Thursday 22 May 2014
FINAL VIDEO
38. Brenda Agossou Coffi, Roma Jade Palad, Senis Istek, Yasmin Brown from 283goswell on Vimeo.
Password: student
Wednesday 19 March 2014
Evaluation Question 1
Conventions of film openings
Typically, in any film, it any contains certain conventions. An important feature of a teen film is binary oppositions. These are normally presented through how a character, dresses, acts and the possessions they have. In a normal teen film there are clear oppositions between characters which often causes conflict and creates tension that the audience can pick upon. Also within a teen film are conventional characters. Essentially if a film is set in a school, there will be a popular girl, jock, nerd, normal kid and a rich guy. Finally, there will be locations where the film will be set. These are usually the school, home, hang out location and other locations, such as a club or café. Another conventions of a teen movie is transport. Often unpopular teenagers will arrive by car with their parents whilst popular teenagers will arrive in their own expensive car. A normal mode of transport for teenagers in the UK Is either walking or taking public transport such s the bus or train. A lot of teen films set in a place of education usually incorporate transport to show the main characters arriving to school like in The Breakfast Club.
Followed/Challenged Conventions
In our film opening, we mostly followed the conventions of a teen film. The binary oppositions we used are: love and hate, sad and happy, and male and female. Our binary oppositions aren't as evident as they are in a conventional teen film, but are established through the use of flashbacks and the actresses expressions that change depending on the scene. By doing this we could be considered challenging the conventions by making them less obvious to the audience. For characters, we did not follow the conventions of stereotypical school characters. The main character, Leah, is shown to be a normal girl throughout with no defining characteristics. We relied more on the actions of the character to define her rather then words which made her seem like an ambiguous character. For the main male character, Cain, we used darker colours to show that he is a bad person in the flashbacks. Using dark colours foreshadows that he is not a good person and will only bring Leah misery. In the flashbacks this is not evident as he acts nice towards Leah and does not commit any actions to make the audience think otherwise. It is only when we use close ups and tilt shpts to show that Leah is unhappy that it is clear that Cain is a bad character and has hurt her.
Finally, we followed the traditional teen convention of setting some of our scenes in college. We set scenes in a place of education to appeal to a teenage audience and represent the age of the characters. It could also be relatable to the audience as teenagers may also meet someone in school or college and 'fall in love'. However, for the beginning of our film opening, we set it in Trafalgar Square to show how lonely the character is and suggest that she is now an unhappy outcast. This perhaps challenges conventions as not a lot of teen films are set at landmarks. Overall, I believe that we did follow a lot of the conventions for a teen film but simultaneously challenged some such as the characters and locations. I believe that by doing so we appealed directly to our audience and made a good teen film. For transport, we showed the main character walking through Trafalgar Square to eventually sit down on a bench. As the main character is young and sad, we thought it would be best to use walking as a mode of transport rather than a car or bus as it shows how alone she is.
In our film opening, we mostly followed the conventions of a teen film. The binary oppositions we used are: love and hate, sad and happy, and male and female. Our binary oppositions aren't as evident as they are in a conventional teen film, but are established through the use of flashbacks and the actresses expressions that change depending on the scene. By doing this we could be considered challenging the conventions by making them less obvious to the audience. For characters, we did not follow the conventions of stereotypical school characters. The main character, Leah, is shown to be a normal girl throughout with no defining characteristics. We relied more on the actions of the character to define her rather then words which made her seem like an ambiguous character. For the main male character, Cain, we used darker colours to show that he is a bad person in the flashbacks. Using dark colours foreshadows that he is not a good person and will only bring Leah misery. In the flashbacks this is not evident as he acts nice towards Leah and does not commit any actions to make the audience think otherwise. It is only when we use close ups and tilt shpts to show that Leah is unhappy that it is clear that Cain is a bad character and has hurt her.
Finally, we followed the traditional teen convention of setting some of our scenes in college. We set scenes in a place of education to appeal to a teenage audience and represent the age of the characters. It could also be relatable to the audience as teenagers may also meet someone in school or college and 'fall in love'. However, for the beginning of our film opening, we set it in Trafalgar Square to show how lonely the character is and suggest that she is now an unhappy outcast. This perhaps challenges conventions as not a lot of teen films are set at landmarks. Overall, I believe that we did follow a lot of the conventions for a teen film but simultaneously challenged some such as the characters and locations. I believe that by doing so we appealed directly to our audience and made a good teen film. For transport, we showed the main character walking through Trafalgar Square to eventually sit down on a bench. As the main character is young and sad, we thought it would be best to use walking as a mode of transport rather than a car or bus as it shows how alone she is.
