Thursday 22 April 2010
Monday 19 April 2010
evaluation
Question 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Forms and conventions of real media products.
My media product uses, develops, and challenges forms and conventions of real media products because in the film I have a limited amount of characters, I only have three locations, there is a twist to the story which is very common in short films, there is music in the background which I believe fits in quite well with the film and in my opinion it is quite realistic. Also, there is a variety of camera angles such as P.O.V, long shots, medium close ups, extreme close ups and O/S shots. All of these techniques work in my film as they are commonly seen in a variety of short films. When making a short film it is important to keep everything simple, I.e. Small amount of cast, simple storyline with a twist etc. This is important because you don’t want to give the viewer to much to think about when they are watching the film as they may get confused with all the different locations and characters and the film may run over time. For this part of the evaluation I am going to take 9 frames from other short films that show the same conventions and analyse them. I will also take 9 frames from my own short film and analyse those also to show what conventions I have used or challenged.
9 frames short films I researched
3. This film is called The Life and Death of a Pumpkin. The genre of this film is a comical documentary. I can tell it is a documentary because there is a narrator the whole way through the short film (which is supposed to be the voice of the pumpkins mind). There is only one location in this short film and two human characters who do not have any lines. all of the shots in this film are medium close up's following the pumpkin from the beginning to the end.
4. The title of this film is Lovefield. The genre of this short film is a horror. I can tell this by just looking at the shot because the central protagonist is slowly being revealed from the feet up. This will make the audience keen to see who the mystery person is and this will also tell them that he plays a relevant part because they do not show his face straight away. there are two locations in this film.
5. This film is an animation called Smile. animated short films are not very common as they take a lot of time to make and not many people have the patience to do so. This animation was made on the computer. The producer may have been inspired by other short films such as Toy Story which was also an animated film. In this film there is one character who is shown all through the film, like many other short films.
6. The Seance is a horror based around two characters. In this film there is only one location and there are very limited shots used. I can tell this is a horror because of the shots used and the theme of the film and also the title.
7. Tony Allens Secret Agent is another documentary based around himself. All of the shots are medium close ups of his face, there are also photographs of him being in a band. It is quite common for short films to have photographs added in them especially when they are documentaries as it gives the audience something to relate to when the main character is talking.
8. The title of this film is Food Coffee Restaurants it is a comedy which has three characters. There are multiple location shots in this film which isn't very common in short films as producers may think it will take too long to film and edit it all.
9. Out of Sync is a comedy with no sound. This is quite common especially with shows such as Mr Bean. Although there is no sound the audience will still find the humor of it through the mimed actions. There is not a lot of silent comedies anymore but I think it still works and still manages to show conventions of real media products as things like this have been done before.
My 9 Frames from my short film
My short film consists of 2 main characters and 2 extras. In the film there are 3 location shots. one on the road, one in a house, and one at a bus stop. I chose to only use three location shots as I had a set time to finish the short film in and I felt three would be appropriate. Also I chose to use 2 main characters instead of one because I wanted to show the difference between their two lives as I felt it went well with the theme of the film and it made sense. I chose to use two extra characters to make the film seem more realistic and also to show the way how individuals in the world treat less fortunate people.
A film that inspired me before I started to make my short film was The Piano. The piano is an animated film about a grandfather and his grandson. throughout the whole film the grandfather is playing the piano and going through his past. This film inspires me because although there is no dialogue it is still very moving. Also, I appreciate the time that must have gone into the film as it was animated I know it took much longer than a normal short film would.
Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
This is the Radio Trailer script I used this so that the voices in the radio trailer would know what to say and they wouldn't have to memorize it.
Here is the video of myself, Vanessa and Nisha talking about the products we made:
A2 practical projects/Short film/Evaluation for film, poster, trailer from Jemma Goulds on Vimeo.
We used a marrantz device to record out voices and put it over the film, poster and radio trailer as we found it more effective.
Question3: What have you learned from the audience feedback?
