Despite having alot of boundaries, I am very pleased with our completed opening. There were many barriers which we had to overcome, however I feel like we produced a successful opening through the use of camera work and editing. Firstly, we had alot of practice and had learnt alot about the different shots and editing techniques which meant we were able to use and apply them in the correct manor.
I believe that we benefited a lot from doing the preliminary task where we focused on three editing techniques in particular. The first was match on action which we used and applied multiple times throughout the filming process. There was a clear contrast between our preliminary task and the final product showing the progress we had made and further showing the better knowledge. Secondly, we also used shot reverse shot in our film which again was significant as it shows our knowledge of continuity. To improve on this technique in particular, it could have been used a bit more however it was difficult in the plot of our film as there were not alot of point within the film where direct contact was made. Although we learnt alot about the continuity editing techniques, I found that we learnt alot from the preliminary task in terms of preparation. There were many factors which affected the quality of filming. Firstly the timing was not the best as we were given roughly 30 minutes to do the task meaning we did not have alot of takes of each clip meaning we found many errors which could have been avoided if we had more time. From establishing this issue, we ensured that in our final film, we would allow enough time to get the perfect clip. Also lighting was another issue which we established in our preliminary task and this again was primarily due to preparation where we did not find the best area to film as there was not much we could do to alter the lighting. This was something we learnt from and this will be another target for next year when filming our trailer. Further more, there will be many things we would need to consider next year; the first thing being our knowledge of the 180 degree rule which is an element of continuity editing. This was something we struggled with as there was not a specific point in the film where it could have been used. It is typically used during a conversation however there is no dialogue exchanged in our opening.
Also we will need to consider the weather conditions which further leads on to the health and safety of actors. Despite most of our scenes planning out quite well, we feel like the weather conditions are a huge barrier in filming, most definitely when we are outside. In the context of our film, the young girl was laying on the floor and this became a problem on the day as the ground was extremely wet, therefore we had to work with this. We managed to resolve this problem by placing a black plastic bag underneath her meaning was not directly laying on the floor. However, we had to be careful when filming to ensure that this was not exposed, making the film look unprofessional. Although this was not a problem, the weathering would could damage the technology. This would be a problem when filming, as the rain could potentially damage the camera and this would therefore affect the overall outcome. This will be a target for next year where we will consider the timings which we will actually film and we could potentially provide more equipment which could help protect the camera from getting wet or damaged.
A major barrier was the sound. This was important as the quality on the camera wasn't the best due to alot of background noises (such as rain) which made it sound fuzzy. Next year we will ensure that the conditions we film in are appropriate and allow us to create a successful film. Also, we will ensure that we are using the correct piece of technology which is suitable for filming to a high quality. As a result of the bad quality, we had to delete all of the diegetic sound and then add more sound effects whilst trying to make it seem natural at specific points (for example the car door and the foot steps). Potentially, this will not be the case next year and we will be able to keep all of the ambient, diegetic sound making it seem more natural whilst adding the odd sound effect, such as a thud, conforming to the horror genre conventions.
Lastly, the final target would be filming things more than once. This was an issue as some of the most significant points in the film had errors and we had only filmed them once meaning we had to work with it and make changes using the software which may not have looked or planned out as expected. Next year, we will ensure that we have filmed each clip multiple times in order to have the best quality film with no errors. This will be done to our advantage as we spent alot of time trying to perfect specific shots and clips where we could have been focusing on something else. Although we managed to overcome this barrier, it is important that it does not happen again next year when filming our trailer.
