Dan Housden's A2 Media Blog: March 2014

Friday, 7 March 2014

One of the transitions that we used was the fade to black. This is just simply when the screen goes to black after a certain shot. It is used to switch between different scenes and can also be used to create tension for the audience. The program we used has many different transitions that you are able to use and caters for many different genres. The different transitions can be placed anywhere onto the footage and can also be put in between any different shots. The fade to black was the one I used the most because it is simple but effective and it is also a typical convention when it comes to the action genre.

Inter-titles and Billing Block

When it came to our own production this was again one of the tools we used the most. The inter titles feature allows you to insert different pre made titles and then you could just enter your own text relating back to the production you are creating. Intertitles helped us when it came to our own production because we could help tell the narrative by using different text such as "2 agents on call". This tells the audience what our film is about and also gives them an idea as to what's happening. We made our intertitles in bold, white font because it stands out to the audience and also it is simple but effective. We also used the billing block tool at the end of our trailer. This is where you can insert a ready made billing block then again just type your own text that you wish to have in there. Information such as directors, actors and also producers will go into the billing block. This helps the audience because they can research these names if they want more information about our film. We found using both these tools easy and quicker than creating them ourselves because we could easily just add them both in at any time.

Slow Motion:

We also slowed a lot of our footage down to build tension and suspense for the audience. We used it when the agents were walking past the camera which makes the audience feel unnervy and uneasy. When creating our own film we didn't use any other form of speed manipulation because we felt that this wouldn't fit our film and the genre that we chose.

Evaluation Task 4

How did you use new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

During the research, planning and evaluation stages of our film trailer we used a wide range of different media technologies and we used them to help us in many different ways through the different stages, the following paragraphs explain how we used them:

We used emails to send storyboards to each of the crew and so that we could have the different storyboards when it came to filming. This helped us because it made us more organised and efficient. We also used emails to co-ordinate with the different actors so that they knew what day filming was and also what to wear for the filming. This was a good, easy and quick way of keeping in communication with various different people because emails can e sent and received anywhere which made it easier for everyone.

The next part of equipment we used was a Sony HD camera. It was suitable for us because it was small and easy to carry about which was beneficial because we had to film in may different locations around the town centre. Because of the genre of our film we needed a HD camera because it would have suited our film and the camera we used suited the genre well. We was also able to strap the camera to an actors head and this was good for us because it allowed us to capture the point of view shots from our film as realistic as possible.

We also used iPhones and iMessage to message other members of the group to be able to arrange filming dates. We also used phones to take location photos some of the phones were also used in out footage as part of props to then enhance the action and genre of our film. We also used the Blogger Apple App to be able to update our blogs whilst we were on location which was good for us because because we could upload location photos and storyboards when we were on location, along with other photos that may help us.

Another important piece of equipment that we used during the production of our film was a media school laptop. We used this for various tasks such as updating media blogs and also searching for music to put in our production. We also used them to photoshop images such as our production company logo to then be able to put them onto our final piece. I also was able check emails from actors and group members about filming days and other important pieces of information.

We also used an Apple iMac computer with final cut pro editing package installed onto it when it came to editing our film trailer. We was also able to upload our draft version of the film onto our blogs which was quicker than using a standard computer because it saves the time of putting the media onto a memory stick. We also used it to create and upload our voiceover for our film trailer. We was also able to add our photoshopped images onto the final cut pro to then be able to be added into our trailer.We found the iMac a lot easier to use compared to the Macbooks because it didn't crash when we were editing our film. The screen size was also bigger compared to the Macbook which was easier for us because we could easily see all of the footage on the screen at once. When using Final Cut Pro I also used various different tools to guide me when editing my trailer, I have mentioned all of the tools that I used below.

We also used an Olympus voice recorder to record our voiceover for the other evaluation task. We also used it for the government agent voiceover at the start of the trailer and also for the phone call during the trailer. These were easily able to connect with the Mac that we used and then we was easily able to upload these into final cut pro.

We also used Facebook as another way of communicating with other group members about filming days and other various issues and questions. We also used it to get photos of our actors for the research on our blog. We found that using this to communicate was a lot quicker than using emails because people use this program more compared to the emails.

