Blog Finished

This is the last post marks the conclusion of my AS Media Blog.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard for our film. It wasn't put on the blog earlier

Evaluation Question 7

From our preliminary exercise, we have learnt much more about the different codes and conventions, and much more on different camera angles and techniques to use and have incorporated them into our film.

We have gotten better at using different camera angles to represent how something will happen, due to the lack of dialogue in our opening. Despite the lack of dialogue, we feel that it is still incredibly simple for the audience to understand what’s going on. We have also used more close ups and match on action shots to portray what is actually happening. A good decision we made was to cross-cut the two scenes onto each other, to signify to the audience that the murder takes place as they enter the woods, and it is merely bad timing. We also disclose the identity of the murderer, except the fact he is part of some kind of cult. To do this, we chose to have the tattoo of the cult symbol on his neck, and had a close up of it along with the murderer’s face at the end of the opening scene.

During shots with action, such as when the 7^th Keeper is hit around the head with the wrench, we had the editing rather fast-paced, which contrasts from the rest of the clip. We feel that this shows the audience better what is happening. A point of view shot is also used, as the keeper is hit. The blur and fading to black represents his death. The rest of the film appears to be very slow moving and calm, until they meet the murderer. During the scene with the murderer, we didn’t put any titles over it because we wanted the audience to focus on what was happening, due to it being an important part of the film.

The sound editing is significantly better in the final opening than in the preliminary exercise, despite how windy it was on the day we filmed. We were able to blend in the sounds together and fade them over one another to make it seem more realistic. We have also worked hard on keeping the continuity correct. The editing in the preliminary exercise was a bit too jumpy. Also, the camera pans and tilts were too jumpy. We have learnt from this and the pans, tilts and zooms appear to be incredibly smooth compared to our preliminary exercise. This includes the section when we use the 180 degree rule.

\Overall, it was hard work to film and edit our film, with constant changes in filming times, actors and storylines. But I think that we managed to complete it to a good standard.

Evaluation Question 6

6

View more PowerPoint from helloyesthisisdom

Evaluation Question 5

The film's unique selling points are the genre. People who are into crime/thriller films will be enthralled by the genre and will want to watch it.

We used a variety of methods to attract an audience for our media film. The most notable being the soundtrack. We thought that using a song we think people would like, or at least not mind. We decided in the end to use the song "Hey Superstar" by Madina Lake. The band are also rather big in America so we might some attention from outside the UK. We sought permission for the song to be used directly from the band's manager and was granted this permission.

We also featured some actors that are rather notable for working in the USA/Canada film/ tv scene. Fans of these actors may want to see the film simply for the actors and this could draw a wider audience from overseas. The actors could also help with the advertisements for the film, by mentioning it on twitter and facebook and other social networking sites.

We found out what our audience would like to see by using questionaires and handing them out to people and requesting that they fill them in so we can get an idea of what our audence would want. We then built our film based on them.

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 3

Our company name "Terrordrone Productions" is based on an enemy from a video game. We felt it was suitable because the name gives off a thrilling terrifying vibe.

We researched into different film distributors and found a suitable one; Dogwoof Pictures. They distribute films of all different genres from around the world. They are a small distributor based in England. We feel that this company would be perfect to distribute our film because they're a small distributor so they would take a low budget film. This means that we would have more money left over to use for advertising.

The names of the actors who appear in our film are rather big in the UK film/tv show scene other than the actors we used in real life. The names are mentioned only in the titles and do not appear in the opening clip. This could perhaps draw in a wider audience and help promote the distribution of the film.

Evaluation Question 2

We tried to represent our evil character as a character that appears to look incredibly normal, yet is completely devious and evil. This sort of character has hard to create for us. We opted for normal clothes that Ben would wear, yet we had to think of some subtle way to show that he would be a member of the cult. We finally decided on a cult tattoo on the neck, matching the symbol of that on the corpse, only with a different tally (the corpses was 7, this person is 6.) The 6 also suggests that this man isn’t the lead main character; he is portrayed as more of a thug or crony, so we tried to make him appear as if he can’t think for himself and appears to come across as a bit “thick” yet powerful and intimidating.

We feel that this character resembles the characters “Crabbe” and “Goyle”, Malfoy’s cronies in the Harry Potter series. These 2 merely follow the orders given by Malfoy and have an incapability of independent thought. We try to represent our character as someone who puts up a tough front, yet when you delve deeper into his character, you find he is capable of emotions and this portrays despite the front, he is still only human and not just someone who merely follows orders. This is much like the situations Crabbe and Goyle find themselves in when dealing with Malfoy’s plots. They appear as the kind of characters who might bumble around and mess something up, like how our characters lets the 2 girls run away instead of killing them too. Maybe this is due to the human emotions showing through? The clothes they wear try to make them appear normal; our character wears typical everyday clothes, and Crabbe and Goyle wear the school uniform. Though we have an idea this sort of clothing is what they would wear out of school.

Evaluation Question 1

We have based our media film on the typical opening you would find in a crime/thriller film; the discovery of a body, the mystery of who the murderer actually is and also the running from the scene of the crime. We had to look at several running scenes to base our one on, particularly that from the film “Trainspotting.” We portrayed the location as a typical suburban area, which matches the costumes we decided for the actors. You wouldn’t expect something so awful to happen in a public area such as our location. We also chose to get straight into the action as soon as the film starts so that it keeps the audience interested into the story.

