Final Version

This is the final version of our production, one of the titles glichted because of the software messing up.

Evaluation question 7

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

Looking back the premliminary task, i feel that i have learnt a lot. Such as different ways to film, such as using tri-pods and other forms of items for filming certain areas (e.g. placing the camera on a skateboard to film legs/feet walking etc. When we had filmed the preliminary, we only used three different types of shots, whereas in our main production, we used the same shots but more eliborated versions of it, so there is more types of shots.
In our premeliminary exercise, we only filmed the shots we needed to film (in other words the minimum), we felt that only filming the bare minimum on our main production wasn't enough, we needed to film the same shot a few times so that we had got that shot perfected and when we place it together it would flow smoothly without any mistakes in the shots.
We learned that taking little bits out of shots and placing them where there is a mistake would save time and effort instead of re-filming the whole section again.

Evaluation question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During contruction of the product, we have learned a variety of things about filming. Firstly, we learned about operate the camera properly. We also learned how/where to place the camera on certain shots, for example for filming the feet and bottom half of the legs walking we place the camera on a skateboard and pulled the skateboard in time with the person walking.
We have also learned about different techniques of the computer about putting the shots together to maje it into one continuos piece of film. We used CS4 for our editting which i had never used before, so i learned how to use it and experimenting with it to help put the filming together. Creating the film was actually quite easy to get used to and was easy to do.
Another thing which i learned to do was blogging, I had never used a blog before so at the start i had to learn and practise how to use it, however after a short while i got the hang of it and found it easy ever since. I hace learnt things like including putting in links, photos and videos (this was done by embedding codes and HTML) onto my blog.
I have learned how to upload videos to youtube aswell.

Evaluation question 5

 How did you attract/address your audience?

The way we attracted/addressed our audience is by showing how a different group of people (Gangsters) live their lives, so instead of watching normal, everyday people in a film, we thought that showing how Gangsters live their lifes.
 Another way that we try and keep the audience attracted is the way we set the out the music, the music relates to the characters in the opening scene (suspicious type music). The music builds up tension then stops when the guy gets shot. The next time music plays it shows the guy dead lying on the table.

Evaluation question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The type of audience who would watch our media product is mostly people between the ages 16-24. The main reason for this is because younger audiences normally tend to go the the cinema mainly for social gatherings also they have more time to spare than adults do. Also groups of people would watch our media production due to who mainly be in the production e.g. certain age groups would want to wach certain actors/actresses. If we got a big named actor in ouir film e.g. George Clooney then more people would come to watch it then if someone was less good as an actor.

Evaluation question3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The type of institution that would distribute our media production would be a small institution such as FilmFour. The reason for this is because the audience would much smaller than an audience who would watch a film which is produced by a larger institution. Seeing as the movie would have a small audience, the mmoney which would be produced wouldn't be enough to support the larger company. It would be good to have a smaller institution because the audience who will watch will be looking for an in-depth storyline, they wouldn't be intrested in the special effects or any well known actors who are usually act in the big movies.

Evaluation question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Representation of Gangsters

• In our opening the black clothes of the shooter(Shaun) represents the evilness of his character this is normally shown in criminals seeing as thy often have sinister agendas. Gangsters also aim to be hidden, as a result of this they normally tend to wear black/ dark clothes which blends in with the blackness of the night
• Most Gangster movies are set in a night-time setting, This is typical of a Gangster film because most crimes happen at night-time and being dark in the opening scene gives the characters be dark, evil, sinister feel about them
• A typical Ganster  opening shows a seedy, intimidating area - this is because this type of area is a typical hang out for Gansters

Representation of women:

• High heels signifies the sex the appeal of women through lengthening the legs - one of the most attractive parts of a woman
• Bare legs have a similar effect as the heels as it draws attention to the woman's legs and the bareness of them creates a sexual appeal
• The colour Red resembles passion and boldness it will show this on the woman and it will make the character stand out this will make her a point of focus during the opening.

• Operatic music is typically associated with gangsters so we have put a certain background music in our opening to give the audience a feel for the type of film and our will persuad the audience to believe the character is going to be evil in some sort of way.
• The fact the character carries a gun shows that he is Gangster/evil

Evaluation question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

How we used forms of conventions:

• Like every film opening, we put the title of the production company first and then let the very beginning of our footage flow into the last title which is the name of our film. This is done by fading from black and letting the sound continuing from the black between transitions.
• In our production, we used the conventions of a gangster film we included codes which included guns, cigars, whiskey,
• We created a film noir appearance of the film, it is typical of a gangster/crime film, we done this by putting a black and white filter over the footage and heavily contrasting the light used.

How we developed form and conventions:

• We created an enigma,we kept diaglogue to a minimum, we done this so that we did not give away  of the context of what is to come in the film
• Like film openings, we didn't give much away about the characters however, we did introduce the main ones.  The victim is the only character in which whom the audience mainly associates with but the main, sinister figures (the woman and the shooter) are not to be understood as that is what the film aims to explain, this is done to keep the audience watching the film. We tried not to include much of their faces, this is done to keep this detachment from the audience.

How form and conventions are challenged :

• Most gangster films we looked into had more dialogue in the beginning, it would either, be a voice over or a conversation between characters, we felt there would be more suspense would be created if we did not have much dialogue. And also, it means the audience can focus more of the visual aspect of the opening rather instead of focusing on what is being said.

