Tuesday, 10 March 2015
Friday, 6 March 2015
7 questions Evaluation
Media
Studies- AS Film
Elly
Long
Evaluation Questions
for 2 minute product ‘Game Over’
Evaluation Questions
for 2 minute product ‘Game Over’
1. In what ways does your media
product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Taking
on board all the evaluation research I have done, be it my personal evaluation
or my peer, I found that the things that I have in common with a variety of
films (as pointed out in the peer/ target market evaluation) is that it begins
with the titles; what I mean by this is that some films can start with the
production companies, not having any non or even digetic sound, being
completely separate from the film itself, whilst I have incorporated them into
it, and as said in my other evaluations have done to give more of an impact/
hint of the genre that follows, just to really set a mood, so again in the form
of challenge would be up against films that do not go straight into the
credits, which is unlike the researched film (Resident Evil Afterlife.)
2. How does your media product
represent particular social groups?
In terms of music and clothing, it would be more focused on a group considered as alternative to some extent; the protagonist wears goggles, which I wouldn’t assume someone to wear on an everyday basis.
It also has, alongside a female character who is to then be represented in a positive light, drawing in some attention from female targets, but also is partially of an action genre, stereotyped to be more aimed at boys. Also it has a game factor about it, which research that I have done shows that games of this genre and age rating are targeted more at boys, i.e. showing them playing the gamjes on adverts/ always a male character being played.
In terms of music and clothing, it would be more focused on a group considered as alternative to some extent; the protagonist wears goggles, which I wouldn’t assume someone to wear on an everyday basis.
It also has, alongside a female character who is to then be represented in a positive light, drawing in some attention from female targets, but also is partially of an action genre, stereotyped to be more aimed at boys. Also it has a game factor about it, which research that I have done shows that games of this genre and age rating are targeted more at boys, i.e. showing them playing the gamjes on adverts/ always a male character being played.
3. What kind of media
institution might distribute your media product and why?
Straight away I’d take the initiative that a film company would like to produce/sell this media product, considering it’s a film itself (this is under the impression that this question is based on the idea of a finished, full-length product of 1 hour+ ).
Straight away I’d take the initiative that a film company would like to produce/sell this media product, considering it’s a film itself (this is under the impression that this question is based on the idea of a finished, full-length product of 1 hour+ ).
4.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
As mentioned in question two, both genders for sure, but around the age of 15+ due to the content which has been described in great detail in document that can be found alongside the rest of my work.
The content of the film would/ does include blood, violence and in the trailer/preview has mild profanity as well as the use of drugs. Nothing all too extreme such as sex or suicide to really crank the age rating up to an 18.
As mentioned in question two, both genders for sure, but around the age of 15+ due to the content which has been described in great detail in document that can be found alongside the rest of my work.
The content of the film would/ does include blood, violence and in the trailer/preview has mild profanity as well as the use of drugs. Nothing all too extreme such as sex or suicide to really crank the age rating up to an 18.
5. How did you attract. Address
your audience?
Again most of the detail can be found in questions 2 and 4, suggesting mainly on the game idea, a female protagonist and also the music used, which is something that appeals to a particular target audience of those considered ‘alternative’; I’ve based this on the idea that I can pander to those who would see this as somewhat relatable, since its basically all about a young individual who’s misunderstood and how she meets up with a group of individuals who have some form of mental health issues (i.e. depression) but is addressed in a lighter way, masking ti all behind something simple as a game. (Again see more fo my work for more detail.)
Again most of the detail can be found in questions 2 and 4, suggesting mainly on the game idea, a female protagonist and also the music used, which is something that appeals to a particular target audience of those considered ‘alternative’; I’ve based this on the idea that I can pander to those who would see this as somewhat relatable, since its basically all about a young individual who’s misunderstood and how she meets up with a group of individuals who have some form of mental health issues (i.e. depression) but is addressed in a lighter way, masking ti all behind something simple as a game. (Again see more fo my work for more detail.)
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the
process of constructing this product?
. Filming
Using the camera in a variety of ways can give an impact as to how the audience views things; this can be from something as simple as a panning shot with the use of a tripod, which can overall give a smooth action passing from left to right or visa-versa, but on the other hand, what I did, was to coincide with the action part of the genre, was to NOT use a tripod for the majority of the action part to give a subconscious feel that we as the audience were also experiencing the un-orderly rush of the character, making it more engaging.
