This is the final version of my media product.
Monday, 22 April 2013
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Preliminary Task
This was the first attempt at using different media techniques. In this task we did an Interview for Heineken. This guy who is dreaming about his interview while he is waiting outside. He wants to become the marketing director for Heineken. We used a match on action for when he opened the door into the interview room. A shot-reverse-shot during the conversation of the interview. We tried to follow the 180 degree rule throughout and we experimented with the soundtrack at the end.
Monday, 15 April 2013
7 Evaluative questions
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My film Way Too Deep is a Gangster film. It also contains a romance and drama to it. I used this idea of the romance from another Gangster film, Gangster Squad. In my film I wanted to include more of the romantic side to it, my two main characters Kevin and Melina find love through difficult circumstances. This because of what Hector has done to Kevin's brother Michael. Using this idea from Gangster squad I aimed to develop it more. I used the tragic bit of Michael dying from Gangster Squad as well, what resulted from this was Kevin being scared and fearing for his life unlike in Gangster Squad where when there is tragedy there is no signs of fear or running, only revenge. Most Gangster films, such as Gangster Squad involve the idea of the police but in my film I wanted it to be about family and struggles.
So I'm using a generic formula but I am trying to develop the tragic/romantic element. The tragic ending of my film might challenge some of the expectations of an ordinary Gangster film, like Gangster Squad, where most of the protagonists survive and begin new lives.
This is an example of no fear being shown in Gangster Squad when the two lovers are trying to hide their relationship from the antagonist.
Just as I was finishing the project a new TV drama, Youngers, appeared on E4 with a slightly similar character set up.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product represents class backgrounds, for example Kevin and Michael are from a working class background they don't have it easy that's why they are in this drug operation in the first place. In my title sequence you get a view of Kevin, who is also from an Afro-Caribbean background. In the sequence you see Kevin walking on the streets, this is a working-class environment. Kevin is at the early ages of his twenties, I represented him through Ibrahim (my actor, a teenager). I have a Sudanese actor playing an Afro-Caribbean male. He looks lost and aimless which is a common representation of Afro-Caribbean teenagers in British film and television. For example, Kidulthood, one of my first sources, and recently the new Youngers on E4. They are more comic and unpredictable characters.
My characters in the intro do look more stereotypical and 'street'
Melina on the other hand even though she is also from a working class background, in the sequence she looks above Kevin. She has a job in one of Hectors clubs, she's well-off. Her lifestyle seems not too bad when you get your first impressions of her. The fact that she works in a club and she's quite beautiful is a cliché In the sequence she doesn't look too happy, she is not so fond of her lifestyle. she works in a club every night which to her seems stressful. She also seems lost and she is a teenager, again most people at that age are presented as lost and as not knowing what to do in life. So my characters do conform to the stereotypes to some extent at the beginning but my narrative takes them to a more distinctive identity.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your product?
I would use Paramount Pictures as a distributor for my product. Paramount because they are a well-known corporation and particularly they have distributed I would say the most famous Gangster films, The Godfather Trilogy. It is also the largest top grossing studios in the world. I would also use Paramount because if people see that it is Paramount distributing my film it may catch their attention and want to see my film.
They haven't produced many Gangster films recently but they did do in the past, so this could bring back the more classic values associated with the studio. Last year was also Paramounts 100th year anniversary so this would build on the celebration of their classic values and make them more contemporary. They are also a convergent multimedia company owned by Viacom, so they do television distribution as well and other platforms which would create more distribution potential and opportunities for synergy.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my film would be both male and female. This preferably between the ages of 16 and 21. I have used guidelines from the BBFC website (www.bbfc.co.uk). My film is rated 15.
Following these Guidelines:
I used forms of media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I have also interviewed people after I showed them my title sequence.
This is my Facebook page for my film, it is called Shamil Foundation Productions. It is here where i receive comments such as thoughts about the film and how people think it can be improved. I have also used this page to keep people up to date about what I have posted on my blog.
