Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from to the full product?

In the early days of production regarding planning the preliminary task we mostly used mind maps to collaborate all our ideas together. This is because it’s a way of adding all our information into one whole paper so it was easy to access, especially when looking at the ideas as a whole and making them fit into a suitable narrative. Therefore this helped us to gather our ideas and suit them into a suitable format, because we agreed this was a suitable way of collaborating ideas we used this method to create the narrative f our main production which in my opinion I thought work very well.  However, when we created the preliminary task we as short on time as we didn’t have enough time to add extra details etc into our video which was shown in our preliminary task. But in some ways it as good this happened as it meant we were more time consuming when it came to creating our main task, which is evidently shown that we spent a lot of time and care creating it.

The filming process, in the preliminary task we were restricted to places we could film this is because we only had a short amount of time to complete it. Therefore we completed it in school and around the site, to help develop our ideas. I believe this was beneficial as it helped us to improve our skills for our main task as it allowed us to reflect upon on preliminary task to see what was effective and what wasn’t so effective. This helped us to focus closely upon that section for our main task in order to create the best possible main task we could. Also it allowed us to experiment on different types of shot types so we could add as many different shots as we could effectively in our main task to fit into the criteria as much as we possibly could.

HIGH ANGLE SHOT

WIDE SHOT

At first I was very slow at the editing process of the short films I had created because I was unaware of how to use Final Cut Pro (mentioned in the previous post).However, creating the preliminary task allowed we to develop my skills on how to use Final Cut Pro which helped me to become more familiar with the system and therefore more practical which allowed me to have previous experience with it before the main task. I believe this was highly beneficial, it allowed me to know what I was doing before having ago at the main task.

Overall, I am proud of my development in media as I believe I have improved a great deal since the start of the year. I have worked very hard towards my tasks including the Kit Kat video, Preliminary task, Main task and the evaluations fro each. So overall I am pleased with myself and the rest of my group as I believe we have created a very good opening sequence.

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 3

COPYRIGHT: BBC NEWS

COPYRIGHT: FOX

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In order to create successful opening sequence we must ensure we use all information provide for us and data that we have collected to make our opening sequence as aimed as it can be for our target audience. We decided as a group that it would be a good idea to challenge stereotypes of what the audience may predict/inspect this is because we decided it would have to intrigue our audience and make them want to watch more as it wasn’t just there stereotypical action film. But still by doing so we ensured we made our opening sequence an action film and played with conventions to make it seem more intriguing for others.

When story boarding and mind mapping our ideas previous to filming we decided to it important not o make our opening sequence and the narrative complex therefore this would help to keep our audience intrigued and not start to lack interest. However, we did include a flash forward as we came to the agreement that this fitted in very nicely with our narrative, this is also another good way to keep the audience intrigued as well as they have an understanding of the structure as they begin to realise it was a flash forward which could help them to figure out or predict what is going to happen which is a clever way to allow the audience to watch without too much thought.

 Although we wanted to try and make our opening sequence unpredictable and we wanted to play with stereotypes however in the sense of characters and representation we did not play with stereotypes especially amongst characters. This is because for the character who was playing the thief in this case Jess (a member of my group) we decided on a general look as we believed Jess would be suitable for the role as she has a simplistic, appealing look as she has brown hair which is quite basic nothing too out of the ordinary, this could reflect the male gaze theory. We have also been able to challenge expectations as you may not expect a pretty quiet petite girl to get away with stealing government files, she shows masculinity as we have given this character a unisex name, making her connote dominance and control, showing that she may not be as emotional as him challenging stereotypes as the romance within the film would typically be led by the woman. Also to play with stereotypes  we came to the conclusion that it would look less predictable if Laurence who was ‘The Chaser’ wore a suit we believed this would be effective as its in contrast to James Bond as he is vertically also dressed in a suit and looking handsome. Additionally ‘The News Reporter’ was dressed smartly and when shown only the top half was shown which could suggest serious, also by the appearance being stereotypically looked after as her hair was down and straight which could imply she is sensible and very informative. Furthermore we included that I was very important to add a sub genre to create a wider audience so we decided to have a romance sub genre because we all felt we new enough about romantic films to create a sub genre.

For an action film we all came to the agreement that the setting is crucial because it sets the tone so in this incense it is important to have a dark and almost spooky looking setting to create a sense of mystery to the audience as that’s what the target audience of a action film look for. We created a sense of mystery by having a scene of a chase whilst running along an abounded railway line to avoid any confusion we decided to add a flash to the filming device so we could allow the audience to have a clear vision of what was going on. Also by using this technique it allows the audience to always question why something is happening which is a good way to keep them intrigued and it also helps o exaggerate the cliff-hanger which is about to commence.

