We have finished our films and are happy with the results. We now have to do our powerpoint presentation talking about our videos. These are the questions we have to address:
What was the purpose of your film?
Who was it produced for?
How far have the purpose and audience expectations determined the nature of the representation?
What devices and techniques did you use to encode reality?
(choice of shots, editing, music, etc)
To what extent is your representation of the school fair and accurate?
How effective do you think your text is? Does it achieve its purpose in your opinion?
I have put each question onto a slide on powerpoint ready for us to answer.
Friday, 17 July 2009
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
Powerpoint
As are editing has nearly been completed i started to create are powerpoint presentation on our films. Ive created the slides that we are going to do and put the backgrounds on, ready for them to be completed when we have finished our films
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
Editing
We have started editing our 2 minute films. The first film we are editing is the film to prospective parents. We have cut down the shots to a reasonable size. At the moment are film is only about 1:30 mins, so we might need to go out and do some more filming.
It should also be mentioned that George has gone to Nepal till the end of term and wont be taking any further part in the task. George, we love you and we miss you.
It should also be mentioned that George has gone to Nepal till the end of term and wont be taking any further part in the task. George, we love you and we miss you.
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
Filming
After talking to Doctor Pop about filming a science experiment, we realised that we would not be able to film as the only time Doctor Pop could us for filming was when we all had lessons.
We decided to forget about the science experiment and go out and start filming. After originally going out to film all the good parts of Therfield we couldnt help but notice many areas which need improvement. We filmed a lot of the building work which has yet to be completed, as it shows that we do need help to make the school better.
We have finished filming and feel with have a good mixture of shots about the good and bad things about Therfield
We decided to forget about the science experiment and go out and start filming. After originally going out to film all the good parts of Therfield we couldnt help but notice many areas which need improvement. We filmed a lot of the building work which has yet to be completed, as it shows that we do need help to make the school better.
We have finished filming and feel with have a good mixture of shots about the good and bad things about Therfield
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
A2 project - representing the school
We are getting ready for A2 next year and to do this we have been given a project to complete. We have to come up with two short films, one which promotes the school to prospective parents, and another which ask for extra funds from prospective sponsors/investor. Each film has to be 2-3 minutes long.
It is important to show during the film to prospective parents all the positive areas of the school and how their children would be in good hands and are in a safe and friendly environment.
However, in the film to prospective sponsors/investors, we need to highlight what areas of the school could do with some improvement, such as litter and poor facilities, and try and convince them to invest in the school.
Before filming and editing these films, we need to think of a plan and come up with ideas as a group on what we can do.
The first film we are going to produce is the one which promotes the school to prospective parents. As a group we have already come up with a few ideas on what we can do.
One of the ideas was to use the schools standing as a sport college during the film. We thought of perhaps filming p.e lessons, such as cricket and rounders, to show that students have a good time at therfield. However, this narrows are filming ability as there are other areas such as food tech and science that need to be filmed.
Luke came up with the idea of showing a point of view shot of a student going into therfield for the first time, showing that students are usually scared and intimidated by a bid school and not sure what to expect, and then show how people at Therfield are nice and help and the lessons are enjoyable and make school less frightening. This was a good idea, the only major downfall being that it limits the amounts of shots we can use.
We have already filmed some footage from music, getting a yr 9 boy to play the drums for us, which can show what kids can do at therfield and the fun that they can have. Our group are now about to talk to doctor pop about a science experiment.
It is important to show during the film to prospective parents all the positive areas of the school and how their children would be in good hands and are in a safe and friendly environment.
However, in the film to prospective sponsors/investors, we need to highlight what areas of the school could do with some improvement, such as litter and poor facilities, and try and convince them to invest in the school.
Before filming and editing these films, we need to think of a plan and come up with ideas as a group on what we can do.
The first film we are going to produce is the one which promotes the school to prospective parents. As a group we have already come up with a few ideas on what we can do.