To get audience feedback I posted my film onto You Tube to get feedback from unknown viewers. I also decided to do this so I could get constructive criticism and also to know what to improve on if I am ever going to make a short film again in the future. I decided to use You Tube rather than walking around and asking people to watch my film and then get their feedback because not many people would want to do that and also a lot of people especially young people nower days go onto You Tube and I was aiming at a teenage audience so I thought You Tube would be the best option.
These are some of the comments and views I have recieved on my short film. By reading these I have learnt that my film is of a good standard as they seemed to have liked it judging by their views.
Question4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
You Tube
I used YouTube as a source for planning my short film. I used it mainly for ideas of what I should include in my short film to make it more interesting. By using you-tube I got a deeper insight into what a good short film consists of. Also by reading the viewers comments below the short films I got advise on what makes it look good/ bad.
Using Equipment
By placing the camera on the tripod I was able to control it steadily whether it was going up, down, right or left. By using this camera I learnt how to zoom in and out, do different types of shots, change the light balance and upload my footage onto the computer.
Radio Trailer
Forms and conventions of real media products.
My media product uses, develops, and challenges forms and conventions of real media products because in the film I have a limited amount of characters, I only have three locations, there is a twist to the story which is very common in short films, there is music in the background which I believe fits in quite well with the film and in my opinion it is quite realistic. Also, there is a variety of camera angles such as P.O.V, long shots, medium close ups, extreme close ups and O/S shots. All of these techniques work in my film as they are commonly seen in a variety of short films. When making a short film it is important to keep everything simple, I.e. Small amount of cast, simple storyline with a twist etc. This is important because you don’t want to give the viewer to much to think about when they are watching the film as they may get confused with all the different locations and characters and the film may run over time. For this part of the evaluation I am going to take 9 frames from other short films that show the same conventions and analyse them. I will also take 9 frames from my own short film and analyse those also to show what conventions I have used or challenged.
9 frames short films I researched
1. This frame is from a short film called strangers. I have chosen to use this frame to show the conventions used in media because this is showing that there is one main protagonist in the film which is very common in short films. This short film is about two strangers being on a train they have realised that they are both of the Islamic faith. Whilst on the train a group of white men come and sit next to them and racially abuse them. There is no dialogue in the film which is also very common in short films but it is still quite clear to see what is going on. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpjHSiQLPmA
2. This film is called black button. In this film there are only two characters and the whole film is shot in one location. This is very common in short films as they like to make the film as simple as possible and if there are a lot of locations and a lot of cast, the film will run over time and will have to much for the storyline. In this short film there are two main camera shots which are used. These include long shots, and medium close ups. This also challenges the conventions of media products because it is common to have a minimum amount of shots in a short film to keep the film basic and not get the audience confused. This film has dialogue which is not seen very much in short films as most of them are just mimed.
3. This film is called The Life and Death of a Pumpkin. The genre of this film is a comical documentary. I can tell it is a documentary because there is a narrator the whole way through the short film (which is supposed to be the voice of the pumpkins mind). There is only one location in this short film and two human characters who do not have any lines. all of the shots in this film are medium close up's following the pumpkin from the beginning to the end.
4. The title of this film is Lovefield. The genre of this short film is a horror. I can tell this by just looking at the shot because the central protagonist is slowly being revealed from the feet up. This will make the audience keen to see who the mystery person is and this will also tell them that he plays a relevant part because they do not show his face straight away. there are two locations in this film.
5. This film is an animation called Smile. animated short films are not very common as they take a lot of time to make and not many people have the patience to do so. This animation was made on the computer. The producer may have been inspired by other short films such as Toy Story which was also an animated film. In this film there is one character who is shown all through the film, like many other short films.
6. The Seance is a horror based around two characters. In this film there is only one location and there are very limited shots used. I can tell this is a horror because of the shots used and the theme of the film and also the title.
