Final Main Product and Ancillary Tasks

Film Trailer:-

Film Poster:-

Film Magazine Front Cover:- 

Media Evaluation - Question 4

Above is the Powtoon Video answering question 4 of my media evaluation. However, I have decided to also include the written answer to question four on this blog post as well.

Media Evaluation – Question 4

Media Evaluation - Question 3

Above is the YouTube Video answering question 3 of my media evaluation. However, I have decided to also include the written answer to question three on this blog post as well.

Media Evaluation – Question 3

Media Evaluation - Question 2

Above is the YouTube Video answering question 2 of my media evaluation. However, I have decided to also include the written answer to question two on this blog post as well.

Media Evaluation Question 2

Media Evaluation - Question 1

Above is the YouTube Video answering question 1 of my media evaluation. However, I have decided to also include the written answer to question one on this blog post as well.

Media Evaluation - QUESTION 1

Film Poster Final

Above is my final film poster in which I created through the use of Photoshop. During the process of constructing my film poster, inspiration for the design came from the film posters for the film "Limitless" as it showed the protagonist as well as different scenes from the film. All these images included give the audience an insight into the film. I am pleased with the shots I have taken and how I have edited them to make the images a main focus and clearer to the audience. I have given all the images a black and white effect so they look aesthetically pleasing to the audience, encouraging them to go and see the film. The film poster is one of the initial times in which the audience are introduced and come to terms with a new film, therefore the poster needs to include all the information needed for the audience to create long term success making sure they go and see the film. 

Magazine Front Cover Final

Here is my final magazine front cover in which I created through the use of Photoshop on my MacBook Pro.  Constructing my magazine front cover on Photoshop enabled me to edit the main image easily such as the brightness, sharpness and contrast making it seem as if the image had a 3D effect to it. Inspiration for my front cover came from the magazine "Entertainment" when the featured "Daniel Craig" as the model on the front cover. I have included all the conventions of a real magazine front cover ranging from the main image, barcode, masthead, house style and sell lines. As you can see from previous blog posts that my magazine front cover appeals to my target audience in which I have included evidence on "Coursework Process" blog post. I am so pleased with how my final magazine front cover has turned out in comparison to my final work from AS Media. Looking at the different sets of work from last year and this year it is clear to say that I have learn't a lot in media this year on the layout of magazine front covers as well as how to use Photoshop effectively in order to gain the best grade for my ability. 

Film Trailer Process 1st Draft to FINAL

Above is our first draft of our film trailer for our film "Obsess". We have included different types of shots ranging from an establishing shot, over the shoulder shot, low angle shots, point of view shots and long shots. By including these range of shots, we have a clear understanding of the different shots we were able to use in order to connote different meanings to the audience. We have also included voiceovers of the characters speaking in order to make the narrative clearer. However when watching the trailer as a whole, it became clear to us that the narrative was unclear. This was due to the fact that the antagonist "Michael" was unclear to the audience and he just looked like a random person in our trailer. This became clear to us when we showed our trailer to our primary audience being our media class. In addition to this, the soundtrack didn't work effectively with our film trailer as the sounds were all at a different level of volume. Plus the transitions between each scene just looked visually too jumpy and didn't work effectively. Even though as a group in our minds we knew what was occurring at each moment in the trailer, we didn't make this clear enough on our film trailer. To improve this, we decided to film more scenes, add inter titles and compose a more effective soundtrack.

Above is the second draft of our film trailer. We have filmed more scenes for our trailer with the aim of trying to make the narrative clearer. At the beginning the trailer shows an establishing shot of Putney Bridge where our film is set. This is conventional as predominately all film trailers include a an establishing shot of the location in order to set the scene. The trailer then goes on to show a scene of "Chloe" and "Sarah" in a club enjoying themselves when they were friends before the disruption stage occurs. This scene was filmed by themselves, which challenges the conventions of a trailer as scenes are normally filmed by a third person. However, we decided to go with this shot as it shows that the two girls were actually friends before the disruption stage occurred as they spent nights out together and were able to share this event with their friends via social media. We included inter titles such as "when jealous takes over" "true love exceeds the obsess" "and only he can save her" "or does everyone have a motif?" to make the narrative clearer as well as including more scenes of "Chloe" and "Ricky" showing why jealousy has occurred. Overall, when watching the whole trailer it became clear to us that the soundtracks still didn't work effectively even though we edited the timing and pace of the sound track. In addition to this, the trailer was still jumpy cutting from different scenes which could be too confusing for the audience. Plus, some shots were not filmed to a high quality with some shots being too dark or blurry. Therefore all these elements were things we had to improve on.

