Candidate Number: 8231
Centre Number: 16121
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Monday, 5 May 2014
Question 7. Looking Back At Your Preliminary Task - What Do You Feel You Have Learnt In The Progression From It To Full Product ?
As a group, we made our preliminary task based around no camera or editing skills. This meant that the task was a practice so that we could get a feel for the equipment we was about to use. The hardest part of our preliminary task was trying to use tracking. This was when our actor was walking from door to door and we wanted to film his feet. This became a struggle as doing it hand-held caused the camera to wobble too much but fixing it onto a tripod made the camera stationary. When editing the footage, it was incredibly difficult to meet the exam criteria. As first time users of the software we had to use 'Trial and Error'. When it came to researching, this was proven to be easy. We knew what we wanted to do and how to do so we just got on with it. We completed a story board but this was very rushed and was not very helpful as there was not much writing on there.
This made our film opening much more easier to film as we had already had a brief practice. We had had a feel for the cameras and knew what shots were easy or hard to complete. The planning became easier as we learnt that we needed to plan more to ensure that we was 100% sure on what we was doing all of the time. When it came to editing, it was so much easier. This was because we knew the basics of the software but not the more advanced techniques. This wasn't very hard to work out how to use them but some you just needed to experiment with and see what happened. We did struggle with the titles as we was unsure where to put them. We realised as a group that when watching films, you rarely take any notice of the titles scrolling past. Due to this we had to research and look into various films as to where they would be positioned. Adobe After-Effects was very hard to use, this is what we used to make our production logo. We watched a few tutorials on YouTube to learn the basics of the software.
Saturday, 3 May 2014
Question 6. What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process of Constructing This Product?
Researching
We looked into two genres, Horror and Romance. By looking further into each genre we became aware that Romance would be too hard to do and has been done far too many times. We realised that you pretty much can go anywhere with a horror film, giving it is scary.
We attended a BMI Conference on the Art of Film Making. This showed us exactly what the examiners were looking for and what not to do. Art of the Titles was shown to us so that we could study and understand the use of titles and where they was needed.
Storyboard
As a group, we made a storyboard at the beginning of our planning so that we could easily see shot by shot what we would have to film. Our storyboard was a draft as we had everything thought through so well in our heads. This meant that we did not write much information down on the sheet because we was sure some little things might change. Although we knew what we wanted to, it probably would of been easier if everything was written down. This is something that I have learnt from with this project.
Making Our Film
Camera
We started off our media project by completing a Preliminary Task. This benefited us in various ways as this allowed us to get a feel for the camera. We discovered that the sound was very delicate as it picked up noise happening in the next room. This helped us as when we go to film our opening scene, we now know that it needs to be silent.
When we shot our first scene of Poppy being in the mental institute, we practiced numerous amounts of shots. This was to ensure that our film was the best it could be. These shots included 'Close Up', 'Mid Shot', 'Long Shot', 'Wide Shot' and zooming in and out. This helped us massively as when we made our storyboard, we wrote down something completely different to what we ended up using in our final piece. The camera shots that we used were all relatively easy to film as they was either a close up or a long shot. This was easy as there was no movement involved like tracking would be therefore we could not make any errors. When it came to filming each shot, we came to terms with the fact that not everything was possible. For example we wanted to zoom into Poppy's mouth as she screamed but this became a struggle as we could not line it up exactly and you could still see the light.
We used a tripod the majority of the time as this would ensure that the shot was always straight. This was our first time in using a tripod so everything was new to us. We picked up straight away how to use it as it was very easy.
I have learnt a large amount completing this media project just by experimenting with different shots or buttons. I feel that the Preliminary Task helped us a lot as we got a feel for the camera and how it works.
We had some slight trouble with the shot in the loft as David has to pick up the camera and take in downstairs. This was quite hard as we wanted it to be obvious that the camera was moving but not to the extreme where it was making the picture go blurry due to the fact the camera was moving too much. This was overcome by David walking slower and then we sped up the footage when we edited it.
We also had trouble with finding a place to put our title in. We thought that it would look good at the end of the footage but then this made our opening scene look like a trailer, something we did not want.
Editing
When it came to editing our footage, none of us knew how to work the software. This was new to all of us, which was pretty scary. We had to experiment a lot and complete 'Trial and Error' with pretty much every button. We used this software when editing our preliminary task so we did briefly know the basics of the it for example importing the footage. This helped only a small amount as we wanted to add much bigger techniques but we struggled as we was unsure how to work it. I am now familiar with it as we taught ourselves how to use it by experimenting. Our editing time was long therefore we had enough time to practice different edits to the footage. The hardest part when editing was trying to make each shot flow into each other as certain shots we had to cut parts out due to bad editing. This was important that this worked otherwise it would be jumpy and not look professional at all.
The most frequent bit of technology I have used is the internet. This is because I have been on my blog updating all of my work. Every bit of research which I completed was uploaded to my blog.
We looked into two genres, Horror and Romance. By looking further into each genre we became aware that Romance would be too hard to do and has been done far too many times. We realised that you pretty much can go anywhere with a horror film, giving it is scary.
We attended a BMI Conference on the Art of Film Making. This showed us exactly what the examiners were looking for and what not to do. Art of the Titles was shown to us so that we could study and understand the use of titles and where they was needed.
As a group, we made a storyboard at the beginning of our planning so that we could easily see shot by shot what we would have to film. Our storyboard was a draft as we had everything thought through so well in our heads. This meant that we did not write much information down on the sheet because we was sure some little things might change. Although we knew what we wanted to, it probably would of been easier if everything was written down. This is something that I have learnt from with this project.
