Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Evaluation Activity Seven




I took a screen grab of the continuity task and I in this shot it represents the reverse shot

However in my film opening shot my character is focused on something and looking but the shot is not reversed because it is a camera his looking at I didn't want to do a reverse shot completely like the sot above.


Match on action shot (open the door walk through the door)

I have taken a screen grab of the shots I think relate to the continuity rules, This one relates to reverse shot however not accurately. As I did on purpose I choose to have just the character looking up and not the reverse shot of the camera looking down. But the screen grab here would be of what this situation of reverse shot could be.


In these shots beneath I have kept the rule of of the 180° rule where I have showed the character walking past the camera to the right then pan's across following the character walking past.
The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right





Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

I think the continuity task had helped me to understand the different techniques of filming, and how important they are. It has shown me now to connect a sequence of footage by using very simple rules to make it good and more accurate skills included.

Sunday, 8 November 2009

Evaluation Activity Six





What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?


I have learnt how to use Song Vegas for editing and mix craft for producing a music soundtrack on. Also I have developed my skills further using photoshop.


I have annotated the equipment I have used above.
1. I used the Sony HD Camera for use of filming
2. Keyboard for editing
3. Song Vaio PC- appropriate for easy access to editing software plus a (variety of softwares included) and a wide screen to edit on. I downloaded MixCraft a music program as I needed the type of sound loops for my film opening.
4. Tripod used for accurate steady filming to give a good quality of footage.
5. Camera Charger- Full charged camera for time consuming footage to be shot.

I have used these internet websites :

1. Youtube for tutorials on how to use song vegas and annotation of a youtube video, to watch my uploaded rough cut film opening, To study other film openings that are similar and research.


2. Flickr to upload pictures from flickr to my blog for photographic evidence.


3. Blogger for evidence and activities to show the progression and evidence of my film opening.


4. Final Cut: I used this to edit my rough cut film openings along with Song Vegas.


5. Photoshop: I used photoshop for my AM ident production and to create nine frame grids and other activities.


6. Vimeo I have used Vimeo to download my film rough cuts to my blog and my ident production.


7. Garageband I used to create a rough cut sound track for my rough cut film opening.






Evaluation Activity Five






Practice and Research:







Here is my film opening with added annotations:

Saturday, 7 November 2009

Evaluation Four

My drawing of my target audience below:

This is what the female version would perhaps look like:



A Close up of my female drawing,






Gender?
Female and Male

What is their favorite film?
A political thriller that captures the controlled surveillance in society.

How much TV do they watch?
They Only watch the TV for educational productions to help with their studies.

What do they do in their leisure time?
They read books and socialize with people at small local pubs with young people presenting their talent on stage.

What type of music do they like?
they enjoy relaxation music that has spiritual meaning.

Do they buy music?
They buy Cd albums from festivals after a performance. (listen to I tunes or Spotify)


Do they play video games? It would not be a satisfying interest for them, however maybe if socializing with other computer gamers.

Which ones?


How old are they?
25 years old

What are they called?
Male- William
Female- Daisy

How do they dress?
Female- Feminine (skirts,dresses, sensible clothing)
Male- loose clothing (buttoned tops and cotton trousers)

Where do they live?
Cambridge

What do they spend their money on?
Tending poetry reading performances at pubs, local gigs (reggae, indie music) (Entertainment)

What films do they watch?
Political genre's Educational, War (conflict) Animated Comedies.
examples: 1984, v for vendetta Equilibrium

They would be into nature and documentaries.

They would watch films on dvd's and arts picture house.

DVD/Sky/Arts picture house/ Vue?

Evaluation Three


Directors Commentary task of My Film Opening


I recorded the voice over (directors commentary on Imovie, and then uploaded it to youtube.













































My directors commentary Script:


Hi im Alison Murphy the creator of the film 'Under Surveillance.' Before i started work on my film opening I created a production company logo.


I decided to animate a walking cartoon elephant as this strongly reflects my production companies (Am Productions).



The AM initials represent my name and surname. my productions have been varied the main production I have produced is this film opening, Other productions include instructional videos and music videos.



I found a distributor called coffee films and they specify in british independent films.



I believe that they would be a perfect company to distribute my film as mine also is a british independent film.



If my film was to go into production I would ask for funding from national lottery as in the past they have funded a variety of british independent films. My film relates to the film 1984 due to the surveillance theme, also my film and 1984 would be released in a similar way because they would target a specific audience group.


