This is a compressed version of our final coursework, which can be viewed to get an approximate idea of our product although we would prefer viewing on DVD for full quality:
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Evaluation of How we Have Aimed to Attract Target Audience
Please see our group presentation below. This is intended as a kind of DVD extra feature - the producers discussing how they hoped their film would go down - so it is better to watch it at full resolution on the DVD. We have had to compress to meet Blogger's upload maximum. However, it is also viewable here and is easier to read if you don't open full screen as this affects resolution:
Evaluation of Learning About Technologies
Please find our link to our presentation on Slideshare:
Our Slideshow on Technologies Used
Please be aware that the quality of images is not as good on Slideshare as on the original. We followed their advice and converted to a PDF but this has not upgraded the quality. Please see the CD sent with other coursework to see the quality of the original presentation.
Our Slideshow on Technologies Used
Please be aware that the quality of images is not as good on Slideshare as on the original. We followed their advice and converted to a PDF but this has not upgraded the quality. Please see the CD sent with other coursework to see the quality of the original presentation.
Evaluation of Progress from Prelim Task to Main Task
1. Progress In Research and Planning
Prelim Task -
There was no obvious preparation for the prelim task; no target audience in mind, no script made, no desired music and no following story. We used a variety of techniques but only to practice them for our real pieces, they were not needed for portraying the task.
Final Task -
However, for the final task a lot of preparation went into it. Each of us researched a numerous amount of film openings in order to see how they target their audience and establish their genre within the first 2 minutes; from camera angles, sound, mise-en-scene and editing. We also researched titles and credits, production company idents, the features of an opening sequence, music - anything we thought we would need to make our own product authentic.
As we had an 80s setting, this also required research, from costumes and make up to how 80s news reports looked. So overall, our research was very extensive and detailed in comparison with the prelim task and gave us a much greater sense of control over the product.
Examples of film research
Genre Research
80s Research
Titles and Credits Research
We planned out the camera angles and movements we would need to highlight the atmosphere needed for our juxtaposing scenes, for example, very little movement is required other than close ups and different angles in the opening scene as we want to focus on the emotions of Jimmy rather than the surroundings, however, in the flashback scene there is a lot more panning and tracking to emphasise the differences between their lives in this time. Also, non-diegetic sound and dialogue is an essential part of the flashback, whereas there is silence for the majority of the opening.
Progress -
This helped us to acquire the components needed for making our opening as close to the genre as we can possibly get it. It also made us feel much more confident as the research clarified for us what we wanted to achieve and we were able to break down achieving it into smaller tasks.
2. Progress In Storyboarding and Scripting
Prelim Task -
For our prelim there was no storyboarding done as we planned on the spot; not knowing what to say or how the shots would turn out meant that our task turned out to look disorganised.
We had to film outside because we had not organised a room for ourselves:
The dialogue was also thought of on the spot which made it difficult to match when we had to repeat it, therefore making the continuity of the piece not match very well. The dialogue tends to ramble on:
Final Task -
The storyboard was a key part to our piece as it was very detailed to begin with and then continued to be added to.
By presenting our storyboard we were able to get feedback on what we could adjust and what worked well.
By then producing an animatic of our storyboard we were able to judge where dialogue and music suited.
Through having a script to go by we were able to repeat the exact same lines therefore making editing and continuity less of an issue.
We thought carefully beforehand of the locations we would have to use, particularly because of the era our genre was set in; the 80's. So we had to choose locations with a 'This is England' feel and which reflect the 80s in their look:
Progress -
Having an outline for how the filming day was to go meant that it ran smoothly and less time on the day was spent thinking of new ideas or altering old ones.
However, dialogue was a slight issue because in our flashback scene it was small talk between the characters therefore sometimes a word can be subconsciously changed - this is something we will need to be even more vigilant about next year. We were also unprepared for all the bad weather we had - we were very unlucky and filmed on many separate occasions and each time were affected by weather, so next year we need to have an indoors alternative for key scenes.