7. Tony Allens Secret Agent is another documentary based around himself. All of the shots are medium close ups of his face, there are also photographs of him being in a band. It is quite common for short films to have photographs added in them especially when they are documentaries as it gives the audience something to relate to when the main character is talking.
8. The title of this film is Food Coffee Restaurants it is a comedy which has three characters. There are multiple location shots in this film which isn't very common in short films as producers may think it will take too long to film and edit it all.
9. Out of Sync is a comedy with no sound. This is quite common especially with shows such as Mr Bean. Although there is no sound the audience will still find the humor of it through the mimed actions. There is not a lot of silent comedies anymore but I think it still works and still manages to show conventions of real media products as things like this have been done before.
My 9 Frames from my short film
My short film consists of 2 main characters and 2 extras. In the film there are 3 location shots. one on the road, one in a house, and one at a bus stop. I chose to only use three location shots as I had a set time to finish the short film in and I felt three would be appropriate. Also I chose to use 2 main characters instead of one because I wanted to show the difference between their two lives as I felt it went well with the theme of the film and it made sense. I chose to use two extra characters to make the film seem more realistic and also to show the way how individuals in the world treat less fortunate people.
A film that inspired me before I started to make my short film was The Piano. The piano is an animated film about a grandfather and his grandson. throughout the whole film the grandfather is playing the piano and going through his past. This film inspires me because although there is no dialogue it is still very moving. Also, I appreciate the time that must have gone into the film as it was animated I know it took much longer than a normal short film would.
Question 2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
This is the Radio Trailer script I used this so that the voices in the radio trailer would know what to say and they wouldn't have to memorize it.
Here is the video of myself, Vanessa and Nisha talking about the products we made:
A2 practical projects/Short film/Evaluation for film, poster, trailer from Jemma Goulds on Vimeo.
We used a marrantz device to record out voices and put it over the film, poster and radio trailer as we found it more effective.
Question3: What have you learned from the audience feedback?
To get audience feedback I posted my film onto You Tube to get feedback from unknown viewers. I also decided to do this so I could get constructive criticism and also to know what to improve on if I am ever going to make a short film again in the future. I decided to use You Tube rather than walking around and asking people to watch my film and then get their feedback because not many people would want to do that and also a lot of people especially young people nower days go onto You Tube and I was aiming at a teenage audience so I thought You Tube would be the best option.
These are some of the comments and views I have recieved on my short film. By reading these I have learnt that my film is of a good standard as they seemed to have liked it judging by their views.
Question4: How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
You Tube
I used YouTube as a source for planning my short film. I used it mainly for ideas of what I should include in my short film to make it more interesting. By using you-tube I got a deeper insight into what a good short film consists of. Also by reading the viewers comments below the short films I got advise on what makes it look good/ bad.
Using Equipment
I used the tripod for shots which needed to be still. This was the best thing to use for a shot like that as it is very sturdy and the camera does not move unless you move it purposely.
By placing the camera on the tripod I was able to control it steadily whether it was going up, down, right or left. By using this camera I learnt how to zoom in and out, do different types of shots, change the light balance and upload my footage onto the computer.
I used the digital camera to take pictures of the locations I shot in. I learnt how to take pictures with different colour balances, e.g. Make them brighter if the location was dark and vice versa.
Adobe Premiere Pro
Once I had filmed all my footage I uploaded it into Adobe premiere Pro. I had a brief idea on how to use Adobe as I had used it previously with past projects so I didn’t require that much help. The whole uploading and digitizing process was not that long, I would say the longest part to the short film was editing. Although I had some experience on editing on Adobe I still had some difficulties because this time I was adding in special effects such as split screen, fading synchronizing sounds into the correct places etc. it was a very long process but I was able to finish it to a good standard in my opinion. By adding special effects I was able to learn new things on Adobe and how to use them, I learnt where other effects were kept and how to include them in the film if I needed them.
Blog
I kept a blog throughout the whole of this project and made a note of everything I done to put the short film together. I started my blog from scratch and added photographs and videos to make my page look more visual. On my blog I added things such as location shots, scripts of the short film and of the radio trailer and a lot of descriptive writing about what I had done in and outside of lessons.