Moreover, in order to make sure we were including and creating the right sound clips or nature sounds it helped y watch James Bond films in the process in free time to help understand what is successful and hat is not within sounds. The sound can be seen to be very important in some audiences eyes as it can be known to be the best way to create the biggest tension, if you think about it… what is more effective an horror for example the filming which is actually made to make you fright or the sound which goes with it to build up your tension. So when editing we included noon diagetic sounds such as the soundtrack which was an up beat, strong tempo which begun very fast and included a dramatic bridge to time tie it into the drama which just happened in order to exaggerate it even more so to create a sense of suspense as well as mystery. An example of this is when Jamie was hiding with the documents we included a jazz based soundtrack, then more loud drums and heavier music was played within the same soundtrack which was played with a fast tempo which reinforced the fast pace of how quickly the pace was which helps to create excitement and a sense of mystery. By using this kind of soundtrack therefore reflects upon the typical action conventions you would usually see this is because the soundtrack used allows to empathises the build up of drama ad excitement whilst making the sequence more entertaining at the same time which can help to make the audience feel the tension more dramatically.

Editing Day 3

This was the final day of editing, we firstly watched the clip form the let tie when we had finished editing as it was a few days after and it allowed us to see what was needed to be improved on it etc with a afresh head. this is a good way of seeing what needs development as we realised, we realised this as we noticed at times it jumped very sharply to one scene to the next, so this was important to do as it allowed us to stop the video and edit from then on. as we agreed this was a good technique we decided to do this a numerous of times when we  were ensure eon how it looked to get a feel or it.

Once, we had watched the video over in full and corrected on the sharps jumps between scenes we decided it was important to add more soundtracks. This is because we believe strongly that the sounds used makes a significant difference, we used soundtrack from Final Cut Pro as we don't have t ask for there permission and also because they suited and fitted in well with what we wanted to do.

Then we came to the agreement that we were very happy with the final outcome after watching it over with the corrections and soundtracks added. so, we uploaded it YouTube in order to download it to blogger and it seems we are very happy with the outcome because of our hard work and determination within our teamwork.

Editing day 2

Editing Day Two
As we now had the majority of the footage we could now start filling the gaps and adding the finishing touches to the intro. we started off by cropping the videos down to size and putting them into the right order. we needed to put the chase scene before the scene of me waking up as this was a flash forward.

When we put the chase scene together we put different bits after one and other so it looked effective, for example it would show Jess running past and then Laurence running past. It was important we always appeared to be running the right direction or else this wouldn't be the 180 degree rule and would make it look like we were running towards each other or like we had changed directions I noticed towards the end one of the clips was facing the wrong way so we flipped it and it looked much better.

 

When all the scenes were together we went through and added appropriate sounds for example a helicopter noise making it seem like there were helicopters present and making the scene appear much more dangerous we also added various filters to some of the clips so they were not too dark or looked more effective.

When we started to add the Laurence's clips rather than having them play after my scene Beth thought it was a good idea to have one of my clips play then one of Laurence's then one of Jess' etc we experimented with a couple of clips and Beth was completely right it worked much better and made much more sense. It would show Jess waking up Laurence waking up Jess getting dressed Laurence getting dressed all the way up to the news scene. This also meant we didn't have to pick two different songs for each section if they were going to run together.

 

Editing Day 1

When we first started editing we unfortunately didn't have all of the video footage which concluded with us having a gap to insert but we worked around it and collected the sections we did have to the best possible way we could by using my Macs on Final Cut Pro. firstly we went onto YouTube and downloaded distribution clips in order to make the start of the film professional also instead of adding a big jump we thought it could be a good idea to add a few distribution introduction such as the lions gate distribution from the 2oth century clip found in more recent films to make it look as realistic as we possibly could. This helped to make it blend well and run more smoothly, however because us using video clips from YouTube it is very important we ask for permission so we had to email the copy right team to ask fro there permission.

In order to avoid asking for permission to use songs we decided to only use the ones offered by final cut pro so after a long time of flicking through different songs we finally decided on a song that suited the scene of me waking up and doing my jobs in the morning.

Jess and Beth started by cropping all of the clips to the right size so there wasn't any irrelevant footage this sometimes proved difficult as you would try and get it to a certain size. They then put the clips into the right order and made sure they ran smoothly and the footage made sense for example there was a bit where  Jess started walking but the next clip Jess hadn't started walking yet so we had to crop it so that Jess was still walking and continuing from the spot I was in in the clip before hand otherwise it would not look very good. 

