Finished Film!

Untitled from JamieReeves on Vimeo.


This is our finished short film, the editing was done by Jamie due to him having the best experience with the editing software. Overall I am pleased with the finished product, it isn't perfect but the aesthetics of the product are very good.

Prezi!

A2 Media on Prezi

Finished film poster

 

Here is the finished poster, one of our secondary products. The main construction of this product was done by Jamie using Photoshop. I contributed with the images which were then added to the poster. The poster is kept very conventional, with it's layout and use of bold text. The main title of the film and how it is set out shows a direct reflection of our film, something our target market would like to see.

Finished Magazine Review

Here is the finished magazine review, the main inspiration for this was 'White Lies' magazine, however due to the different colours in the background the addition of black text boxes were added so the text was easy to read. 

Filming & Recording Todayy!!!!

Today we started filming for our short film, due to commitments of some of the actors we could only film some of the scenes in a non linear order. Tomorrow afternoon I will collect the rest of the scenes with the other actors as they'll have more time to participate.
Also today we recorded the voice of our main protagonist for the inner monologues that occur in the film.

Flashback, Camera Angle + Monologue Techniques

''This clip of dexter includes a camera angle we have decided on along with a technique for inner monologue and flashbacks.

The camera angles from 20 seconds onwards when dexter is approaching the door, is a close up tracking shot which cuts quickly to a point of view shot and back. The close up tracking shot gives a sense of emotion (which in this case is fear) and along with the p.o.v shot it gives a feeling of unease and that the character is un-easy about approaching the door.''

For the full post click here
http://a2mediajamiereeves.blogspot.com/2011/01/flashback-camera-angle-monologue.html

Character models

 

Jordan would be playing the part of the significant extra in our short movie.

We feel as a group that Jordan fits the ''steerotype'' of what we wish the character to act and dress like. As the audience will be aware of him without him being in the foreground this will make him a good significant extra.

 

 We thought that Blaine would be a good protagonist for our film, once again because we feel he is a good fit for the type of character we want him to portray.

Another reason we felt he would be a good actor for us is his speech as we feel that is the kind of tone we feel our character would have.

We chose Luke as our main antagonist as we feel it's a character that would lead a small group and pick on others. We also felt his dress sense would help the character.















Tom is a simular height to luke and they have a simular dress sense so we felt that this would be a good choice for one on the antagonists followers.

 
We picked Lewis as we felt he would be able to replicate Luke's attitude for our film, and would make a convincing follower for Luke.

Progress Specification

Print


Level 3 36–47 marks



There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:



framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;



using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;



shooting material appropriate to the task set;



selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;



manipulating photographs as appropriate to the context for presentation, including cropping and resizing;



accurately using language and register;



appropriately integrating illustration and text;



showing understanding of conventions of layout and page design;



showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size;



using ICT appropriately for the task set.



Level 4 48–60 marks



There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:



framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;



using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;



shooting material appropriate to the task set;



selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;



manipulating photographs as appropriate to the context for presentation, including cropping and resizing;



accurately using language and register;



appropriately integrating illustration and text;



showing understanding of conventions of layout and page design;



showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size;



using ICT appropriately for the task set.





Video:

Level 3 36–47 marks



There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:



holding a shot steady, where appropriate;



framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;



using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;



shooting material appropriate to the task set;



selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;



editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;



using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;



using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;

• using titles appropriately.





Level 4 48–60 marks

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:



holding a shot steady, where appropriate;



framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;



using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;



shooting material appropriate to the task set;



selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;



editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;



using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;



using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;



using titles appropriately.



Audio

Level 3 36–47 marks



There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:



recording voice(s) clearly in studio/confined setting;



recording voice(s) clearly in location/outdoor interviews/presentations;



accurately using language and register;



integrating recorded material, as appropriate;



editing and mixing sounds appropriately;



editing to create continuity and meaning;



integrating jingles, music, location sounds and sound effects, where appropriate.

Use of flashbacks in film and television

The use of flashbacks in film and television help the audience uncover a piece of information about the plot, the most common genre of television and film that uses flashbacks is crime. The crime genre is the easiest to use flashbacks as it reveals the past act of the antagonist. Also fkashbacks can reveal some of the personal life in the protagonist - their fatal flaw. To summerise this device helps the audience empathise with the protagonist, as well as giving the audience a greater understanding of the narrative.

Above is a clip from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, where we see the main protagonist 'Grisom' have a flashback which exposes his fatal flaw, whilst making the audience understand and empathise.