We also used Adobe Photoshop to make our film title for our trailer, our production company logo and also our poster and magazine cover for our trailer then we was able to put them onto a memory stick and upload them to final cut pro to go with our voiceover for the evaluation task. When using Photoshop I also used various tools on the programme which have talked about below.

The program that we used the most was Blogger because we used this regularly to update our work and also post various photos of our trailer and how we were progressing. We also used it to post all of our research and planning such as storyboards and choices of different music, it was easy for us all to to use because we could either use it on a computer or a phone app that was also easily accessible.

Another program that we used during planning was Microsoft Powerpoint. This is an office programme that allows you to create presentations and slideshows. I used this during the planning stage because we had to create a pitch to show to the rest of the class about different information about our film. We were then given feedback about how we could improve and what we did well.

We also used YouTube which is a video sharing website that can be viewed by anyone. We used this to upload drafts of our film and also during the research stage to watch other trailers for ideas about our own and things not to do.

We also used Freeplay music which allows people to upload music that has not been copyrighted and that anyone can use. We used this during the planning stage when we were looking for music that would suit our genre and also where we could browse other music effects that we could have used.

Photoshop Tools Used:

When using Photoshop for various things within my trailer I also used various tools. In the above picture is the tools that i used and below I have described on what they did and how I used them. The first tool is the move tool, this is one that i used the most and is simply where you can move images and texts around the canvas. I used this to our images and text where i canted them to be for my final piece. You can also put images on different layers using this tool which i found helpful because I had to do this when creating my film poster.

The next tool is the zoom tool. This allows you to zoom into images and texts on the canvas and then will be able to easily edit them before zooming out back onto the canvas. You are also able to delete any extra parts you may not want in the final print text. I found this helpful because not everything that was in the images i wanted and this allowed me to delete small items.

I also used the magnetic lasso when editing, this allows me to edit images while going around the edge of an image and the lasso automatically clicks onto the image which makes my job easier because it does it for me. This is used for cropping images and also deleting other extra images you may not need.

I also found the magic wand useful when it came to editing. This is a tool that allows you to select areas around an image that you may want to edit. It is easy to use as it does it all for you. The only time I used this was when I wanted to delete the background of my image for a better overall quality of the final image. It is faster than the eraser and I also find it easier because it selects the area for you.

The next tool is the text tool. This was again one of the most popular ones that I used and it just simply allows you to insert text onto the canvas. I used it on many occasions such as putting in actors names and also titles fr my magazine and film poster.

The crop tool was the most simple tool, it just simply allows you to crop out a part of an image that may be to big or you may not need it. I found this good to use because you could easily delete a large area of an image you may not need. I used this to make images smaller on my film poster so they would then be the correct scale to fit onto my poster.

The eraser tool is again another simple one that allows you to erase parts of an image just by clicking on it. You are also able to change the size of the eraser depending on how much of an area you want to delete. I didn't like to use this tool because I found it harder to use because it was inaccurate and I wasn't able to stay steady enough with it.

The paint bucket tool is another very simple tool to use. It will colour a bit area depending on a colour of your choice. You simply just choose a colour and then click onto the area you want coloured and it does it all for you. I found using this simple and also quick because it saved me the time of having to go over the whole screen when I did it in one click.

Evaluation Task 3

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

When we had finished the draft of our trailer we then played it to the rest of the class to gain some feedback on what we did well and what we could improve on. We felt this was good because it was good to get an opinion off of another class member because everyone has a different opinion. Once we had gained some feedback we then went back to the editing stage to make some changes and to improve the overall look of our film. Some of the audience feedback that we received has been listed below in positive and negative lists:

Negative:

"Too slow paced, needs more fade to blacks"

"Need some more footage"

"The flashes on the map do not look right"

"The shot of the agents looking to cross the street is too bright and has too much colour"

Positive:

"The music fits really well with the genre"

"The cuts are well timed with the music"

"The sound effects are very effective and go well with the trailer"

"Good use of props from the start"

"The voiceovers work well"

"The filters on the shots are effective and work well with the crime and action genre"

"Good point of view shot running through the streets"

"Ending of the trailer is really good"

The chart we have included we can see that 31% of our feedback was negative and 69% was positive. This is good for us because it means that we had more good things than bad things, which meant the audience liked our overall trailer. We also managed to change some of the negative feedback on the Mac to try and make it more positive for the audience. An example of this is when the audience said that we need more fade to blacks. The way we changed this was simple and we just added more after shots, which build up tension for the audience and also added more pace and quick cut editing to our film trailer. When we had changed this we asked for more feedback and the feedback we received was "It suits the genre more because of the quick editing" This was good for us because it means that we had achieved what we wanted to and also made our film relate more to the chosen genre.