Title Sequence
For out title sequence, we followed Juno as that is where we got our inspiration from for our teen film. We included nearly all of the titles listed within Juno and used them in ours, however, we decided to leave some out. The ones that we felt were not necessary were:
- Music Supervisor
- Minor Actors
- Production Designer
- Director of Photography
- Executive Producer
We felt, as a group, that adding the above titles in our sequence may have made it seem too crowded. I personally think we did not need to present these roles within our title sequence as we already listed the crucial roles that the audience needed to know.
Looking at other teen films, we do follow the conventional title sequence. We list the more important roles in the beginning and the end so that they are more memorable to the audience such as the production and distribution company, the main actor/actress, the writer and the director. The order for our title sequence could be considered conventional as the least important roles are listed in the middle of the sequence. We made up names for some of the roles as using our own names repeatedly would make people question the quality of the film. Our names are allocated to the roles we played during the production of our film.
Looking at other teen films, we do follow the conventional title sequence. We list the more important roles in the beginning and the end so that they are more memorable to the audience such as the production and distribution company, the main actor/actress, the writer and the director. The order for our title sequence could be considered conventional as the least important roles are listed in the middle of the sequence. We made up names for some of the roles as using our own names repeatedly would make people question the quality of the film. Our names are allocated to the roles we played during the production of our film.
Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media?
Slidely locations
brenda coffi's Slidely by Slidely Slideshow
Powtoon title sequence
For the opening of our film "Cain" we used the order in which Juno's title sequence was because Juno was the movie that inspired us to make our own film opening. There are lot of similarities between Juno and our film opening "Cain". The title sequence order in both films are slightly the same, the girl walking to a destination and Leah walking at the beginning of our film also portray the similarity. Most importantly the pregnancy in both films demonstrate how highly similar both films are. On the other hand we decided to cut out some names from the list of the Juno's title sequence. In other words we may have followed the order in which the title sequence are in Juno but we did not include all of the title sequences. For example we left out "director of photography" because it was not really needed at the beginning of our movie. We just included the major/ important ones. The tittle sequences follow a strict order because the names at the end of it are the people are that more important in terms of the making of the film and the names at the beginning are less important. For example it wouldn't make sense if we put the costume designer after the director of the film because she is less important than the director.
Slidely locations
brenda coffi's Slidely by Slidely Slideshow
Powtoon title sequence
For the opening of our film "Cain" we used the order in which Juno's title sequence was because Juno was the movie that inspired us to make our own film opening. There are lot of similarities between Juno and our film opening "Cain". The title sequence order in both films are slightly the same, the girl walking to a destination and Leah walking at the beginning of our film also portray the similarity. Most importantly the pregnancy in both films demonstrate how highly similar both films are. On the other hand we decided to cut out some names from the list of the Juno's title sequence. In other words we may have followed the order in which the title sequence are in Juno but we did not include all of the title sequences. For example we left out "director of photography" because it was not really needed at the beginning of our movie. We just included the major/ important ones. The tittle sequences follow a strict order because the names at the end of it are the people are that more important in terms of the making of the film and the names at the beginning are less important. For example it wouldn't make sense if we put the costume designer after the director of the film because she is less important than the director.
Evaluation Question 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The title sequence of Cain :
senis istek's Slidely by Slidely Slideshow
Slidely showing the shot types in other teen movies that are similar to the ones we have used in our teen movie.
It is evident that we have used similar shot types to other teen film openings. For example the first shot of a teen film opening is always an establishing shot which we have used for the beginning of our film. Then we found that the most commonly used shot distances were extreme close up, close up and the shot position used was birds eye. We incorporated all these shots within our film opening which I believe makes the opening scene more active rather than having to look at a certain shot distance over and over again.
Title sequences follow a strict order. The billing order is all about the actors and stars in a movie. If they are well known actors they go before the title because the audience are coming to see this film due to the importance and success of the actors in the film industry. The title comes after the actors who are popular. The title sequence includes the logo of the institutions involved in the production, finance and distribution of the film. This: advertises the company, establishes expectations in an audience and can be used as a symbol for the genre of the movie.