One of the ideas was to use the schools standing as a sport college during the film. We thought of perhaps filming p.e lessons, such as cricket and rounders, to show that students have a good time at therfield. However, this narrows are filming ability as there are other areas such as food tech and science that need to be filmed.
Luke came up with the idea of showing a point of view shot of a student going into therfield for the first time, showing that students are usually scared and intimidated by a bid school and not sure what to expect, and then show how people at Therfield are nice and help and the lessons are enjoyable and make school less frightening. This was a good idea, the only major downfall being that it limits the amounts of shots we can use.
We have already filmed some footage from music, getting a yr 9 boy to play the drums for us, which can show what kids can do at therfield and the fun that they can have. Our group are now about to talk to doctor pop about a science experiment.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Evaluation
The task I was given was to create a 2 minute opening for a film, by creating a storyboard and script, filming the 2 minute opening and then editing the shots I had taken.
My film does follow the conventions of drama films, as the films usually have an investigation to find out ‘who did it’ and have to protect the community around them. I decided to set it at night at 40ft park in leatherhead, as I felt this would be a good location to start of my film. I felt by setting it at night I would further follow the conventions of drama films. My film also follows the generic conventions of drama films as my opening scene is a murder/crime scene, and this is what most drama's films opening scenes are as it sets the story for the film and the audience know what they are going to be investigating. My film challenges generic conventions of drama films as in my opening i actually show an image of the criminal, whereas in most drama films you dont see the criminal until the very end or the last few scenes. I felt showing the criminal in the opening scene actually encourages the audience to think about who the criminal is as they look at certain characters in the film and wonder if its them.
My film represents teenagers in a different way that most people would expect them to be represented. Teenagers are usually stereotyped by the media and in films as rebellious and fearless, and hang round in groups or gangs, but the teenager in my film is alone and worried, and it creates a sense of anxiety and weakness around him. However, my film does follow certain stereotypes as my film represents people who wear their hoods up as dangerous and ant-social, as well as someone who uses violence.
The audience for my film would be people who like dramas and like to follow the story, and therefore may not be suitable for children who may not understand the story or might get to scared watching it. With this in mind, the audience for my film would be teenagers and adults, as they like the tension that goes on during the film and the thrill they get watching and trying to work out as the film goes along what’s going to happen next and if the murderer will get caught. Adults will certainly get drawn into the story, because like the TV Drama Jonathan Creek, once you start watching the film you want to watch on to see what happens and how everything is worked out. If this was aimed at children, they would get restless very quickly as they want to see a fun and simple storyline, and so may find my film boring.
I attracted and addressed my audience by creating my own blog on blogger.com, and informed every one of what I was doing and how my filming and editing was getting on. I then posted my film on the blog and got my audience to comment on what they thought of it and how they thought I could have improved it. Most comments focused on the fact that the black and white style editing i had adopted worked very well and that the soundtrack went well with the film and built up the tension. One constructive critisism was that the shots were too dark at times and difficult to see, and in hindsight i could of made these shots slightly better to see. My audience suggested that the fight scene could be more realistic, which i could of done if i had had more time and if the weather had been better.
I have learnt a lot about technology when doing this task; if someone had asked to me how to use a video camera or edit a clip to good effect before I wouldn’t have been able to tell them. I believe after this task I have a good understanding of how to edit and film media products, and will take this knowledge to help me further in media. After this product, I feel much more confident using a camera and going out and filming, as I feel I now have the ability to create a good product due to what I have learnt.
My film does follow the conventions of drama films, as the films usually have an investigation to find out ‘who did it’ and have to protect the community around them. I decided to set it at night at 40ft park in leatherhead, as I felt this would be a good location to start of my film. I felt by setting it at night I would further follow the conventions of drama films. My film also follows the generic conventions of drama films as my opening scene is a murder/crime scene, and this is what most drama's films opening scenes are as it sets the story for the film and the audience know what they are going to be investigating. My film challenges generic conventions of drama films as in my opening i actually show an image of the criminal, whereas in most drama films you dont see the criminal until the very end or the last few scenes. I felt showing the criminal in the opening scene actually encourages the audience to think about who the criminal is as they look at certain characters in the film and wonder if its them.
