Monday, 14 December 2009
Roles
I took charge in the planning, storyboards, some filming and also picking and editing the music.
Rachel Allan took charge in choosing the locations and sorting out the mise-en-scene, taking the photographs and part of the filming.
Rachel Talbot took charge in the editing, helping with the music and some filming.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Monday, 30 November 2009
Analysis of Film Magazines
- Full image with background.
- Medium close up of one character looking straight out to the audience helps to make the readers want to look inside.
- Title goes across the head.
- Red ‘TOTAL’ inside of the ‘F’ in film. Gives individuality to the magazine. The audience will remember it.
- Strap line ‘must-see’ draws readers in.
- 4 different colours used.
- 3 different fonts used.
- Text justified down both sides of the page.
- Barcode, date, price, website and issue number.
- Full image with background.
- Medium shot of one character looking straight out to the audience helps to make the readers want to look inside.
- Title goes behind the head showing that it is a well knowing magazine as they don’t need to see the full name without recognizing it is a ‘Total Film’ magazine.
- Cut out ‘TOTAL’ inside of the ‘F’ in film. Gives individuality to the magazine. The audience will remember it.
- ‘World exclusive’ draws readers in as it sounds as though they will be the first to know the information.
- Quotations are effective as it shows other thoughts on the films.
- 3 different colours used.
- 3 different fonts used.
- Text justified down both sides of the page.
- Barcode, date, price, website and issue number.
Saturday, 21 November 2009
Analysis of another horror trailer
The next trailer i decided to analyse was 'Orphan'
Mise-en-scene
It started off with a big white house and it was snowing, the colour red seemed to have been drained out taking the warmth out of the shot. The white could suggest vulnerability as it is the victims house. The shot of the school looks happy, it creates an equilibrium. Then when Esther is sitting in the class room alone it suggests she is lonely. When Esther joins the new class all the pupils are staring at her. Again showing she is lonely. When Esther is in the toilet cubicle it is a small enclosed space shows connotations of the character being trapped. This links well with the storyline as she is trapped in a child's body. Esther seems to wear a lot of dark clothing which represents that she is a dark character. The rooms are all dark and the weather is raining and dull and gloomy, this helps create an atmosphere.
Sound
It starts with quiet strings with some piano chords added in. It is slow at first but builds up and is happy during the start to go with the equilibrium. The keys become lower when Esther gets angry. We also hear the children laughing at her. The bangs have been edited to make them sound louder and scarier and give the audience a fright. There is a sound that sounds like wind blowing when the location changes. The music builds up to a big bang then goes quiet and we here Esther scream very loud. The music dims down to let us here the voice over. after hearing 'i think there's something wrong with Esther' we here the swings creaking. This gives a creepy effect to the trailer. The music starts to get faster once bad events start occurring. There is fast banging to go with the fast cuts. It ends with Esther singing which creates a scary tone.
Camera shots/ movements and angles
Establishing shots are used a lot to show the location of the scene. There are also a lot of close up shots used when people are talking to each other. This helps to show the emotions. There is a extreme close up of Esther and the Mother first holding hands when the voice over says 'connection'. There is a shot of the family in the car. The camera is directly above the car. This could show vulnerability. The camera is also above Esther when she is going crazy in the toilet cubicle. This could show us as viewers peering over to watch her. The camera is at a low angle looking up at Esther to make her look powerful. It pans up to a very high angle when on the mother to show she is vulnerable. Another way Esther is mad to look scary is by using a close up of her staring straight into the camera.
Editing
There are a lot of quick cuts used. This makes it look more exciting. Fades are used a lot to indicate change in location and also to fade to white to allow the writing on the screen visible. The screen goes all black when the voice over is on. There is slow motion running used to give a sympathetic view on the mother. A jump cut from a long shot to a mid shot of Ester is also used.
