Thank you for looking at my Media blog I hope you have enjoyed looking at RANSproduction's group work.
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We have finally finished editing our media. This should have been uploaded last week but we were busy. The dubbed bit is still a bit off but that is the best we could do in the time we had left. Thank you and we hope you enjoy it!
1) In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real products?
This first shot here is the very first in our opening and sets off the theme of mystery. The blurry effect creates the image that the main character is delirious and hasn’t got off to a good start. The symbols on his hand create more mystery and makes the audience want to find out what has happened and what they mean. This shot is a first person shot and is supposed to make the audience see and almost feel as if they are going through what the protagonist is going through.
The shot isn’t very clear about the setting which again leaves the audience wanting to know where the main character is and how he got there. This fits in nicely with our survey results as many people said they didn’t want the introduction to give too much away.
Next we have the start of the credits which appear between clips and not in one large chunk as that would be boring to watch.
The credits have smoke surrounding them to create a spooky effect and fit the genre of mystery thriller. The credits also fade into each other to give a smooth flow which fits with the movement of smoke.
The blackness around the smoke suggests the unknown and the audience will have to watch the rest of the movie to find out the answers. The purple themed colour was planned to have the artefact glow a purple colour but you would see that later in the movie. This relates to the audience survey results which tells us that people wanted the credits to be animated and that it fits into the theme of the movie somehow.
This third shot of the main character’s eyes opening but you can’t see for certain, yet, where he his opening his eyes too and if he is safe or not. This creates suspense which all thrillers have. Without suspense in a thriller, there would be no build up to keep the audience entertained long enough to want to keep watching the movie.
The eye opening shows that the main character is still delirious and hasn’t fully recovered from whatever had happened to him. Again the theme of darkness around the opening of his eyes represent the unknown.
This next shot still doesn’t give away anything obvious to the audience although introduces the audience to the protagonist’s situation. This is also shot in first person because it lets the audience share the fear and emotion going through the main character as he is threatened and shouted at by a man.
This man we can only assume is an interrogator of some sort and the audience can see his is dressed smartly and has a suit and shoes on. By noticing that he has a suit on, this lets the audience take guesses about who this other man is.
Still in first person, this shot resembles a flashback with the present voice of the main character talking over, trying desperately to remember what happened.
This shot also introduces the audience to the mysterious artefact that Ignotus is based around.
The music is well timed for this shot as the audience will hear a loud bang as this shot cuts to black. This makes it scary and even more mysterious. The music track for the opening is very important and can help emphasise scary parts.
Whilst some of the credits are going on, the audience is able to hear the main character and interrogator communicating. The audio clips have been edited to have an echo effect to make the audience feel the suspense and fear for the main character as the protagonist struggles to remember anything and cannot answer the interrogator properly.
This shot allows the audience to see the main character and see how he is feeling and how is being treated. The bloodstains on his shirt suggest he has been brutally beaten or has been injured and not fully recovered properly from a previous event which may reveal itself later on in the film.
Now the eye opening shot makes sense because there is an interrogation light in the main characters face.
Here the audience is exposed to the main character being abused which evokes sympathy for the main character and one the audience has seen and develops any emotions for the main character, they start to worry about him which may keep them entertained to find out if he is safe in the end.
This is the last part of the title sequence. It is shrouded by darkness which shows there is still of unknown answers but the title is bigger and brighter suggesting that the audience now have an insight into the what is happening.
2) How does your product represent particular social groups?
3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
So, our film is a mystery thriller and looking back at our existing product analysis was linked to National Treasure and Angels And Demons. National Treasure was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures and Angles and Demons was distributed by Columbia Pictures. Walt Disney Pictures normally produce family films and films that are easy to understand. Columbia Pictures on the other hand have a more adult rated target audience. For example they produced Bad Boys, Lawrence Of Arabia and All The King’s Men. Our mystery thriller opening has some form of violence and blood is shown so Walt Disney Pictures would probably not be the right company to distribute our product as their target audience differs from ours. I would say Columbia Pictures would be the right distribution company for our product.
4) Who would be the audience for your product?