Monday 28 March 2016
Audience Feedback
"I thought it was clever how the girl was wearing a white gown as it meant that the blood showed up more"
^This was a key focus when contrasting colours, the colour of the dress has many connotations such as innocence, vulnerability and shallowness reinforcing the young girl as a character and the fact that she is only a child and these are the stereotypes of that particular age group. As well as this the white gown majorly revealed the blood making the audience immediately notice and would therefore be more engaged in the situation.^
"It was really smart how they focused on the girls hand"
^I am pleased that this point of the film was noticed as it was a minor event however this was where we used the special effect which reversed the movement of her hand making it look unnatural.^
"I like the use of the creepy, childish music at the end"
^This was significant as it was used to reinforce the stereotype of the girl being a child and therefore, vulnerable^
"I felt they could have increased the use of ambient sound at the start"
^Overall there was not much sound (apart from footsteps and car door) at the start until the point where the young girl was revealed to create a tense atmosphere. however this could be improved through the camera quality where we had to cut out all diegetic sound.^
Sunday 27 March 2016
Evaluation Activity 7
Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
Having completed our opening, I feel like we have made huge improvements, whether this is having a better knowledge of the editing skills and techniques or whether it is the amount of times we have showed this knowledge throughout the opening. Despite the difference between our preliminary task and our final product, I feel like we have made huge progress and we have been able to apply everything we previously learnt into the film making it the best possible .
There are multiple differences between our preliminary task and our final product; and this was mainly down to preparation. The preliminary task was something we were given to do on the spot, testing our knowledge of the continuity editing techniques. As evident in the screenshots below and as stated, the quality was not the best as we were given a basic hand held camera which did not have a good focus making many of the shots fuzzy. Another key factor was timing; for our preliminary task we were only given roughly 30 minutes which meant alot of things were rushed and we did not film things more than once which is very important in film to ensure you adopt no errors. We learnt and remembered this in our final filming for the opening two minutes however this was a target, to film multiple clips more than once. The lighting also was not good quality as we did not have alot of choice as we were in the school environment where there was not alot we could have changed. As evidently shown in the screen captures below, in our final, we used an outside location which meant we didn't primarily need to focus on providing efficient lighting as we heavily relied on daylight and also street lights. However for our preliminary task this was different as we did not have alot of planning and therefore, we chose a location of the school which was easiest to access meaning the sources of lighting weren't great and the camera quality was not used to our advantage. We learnt from this in our final opening and ensured we planned further ahead which would allow us to film to the best quality and not having to worry about things such as lighting and timing.
There are multiple differences between our preliminary task and our final product; and this was mainly down to preparation. The preliminary task was something we were given to do on the spot, testing our knowledge of the continuity editing techniques. As evident in the screenshots below and as stated, the quality was not the best as we were given a basic hand held camera which did not have a good focus making many of the shots fuzzy. Another key factor was timing; for our preliminary task we were only given roughly 30 minutes which meant alot of things were rushed and we did not film things more than once which is very important in film to ensure you adopt no errors. We learnt and remembered this in our final filming for the opening two minutes however this was a target, to film multiple clips more than once. The lighting also was not good quality as we did not have alot of choice as we were in the school environment where there was not alot we could have changed. As evidently shown in the screen captures below, in our final, we used an outside location which meant we didn't primarily need to focus on providing efficient lighting as we heavily relied on daylight and also street lights. However for our preliminary task this was different as we did not have alot of planning and therefore, we chose a location of the school which was easiest to access meaning the sources of lighting weren't great and the camera quality was not used to our advantage. We learnt from this in our final opening and ensured we planned further ahead which would allow us to film to the best quality and not having to worry about things such as lighting and timing.
MATCH ON ACTION:
The screenshots above are from our preliminary task and our final opening. They both show an element of continuity editing which is Match-on-action. Match on action is the technique of one shot cutting to another, from a different angle, showing the action of the subject. By carrying the action through using this technique creates some sort of connection or bridge which makes the audience more engaged and focusing on the action itself rather than the cutting of it. In our preliminary task, we attempted to use match on action multiple times when reaching potential barriers, such as walking down through a door and turning a corner. This element of editing is important as it allows us to capture a moment/shot from two different angles whilst creating a smooth flowing shot which drifts the audience away from the cutting. When doing our preliminary task, we used a GE1080P hand held camera. This was just a basic camera which didn't have a very high resolution or many mega-pixels, this meant that the quality was not the best and some of the footage came out blurry. As shown above the quality was not as good, the close up of the hand was of a decent quality however it was much more difficult to precisely capture the long and medium shots. Again, as shown in the screen capture above, the medium shot of Hollie walking through the door was not good quality and this therefore affected the editing techniques as it was not clear and didn't run as smoothly as expected. Another key aspect of the camera we used was the sound which again wasn't very good quality. From all of the barriers we found when doing our preliminary task, we learnt alot and were then able to make improvements in our final product.