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Analysis of horror films
The first trailer i have analysed is Wolfman which is due to release in February 2010. Here is the trailer;
The trailer starts in a dark and gloomy forest with a man that is walking with a lantern. The mise-en-scene looks threatening and makes the character look vulnerable the sound starts off as slow strings that gradually builds up. You then here a slash off the wolves claw and you see a close up of his reaction. One of the characters voices is used as a narrative voice over which helps explain the story. His voice is deep and croaky which gives a more scary effect. The music gets faster and louder as more action takes place and the action gets scarier and scarier building up to a big scare at the end. The use of elliptical editing also helps to create the scary effect as it is only showing short snaps of events which helps create suspense. As the narrator says full moon the universal logo turns into the moon in the scene. A lot of the editing fades to black then fades back up again which is a common convention in horror trailers. The mise-en-scene of every shot is mainly dark and gloomy and the costumes fit into the setting of the past which makes the film believable. The use of a bridge suggests the community is isolated. Like many horror films a lot of things are emerging from shadows which makes the audience scared. Like all trailers it is a common convention to keep the beast/monster hiding so in this trailer we always seem to get close ups or extreme close ups of the wolf as they don't want to show too much and spoil the film for the viewers, we also see the wolf in the flare of the gun but it is only for a split second. They use a match edit with the girl in bed to the boy in bed which shows the two characters could be related. The girl lights the candle which in some movies connotate that she could be the light in the story, the heroine type of girl. The editing is always moving there is a quick cut, then the camera is moving towards a character then another cut then the camera is moving away from a character which makes the film seem exciting, like there is always something happening. The quick snappy editing stops the audience seeing too much. By using the point of view shot of the wolf running through the forest it helps make us feel sympathetic towards him. Iconic lines are used in the trailer 'Darkness comes for you' which the audience will remember. The quote 'let me help you' suggests he isn't evil he has been taken over. Quotes like these are normally shown in a different place to what it is in the original film. At the end it is all quiet with a girl in the forest the music isn't there any more and you can here the girl heavy breathing. She looks very vulnerable alone in the forest and we can see the wolf looking for her in the background which creates suspense. Then the last big scare is the wolf growling.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Questionnaire 2
How often do you watch horror films?
1. Everyday
2. Once a week
3. Once a month
4. Occasionally
5. Never
2 people picked everyday
8 people picked once a week
12 people picked once a month
7 people picked occasionally
1 person picked never
What do you think are the main conventions of a horror film?
1. Monsters
2. Blood
3. Death
4. Suspense
5. Ghosts
1 people picked monsters
7 people picked bloods
11 people picked death
7 people picked suspense
4 people picked ghosts
What do you think makes a good location for a horror film?
1. Beach
2. Forest
3. Graveyard
4. School
5. House
2 people picked beach
11 people picked forest
6 people picked graveyard
2 people picked school
9 people picked house
Who do you prefer to be a victim in a horror film?
1. Male
2. Female
12 people picked school
18 people picked house
What name sounds suitable for a horror film?
1. Sweetdreams
2. Midnight
3. Nightmare
4. Party House
12 people picked sweetdreams
5 people picked midnight
7 people picked nightmare
6 people picked party house
Should the trailer be in chronological order?
1. Yes
2. No
9 people picked yes
21 people picked no
What time period do you like a horror film to be in?
1. Olden days
2. Future
3. Present
6 people picked olden days
5 people picked future
19 people picked present
What makes you scared? (Pick 3)
1. Gore
2. Storms
3. Chase sequences
4. Screams
5. Ghosts
6. Blood
7. Weapons
Gore 19 points
Storms 3 points
Chase sequences 25 points
Screams 23 points
Ghosts 10 poins
Blood 5 poins
Weapons 5 points
Who do you like to see the most of?
