compared the two. We also used final cut express when practicing shots for our final film and we also created a short makeup tutorial for our characters in our film. Final cut express has many features which we have applied to our film in order to make it look more professional and of a higher quality.
Some of the video transitions which we have used in our film are; cross dissolve, fade in and fade out, dither dissolve and Non-adhesive dissolve. We have used these transitions mainly to establish a passage of time or to change scenes. The software also includes a variety of audio transitions which allowed us to ensure that the sound in our film matched up with each frame.
When using final cut express, we were also able to use the Text feature which enabled us to add credits, names to the opening sequence and the title 'LOLA'. We were able to chose the font, text size and positioning of the text in the film which allowed us to make it our own.
We were also able to import music and sound effects from various websites which we added to our film to mirror the mood in the film and create effects and set the atmosphere for the audience.
Not only did we use Final Cut Express for our film, but we also used it when creating our radio trailer. To do this we used snippets of dialogue and sound effects from our film, various music tracks included in the film and a narrative from myself and Demi. However, Demi played Hannah in the film, therefore the audience would be able to distinguish Demi's voice in the trailer which we thought may have been a problem as we didn't want the audience to identify her as she was advertising the film, not plating Hannah. To overcome this issue, we altered the Pitch and Tone of Demi's voice using the features on final cut express ultimately making her voice unrecognisable.
Here I have attached a Link to show how we used Final cut express to improve our elliptical editing.
Youtube
To post all of our videos we used my account on Youtube. However, before we uploaded all our videos we had to export them from final cut express and convert them into another file. Sometimes this could take up to 1 hour therefore we had to arrive at our lessons quite early if we knew a video would need exporting as it would take it until the end of the lesson. Youtube has allowed us to post a variety of videos including our audience feedback questionnaire which we used to gain even more feedback from our audience to suggest how we could improve our film and ensure it was to a high quality standard. By uploading all our videos onto one channel, it allowed us to keep on top of ourselves and more organised as we were able to see all the pre-production and post-production videos to see how much we had improved and how far we had come.
Youtube has also allowed us to research a variety of things including other film trailers, how to improve our editing and also other short films which we could then use as inspiration for our film.
Click here to go to my Youtube Page
Free music websites
The free music websites has allowed us to add both music, and sound effects when editing our films. It was as easy as downloading the music we like from one of the many free websites and then uploading it onto Final cut express where we could then edit it into our film. What this has enabled us to do is include music which is not copyright, therefore it was legal for us to use to music by the various different artists and composers. The free music websites helped us not only with the production of the film, but the planning as we were able to research different genres of music and see how we could then link them in with our chosen genre. Overall, the sound has a huge impact with the outcome of the film as it helped the audience to really connect and feel involved.
Here are some links to some of the websites we used;
Jamendo
Freesound.org
proundmusiclibary
freemusicarchive
incompetech
Zoom Recorder
The zoom recorder was extremely useful during our production of our film. It was simple enough to use and allowed us to record characters voices for our film and radio trailer. The zoom recorder was a efficient, quick and effective way of recording short snippets of sound we needed for our film. An example where we used it was for the voicemail scene where Lola phones Tom and he doesn't answer. To do this we recorded Danny (Tom) on the zoom recorder saying his lines, we then proceeded to editing the pitch, tone and adding a audio transition on final cut express to create a realistic effect. At first we found t challenging to work the zoom recorder but after a good 10 minutes of playing around with it we became a lot more confident and I would 100% use it again when recording sounds.
we also used the zoom recorder for the voice overs in our radio trailer
Mobile Phones
We often take advantage of day to day technology such as mobile phone but something as simple as the smart phone has significantly aided us during the planning and production of our film. Being able to access blogger/email/internet on our phones has helped us to carry out our production and planning in various different locations as a pose to sitting behind the computer for hours on end. We used our Iphones to take photo's of possible locations and created a group Imessage to exchange pictures and ideas spontaneously and communicate with each other.
