After a lot of hard work and effort we finally made it!
Forever Hold Your Piece - coming to a cinema near you.
Well done group 12.21!
Wednesday 1 May 2013
Sunday 28 April 2013
Nasir Ahmad Evaluation Question 7
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
From the preliminary task we learnt how to use the 180
degree rule effectively. This shot is most commonly used when shooting a
conversation, which we, in our production did not use. However, it was good to
learn this technique and experience its effects.
From the preliminary task we also got used to the software’s
and equipment for example IMovie and the tripods.
In summary, these are the main things we covered throughout
the portfolio:
-
How to use a camera
-
How to use a tripod
-
How to use a crane
-
How to use lighting effectively, natural and
artificial
-
How surrounding noises can be recorded
unintentionally
-
The various camera shots such as: close ups,
establishing shots, tilts, pans etc…
-
How to use IMovie to an amateur level
-
How to use Garage Band and After Effects to a
beginners level
-
The importance of teamwork and individual
responsibilities
Overall it was a good experience; I learnt a lot, and improved on what I knew already.
Nasir Ahmad Evaluation Question 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Camera
We used a Cannon fully HD ready Camera. We used the basic
features of the camera, for example Zoom, record, playback and importing to PC’s.
We did not use the more technical features such as the pull focus feature and
the night vision mode. This is because we did not need to use these features.
Crane
For the preliminary task we used a crane to get the camera
high up. Using a crane enabled us to create a surveillance effect. However we
had to be aware of the camera looking down upon the character.
Tripod
We learnt from the
first day footage that using a tripod is a basic tool which can affect the
whole of the production. This is because we did not use a tripod whilst filming
the first footage, reason being that we were not allowed to take equipment out
of school premises without a teacher’s supervision. For this reason we used
Georgia’s camera to film but had no tripod to put it on. The problem that arose
because we didn’t use a tripod was, the footage was too unsteady. This not only
affected the quality of the footage, but it also affected the footage once
imported to IMovie. This was because the software detected that the footage was
not steady and therefor started to stabilize it. Not only did this take three
times more the time of importing it, it also made it lag once played.
iMovie
However, because I movie is a non-linear editing software it
was easy for us to just put the shots together to create a storyline. This
enabled us to spot our mistakes and reshoot what we needed to, then place it on
the storyline.
GarageBand
This is the software Georgia used to make the non-diegetic
sounds. She had used the software before but not up to the level we needed to
for this production. For this reason she spent a long time composing the music
for the opening.
Adobe After Effects
This software was used to create the “Forever Hold Your
Piece” effect, the “Ace Pictures” logo and the “Uncut Productions” logo.
However, because no one in our group had used Adobe After Effects before
Vivien, our group member took matters into her own hands and learnt how to use
the software by looking into YouTube tutorials.
YouTube
We used YouTube to post our videos on; this was useful
because we could use the URL link or the Embedded Code to post our videos in
different places such as our blog. However it was essential that we had a
YouTube account which was not a problem, because we could just use our Google
account which we needed to make for our Blogger account.
Blogger
This was the blog we used to record our stages of
production. From our audience research to Evaluation, it was also easier for
teachers to review our progress. I had not used Blogger before this, but now
that I have learnt how to use it I might consider starting my own blog.
Prezi
Prezi is a fancy way of presenting a presentation. Not only
that but you can embed it into websites and Blogger. It is better than
Microsoft PowerPoint because first of all PowerPoint has become too cliché
whereas Prezi is still a unique way of presenting presentation. I had not used
Prezi before this, however now that I know how to use it and know about it, I
might consider using it before doing a presentation.
IPhone
On the IPhone I was easily able to access the blog where I
could continually look back at our audience research and reflect upon it. It
also meant it was easier to update the blog and post what was going on in our
group.
Tablet
The tablet was useful when getting audience feedback,
because it was mobile and not time consuming. The feedback was useful because
we could then reflect and see how well we did compared to the audience
research.
Nasir Ahmad Evaluation Question 4
Who would be the audience for our media product ?
According to our product research and audience research, our
product is a 15 rated product. Meaning our film is to be aimed at people above
the age of 15. However, Action Thrillers are not appealing to audiences over
the age of 40, so our age range can be 15-40. This is because our media product
is aimed at a mainstream audience, giving it the potential to attract a broad
audience.
Also, from the research we did, it is also clear that there
is no certainty which gender it would be more appealing to, however some
research did suggest that people watched movies because of the characters in
them.
Nasir Ahmad Evaluation Question 2
Our protagonist is the typical smart, fit and innocent
looking “hitman”. We typically stereotyped him because our film is aimed at a
mainstream audience, so keeping in line with the conventions of typical action
and thrillers we thought it was necessary to have a typical “hitman”.
The protagonist is typically stereotyped because most action
thrillers have a similar protagonist to ours. For example:
Our film opening represents men as hardworking and
challenges the ideology of “the women taking care of the house”. This is
because our film is about a man who is an employed by an undercover agency as
an assassin. However, this assassin wants to leave his current employment
because he knows his job involves a high risk of being killed and he knows he
is the only one who provides for his disabled wife and unborn baby, so if
anything was to happen to him his family will suffer. For this reason I believe
that this protagonist is challenging the typical ideology of “women taking care
of the house”. Firstly the protagonist is ready to sacrifice his experienced
and wealthy career for the sake of his family, and partially because theoretically
he looks after the house anyway. He looks after his disabled wife who is
pregnant, provides for her, himself and the unborn baby. For this reason, the
protagonist is seen as “taking care of the house” rather than women.
Other social groups which have been represented are: the
group of criminals that cannot be recognised and the group of criminals that
are typically stereotyped. For example:
These are all people found guilty of some sort of crime, making them criminals. However one cannot recognise them as criminals from the way the dress and present themselves. Unlike this social group which is most commonly stereotyped as criminals but actually are not:
They look like criminals because of the ideology of how criminals have a similar dress code to this lot.
He is stereotyped as a criminal because of his body posture, his facial expressions and the chain around his neck.
To sum up, our typical stereotype protagonist is presented as a typical protagonist in a thriller movie because our movie is aimed at a mainstream audience and therefore we made sure he matched the typical conventions of a typical thriller protagonist. However our protagonist does challenge the ideology of “women taking care of the house”. This is not very obvious in the 21st century, but if this media was produced in an earlier century it would have been more noticeable.
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