Feedback

The feedback on our opening 2 minutes were mainly positive

one person said: As I have told you before the soundtrack is amazing it fits with your film really well and I cannot believe you found such a good non-copyright background track

another said: Hmmm, well this was pretty good but I really think, something to keep in mind for your next project is to work on editing. Like having a mix of quick cuts and fades to make it more dramatic. Also the narrative wasn't quite clear enough for the opening of a film. It almost felt more like a trailer. But on a positive note you did keep your shots nice and steady with good camera angles

Another said: I really like the swings it gave us a real sense of the atmosphere and mood the movie would be like

another said: I want to watch the whole film!!

another said: wow this is really good, it looks like you put your all into this

another said: nice choice of actors, a real sense of discomfort

Final Diary!

Everything is just about finished and ready to go, 2 more activities to upload to youtube :)

How did you attract/address your audience?

turn annotations on

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?

preliminary task

Finished product


I feel I have learnt how to use the editing software with more knowledge about the programme. As a team me and Georga have learnt to experiment with different types of shot angles such as high angle shots even though these did not appear in the final cut of the film. In our film we used shot reverse shot in the conversation between the two characters whereas in our pre-liminary task we stuck to using the standard shot types and lengths. We have varied our shots and angles and used a better microphone in our final film. We also watched out for any mistakes e.g the two flushes in the toilets, which was quite annoying because as we uploaded our film we had to re-upload it which took a whole hour and a half and then we spotted another one where i walk past and knock the camera.

Our preliminary task looking back wasn't actually that bad apart from the cameras steadiness. We used a variety of shots.

Our final film took a total of 4 days to film and we tried to capture the performance in as many shot types and angles as we could so we could variate when it came down to editing.

who would be the audience for your media product?

Our target audience is teenagers- young adults (age 13-23)

We interviewed Gemma

Her favourite shop is primark

Her favourite music is current chart

Her favourite TV show is Glee

Her favourite colour is red

Her favourite film genre is Action

Her favourite youtube video is "top 60 ghetto names"

She said she would watch our film because it was made by us. The real reason is actually that she is a bit of a tomboy when it comes to movies. She has a similar taste in films as Mr Thornton.......................

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

windscreen microphone - This mic enabled us to capture the conversation without any frequency or other distortion. The windscreen enables the microphone to hear things even more clearer than when it is not on so when we were filming you had to be very quiet behind the camera.

The the tripod enabled us to move the camera smoothly or sharply, but steadily and more professional. I think we benefited from using the tripod because it made us feel more confident behind the camera.

Canon Video Camera and Tape enabled us to capture high definitive scenes. The camera was really easy to use with a lot of buttons and fuss to rewind the tape but we figured it out towards the end of the project.

The camera enabled us to take photos such as these ones. It also helped us to decide what location we would be using as we took pictures and then looked through them and decided which location looked the best on our camera!

programmes we used

Adobe Premiere Elements 7

our editing software was very hard to use at first but you learnt as you went along.

Photoshop

we already knew how to work photoshop so it was touch and go.

Paint

"                                                                                    "

Youtube

I taught some of the class to export their videos which was handy for them and it also made me feel tech savvy.

Blogger

Blogger was very confusing and fun to play around with at first, non of us knew what to do but it is now quite addictive. post post post!

Facebook

Facebook and other social networking helped us to advertise our final product to recieve feedback AND helped us to survey for types of audiences etc.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The similarities

The two characters are troubled teenagers who are struggling to fit in.

costumes are casual and relatable to the teenage audience

both targeted in the two films

The differences

The genre of film

Hair colour

different ages

Our media product does not particuarly represent a social group all in all but our film could definitely fit in with the teenage society.

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

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

The title of our film "Homicide" uses the convention of a real media products because 'homicide' is a synonym of the Assasination which is already a film.