1. The Hero
2. The Villain
3. The Helper
4. The Victim
9 people picked the hero
12 people picked the villan
1 people picked the helper
8 people picked the victim
What camera angles do you think are most effective in a horror film? (Pick 2)
1. Close up
2. Extreme close up
3. long shot
4. tilt
5. medium shot
close up 24 points
extreme close up 9 points
long shot 12 points
tilt 5 points
medium shot 10 points
What sound effects help to add tension to the film? (Pick 2)
1. Explosions
2. Wind
3. creaking
4. Bangs
5. Screams
6. whispering
Explosions 5 points
wind 9 points
creaking 12 points
bangs 12 points
screams 12 points
whispering 10 points
What is your favourite horror film?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We got a range of answer but 'the grudge' 'the ring' and 'hostel' were noted a few times.
Sunday, 18 October 2009
'Get Carter'
I worked with Rachel Talbot, Rachel Allan, Sophie Liddle, Steph Ingram and Nicolle Kelly, where we each took it in turns recording. I played Jack, while Rachel Talbot played Albert.
Saturday, 17 October 2009
Review on 'your film'
Pre-Production
(ideas, concepts, scripts, storyboards, planning, permissions, budgets, casting, crew-up, pre-interviews, research,define roles and responsibilities, location scouting.)
We need to plan well, set realistic goals, map out a schedule, allow for set backs, be bold and aim high. we must be creative with our ideas, storyboards aren't the most important thing but planning is very important. When picking the cast make sure the people are reliable and will turn up to all the filming when needed.
Production
(filming, sound recording)
Make sure you stick to the plan. Take more then one take just in case.
Post-Production
(video capture, logging, video editing, sound design, music, graphics, design, effect, titles, animations, voice over, sound effects, foley)
Make sure the music goes with the scene.
Stick to your plans all along, and use common conventions.
Things To Remember
Tape, disks, memory card, charged battery, tripod and tripod plate
Turn of the record light!
Thursday, 15 October 2009
A2 Proposal
Together we have brainstormed a range of different ideas for our storyline. Here are scans of our notes.
We are going to use actors that we know will be reliable as we don't want to be let down and set our work back. We have decided that we will go out looking for a range of locations to shoot our film as we want a lot of different locations. To make our trailer look like a real product i will look at different trailers and take note of the common conventions. I will also look at camera angles, editing, mise-en-scene and sound to give me a feel into what i should be working towards.
Questionnaire 1
What is your favourite genre of film?
1. Horror
2. Comedy
3. Thriller
4. Romance
5. Adventure
12 people picked horror
5 people picked comedy
2 people picked thriller
9 people picked romance
2 people picked adventure
Thursday, 8 October 2009
Summary of year 12
On the positive side i think my practical work was produced very well. Again i worked with a partner and together we produced a good collection of practical work. Working in a group helped me to co-ordinate my tasks better. I had to make sure we both had equal amounts of work to do. We also had to make sure we both liked the work we produced and that we had done it to our best standard.
From last year i learnt a lot in photography skills, framing the camera and the angles, and editing pictures. I also learnt how to research different products that you will have to compete with.
If I had the chance to do this again I would probably create more time for planning as i noticed that for a project like this it needs a lot of planning to run smoothly.
Thursday, 7 May 2009
Evaluation
In what ways does the media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of a real media product?
My production work consists of six pages, which are a front cover, a contents page, and an article consisting of two double-paged spreads. I worked with Rachel Talbot so together we produced twelve pieces of work, two front covers two contents pages, and two sets of a four-page spread but I produced an article and Rachel produced an interview. Together we came up with a house style that would be repeated which follows ‘Blender’ magazine conventions as each issue is similar but the colours used are different.
My front cover follows forms and conventions of real media products in many ways. There are common music magazine cover conventions; one main image, masthead, strapline, hooks for stories inside, limited number of fonts and colours, date, barcode, price, text justified down left and right and usually one picture that is usually taken between medium long and medium close up. To start with I have a medium close up of my model that is staring straight into the camera; this draws attention to my front cover and is common in magazine styles. My model is attractive which as Naomi Wolf (1991) says it will help gain more readers of both sexes as erotic images of models are used. Marjorie Ferguson (1980) identifies four different facial expression that occur in most magazines which are;
Chocolate box Half or full smile, lips together or slightly parted and teeth barely visible. Full or three-quarter face to camera. Projected mood is blandly pleasing, warm bath warmth, where uniformity of features in their smooth perfection is devoid of uniqueness or of individuality.