. Production/ Editing
My go-to programme would be a simple one of Windows Movie Maker, which is nothing short of simple and in a way lack lustre when then compared to the advised programme of Premier Pro, which in itself opened up a more professional feel, where it allowed me to incorporate layers and play around with more titles.
The only problem was using the computers available, which were slow and hindered the process, making ti seem mundane for what it should be
.Uploading
From this experience its taught me to not rely too heavily on one fixed scenario i.e. planning an upload on a certain day,, because more than likely the computers wouldn’t work and I’d be pushed back. Instead I learnt quickly to have it all organised, and to then work with an upgraded system other than the ones available at school.
.Blogs
For GCSE I gave in all my work via paper and had it stored in a folder. Whilst practical at the time, it soon became hard to focus and keep on top of the massing alevels of paper, which if done incorrectly, I’d have to go, re-print/ write just to fill a gap.
But for this new course of AS we were encouraged to do things digitally whch enjoyed much more; GCSE I to make videos showing the conduct off my work and ideas, emphasising it with music and effects to really get across intentions in a less boring manner, but as said that was difficult to do as a print out; with everything digital, it enabled me to stay on top in an organisation that I| felt comfortable with and even allowed me to enjoy my worka nd me more creative with my idea, which in itself ended up warping my initial ideas into the end result I have now.
Its was also much easier for others to then view it without having to shuffle through a mountain of papers, able to choose what to look at because of the titles associated with each document./video/picture etc.
.Videos
Just the development of my work and evaluations through different use of programmes which helped and even encouraged me to do more with what I had and express my work with music, images and advice even from other students.
. Filming
Using the camera in a variety of ways can give an impact as to how the audience views things; this can be from something as simple as a panning shot with the use of a tripod, which can overall give a smooth action passing from left to right or visa-versa, but on the other hand, what I did, was to coincide with the action part of the genre, was to NOT use a tripod for the majority of the action part to give a subconscious feel that we as the audience were also experiencing the un-orderly rush of the character, making it more engaging.
. Production/ Editing
My go-to programme would be a simple one of Windows Movie Maker, which is nothing short of simple and in a way lack lustre when then compared to the advised programme of Premier Pro, which in itself opened up a more professional feel, where it allowed me to incorporate layers and play around with more titles.
The only problem was using the computers available, which were slow and hindered the process, making ti seem mundane for what it should be
.Uploading
From this experience its taught me to not rely too heavily on one fixed scenario i.e. planning an upload on a certain day,, because more than likely the computers wouldn’t work and I’d be pushed back. Instead I learnt quickly to have it all organised, and to then work with an upgraded system other than the ones available at school.
.Blogs
For GCSE I gave in all my work via paper and had it stored in a folder. Whilst practical at the time, it soon became hard to focus and keep on top of the massing alevels of paper, which if done incorrectly, I’d have to go, re-print/ write just to fill a gap.
But for this new course of AS we were encouraged to do things digitally whch enjoyed much more; GCSE I to make videos showing the conduct off my work and ideas, emphasising it with music and effects to really get across intentions in a less boring manner, but as said that was difficult to do as a print out; with everything digital, it enabled me to stay on top in an organisation that I| felt comfortable with and even allowed me to enjoy my worka nd me more creative with my idea, which in itself ended up warping my initial ideas into the end result I have now.
Its was also much easier for others to then view it without having to shuffle through a mountain of papers, able to choose what to look at because of the titles associated with each document./video/picture etc.
.Videos
Just the development of my work and evaluations through different use of programmes which helped and even encouraged me to do more with what I had and express my work with music, images and advice even from other students.
7. Looking back at your
preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it
to the full product?
Definitely the variations on insinuating suspense. In the prelim, suspense what emphasised using music, pauses and slow actions, which I have incorporated in my piece, which I believe worked well, also knowing due to my target market feedback video.
Definitely the variations on insinuating suspense. In the prelim, suspense what emphasised using music, pauses and slow actions, which I have incorporated in my piece, which I believe worked well, also knowing due to my target market feedback video.
Thursday, 5 March 2015
Wednesday, 4 March 2015
Document/ Image-Personal Evaluation
Because there was a problem with loading pictures onto the blog alongside the images, I have taken screen shots of the original pages with the images.