Another feedback point that we received was the fact that we may have chosen the wrong location. The first location that we chose was in Cambridge, in the Grafton shopping centre. The initial ideas was that the location was a good choice because of the amount of people that were there so we could include a lot of "near misses". However we had feedback after that said that our location might not be thought out enough. This is because we had to wait a long time for replies from managers at the Grafton which was bad for us because we was losing filming times. As a result of this a feedback point that we received was "maybe try more local locations". We ended up using St. Neots town center but we also had to use a lot of of props because it was the local area and would easily be known by our media class. Another reason why we chose a local area was to ensure that all of the crew could easily get to the location, and choosing the town centre was an easy way of achieving this.

Once we had finished our filming and editing we had some more feedback that was "The shots were well worked because it didn't look like a small town centre" This was again good for us because this is what we wanted to achieve when framing the shots.

When we had to pitch our initial ideas to the class we had some more feedback about our narrative. The feedback was "the narrative was confusing and the sub plots were also very unclear". The way we achieved this was by cutting down on the amount of footage we had added into our trailer to ensure that the narrative was simple and clear for the audience to understand. We think we had achieved this because when we had more feedback after cutting the footage and we got told that the narrative was easy to understand and the sub plots were also clear for the audience to understand and know what's happening.

Evaluation Task 2

The above video explains how the film trailer and also how the film poster and magazine both link, also explaining how affective they all are.

One of the common elements that I have included in my campaign is the use of the gun. The gun has been included in all three prints because it links the film together and when the audience see the gun hopefully it will make them think of our film. I have also used various fonts and colours to try and attract my target audience. I have used a bold, black font for my main film name. I feel that I have attracted my target audience is because the bold will make the title of the film stand out and hopefully grab the attention of the audience. The colour of black and white used also relates back to our film genre because of the crime and action, this is because low key lighting is also used in these two genres. Another common element used is the name of the film, this is because it also relates back to the narrative of our film because the word hunt suggests that they are looking for something or someone. The style of our film title is also original and synergy is created here because of the originality wherever the audience see the title it will remind them of our film.

The characters that we decided to feature on my prints were the 2 agents and also the protector of the young girl that is on the run. We decided to black out the agents under the bridge because it builds tension and suspense for the audience. The pose for the two agents that we have chosen to use is them standing with their arms crossed. We decided to use this because it shows that they have dominance and power over the other characters because they are bigger.

On my magazine cover I have chosen to include the main image of the protector because he is the main character within our film trailer. I have also chosen the main image of him looking around the corner with a gun because it relates back to the narrative of our story and shows that he is looking for someone but at the same time as this it doesn’t give much away so this will hopefully make the audience want to come and see the film to find out the full narrative. The clothes that we decided to use for the 2 agents was formal dress. This is because this is stereotypical for agents but they were also supposed to be undercover so we didn’t want it to be too obvious. We also wanted to make our trailer as realistic as possible so this was another reason why we chose this clothing for them.

Throughout the campaign there is only one relationship that has been suggested. This relationship was the two agents when they were standing under the bridge. The way that it has been suggested is by them two standing close together and this tells the audience that they are quite close and that they work well together.

The narratives that I have used on my print texts are agent Blake looking away from the camera, and also looking around the corner. This suggests that he is looking for someone or an object of some form which again then relates back to the main narrative of our film and the film title “hunt”. I have also used an image of the 2 agents dragging the girl away from the camera. I have used this because it still keeps their identity hidden like it does throughout the whole films and also them dragging the girl relates back to our narrative because this is the girl that is on the run, by using this image it suggests to the audience about the narrative but doesn’t give much away so this will hopefully make the audience want to come and see the film and about how the narrative ends.