We have challenged some of the conventions and the title sequence in our opening of our film Cain. The reason being is we cut out some of the credits for example directors photography because we thought we all contributed to this as a group and that it wasn't important for our sequence. Most teen films have more colourful fonts when presenting the title sequence however we decided to keep it quite simple and bold because it matched our genre.
The title sequence of Cain :
senis istek's Slidely by Slidely Slideshow
Slidely showing the shot types in other teen movies that are similar to the ones we have used in our teen movie.
It is evident that we have used similar shot types to other teen film openings. For example the first shot of a teen film opening is always an establishing shot which we have used for the beginning of our film. Then we found that the most commonly used shot distances were extreme close up, close up and the shot position used was birds eye. We incorporated all these shots within our film opening which I believe makes the opening scene more active rather than having to look at a certain shot distance over and over again.
Title sequences follow a strict order. The billing order is all about the actors and stars in a movie. If they are well known actors they go before the title because the audience are coming to see this film due to the importance and success of the actors in the film industry. The title comes after the actors who are popular. The title sequence includes the logo of the institutions involved in the production, finance and distribution of the film. This: advertises the company, establishes expectations in an audience and can be used as a symbol for the genre of the movie.
We have challenged some of the conventions and the title sequence in our opening of our film Cain. The reason being is we cut out some of the credits for example directors photography because we thought we all contributed to this as a group and that it wasn't important for our sequence. Most teen films have more colourful fonts when presenting the title sequence however we decided to keep it quite simple and bold because it matched our genre.
Evaluation Question 2
Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Representation is how a character is constructed through costume, actions and speech. The director also constructs the character through shot types and the characters place of origin. Representation also portrays stereotypical characters of a particular group. These could include pretty clothes and an innocent attitude for a typical popular girl or old fashioned clothing and high intellect for a nerd. It reminds the audience that the characters within a film are developed through the stereotypical ideas a director and producer have of a person.
We contextualised a stereotypical situation for some female teenagers and changed it to show the feelings of the character. We showed the romance building up rather than suggesting that the character had a one nights stand with a stranger. We showed the flashbacks where Leah was happy and smiling, then, when the shots went back to the present the audience can see the seriousness on Leah's face which suggests that something is wrong and the fact that she is alone in the present suggests that she has become an outcast in society.
In our film opening we introduced two types of characters, the protagonist Leah and the antagonist Cain. We conveyed Leah in the flashback to be quite innocent and positive which contrasts to her present self as pregnant and suddenly not innocent anymore with a monotone colour scheme. We also think that the character Cain is seen as positive throughout the opening until it is revealed in the end that he was probably the cause of her situation and hence the father of the baby. Furthermore we think that he could be seen as a typical teenager who disappoints her because she is clearly falling for him but in the end she is abandoned by him.
Class & Teacher Feedback
Individual Student Feedback
Overall, the majority of the feedback received was positive. A lot of people commented on how it can be related to teenagers and presents real life problems so it would appeal to our target audience. They also thought that we represented teenagers really well by From the class and teacher feedback received, we realised that we should have used a mother scene in the last flashback to show the two characters finally interacting properly. The last student feedback commented on how she liked the sound effects we used with the folder and footsteps to make it seem more realistic which is good. She also said that she would recommend it to her friends which means that our audience will expand and more teenagers will view the opening of our film. The feedback really helped us and let us know what we needed to improve on for the future.
Evaluation Question 3
Q.3 What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think that our own production and distribution companies fit in well with the atmosphere and genres of our film. Our film is based on modern teenagers so we decided to use an upbeat sound for our production company to appeal more to a teenage audience. I think it is more effective than using no sound as it will keep the audience interested to see what happens during the animation and how well they fit together. For our distribution company, we wanted to keep it simple which i think made it more effective. The sound we used for it also fits in well with the opening film as it seems to rise and the fall so it sounds and seems better despite the simplicity of the logo we made.
Production
Distribution
Evaluation Question 4
Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The target audience for teen movies all depend on the sub genre of the movie. For example if it is an action movie for teens then this will be aimed specifically at male teens however if it is a movie about romance or for example a teen musical then more female teenagers will be interested in the movie. The elderly also watch teen movies because it reminds them of the past and they can relate to their teenage days. This is the wider audience for teen movies. The main genre of our movie was drama and thriller where the movie was targeted at 15+ teenagers whether they were male or female. The audience changed to 15+ female teenagers when we added the sub genres romance and tragedy.