Preperation of filming

When meeting up we ensured that the characters were represented as they should be,  we began styling Laurence’s hair (Hunter) to make him appear well kept and appealing to ensure that he looked professional and more superior and upper class to Jamie, providing more of a contrast between the two which helps emphasise the main plot twist. 

Laurence had trouble with ensuring that his hair was slicked back and curled and so Beth ended up doing his hair and him preparing for his appearance.Laurence was wearing a suit shirt and suit shoes with pants as mentioned previously, this  again helping emphasise his professionalism through smart attire, to add a more “spy” effect to our character Hunter, we ensured he wore sunglasses as this is a typical convention of a spy character’s costume as it reflects mystery.

We agreed that we should dress Jess in trainers and dark sports attire to make her appear more athletic adding more suspense to the chase alongside ensuring that her clothing is black to reflect her villain like characteristics. Where make up is concerned, we had Jamie’s (Jess’) make up rather dark yet natural to help contrast the typical girl next door to the criminal.

Story Board and Filming Schudele

Issues Raised:

We found filming to be challenging when we first started planning it out as it became apparent that not all of the actors and group could make it on those days at the times allocated, and, therefore, we postponed  the filming until the week after on Tuesday the 29th when everyone was available.  Within the group we decided it would be better if we did the chase within the evening when it was darker to create more mystery and enigma around the characters as the audience has not yet developed and understanding, however, when filming at a later time we discovered some issues regarding lighting as with the camera we used did not have great lighting and, therefore, the picture would not show, we attempted to resolve this issue by using torches and spotlights to provide light and direct the focus when filming.

Furthermore, we had some issues with the location as I arrived late as I got lost and could not find Jess’ house where we were filming Jamie (Jess)’s wake up scene and routine where she would discover she is wanted. As we wanted to minimise the amount of time it takes to film, Beth and Jess began to film her morning routine at 1pm and shortly after completing this, Ashleigh arrived which allowed us to complete the scene including her news broadcast.

We then had to wait until Laurence was available to film after work, he brought along his costume with him; smart shoes, a shirt and sunglasses. These all reflect mystery and professionally which we want Hunter (Laurence) to reflect making him appeal to both genders within the audience as men would aspire to be him and women would find attraction towards him.

Unfortunately, we hadn’t filmed Hunter’s (Laurence’s) scene of getting up and his profession revealed when picking up the phone, this scene shows the contrast between Jamie and Hunters lives and how the news broadcast impacts both of their lives. Jess and Laurence were meeting up during the week and exclaimed that they would be able to film it then and then call me for any reassurance and checking that needs to be done.

Red Bullet

Evaluation of focus group for Main Task

In order, for my group to have a focus group we had to match consent forms which are shown on previous blog post. This allowed our participants to understand what they were taking part in which made it ethical as we were given on consent therefore not putting participant under pressure as such.

We, meaning my group and I, collaborated together to discuss who we wanted to add into our focus group, we decided we’d like to have both males and females so the answers weren’t bias. We believed it was important to add males and females so we could collect a variety of answers and not just males giving their opinions or vice versa, this therefore helped to have a range of answers as well as according to their gender.

Our focus group size was also big as it was a focus group of 11 people, this was important to have a big group as it allowed us to get a variety of thoughts and opinions across others. This was also useful as it helped other participants who weren’t necessarily speaking to get involved as they may have disagreed with what their friend may have said and therefore expressed their own opinion or explain why they thought others were wrong.

Along, with our focus group, Jess and I believed it was important for us to be asking questions therefore we were both able to pick up each other’s mistakes, as well as this it also allowed our questions to be in more detailed as we were using 2 brains to ask the questions than one. Essentially we were both there to help if one got stuck in answering or adding on to a participants answer. I believe this was a good way of asking and finding out answers because it showed we both worked well together whilst Beth was recording us as we went along.

We were happy with the final outcome as everyone contributed at least once and if we saw a person looked uncomfortable, we discretely directed a question at them in order to allow everyone in our focus group to give their opinion. Also, we believe our focus group was successful as we had structured but open questions that we asked and we managed to ask every question and get a appropriate answer to all. This was useful as it helped us to come to conclusions such as the name of title and how the main character or other characters should dress, also by using structured questions implies you won’t go off topic because there is a sat format so open questions are allowed as it provides qualitative data to collect which is a more detailed way of collecting data.

