Dear Moderator,
Firstly thank you for taking the time to look at my blogs, it has taken alot of time and work but I hope that it's been worth it. I am very pleased with everything that has been produced and hopefully you will enjoy having a look around.
My blog is linked to the group blog, you can get from my individual blog to the group blog by following the link on the right hand sidebar. I have also included the links to my group member's blogs (Olivia Cole, Frank Tan and Eoin Brogan). There is also a link for the class blog called BLK Foundation Blog, which is linked to everyone's work. Feel free to have a look around.
On my individual blog you will find all of my individual research, initial ideas and planning prior to when we got together as a group. You can also look at my work from the preliminary task, including the final video, reflections on the development of the project as it progressed and my answers to the evaluation questions.
The group blog provides evidence of the research, planning and production work that we used during the process. It shows the development from our early ideas to the final project and the influences that shaped our film. The finished and final opening sequence has been linked at the top of each blog.
Hopefully you will find it easy to navigate around my blogs. Everything is organised in date order from the start of the project in January 2011 until we finished in April 2011. I have used labels to identify all the research, planning, production and evaluation work that I have completed on my individual blog. On the group blog, we have used the same labels to organise the posts. You can also find a label with my name showing my individual contributions.
Once again, thanks for taking the time to look around.
Narishma Poonwasie - 3620
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Note to the Moderator
Posted by Latymer Media 2010 at 2:48 am 0 comments
Closing Post
The project has officially come to an end. It has been alot of fun (but alot of work) and I have enjoyed working with my group during the process.
Goodbye Blog!
xx
Posted by Latymer Media 2010 at 2:20 am 0 comments
Monday, 4 April 2011
Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Conventions of Superhero films and how we followed them:
- Unpopular, Nerdy Superhero
- Popular, pretty girl as the hero's love interest
- Hidden Powers
- Orientated around a school setting in a large city
- Idea of morality and good triumphing over evil
- Special Effects
- Epic Soundtrack and Voiceover Introduction
Spiderman Vs. Exceptional |
- Angus is more socially awkward and isolated compared to Peter Parker
- He doesn't have a latex costume or mask
- He doesn’t have a special superhero name, i.e. ‘Spiderman’ , ‘Batman’, ‘Superman’
- The concept of showing how he discovered his superpowers in the opening titles is not normal especially as this is not a sequel
Our film consists of conventional character types that are found in nearly all superhero films.
- Hero - Angus Archer
- Love Interest (who becomes the damsel-in-distress) - Jessica Butler
- Nemesis - Fame Hungry presenter/journalist
- Helpless citizens
Jessica follows the stereotypical love interest role |
Binary Opposites
- Good vs Evil
- Outcast vs Popular
- Hero vs Villain
- Female vs Male
- When the bullies throw the paper ball at Angus, we know instantly that they are his enemies at school and that at some point in the film they will be defeated/humiliated.
- When Jessica tells the bullies to stop picking on Angus we know that she is not the 'snobby' type of popular girl and is most likely going to be involved with Angus at a later time
Enigma Codes
- Why does Angus not reveal his powers to anyone?
- How and why does Angus have superpowers?
- The School Bell - the audience would understand that they are in a school
Continuity Editing
In order to ensure that the narrative was seamless for the audience, we had to follow a number of rules relating to continuity including the match-on-match, 180 degrees, eyeline match and shot-reverse-shot. Most of our sequence follows the rules but we did have a few errors that we spotted in post-production. These include the bright pink coat being folded over the chair differently and a seat being down in one shot and then being stored up in another. Below is a video of some of the continuity errors made in Spiderman.
Form
Conventions of Opening Sequences and how we followed them:
- Introduction of main characters
- Opening credits displaying the names of the main actors, director and producer
- Establishing locations
- Use of continuity editing through match-on-match action, shot/reverse/shot and following the 180-degree rule
Posted by Latymer Media 2010 at 3:40 pm 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 1
Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In order to target a broad audience, we looked at a range of representation areas, including age, gender and social status. I think that the most important one of these was Social Status because it enabled us to magnify the concept that our protagonist is a social outcast.
- The Jocks
- They are usually the sporty type
- They 'run the school'
- Normally pick on the vulnerable
- The Popular Girls
- Very feminine characters
- Prettiest girls in school
- Everyone wants to be them or with them
- The Outcasts
- Isolated from the others
- Usually quite 'nerdy'
- Picked on regularly
Gender
Jessica's costume is conventionally very feminine |
The Bullies have stereotypically sporty and casual clothing |
Mary-Jane Watson |
Posted by Latymer Media 2010 at 3:39 pm 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 2
Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The name of our production company is 'Offbeat Productions'. We are an independent company based in the UK that specialise in producing films with niche concepts.
Fox Searchlight's top grossing films |
Rolling out the red carpet at Leicester Square |
Flowchart of ownership and possible platforms to broadcast 'Exceptional' |
Posted by Latymer Media 2010 at 3:39 pm 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 3
Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?
Target Audience
The target audience for 'Exceptional' is 15-25 year olds, mainly males who enjoy watching films regularly and are interested in similar films from the same genre. They are most likely interested in technology and the latest gadgets around. Ideally they are attending/have attended a school at some point, this is due to the setting of which the film takes place.
Target Audience and their interests |
- Young Females (especially teenagers) - due to the romance aspect to the film involving the hero and the 'damsel-in-distress'.