Magazine Review Resesarch

The magazine cover shows what the main feature of that edition will be, in this case ''This is England''

 The main page of the article is a two page spread, mainly built by the screenshot from the film, with text on each page but not enough to overlap the image at the bottom.

 

The text size changes, if there is a part of the text that the editors want the reader to see first they make it bold. In this case the bold text is talking about the style of film and how it was filmed and how it looks visually.

The screenshot reflects the text, so as the text is talking about the visuals of the film, they pick a stylish image to reflect this.







Little White Lies Magazine Website (link to the website)

Our Market Research Results

These are the findings from our video on our market research.

We found that the majority of our target market thought that a ''Thriller'' would be the best genre for a short film, as it would be interesting to see how the film can start and finish within the 5 minute filming period.

We found for magazine review our target market look at the star ratings (usually on a scale of 1-5). Also we found that a large part of our target audience look at action shots from the film, as that usually gives them a feel of what the film would be like.

For our poster our target market answered that they found the use of bold colours catch their eye, and if the colours reflect the mood of the film the film that was better at attracting an audience. Others answered that an action shot from the film was a good step towards attracting the audience.

Market Research Results!!

Today myself and jamie made a video showing our market research results.


Review of Market Research from JamieReeves on Vimeo.


Go to Jamie's blog for the full post.

Market Research!!

Market Feedback from JamieReeves on Vimeo.


http://a2mediajamiereeves.blogspot.com/ - Link to Jamie's blog

http://a2mediajamiereeves.blogspot.com/2010/12/target-market-research.html - Link to full post

Plan of Action.....Again!

What we hope to do for the 2nd of December is to storyboard our film plot and inital ideas for filming, as well as gathering audience views/feedback on film and short films. Also we hope as a group we can have a working title, and have an idea for a film poster.

Examples Of Short Films and Exhibition

Virgin Media Shorts is a short film competition website, made for short film makers to enter their work with the chance to win funds for a bigger project in the future. It give film makers to have their work exhibited, even if they win or not there is a chance that there work would be spotted and gain a fan base.





http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/films/entry/345289/sign-language

Above is the link to the 2010 competition winner, ''Sign Language''
''Meet Ben - he holds a sign for a living, and he loves his job more than almost anything. But today is his last day.'' (synopsis to film.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TN3VtWwks4
(link to the directors cut on YouTube)




http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/films/entry/334701/bus-baby

This was winner of the people's choice for the 2010 Virgin Media Short competition. Titled ''Bus Baby''
''Synopsis: Britain has the largest teen pregnancy rate in Europe. Bus baby tackles the issues facing teenage mothers head on and asks some difficult questions. It is hard hitting yet humorous film.''





Short films can cover a variety of subjects, like in the examples above we see a comedy about a 'sign guy' also a drama on the topic of teen pregnacy.

Getting Work Done....

After uploading our pitch we started to organise our group and begin to move on in our project. We realised we were falling behind compared to other groups and needed to make a move if we wanted to continue on the course.

Our Pitch!!

Pitch by Ben, Conor, Jamie from Ben Goulder on Vimeo.


Here is our completed pitch, saying what we are planning to do for our media product.

Plan, Review and Do

For thursday the 18th of november we as a group plan to do,

+Our pitch again to upload onto our blogs.
+Conclude on a final story idea for our final product (storyboard)
+Gather more research on the pros and cons of 'found footage' style of filming

Mark Evaluation

Level 2 24–35 marks




- There is evidence of a basic level of ability in the creative use of some of the following technical skills:



- Holding a shot steady, where appropriate;



- Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;



- Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;



- Shooting material appropriate to the task set;



- Selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;



- Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;



- Using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;



- Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;



- Using titles appropriately.

60



Level 3 36–47 marks



There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:



- Holding a shot steady, where appropriate;



- Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;



- Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;



- Shooting material appropriate to the task set;



- Selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;



- Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;



- Using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;



- Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;



- Using titles appropriately.

Our Main Task

Our main task is a short film, we picked this task as we feel that it is something we are all interested in and that it is our strongest field of work. Our task is to make a film lasting approximately 5 minutes. Within the short film category we have to look at various genres, one genre that appealed to us all was the ‘Found film’ genre. The main found film genre revolves around a person or group of people finding some lost footage. This is good for a short film as there is little need for character development and you can go straight into the plot. Our secondary products are the film poster and magazine review. We decided on these because we have experience using programs such as Photoshop, and we feel that we can get the most out of this.