My film represents teenagers in a different way that most people would expect them to be represented. Teenagers are usually stereotyped by the media and in films as rebellious and fearless, and hang round in groups or gangs, but the teenager in my film is alone and worried, and it creates a sense of anxiety and weakness around him. However, my film does follow certain stereotypes as my film represents people who wear their hoods up as dangerous and ant-social, as well as someone who uses violence.
The audience for my film would be people who like dramas and like to follow the story, and therefore may not be suitable for children who may not understand the story or might get to scared watching it. With this in mind, the audience for my film would be teenagers and adults, as they like the tension that goes on during the film and the thrill they get watching and trying to work out as the film goes along what’s going to happen next and if the murderer will get caught. Adults will certainly get drawn into the story, because like the TV Drama Jonathan Creek, once you start watching the film you want to watch on to see what happens and how everything is worked out. If this was aimed at children, they would get restless very quickly as they want to see a fun and simple storyline, and so may find my film boring.
I attracted and addressed my audience by creating my own blog on blogger.com, and informed every one of what I was doing and how my filming and editing was getting on. I then posted my film on the blog and got my audience to comment on what they thought of it and how they thought I could have improved it. Most comments focused on the fact that the black and white style editing i had adopted worked very well and that the soundtrack went well with the film and built up the tension. One constructive critisism was that the shots were too dark at times and difficult to see, and in hindsight i could of made these shots slightly better to see. My audience suggested that the fight scene could be more realistic, which i could of done if i had had more time and if the weather had been better.
I have learnt a lot about technology when doing this task; if someone had asked to me how to use a video camera or edit a clip to good effect before I wouldn’t have been able to tell them. I believe after this task I have a good understanding of how to edit and film media products, and will take this knowledge to help me further in media. After this product, I feel much more confident using a camera and going out and filming, as I feel I now have the ability to create a good product due to what I have learnt.
Finished Film
I have finally finished shooting and editing my film, and the final product can be viewed below.
please comment about what you think of my film and how you think i could of improved it.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Filming
On Sunday i started filming for my film. I wanted to do it when it was slightly darker so i started filming at about 4.30pm. I managed to get most of it done but by the time it came to the kidnapping scene it was nearly pitch black so i decided to call it a day. I hope to get this last scene done later in the week, as i was meant to do it today but my main character was ill and unable to.
I am satisfied with what i filmed, but i dont think my pans are smooth enough and i have a lot of takes where there are distractions in the background, eg dogs and a flying frisby. I think i might film these parts again, but this should only take 5-10 minutes.
Next week i hope to complete my editing of my film, so i am looking foward to what the end product will be.
Generic Conventions of Film Openings
The generic conventions of film openings vary depending on the type of genre the film is. The genre I have decided to look at is action films, as it is something that interests me for my own 2 minute clip.
One of the first conventions I found was that the films tend to introduce the main character in the first couple of scenes. In Die Hard 4 and Blade, the characters are shown at a high angle to show their importance to the movie. It makes the audience realise that these characters will be the ones the watch during the movie. In Blade, the main character stands tall, and he is wearing all black leather, to make us think he is the cool guy and can be very dangerous, which is realised when he pulls out the gun.
Another convention which I found common was that the film is usually introduced with a chase scene or a fighting scene. In Mission Impossible and Minority Report, the scene starts of straight in the action. This makes the audience gripped straight away, and the effect is that they want to keep on watching further. It also lets us know that it is an action film. There are a lot of close up shots of the main characters, again telling us who is important.