Facebook/Twitter
Through the use of social networking, we have been able to communicate with a large target audience and receive feedback of what to improve on and our strengths. This was particularly effective when carrying out our online questionnaire of our rough copy and receiving feedback on how to improve it. Each group member has around 500 Facebook friends each therefore by sharing our questionnaire online we aimed to receive feedback on a large scale and we privately mailed a few individuals of our target audience to ensure their opinions and views were taken into account. Facebook and twitter are also access on a variety of various media technologies e.g. phones, laptops, tablets... therefore they were also a quick and convenient way of communicating with people on a larger scale.
Camera/ Tripod
To film our short video, we used a Sony HD 1000 camera and connected it to a tripod to ensure it was stable and secure when filming and also to keep it steady. The camera itself was really good to use and because I used it in our AS year, I knew how to use I and felt extremely confident when using it this year. The camera had various functions including night vision and manual and auto focusing. Throughout most of our film we used the manual focus button and focused each shot individually to ensure it was of good quality. This was also very useful when doing shallow focus shots and focus pulls. The tripod also allowed us to do a variety of shots such as pans, high/low angle and tilts. The tripod had handles which were retractable which made it easier when carrying our tilt and pan shots an ensuring the camera wasn't shaking. In total, we used 3 tapes when filming our 5 minute film as we included so many shots. Even though we thought some of the shots may be unnecessary, we filmed them just in case so we had a variety of shots to choses from when editing. Last year, we made the mistake of filming each shot only once and we encountered problems when editing as it some shots didn't look continuous and match on action shots didn't match up in different frames, therefore this is why we took extra precautions this year. We all took it in turns to use the camera and ensured that we all did our bit. I think what motivated us this year is that we felt we had an advantage as we were familiar with the camera and that's what pushed us to try out knew shots and experiment more with it. I feel that all our hard work has paid of and I am extremely happy with the outcome.
Monday, 13 April 2015
Question 1 - Evaluation
1) In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our film both supports and subverts the media conventions of a melodrama. We stuck to key themes of the genre we wanted our film to be so our audience were familiar with what to expect from the film in the first couple of minutes. We did this in the title sequence by showing vague flashes of clips from a hospital related scene accompanied with sad piano music, to indicate the conventions of the film from the beginning whilst keeping the audience intruigued by not giving away too much of the storyline. Levi Strauss' theory of binary opposites was represented in our film throughout, with conflicting moments of happiness/sadness to keep our audience entertained and 'on edge'. We also ensured that our teenagers were stereotypical as it had to be ensured that our audience would empathise with the tragedy of our characters, and to do this we had to make sure our audience was constantly familiar with the youth of the characters. We made sure they appeared as teenagers by using slang terms, wearing fashionable clothing and constant use of mobile phones. 
However, there were moments in our film that went beyond the expectations of the conventions of a melodrama. In drama related films, there is usually a sense of resolution and satisfaction at the end. Our film ends on a total cliffhanger, meaning the audience would have to come to their own conclusions on how the characters handled their new found circumstances. 
We did not add 'parody' to the film deliberately, however we could say we used elements of pastiche in our film with the narrative being displayed from a deceased persons perspective - An idea which is similarly portrayed in the film Lovely Bones. However this general idea spiraled into our own imaginative and creative plot ideas - ones we developed ourselves to create a completely original and distinctive piece of film. We also wanted to give it a 'Northern' and 'Local' feel to it similar to the one portrayed in This Is England, so we kept our accents and recorded our film in scenes nearby where we live. 
We wanted to be successful in ensuring that our audience were not sure of Lola's death until the climax of the film. However, we placed subtle hints throughout the film to give them that idea, so they were intrigued to see if their ideas of the film were right or not. Hints include Lola's parents being unresponsive, unanswered phone calls, etc. We were only sure that we were successful on this after hearing feedback of others. All though many people started to question whether she was still alive, nobody was sure until the very end. This helped us recognize that we had achieved delivering suspense to our audience which was something we were determined to do from the start. 
We also left the film on a cliff hanger to give the audience a chance to reflect themselves on the film and what they thought would happen. This way they get to decide their own ending to the film, whether that be a positive or negative one. This also allowed us to see whether we had left people eager to see more, so we knew that if they wanted to know the real ending, they had been entertained by the film from start to finish. Saturday, 11 April 2015
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