My model would come under the ‘Chocolate box’ facial expression. My models head goes over my magazine name ‘Upbeat’ but it is still easy to read. I decided to call my magazine ‘upbeat’ as it has connotations of r&b/pop style music and this is what type of genre my magazine is. Also in my questionnaire my participants preferred this to the other options.
My four page article follows many forms and conventions of a real magazine article. The colour scheme and fonts are again the same to keep my work consistent. I have my magazine name in the top corner to show where it is from and I have also written ‘exclusive’ to make it recognisable that you can only find this story in this magazine and to make readers feel they are getting something the can not get from anywhere else. I have a large quote from my article as my title ‘I hit rock bottom but now I am back!’ to attract the readers into reading the story as they will want to find out what happened. This is often the case in many magazines. I have used a much larger picture of my model with the background to fill most the page as this is a common convention to articles. On my photos I have put in small writing the clothes she is wearing. This isn’t common in music magazines but as she is the same age as our target audience they might be interested in the clothes she is wearing also. This goes against some conventions, but it makes my work original. My font is a simple font so it is easy to read and my text is justified to both sides of the column to make it look neat. On the left hand side I have a short paragraph to also explain what is in the article; this could attract readers who are just flicking through to read the full article. My text starts with a bigger sized orange ‘B’ which is very common in magazine articles so I decided to follow the trend.
My second page follows a similar style apart from I have smaller pictures and much more text which are in columns as this is a common convention in magazines. I have quotes form the text in a larger orange font and my columns wrap around them. This is commonly seen in magazine articles, these quotes can help to attract more readers as they act as hooks to get the reader into the story. I also have a quick check question box which will be in every issue and will be the same questions asked to every musician or band. This helps connect the magazines together.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My star in my music magazine is a young artist who girls that read our magazine could relate too. She has had a bad past but has managed to turn it around which could be an inspiration to the readers it shows that difficulties can be overcome. The story shows that life in the spotlight can be negative and it isn’t always a ‘dream life’. This can change the perception of the
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product?
I think that ‘musicmags’ would be a good company to distribute my magazine as even though it specialises in instrument magazines my magazine would bring a new genre to its company and target a total different type of audience. The company’s products will be really aimed and older men who take interest in instruments; therefore my magazine will attract young females and create a whole new target audience for the company.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
I have aimed it at fifteen – twenty-five year olds as in our questionnaire this was the most popular age range. Our magazine genre is R&B but we have a sub genre, which is pop as this was close second favourite.
I have priced my magazine at £2.50 which I believe to be a reasonable price. This is cheaper than most music magazines but not by a lot. I think it should do well at this price as it appears to be full with gossip and information that readers will want to know so at a lower price more people will buy it. I targeted 15-20 year olds which will be largely female. They would most likely be upper working class or lower middle class who are reasonably well off. Most likely they will be living of parents’ money or have jobs so they will have enough disposable income to buy magazines, go to music concerts etc.
How did you attract/ address your audience?
I attracted my audience by finding out what they were looking for in a magazine first by giving out a questionnaire then producing my magazine accordingly. I have used people in my magazine who are roughly the same age as my target audience, but they are famous which will help attract readers who can compare them self to them and aspire to be like them, for example my cover girl has over come problems which can be seen as inspirational. The photo of my model can come into Marjorie Ferguson (1980) facial expression recognition as my model will come under the ‘chocolate box’ expression. I used a sexually attractive woman on the front as Naomi Wolf (1991) recognised the ‘Beauty Myth’ which is that by using a sexually attractive woman to sell products to women is successful as they want to look like the models. I am exploiting the Bulmler and Katz' theory of uses and gratifications as throughout my magazine I have put in photographs of people who are roughly around the age of my target audience. This gives a sense of identity; the readers can compare them selves to the people in the magazine and aspire to be like them. The readers can also relate to the stories in my magazine as the promblems could reflect on their lives in some ways. This is very common in magazines.
