Submited Artice Format and Poster

This is the final poster and formatted artice that was submited by the group.
i feel the poster reflects the movie well as it shows no expression of the figure which also suggests 'erase' and reinforces the title. i think it looks professional and could be used as a poster for a main stream film.

Media Evaluation

When in the process of making the final products I had to consider media codes and conventions; these could be split into three distinctive groups:

- Technical (Camera techniques and shots…) - Symbolic (Clothing, Colours...) - Written and Audio (Music, Voiceover…)

These give the texts meaning and determine the response of the viewer. I have used these as a basis for my texts. I firstly started to explore the different codes, looking at websites like the BBC film network, (BBCFilmNetwork) which gave helpful information on ‘what makes a good short’ and codes and conventions like narrative, genre and mise-en-scene.

The narrative was obviously a big convention to make sure we got right. This would enable the audience to ‘get’ the film and enjoy it rather than questioning the story line. During the process we realised that the storyline may have been hard to follow therefore we used different conventions to support each other, for example the voice over that featured helped the viewer to follow the storyline and made it obvious that he was typing a story. Many films use this techniques of a voiceover to portray things like a flashback, a story or a letter being read, this creates a certain mood and evokes emotions, it also ‘sets the scene’ so to speak. They can narrate a storyline and can add character to the film – for example using voice over for animated characters helps to give them personality. The following trailer of the movie ‘Revolver’ has an obvious narration: Revolver. Voice over’s have many devices like adding character, for educational or descriptive purposes – using them to break language barriers therefore appealing to a lager audience, and many are used for commercial use, like advertisements on the radio. So I feel the voice over in the film is effective for viewing pleasure but is also conventionally used, and helps to state the narrative of the film.

Another convention is the genre of the film, when I was planning and researching I couldn’t really find a definite genre for the film. We did not base the film on a genre but just went ahead and planned and took into consideration what our audiences would like. From the finished product, based on narrative elements, I could not categorise it to one genre so it became a hybrid including horror, fantasy and sci-fi. The film seemed to follow these types of genres from the conventions we used, like the mise-en-scene; using things that typically appeared in these types of films. The mirror scene was a significant scene that merged the two parts together- reality and fantasy. The twist of the killer appearing in real life was a typical horror movie typed scene. The following clip is the trailer of the 2009 movie – The Unborn, they use many of the conventions that we tried to achieve when editing – although the narrative is completely different they still have the under tone of the ‘reality vs. fantasy’ and I love the way they captured the characters and how they edited it to show the ‘spirit’.

Music featured in the film is also a very important factor. This adds suspense and takes the film to another dynamic. Because of legislations like copyright, it was hard to find music that was fitting. I found some royalty free music on the internet, some artist like Moby compose music for film makers which I thing is great for supporting young filmmakers on a budget and help to take their films to the next level: MobyRoyaltyFree. Despite the support of artist’s like Moby, I felt like I did not have a broad choice and had to settle for what there was – rather than some music by choice that suited the film. So we decided to compose our own music using a software package called Mixcraft Acoustica. It was really easy and we could create music to our tasted and which really suited the film. Using things like choir voices and harp melodies helped to create suspense where needed and sound effects to emphasise scenes like where the killer merges into reality. I felt like we made a mistake composing the music before we filmed, as we envisaged some scenes different to how they actually turned out, most times for the better, and predicted times of scenes. The timing was not fitting for example the chase scene to last for 2 minutes when in actual fact it lasted a fraction of the time and it was a challenge to edit in the music, so we decided to re-format the music and inputted different music than we originally anticipated. Here is some of the music we composed and used in the film: (MUISC)