Please go to: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shamil-Foundation-Productions/512604842100450
This is my YouTube Channel, where I have uploaded my title sequence. People have viewed my project and have also left comments about what they think. I used YouTube for my title sequence because it is the biggest video viral website in the world, it contains over a billion users and i figured this would lso be the best way to get feedback from people.
Some of the discoveries I made were quite interesting. In the interviews I did one of them said that they thought the film was more like a TV Drama while the other thought it was a Crime/Thriller.
Although they both thought the scenes with the gun were a bit excessive and suggested that I should cut them down. I still liked the gun scenes so I decided to leave most of them in the sequence.
6. What have you learnt from about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have used quite a few things for constructing my product. Using my iPhone for filming everything I did for my title sequence and MacBook Pro for the editing of my title sequence both products from Apple, I have found that these devices are very helpful and quite easy to use.
I used iMovie ,which is a programme on the MacBook Pro, for the editing of my film. It showed me various ways of changing the colour, brightness, themes, texts, transitions etc. of my sequence. I also learnt how to slow down parts of the sequence as well as cut out the bits I did not want in the sequence. The programme also helped me learn more about getting rid of the background sound because some of it was a bit annoying and did not work in the sequence, only making it worse.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Well, I learnt that editing is not as difficult as I thought it appeared to be. I did not do any editing for the preliminary task because I had a more directorial approach to it, but once I did my product and did the editing I managed okay with no problems.
Other things I learnt from the preliminary task was how to do shot-reverse-shot in a conversation between the two people, it made things look more tense in the task. Match on action, which involved one of the characters entering the room, we shot him from the outside when he entered the room from his backside, and from the inside of room as he entered, from his front-side.
In my sequence I did not use the shot-reverse-shot technique, instead I used a mixture of shots. I also used a shot from a high angle and a lot of close-ups.
My film Way Too Deep is a Gangster film. It also contains a romance and drama to it. I used this idea of the romance from another Gangster film, Gangster Squad. In my film I wanted to include more of the romantic side to it, my two main characters Kevin and Melina find love through difficult circumstances. This because of what Hector has done to Kevin's brother Michael. Using this idea from Gangster squad I aimed to develop it more. I used the tragic bit of Michael dying from Gangster Squad as well, what resulted from this was Kevin being scared and fearing for his life unlike in Gangster Squad where when there is tragedy there is no signs of fear or running, only revenge. Most Gangster films, such as Gangster Squad involve the idea of the police but in my film I wanted it to be about family and struggles.
So I'm using a generic formula but I am trying to develop the tragic/romantic element. The tragic ending of my film might challenge some of the expectations of an ordinary Gangster film, like Gangster Squad, where most of the protagonists survive and begin new lives.
Just as I was finishing the project a new TV drama, Youngers, appeared on E4 with a slightly similar character set up.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product represents class backgrounds, for example Kevin and Michael are from a working class background they don't have it easy that's why they are in this drug operation in the first place. In my title sequence you get a view of Kevin, who is also from an Afro-Caribbean background. In the sequence you see Kevin walking on the streets, this is a working-class environment. Kevin is at the early ages of his twenties, I represented him through Ibrahim (my actor, a teenager). I have a Sudanese actor playing an Afro-Caribbean male. He looks lost and aimless which is a common representation of Afro-Caribbean teenagers in British film and television. For example, Kidulthood, one of my first sources, and recently the new Youngers on E4. They are more comic and unpredictable characters.
Melina on the other hand even though she is also from a working class background, in the sequence she looks above Kevin. She has a job in one of Hectors clubs, she's well-off. Her lifestyle seems not too bad when you get your first impressions of her. The fact that she works in a club and she's quite beautiful is a cliché In the sequence she doesn't look too happy, she is not so fond of her lifestyle. she works in a club every night which to her seems stressful. She also seems lost and she is a teenager, again most people at that age are presented as lost and as not knowing what to do in life. So my characters do conform to the stereotypes to some extent at the beginning but my narrative takes them to a more distinctive identity.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your product?