When filming our opening scene, we used a Nikon L180 camera which had a much higher resolution and focus meaning the match on action technique ran smoothly. We used match on action multiple times in our opening; the two screenshots above show this where we performed the technique as the character stepped out of the car. The first shot we used was a medium shot revealing the door as it was opened and the action that was about to be made; we then cut to a close up of the man's foot. This cutting ran smoothly and you weren't actually able to identify the cut as it did not look messy.
When filming our opening scene, we used a Nikon L180 camera which had a much higher resolution and focus meaning the match on action technique ran smoothly. We used match on action multiple times in our opening; the two screenshots above show this where we performed the technique as the character stepped out of the car. The first shot we used was a medium shot revealing the door as it was opened and the action that was about to be made; we then cut to a close up of the man's foot. This cutting ran smoothly and you weren't actually able to identify the cut as it did not look messy.
SHOT REVERSE SHOT:
This was another editing technique which we used in our preliminary task and improved on in our final product. It is common that this technique is used during a conversation as we presented in our preliminary task. Although we applied the editing technique in that task, having used it in our final product, i believe that it was not the best that it could have been. As previously said, we used a GE1080P hand held camera which was not the best quality; this meant that the shots were not very clear. Further more, we hadn't used the editing software (Adobe Premier Elements) before meaning we weren't able to create a clean cut which meant that the editing technique was not used to our advantage. However, in our final production, we had alot of practice in both learning the different techniques and also using the editing software. The screenshots above show the difference between our preliminary task and the final product where the quality is much better and how there is clear evidence of eyeline match which is the aim with a shot reverse shot. The aim of this technique is mainly to show the connection between two characters and the direct contact, evidently shown in above in our final product where the male character is looking directly down at Robyn.
Overall, I feel like we benefited alot from doing the preliminary task as it was good practice for later applying the continuity editing techniques to our film. I also believe that this can be further developed next year when creating a trailer. The continuity techniques are very important in film and are things that viewers dont notice however they make the film more effective; and also show the high knowledge that a person has of film and editing.
This was another editing technique which we used in our preliminary task and improved on in our final product. It is common that this technique is used during a conversation as we presented in our preliminary task. Although we applied the editing technique in that task, having used it in our final product, i believe that it was not the best that it could have been. As previously said, we used a GE1080P hand held camera which was not the best quality; this meant that the shots were not very clear. Further more, we hadn't used the editing software (Adobe Premier Elements) before meaning we weren't able to create a clean cut which meant that the editing technique was not used to our advantage. However, in our final production, we had alot of practice in both learning the different techniques and also using the editing software. The screenshots above show the difference between our preliminary task and the final product where the quality is much better and how there is clear evidence of eyeline match which is the aim with a shot reverse shot. The aim of this technique is mainly to show the connection between two characters and the direct contact, evidently shown in above in our final product where the male character is looking directly down at Robyn.
Overall, I feel like we benefited alot from doing the preliminary task as it was good practice for later applying the continuity editing techniques to our film. I also believe that this can be further developed next year when creating a trailer. The continuity techniques are very important in film and are things that viewers dont notice however they make the film more effective; and also show the high knowledge that a person has of film and editing.