Codes and conventions were also used in the poster and article to make them as close to real media products as possible. In the texts I followed a house style using the hooded figure as a sort of icon, as he appears in the film. Using a silhouette instead of the real thing, I felt was adding suspense and enigma to all the media components. It created a sort of brand of the hooded figure and the goal was to make people identify with it and every time they would see the figure, it would relate them to the film and create a talking point or make them want to see it, which I think is a good marketing technique. Creating this establishment of the figure was also associated with the house colours. Using the reds, blacks and greys throughout the elements also aided the viewer to instantly recognise the film. Typical codes and conventions of a poster were also used; for example a masthead of the film in bold, creating a vocal point of the piece. Using the ratings of a real life magazine helped the poster to add that little professional touch as many genuine posters use ratings and review quotes – which I also used in the article. The article that I designed, I felt was also proficient looking, using codes and conventions interpreted from actual article formats and designs. However when researching articles, I remembered back to the AS media studies and I concluded that the magazine industry was problematic as they had to keep up with the times and many magazines have now gone interactive; so this made me think that it would only be right to create an interactive magazine/article. But due to lack of recourse and time I could not do it. This website allows you to create an interactive magazine and here are some examples: CalameoInteractiveMags. Nevertheless I felt I used these characteristic techniques to help the poster and article look as real as possible and it supported the viewers to understand them. Using a house style is important to help the viewer relate the film with the poster and the poster with the article and vice versa. It synergises each of the texts together, for example if someone read the article or witnessed the poster they would want to see the film or watched the film then read the article. So I feel it’s all to do with marketing and achieving the main purpose of why people make films – to have an income and by creating a house style go synergise each of the texts helps to bring in revenue. I think the combination of the media matched together effectively and aided each other. All these conventions and codes used are ultimately to increase viewing pleasure for the audience and help them to follow the texts. They allow the texts to be as professional as possible; developing and challenging forms and conventions of real media products. The audience’s are probably the most important part of the film industry – if they don’t like it then there’s no point! I hosted a screening of the film to my fellow class mates and the feedback was extremely positive, they enjoyed the anticipation and tension within the film and they said it kept them watching to see what would happen. A few of then did not follow the storyline but they said it was good as it kept them guessing and questioning as to what would happen. They especially liked the editing of the film and how it was put together. Because the film is broadcast on YouTube comments and ratings can be left so it will be interesting to see what the rest of the world thinks of the film. From the market research I conducted I got an overview of what the audience liked and appreciated technically so we tried to make as fitting as possible for the targeted viewers. Obviously there was some negative feedback – which was good as it gave me an insight as to what I could improve, and if I was to do it again what I would incorporate or not include. The possible areas for improvement according to the audience feedback were mainly that is a little difficult to follow. This may just have been opinions of college students but if I broadcast it to art houses for example they may have had appreciated the narrative a bit better. I felt most of the improvement was needed internally and behind the scenes. It was hard working in a group as we all had different tastes and interpretations to our delegated tasks. And some people were not working as hard as others, which I dint think was fair as the same credit is probably rewarded. Another main factor I think we could have handled better was time management and the processes we took. We were pressed for time with deadlines and may have rushed certain attributes like editing. Also what we did when; the music was a big issue as we composed it before we even filmed and took much longer than it should of, then when it came to editing we composed a whole new piece rather than using the original music we spent so much time on. All in all I think we worked well within the group and delivered good media products. Until recently, big Hollywood studios were the only ones who had the money to pay for digital tools and for the labor involved in producing digital effects. However, the shift to digital media affects not just Hollywood, but filmmaking as a whole. Digital technology was the basis of the whole project for me – from research to planning to the evaluation process. We decided to use the HD camera to film as this would enhance the picture quality and also so we could attach the boom so the sound was a lot more ‘crisp’ and clear – all for the viewing pleasure of the audience. We uploaded the footage to the computer, composed the music on the computer, edited it in a software package on the computer; broadcast it on YouTube via the computer and blogged about it… yeah, on the computer! The new technological age is taking over our lives and I believe this project would be impossible with out it. In conclusion I thoroughly enjoyed this project and it was interesting to see what came of all the hard work in the researching, planning and constructing process of media products. I found it challenging at times but thrived to do well and I feel the film, poster and article were a success and I hope I get a good mark! 

Thanks for Watching, Listening, and Reading...  SAQ’s All Singing All Dancing Media Blog!!!!!!

(Sigh of relief!)

The Article..

This is the artice that was used - just so you can read it clearly as its a bit hard to read on that small image...

Short Films, the new addiction? An audience with the Erase creators.
In the new technological age, people have come to expect things immediately; the world has become a place of speed and abruptness, where all news is old news, as soon as it hits. Therefore it seems fitting that every aspect of this new technological world, should work on the same basis: Short films, a story told in a matter of minutes, containing all the action, comedy, romance, suspense of any major blockbuster, all the while delivering their essential message; the reason for their creation.
In recent years short films have become exponentially more popular, used for a multitude of purposes; to entertain, to advertise, or simply as the opening to that new must-see movie. Awards are no longer given to just the feature-length films from this director or that producer, but to short films, made by ‘average Joes’; the short film industry is quickly becoming a more recognized media.
Short films are becoming so popular that Nick Parks, the famed director of ‘Wallace and Grommet’ has been nominated for an Oscar for best short animated film, an award which he has already won on 4 previous occasions. Such news has encouraged a new generation of short-film makers (otherwise known as ‘Shakers’) to step into the limelight and broadcast their creations worldwide.
One of these groups of ‘shakers’, who have decided to take the brave and, frankly, well-deserved step into the limelight, is a culmination of the brilliant director, producer and stars of the celebrated short film, ‘True Colours’, with the equally brilliant producer of, the short film, ‘Georgina’s Secret’. This genius group of young ‘shakers’ have formulated an idea for a amazing short film, which possesses all the necessary elements to take the short-film world by storm. And we, at ‘Now Film’ magazine, have been given the opportunity to interview, two of these brilliant minds; Co-producers/directors, Scott Pinder and Nick Williams.