I found the blog quite easy to use, it was quite straight forward as everything was laid out clearly and had labelled tabs. The purpose of the blog was to show progression in our work and to keep a track of what we had done so that we would not forget.
PhotoShop
I used Photoshop to do the film poster as I thought it was the easiest and best software to use for this. I found this software quite difficult to use as there were a lot of effects that I would need to use to make this poster look how I wanted it to, and I didn’t know how to do them. I am pleased with the end result of the poster and I have now learnt how to use Photoshop to a good standard.
I would not change anything on my film poster as I think it looks really professional and I am really pleased with it.Radio Trailer
For the radio trailer I began by recording my chosen voices on a marrants device . Once I had done this I uploaded my sounds onto Adobe Premiere Pro. This was quite a long process as I had to break up some parts of the sentences which I did not want anymore and fit them in with other parts. I included a backing track which played the whole way through the soundtrack with sounds of heartbeats to give the sense of suspense. I would say the hardest part of the radio trailer was putting each part together so the speech flows accordingly.
Monday 29 March 2010
Film Poster
For the film poster we took a picture of myself and Nisha (who played the other character) posing back to back both drawing. We took the picture on a blue curtain and edited it on photoshop. We turned the picture of ourselves into a silhouette and edited the background from a blue curtain, to a gray sky with clouds. We added the title 'Stolen Life' along with the tag line 'Think You Know Someone?..Think Again...' Below the title and the tag line is the production lines. We added these to make the poster look more professional. My favorite part of this poster is the silhouette in the middle, I think it makes the poster look more effective and gives the viewers more to look at. This is the final product.
Radio Trailer
Today I done the radio trailer for the short film 'Stolen Life'. To do this I firstly had to compose a script for the chosen individuals to read from when their voices would be recorded. secondly, i went around with a marrantz to record various peoples voices until I found the ones that I would be able to use for the trailer. I would say this was the hardest part as not many people wanted their voices recorded. Once I had found the voices which I thought were appropriate and would fit in well, I imported them into premier pro where I then began to edit the voices.
This was quite a long process as I had to cut out some parts which didn't fit it well and I had to re-record. The part which caused me the most problems was finding the right voice for the narrator. Initially I had wanted a deep voice for the narrator as in many film trailors the narrator has that type of voice. Firstly I went with my dad's voice because it is quite deep and masculine but it wasn't the right kind of voice for the trailor. It sounded very depressing, I carried on recording various voices from around the college and eventually I found the right voice. It is not a deep voice but I believe it fits in well with the backing music.
For the backing music I made a beat out of violins and drums and other instruments, I recorded it and imported it into premier pro. The backing music plays throughout the whole film and over the voices aswell. I used the same beat that was used in the film to show the connection between the two and also, so that the audience will know what film the radio trailer is associated with.
So that the radio trailer didn't just consist of backing music and voices, I added the sound of a heart beat in parts where there is no talking. I done this to add extra tension and to give the listening audience a feel of suspense.
This is a copy of the radio trailer script for Stolen Life.
Narrator: Think you know someone? Think again...
*sound clips from the film*
Tina- “YOU STOLE MY LIFE!”
Narrator: From the makers of Disturbance and Melissa, comes ‘Stolen Life’
Narrator: A ‘must see film’ says The Sun.
Somebody in the college: “it was great a Fantastic film with a brilliant twist at the end, I hardly expected it!”
Somebody in the college: “I LOVED IT!” the characters were so realistic and it seemed like something that would happen in real life! I would definitely recommend it to anyone
Narrator: Come and experience what film critics are calling the film of the year!
Narrator: Stolen Life, in cinemas March 20th 2010
*Need someone with a deep voice.
*Music in the background (sad music-instrumental)
Number 29 for the background sound.
