Tuesday 4 May 2010
The central focus of the preliminary task was to experiment and explore various camera angles to help us adjust to using a camera properly and also giving us an idea of how shots should be taken and established. As we successfully used a various range of shots within the opening of our media product, we felt that we had progressed further as a group since filming the preliminary task. Also establishing the 180 degree rule in the preliminary tasked helped us identify the line between a cameras postion and the audiences perspective. Over the duration time my knowledge and awareness of how to capture certain camera shots and camera angles has improved dramatically,this will contribute in the future when other media products are created, so I can again improve and develop on my knowledge furthermore. I firstly understood the simple basic camera shots such as the: low angle shots, mid shots and close up shots. My curiosity increased when i explored other various shots such as: over the shoulder shots, extreme close up shots and establishing shots. Through my curiosity I managed to develop my skills of camera use evenmore.
I have also learnt about the basic concept of media production and how the filming industry works to achieve its goals and its full potentials. I now realise that if you want a high quality standard product, you have to film in separate stages rather than rushing and trying to film in one day for example. I have also established the fact that you need to construct shots over and over again as the audience pay attention the slightest details and if errors are shown in production, you will lose recognition as a production label. Overall the filming process roughly took around one week. The opening scene was shortened down to 2 minutes and 50 seconds which emphasises the time it takes to produce a whole film.
As the software was unfamiliar to us at first we had no idea of how to edit our piece, but with time and experience, we had finally mastered a majority of the concepts as a group, learning new skills in the process, which will be beneficial in future media productions. Through using this software I have gained knowledge in how to: split shots, adjust colour filters, adjust lighting, add effective transitions, importing music, overlapping footage and many more technical features. I have now identified the skill level needed to produce a media product and also the simple steps that real media producers take before producing their product. But once these basic concepts have been mastered, you begin to familiarise yourself within media production, with aspects of production coming naturally.
In conclusion I believe I have learnt lots of valuable information since filming the preliminary task, which i will take into consideration in the future. I have been fascinated by the establishment of the film industry whilst enjoying the filming process resulting into to more insight into media production.
Throughout the process of constructing our media product I have learnt about numerous aspects of technology within media, advancing and progressing further due to my improved knowledge. Firstly from working alongside Josh Thorpe and Jordan Kennedy, I observed how a video camera was correctly operated. Judging from preliminary task, I could identify that the basic 'Sony' handheld camera was quite simplistic to use. I made a few contributions myself when the group appeared to suffer from a few technical difficulties, correcting them in certain circumstances. Whilst the filming for our opening, we were using a more technically advanced piece of equipment coutersy of a friend in the group. This camera appeared more professional due to the numerous buttons and the increase in size. But once we grasped the simple fundamental uses of the camera, filming came to us naturally. We also learnt how to upload footage onto a computer via the USB socket and cable, which became quite a task when using the more advanced camera, but the footage was successfully uploaded.
Here is the comparison between the two cameras we used
I also learnt how to use computer software through the editing process of our media product. To edit our media product we used a program called 'Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9.0'. This software was provided by our school that we could create a quality media product by using sophisticated software. Through exploring and experimenting with various transitions and effects on the software I learnt how to split and postion individual shots to create a smooth flowing sequence within our media product. I also learnt how to adjust lighting and colour contrast filters that we used during the editing process by making our opening appear bleak and dismal through the use of the grey filter. Moreover we also learnt how to adjust and mute sound before we began editing music.
Vegas Studio Platinum 9.0
Finally we had to edit our soundtrack which would overlap over the edited footage, this would hopefully be at the right timing and pace, therefore making our media product flow smoothly. For editing the soundtrack we used a program called Audacity which was again available for our convience. Through using this program I learnt how to cut and split the soundtrack and merge the selected sections together to produce a similar sound but using aspects of our individual flair and creativity. I also learnt how to export our soundtrack into another format which would help reduce the size of KB used within the music. When we overlapped the soundtrack we left a few effective sounds such as the clattering gate and the rattling lock.
Audacity software
Through using various modern technologies I have learnt about the various aspects within media production. Without any knowledge of using modern technologies our group wouldn't have be capable of producing a high quality media product, but by using our own creativity and initiative we produced a successful product.
Monday 3 May 2010
Here is also some of the positive comments we recieved:
During the planning for our media product our group needed to take the certification label into account. We also needed to acknowledge the fact that the age bracket will be assesed by the level of offensive or violent content within our media product, which will be determined by the British Board of Filming Classification (BBFC) . We needed to base our product around these rules and regulations to maintain its standard as a popular product.
Due to the fact that our film opening was based around the zombie apocalypse genre, our group identified the fact that our media product will not be aimed towards the U,PG or 12 age bracket as it may scare younger viewers which would spoil the openings popularity. This would also cause controversial issues which may be raised by the viewing audience. Also the frightening theme of death would also be most certainly be unsuitable for young childen and even possibly young teenagers. During our research and planning of our media product, we noticed that a majority of zombie apocalypse films were based around the 15 and 18 certificate bracket. We set this as a potential boundary that we took into consideration before filming. As no weapons were used in the process of filming it immediately minimalised the possibilty becoming an 18 certificate. Blood and gore was restricted to a minimum which lowered the possibilty of an 18 age bracket furthermore. Despite using little dialogue in the opening, there were the occassional swear words used by the main character and also aggressive actions used, such as rattling the gate in temper which could represent violence. Also the use of brutality is expressed through the actions of the zombies secured our media product at the 15 age bracket.
15 age certification bracket
I feel that the chosen age bracket fits well with the contents of the opening. I believe that our media product would lose popularity if the age bracket was higher, as teenage audiences enjoy the aspects of death and gore, which has been evidently shown through similar films with the same age bracket such as 'Shaun of The Dead' and 'Zombieland'. The establishment of the Zombie Apocalypse genre is increasingly growing, which will inevitably lead to more of an interest in the genre shown through our film, therefore increasing profits and gaining recognition.
Institutions are established global organisations that generate profit through the distribution of media products which focus on advertisement and entertainment. There are various institutions that work within all aspects of the media world from the glitz and glamour of the film industry (Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Universal Studios) to revolution of the world wide web (Google, Facebook, Twitter). An institution can have the power to dictate and command within the media market, an example of this is Sony which has specialises in modern technology, and the institution has advanced further by investing into other companies to produce more sophisticated products. 'Sweetheart' deals are also used between global institutions that partner together to produce a global phenom that gains acknowledgement and recognition through the production of an advanced media product. For our media product to be established within the fim industry we would need an institute that could advertise our product.
a selection of media institutions
Our group have decided to distribute our media product through the advertisement of 'Film4'. Film Four is a well known and well established institution within the UK film industry as they are capable of distributing hollywood blockbluster and low budget independent films. This would be ideal for our circumstances due to lack of funding. The channel is well known for having themed nights or seasons which are centred around either a certain genre, actor or director. As Channel 4 has ownership within Film Four productions it also gains recognition for producing films such as 'Trainspotting', 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' and 'Slumdog Millionaire' including numerous others that have contributed towards its established institution. Filmfour Productions would also gain extra revenue if other channels (such as Sky Movies, ITV and BBC) would be interested in showing their media product.
The titled credits
The titled credits are shown to make the audience aware that Film Four is the institution that is distributing with our media product. Refering back to the themed nights that Film Four sets, we thought that it would be ideal if our film could be associated with the zombie apocalypse genre, with modern classics such as '28 Days Later' and 'Zombieland', which would help establish our recognition further.
various stereotypes shown through the 'Zombieland' cast