Our unique selling point is Leah. The situation she is in can be recognised by teenagers all over the world and can be relatable globally across both adults and young adults. We think it also has an appeal to the female audience who may have gone through or is going through the same experience but can also offer entertainment due to the romantic and comedic aspects of the film opening. We also think that the characters of Leah and Cain could represent society's view on teen relationships providing awareness to events such as this.
We made a Facebook page that was named after the film we made this in order to inform people about our film. This would attract our target audience and therefore increase the views of our film on youtube. We posted the posters we made, the out takes and behind the scene video and the YouTube link. We all contributed to the Facebook page by adding links and images to make the page stand out.
Facebook Screenshot
Our unique selling point is Leah. The situation she is in can be recognised by teenagers all over the world and can be relatable globally across both adults and young adults. We think it also has an appeal to the female audience who may have gone through or is going through the same experience but can also offer entertainment due to the romantic and comedic aspects of the film opening. We also think that the characters of Leah and Cain could represent society's view on teen relationships providing awareness to events such as this.
We made a Facebook page that was named after the film we made this in order to inform people about our film. This would attract our target audience and therefore increase the views of our film on youtube. We posted the posters we made, the out takes and behind the scene video and the YouTube link. We all contributed to the Facebook page by adding links and images to make the page stand out.
Facebook Screenshot
Evaluation Question 5
Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?
I made two posters for our film featuring Senis Istek for Advertising and Marketing.
By RJ
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I made a newspaper article and a magazine poster to advertise our teen film to the audience. The poster will go into the magazines that teenagers read therefore they will be aware of the opening of this new film that we have produced. The newspaper article is about the release of the film opening
.
By Senis
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I posted our film on YouTube as the majority of the audience who use it are teenagers. I believe it directly targets our audience and makes more people aware of the existence of our film.
By Yasminn
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I advertised our movie on instagram because instagram is one of the social network that our target audience visit a lot. So far people have viewed our film by going on youtube. They even started making comments.
By Brenda
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We think that our opening sequence appeals directly to our target audience. The main character, Leah, is dressed in modern clothing as is Cain. The main actors and actresses are relatable to the audience as they themselves are teenagers. The situation can also be relatable to some teenagers as problems with relationships and young pregnancy is a real life problem for some teenagers. The genre for our film is drama and thriller which means that parts of it may shock the audience but also contains dramatic scenes within the film. Combining these genres is good for a teen film despite them not normally being put together in a teen film. The location is also recognisable to those who go to college and are familiar with popular tourist attractions in London which means that British teenagers will most likely recognise Trafalgar Square. The sound fits in well with our film as it rises and falls so that it is not that same volume and beat. It falls at the end to signify that it is the end of our film and connote the Leah's sadness. I believe that it mirrors the atmosphere we are trying to create. The title for our film is the name of the main male character. We thought it symbolised how he would be the main focus of not only the film but who the character Leah focuses on too.
This is a video of when we were at the cinema watching our film opening. The applause at the end of the viewing depicts the fact that it was a good opening scene.
By Group38
Evaluation Question 6
Q.6 What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Overall, the technology that we used whilst creating our film 'Cain' was really useful. It helped us when filming and editing as we could match cut shots we filmed to make our film appear more efficient. The conversion software was especially helpful as without it, we would not have had the music we have now for out opening sequence. Sound cloud played a major role in finding our music and helped us to find music that wasn't copyrighted and that we could use. I used blogger a lot to show how our group planned for our film and the process of filming and editing. All of the software we used to create our opening sequence was new to all of us so we had to adapt and learn how each one worked prior to ensure that we would not waste time and finish 'Cain' by the deadline.
Final Cut Pro
We all contributed at different parts times when editing. It was quite easy to edit using Final Cut Pro and match up shots that we wanted to use. It also allowed use to manipulate text and music to fit the scenes were were depicting.
Sound Cloud
Sound Cloud was the database we used to find our music. We all researched music. RJ and I chose the rough cut music which was changed because feedback showed that it was too repetitive. We then, as a group, chose a different sound that changed to fit the mood we were trying to convey. We used Sound Cloud every time from when we were just speculating which music we could use to deciding our final sound choice.