As I just mentioned Columbia probably being the best company distributor for our product, our target audience would be similar to theirs. Our target audience are people aged 16+ and who love thrillers, especially when a mystery is involved, people who like the introduction to a movie to keep them guessing and the enigma to really get into the movie. Our target audience also include people that want animated credits that relate to the theme of the movie. Looking back at our opening scene survey results, 90% of the people we asked wanted the opening scene of a movie to keep them guessing and that’s what we have done. We have made it enigmatic making the audience want to find out more about the main character and his situation.
5) How did you attract/address your audience?
To attract our audience, again as I said in the previous questioning, we looked at the survey results and tried to address as many preferences as possible. We also attracted our audience through the mystery we put into the opening scene like the smoke and the blurriness effects. The blur effects only give away that the main character is delirious but we don’t know how he got there or what the artefact does and where he found it. By only showing short flashbacks in the opening scene, the audience are more involved in the movie and lets them know the background to what is happening in the present so they understand how the flashbacks help progress the story.
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Since I started this project, I have learnt to use more professional editing software like Final Cut Express instead of Windows Movie Maker which is very simplistic compared to Final Cut Express. I have never created special effects before and I learnt to use Adobe After Effects to create the smoke credits used in the opening scene and the title sequence. I knew people kept blogs but I didn’t know people did video blogs which is actually quite interesting and it’s more interactive than just reading lots of text.
7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at my preliminary task I feel I have learnt that it takes more than just footage to make a movie or at least make something look interesting. The use of special effects, animation, music and editing are all very vital to creating a film or video clip to make it entertaining. I would say that music was the most noticeable thing when editing and watching the footage because the wrong backing track to your film can give a totally different impression to what you wanted in the first place.
Feedback from anyone is ALWAYS important! This is our A level media class giving us good points and things to improve on. This was the audience feedback we received after the fourth cut.
There is still one bit that doesn't quite work. There is a bit where the main character is talking but you cannot hear anything. We might have to fix that but for now we hope you enjoy it!
This is our third edit on our Ignotus film opening. Here we have modified the voices to have an echo effect and added some voice overs during the credits to make it more enigmatic.
This is our second cut of our opening scene. We have redone the audio, changed a few clips around, added second names to the credits and added different music. However, we will re-do the audio and make some of the clips have an echo effect and re-do the music but as for now the order of the clips will remain the same.
For our film opening we need three different locations:
1) An interrogation room
2) A street
3) A room for the artifact
The street was the first and easiest location to acquire, as we planned to use my road as it is quiet and want to film early on Saturday morning. The reason for it being in the morning was due to the difficulty of having to use the pavement as a set and so we needed to film early in order to make sure there was little people around. Other members of our group said they would be busy on that day so the earlier the better.
The second location we want to is the assembly hall in school to film the scene where the “artefact” was found. We want to use this because we can make it really dark and pretend it is a cave/underground area of some sort to add to the enigma. We figured that if we were able to acquire some flashlights and have access to the assembly hall we could turn off the lights and film the scene in there. The only problem we see with using this location is that we have to make sure it is not being used by other people due to the fact that we need the entire space. We hope to film during our Media lesson so fortunately the hall would most likely to be unoccupied.
The final location which would be used as an interrogation room was difficult to think of where to use, at first we had the idea of using one of the school rooms that had a glass window in order to look inside, however this might be a problem due to the school hours that we had and our ability to make the footage seem realistic. If this doesn't go to plan then we will use my living room.
The beginning of the opening will start with the main character opening up his eyes to find himself in an interrogation situation.
The main character will have a blood stained shirt to show he has been beaten for answers about the mysterious artefact the interrogator is after.
Credits will keep splitting up the footage.
The interrogate will begin to get angry and start making physical gestures at the main character to let him know that if he doesn't give them any asnwers soon then they will continue to torture him.
The main character will be forced to look at photos of the mysterious artefact to try and trigger his memory and provide the interrogator with the answers he needs.
[Credits]
There will be a flash back of the main character almost remembering what happened when he found the artefact to tease the audience and make them want to keep watching the film (if it was a proper length film).
[Credits]
The interrogator will continue to physically abuse the main character in order to get answers out of him.