Above is the final draft of our film trailer for our film "Obsess". We have taken out some previous scenes in which were too dark, not of a good quality or simply weren't needed. By taking out these scenes such as "Chloe on the phone to Ricky", we were able to shoot some more scenes which would tell the narrative clearer. We filmed scenes of the three girls "Sarah, Jessica and Chloe" when they were all best friends emphasising the equilibrium stage, then going on to film the film the disruption of the equilibrium stage which is when "Chloe shows Sarah and Jessica her new boyfriend Ricky." We decided by adding these scenes, it made the narrative clearer to the audience and in some aspect some of the target audience may be able to relate to the narrative, making the film appeal to them more. In addition, as the soundtrack didn't work as well we decided to re-record the sound and edit it on Garageband. By this point, we had better knowledge on how to use Garageband so it was easier for us to edit making sure the sound worked well with the trailer to create suspense and thrill for the audience. Plus the trailer was still too jumpy even though a convention of action thriller films is the edit "jump kit". We felt it kept jumping from day to night making it too confusing, to solve this we made sure that all the equilibrium scenes were at the start as they were filmed during the day. The trailer then went on to show the disruption of the equilibrium stage and finally the attempt to repair the damage stage. By including these three stages it creates an enigma for the audience, enticing them to go and see the film. Ultimately, this is the main aim for the film trailer. 

Coursework Process

Here are screenshots of my coursework process so far when constructing my magazine front cover, film trailer and film poster.

Focusing on my magazine front cover, over the last week I have been able to complete my final magazine front cover using Photoshop on my MacBook Pro. Previously, I took different images to use for the main image on my front cover of the protagonist character "Ricky" played by Ricardo Vieira for my film "Obsess". After taking the images, I was able to compare them and decide on one image in which I thought would work most effectively grabbing the audience's attention. I followed the conventions of a film magazine in which Daniel Craig starring as James Bond featured in, by doing this I was able to follow the conventions of the successful magazine in order to construct my own magazine front cover.
I was then able to edit the image on Photoshop through the use of brightness tool and sharpness tool as well as getting rid of obvious blemishes making the image look like it has a 3D effect to it. As this is my final magazine front cover, I am pleased to say I am overwhelmed with how my final draft has come out in comparison to my magazine final front cover from last year in media. Therefore during this year, I believe I have learnt many different skills and techniques I am able to confidently use on Photoshop.
Additional research that took place when creating my front cover was how I could make the main image jump out more to the audience catching their attention straight away. I looked at different shots used on a wide range of film magazine for the main image which ranged from a long shot, to a mid shot to a close up with predominately all main images being medium shots of the model. In some aspect by using a medium shot it makes the model known to the audience as they are able to see all their facial features, expressions as well as the type of clothes they wear giving the audience the knowledge for themselves the type of personality the model has creating a personal relationship between the reader and the model.
However, a problem I encountered during the production process was that initially the image of Ricardo was behind the masthead and was not following the conventions of the magazine front cover I was following, thus I had to duplicate the image of him, using the lasso, magic eraser and eraser tool to cut around him making sure I had no background colour left. By doing this I was able to insert the image again onto the page bringing the image in front of my magazine masthead.
I then asked my target audience for feedback, asking them the following questions:-
1) Who do you think the character is on the front of the magazine front cover? The Protagonist or Antagonist?
2) Do you think the model on the front is linked to the new film "Obsess" and how do you know that?
3) What genre do you think the film "Obsess" is?
4) In general, what features do you like about that magazine front cover and does it appeal to you?