NF: ‘So, welcome to Now Film magazine, we’re absolutely thrilled to have you and really looking forward, to hearing about your new project. Can you maybe, tell us a little bit about it, because up to now it’s all been kept quite quiet, and we’re dying to know about it. What made you decide to make this film, how did you come up with it, more importantly who came up with it.’
Scott: (Laughs) ‘Well, we don’t want to reveal too much, we want to leave some surprise for the audience, but I suppose we can tell you a little bit. The majority of us, as I’m sure you’ll know have worked together before, and we had a really good time making ‘True Colours’, so we decided to give it another try, and I’ve known Jamie Kirk for a good few years now and we bumped in to him at an awards night, and he really wanted to do another short-film and we-’
Nick: ‘Cut a long story short we decided to make a new film.’
Scott: ‘Yeh.’ (Laughs)
NF: ‘Ok, but who actually came up with the story?’
Nick: ‘Well, we all added bits and pieces to the story, we threw a few ideas about to start off with, but eventually we managed to settle on this one, I think it was me who came up with the actual idea of the author writing his story and I think it was Scott who came up with the two realities aspect, wasn’t it?’
Scott: ‘Ye I think I came up with the two realities coming together in the end, but in the end we all pretty much put the same amount in as each other really.’
NF: ‘Ok so there’s no one who can take all the glory, you all came up with it together, but for our readers who know nothing about it, can you explain exactly what ‘IT’ is?’
Nick: (Laughs) ‘Well like Scott said, we don’t want to give too much away, but, the gist of the story is, this authors writing a story and what he’s writing is coming true, and it’s all happening to this girl, anyway it’s all meant to be quite chilling and creepy, and I really think we’ve managed to achieve that, especially with the help of Saquib Majid
Scott: ‘Ye, it’s really come together and I reckon it really makes you think and like Nick said Saq has done some really good work, I mean we all had a go, but he’s done the majority of the filming and it’s looking really good, so we’re just hoping it’ll get a good reaction.’
NF: ‘Well I’m sure it will go down great with the public, but one last question before we call it a day, where exactly has your inspiration come from?’
Scott: ‘Hm. Well, there’s loads of things that inspired it to be honest, I mean we’ve taken inspiration from loads of like thriller films, to help with creating the suspense etc. But I reckon that, personally, I took inspiration from the film, ‘Sliding Doors’ and how it looks at two separate realities and I reckon that that’s how I came up with the duel realities aspect.’
NF: ‘Well I’m afraid that that’s all we have time for and we are really looking forward to the film coming out, it’s out May 4th is that right?’
Scott: ‘Ye, that’s right, we hope you like it.’
The new short-film, ‘Erase’, is to be released May 4th and, is more than likely going to be a major hit with short-film fans the world over.

Final Article..

This was the final article that i designed, we handed in another design that we collectively done - this was just one i did independently :) And i still really want to make it interactive but i feel i don't have enough time - if i do i will really try hard to make it as interactive as possible, to keep up with the times of the new web2.0 technological age!

Final Poster Design..

This was the final poster that i designed, we handed in another poster that the team collectively done - this was just the one i did independantly :)

Final Poster Ideas

This was just an idea for the poster but the problem was that i used a picture of the Internet and like the music it had to be our own - with the copyright laws and all that! So i thought I'd publish them just to see some ideas :)

Planning, Filming, Editing..

Just a video of the pictures providing evidence of us planning and filming. The first day we started filming the digital camera ran out of battery within 10 mins and the camcorder ran out of battery within 20mins - so we couldn't get much done and when we uploaded the footage and watched it back, it wasn't as good as we anticipated. So off we went again with fully charged cameras and knowing our mistakes and we managed to get all the filming done in one long long day! It was a nightmare when we stared to sort the clips out and had about 10 takes of each scene to go through and decide which were the best to use! SO with our further or do - here's the vid:

Schedule..

