Evaluation Activity 7

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

From our preliminary to our main task, a huge difference can be seen. We learnt allot of stuff from our preliminary meaning mistakes which we tackled in our main task. First thing we noticed that the low angle shots of the foot was good when the individuals were walking or even running.

The first image is of our preliminary task, this was a low angle shot of the individual walking and the camera follows to give it a more realistic feel, it's also a cutaway from the main sequence and the main actor. Due to this style of camera work we really loved inside our preliminary task we decided to put it in our main task which you will see near the end of the film. From our preliminary task we learnt that to make a good film you must include various camera techniques and editing techniques. One of the main editing techniques we used throughout our sequence was match on action, match on action is when a action from one camera shot is carried on a another. This techniques is popular through many big time films because it creates a smooth flow and makes the film look professional. Professionalism is important you are filming and creating a media like this. We are not like big Hollywood producers and editors. However, with the right planning and techniques and editing it can look excellent. For example, i learnt from my preliminary task that i cannot leave the film the color and shade it is. If you look at the preliminary shot you can see that the color and contrast is like its just been filmed and placed on premier and rendered. However, if you look at the main sequence screen grab you can see i have added effects to make it look like a proper Hollywood film. I used proc AMP and three way color correction to give it a gloomy feel and like a high budget film.

Also, as you can see in our preliminary task we never had any self-done lighting or light controlling. That was a main thing we discussed while making our main sequence As you can see from the two images above, they are totally different in lighting. The preliminary task has just natural lighting and nothing fancy, which makes it look homemade. However, if you look down at the second image that is our main sequence, we learnt that we need to isolate the light and focus it on the victim to make them look innocent. The individual behind the victim is completely in darkness. You do not see his face throughout the torture scene, not even once. That is the amazing work of lighting, we learnt that focusing the light on a single individual can create a certain affect you want it to have. In our case it was to make the victim look innocent.

To conclude, i would say that i learnt allot of stuff from our preliminary which we used on our main task. The preliminary was very useful to us because we learnt what we done wrong on it and how to improve if we got to chance to film a sequence again. Which we did, so luckily for us we made them adjustments and done everything we could do to create a amazing masterpiece.

Evaluation Activity 6

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

While doing this project throughout the processes we learnt many things from being how to handle and use equipment effectively or use technology on the apple mac's to the best of our abilities to bring out the best result we can. The first thing i would like to talk about is Premier Pro, this is the software i used to edit and put together our main sequence we made. This software is amazing, before i started media i only knew the basic's of this software, while doing this project i have learnt many techniques which helped me create a excellent piece of work. I learnt how to use continuity editing to make a film flow perfectly together and make it look perfect. I learnt how to add effects like Proc Amp, and 3 way color correction to make my film look absolutely magnificent.

Next, moving onto equipment, i have learnt how to use a tripod carefully and properly to get the best shots possible and make sure we don't get a shaky image. We even used the tripod to use it as a pan shot, due to us not having enough equipment we used that as a rig. That was very successful because we got many shots which were very smooth and went with the flow of the film. Tripods are excellent to get shots which you usually wouldn't be able to, panning, tracking, all sorts of camera styles of shots you can do with this. This is a excellent piece of equipment. We have also used various camera shots and angles throughout the process of creating the film for example, match on action, over the shoulder, shot reverse shot. These are all great shots you can use to create a amazing Hollywood like affect which you always see in Hollywood films. While doing this course from the information i have gained, each time i watch a film i see it differently, i see it more than the story line  i see the angles, editing, and effects. Truly amazing.

Evaluation Activity 5

how did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Activity 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

knowing your audience when creating a media product is very important. You must know when you release this film who will go and watch it, what age, what sort of people.Before creating our film, or even deciding what to film we decided who our audience will be.

Our film contained low level of violence but mostly it was a action thriller, kept everyone at the edge of their seats to find out what happens. Our film was made to keep people guessing what is going on. These type of films are usually not popular with females, but popular with males. So when we was making this film and thinking of it we knew that our main audience would be males who are into their action packed thriller films.

We picked this demographic due to our film being based around crime, the main character is  shady figure who is involved in mass levels of crime, he is the type of people that everyone loves watching due to their personality and actions, it is what makes films popular, the bad guys. All our audience base are males they have all once in their life wanted to carry guns and be someone, someone more than they are. A criminal, someone everyone fears, someone who has power. This is what our film portrays, money power and respect. That's why our audience will enjoy watching this film. Where money comes in, our film contains various scenes which show money, for example, the Rolex watch is known to be expensive. When the criminal puts a Rolex down it shows that the criminal is not a poor low level criminal but he is a big timer.