By getting feedback from my target audience I now know their opinion on my magazine front cover and know how effective and appealing my magazine front cover is to them. Straight away both of them said they knew who the model was featuring as the main image on the magazine stating that he was the protagonist character. Focusing on question two, they both said that it was clear to them that the model was linked and featured in the film "Obsess" due to the banner on the top quarter of the page as well as the tag lines on the left hand column of the magazine. As the banner says "BEHIND THE SCENES OBSESS SPECIAL" it was clear to them that my film magazine was mainly going to be about the film "Obsess". In addition to this, they both knew the genre of the film "Obsess" by looking at the magazine front cover knowing it would be an action thriller film as well as giving them the independence allowing them to think what genre the film would be which again makes my magazine front cover effective as readers may like the independence to think for themselves as well as know what genre it is and being right. Overall, by asking them what features of the magazine they like it lets me know their own separate personal reasons why my magazine appeals to them such as they liked the positioning of the model in the main image as the image has a sort of 3D effect and the main image is the first thing they see. Plus they like the house style colours used on the magazine front cover as the combination of colours all work well together. 

Above is my film poster in which I am still currently working on over the next week in order to complete the poster successfully. Over the last week, I looked at a range of different action thriller film posters deciding to focus mainly on the film "Limitless". I decided to go with a film poster that showed different action shots featuring characters in which play a main part in the film, therefore the audience are more aware of scenes that take place in the film and characters which will be starring in it creating excitement for them already before even seeing the film.
I took images in which I thought represented the film well as this is one of the first times the audience comes to terms with the film. As all the images were previously in colour I have edited them to make them black and white using the black and white effect on Photoshop as well as using the sharpness tool to make the image clearer to the audience. I am happy with the shots I have taken and how I have edited them so far in order for all the colours to work effectively together on my film poster. In addition to this, I am happy with the way I have combined all three images on the right hand side with the main image of the protagonist character on the left hand side. As I am still in the process of completing my film poster, I still need to edit the image of Ricardo giving it a slight black and white effect, plus add a credit block.

As you can see is the process of my groups film trailer for our film "Obsess", we are currently still editing our trailer using iMovie on our Macs. Over the last couple of weeks, we have managed to import all the clips we have previously filmed onto iMovie and due to this it has enabled us to start editing our film trailer, adding all our clips together following our storyboard as well as where we think the clips will work effectively. So far, with the editing we have done I am happy with how our film trailer shows a clear establishing shot, making the audience clear to the location in which our film is set. As our film is targeted at girls predominately London based if they know London well they will be able to identify this location straight away, giving the audience a connection with our film. 

Yet, we still need to work on adding more clips to the trailer to make the storyline more obvious to the audience as well as adding the soundtrack we have previously recorded on top of the clips making sure the audience can still hear the characters speaking with the soundtrack plus transitions. Additional research we have undergone so far is looking at different trailers for Taken 1, 2 and 3 and seeing what works well together music wise to make sure our music works effectively with our trailer creating suspense and thrill for our target audience. As we are still yet to complete our trailer, we haven't experienced many problems apart from the fact we have had to film more scenes as we felt as group the clips we have previously recorded didn't explain the storyline as much to the audience which could potentially make the audience confused. However, during this time we have been able to film the clips we needed therefore we are on track to complete our film trailer by Friday.

Low Budget Film Making

Low budget film making is images or scenes shot with very little or no funding from major film companies or private investors. Numerous independent films are made from a low budget, many young or first time filmmakers shoot low budget films in order to prove their talent whilst gaining experience at the time before doing bigger productions. Many low budget films which do not gain some sort of attention are never released in theatres and are often sent straight to retail due to its lack of marketability, look, story or premise. In the modern day we live in, filmmakers rely on film festivals for pre promotion. They use this to gain acclaim and attention for them films, which often leads them to a gaining a limited release in theatres. Some low budgets film gain a cult following this often leading them to a wide release. A financial figure has not been determined which would define low budget productions. The term "low budget" is relative to a certain country and varies upon genre. For example, a comedy film made for £20 million would be considered as a modest budget whereas in comparison to an action film made for the same amount of money would be considered as a low budget film due to all the special effects, props, costumes etc needed to create a successful action film. The entertainment value and success of low budget films depend entirely on the genre, premise, story and finance of the film in addition to the actors featuring in the film and their performances. A low budget sci-fi thriller film may perform and receive better at the box office due to the fact the film requires less visual effects, is story driven and is cheaper to make overall. In contrast to a low budget action thriller film may not perform as well due to these films are more action driven and are therefore more expensive to create, something a film with a low budget may not be able to provide to a good quality. In many cases, low budget filmmakers often create story driven or psychological films in all genres. Low budget films can either be professional productions or amateur and are either shot using professional or consumer equipment.