Evaluation Activity 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
When filming and editing, I learnt alot about technologies. Firstly, for our filming we used a Nikon L810 camera which was a high resolution camera which allowed us to film to a good quality. I had not previously used a camera like this before and it was therefore all new to me. However, this did not become a huge problem, as the camera was easy to use and there was no problems with filming. The camera had many features, such as optical zoom 26x, clear video recording HD (720P), high resolution and timer. All of these features allowed us to film to the best quality however, we learnt that there were quite a few barriers which we now know to consider next time. The camera we used is not particularly used for filming which meant that specific things, such as sound were not the best. In all of our clips, the sound was quite fuzzy and therefore when putting it all together, we had to delete all of the sound as it did not sound good. This was primarily due to the weather conditions and the fact that we were filming outside meant that there were alot of natural sounds such as trees rustling. Despite the barrier, the camera was not the best one to use to film our opening and therefore we had to alter alot of things to make it sound and look better.
The camera fitted well on the tripod which allowed us to have a good focus and not to worry about holding still when capturing specific shots; however we did not use the tripod the whole time as it was an aim to film hand held, making the shot look uneasy, possibly at a canted angle. Despite doing that, the tripod allowed us to capture many shots at different heights and angles whilst keeping a steady feel.
Overall with the camera, I learnt that specific technologies are not built to carry out alot of processes such as capturing good quality images and also filming to a high standard. The camera we used is most commonly used to take good quality images and therefore we did not film to the best possible.
IPhone 6/6S
This was another piece of technology that we used along the filming process. This was not used at all for any filming however we used it alot throughout to capture the progression through the filming. As shown in the two images on the left, we were able to capture good quality images which revealed us filming as well as the location around us. I believe this is important to the build up of our film as we are then able to produce video diaries as well as presenting a few shots of things going on behind the scenes before we officially publish the film. The images we have taken are primarily of us, as the people filming, using the different technologies. When posting these images, we ensured that there were no shots majorly revealing the plot of the film which further builds up suspense as there may be specific things that will engage them and make them want to watch.
Adobe Premier Elements/Youtube
One of the last elements of technology we used was the editing software, Adobe Premier Elements. This was something that was extremely new to me as it is not something that is accessible by everyone. Typically, to create a movie or to combine clips, we would use movie maker which simply does the job. However Adobe Premier Elements provides multiple tools that allowed us to make our film the best possible and to further make it appealing to the audience. There is a major difference between movie maker and the software we used, firstly being that the tools are much more technical on Adobe Premier Elements and aim to make the film as professional as possible. When editing in the future, I will recognise this software and will most probably use it as it gives the professional look that we would want when distributing the film.
Finally we used YouTube to publish our Final Film, along with all the other clips, such as interviews and the preliminary task. This is important in the marketing campaign as it would hugely attract a wider audience, and would therefore cause more people to watch, increasing the status of the film.
When filming and editing, I learnt alot about technologies. Firstly, for our filming we used a Nikon L810 camera which was a high resolution camera which allowed us to film to a good quality. I had not previously used a camera like this before and it was therefore all new to me. However, this did not become a huge problem, as the camera was easy to use and there was no problems with filming. The camera had many features, such as optical zoom 26x, clear video recording HD (720P), high resolution and timer. All of these features allowed us to film to the best quality however, we learnt that there were quite a few barriers which we now know to consider next time. The camera we used is not particularly used for filming which meant that specific things, such as sound were not the best. In all of our clips, the sound was quite fuzzy and therefore when putting it all together, we had to delete all of the sound as it did not sound good. This was primarily due to the weather conditions and the fact that we were filming outside meant that there were alot of natural sounds such as trees rustling. Despite the barrier, the camera was not the best one to use to film our opening and therefore we had to alter alot of things to make it sound and look better.
The camera fitted well on the tripod which allowed us to have a good focus and not to worry about holding still when capturing specific shots; however we did not use the tripod the whole time as it was an aim to film hand held, making the shot look uneasy, possibly at a canted angle. Despite doing that, the tripod allowed us to capture many shots at different heights and angles whilst keeping a steady feel.