I would use Paramount Pictures as a distributor for my product. Paramount because they are a well-known corporation and particularly they have distributed I would say the most famous Gangster films, The Godfather Trilogy. It is also the largest top grossing studios in the world. I would also use Paramount because if people see that it is Paramount distributing my film it may catch their attention and want to see my film.
They haven't produced many Gangster films recently but they did do in the past, so this could bring back the more classic values associated with the studio. Last year was also Paramounts 100th year anniversary so this would build on the celebration of their classic values and make them more contemporary. They are also a convergent multimedia company owned by Viacom, so they do television distribution as well and other platforms which would create more distribution potential and opportunities for synergy.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my film would be both male and female. This preferably between the ages of 16 and 21. I have used guidelines from the BBFC website (www.bbfc.co.uk). My film is rated 15.
Following these Guidelines:
- strong violence
- frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
- portrayals of sexual activity
- strong verbal references to sex
- sexual nudity
- brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
- discriminatory language or behaviour
- drug taking
In my film there is strong violence, frequent strong language, drug taking and discriminatory language/behaviour. Although you do not see this in my title sequence, as the narrative develops all do come into place. For example, in my sequence I do show a lot of scenes with the gun and this shows the potential of violence that will appear in the film.
The initial idea was to attract an American audience. That was the kind of audience I was targeting in the design of the film. My audience feedback suggested that people saw it of a more low budget British film like Kidulthood and the target audience I was going to use to promote my media product. For example, Kidulthood made it into America and it was able to attract more of an interest into British films.
The initial idea was to attract an American audience. That was the kind of audience I was targeting in the design of the film. My audience feedback suggested that people saw it of a more low budget British film like Kidulthood and the target audience I was going to use to promote my media product. For example, Kidulthood made it into America and it was able to attract more of an interest into British films.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
I used forms of media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I have also interviewed people after I showed them my title sequence.
This is my Facebook page for my film, it is called Shamil Foundation Productions. It is here where i receive comments such as thoughts about the film and how people think it can be improved. I have also used this page to keep people up to date about what I have posted on my blog.
Please go to: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shamil-Foundation-Productions/512604842100450
This is my YouTube Channel, where I have uploaded my title sequence. People have viewed my project and have also left comments about what they think. I used YouTube for my title sequence because it is the biggest video viral website in the world, it contains over a billion users and i figured this would lso be the best way to get feedback from people.
Some of the discoveries I made were quite interesting. In the interviews I did one of them said that they thought the film was more like a TV Drama while the other thought it was a Crime/Thriller.
Although they both thought the scenes with the gun were a bit excessive and suggested that I should cut them down. I still liked the gun scenes so I decided to leave most of them in the sequence.
6. What have you learnt from about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have used quite a few things for constructing my product. Using my iPhone for filming everything I did for my title sequence and MacBook Pro for the editing of my title sequence both products from Apple, I have found that these devices are very helpful and quite easy to use.
I used iMovie ,which is a programme on the MacBook Pro, for the editing of my film. It showed me various ways of changing the colour, brightness, themes, texts, transitions etc. of my sequence. I also learnt how to slow down parts of the sequence as well as cut out the bits I did not want in the sequence. The programme also helped me learn more about getting rid of the background sound because some of it was a bit annoying and did not work in the sequence, only making it worse.
I used GarageBand for making the soundtrack for my sequence. This was undoubtedly the hardest part of production. There were so many beats, melodies etc, it was really tough to pick because they were many I liked. Although the hardest part was finding a way to put the ones I picked together. GarageBand showed me how to connect the different beats together and also how to slow some down to add an effect to the sequence. It was soon after I made the soundtrack that I found I could construct my own kind of beats and melodies using virtual instruments put on the programme e.g. Piano, Guitar, Violin. Although I never put anything I did with the instruments on the soundtrack it was a fun process making the stuff and hope to use that way in the future.
The music is the most creative part of the technologies. The film is more generic, the music I explored different things and ideas. GarageBand has shown me a lot and it may have been the most difficult buy i enjoyed it the most.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Well, I learnt that editing is not as difficult as I thought it appeared to be. I did not do any editing for the preliminary task because I had a more directorial approach to it, but once I did my product and did the editing I managed okay with no problems.