For example, my friend Daniella Rice is starting off as a producer/filmmaker making low budget films working with the BFI. She has recently produced a film called "Below" which was nominated for "Best Producers" at Underwire Festival. This is a prime example of a young producer/filmmaker trying her best to make it in the film industry, gaining experience every day.

Digital technology has made it possible for films to be shot and edited including sensational special effects for low budgets. An entire feature length films can be made by the cost of a catering budget in a traditionally funded and produced industry movie. "The Blair Witch Project" and "Paranormal Activity" are prime examples demonstrating how the internet could be used to market a film using viral marketing techniques. Orin Pelli's "Paranormal Activity" used a viral campaign, this time being financed by Paramount, turning a small "no budget" film into a runaway box office success. 

Independent filmmakers can make films more cost effectively in comparison to the big film companies. Secondly, because the budgets are relatively modest, independent filmmakers can afford to make a movie that can potentially fail (unlike the big film companies.) Finally, in the modern day movie work, everyone wants to be a part of it - the studios, the websites, traditional TV, gamers and app builders, the big banks, the big brands and hedge funds want it; literally everyone. The studios and the distributors, websites and television broadcasters all have the hardware to play the films. What they are lacking is the software being the films and if filmmakers and able to create compelling content it is known to be a fact they will be successful and will earn money without a doubt.

Initial Sounds

As you can see above is a video of five different sound effects I have recorded which I think could potentially be included in our group's film trailer. The sounds I have recorded are a gunshot, a guitar, a motorbike, a door slamming and cars speeding. All these sounds were recorded using my iPhone and I believe convey a stereotypical action thriller films and are sounds that are familiar with the target audience.
The gunshot sound is a common sound used numerous of times in an action thriller film. The sound represents danger, evil and death. It is a loud sound which creates suspense and thrill for the audience as well as anxiety. Therefore this sound will be used in the disruption of the equilibrium stage as well as at the end of our film trailer creating an enigma for the audience, leaving them wanting to go and see the film. The guitar sound is the diegetic sound in which will be heard by the audience in one of the scenes of our film trailer, as we have planned to show a scene of the antagonist character walking down an alleyway into a subway where a busker is playing his guitar. As our film is set in London and targeted at a London based audience seeing buskers in a subway/alleyway is an everyday thing when you walk around London. Therefore by having the sound of a guitar playing, the audience have a connection with the film and feel they are actually one of the characters going through all the events which occur during the film. The sound of the motorbike and the cars speeding, I personally think work well combined together as both are fast paced vehicles which conform an action thriller film. For example, James Bond: Casino Royale is an action film filled with fast paced vehicles such as motorbikes and cars with the cars often speeding. The fact that the motorbike we are using is a Harley Davidson motorbike, I believe that it makes the film look more high market appealing to the target audience much more. The sound of the door slamming implies that an argument has occurred so people are trying to shut each other off or someone is being taken, therefore this sound works well as it gives the audience an insight into how serious the events that occur in the film actually are and how they effect different characters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DBhoo-P5js&feature=youtu.be 

Above is the sound of the motorbike in which we recorded whilst travelling on the motorbike.

Sound Research

Online sound:-

Free sound 

https://www.freesound.org/browse/

Free SFX

http://www.freesfx.co.uk

Universal Soundtrack 

http://eng.universal-soundbank.com/accidents.htm \

Focusing on the three different websites for online sound, which are Free Sound, Free SFX and Universal Soundtrack. All three online websites are websites in which users are able to download a range of different sound effects or soundtracks online for free as an MP3.  Therefore the fact that users are able to download a different range of sounds for free as an MP3 file are all advantages. However, disadvantages consist of if the particular sound you are looking for is not available to the standards you want this may affect the piece you are creating. In addition to this, the sound quality may not be of a high quality therefore may not be as effective; plus the sound length of the track you download may not be long enough for your piece of work making your work sound repetitive and not as successful as you would have to keep repeating the soundtrack in order for it to work to some extent. 