Young Females |
- Pre-Teens (or 'Tweenagers') - they aspire to be older and want a taste of the the lifestyle that the jocks/popular girls in high school have (i.e. being popular, parties, socialising, etc.)
'Tweenagers' |
- Superhero Genre Fan Base - this genre has a very large and dedicated audience. This audience ranges from young ages to old, whether they are fans of the new/most famous superheroes or they are fans of the original comic books themselves.
Collection of images from Comic Con 2009 |
Posted by Latymer Media 2010 at 3:39 pm 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 4
Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?
During the planning stages of making the opening sequence we tried to draw upon our case study: Avatar (Cameron, 2009) by having different aspects in the film to appeal to different audiences. Therefore allowing the film to have a wide reach.
The superhero genre automatically means that there will be an unrealistic aspect to the film because it is very unheard of that people can move things with their mind. This means that the film can offer the audience a sense of escapism from their everyday lives. By following most of the conventions of the superhero genre we could appeal to the mass audience that enjoy the genre.
However, the fact that Angus appears to be one of the more believable/'realistic' superheroes, as he does not have a latex suit or a special superhero name, means that some of the audience would desire to be like him. The sense of realism could appeal to a sector of our target audience that prefer the realistic, darker styles of superhero films, i.e. The Dark Knight.
Even though Angus has superpowers he still has to deal with the issues of an ordinary 17 year old boy at high school. This means that most of the audience will be able to relate to his circumstances and will be able to identify with him. We purposefully chose not to state where the high school was located because then it would allow for this theme to be universal and applicable to anyone who has attended school.
'Exceptional' would appeal to females (especially teenagers) with the romance storyline between Angus and Jessica. Not only would the romantic aspect appeal to those who enjoy the romance genre, but it would act as another sense of escapism as the audience could experience it through the main characters.
In order to create the conventional epic opening of a superhero film we used our soundtrack and the opening graphics. The music at both points in the sequence starts off quieter and gradually picks up volume, which allowed for the atmosphere to build. This worked together with the graphics because they were telling the story of Angus' powers. Although when we got feedback from the audience screening it was evident that this was not very clear as the majority of the audience did not understand the relevance of the drawings.
Opening titles |
In order to publicise the publicise the event we used posters, facebook and word of mouth. We also uploaded our video to the latymermedia YouTube channel, in order to reach wider audiences.
We used facebook to send out invitations and publicise the screening |
Posted by Latymer Media 2010 at 3:38 pm 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 5
Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The hardware that we used during the course of this project includes:
- Cannon Camcorder
- Tripod
- Boom Mic
- Studio Lighting
- Green Screen
Tripod, Headphones, Tape, Camcorder, Boom Mic & Pole (from left to right) |
TIP FOR FUTURE GROUPS: double check that your camera batteries are fully charged before a shoot and that all pieces of equipment are working properly together. During one of our test shoots our battery ran out of power meaning that we had to rely on the back up and the boom mic was not fully working with the camera.
3-Point Lighting Explained! from Bill Simmon on Vimeo.
We used both 3-point lighting and studio lighting in order to get the full effect that it was a school environment. From this project I learnt about why 3 point lighting was used and how it should be set up in order to cancel shadows (demonstrated in the video above). However, if we were to do this again I think that we could spend more time in ensuring that the shadows were minimised, because it is still clear that shadows are present.
TIP FOR FUTURE GROUPS: To save time and to ensure that shoots are more efficient, remember where your lights were placed, what brightness levels, etc. so that during editing the process is much easier to ensure continuity.
We also used alot of software to produce the final opening sequence:
- Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 - this is where most of the editing occurred
- Adobe Photoshop CS3 - we used this to create the comic book effects
- After Effects on the Mac - this is where the opening titles were created
At our editing suite |
Frank after the green screen was edited out |
TIP FOR FUTURE GROUPS: When grading (and generally editing) get feedback from those around you and teachers to check whether your colour levels are right, because sometimes you can become absorbed in the project and need a third party view to recognise problems.
3 Way Colour Corrector |
Applying Poster Edges in Photoshop |
I also realised that it takes alot of patience to get a shot that might be a little more challenging, an example of this was throwing the paper ball and making it hit the top of Angus' head. It took nearly 12 takes in order to get the shot that we could use for the final sequence.
The internet was a major element of the project as we used it to communicate, research, advertise and get music tracks/sounds. The main websites that we used throughout the project were:
- Facebook - communication and advertising
- YouTube - research and advertising
- Audio Network - music effects and soundtracks
- Photobucket & Scribd - sharing group photos and planning sheets
- Blogger - group blog and individual blogs
Posted by Latymer Media 2010 at 3:38 pm 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 6
Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Preliminary Task Brief
Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on match action, shot/reverse/shot and the 180-degree rule.
Main Task Brief
The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes. All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.
In my opinion the preliminary task helped massively with the full product because it allowed us to develop our skills in continuity editing and taught us how to deal with the process from planning to the finished product. The preliminary task gave us the opportunity to put into practice the theories and different rules we had learnt in the classroom, and I think this prepared us for the main task.
The preliminary task brief was much more restrictive compared to the main task, but this meant that we had to focus on specific elements of making a film, especially match-on-match action and the 180-degree rule. Therefore when we started our main projects we knew how to ensure that our film had a seamless narrative and that it made sense to the audience. It also gave us the opportunity to experience the entire film making process which meant we knew what to expect in the final task.
Editing Session |
Posted by Latymer Media 2010 at 3:38 pm 0 comments
Labels: Evaluation, Question 7