The overall piece had more sense to it as the audience would want to know what's going to happen next, rather than what's actually happening 'now'.
3. Progress In Camera Work
Prelim Task -
Our panning shots are often wobbly because we hadn't been moving the camera softly enough.
Due to our awkward setting we found the POV shot from Harry difficult to do as we couldn't find the right height and angle to be able to make it look effective.
Whilst trying to decide on what to do/say next, we would leave the camera running which resulted in low battery and a lot of unwanted footage.
Final Task -
After a lot of different practice tasks we became more confident with the movement of the camera.
We looked more realistically at what we could do and achieve with camera angles and movements - we originally had tracking shots including for our walking shots but had to change them to panning shots for more realistic approach
We then practiced these panning shots a lot to ensure that we could carry them out and would be smooth and clean in our final piece
We also generally used a greater range of camera angles and movements including; close ups, mid shots and longs shots with the different distances all creating the right effect (i.e Mid Shot to see enough of surrounding, close ups to engage with characters emotions) and downwards tilts, panning shots, shot reverse shot and so on:
Range of shot types, distances, angles in final task:
4. Progress in Editing
Prelim-
When first editing our prelim task, we were very inexperienced with Final Cut Express so were very slow at editing whilst trying to figure our way around the programme.
We did not have titles or credits in our prelim as we did not know how to create or import them.
The only editing we did for the prelim task was trimming our clips and ordering them on the timeline. Our only real focus was trying to create continuity - beyond that we did not look at creating meaning for the audience in other ways.
Final-
By the time we came to our final piece, we had a lot more editing experience and were more able to see it as a way of adding layers of meaning for the audience and not just about putting clips in the right order.
Of course, the sequencing of shots is still important and we still concentrated on continuity and the impact of the way shots are sequenced:
However, we worked hard with the editing to achieve other effects and meanings too:
Our editing of music was also important - we wanted to contrast the silence and stillness of the opening scene with the loudness of upbeat music as we go back in time to happier moments.
Overall, we made great progress from the prelim task to the final sequence, but you can see a clear line of development because many of the improvements we made are related directly to what we learned from the prelim task and the mistakes we made.
Prelim Task -
There was no obvious preparation for the prelim task; no target audience in mind, no script made, no desired music and no following story. We used a variety of techniques but only to practice them for our real pieces, they were not needed for portraying the task.
Final Task -
However, for the final task a lot of preparation went into it. Each of us researched a numerous amount of film openings in order to see how they target their audience and establish their genre within the first 2 minutes; from camera angles, sound, mise-en-scene and editing. We also researched titles and credits, production company idents, the features of an opening sequence, music - anything we thought we would need to make our own product authentic.
As we had an 80s setting, this also required research, from costumes and make up to how 80s news reports looked. So overall, our research was very extensive and detailed in comparison with the prelim task and gave us a much greater sense of control over the product.
Examples of film research
Genre Research
80s Research
Titles and Credits Research
We planned out the camera angles and movements we would need to highlight the atmosphere needed for our juxtaposing scenes, for example, very little movement is required other than close ups and different angles in the opening scene as we want to focus on the emotions of Jimmy rather than the surroundings, however, in the flashback scene there is a lot more panning and tracking to emphasise the differences between their lives in this time. Also, non-diegetic sound and dialogue is an essential part of the flashback, whereas there is silence for the majority of the opening.
Progress -
This helped us to acquire the components needed for making our opening as close to the genre as we can possibly get it. It also made us feel much more confident as the research clarified for us what we wanted to achieve and we were able to break down achieving it into smaller tasks.
2. Progress In Storyboarding and Scripting
Prelim Task -
For our prelim there was no storyboarding done as we planned on the spot; not knowing what to say or how the shots would turn out meant that our task turned out to look disorganised.