We discussed how many characters we should have in the opening and decided to only show two; the main chatacter and the interrogater. Our film is mainly about the interrogater finding out information from the protagonist. Evertyime a bit of information is revealed by the interrogater, a flashback will trigger and the audience will find out what happened to the main character and ultimately what the artefact does and why the interrogater wants it so desperately.
Main Character
The protagonist in our production is played by Annas Elfarsi. The protagonist's name is not known throughout the opening scene. The audience in the beginning sees through him in point of view shots which is his first part in the film. The main character and audience do not know what is going on. The protagonist seems to have a case of amnesia and the audience sympathises and start to build a relationship with the character.
The protagonist is an archaeologist who was in a secret and apparently forgotten location looking for an artefact with an archaeological group. As they find the artefact something occurs, unknown to him or the audience that kills his expeditionary group and he seems to have survived but on the verge of death and badly bruised. The first time he is visible in the film is when there is a point of view shot where he looks at his hand and finds unknown archaic writing on his hand. The movie would carry on with the main plot being that the protagonist trying to find out what happened to his expeditionary group and find the artefact before the interrogator which will be revealed to the audience as flash backs at first and then in present time with the film later on.
The Interrogator
He is unknown through out the opening scene and the only reason he is known is because of his loud commanding voice that echoes. It is mysterious and the audience doesn't know where it is coming from but knows its menacing and is the interrogator and a possible danger to the protagonist. He is seen a little more when he smacks down on the table in frustration when he realises that getting answers out of the main character would be harder than he thought.
When the interrogator physically abuses the main character we know he is truly a 'bad guy' because he doesn't care about the well being of others. This also gives off the impression of being selfish because he only cares about the information he needs. The audience is left to think about whether this is the main 'bad guy' or just someone hired by the real 'bad guy'.
The film will show how a group of archeologists find an artifact that they have been researching for decades and have gone to look for it after tracking down the location and attempting to take it and study it further. The protagonist is part of the group of archeologists and he is with them as they discover the exact whereabouts of the artifact. The protagonist reaches out to take it but then wakes up tied to a chair with blood stains on his clothes and a bright light on his face. He is being interrogated by another man but he can’t see his face, only his shoes. He is also being forced to look at pictures of the artifact and being made to remember the events leading up to the discovery of the artifact. The majority of the film will be shown through the flashbacks the protagonist has in order to retrace his steps and find out the mysterious power the artifact holds.
This is the equipment we will use while making our opening scene:
1) Sony Ericsson digital camera (can also video record):
We used this to film and take pictures during filming and during planning. All videos were already put into an AV format.
2) Adobe After Effects:
Using to edit special effects.
3) Final Cut Express:
Using to edit the opening scene and rearrange clips.
4) Tripod:
To hold up the camera when needed.
5) Voice Recorder:
We plan to mute all the clips and redo the audio to have a better effect and this way you only hear the voices. it will be clearer and there will be no background noise.
6) White Board for plans and meetings:
We want a place to have meetings with chairs and a whiteboard and a computer if needed.
7) Food colouring (used for blood on the main characters shirt)
Props:
1) Chair (Interrogation scene):
This chair will be used to place the main character during interrogation.
2) Egyptian Pyramid:
Using as a pretend 'mysterious artefact'.
3) Bright light:
To make the interrogation scene more believable.
4) Pictures of artefact:
We want the interrogater to be shown as forcing the main character to remember previous events by looking at pictures of the 'mysterious artefact'.
5) Small Table:
To place the pictures and pyramid on.
6) Dark coloured blankets:
To cover up as many noticable things as possible to make the room look as dark as possible.
We have to set out when we will meet up and discuss ideas and progress and future objectives.
To do this we have decided to meet every Monday, Thursday and Friday for an hour and a half during our media lessons when we wrere allowed to discuss our opening scenes.
That will total to at least four and a half hours of planning, filming and editing.
We will also try and have skype meetings for one hour every Friday evening adding the time to five and a half hours a week, and also we would have production meetings every Thursday during our study period for fifty minutes.
In total that meant that we was working on our coursework for six hours and twenty minutes every week.