The location/setting we used is a nearby local council area that was perfect to express the mood we were trying to set. Just behind "Kate" there is a park which we also used in our film so the location we chose was quite fortunate as everything we needed was around the same area. Our media product challenges the forms and conventions of a thriller film because our location is unique.

Our costume and props are appropriate for the thriller genre and are able to help set the scene. Our character "Kate" has 2 costumes to show the change in time and to show the first scene is a flashback of why she is being interviewed, also its clearly un-noticable but if you were to analyse the time change in detail you will notice that Kates hair (my hair) is longer than in the first scene. We did not want to use many props as props are a distraction so to add realism in the interview scene we used a piece of paper because not only did Harry not learn his lines but it is an extra effect. 'Warren's hair was styled to make the actor look older and more authorative which matches up to the conventions of a real media product.

The camera work and editing help us develop the forms and conventions of a real media project. A reason for this is that we found the interview scene challening to match up with the 180 degree rule and reverse cutting. The one thing we did not include which could of got us extra marks is some over the shoulder shots. We shared out the work between us I did most of the editing and Georga did most of the camera but we each still got a go to do one or the other. By the end of the project I still found it difficult to move the camera smoothly on a tripod.

Our sophisticated and realistic font style uses the conventions a real media product  Another convention if has used is the use of capital letters, Obviously the film title is not in capital letters but the title of a film in the animation of the film should be eye-grabbing and capital bold letters stand out which draw the audience in to the film.

The story of our film is set up by a flashback scene of the homicide that takes place between the two people. Kate the character on the left is in denial in the next scene and believes she has done nothing wrong. This is use of a real media product because it is a stereotypical interpretation of the thriller/murder mystery genre.. we find out or know 'who dunnit' at the beginning of the film.

The opening of the film suggests the genre because of the distributor Universal pictures. Universal recently released a crime thriller film called ' 4.3.2.1 ' By Noel Clarke. This might give the audience a hint into the genre. I think we achieved the genre but we could have made the narrative clearer.

The only special effect we used in our film was the title animation which was an effect already on Adobe Premiere Elements.   1 - starts off as normal text 2 - spins from side to side 3- transitions to number 4 where the effect introduces the next scene this challenges the traditional conventions of a real media product because it is rarely used, the effect would be seen as 'student film' which is what we are so if that is what we have achieved then it is a compliment.









our main character Kate is introduced by a mid-shot of her bottom half. This creates mystery as the audience are to find out who she is. This develops the form of a our media product.

Our Film

Extra addition to our project

the outtakes of our film for fun

updates

Today I will be editing together the final cut of our film.
We filmed the last scenes on Tuesday and our project is due in
next wednesday. My main aim for today is to edit for 2 hours and hopefully
that will be the final touch to our film.
If needs be we can do a last minute editing session next week during a lesson or in
a free period.
The upload process takes up to half an hour which can be quite lengthy so it is lucky I have
3 periods free.

Script update

we haven't filmed the interview scene yet but we thought that the script was too long for the scene and that some of the dialogue was unnecessary. this is our new shortened version:

Interviewer: So you were spotted outside one stop at 7:03pm. Had you seen Nadine earlier in the day?

Kate: Yes. I was supposed to meet her at 6.30 but she didn’t meet me till 6.45 because she’d just had an argument with her boyfriend.

---

Interviewer: People said they heard raised voices, shouting and then screams. You were then shortly spotted outside one stop. (Looks down at papers) The body was found at 8:00pm (looks back up), and passer-by identified the suspect with a description matching yours.

Kate: Well I was already home by then. My next door neighbour had to press the buzzer to let me i…

*knock knock*
-assistant walks in-

Assistant: I have your, uh, papers and you have an urgent message.

Interviewer:  Just leave them on the desk. This won’t take long.