Nonetheless I have put the text beneath, without the images:
Media Studies
El Long
Self Evaluation of my Two Minute Film Opening; Game Over
The initial concept of my film was to really lay out the genre of the film
(being a sci-fi action) which would have included a variety of different effects
and shots:
These would be shown through the use of her goggles, which I was hoping to
emphasise as something that would be considered iconic for her character.
She would have used them during the Virtual Reality Simulation, which in itself
I was to emphasis her going into by creating an animated scene where she fell
into the back of a portal. I had the initial clip of the portal which I decided
against putting into the film, using a simple effect of fading the scene out to
white, before then introducing the title of the film.
Title For the title I wanted a somewhat retro look to it; I wanted a dripping animation of blood for a foreshadowing effect/ dramatic irony of the title perhaps hinting that the character who has just been seen is to die later on. The retro idea came from the initial sound track that I came across, spurring the entire idea of my film, so instead of using an animation programme to attempt a dripping effect, I went to the basics and used a combination of Microsoft Word’s font style and colouring alongside the edited blood drips on Paint in a series of 6/7 images put next to one another to achieve a cheap-ish looking effect of blood dripping from the title to show the more gore-ish side to my genre. (In a way it makes it look too horror-style, so I was to include a shaking element to the shot with a digital background, but decided against it… mainly because every time I attempted it the programme would freeze along with the fact it looked a little odd.) To go with this I included a title to the side, saying ‘based on the book ‘Zero Zero’ by El’, which is partially true since I wrote a story for fun, loosely based on the idea for the film, which on a personal note made the creation of my film easier since it felt I knew what and how the character would be feeling. Everything I wanted to include in my two minutes I didn’t put in whatsoever; be it the special effect shots, the location shoots (which I will come too in a moment) and a scene showing more than just zombies as an enemy. I shot way too many scenes, not having a desirable concept of timing, and also not wanting to fall too short of the initial two minutes which I ironically fall after by about fifteen to twenty seconds. But this doesn’t matter.
I used shots which do not break the 180 degree rule, I
showed a variety of shot lengths, positions and transactions to go alongside
with editing which I must admit I enjoy (the moment where my male zombie is
shot, coinciding with the music choice where the singer says the word ‘blow’,
which I found ironic considering he’s just been supposedly shot in the face.)
but most importantly I included all the titles that I planned:
Before I introduce my title, the shots are particularly dark so I used the coloration of the opening credits to e white, to stand out and be readable. But I found out that keeping them white was not to be an option as after I filled the titles in for the second part of the two minutes, the white was not viable due to the lighter areas of the shots, which I decided to keep in the upper left hand corner, somewhat out of the way, but equally as noticeable considering I then changed them to black (I was initially debating blue, but the look of the black front just looked better- it seemed to be basic and that’s what I wanted- it also looked llike a general computer font which I found effective considering the main character was seen using a computer beforehand, hopefully implying she is in a V.R. simulation/ computer programme.
Location My locations were mainly set in school and coincided with my initial plans for classrooms, corridors, doorways etc, but for my final scene I wanted it to be shot in a car park. I finished my risk assessment and eventually decided against it because not only did I not particularly fancy my main character’s actor tto be flattered by a passing vehicle, but I wanted her to be carrying a gun, which would have been awkward to explain of caught holding some form of weapon (even if it were fake) around a public area. So I went with the final shots to be take in school, keeping in theme with the beginning ones. Rather ironically, considering these were my favourite shots, I could not include them because the shots I had already put together formed the two minutes I needed. So instead I am planning to briefly put them together in a short teaser trailer style to upload alongside my other work, but only if I am allocated the time to do so. It would follow the same pattern of my two minutes, with fading out sections to oth bacl and white for example.
Music As mentioned before I was inspired by a retro sounding song put together from a variety of games, modified in a way that made them sound upbeat yet old-school i.e a SNES style music. As I began to put a basis down for my film and the desired out come, I decided that the target market would do better to be pandered to if I put in something a little more well-known, so I went with Plug in Baby by Muse.
In the end though for music, it came to my final days of
editing when I came across a song called Party
Poison by My Chemical Romance,
which was upbeat and I found matched the overall rhythm of my shots rather than
the somewhat slower in companion version of Plug in Baby; I didn’t want to
alter the music too much so used this other song.
Then again I found that not having music for the beginning was exceedingly
boring and made the shots themselves seem somewhat mundane to watch, so I found
a song from the internet and added a few cymbal sounds to the background for
emphasised dramatic effect (and as a better fading out feel to the main music
than just a simple ‘fade out’ effect.)
