Moderators Message

Moderator.

This is my Media Studies Blog for AS.

I have created a link for tags that will separate my posts into Evaluation, Planning, Production, Research and Preliminary Task. I have also left a link for the Moderation Blog Hub at the top which will navigate you back to the page.

I have done this for your convenience and should hopefully make marking rather simple.

Regards

Ryan Magill

Final Production

7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

This is the preliminary task from the start of the course. Between then and now i feel that i have learnt a great deal of skills such as editing, and different types of camera shots, movements and angles.

These are freeze frames of an example of match on action shot in the preliminary task. This shows our character walking from outside in the hall into the classroom to her walking into the classroom from outside in the hall.

These freeze frames are examples of reverse shots or 'over-the-shoulder' shots in the preliminary task. This shows the conversation between the two characters while having both characters in the scene but giving more detail to one character more than the other.

In the preliminary task we also had to keep to the 180 degree rule in which we cannot switch what side we are filming the characters from unless the movement is made clear. I feel we have also kept to this and kept to the guidelines of the preliminary task.

I think that we did well on the preliminary task and kept to the guidelines given while making the video good quality without continuity errors. We managed to cut the match on action shots seamlessly and kept to the 180 degree rule, as well as good quality reverse shots.  I found it very useful when thinking about what angles to use when shooting our opening sequence. We used some of the shots such as the reverse shot combined with a tracking shot during our film opening and kept to the 180 degree rule throughout. This shows how useful the preliminary task was and how we have learnt new techniques from it. I think because of the preliminary task we were able to make a better film opening than originally planned and it also made the process rather enjoyable. 

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In the editing of our film opening we used a variety of new technology (hardware, software and new technology) we had not used before. These were things such as;

Hardware: The Apple Mac system, a sony handycam cx260, etc.

The sony handicam cx260 was not very difficult to use as it is very user friendly. The hardware the camcorder used made recording very easy. They were not very difficult to import onto the computer and made the process easy and enjoyable.

The Apple Mac system was difficult to use at first as it is different to the windows hardware we have used before. But we eventually understood the system and therefore made the process of editing relatively easy.

Software: iMovie, Adobe After Effects, etc.

iMovie was not difficult to use as it is a simple program and is user friendly. Editing in transitions, music and titles was not difficult and made the process easy.

Adobe After Effects was a challenging program to use. Due to the professional aesthetics of it, the editing process that included muzzle flashes and blood splashes was difficult, but after time became a lot easier through practise. This therefore made the editing process challenging but also educational.

On line Tools: Blogger, Youtube, Mindmeister, Slideshare.

Blogger was a interesting on line tool. The uploading etc, was relatively easy but setting up the layout and the actual design of the blogger page. This was not that important in my opinion but had to be done which made the process relatively easy.
YouTube is a very easy site to manoeuvre. Uploading videos and embedding them onto the blogger page was very easy and not at all complicated and made the process relatively easy.
Mindmeister was a very unique on line tool.  It was very interesting site to use and makes the spider-diagrams aesthetically pleasing. This worked well in the process.
Slideshare was a very useful on line tool. It allowed me to upload any slide shows used onto the blogger which was a very simple, easy process. This helped the process very well.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Please watch in highest quality to be able to clearly see annotations.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

This is Thomas Ryan. He is 16 years old and lives in Shortstown in Bedford. He dresses fairly ordinary - jeans, jacket and top. He enjoys skateboarding and gaming as well as going out with his friends. He shops in places like primark, next and debenhams. He enjoys films like Iron Man, Die Hard and Rambo. He enjoys watching films like these in the cinema with friends and family and also buying the DVDs to watch with his friends and family. He would also watch shows like Grimm, Scrubs and Family Guy. The main channels he would watch are Comedy Central, Watch and E4. He has a wide music taste but mostly sticks to rock and pop. He listens to radio stations such as Absolute Radio, Heart Radio and Kerrang Radio. I think our film would appeal to people like him as he is an ordinary person with ordinary pass times and as he enjoys films of the action genre such as Die Hard, Indiana Jones and James Bond would be a typical audience member for our film.

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The character in our opening sequence is inspired by the main character in the Expendables. Both characters are wearing a tactical vest and are dressed in a conventional army type costume. Both are dressed in black and although they are not in the exact same pose or similar setting, the way they act in their films is very similar. For example both characters have a one-man-army, commando, heroic, etc. persona about them which is generic in action films. I think that the characters represent male teen/adult social groups as both are the target audience for the action genre and for both films.

The character in our opening sequence is inspired by the Joker in Batman - The Dark Knight. Both characters hide their identity with face paint and wear unconventional smart clothes. Both are deemed with psychological problems which makes them both unpredictable to the protagonist. We tried to make our character more sinister unlike the Joker who more resembles a clown. I think that the character represents male teen/adult social group as both are the target audience for the action genre and both films.

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)

In what ways does your film opening use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The first frame is of the production company logo. It is appealing for the audience as it is a moving animation and features key conventions from the genre that the movie is; action. These are things such as explosions and fast cuts. This creates the feeling of a genuine action film as other company logos have the same attributes of moving titles etc.

The second frame is a shot of the hero in the first scene. He is sitting in a cafe drinking a cappuccino telling the story of the Unforgiven. This works well as the extreme close up creates an intense shot of the character which is a generic convention of the action genre. The title overlaying it is also clear but not overpowering the shot, blending it just the right amount to read it but not be distracted by it. I think this works well because it is important to pay attention to the films storyline, and this is the feeling we tried to create by keeping the credits small. 

The third frame is a shot of the hostage, Sam, who is tied up and beaten, in a dark cabin. This works well as a hostage is a typical generic convention in some action films. However the hostage in these films are usually a child and/or female. In this opening sequence it is neither, which slightly ruins the authenticity and strays away from the generic conventions.

The fourth frame shows a shot of the villain and the hostage, which reveals who had taken Sam hostage. This works well as it's clear now who has taken the hostage and that they are both in the room together. I feel the location works well with the eerie feeling of a villains 'lair'. However I feel that if maybe the shot zoomed out from the close up of the hostage to show the villain or didn't even show the villain until later on it would have been more generic.

The fifth frame shows the villain running away after tackling the hero unconscious. The scene has a blood splash and gun shot effect when the hero has shot the villain and this works well as it makes the film feel more genuine and generically conventional. I feel that if the shot was tracked to show them hit the floor it would have made a better shot and made it more appealing and generically conventional.

The sixth frame shows the hero and villain in a chase scene. The shot is an over the shoulder and is a generic convention in action films. I think this works well as it shows the intensity of the chase and sticks to the genre.

The seventh frame shows the villain shooting at the hero. This works well as it's conventional for the villains in action films to have a better gun than the hero as this would give him an advantage and show how the hero is better at the fighting than the villain. This therefore sticks to the action film genre and remains conventional while the gun effects keep the scene looking genuine.

The eighth frame shows the hero tackling the villain into the river. I feel this works well as the opening sequence ends on a cliff hanger which is a generic convention. I feel it would have been better if the villain did not look as ready to be tackled into the river by the hero in the shot as it makes it seem less genuine.

The ninth frame is of the title of the film. I feel that the font used is of the action genre and the fades to black keeps the film conventional and genuine and works well with the film opening sequence.