Music update

we have been editing our opening and have come to the decision that we no longer want to use the music we are currently using and are changing it to a non-copyright piece found on audio network.

you can find it on the following link: http://audio.lgfl.org.uk/track_mixes_ecomm.asp?type=3&parentid=9907&l1=Style+%2F+Genre&l2=Drama&l3=Urban&l1c=2&l2c=11&l3c=10130&TrackName=Buried+Alive

Diary

Today we have a triple lesson where we are able to edit our film for 3 hours.
We were unable to film yesterday because some of the cast were unavailable last minute
we hope to film sometime early next week.

filming and editing schedule week commencing 06/03/2011

Editing,Diary,Research - Tuesday 8th March 2:15PM - 3:15PM
Filming of train from birds eye/long shot view - Friday 11th March 9:00am-9:45am
Uploading/Editing - Tuesday 15th March 2:15PM - 3:15PM
Interview scene placed for next Tuesday 15th March 3:30PM - 430PM/5:00PM
Uploading/Editing Wednesday 16th March 9:45PM-12:10PM (with short interval of 20 minutes)
Editing - Friday 18th March 9:05-10:10AM

half term and cancellations

we have just returned from half term, we were unable to complete any filming due to cast and facilities we need to use, our filming is scheduled for next wednesday but we will have to wait and see as it is based on the availability of cast.

we were meant to be filming today but this also got cancelled due to short notice. Today we have been editing which is going really well.

title sequences

or our 2 minute opening we will be including the opening titles. i have looked at various films with similar and disimilar genres and the order which their titles appear, for how long they appear and how they appear; do they fade in? Obviously we don't need to think about this until editing but i thought it would be a good idea to know what is best and so that we know what we are doing and so we can combine this with our filming in case we need to extend a shot.
Here are the films i looked at and the ways in which the titles were presented.

Film	Opening titles sequence
John Tucker Must Die	Production companys (black backgound) Director (black background) Film title (black background) Cast names Casting by: Costume designer Music by: Edited by: Production designer Director of photography Executive producer/s Produced by:
Mr and Mrs Smith	Production company (black background) Distributer company (black background) Financing company (black background) Film title (black background)
About A Boy	Production company (black background) Director/s Cast Film title Casting by: Make-up & hair designer Music by: Costume designer Editor Production designer Director of photography Executive producer Co-producers
Broken Arrow	Production  (black background) Director Cast Film Title Casting by: Music by: Co-producer Editor/s Production designer Director of photography

update

today i started editing the new scenes they are coming together quite well!

update

Today Georga and I went out filming up at waterfields for an hour, we got some good shots and some bad ones also. We are now back at the class uploading the storyboard animatic and also editing.

birds eye view of georga and the camera tripod on the set of our film.

on set again with blooper on the bench

Storyboard animatic

February Research and Planning Mark

Excellent research into different film openings
Some good audience profiling.
There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes and props.
Your online diary is good, and your filming updates work well.
Your blog is presented nicely and linked to your ideas for your film.

At the moment your mark is 14/20 which is a B because of what is missing (see below).

Target: Shotlists and storyboarding / animatic

schedule for this week - starting 7th feb

On wednesday Georga and I have got a double lesson with Mr O so we are hopefully going to go out and do some filming, depending on the weather of course.

On monday I will discuss with Georga when we will do the interview section and possibly even give out the scripts to the actors to learn ready for wednesday OR thursday, friday at the latest.

We found the perfect room for our interview room its exactly how we visualised it although we need to get permission to use it so hopefully all will go to plan

Audience Research

Age - Is it suitable for a 10 year old to watch?



Gender-     careful about sexism


Location-     Shane Meadows films cannot be broadcast worldwide as the rest of the world would have no 
                   clue what 'alright duck?' means and the language in the films is very unclassy and rude

Occupation- trying not to offend the working class




Political-  some news papers politically lean


Ethnicity-    careful about racism, add more ethnicity/tradition/religion into the film.

timeline

February

February half term - blog try and do some filming

Everything has got to be filmed by the end of the month.

Easter break maybe do some extra filming just incase!