Overall with the camera, I learnt that specific technologies are not built to carry out alot of processes such as capturing good quality images and also filming to a high standard. The camera we used is most commonly used to take good quality images and therefore we did not film to the best possible.
IPhone 6/6S
This was another piece of technology that we used along the filming process. This was not used at all for any filming however we used it alot throughout to capture the progression through the filming. As shown in the two images on the left, we were able to capture good quality images which revealed us filming as well as the location around us. I believe this is important to the build up of our film as we are then able to produce video diaries as well as presenting a few shots of things going on behind the scenes before we officially publish the film. The images we have taken are primarily of us, as the people filming, using the different technologies. When posting these images, we ensured that there were no shots majorly revealing the plot of the film which further builds up suspense as there may be specific things that will engage them and make them want to watch.
Adobe Premier Elements/Youtube
One of the last elements of technology we used was the editing software, Adobe Premier Elements. This was something that was extremely new to me as it is not something that is accessible by everyone. Typically, to create a movie or to combine clips, we would use movie maker which simply does the job. However Adobe Premier Elements provides multiple tools that allowed us to make our film the best possible and to further make it appealing to the audience. There is a major difference between movie maker and the software we used, firstly being that the tools are much more technical on Adobe Premier Elements and aim to make the film as professional as possible. When editing in the future, I will recognise this software and will most probably use it as it gives the professional look that we would want when distributing the film.
Finally we used YouTube to publish our Final Film, along with all the other clips, such as interviews and the preliminary task. This is important in the marketing campaign as it would hugely attract a wider audience, and would therefore cause more people to watch, increasing the status of the film.
Friday 25 March 2016
Evaluation Activity 5
How did you attract/address your audience?
To do this, we used the annotation tools on YouTube whilst commenting on the shots we used, connotations, relation to the horror genre and how we engage the audience.
Wednesday 23 March 2016
Evaluation Activity 4
Who would be the audience for your media product?
When doing our audience research we made a decision to aim our opening at people aged 15-25. We found that this audience range has the most interest in the horror genre and it is very often that this particular age group has more of an interest in film overall. By aiming at this age group we believe that our opening will engage a wide audience and would therefore have a lot of success in the distribution of the film. It is prominently found that the characters in a film play a big role with engaging the range of particular age groups; for example in a horror film where there is a group of teenagers, it is likely that the age group interested in that would be of the same ages as they would be more likely to relate. We think that we will attract our intended audience as we done a lot of genre research and aimed to follow alot of conventions and themes which feature in the most popular horror films.
This particular age group would have many different interests. It is often that the female audience would be more interested in the typical romantic-comedy film where there is a love story and a broken relationship; this is for the reason that teenage girls often experience this and may feel like they could relate. They would most likely shop in top brands such as Topshop, Urban Outfitters and River Island or alternatively they may be more attracted to places like Primark, H&M and New Look. Females of this age group would be heavily interested in celebrities, chick-flicks and love which isn't something a horror provides. Although, the female character in our film may have the potential to attract the female audience. Alternatively, the male audience would most likely be interested in this type of film as it slightly contains violence where there is a hit and run which would be influenced by the latest technology which involve Xbox and PlayStation games such as Call Of Duty and Grand Theft Auto (GTA); and also it is common that men have more of an interest to being scared which is obviously the aim in a horror film.
During the planning and research for our film, we created a questionnaire which involved many questions based around the horror genre. The first, which was 'What is your favourite genre of horror'; the most voted one was Mainstream Horror which involves alot of natural/conventional events. Another question we asked was 'Which genre would you combine with a horror'; the most voted for this one was action. Based on these results and the questionnaire as a whole, we majorly considered what the audience would like the most and this allowed us to meet all of there expectations. This was successful by including a car and a minor hit and run which is extremely conventional of an action film.
To conclude, the questionnaire and the general expectations of a horror allowed us to successfully meet our intended audience. This was done through the occurrence of conventional events along with the camera work and editing skills that can hugely engage the audience.
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