I asked a few people in my class alongside those who I am to further use for my
Evaluation the different styles of music, be it Muse or MCR’s track, and they
all agreed that the latter worked better, so with that in mind I edited the
music and shots together.
Costumes
As mentioned earlier I wanted something iconic about my protagonist, which
during her initial sketches I decided to give her a pair of goggles (which were
conveniently placed upon my shelf at the time, subtly hinting the idea to me)
and her clothing is just an adaptation on some which I have myself.
But these were just the designs anfd the reality of that meant that it was
highly unlikely that everything I could see oh so clearly in my mind would turn
out to be reality. Which it didn’t.
But there was no worries for my willing actor had a nice set of black attire in
which to clad herself, and as said before I supplied the goggles.
I was supposed to give her a handheld game controller, but scrapped the idea
because it would only look too confusing considering I’d already done a variety
of shots of her using a (Ipod) lead to plug in at the beginning (and a USB).
The zombies required a little more work though. Since I’d had previous
experience in dressing others as zombies, I only needed a few bits and pieces
to make their main frame; some old school shirts and some fake blood.
Doing a bit of basic research into these zombies, I got the simple idea of what
was needed, and worked from there.
I was planning on, if I were to have created the rest f the film, to have had a
‘gore setting’ which the main character could increase within reason, making
the zombies seem more realistic with each level (hence the excuse of they don’t
look very real because her setting would supposedly be very low, which in
itself is a reasonable excuse since for example the game Left 4 Dead, a cliché
example of a zombie game, included a lot of blood, but since its released in
Australia, the game’s blood content was minimised along with its overall colour
having to be changed from red to a very unrealistic
green colour. The whole basis to my film is on the ideas or reality, hence the
V.R simulation and then world-wide apocalypse.)
The only problem with this was my shirts didn’t fit all of my zombies so we
went with the whole rugged idea of teenagers rebelling with having their shirts
not done up properly during school.
Next time…. I’m not all too sure what genre I would use for the potential ‘next time’ aspect of things. I wouldn’t mind doing a romance because it seems fairly simple enough and is without all the hassle of recruiting willing actors to play out members of the living dead. Saying that though, in my initial research I came across a fifteen minute French film, which title I believe was something along the lines of Trip to the Moon, or something along those lines. It was a silent movie and seemed fairly basic, which intrigued my deeply. Previously research from another task had lead me to discover the film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, also a silent film which used over-the-top facial expressions alongside gothic styled make up. (The whole idea of black rimming the eyes somewhat inspired my attempt at making-up my zombies, but I didn’t particularly wish to get cheap make-up in their eyes, so avoided getting too close to achieve my initial sketch designs.)
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Older ideas
Initially I has a lot of ideas concerning the initial two minutes of my film, wanting not only the effects that I have mentioned a lot during the creation of my work, but also during the main titles I wanted more elements of Dramatic Irony, in which I would start with the end.
This was the initial intention, not including any visuals in terms of what's happening, just the title credits.
The static mentioned previously was to also appear at the end of the two minutes once she was supposed to be killed in the GAME, but I decided not only to change the music to something more fitting to the action (i.e something more upbeat), but it seemed too much like a trailer/ it made it seem like it was, in some respect, and ending to something, not really drawing the viewers to watch on.
Also, despite the static part seeming somewhat like a technical idea i.e. on T.Vs, just watching it may have given it more of a Horror genre feel, which I didn't want to put in anymore, considering I already have zombies and blood noted down.
"Included in 2 minutes
Companies and their logos to be presented; fading out to black
for each one, each fading in from black also. During this part, there is no
music, instead there is dialogue: (pending) Screaming in background- female
voice: ‘Please, anyone, if you find this…if you find this, don’t open it!
Whatever you do- the code is 9 8 0 ---- (static sound) please! For the sake of
the world you-
Guy: RUUUN!
Female: you cannot, you must NOT. OPEN. IT. (static) fade out. Queue intro footage, queue intro music (muse Plug in Baby or even Bulletproof Heart by My Chemical Romance?)
Ends abruptly- cuts to darkness as the title appears on the screen ‘Game Over’ written in red."
Guy: RUUUN!
Female: you cannot, you must NOT. OPEN. IT. (static) fade out. Queue intro footage, queue intro music (muse Plug in Baby or even Bulletproof Heart by My Chemical Romance?)
