Monday, 21 May 2012
Monday, 5 March 2012
Monday, 20 February 2012
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Assessment of Evaluation posts for Q. 1 and 6 (SJA Feb 14th)
WWW:
- Looking over your blog, I am pleased that you have made a really good start on all Evaluation questions Chris
- There are some good attempts to make posts visual in some way, and your written comments show a generally good grasp of what each question requires of you
- To improve, and move that standard of your work towards a B grade, you should come back to your posts and continue to develop them Chris.
- I checked Q. 1 and 6 carefully, as these were the 2 that we agreed on in last Monday's lesson. There are some developments that I'd like you to do to improve each...
- Q. 1 is currently Very Good, I think you have made an effective use of Prezi to explore the conventions of thriller films. You should at moving this to 'Excellent' through the inclusion of screen grabs from your own film sequence compared to similar films to really show HOW you have incorporated key conventions in your own work (location / props / cast...etc...) - make what you are saying in this Q relate more to your own opening sequence, and the decsions you and your group made.
- Q. 6. - This is your chance to really show off every element of technology you use on a daily basis in Media Studies Chris. Currently, with just the 18 second clip from your film, you are not showing all of the technical skills you have developed. I think to do this particular Q justice, you really need to use JING (or similar screen casting software) to show and 'talk through' how you make use of a range of technologies in every lesson (opening up Blogger, iMovie to edit, Live Type, importing, etc, etc.....) Use technology to SHOW OFF how you use technology...
- Overall, always think about how you can be as creative as possible in your posts Chris - to achieve the level 4's you will need to gain your B target.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Sunday, 29 January 2012
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the the full product?
I think from the preliminary task to the full product I have developed my skills in several different aspects. These include, my confidence, media skills, including better use of the camera and tripod as well as importing footage, editing etc. Furthermore, i have also learnt to use a number of different websites. Although I play a part in our opening sequence, I feel as if my confidence has improved so much that I would feel comfortable playing a larger leading role in the future. I have also gained more knowledge and skill in using the camera and tripod. I have done this through practice, as I was usually in charge of filming in most cases where we had to film something. For example the 10-shot story. This resulted in me being very knowledgeable in this area, more so than other people in my group.Finally I have vastly improved my ability to import, optimise and edit footage. I have been able to do this by gradually picking little things up, crucial to each process from watching people. I can now do this by myself, therefore I wont need to rely on anyone to help me in the future. I have also improved my knowledge on editing techniques, for example, cutting footage on the moment of action. I have also improved my creativity by using different editing effects. One example, we have used in our opening sequence is a blur, which creates the effect of dizziness and uncertainty.
Secondly, throughout the course of the year I have learnt to use a number of websites to help me make my blog. These websites include 'Photosnack', 'Prezi', 'Gifsoup', 'Jing' and further developing my knowledge in 'Youtube' functions.
Throughout media studies I will further develop my knowledge and skills in not only these areas but also in new ones, like media terminology and new technologies, such as new websites and recording equipment.
This is my preliminary task.
This is our final product.
Monday, 23 January 2012
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We are going to use 'Paramount Vantage' to distribute our film. We made our decision by narrowing down the possible options by eliminating other companies that weren't relevant and suitable to our film. For example, 'Universal' wouldn't be appropriate for our film as they are a big budget American company. We also considered Paramount to distribute our film. However, again this is another big budget American company. From this we saw Paramount Vantage. 'Paramount Vantage' is a much smaller budget company and although it's American it would be a much more suitable choice as the distribution company for our film.
GIFSoup
GIFSoup
'Paramount Vantage' is a low budget, American distribution company. They came about in 2007 and focuses more on the art and production of a film as opposed to making money. They would distribute our film as it's similar to other films they have done. For example, 'No Country for Old Men', this is similar to our film as it's a low budget film that focusses on the art produtction as opposed to making money.