Audio editing software:-

NCH Software 

http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/index.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiAz7OlBRDErsTx47LKz-8BEiQAY0OlYgk6emseVSMpHffR2b6-A7wKdBJosglH60cUi2RiR3UaAthB8P8HAQ

Audacity

http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Kangasound 

http://www.kangasound.com

Focusing on the three different websites for audio editing software, which are NCH Software, Audacity and Kangasound. All three websites are websites in which users are able to down audio editing software for free. The software is compatible on Mac computers and as I am using a Macbook Pro for the majority of my work, this is an advantage. An advantage of the audio editing softwares I have chosen is that the user is able to create sound effects and sound tracks with them easily. The software NCH has to offer is called "Wavepad" this has been voted one of the best audio editing software to use my Mac users. Wavepad is a full featured professional audio and music editor for Windows and Mac. Users are able to record and edit music, voice and other audio recordings. When editing audio files, users can cut, copy and paste parts of recordings, and then add effects like echo, amplification and noise reduction. WavePad works as a wav or mp3 editor, but it also supports a number of other file formats including vox, gsm, wma, real audio, au, aif, flac, ogg, and more.

However, Mac does offer the "Garageband" software in which I have used before in the past, therefore I have experience using this software. Advantages of Garageband is that it is easy to export mp3 or mov to save and/or upload files. Users can make as many changes as necessary or needed while the file remains in Garage Band format. In addition to this you can save your work on a USB drive and open on any computer that has Garage Band on it. As a group we all have Macs available to use at all times so will be using "iMovie" to edit our film trailer on, therefore we feel that Garageband and iMovie will work successfully together as they are both Mac softwares we all have to use. When needing online sounds for sound effects, I have decided to use "Free SFX" as all the sounds have been put into categories so when looking for a particular sound it will be easy to locate. In addition to this, the sounds are easy to download and are virus free which has a big impact on our work.

Mise En Scene Prep

In order to see if our ideas for costume, props and actors would work well together, as a group we have completed preparation for our mise en scene. Focusing on the character Sarah played by Lydia Hughes she is seen by the audience as being Chloe's (Tia) best friend in the equilibrium stage of the plot. However in the recognition of the disruption stage it is clear to the audience that Sarah (Lydia) and Jessica (Ella) aren't the "best friends" they seem to be. To help convey this to the audience we decided that Sarah and Jessica will be wearing black dresses and have red or purple lipstick with dark smokey eye makeup. By these two characters wearing black dresses and having this style of make up which illustrates their deceitfulness and immorality towards their "best friend" (Chloe). Combining dark eye makeup with red or purple lipstick, it conforms an aggressive personality, therefore portraying the characters personalities. In addition to this, the dark eye make up which will be smokey as stated above as it slowly starts to fade yet it is a bold colour it gives off a sense of mystery which could potentially make the audience aware of these characters before the truth is slowly revealed. As Lydia (Sarah) as bright blue eyes, with dark smokey eye make up and red lipstick her crystal blue eyes are emphasised in contrast to her skin colour. The smokey eye make up creates emphasis on Lydia's eye colour which immediately causes disorientation for the audience. The audience is intrigued by the difference colours used as blue represents wisdom and trust whilst black represents death and evil. Due to this, it is evident that the dark smokey eye make up reflects Lydia's character perfectly as well as Ella's character. In comparison to Lydia and Ella's character, I will be wearing a white dress with natural make up. As I play the victim character, the white dress conveys my innocence emphasised by the natural make up on my face enhancing the purity and cleanliness of my character.

To see if the make up worked well for the characters of Sarah and Jessica, we decided to test it on Lydia who is playing the character of Sarah. Lydia watched videos on YouTube to create the perfect dark coloured smokey eye. The smokey eye represents good gone to bad as this is exactly what Sarah does as she is seen as a good best friend to Chloe in the equilibrium stage yet later on in the recognition of the disruption she is seen to be evil. The decision for the dark smokey eye make up and red or purple lipstick is final, pictures below show what Lydia's and Ella's make up will be like when they play the character of Sarah and Jessica in our film Obsess.

The videos below show Lydia (Sarah) getting ready for the party which is shown in our official film trailer for our coursework. As Lydia is putting on her own make up, this conforms the reality of what girls actually do when getting ready for a party. For example, they wouldn't have a professional make up artist coming to their house to apply their make up for them. The audience are able to have a slight insight into the film making a connection between the audience and the characters.