Making Our Film
Camera
We started off our media project by completing a Preliminary Task. This benefited us in various ways as this allowed us to get a feel for the camera. We discovered that the sound was very delicate as it picked up noise happening in the next room. This helped us as when we go to film our opening scene, we now know that it needs to be silent.
When we shot our first scene of Poppy being in the mental institute, we practiced numerous amounts of shots. This was to ensure that our film was the best it could be. These shots included 'Close Up', 'Mid Shot', 'Long Shot', 'Wide Shot' and zooming in and out. This helped us massively as when we made our storyboard, we wrote down something completely different to what we ended up using in our final piece. The camera shots that we used were all relatively easy to film as they was either a close up or a long shot. This was easy as there was no movement involved like tracking would be therefore we could not make any errors. When it came to filming each shot, we came to terms with the fact that not everything was possible. For example we wanted to zoom into Poppy's mouth as she screamed but this became a struggle as we could not line it up exactly and you could still see the light.
We used a tripod the majority of the time as this would ensure that the shot was always straight. This was our first time in using a tripod so everything was new to us. We picked up straight away how to use it as it was very easy.
I have learnt a large amount completing this media project just by experimenting with different shots or buttons. I feel that the Preliminary Task helped us a lot as we got a feel for the camera and how it works.
We had some slight trouble with the shot in the loft as David has to pick up the camera and take in downstairs. This was quite hard as we wanted it to be obvious that the camera was moving but not to the extreme where it was making the picture go blurry due to the fact the camera was moving too much. This was overcome by David walking slower and then we sped up the footage when we edited it.
We also had trouble with finding a place to put our title in. We thought that it would look good at the end of the footage but then this made our opening scene look like a trailer, something we did not want.
Editing
When it came to editing our footage, none of us knew how to work the software. This was new to all of us, which was pretty scary. We had to experiment a lot and complete 'Trial and Error' with pretty much every button. We used this software when editing our preliminary task so we did briefly know the basics of the it for example importing the footage. This helped only a small amount as we wanted to add much bigger techniques but we struggled as we was unsure how to work it. I am now familiar with it as we taught ourselves how to use it by experimenting. Our editing time was long therefore we had enough time to practice different edits to the footage. The hardest part when editing was trying to make each shot flow into each other as certain shots we had to cut parts out due to bad editing. This was important that this worked otherwise it would be jumpy and not look professional at all.
The most frequent bit of technology I have used is the internet. This is because I have been on my blog updating all of my work. Every bit of research which I completed was uploaded to my blog.
Thursday, 1 May 2014
Male Character Planning
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This was our first option for the main male character, Michael Cason. This is because he is older than all of our female actresses. He is grown up and mature, something which we want our male character to be as he has just lost his child. Therefore he must also be caring and gentle. The female audience will be attracted to him which will intrigue them to watch more. The male audience will also like him as Michael enjoys gym and playing football, therefore they will relate to him. Michael works everyday up London therefore it would be very hard to schedule days to film with him as he is so busy.
Our last option for the role was David Franklin. He is manly and is older than our female actress. He looks much older than Mike and this is why he would be best for the role. We need someone who looks old enough to be a young dad. The female audience will find him attractive therefore they will want to continue with this film. David is not camera shy therefore we can get him to do anything without him being scared. Also David attends the same school as us therefore it will be easy to film.Female Character Planning
Our first option for who will play the main female role was Poppy Massey. This is because she is little and very delicate, which would make it more believable as to when she becomes depressed. She looks young another to be a young mother but also old enough to have had child. She is very pretty with lovely hair and big features. This will attract the male audience as they will find her attractive therefore this will encourage them too watch. She will also attract the female audience as they will feel sympathy for her as she is so little and cute. Poppy is shy which strangely would work well when filming her as the character she would be playing is meant to be quiet due to the fact her daughter has died.
Our next option for the role of Connie Williams was Demi Sims. This is because Demi is very attractive and again, like Poppy, will appeal to the male audience. Unlike Poppy though, Demi is very tall and this may not be as effective as she will look more grown up, and possibly would not get the sympathy from the public. Demi does not like being filmed and this is where we will have a problem.
Our last option for the main role was Demi Cato. This is because, like all the other girls, Demi is stunning. This will make the female audience be envious of her looks but also love her. Demi is not afraid of acting as she loves drama. This could work very well as we know that she would do anything that we asked her to, but this could also not work as she is quite loud and our main character is not.Font Research
We searched into 'Scary Fonts' and found some styles that we really liked. We chose a selection of these to pick from. The idea that we was going for was that the font had to look like it had been written in blood. This is why we chose the colour red. We also picked various fonts which looked like it was dripping or had been splattered. The second idea was that it was very childish writing as the mental state of our main character will be very young.
The first one we picked fitted our criteria as it looks as if the blood is dripping. However it did not look like childish writing therefore this was not going to be the font we would use in our film.
The second font we chose did look almost childish as it is scruffy by wasn't very clear that it was blood so this again was not our favourite.
The third font fitted both ideas as it looked childish, using a backwards 'e' made it look as if a small child who may not be able to write properly has done it. It also looked as if it has been written in blood as it is scruffy and double lined. This was going to be our potential font.
Our last choice of font definitely looked like blood as splatters of it are around the font but unfortunately it looked more computerized than real life.
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