This is the radio trailer for my short film. This was also uploaded onto YouTube. For the radio trailer I originally wanted a deep voice to do the part of the narrator as many radio trailers have that but I was unable to find the right person. In the end I decided to use somebody with a softer voice. I think it worked well because the genre of the film is a sad drama and I think the voice worked well with the theme of the film aswell as the music played in the background. I chose to use the same music that was played in the film, in the radio trailer to show the link between the two.
This was quite a long process as I had to cut out some parts which didn't fit it well and I had to re-record. The part which caused me the most problems was finding the right voice for the narrator. Initially I had wanted a deep voice for the narrator as in many film trailors the narrator has that type of voice. Firstly I went with my dad's voice because it is quite deep and masculine but it wasn't the right kind of voice for the trailor. It sounded very depressing, I carried on recording various voices from around the college and eventually I found the right voice. It is not a deep voice but I believe it fits in well with the backing music.
For the backing music I made a beat out of violins and drums and other instruments, I recorded it and imported it into premier pro. The backing music plays throughout the whole film and over the voices aswell. I used the same beat that was used in the film to show the connection between the two and also, so that the audience will know what film the radio trailer is associated with.
So that the radio trailer didn't just consist of backing music and voices, I added the sound of a heart beat in parts where there is no talking. I done this to add extra tension and to give the listening audience a feel of suspense.
This is a copy of the radio trailer script for Stolen Life.
Narrator: Think you know someone? Think again...
*sound clips from the film*
Tina- “YOU STOLE MY LIFE!”
Narrator: From the makers of Disturbance and Melissa, comes ‘Stolen Life’
Narrator: A ‘must see film’ says The Sun.
Somebody in the college: “it was great a Fantastic film with a brilliant twist at the end, I hardly expected it!”
Somebody in the college: “I LOVED IT!” the characters were so realistic and it seemed like something that would happen in real life! I would definitely recommend it to anyone
Narrator: Come and experience what film critics are calling the film of the year!
Narrator: Stolen Life, in cinemas March 20th 2010
*Need someone with a deep voice.
*Music in the background (sad music-instrumental)
Number 29 for the background sound.
This is the radio trailer for my short film. This was also uploaded onto YouTube. For the radio trailer I originally wanted a deep voice to do the part of the narrator as many radio trailers have that but I was unable to find the right person. In the end I decided to use somebody with a softer voice. I think it worked well because the genre of the film is a sad drama and I think the voice worked well with the theme of the film aswell as the music played in the background. I chose to use the same music that was played in the film, in the radio trailer to show the link between the two.
Thursday 25 February 2010
filming
In today's lesson Vanessa, Nisha and myself filmed the first half of our short film outside. Our short film is about a homeless lady named Tina who is very good at art but nobody will take her seriously due to her circumstances. whilst Tina is sitting down drawing a lady named Sandra is intrigued to see what she is doing so she walks over to Tina and peers over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of what she is doing. She is very impressed by what Tina has produced and she befriends Tina. Tina is completely oblivious to what Sandra is doing, Sandra uses this to her advantage and begins to take photographs of Tina's work. later on there is an art show and Sandra has won an award for her work which she has plagiarized from Tina. Whilst Tina is out begging she come's across a newspaper with Sandra on it receiving an award for the work that she had initially done.
Before we could begin our filming we had to find a location, we managed to come across a derelict area which had a thrown out sofa and some cupboards. We decided to use it as we all felt it fitted in with the theme we were aiming for. Vanessa filmed our establishing shot I played the homeless lady and Nisha played the artist. In this lesson we managed to get a variety of shots done. we got:
Before we could begin our filming we had to find a location, we managed to come across a derelict area which had a thrown out sofa and some cupboards. We decided to use it as we all felt it fitted in with the theme we were aiming for. Vanessa filmed our establishing shot I played the homeless lady and Nisha played the artist. In this lesson we managed to get a variety of shots done. we got:
- close up's of Tina waking up and looking at her surroundings from all angles
- shots of Tina begging for money from a passer-by from all angles
- shots of Tina drawing from all angles
- shots of Sandra walking towards Tina whilst she is drawing from all angles and many more.