Ends abruptly- cuts to darkness as the title appears on the screen ‘Game Over’ written in red."
This was the initial intention, not including any visuals in terms of what's happening, just the title credits.
The static mentioned previously was to also appear at the end of the two minutes once she was supposed to be killed in the GAME, but I decided not only to change the music to something more fitting to the action (i.e something more upbeat), but it seemed too much like a trailer/ it made it seem like it was, in some respect, and ending to something, not really drawing the viewers to watch on.
Also, despite the static part seeming somewhat like a technical idea i.e. on T.Vs, just watching it may have given it more of a Horror genre feel, which I didn't want to put in anymore, considering I already have zombies and blood noted down.
Conventions
Conventions
Titles
My titles are somewhat similar to the films that I researched in the not only the size but positions.
For example the film Resident Evil Afterlife (which shares a slightly similar genre) has titles which are fairly small and that are to the side of the screen, as are mine. Also the colour, there is nothing too bright or bold about the colour or style of the font to grab the attention (like a romantic movie would have a pink font with curled writing) but I had a simple, white colour, keeping it plain and simple so as not to distract the audience too much from the initial shots.
To go alongside this, the titles for the Resident Evil film are slow pace, matching that of the music used in the background; the titles I have used are fade/ appear in time with the beat, in a slow paced manner, mimicking that of pace of the music.
‘Iconic’ sound effects have been used in my film in terms of an partial action genre, i.e that of a gun firing. Not only do you see the gun in general but you see it being used, hence the sound effect used. The sounds have been somewhat amplified to combat the volume of the music in the background (which changes from the introduction titles and is overall more fast paced) which again the titles match in an more fast change.
One of the conventions that I have not included in my titles as the ones have been presented as in Resident Evil are that when the background is in focus, the titles are blurred and as the background blurs, the titles become clearer.
Titles
My titles are somewhat similar to the films that I researched in the not only the size but positions.
For example the film Resident Evil Afterlife (which shares a slightly similar genre) has titles which are fairly small and that are to the side of the screen, as are mine. Also the colour, there is nothing too bright or bold about the colour or style of the font to grab the attention (like a romantic movie would have a pink font with curled writing) but I had a simple, white colour, keeping it plain and simple so as not to distract the audience too much from the initial shots.
To go alongside this, the titles for the Resident Evil film are slow pace, matching that of the music used in the background; the titles I have used are fade/ appear in time with the beat, in a slow paced manner, mimicking that of pace of the music.
‘Iconic’ sound effects have been used in my film in terms of an partial action genre, i.e that of a gun firing. Not only do you see the gun in general but you see it being used, hence the sound effect used. The sounds have been somewhat amplified to combat the volume of the music in the background (which changes from the introduction titles and is overall more fast paced) which again the titles match in an more fast change.
One of the conventions that I have not included in my titles as the ones have been presented as in Resident Evil are that when the background is in focus, the titles are blurred and as the background blurs, the titles become clearer.
Initially I was planning to have a voice over during the introduction of the titles, but decided against it as I didn’t want to drag my titles out for too long. Despite my wants of the idea of dramatic irony to the story, I believe that its more effective just having music drowning out all other sounds, making the audience focus more strongly on what is happening the scene, paying more attention to what is happening there and then. Then again I believe the main title serves as dramatic irony, ‘Game Over’ which would generally appear after the death of a character in a game, which suggests that, since there is only on main character current in the beginning of the film, she might die later on in the film.
Monday, 2 March 2015
Evaluation part three VIDEO
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqLrsNzdeIo
Evaluation Part Two VIDEO
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p7AcgHVuLE
Evaluation Part One VIDEO
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOSLL5230aM
Trailer evaluation VIDEO
This is my evaluation/ analysis of the extra shot taken that I made briefly into something of a trailer.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nJvXI0hCCI
Film Trailer VIDEO
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONCsWXYAN9M
Peer Evaluation of 2 minute Film VIDEO
This is the evaluation of my film, where I interviewed, as such, members of my target market alongside those who aren't in it.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuiNomC7YZc
FILM- 2 minutes. 'Game Over' VIDEO
This is the final edition of my two minute film for my AS Media work.
It is titled Game Over, and is about a young female named Mai Heartland who creates a Virtual Reality Gaming simulation that she uses to escape the boring aspect of the real world....
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp8DIjmhdlY
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