This is the preposed plan for what we intend to when:



And this is The Filming Schedule for when we meet in the halfterm - we looked at when each of us were free and what would be the best day for us to meet and film:


From this we gathered that none of us were all available on the sameday so we decided to take our chances on the first weekend and started filming on the saturday.

Article Research..

http://www.empireonline.com/
- This is a direct link to the Empire Mag Online. This magazine was the basis of my article research, its a great magazine full of all things film! It was really helpful to see how the journalists used articles and reviews to advertise films and show them in a good light to influence people's decisions to go and see the film. I feel that reviews are done to advertise films and can sometimes be bias when they show films in a good light but i feel film makers do not need to impress journalists but the main critiques - the audience. And many people are not bothered about the technical excellence of the film but ultimately how entertaining it is. So when researching the article i was thinking how to portray my film but when conducting research and forming the article i realised that i was becoming bias and it was just a natural instinct - like a mothers love for its child. i was like a mother protecting my film - so instead of a review i decided to make an article just as an interview with the makers and a 'sneak peak' behind the scenes of the film!
http://www.totalfilm.com/magazine
- This is another film magazine but this one is more interactive, now i had the research for the article i started to research layouts and formats for the article. This is an online magazine and this made me think back to my AS studies in media and while doing magazine work, i conducted that the magazine industry was 'dying' so to speak and that companies were trying to get as interactive as possible. So i was thinking as we not have the recourse's to create an interactive magazine but i could create a slide show of a fake magazine but lay it out as if it was an interactive article , with the film poster as the magazine cover then a slide transition like a page flip to reveal the article - then have links and video URLs to other sources like the actual film. Then i thought how would i broadcast the article and realised that as i was conducting short film research i made a slide show and put it on the blog and it worked by clicking on the 'next' and 'previous' button to navigate the presentation and it worked like an interactive magazine!

Film Poster Research..

When researching for posters i had in mind what kinds would best suit my short film, there were many from really detailed and complicated ones to some really simple ones with just a word on. This video shows evidence of poster research and also the kinds of posters i liked. I feel they has inspired me, on what angle or feel to go for the final film poster of our movie.

Shorts & Music Video Relation...

- This is the link for the gadget show episode:-

http://demand.five.tv/Episode.aspx?episodeBaseName=C5146440003



- And this is the unreal black eyed peas Music Video:-

Erase Storyboard

This is the proposed film plan in form of a storyboard, I have edited it so the viewer can expect what the film would be like and added some of the personlised composed music.

Short Film Research..

Short Film Research

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Poster Development / Double Page Format..

This video shows the firstly a few sketches of the double-page format. we looked at existing film page spreads from leading magazines like empire mag. We then collectively sketched some designs for the poster. Now we have developed them further from sketches to computer generated images to create professional looking posters - i will blog about the computer ones later :) **NO MUSIC :O** Forgot the bloody music didnt i :@!!

Brief..

(This is my seccond draft as i left the laptop on and it just didnt save when it went on standby!!) So i did originally write a big paragraph all posh with big words on how i decided to blog about the brief now and not at the start of the project, as it wuld refresh our memory of the brief and help us to keep on track rather than steer of in a different direction. So with out further or do heres the vid...

Audience Research..

Here i conducted audience research to find out how best to appeal to my target audience. The video however cut out the last bit of each clip... but i got the information i needed so its all good!! :)

Lighting...

Today we got to play with some lighting, experimenting with different techniques, like filters and positions to create some good shots. We tried to create different shots for different genres for example we used high key lighting for an uplifting type genre, low key and colour filters for horror...etc. This Video shows the shots we rendered :)

Genre...

Feris Beuler

An analysis of the film feris beuler's day off...

Narrative.. How films pass time

Pitch

So here's the pitch of the proposed short film, obviously things might change in the making but this is the basis of out idea. All the groups composed a pitch and presented it to the class - mine however was not videoed so for the pleasure of who ever is reading my blog, i did a video of my pitch... sadly I'm an idiot and decided to put on glasses and a tie to make it feel more 'businessy' and like a proper pitch!...

So heres the video of me explaining but same as the last one theres no sound so, just for your viewing pleasure you can watch me being a dork!

Narrative..

So this week we were looking at narratives: from short film research including scenes, and developing ideas for short films using criteria. I feel this helps for when we get our coarse work so we are prepared and have an open mind to the possibilities of anti narratives to different genres! Here's my failed first video blog attempt :)...