The action and crime conventions that I have emphasized in my print texts were the usp of our film. The way I have emphasized this in the texts is by putting the usp in black, bold font so it stands out to the audience. Another convention that I have emphasized in my print texts is the release date on my film poster. I have again put it in bold, black font but I have also placed it in the middle of the posters so it is clear and easy to read for the audience.

In my campaign I have only used one effect as most of my writing is in simple, black and bold. This is because it is easily understandable and clear to read for the audience. The effect that I have used is the smoke behind the word “Hunt”. I have chosen to use this effect because it makes the film title stand out and also grabs the attention of the readers for the posters. This is a convention for the genre we chose because a lot of guns and violence is included in action films, and using the smoke emphasizes the genre.

The way that the institutional information links to my print texts is because I have only included the release date on my film poster. This will hopefully make the audience view the film poster more than the magazine cover because they would want to know when the film is released. The release date is also again in bold for the audience so it stands out and they can easily find out when it is released.

Overall I feel that my campaign for my film trailer was quite successful because I included various features and conventions from the 2 genres that we chose to try and make my campaign as successful as possible. If I was to complete my campaign again the things I would change would be to try and include more images on my film poster rather than just 1 because it would make it more interesting. I would also change the font style to also make it more interesting and to match the rest of the font on the poster.

Evaluation Task 1

Frame 1 - Film Title Font and Style

The first frame photo that we have used in the 9 image frames was the name of our film. We decided to use the name "Hunt" because the main, big plot for our film is for someone that was being hunted by 2 agents with hidden identity. We chose to put a gunshot because this connotes the genre of the film as action and crime, a joint genre. The gunshot also keeps to the stereotype for action and crime films because they will always have some form of weapon involved in them. We have also chosen to include "Classified and Dangerous" tagline for part of our film as this is what we want the audience to remember our film by. Along with this, it also emphasizes the stereotypical genre for our film because it makes the audience feel that they know something they aren't supposed to, which is an example of voyeurism. The classified and dangerous information within our film is the government information which is also the main reason that girl is being hunted because she has found this information and she should not have any access to it. We also have chose to use a black background with the main title font in bold as this makes the main title stand out to the audience, it also makes it clear and easy to read. This is common in most action films that will use a one named title because it is easy to remember. Examples for this that match our film include "Parker" and "Taken".

Frame 2 - Locations and Settings

For the second frame out of the 9 that we had chosen the image of town that was taken with the head cam. We chose to film during the day at the weekend because town would then be reasonably busy, which would help for filming because it would be good for the girl to keep hidden away from the government agents. Because of how busy it is we were also able to include some "near misses" which would be good for our film and chosen genre because it would build tension and suspense for the audience. We also chose to film when it was busy because it fits the stereotype of the action genre, as this is where all action and crime films are produced. The girl would also be able to blend in with the general public when we were filming, which again could be use to build tension during the film because the agents wouldn't be able to see her and as a result she may be able to get away from them for a certain amount of time. There was also low key lighting used when we was filming because this again fits the stereotype because anyone can go missing when it's dark, also the low key lighting connotes danger because people are harder to see in the dark.

Frame 3 - Costumes and Props

For the main costumes for our 2 hidden agents we chose to use formal wear such as shirts, black trousers and black shoes. The reason we had chose to do this was because this is again a typical convention in action films. We got our ideas for our costumes from films such as "Taken" and "Men in Black". For the protector in our film we had again chose to use formal dress such as plain, black coat formal trousers such as jeans and a shirt. This is stereotypical again in action films because if they're in formal clothes then they will "blend in" with the general public and won't get spotted by the two government agents. We had also got this idea from other action and crime films such as "Skyfall" where the main character is in a suit and other main characters are also in formal clothing. The formal clothing also shows the amount of power and dominance that the main characters have over the other characters in the trailer.