Next draft of the opening

Here is the next draft of our opening to the film. It is more detailed and it has more effects in than the first draft. Titles and Lauras voice over still needs to be added, once this is completed then the opening of the film will be complete.

Filming Finished !!

Here is the last picture of us filming. We managed to finish filming a week before easter. Seeing as Shaun is the best person for the editing, he volenteered to edit the video.We also came up with the production name and the presentation of it after we finished filming. Here is what it looks like. After a while of thinking what production name we finally came with a name which Shaun thought of and both me and Laura thought that it was a good name.

Risk assessment

We had to have a risk assessment for when we were filming. I asked the rest of the group and they came up with the same ideas as i thought or a bit more. For example:
-keep cables tidy
-Don't have drinks near electricals

And other things like this.

Feedback of first draft

We shown our first draft to our teacher and part of the class to gain feedback. Overall the feedback was great, however someone pointed out that from a certain point it looks more like a trailer than an opening. We will take this feedback into consideration and improve the way it looks.

Last bit of filming

To add to the first/rough cut we need to film the last part which is when Laura and Shaun are walking and meet each other. We have planned to do the filming this afternoon.

First/rough cut of our production

This is our rough draft of our main production. It is called Heavon's Devils.

Indoor Fliming Finished

On Tuesday, we finished the indoor filming round Laura's house.
There was a change in plan with a setting which we coundn't use due to it not being what we needed.

We have had a few changes to the indoor filming:

- The characters are now just Shaun and me

- The plot is now slightly different we had to cut some of the dialogue (This is because we felt that it made the beginning a bit too complicated and it didn't set enough of an enigma)

- The shots are predominantly CUs. This is to capture an intensity of the character's emotions.

So that we can capture the 'film noir' atmosphere in our production, we closed the curtains,blinds,doors, this is so that the majority of daylight was shut out of the room.  The only problem was that there was still some light shining through the top of the curtain, we coundnt do anything about this unfortunetly. In our production we chose to use bright lighting in areas which brought in focus to a particular area in the frame.  When we come to edit the image of the film itself, we will play around with the contrast, this will be done to find further emphasise these areas if it is needed.

Filming

Seeing as Laura is better we are going to finish the filming at her house this afternoon. When we have finished, we will make a rough cut and show the rest of the class to get feedback. This will be done on Friday. Once we have got feedback we will edit the rough cut into a final draft.

Problem with filming

It turns out that Laura has become ill and we need to film at her house to finish the last part of the film. So we have to try and film as soon as she is better becuase of the deadline being close for the final cut of the filming.

Post pone filming

We have to postpone the filming this afternoon because ive got lessons and havent got time to film with the others. So we will have to Film later on this week.

Filming

We are planning to film some more of the indoor filming tomorrow afternoon.

Back filming

We will  back to film this week and/or next because Shaun is finally back off holday so we can start filming and getting it finished as soon as possible. We should have a rough cut of the film done by the end Feb/beginning of March and then have the Final piece finished by the end of March/beginning of April

Filming/ editing

We now have to have a rough cut of the production done by the 4th of march so that gives us plenty of time to finish the last bit of filming when Shaun comes back.
Tomorrow i am going to edit the footage what we have got so far, and we will finish the filming when Shaun arrives back next week.

Filming

We started to film last Friday at Laura's house.

Unfortunitly Shaun has gone on holiday this week so we can't film the parts with him. If Shaun lets us borrow his camera will film the parts without him and then when he comes back we will film the parts with him in it.

Filming

The deadline to finish the filming has been moved forward a week to the 4th of Febuary, so we have an extra week We are going to film the inside parts at Laura's house on Thursday morning.

Filming outdoors- Skateboard

We had a bit of a problem while filming, While trying to move the skateboard with the camera on it, the shots used to be jumpy due to the bumbs in the path which made the camera move about. Fortunitly Shaun had some tape which he used to attach the camera to the skateboard so the camera wouldn't jolt about as musch.

Filming Done

We have finally got the outdoor filming done, We planned to go a week before last but didn't think about what we needed to film the close up of Laura's feet while she is walking. Then i came up with an idea of using a skateboard to place the camera on. So last Friday, Shaun, Chelsea, Laura and Me went into town with the skateboard and camera and we filmed all the outside parts.

Filming Canceled

Seeing as we had someone ill yesderday we could not film.
Also  today we thought of problem that could come up and that is the unsteadiness of the camra if it was being held by hand instead of using a tripod. We have thought a solution to this. I am going to bring in my skateboard on Monday for Shaun to use for low angles for example the first scene of the upclose walking of Lauras' character. After Shaun has sorted out the camera and the skateboard situation we will go into town on Tuesday and start the outdoor filming.
On Monday the 28th we will be meeting up at Laura's house and we will be filming for the filming.

Filming

We are going to be filming in our Media Lesson on Thursday,  but we are also be filming in the afternoon and after school and not just in the lesson.
We are also going to be filming all day on Friday, if nothing goes wrong that is.

starting shooting

We are going to start shooting our production when we get back to school, we have a deadline of the 28th of January. So We NEED to stat filming as soon as possible.