OK so the sound didn't work, that's why i had to narrate over it and now i look super daft, as what you are watching is not the same at what you see! And here's that sheet of short film research and ideas :)


Scarred - my anti narrative short film idea:
(here you can see my excellent impression of what the women would look like if she had clock on her instead of a calender... you can also see my wonderful righting and precise spelling :)


Explosive: The cheesy Narrative short film idea:
And again the amazing wrighting skills of moi!

Short Film Review

http://www.youtube.com/VirginMediaShorts?gl=US&user=VirginMediaShorts#p/a/u/2/W-EljUcL-DM

"The black hole"Firstly the film starts in a scene where many people can relate in some way - working over time on a dead end job. We can tell this by the total mise-en-scene of the setting from low key lighting, to an empty office, wrinkled un-tucked shirt and the stress and boredom of the actor. So instantly the audience is grabbed and knows how he feels. Then the next sequence is the photocopy machine having a glitch and this is where the story begins. So a good start is used.There is no dialogue in this film but often no speech adds little more effect. Normally if there is no script music is put in its place but in this short only diagetic sounds occur. this makes the audience more in tune and focused on the events happening. The actor in this short is good in my opinion. He shows the stress of work by his body language and facial expressions - also the excitement and amazement in his face is believable and we feel happy for him. The main reason why people enjoy films is the professionalism of them. This Short's picture is of a high quality as is the sound. the lighting suits its purpose and the camera work has been shot to reflect high standards. The special effects are also really good and you can see the time and effort put into creating the 'black hole' effect. The film is approximately 2 and a half Min's. the British standard is anything under 30 Min's so this is certainly short but i think it keeps the audience watching and doesn't allow people to get board. There is no repartition in the film and i think it is a very good concept and an original idea. it is something everybody could relate to, and it gets the audience thinking what they would so with the 'black hole' .The funny twist at the end wraps the film up nicely. and creates a purpose for the film. I think this is a very good short film and it follows the rules on the BBC website.

Short Film Tips

What Makes A Good Short? (source - BBC)

- an exciting and original idea
- a strong script
- good acting
- high production values
- make it short
- strong beginning
- avoid repetition and punchline twists
- exciting new techniques and style

Global Media Study

Borat:

Directed by Larry Chares and distributed by 20th century fox.

Slumdog Millionaire:

Directed by Danny Boyle and distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures .

New Media & We Media Survey

Gender?

Age?

Occuipation?

How often do you watch TV?

Do you watch reality TV?

Please specify?

Do you pollitically vote?

Who did you vote for last elections?

Do you vote on reality tv shows?

Does anyone in your house hold vote for reality tv programmes?

Do you have the internet?

How often do you use it?

What is the main reason you use the internet for?

what website do you mostly visit?

Do you make use of online political information, whether in pictures or by actual sites?

Do you think media influences your lifestle?

Do you have an account with the any of the following websites?
facebook?
myspace?
twitter?
bebo?
other?
please specisfy...

Do you think the internet can give people poweR?

Do you use any applications regarding instant messinging?

Do you know what the term 'global village' is?

Do you use youtube?

Do you post videos on youtube?

Do you use user orientated webites?

thank you!

Why is genre an important part of film making...

The importance of genre in filmmaking -


Genre films are commercial features which use repetition and variation to tell a familiar story line using familiar types of characters and situations . Genre is helpful in limiting the scope of the film for the viewer, writer and director. Film genre helps the cinematic industry as a whole by helping the audience choose which film they want to see. In addition, it also allows actors to hone their talents and achieve popularity through a particular genre of film. By categorizing a film according to its genre, it makes the film easier to promote to a particular audience. Someone might have a personal preference for an action film over a romantic film or might enjoy the fear created by a horror movie instead of laughing at a comedy . Along those same lines, by allowing the audience to know what type of genre the movie is, they can appreciate the outcome of the film more by knowing that a certain conflict will be resolved. Consciously and unconsciously the viewer is able to associate certain parts of the film they are watching with other movies they have seen in the past that they enjoyed within the same genre, giving them a greater appreciation of the storyline and outcome. Genre is also important as it is useful in helping the director of the movie. Film genre makes good directors better, it enables directors to use symbols and settings from past movies within the same genre to appeal to human emotions. Genre can also determine the success of a film; by promoting films by their genre it helps the film industry from an economic standpoint since certain genres are known to generate larger box office receipts than others. By looking at genre from an economic standpoint the film industry can anticipate the demands of the public and produce more movies of that type.
In conclusion, film genre plays a crucial role in the cinematic industry. It helps the scriptwriter to better focus his thoughts and words, the director to shape the flow and feel of the film in a way that will make the audience comfortable and it helps the movie going public to make choices that suit their personal taste.