Motion
Evaluation Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Technology is really important because without it we wouldn't be able to put together our film. We needed technology in a step by step way in terms of the filming, editing and making our own logos. Technology is so advanced now days. Even though I did not deliberately make the production company and distribution company logos , I watched as one of my group members was getting it done and I now know how film makers make their distribution/ production companies. In terms of film making it would have been a question I would have asked but now I know how to get it done. We had to explore these technologies but be fast with it because we were new to it. One thing I learnt about these technologies is that it does take a long time to get used to and as soon as we knew how to manipulate tools nothing stopped us from you from coming up with our film opening, make it and put it together. Technology is just one word now " advanced".
Evaluation Question 6
What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I believe our group was very creative because we managed to use different technologies when constructing our media product. The technologies that I have listed were very useful because it helped us produce our work more efficiently. Without these resources and our teamwork it would have been hard for us to produce our media product in a short period of time.
Evaluation Question 7
Q.7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
PRELIM - Bad Education: Shot by Shot (DATES INCORRECT)
When we made the prelim, we were only just learning about the different shot types and the basic rules when filming. For our pre-production, we were given a script that the actresses had to learn before filming. We also made a shot by shot storyboard that we stuck to for most of filming but strayed from when we realised that we were running out of time. When we made our prelim, we were still developing our camera skills and therefore we only used a limited range of shots. We did cohere to some rules about filming. We incorporated the 180 degree rule and used match cutting throughout the link scenes without gaps in the characters movement. However, we ignored some crucial rules about filming which is evident in our prelim. Some crucial rules we did not use are:
- No head space
- Thirds rule
- No zooming- change shot type
- Close-up shots
In many of our shots I can see how we left a lot of space above the persons head. I believe that at that stage we were not aware of this rule so we did not consider it. We learnt about the thirds rule after making our prelim so again we were not aware of it. I think that if we used this rule our prelim would look more professional and the overall affect would have been better. At the beginning of out prelim we zoom out on one of the characters. I think it would have better if we changed our shot type to a close up rather than zoom which we did not consider at the time. Reviewing our prelim, I noticed that we did not use any close-ups or extreme close-ups. This also would have made jour prelim appear better. Looking back over our prelim I can see how many mistakes we made. The sound and lighting was not consistent as we did not take it into consideration. There are some noises that are either me, Senis or other students talking which we did not edit out or mute. The light sometimes changes from dark to light as we did not consider the weather when filming. Especially in the beginning when Brenda is walking towards the camera; the lighting is very poor and the setting is not visible.
Our Film Opening - Shot by Shot
We extensively planned how we were going to carry out shooting and making our film. First we created a shot by shot list where we defined every shot in order and explained what would happen within that shot. Rj also made a hand drawn storyboard with other members of out team giving input to increase the quality of it; we used this storyboard as a guideline when shooting our film. I made a prezi that was out pitch to our teacher and peers and including all the information surrounding the planning and preparations for our teen film. By planning every stage of producing our film, we ensured that we finished it within time and that we, as a team, were happy with it.
Compared to our prelim, I believe our film opening shows how we have gained skills and knowledge on shot types, sound and rules when filming. We incorporated rules that we previously ignore to make our film look more professional. We used multiple close-ups and a wider range of shots then we used in our prelim. We considered sound, lighting, environment and setting when creating our opening film which made it seem more professional. We ensured that each scene we match cut had no mistakes transitioning from one shot to the next. We also made sure that the characters costume was consistent with each shot and that the costume defined the character. Previously, in the prelim, we did not consider costume and props. The actresses wore what they had on that day and a mobile phone was visible in one of the over the should shots. By developing our camera and editing skills and using a wide range of technology, we have been able to produce a good quality opening to a teen film.
Summary
To summarise, I have learned a great deal about how to make a good teen film. I have learnt how to use the right shot types for the scene and instruct people on how to display their emotions when shooting a sad or happy scene. Over the past months, I have developed my knowledge in how to film and edit shots to create a quality film that people will enjoy watching. I have learnt various rules that I applied when shooting our film, such as the 180 degree rule and the thirds rule. We tried to use the thirds rule in every scene to ensure that the overall effect was better, although in some scenes it may not be evident. I also think that I have developed my knowledge of technology since making the prelim by using a wider range of software such as Motion (to create production and distribution animation) and Handbrake (to convert files to fit on our blog). I think by expanding my knowledge and gaining the necessary skills, I have a made a great contribution when producing out team film. I also believe that what i have learnt form these two tasks will greatly help me in the future.
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