Evaluation Q4: How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Here I have embedded the final evaluation question, for this question we decided to create two screencasts as well as other video examples.


Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is also another technology in which we used in all stages of creating our products. Web 2.0 is commonly associated with web applications which allow the user to interact with the web via Information sharing, collaboration and user-centered design. An few examples of web 2.0 applications are blogs, video-sharing (YouTube, Vimeo), social-networking sites (Facebook, Twitter) and wiki's (Wikipedia). The main factor of web 2.0 is that the site allows its users to interact with other users or change the website content e.g. embedding HTML code into Blogger, as in previous years before web 2.0 the user was limited to passive viewing of information. This meant that we were able to embed research materials; videos, documents and audio, create a blog and create entries, post our products to the web and communicate via social-networking. 

 

HD vs SD


Photoshop in use


Quarkxpress in use

Evaluation Q3: What have you learnt from audience feedback?

Here I have embedded the third evaluation question, for this we decided to answer the question by creating a podcast. I have also embedded our roughcut and final cut for refernce.


Rough cut


Final Cut

Evaluation Q2: How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

0:10- Film Deconstruction
8:26 - Poster Deconstruction
9:28 - Magazine Deconstruction
9:57 - Across brand combination and identity

Here I have embedded a screen capture with audio commentary explaining the use of shots, editing and camera work that are included in our film Reborn from sin. As well as what techniques we have used in our film poster and magazine review. We also explained the effective of all of the products and how they created a brand identity.

Evaluation Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop and challege forms and conventions on real media products?

Here I have embeded the first of the four evaluation questions, in this video Sam and myself are discussing the conventions that were used, developed and challenged in our final film.

Film Poster

Here is the first draft of our film poster,although because of difficulties we changed our idea to something that would be more effective. Also one of the main focuses of our film is religion and that was not made clear in this film poster even though the other main focus is the characters Samantha and she is included in the poster. The film is about her and her faith which is not clear.

This is the final version of our film poster we used the idea of a cross so that  religion was one of the main points of the film was made more clear and we had Samantha's face showing through the cross as she is the main character and the storyline is about her.

Here is the process of how we created the final version of the film poster in photo shop.

Magazine film review

Here is the deconstruction of our magazine review it includes explanations of why we used each element that is in our product.

Here is the magazine review for our film "Reborn from sin".

Updated Film review

Here I have embedded the updated version of our magazine review, we have added a runaround in the magazine review in the main body of text, which features a quote from the review.

This is how we created our magazine review for our film "Reborn from Sin".

Film posters - research

Also as part of our course we have to create a film poster for our film. Conventions of a film poster are:

• Image or images that are often related to the characters or the setting of the film
• Film title so the font, colours used and the size and placement of the title on th poster as this can help suggest the genre of th film.
• A tagline for the film this gives another clue to the genre and the theme of the film
• Critic review for example 'anunmissable film'
• Details of any awards nominations or awards that it has already won
• The production information - this lists the production and distribution companies and other related information.

Here is the film poster from the film Deviation, I have inserted this picture as we liked the black and red colour scheme they used for the text as well as  the idea of the male character's face faded into the background and the female character running in distress. 

One of the film posters I looked at was Parrot, in the film poster the background is very simple as its grey and white, the main focus of the poster is the crucifix as it is in the centre of the poster with a man on the left hand side next to it showing that he has dropped it. I chose this film poster as we used a cruicfix in our film to show faith and her lossing her faith. The film titles are also grey which is very simple again so that the focus is on him dropping the crucifix.

In this film poster it shows a mans face through a cross which I think is quite effective as well as, this is another way in which we could hint at religion in our film posters as the film is about this women who has lost her faith and then finds it again. We show this with her putting on her crucifix at the end of the film. So we could do something like this in our film poster.

Magazine fim review research

As part of our course we have to create a magazine review of our film. The first magazine film review I looked at was Jennifer's body. This is magazine review from Empire magazine we have looked at this as it is the best selling magazine on the market. We have deconstructed this film review and included a list of conventions we  notice always appear in magazine reviews or that we would like to include in ours.  