Frame 4 - Camerawork and Editing

The frame that we chose to use for this one was the shot where the most camerawork was used to ensure that we got the perfect shot for our trailer. We wanted to get a steady, panning shot and we also used a headcam shot to make the audience feel more involved in the trailer, because it would look as if they were in the footage. After research we found out that this is also used a lot in action films because it build tension and suspense for the audience whilst also adding realism into the trailer.

A lot of editing was also used in our trailer and the way that we did this was through Final Cut Pro. One example of the editing that we used was in the slow motion shot. We used this as it is again a convention in action films but it also builds suspense and tension for the audience because they don't know what is going to happen. The trailer is also fast paced editing and the way we did this was to use a lot of quick cutting and fade to black. Making the trailer fast paced also keeps the audience on the edge of their seats because it acts as past of a cliffhanger.

Frame 5 - How the Trailer Sets Storyline Up

This frame shows the storyline behind our trailer and how the narrative is introduced. The way that we showed our narrative to the audience was through the government radio and also the voiceover. This suggests to the audience that the genre of our film is action adventure. The intertitles also helped to explain the narrative to our audience because the intertitle said "Agent Blake" which emphasizes the action and crime genre that we chose. The show of him throwing away his MI5 badge also suggests the narrative of our film because by doing this the audience won't know why it has been thrown away and this builds up tension and suspense for them. Within our trailer we only show little parts of the film which will hopefully make the audience want to see the final film, this will hopefully make our trailer successful because of the cliffhanger as to why he is wanted in the film.

Frame 6 - How Characters are Introduced

In this frame we have chosen to show how the two government agents are introduced. The way we did this was again through the use of intertitles where it said "agents on call". We also chose to include other information such as their location and time. The reason we did this was because it adds the realism to our film and this is also a convention of a typical crime genre because it helps to build the narrative. The intertitle also helps to tell the audience that they are working together and work as a pair through the "2 agents on call" However the young girl is introduced in a very different way, the way that she was introduced was through the voiceover, this was "what would you do if you found government information". This is a rhetorical question for the audience and also makes them thin about why this could be asked to them. Agent Blake is introduced through the scene in the cafe holding a newspaper, this could be seen as suspicious by the audience because he keeps looking over the newspaper as if he is looking for someone or something.

Frame 7 - Special Effects

This frame is the two agents standing under the bridge. We feel that this show shows the effects that we used because we darkened most of our shots to make our trailer fit the chosen genre. The reason that we chose to have the agents darkened out was because we wanted to hide their identity, because as agents this usually happens to keep information secret. This is also anther convention of the action genre that we chose to use which can be seen in films such as Taken and Men In Black. Another effect that we used in our trailer was the flashing of the red dot on the phone. We chose to use this because it can act as a tracker for the girl and can be on the agents phone to show where they were. The reason we chose to use this was because this is also another convention of the action genre because agents will usually tend to have hi-tech gadgets that will help them to complete a job or task.

Frame 8 - Use of Logo

For our production company name we chose "Incognito". The reason we chose this was because incognito means the idea of being hidden and not being discovered. Another reason we chose this was because the films that we will be producing we be based on being hidden, and matching the action adventure genre. The way it would fit the genre is because someone will always be hidden or not discovered, and we wanted our film to match this stereotype. We also chose to use the aim sight from a gun to replace the "o". We have chosen to use this because in our films we will always have some form of weapon, because this would also match the action and crime genre. The reason we chose to have the gun aim in red was because red connotes danger, which would again build tension for the audience. For the rest of the word "Incognito2 we have chosen to use a simple, black font which would be easily visible to read, and would also stand out to the audience.

Frame 9 -Genre

The last frame that we chose to use was the two agents dragging the girl down the street. We chose to use this to represent our genre because the agents identity is still hidden which is a convention of the action genre but also it build up tension an suspense for the audience because it doesn't show where they take her. This is another convention of the action genre because it makes the audience feel uneasy and as if they are in the narrative. The use of low key lighting also helps us to match our genre because it is again a typical convention of action films that we could easily match. By using the image of the agents dragging the girl down the back street it adds a sense of realism for the audience but it is also a ciffhanger because the audience don't know what's going to happen which will hopefully make them view our final film to find out what does happen.