We had to film outside because we had not organised a room for ourselves:
The dialogue was also thought of on the spot which made it difficult to match when we had to repeat it, therefore making the continuity of the piece not match very well. The dialogue tends to ramble on:
Final Task -
The storyboard was a key part to our piece as it was very detailed to begin with and then continued to be added to.
By presenting our storyboard we were able to get feedback on what we could adjust and what worked well.
By then producing an animatic of our storyboard we were able to judge where dialogue and music suited.
Through having a script to go by we were able to repeat the exact same lines therefore making editing and continuity less of an issue.
We thought carefully beforehand of the locations we would have to use, particularly because of the era our genre was set in; the 80's. So we had to choose locations with a 'This is England' feel and which reflect the 80s in their look:
Progress -
Having an outline for how the filming day was to go meant that it ran smoothly and less time on the day was spent thinking of new ideas or altering old ones.
However, dialogue was a slight issue because in our flashback scene it was small talk between the characters therefore sometimes a word can be subconsciously changed - this is something we will need to be even more vigilant about next year. We were also unprepared for all the bad weather we had - we were very unlucky and filmed on many separate occasions and each time were affected by weather, so next year we need to have an indoors alternative for key scenes.
The overall piece had more sense to it as the audience would want to know what's going to happen next, rather than what's actually happening 'now'.
3. Progress In Camera Work
Prelim Task -
Our panning shots are often wobbly because we hadn't been moving the camera softly enough.
Due to our awkward setting we found the POV shot from Harry difficult to do as we couldn't find the right height and angle to be able to make it look effective.
Whilst trying to decide on what to do/say next, we would leave the camera running which resulted in low battery and a lot of unwanted footage.
Final Task -
After a lot of different practice tasks we became more confident with the movement of the camera.
We looked more realistically at what we could do and achieve with camera angles and movements - we originally had tracking shots including for our walking shots but had to change them to panning shots for more realistic approach
We then practiced these panning shots a lot to ensure that we could carry them out and would be smooth and clean in our final piece
We also generally used a greater range of camera angles and movements including; close ups, mid shots and longs shots with the different distances all creating the right effect (i.e Mid Shot to see enough of surrounding, close ups to engage with characters emotions) and downwards tilts, panning shots, shot reverse shot and so on:
Range of shot types, distances, angles in final task:
4. Progress in Editing
Prelim-
When first editing our prelim task, we were very inexperienced with Final Cut Express so were very slow at editing whilst trying to figure our way around the programme.
We did not have titles or credits in our prelim as we did not know how to create or import them.
The only editing we did for the prelim task was trimming our clips and ordering them on the timeline. Our only real focus was trying to create continuity - beyond that we did not look at creating meaning for the audience in other ways.
Final-
By the time we came to our final piece, we had a lot more editing experience and were more able to see it as a way of adding layers of meaning for the audience and not just about putting clips in the right order.
Of course, the sequencing of shots is still important and we still concentrated on continuity and the impact of the way shots are sequenced:
 |
| Hand positions noticed so this shot matches on action... |
 |
| ... with this shot |
 |
| Footage of band carefully chosen from around half hour of material for maximum emotional impact |
 |
| For example this shot illustrating a key relationship |
 |
| Careful choice of images in editing - juxtaposition of images of Ruby |
 |
| Also juxtaposing her life and happiness in the band footage with Jimmy's stillness and despair |
However, we worked hard with the editing to achieve other effects and meanings too:
 |
| Layering video and png images to create news report |
 |
| Using After Effects to create logo |
 |
| LiveType and Photoshop for news report following 80s conventions |
 |
| LiveType with sound effect (typewriter) beneath |
 |
| After Effects to create title / credits |
 |
| Example of credits |
Our editing of music was also important - we wanted to contrast the silence and stillness of the opening scene with the loudness of upbeat music as we go back in time to happier moments.
Overall, we made great progress from the prelim task to the final sequence, but you can see a clear line of development because many of the improvements we made are related directly to what we learned from the prelim task and the mistakes we made.
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