GIFSoup
GIFSoup
GIFSoup
'Paramount Vantage' is a low budget, American distribution company. They came about in 2007 and focuses more on the art and production of a film as opposed to making money. They would distribute our film as it's similar to other films they have done. For example, 'No Country for Old Men', this is similar to our film as it's a low budget film that focusses on the art produtction as opposed to making money.
GIFSoup
Assessment 23/1/12 MCU
WWW
- You have attempted all four posts so far and you have also started to include some supervisual material.
- Good use of clips to back up your points, but I think you could do more of this and make sure you are really explicit as to why they link.
- Mostly good SPAG, but see below.
EBI
- You need to include more detail in all your posts. As we contunie to go through lessons we will give you more ideas to be able to do this, but we do expect a higher level of effort.
- You should include more detail when writing about your target audience, consider also the interests of your audience. Create a profile of your 'ideal' audience member. What do they like to do? What do they buy? How often do they go to the cinema and who with?
- When writing about technologies, think about what blogger and other web sites have allowed you to do that you would not have been able to do before. What have you learned about technology because of this? Think about the recent protests about SOPA and PIPA and link in. If you don't know what they are, look them up :)
- You could improve your supervisual material by using edited clips from your film, rather than rushes (rough ones).
- Some typos, e.g. 'donyt' in Q4.
Remember you will need all your posts to be supervisual, think about how you can do this. I would like you to go beyond more simple methods like prezi and images, I would like you to create a voice over commentary or a mini-documentary to reach level 4.
EFFORT GD (for now as we are in early stages, but more effort and detail will be required)
- You have attempted all four posts so far and you have also started to include some supervisual material.
- Good use of clips to back up your points, but I think you could do more of this and make sure you are really explicit as to why they link.
- Mostly good SPAG, but see below.
EBI
- You need to include more detail in all your posts. As we contunie to go through lessons we will give you more ideas to be able to do this, but we do expect a higher level of effort.
- You should include more detail when writing about your target audience, consider also the interests of your audience. Create a profile of your 'ideal' audience member. What do they like to do? What do they buy? How often do they go to the cinema and who with?
- When writing about technologies, think about what blogger and other web sites have allowed you to do that you would not have been able to do before. What have you learned about technology because of this? Think about the recent protests about SOPA and PIPA and link in. If you don't know what they are, look them up :)
- You could improve your supervisual material by using edited clips from your film, rather than rushes (rough ones).
- Some typos, e.g. 'donyt' in Q4.
Remember you will need all your posts to be supervisual, think about how you can do this. I would like you to go beyond more simple methods like prezi and images, I would like you to create a voice over commentary or a mini-documentary to reach level 4.
EFFORT GD (for now as we are in early stages, but more effort and detail will be required)
Sunday, 22 January 2012
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
From our audience research we found that our target audience would be men aged between 15 and 20 who prefer thriller opening sequences giving clues as to what the rest of the film's about. This meant that throughout the production of our opening sequence we had to consider how we would appeal to our target audience, therefore we decided as we were planning to include certain features within our opening sequence. Our opening sequence appeals to it's target audience through typical features of a thriller. For example, quick cut editing, fast paced music and suspense are all features of a thriller and attract our audience. We also realised that men tend to watch thrillers more than women. This is shown from our questionnaire results. The results also show that thrillers appeal to men more due to their mystery, suspense and exciting story lines, where as women tend to like comedies and romantic films more. This means that men are the bigger target audience for our film rather than women. Therefore we have tried to make our film more appealing towards men by including typical features of a thriller.
Once we had finished our film, we uploaded it to YouTube and asked various people to comment on it. These are a few examples of what some people said.
Once we had finished our film, we uploaded it to YouTube and asked various people to comment on it. These are a few examples of what some people said.
Thursday, 19 January 2012
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt to use a lot of new technology during the making of our product. These include, blogger, Imovie, Wordle, importing, downloading and saving work on the macs, the cameras, tripods and fig-rig.