Location Photos

First Location: Cafe Nero, St. Neots

The reason that we chose this location was because we felt that it was a suitable location. This is because we could easily make it look like a busy, city shop because this is a type of location that you will be able to find in a busy, town centre. This is because of the size of the shop and also because it is placed in one of the busiest parts of the town centre. We could also include some near misses in this location because there are many people standing around it.

Second location: Alleyway, Market Square St. Neots

We chose this location because it matches our chosen genre and is also a typical convention of an action and crime film. This is because is had low key lighting so we didn't need to edit it much and also because of the low key lighting it also helped us to hide the agents identity when dragging the girl down the alley. Also by using the correct framing we could also make it look like a typical alleyway that would be found in London. We felt that we did this successfully because of our framing we didn't show and it didn't look like St. Neots.

Third Location: Phonebox, St. Neots Town Centre
This phonebox was a key prop and location when it came to our filming. This is because it helped us to match the narrative by the agent Blake walking into the phone box and listening to a voice that was talking to him about returning the girl that is on the run. We had to be careful when filming this shot because if we didn't get the framing right then we could easily make it look like a small town but I felt that we made it look professional because we made it so it was just the phone box in the shot which allowed us to attempt to recreate a busy city centre.

4th Location: St. Neots Town Centre
The reason we chose this to film was because we could easily make it look like a busy atmosphere, which could also include some near misses between the two agents and the girl on the run. During filming we felt that we was able to do this and it also was a good match to our chosen genre. It was also easily accessible for all members of the crew and also because it was a busy weekday there was quite a few people out while we were filming.

5th Location: Alleyway By Waitrose, St. Neots

The reason we chose this location was because this is again a typical convention of action films. We also aimed to make the location look like a city centre. The way we did this was through filming and framing. I thought this was successful because we was able to make it look like a city centre and not a small town centre. It was also natural low key lighting featured here which was good for us because this is again a typical convention of action films which we tried to use because it adds realism to our film and also meets the genre we chose.

6th Location: St. Neots Town Bridge

The reason that we chose this location was because we was able to use the stairs and create a low angle shot looking up at the agents. This is good for us to be able to use this because this is again a typical convention and by using the low angle shot looking up it shows that they have dominance and power over the girl because using the low angle shot makes them look big and bold. Another reason that we chose this location was because the town bridge makes the shot look more like a city centre. This is because we used a mid shot of the bridge that makes it look busy during a normal working day.

Actors

While planning for our film we had to think through for our actors carefully. This is because if we chose the wrong actors then our film wouldn't be as realistic and wouldn't match our chosen genre. We also wanted them to match the characters of the genres that we researched before planning for our own film. For example we wanted the corrupt Agent to become a close comparison to Liam Neeson.

We also had to think for who we was going to choose to act as the government agents. We decided to use Matt Champion and Jake Lanigan. We chose these because we wanted the agents to work close together, and Jake and Matt are close friends in real life and we though that as a result of this they would become good government agents. This is why they are seen together in the trailer and we got this idea from Men in Black where Will Smith and Tommy Jones work together, both as agents. The actors also fitted the stereotype that we had chosen because their age range was the target audience for our film so the audience would be able to relate to this.

The actor that we got to play Agent Blake was Pete Collins and we chose him because he was strongly interested in playing the agent and another reason we chose him was because he was similar to Liam Neeson from Taken 1 and 2. Another reason we chose him was because we thought that he matched the mood boards we had created as part of the planning process for our film. It was important for us to get our actors to become as similar as possible because this would again add to the realism of our own trailer.

Shotlist

This was the shot list that was also created before we went out to film. It is important that this was created before we went to film because it was to ensure that everyone knew what they were doing which then made it easier for both the crew and the actors. We also used a key when it came to completing the shot list with each colour showing a different location where we will be filming and also to show who's in the shot. Creating a shot list made it easier for us when it came to filming because we all knew where we needed to be at all times so the shots could get filmed asap.

Voiceover Script

This was the script that we created for our voice over that was going to be in our film trailer. Before recording it we made sure that we knew what we was going to say as well as making sure all of the actors knew what they were saying to make it quicker for us. We also researched various other action voice overs before recording ours to find out other conventions and to also make the voice over as realistic as possible.