I also put in hooks for stories of bands and artists, as people will buy the magazine to read about their favourite bands and artists. I have also used language that will suit my reader’s idiolect. ‘OMG’ which stands for ‘oh my god’ would only be recognised by younger people like my target audience. This helps the audience relate to the media product. The older generation are much likely not to understand words like that.
By putting what my models are wearing this is heading towards a lifestyle kind of magazine. This is because most women aged 15+ seem to be less interested in magazines for hobbies such as music, and more interested in lifestyle. Another magazine that is doing this is ‘Q’ magazine and it is also working well for them.
After my magazine pages were complete i decided to hand them out out to 20 people that fit into my target audience. This is so i could see if my magazine would be capable to compete with existing music magazines. I recieved comments of almost all participents here are some examples of them;
'I think your magazine will be able to compete with other magazines as it looks full with good information that people my age would want to know'
'Your magazine looks different from other magazines which is a good thing because as it is different it wont be like any other repeated music magazine that have the same things in every issue'
'It looks really good, I love the bright colour contrasting on the simple black grey and white. It is very eye catching i think it will easily be able to compete with existing products.'
'The pages are great how you know what magazine they come from as it keeps the same house style, for example the fonts and colours are the same, this makes it look neat and tidy.'
'I really enjoyed reading the story. It is more lifestyle instead of being a boring story about how good a gig was. I like stories where you get to know more about the person.'
What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I would like to use this picture it looks very homely. But i think it will be hard to use as her head goes right to the end of the photo and so does her legs.
I was also able to use a camera to a high standard whilst taking my photos and also made sure that the lighting was correct so I gained successful pictures
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at my preliminary work I have learned an awful lot in producing a magazine. This is mainly because I had much more time to produce it. Giving me time to research into what my target audience want in a new magazine. I also analysed existing products as my work had to match those standards as it was going to be competing with them. I have also learned a lot of image manipulating skills throughout my practical work. I have been able to make my layout skills more professional to make sure it will be able to compete with existing products.
Overall I am pleased with my product and believe that is has been created with a lot of thought and effort to make it eligible to compete with existing music magazines.
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Final article pages
This is my second double page spread.
Final contents page
This is my contents page. I decided to put an orange strip down one side to separate the cover stories from the other stories. This is because I wanted readers to easily be able to find the correct page for the cover stories as that is what has attracted them to the magazine in the first place. I put the title of my magazine in the same style so it would stand out. I also tilted it so it was different from the over text. As my cover stories are most important I wrote extra about them underneath, as this is a common convention in music magazines. I have put them in chronological order so it isn't confusing. All the other pictures have been put on an orange background so it fits in with the colour scheme and makes it look tidier.
Final front cover
Flat plans
This is a flat plan of my first double spread of my article. This is how i am wanting to set it out. I have added in the fonts that i am wanting to use and also the sizes of the texts.
Sunday, 15 March 2009
Images i could use for my article
I am not going to use this image as i think it looks blurry. I also don't think my model takes up enough space on the photo as she is side on.
I don't think i will use this image as i don't like the background. It doesn't look very nice. Also my models face has went light off the flash.
I will use this picture in my article. I like the background and my model takes up a lot of space in the picture.
I like the background on this picture but i don't think i will use it as i don't like my models facial expression.
I will use this picture on my article as i like the pose my model is doing.
I like this photo it is a close mid shot which i think will look attractive on the front of my magazine.
I will use this picture in my article as i said that she has a new puppy. it will also be a change to my other photos.
I would like to use this picture it looks very homely. But i think it will be hard to use as her head goes right to the end of the photo and so does her legs.
I like this picture. I will use this in my article and it wont be hard to use as her head doesn't come right to the end of the page.