By adding the blur effect to this clip it will create the desired effect on the audience.
Secondly, contrasting and adjusting the brightness at the house to try and darken and emphasise the darkness of the shot. This will give the impression that it's still dark and therefore create a scary and tense atmosphere.
Finally, a fade in can also be used at the beginning of the very first shot when grace wakes up. This will give the impression that Grace is opening her eyes, making the audience think that she's been dumped there, ultimately creating a more tense atmosphere.
3 technologies that are essential in the production of our product are video FX in Imovie. Firstly, blur. We have used this in the car park, panning across car park. This creates the effect of Grace being dazed and unsure of what's happened.
By adding the blur effect to this clip it will create the desired effect on the audience.
Secondly, contrasting and adjusting the brightness at the house to try and darken and emphasise the darkness of the shot. This will give the impression that it's still dark and therefore create a scary and tense atmosphere.
Finally, a fade in can also be used at the beginning of the very first shot when grace wakes up. This will give the impression that Grace is opening her eyes, making the audience think that she's been dumped there, ultimately creating a more tense atmosphere.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
We have considered who our audience would be for this film. We have decided the ideal target audience would be mainly men aged between 15 and 25 who like thriller/action films. They often buy thriller, horror and action films and go to the cinema roughly 2-3 times a week with friends to ensure they don't miss any new film releases, however the target audience for our product would be both men and women of all ages who like thriller/action films. Furthermore, our audience for this will be people who like mystery and suspense themed films. Our target audience will know that this is a thriller film from our distribution companies.
One distribution company we are considering using is 'Paramount Vantage'. This distribution company specialises in distributing thriller/horror films. They have helped advertise 'No Country For Old Men', 'There Will Be Blood' and 'The Duchess' and are popularly known for this. This will also make people think that the outcome of the product is of a good quality and are more interested in the production of the film rather than making money. However, if the company is widely known for its help in certain films and the audience don't like them they might dismiss other Paramount Vantage films.
Other films Paramount Vantage have distributed:
One distribution company we are considering using is 'Paramount Vantage'. This distribution company specialises in distributing thriller/horror films. They have helped advertise 'No Country For Old Men', 'There Will Be Blood' and 'The Duchess' and are popularly known for this. This will also make people think that the outcome of the product is of a good quality and are more interested in the production of the film rather than making money. However, if the company is widely known for its help in certain films and the audience don't like them they might dismiss other Paramount Vantage films.
As you can see both 'No Country for Old Men' and There Will be Blood' are two films by Paramount Vantage both look as if they have horror elements to them, this could result in the audience dismissing other films by Paramount Vantage if they don't like horror themed films.
Other films Paramount Vantage have distributed:
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product represnts particular social groups by following typical stereotypes. This is done by the use of characters and costume. For example, a white man in a suit is a typical stereotype. This is because people dont typically think of women or black people in a suit. We have done this only because of the lack of ethnicity in our group. However, instead of a man being in a suit we could've had a woman in a suit to conflict against this typical stereotype. Furthermore, the man is dead. This isn't a typical stereotype of men being the triumphant hero. We have done this to add mystery to our opening sequence.
Another example of a particular social group we have presented is women. We have presented women as being hysterical and weak in our media product. We have done this by Grace playing the lead role of a girl who finds a dead body when she wakes up in a car park with no memory of how she got there or what happened. Once she discovers the dead body she panics and doesn't know what to do. This is a typical stereotype of how people see women in stressful and confusing situations.
This short clip shows how we've presented each gender.
Another example of a particular social group we have presented is women. We have presented women as being hysterical and weak in our media product. We have done this by Grace playing the lead role of a girl who finds a dead body when she wakes up in a car park with no memory of how she got there or what happened. Once she discovers the dead body she panics and doesn't know what to do. This is a typical stereotype of how people see women in stressful and confusing situations.
This short clip shows how we've presented each gender.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)