Wednesday 10 June 2009
Brief: - To create an entire short film campaign including DVD, poster and radio trailer, aimed at a specific audience
________________________________________
Research and Planning
the first thing I did for my project was research other short films which are already being shown and I assessed them for inspiration, practicality and different techniques which could help me with finding a suitable idea for my short film which I shall produce.
________________________________________
Target audience
in todays lesson I made a survey asking a series of questions based around short films. I asked the students around my college if they could spend a minute or so answering them. this is a copy of my questions:
Target audience
1. Are you aware of any short films?
2. What short films have you watched?
3. What do you think of short films?
4. Do you know of any short film websites?
5. How do you watch your films? T.V, computer, cinema?
6. Are you interested in short films?
7. What kind of genre suits you best?
8. Have you attended any film festivals?
9. Do you know of any film directors?
10. What do you think makes a good short film?
short film websites which I have visited:
- http://www.indiefilms.com/
- http://www.futureshorts.com/
- http://sundance.gsm.org/
- www.pixar.com/shorts
- http://sph3re.tv/
- http://www.nzshortfilms.com/
Exploring video clips
Reds dreamhttp://www.pixar.com/shorts/index.html
Reds dream is an animated short film created by Pixar. I think it works very well as a short film because most animated films are aimed at children and children don’t have a very long attention time spam. Therefore short cartoon films work well for a younger audience.
A Fishy Talewww.nzshortfilm.com
A fishy tale is a drama produced by Andy Jenkins in 2004. the film is 4:17. the first thing I noticed when watching this short film is that the non diegetic music being played complements the scene very well. The main character which is a slightly old man fishing is in a very peaceful area and in my opinion the music goes with it. In this film there are only two characters which is very common on most short films, also there is very few signs of dialogue. There is non diegetic dialogue when the main character is thinking in his head and the other character doesn’t say much. The non diegetic music is played for the whole 4:17 as a way of replacing the lack of dialogue. I also realised the shots which have been used in this short film are very basic and very amateur like. Also, there are only 2 scenes in this shorts film the first one is at the pier and the second one is in the fish and chips shop.
Bullet proof vesthttp://www.pbs.org/independentlens/insideindies/shortsfest/player.html?chosen=bulletproof
I don’t think Bullet proof vest works as a short film because there are too many different scenes. However there are only two main characters which are the narrators the genre of this short film is a documentary about gun violence in America. It is 5:27 which is a bit long for a short film. However as a documentary it might work. The whole of the short film is shot in black and white. This could have been done as a way to emphasise the sadness of dying from guns.
Fear of night (Conner Brothers)
-Good in terms of practicalitly
-Same setting, not confusing at all
-14 simple camera set ups in the same environment with the exception of one outside the characters home
-Horror suitable for adults as children may not like the horror based scenes.
Visions of death (Conner Brothers)
-Not very practical
-A lot more effort and more time spent compared to the previous film
-A variety of scenes
-Morality
MP3 The Movie (Conner Brothers)
. location shots
. working links to other videos by the same artists
. story boards
. risk assessments etc
. animatics
. thoughts on trailers
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Critcal Evaluation-INDUSTRIAL CONTEXTS
In todays lesson we done stop motion animation with chess pieces. An example of this would be Wallace and Gromit. The reason for doing this is because I may be doing this in my own short film instead of having actual characters. I found doing stop motion animation easier than I first thought. However I found it hard to keep the same consistancy throughout the shots.
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today we uploaded our stop motion animation onto the computer. we used adobe premiere to do this. however it didn't go quite to plan as it didn't work how he wanted it to. to try and correct our mistakes, we went on to use movie maker but this also didn't go to plan as we didn't know how to speed up the motion. we then went back to adobe premiere and tried for a final time. the problem with this particular application was that the image maximized when transferred onto the shot screen.
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