This review has one large image from the film as well as another image from the film which is very different from the other picture as it is in a different place and of a different character also this picture is smaller than the other. The film title stands out from the rest of the text by being in bold and much bigger than any other the other text, so that the reader will notice the images first and then the film title so that reader will automatically know what the film is called and not have to reader through the text to find out. There is a quote from the article underneath the second image the text is bigger than the main text so that it stands out a bit more but is not as big as the film title and the quote is also in a different colour again so it stands out on the page. All of the text is in the same font so that it look professional.

For this review there is one large image that is in the centre of the page as well as two smaller ones underneath it. The film title is n the top left hand corner of the page so it stands out as well as being much bigger than the rest of the text and in a different colour. The rest of the text is all in the same font and the same size apart from at the being where some is in bold again to make it stand out a bit. Like in the Lady in the water there is a quote from the article although its in the top right hand corner on top of the main image but like the other review it is bigger than the main text and in a different colour.

This review unlike the other two only has one image at the top of the page whereas the others have at least two different images. Although the film title still stands out on the page as it is much bigger than the rest of the text and again is in bold so the reader knows what the film is called, the rest of the text is in the same font although in this review it has a section at the beginning telling the reader who directed the film, who stars in it and how long the film is etc which is in a different colour. I think this as good as it gives the reader information about the film and they do not  have to search through the article to find out who is in it as it tell them clearly at the beginning of the article. As well as gives a short summary about the film in a short paragraph which is in bold so it stands out again so the reader know what the film is about with out having to read the whole review.

Reborn from sin Final cut

Here is the final version f our film Reborn from sin.

Construction 7: Re-shoots and Re-edits

Re- shooting session 1: 25th February
Present at this shoot was Holly, Sam and myself, Rob was unable to come, the actors that were present was Erica, Adam and Tom.
At this shoot we filmed the scenes in the house before the flashback from different angles than before as well as changing how the actors we positioned at the table in the first scene and in the living room as well.
We also filmed the scenes in the woods, here we filmed again from different angles than before and we wanted to re film it so that Tom and Erica would be walking the same difference apart throughout the scenes as well as adding in dialogue for Erica to say in one of the scenes leading up to the rape.
At the shoot we were more prepared than the other shoot as we all had the props that we needed for the scenes and were much more organised with what we were going to film.

Re-shooting session 2: 8th March
We filmed the scene at the beginning of the flashback that happens before the rape which shows the relationship between Ray and Samantha at this shoot. Present at this shoot as Holly, Sam, Rob and myself and actors Erica and Tom. We filmed this on a lunch time and during period 4 although I had leave at the end of lunch because I had a lesson

Re-shooting session 3: 16th March
We all decided to re shoot the film again in order to improve it instead of just re doing some parts of the film, present at this shoot was Holly, Sam and myself Rob was not present and the actors that were present was Erica, Tom, Adam and Lee.

At this shoot was filmed the scenes at the house before and after the flashback at Sam's house, we added to the original woods scene that happens in the flash back so re filming them walk through the gate so we can do a match on action and have Erica drop the rosary beads just before the rape takes place. We also filmed a scene at the beginning of the film with Erica waking up in a double bed alone to show shes a single mom and her going down stairs. As well as a scene after the flashback of her going through a box of her belongings that are related to the rape and her faith and showing her putting the crucifix back on.

Construction 6: Evaluation of Peer Feedback

From this feedback we decided to re film the scene with Erica and Adam sitting at the table and frame them differently as well as add in a shot of the present and Erica waking up.

As well as re film the scenes in the woods and give Erica a line just before the rape scene such as "Where are we going, I thought we was going to church?" this will then give Tom motivation for attacking her and so the the scene will then make more scene rather than him just attacking her. 

We are also going to add in the scenes after the flashback so Erica and Adam talking in the living room straight after the flashback and Erica in her bedroom going through a box of belongings.  

Construction 5: Peer Feedback

          Here is the feedback that was given to us from our media teacher Mr Hood, from this feedback we will then have another opinion on our film from someone that is not in our group and how he thinks we could improve it.

• Good looking ident but it seems like the sound at the beginning of it is missing. It seems to cut in half way through the animation.

·         Pretty titles. Complimented by the good choice of music. Wish each title faded out though. Sudden 'chop' is a little aggressive in the context of this music with this font, animation, etc.