Other things I learnt from the preliminary task was how to do shot-reverse-shot in a conversation between the two people, it made things look more tense in the task. Match on action, which involved one of the characters entering the room, we shot him from the outside when he entered the room from his backside, and from the inside of room as he entered, from his front-side.
In my sequence I did not use the shot-reverse-shot technique, instead I used a mixture of shots. I also used a shot from a high angle and a lot of close-ups.
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Title Sequence Preview and Editing
This is what I have done with my film so far. I have put all my scenes for the Title Sequence together. It is almost finished, all I need to do is get my titles and music sorted out. I have produced some title in this sequence. I have added a girl to my Title Sequence which is also one of the main characters, I decided to do this to target a female audience not just male.
I have distorted the scenes a bit by editing the brightness, exposure as well as colour. I have also added a scene to the title sequence, when my female character is crossing the road. I wanted to add more scenes with her because I want to reach out to a female audience as well. All the titles have been finished in my title sequence, I tried to do something with the graphics of my film because in one or two of the scenes the female character's eyes are different from each other so but I could not change them.
The soundtrack for my film I think is the perfect fit. It matches the atmosphere of my sequence. My goal was always to make it quite intense and to give a sort of idea to what the film is like. I made an adjustment to the soundtrack; added more of the sound at the beginning. The sound at the end wasn't the best but I just decided to go with it in the end.
This is the editing of my Title Sequence. I am using the programme iMovie from Apple. It has helped me with everything and I have found it quite easy to use.
This was the feedback I got after showing the title sequence to an audience. Some of the discoveries I made were quite interesting. In the interviews I did one of them said that they thought the film was more like a TV Drama while the other thought it was a Crime/Thriller. Although they both thought the scenes with the gun were a bit excessive and suggested that I should cut them down. I still liked the gun scenes so I decided to leave most of them in the sequence.
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Soundtrack
I have recently just finalised my soundtrack for my film, it was the most difficult part of my whole production. I just have to put it into the title sequence and finish my editing.
With the soundtrack I am trying to create a lot of tension and suspense. I have used about 2 themes so far. The length is about 2 mins, I used the first theme which consists of a lot of bass and it runs for about 30 seconds, then this is where my second theme which is a more guitar based sound and it runs for the remainder of the sequence. This is just a draft though and I do want to make some changes to it as I think the 2nd theme does become a bit irritating after a while. I want to mix up themes more, involve the first theme in the sequence more and possibly add a third one.
With the soundtrack I am trying to create a lot of tension and suspense. I have used about 2 themes so far. The length is about 2 mins, I used the first theme which consists of a lot of bass and it runs for about 30 seconds, then this is where my second theme which is a more guitar based sound and it runs for the remainder of the sequence. This is just a draft though and I do want to make some changes to it as I think the 2nd theme does become a bit irritating after a while. I want to mix up themes more, involve the first theme in the sequence more and possibly add a third one.
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
Sountrack Music
I am starting to get the hang of Garage Band. I have made a couple of sounds and I'm proceeding to test them with the title seqeunce, hopefully I will pick one in the next few days so I can finish my Production piece.
Garage Band:
Garage Band:
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
First Edit & Music
I have started editing my film with the help of Patrick, one of my classmates. We managed to get all of the scenes in order but we are still deciding if it will work. We are unsure of the scenes with gun at the beginning of my title sequence. Patrick and I are thinking about mixing the sequence up a bit, e.g. we want to put some of the gun scenes between the scenes with just the main character. We have worked out the titles that we are going to use in the sequence.
I have to create my own soundtrack for the the title sequence, and I will use Garageband for this. It is a software programme that helps you create music, this will be quite the challenge but I am confident I will find or in this case make the right one.
I have to create my own soundtrack for the the title sequence, and I will use Garageband for this. It is a software programme that helps you create music, this will be quite the challenge but I am confident I will find or in this case make the right one.
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