Editing in chunks will be easier so we will edit as we go along

March-April editing

end of april - finished!

diary

Today we are uploading and beginning to edit the first bit of the film. The camera work was a it shaky as we didn't take a tripod with us so we may have to go and do it again soon.

Costume

 

Kate van Sine

Nadine Farland

Diary

Last week we went out to our location and shot a couple of scenes with Becca.
we are looking for music to fit our introduction.

Cast bio and Photos

the celebrity 'lookalikes' would be in the film if it were to be released in cinemas

This is Rebecca "Becca" Smith who is playing Nadine Farland in 'The Murder', Becca takes A-level Theatre Studies and loves to act. In her spare time she plays piano and dances jazz and ballet at Laines theatre arts.

This is Harry Kent he is the actor that will be the interviewer in 'The Murder' Harry also takes A-level drama and is a talented musician that is in a band. He might help us to make some music for our film. If we ask nicely :)

This is Nicole Watts shes playing The receptionist. Nicole has been in some of our other projects and wanted to be involved in this one too. Nicole also takes A-level drama so this is a fun projecy for her to get involved in and add a bit of experience to her resume.





This is me - Shelby Robinson, I'm playing the Murderer Kate van Sine in 'The Murder' .. As well as starring in the film I will be behind the camera,filming and directing, makeup, hair and prop maker and editing.

Script

The Murder
Written by Shelby Robinson & Georga West


Interviewer: you need to start telling the truth Kate
Kate: Don't call me Kate
Interviewer: The sooner you start telling the truth and have less attitude the sooner you will be out of here
---
Kate: I was walking home I saw her just standing there with mascara smudged down her face, she looked like she had another fight with Tony again
Interviewer: I assume tony was her boyfriend?
Kate: Yes,This wasn't me, she was my friend,Nadine was, you can't hold me here, where is your evidence? I have an aliby
Interviewer: What i dont understand is why we have the footage of you running past one stop at exactly 6:56, In the post mortom the body of Miss Farland was said to have been outside in the blistering cold for an hour. The body was found at 8:00pm the passer-by has identified a similar description of the only suspect,which funnily enough is you, The witness was walking to the grocery store just 1/2 a mile down the road from one stop.
Kate: Well that was funny because I got home at exactly 6 o clock, My next door neighbour had to press the buzzer to let me in
Interviewer: We will have to..

*knock knock*
-assistant walks in-

Interviewer: this is a bad time, leave them on the desk and go..
Assistant: I need an urgen -
Interviewer: GO! NOW!

shooting schedule

Period 3 Tuesday week 1
Period 3 Thursday week 1
Period 3 Friday week 1
Period 5 Tuesday week 2 (enrichment sessions (although if needed we can skip enrichment)
Period 4 Wednesday week 2
Period 5 Friday week 2

one last final thing maybe

one last thing

our opening song will sound something like Paramore - Decode

more diary

Today me and Georga went to the music deparment and played around with the piano and decided what kind of music we wanted to be in our film.
I am going to write up a score and ask some of our friends that take music to help us and get in the studio. more updates soon

Diary

on the 12th of january me and Georga went up to Waterfields and found some locations for shooting our film.
Here are some pictures from our little trip

update - diary

On friday me and Georga decided to do some casting and location ideas aswell as sharing out the parts for our research and planning. In the christmas break i will be trying to post as much as i can and as often as possible to keep me busy in the countdown for christmas :D

Preliminary Task

This task will help me in the long run as i learnt to use a range of camera shots, prepare a script/storyboard of what you are going to do,how to upload and edit on the software,making sure the shots match up for continuity,and an idea of the hard work in front of me yet to do!

Locations

music room
waterfields underpass and crossing bridge   

Actors and Props

Cast

Harry Kent - Interviewer - 40 years old - superior
Shelby Robinson - Killer - mid 20s - manipulative/sly/etc
Rebecca Smith - Victim - vunerable- small - late teens


Extras

Nicole Watts, Georga West

Questionnaire Results