·         First shot or Erica & Adam is strangely framed. Is the empty chair important?

·         Better framing when it cuts to Adam opening the present.

·         We need a close-up of the present once he's opened it though; I don't know what it is! (until he says).

·         Can see the script being held up when it cuts back to Erica (oops).

·         Horrendous jump cut at 1.00.

·         The music that accompanies this scene suddenly stops on the edit at 1.05. It's distracting.

·         Good match-on-action at 1.13, but the edit interrupts the door squeak (which suddenly stops as the door is half open on the edit).

·         The pan following Erica towards Rob (from 1.17) needs to keep up with Erica (so that the framing is good by the time she sits down). You don't want to continue the pan once she is sat on the sofa.

·         Another awful jump cut at 1.21 (despite your best efforts to hide it with a cross-fade).

·         I'm a little confused about the TV scene which fades in and out through black. What is this about?

·         Brilliant retro feel at 1.43 brought about by creative colouring. Good costume as well. I'm fully convinced that this is in the 80's.

·         Why though is Erica following Tom? Are they strangers? Are they boyfriend & girlfriend? How can you show the audience what their relationship is? (Even if they are strangers).

·         Changes in ambient sound at 2.04 are a little startling.

·         Some storage background sounds around 2.14.

·         Colour changes at 2.21 are too different from the original retro look. Doesn't work. I prefer the original look. I know there are issues with original lighting here, but you have to plan for it and work around it.

·         When it cuts at around 2.33, Erica and Tom are walking at a different pace to the previous shot; this creates a continuity error.

·         Maybe you need to give Tom a motivation for suddenly attacking Erica; one moment he is just angry and the next he attacks her. What changes in his mind? Perhaps Erica can say something that makes him 'flip'?

·         You cut Erica off 'mid scream' at 2.42.

·         Don't get the 'sky' shot at 2.44. Was this an attempt to avoid another jump shot?

·         Perhaps just a little too much tree at 2.51. You need to hide the detail of the attack, I understand that, but maybe you overdid it?

·         Let's have proper credits, not 'With Thanks To'.

·         Way, way too short (only just over 3 minutes).

·         I'm guessing that there is some footage missing here and I hope that once it is included, the narrative will be more clear. At the moment it is very confusing and difficult to link the scenes.

·         On the positive side, the images are very clear and the lighting is excellent.

·         What you've filmed looks pretty good on screen (nice clear images), but you need to work on the narrative, framing, timing, sound and editing.

·         Don't forget the use of split edits to help you.

·         I can't offer you a level or mark, as the film is too short to qualify for anything!

·         Without rushing this, you need to finish it. You have obvious filming skill, but your film must make sense and you can't afford any basic errors with continuity.

Construction 4: RoughCut

Here is the rough cut for our film To Sin No More.

Construction 3: Editing the footage

The editing process:

• Capture all the footage onto Final Cut Express
• Rename the clips so that it is more organised and makes it easier to then edit the film together
• Pieces of the footage will be spread out across many clips, we then will edit it together using the in and out markers to then insert the footage we want on to the time line, putting it into our film.
• After we have inserted the footage, we used the fade in and fade out effect between some of the lips as well as the ripple effect which was used for the flashback this was all done in Final cut express.
• Then the ident, titles and credits. For the titles we had a black background with red text going across at the beginning of the film. For the credits we used the scrolling feature in final cut express.
• For sound since the camera had a external mic we did not need to over dub any sound e.g. dialogue. Although we did use soundtrack pro for the other sounds that we added into the film.
• Then we exported it as a Quick time movie and uploaded it to You Tube.

Construction 2: Shooting on location

Filming day 1- 17th January
Me and Rob were unable to be at this shoot due to clash of timetables, Sam and Holly were at the shoot, also present was our two actors for the rape scene Tom and Erica

At this shoot Sam and Holly filmed the rape scene in the woods which is a main part of our film as it will make our film make sense, because of this they shot a variety of shots from different angles for each scene.

Filming day 2- 2nd February
Present at this shoot was Sam, Rob, Holly and myself, also present was Erica and Adam who were acting for us on this day. We shot these scenes at Sam's house and had to gather some of the props that we needed e.g. a silver crucifix.