The sound track is also a factor to our film which is targeted towards our demographic, the soundtrack is very intense and strong which plays throughout the opening sequence to keep the audience engaged and interested throughout the opening sequence. These are the reasons we picked this demographic.

Evaluation Activity 3

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

Evaluation Activity 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our main character, who is the criminal, is very similar to the character on the left who is Tony Montana, i.e. Al Pacino. Al Pacino is a American gangster who moved from Cuba after the riots. Tony is a criminal character just like our main character as seen in that screen-grab. These two are very similar in personality and dress sense. First of all, both characters are wearing smart shirts, which show that they are organised and smart. However, both characters have got their smart shirts on, but not neat. Al Pacino's collars are open and our characters tie is loose. This shows that both of the characters have some sort of a rank and authority because only higher ranking people can afford to wear smart clothes like these individuals do. Al Pacino wear's Gucci, Armani, and so does our character which shows them both as being higher ranking criminals, not some petty characters. Our character has been show to among the social group of the high ranking criminals.

Both characters are shown to be angry and violent characters and do anything for money. Both are grumpy and unfriendly characters due to their backgrounds. These both characters interlock in the amount of similarities they have. You will never see any of these characters smiling throughout any film. They are shown to be very aggressive characters. Moving on, every criminal has a funny way of putting things, they will not give a simple and straight forward answer; they will talk on for minutes before getting to the point. Every criminal seems to do this, randomly go on about stuff which is not even relevant to the scene and the situation they are in. Both characters do not speak straight forward or briefly, their minds are always occupied and whatever comes out they speak it.

Evaluation Activity 1

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

Our opening sequence that was created was kept fully relevant to the style of film it is. The film we made was an action thriller, spy’s based film. The first thing that the audience see is a dark black screen; this is good because it starts to create suspense about why the screen is black. It creates mystery and tension. This is relevant to action thriller based films because they are always creating tension within the audience to drag them straight away into the film. The second frame show's two weapons which is a very common thing in action films, weapons. This scene was put in to make the audience think about what is happening and what may happen. The dizzy feel and the motion blur to the film makes the audience think that they part of the film due to the point of view shot. The weapons make the audience think who's are they, why are they there, what is going on. These questions are automatically put into the minds of the audience, this is good because it allows the audience to be drawn into the film straight away just because of the opening sequence by the first frames which appear. This is seen in many action and mystery style films, a excellent way to draw in the audience with the opening seconds and keep them attached throughout the film. The next frame is of the title which shows which company has made of the film, this is important because it allows the audience to straight away to know who has produced this film. This is done in many films, after seconds or minutes of the film, that's when the title's come into place. The fourth fame is of a date, the audience will not be aware of what this date represents but they will start to think about it, they will have a image in their mind of when the film is set which helps them get a better understanding of the film. Dates and times are used through variety of action based films, they are switched back and forward to show if the film is skipping time or moving back in time. This is what our opening sequence does; it allows the audience to know that the film is going back in time.  This is another factor that conforms to the line of media product that we created. Frame is is of a unknown character at this moment, which the audience at not aware of. This is seen in alot of actions, thriller based films, the bad guy is shown for a brief moment but not told aything about. The villains are shown without anynames or identity which creates more suspence in the film. This is another factor which conforms to the real media products. The individual seems to be wearign smart clothes which make the individual seem like a wealthy criminal, which conforms to the basic mafia films. Frame six is of a individual in a chair who is being tortured and is full of blood. This scene is used to make the audience feel sympthay for the individual in the chair staright away, this is maybe the victim of somsort. This is seen in many films, they make the individauls they want to seem innocent and victim's by using them in opening scene's to create a character behind them and introduce them to the audience. This seventh frame has been used to show positioning of the individuals. The point of view shows the villain right above the victim, this makes the villain seem like a menacing character and a superior person. High angle's are used in many action, thriller films. This is how our film is relevant to other real life media products. Next, its a match on action close up onto the watch. The watch is a rolex so it shows that the person who is the owner the main villain. So this expensive watch shows that the individual is not a low level criminal, he has money. Moving on, the last frame is of the bad guy looking down at the victim this shows superiority, the shadow over the main person shows that he is a shady charcter and the light on the victim makes him stand out to show his innocence.