One thing I also noticed is that the films use a lot of pyrotechnics, such as explosions and fire and other things blowing up in James Bond. This really gets the audience fired up as seeing things like this makes people want to carry on watching, as they like the excitement. Obviously I will not be able to do this for my two minute film opening as I do not have the budget, but I could always try the complete opposite and try a calm beginning like the one in Die Hard.
The beginning of some action films explains the life of the main character. In James Bond, The Quantum of Solace, one of the opening scenes talks about how Bond has lost the love of his life and how he is out to get revenge. This explains the plot of the movie and what we should expect. This also occurs in Die Hard, when the main character talks about his family and where he comes from. Maybe I could do this for my Film opening, as it would be easy to do and it may be a good way to show what my movies about.
I am satisfied with what i filmed, but i dont think my pans are smooth enough and i have a lot of takes where there are distractions in the background, eg dogs and a flying frisby. I think i might film these parts again, but this should only take 5-10 minutes.
Next week i hope to complete my editing of my film, so i am looking foward to what the end product will be.
Generic Conventions of Film Openings
The generic conventions of film openings vary depending on the type of genre the film is. The genre I have decided to look at is action films, as it is something that interests me for my own 2 minute clip.
One of the first conventions I found was that the films tend to introduce the main character in the first couple of scenes. In Die Hard 4 and Blade, the characters are shown at a high angle to show their importance to the movie. It makes the audience realise that these characters will be the ones the watch during the movie. In Blade, the main character stands tall, and he is wearing all black leather, to make us think he is the cool guy and can be very dangerous, which is realised when he pulls out the gun.
Another convention which I found common was that the film is usually introduced with a chase scene or a fighting scene. In Mission Impossible and Minority Report, the scene starts of straight in the action. This makes the audience gripped straight away, and the effect is that they want to keep on watching further. It also lets us know that it is an action film. There are a lot of close up shots of the main characters, again telling us who is important.
One thing I also noticed is that the films use a lot of pyrotechnics, such as explosions and fire and other things blowing up in James Bond. This really gets the audience fired up as seeing things like this makes people want to carry on watching, as they like the excitement. Obviously I will not be able to do this for my two minute film opening as I do not have the budget, but I could always try the complete opposite and try a calm beginning like the one in Die Hard.
The beginning of some action films explains the life of the main character. In James Bond, The Quantum of Solace, one of the opening scenes talks about how Bond has lost the love of his life and how he is out to get revenge. This explains the plot of the movie and what we should expect. This also occurs in Die Hard, when the main character talks about his family and where he comes from. Maybe I could do this for my Film opening, as it would be easy to do and it may be a good way to show what my movies about.
Planning My Film
Before i started planning my film, i needed to come up with an idea. I am not a veery decisive person, and i was constantly changing my mind on what i wanted my film to be about. I wanted to do something different to what everyone else was doing but with it not being too tricky to film.
I decided that i was going to film a drama/murder mystery film, as i already had a few locations in my head as to where i could film it, such as 40ft Park and Leatherhead high street. As there would be fewer people in the park, i think it would be easier to film there.
The synopsis of my film is that a teenage boy plans to meet up with mates but is taken hostage in the park. The teenagers mates then have to try and work out where he is in a 2 day time limit or otherwise he will be killed.
My film could be seen as similar to something like the TV drama Johnathan Creek, and i will watch a few episodes to get an idea on what themes are used during the openings of Johnathan Creek
I decided that i was going to film a drama/murder mystery film, as i already had a few locations in my head as to where i could film it, such as 40ft Park and Leatherhead high street. As there would be fewer people in the park, i think it would be easier to film there.
The synopsis of my film is that a teenage boy plans to meet up with mates but is taken hostage in the park. The teenagers mates then have to try and work out where he is in a 2 day time limit or otherwise he will be killed.
My film could be seen as similar to something like the TV drama Johnathan Creek, and i will watch a few episodes to get an idea on what themes are used during the openings of Johnathan Creek
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