At this shot we filmed all of the scenes that happened before the flash back, but forgot to film the scene that happens straight after the flash back where Anthony brings his mother out of the flashback. This was due to disorganisation as we did not bring the storyboard with us on the shoot.

Construction 1: Preparing for the shoot

The Equipment
The equipment that we are going to use is provided by the school, this is so we know that it will work and how it works. The camera we will use is a Sony HD camera which we will record onto high definition mini DV tapes. Also the camera has a built on microphone this is good as we then will not have to over dub the sound or carry around a boom mic instead. Other equipment will we need for the shoot is an adaptor and a tripod, for some scene we will need two cameras and tripods so that we can get shots from different angles. For lighting we will use 3 point lighting for some of the indoor scenes for example the kitchen scene and the scene in the living room so that its not as dark and you can see the actors and what is happening more clearly.

Roles and Responsibilities
Holly is responsible for the camera work so making sure that we get the best shots we can for the film as well as monitoring the costumes so that each actors costume is the same for each scene and what their wearing is appropriate so for example in the flashback Erica and Tom will look like they are in the 80's.

Target Audience

The British Board of Film Classfication's catagories of age reastrictions are:

  Suitable for all, a 'U' film should be suitable for audiences aged four and over and should be set in a positive moral framework and no violence, threat or horror.

 Parental Guidance, some scenes may be unsuitable for younge children a 'PG' film should not disturb a child aged around eight years old or older. Although parents are advised to consider whether it may upset younger children.

 Suitable for 12 years and over, these categories are awarded if the material is suitable for 12 and over as itmay upset children under the age of 12 or contain materila that parents may find unsuitable for them. 12A onlu exist for cinema film and no one who is under the age of 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult.

 Suitable for only 15 and over, no one under the age of 15 may see a '15' film in a cinemas or rent or buy a '15' rated film.

 Suitable for only adults, no on who is younger than 18 may see a '18' film in a cinema or rent or buy an '18' rated film.

 May only be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas and video works and may not be supplied by mail order.


Looking at the classifications set by the British board of film we agreed that our film would be rated an 18 this is due to the content that takes place during the flashback. We feel that our film we appeal to both genders between the ages of 18 - 21 years old this is because of the thrilling genre and the chilling plot line of  our film. We feel that it would also appeal to over 21's but more females than males this is because they will be able to empathise with the main character Samantha more.

Even though our film has a religious theme we feel that it then would not just appeal to religious people because of this, as in the film Angel's and Demon's it also has a religious theme but not just religious people watched it as non religious people still enjoyed it the film even though it had a religious theme.

Shooting schedule - To Sin No More

To Sin No More Shooting Schedule

Here is the shooting schedule for our film

To Sin No More Animatic

Here is the animatic for our film

Film titles research

In a motion picture the opening credits are shown at the beginning of the film and list the most important members of the film e.g. major actors (main characters) and crew. They can be shown as text superimposed on to a blank screen or static picture or on top of a action happening in the film. They either may or may not be accompaned by music. Also opening credits can be built into a sequence of their own this is called a 'title sequence'. The closing credits list an extensive cast and crew production at the very end of the film.

Here is the opening clip to Avalon high which shows the opening credits being shown on top of the action (2:03).

Here is the opening clip to the Pink Panther 2 this has the opening credits in a title sequence (4:38) where the opening crediting are different to the actual film as they are on the top of a cartoon with the Pink Panther theme tune.

Superimposed on a blank screen

To Sin No More script

To Sin No More Script

Here is the script for our film To Sin No More

Storyboard- To Sin No More

Storyboard - Rob, Adele, Holly & Sam

Here is the storyboard for our film To Sin No More

Costumes

In the present:
Samantha: Smart navy blouse, denin boot cut jeans and black socks

Anthony: White polo shirt, denim jeans and white socks
 
Blake: Charcoal polo shirt, jeans
 

In the flashback(1975)
Samantha: high waisted denim jeans with flares and a brown knitted jumper
 
Samantha's mom: large spectacles and a long sleeved black dress
 
Ray: Flared jeans stripped t-shirt underneath a denim jacket and a pair of brown shoes

In the present
Samantha: Black wrap dress

Anthony: Skinny denim jeans and a fitted black shirt.