However, our focus group were talkative at times which effected our filming as its very hard to sometimes understand what participants are saying, this therefore makes it hard for us as a group to use this source of filming because we find it hard to understand. So, in the future if I were to do a focus group again id make sure participants weren’t talking over one another. I’d put this into place by adding a policy of what is expected of them in a consent form so they were aware of how to behave.

Also, if I were to do the focus group again id spent more time on creating questions in order to get accurate and detailed responses to questions. As this would be much more helpful when coming to planning the main task and will help my group and I understand what is expected from our target audience to create the best possible opening sequence that we possibly could.

Overall, I am quite impressed with my focus group as it helped my group and I to make final decisions on what we were unsure on, filming the focus group is also very useful as when in doubt we can always relate back to the filming to have a greater understanding of what the participant is aiming to express than if they were to answer the questions in a written format.

Focus Group for Main Task

Consent form for focus group

We created a consent form for our participants who were going to take part in our focus group discussion. By making a consent form implies we are allowing our participants to understand what they are being filmed for and what is it being used for, in this case to allow my group to come to a final decision on what we are going to include in our opening sequence.

Our consent form
As you are aware, we are researching into further depth about action films and its audience and how it creates an impact throughout the film. This is in order to create a successful opening scene for our AS media coursework and therefore is only used for educational purposes.

We are therefore creating a focus group in which will communicate in discussion the chosen topic on action films and any sub genres that may be important, thus, the discussion is based on opinions and therefore are no right or wrong answers.

By signing, you agree that you are comfortable with the footage of the discussion to be placed publicly online purely for educational purposes, if you are uncomfortable in doing so, please do not sign however any attendance will be much appreciated within doing so.

Signed:


Dated:

Character Profiles for our main task

In our plot there is to be 3 different characters that are visible.  A woman that is getting away with stolen files, a man who is going after her and a news reporter. In media it is important that the outfits worn are suitable and connote what you want them to connote so the audience can take things from the outfits and make judgements from stereotypes that might exist in their minds.

Character 1; Thief (Jamie)

The women that is taking the files is a pretty much normal girl however very intelligent which is made clear by the fact she has stolen the confidential files in the first place as not many people would easily be able to do this so it clearly took some skill this is shown within the news report.

For this characters general look we thought Jess would be suitable for the role as she has a simplistic, appealing look as she has brown hair which is quite basic nothing too out of the ordinary. This could reflect the male gaze theory.  We have also been able to challenge expectations as you may not expect a pretty quiet petite girl to get away with stealing government files, she shows masculinity as we have given this character a unisex name, making her connote dominance and control, showing that she may not be as emotional as him challenging stereotypes as the romance within the film would typically be led by the woman.

We decided that the costumes for her when she is getting up in the morning should just be normal pyjamas and a dressing gown as this is what would typically be worn by most normal people in the morning. For later on in the day when it is the chase scene we thought a mixture between sporty clothes and normal clothes would be good it shows the character to be quite prepared and also goes along with the way she is just a normal girl it was also suitable for a chase scene as it meant easy movement.

Character 2: Chaser (Hunter)

Character 2 is the man that is going after the thief we decided he had to come across as very professional but possibly with a weak spot and later on this flaw is shown to be where the thief comes in and he falls in love with her. He also needed to be presented as intelligent especially working for a government agency thus creating the main basis of our films.

We decided Laurence would be a good choice of actor for this character having done GCSE drama and being very good at it. He also had the right kind of look. He is quite tall, good looking enough and in good shape giving him the right look for a government agent and possibly appealing the female audience.


For his indoor scene he would also be wearing pyjamas but nothing too silly as this would take away from the professionalism of him just simple plain colours he would also have bed hair so it gave off the impression he had just woken up. We decided the suitable dress for him was a suit as this looks very professional and is what a typical agent would wear. We would slick back   his hair adding to the professionalism and add some sunglasses this would add mystery and not give away his identity at times as easily and would show him to have less emotion especially if you cannot see his eyes which would help in giving a serious tone.

Character 3: News Reporter

Where the news reporter was considered, we dressed her in formal attire to portray concern and importance. We thought I would be great for this role as I  have had experience within the news as she studied it within my GCSE’s and therefore  know how to be portrayed. We also came to the conclusion that I would suit the role of a news reporter as they are often well put together as it is television and a serious programme.


I was dressed smartly, a whole outfit wasn’t important as you could only see the top half of my body so a shirt was a good idea and my makeup was natural also suitable for the news scene, If it had been overdone it would not have given the serious tone we would want. My hair was left down and was straight and showing her to be sensible and informative.