The representation of the story is quite clear. It is easy to tell what happens with hardly any dialogue and it also keeps the audience focussing on the screen. The characters are established rather clearly as well, we used a tilt shot showing the thug after the 2 girls discover the body. We felt that this will give off the mysterious vibe we needed the character to display.

The titles in the film are a dark gothic font, to add to the mystery of the storyline. This also helps to show the genre of the film, a film about an evil cult. The somewhat upbeat soundtrack at the start and end of the opening suggest that the 2 girls are completely unaware of what is going to happen. We also chose to have no titles over the important part of the opening, which is the 2 girls confronting the man about the murder. This helps the audience focus on the storyline instead of being distracted by titles.

The title of the film “The 7^th Keeper” is rather mysterious in itself, yet the fact that there are 7 of these ‘keepers’ suggest that there is more to discover within the cult which helps also to draw the audience in. Keeper number 7 is the corpse which is discovered by the 2 girls. This shows that keeper number 6 is the murderer, byt the cult's logo and the roman numeral of 6 on his neck, visible for the camrea to see. We used a variety of different close ups of this to signify that he is a mumber of this, or another cult and brings the question as to why he did it.

The camerawork used in the film helps to portray the story with the lack of dialogue, it establishes the characters through the use of close ups as they are walking through the woods and discover the body. It portrays the 2 girls as curious and also helpful as they attempt to ring the police.

Final Film

Editing Media Film

I have begun to edit my media film. I had the film completed, but I discovered that it was in the wrong format and have now had to re-do it. At this current stage, I have halfway completed the editing. As soon I have completed this, I will then begin to work on the evaluation questions. These will be done on MS word first and then uploaded to blogger subsequently.

Reshedule

Due to the weather conditions, we have had to reshedule our media filming to another date. We plan to start refilming on Sunday, wehn everyone is next available.

Update

We have made some more tweaks to the storyline for our opening and have also changed some of the actors around as well. We hope to be able to to film our opening on Wednesday.

Update

Me and my colleague are currently in the process of arranging a date where our final media project can be filmed. We are taking into account the weather and when our actors are free, and we are hoping to start and finish filming within the next week. We have all of our props ready. It will then be finalesed at school using Adobe Premiere Pro.

Level Crossing

The new train tracks they have put where will be filming our media project have also required a new layout for the level crossing. Even though we are re-filming our media film anyway, we would have to re-film that specific part again to keep the continuity, due to the changing of the crossing.

This is the new crossing

This is our rough cut for our film. We have added annotations on what we are changing.

Update

We have made a couple of minor changes to our opening storyline, and we are preparing to film at the weekend. With the easter holidays approaching, this gives us plently of time to re-do any shots we do, and we will attempt to access the school network via remote access during the holidays. We will also be starting our evaluation during the half term as well.

Update

We have finished our rough cut for our film. After recieving some feedback from our teacher and mulitple students in our class, we now have an idea of what is good about the film and what needs to be redone/improved. We have been given the idea of making our scene look more like the opening running scene from the movie "Trainspotting." We intend to re-film parts of the running sceen, as it gdoes seem a bit dull in comparison.

This is the scene from the film, and as of now what we are basing our running scene on.

Completed Filming

My have completed the most part of our media project, and I have begun editing it during school hours using Adobe Premiere Pro.

Update

Due to the train tracks being worked on, we are unavilable to film on the dates mentioned in the picture. We must also wait until all the things have been cleared so we may film. We are resheduling again.

This is the list of dates the level crossing is shut for.

Props

These are the props we will be using for the project. We will be using a wrench, which is the weapon used to kill the person and also a tube of fake blood for effect. Since the wrench will be classed as a weapon and would appear intimidating for members of the public, we will alert the authorities of our plans for it so we do not get into trouble for having it in public. This will be done one day prior to filming.

Update

Due to one of the actors being unavailable, we were unable to film the first part of our film. We have resheduled for next weekend. In the meantime, we have taken shots of locations we thought would be an issue. We will also use these as a template to run titles over, so we can decide on which ones to use before we have the opening filmed. This will be done next Tuesday, when we have access to Adobe Premiere Pro.

Shooting Plan

We have decided we will be filming our clip over the course of 2 days, possibly after schools. We will film the first half in the woods with the discoverance of the body, and then the scene with the train the subsequent day. All actors will be notified of this 2 to 3 days prior of recording.

Railway Safety

In order to ensure complete safety near the railway, we have to take some precautions such as
-Whilst filming on the railway, we will always have 1-2 people accompanying the cameraman watching out for trains and other dangers
-My partner and I will ensure that the cast are behaving responsible and mature.
-The cast will also be told to remain on the level crossing, and not venture onto the tracks themselves.
-Unless crossing, nobody will be on the tracks by themselves.
-We are to vacate the tracks at the first sign of a train approaching, giving plenty of time to ensure everyone's safety.

Recce Shots #2

Preliminary Exercise

This is our Preliminary Exercise that we completed in September. It has been uploaded to our YouTube acount (Terrordronepro)

Update

Due to a communication error, I was unable to speak to my collegue over the Christmas Holidays. However, we have managed to complete our script and also recruit our whole cast. We will begin to film the actual opening as soon as possible.