I have chosen a variety of titles which follow the same style as a traditional film opening for example I display the directors name and producers name to the audience these are important titles that are also used in many other film openings.



Although these titles have not been placed in the correct order I think that it is only important to have the titles showing at the beginning of a film.




Tuesday, 3 November 2009

Evaluation Activity Two


Here is the screen grab and print screen of my characters side by side on Photoshop they are similar and involved in a similar production, however different budgeting and production companies. 


Evaluation Plan for similar characters:



Changing the past and factual history







My character is being watched by cctv operation.

These two shots from my film opening and the 1984 George Orwell's film. They both represent the same costume and props. Such as the suitcase that Winston is holding and then my character is holding a black suit case too. I did not realize that there was actual similarity between my costume and props. But researching into this film I now can relate my character with another one from the same type of film background and genre.

This character is being watched by the wall posters and security.



Evaluation Task outline: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Pick a key character from your opening. Take a screengrab of a reasonable sized image of them. Think of one or more characters from other films with some similarity to them:

I looked at youtube and located the trailer for the film 1984 George Orwell. I took screen grabs of the character 'Winston' because he has similarities to my main character in my film opening. The use of cameras shots as well relates to some of mine and the atmosphere 'being Watched' The shots as well of the character are the type of shots that would be similar in beginning of my actual film and through out my film idea. Such as my animatic I created It to be set with he character looking through books and the past (historical materials). And the new type of jobs that would be employing people to change the past.










Evaluation Activity One


Image Selection:
I have labelled the frames with image (numbers) so I can refer to which one and explain in detail.

Image 9

The convention of the shot: I used the same motion key points to join the lettering up, and close up as before.



Why? This shows the character has a uncompleted traceable identity the close up lets the audience judge what they might suspect.


How does this contribute to my film opening? This shot sets the plot behind the film and signals the audience the importance of this shot through the sound track and certain loops used.






Image 8

The convention of the shot: A close up shot using motion key points to connect the letters in a sequence then they typed out the lettering, then using sound effects to create character and style.

Why? I used the lettering to give the futuristic feel and close up for the invasion of privacy to the character.

How does this contribute to my film opening? It tells you about the character and gives the audience clues.





Image 7

The convention of the shot: This is shot of the character fading out then purpose is to fade in the title.

Why? Fade in the films title and the out again.

How does this contribute to my film opening? This create impact to the title and demonstrates an effective transition which helps to combine the whole film sequence and rap up the opening.






Image 6

The convention of the shot: The title fades out with transition and a hard flash of white this raps up the film opening effectively and with effective visuals.


Why? This was to help me to fade into more footage later point of the film. It makes it appear that the camera has broken.


How does this contribute to my film opening? This helps to give my film opening a edge and a chance to jump straight into action.



Image 5

The convention of the shot: This shot was of tree's as the character walks past the tree's if creates the camera to be static. This shot was a medium close up of the tree's.



Why? The effect thats I created through just adjusting then TV effect to make it look static works really well and gives it more realistic believable cctv operation.


How does this contribute to my film opening? This helps to set the tone of the film and creates tension within the visuals.



Image 4

The convention of the shot: This shot is a long shot of the location I choose.



Why? I thought this shot would detail the location more and set the atmosphere also it has the character walking which appears a suitable location for them and my film.


How does this contribute to my film opening? This helps to set the location,setting,base of props, information about my film.




Image 3

The convention of the shot: The shot of the character was just a simple long shot that screens role of the producer.

Why? The title works well on the background of the cctv effect. It makes you wonder what will happen next as you see the character walking away from the camera's focus ('eye')

How does this contribute to my film opening?
This helps to end the film opening with the character walking pass into the distance and effectively works with the title.


Image 2
The Convention of the Shot: For this is I used a time code effect that counts down and TV effect.
Why: I feel this gives the opening atmosphere and more cctv characteristics.
How does this contribute to my film opening: It relates to the past and how the time is ticking away all past.



Image 1
The convention of the shot: I adjusted the levels of the TV effect I used. This created the blurred out effect (static)

Why? I did this because I had footage of the character walking pass some tree's, I was high up filming therefore they came in to extreme focus. Instead of editing out the tree's I decided to keep this footage and use it to an extent of creating effects.

How does this contribute to my opening? This effect and used footage helps to create the tension and atmosphere. It gives the focusing of the cctv effect character with what the camera blurring out and breaking.



Convention Analysis:





The nine grid template

These are print screens of me creating the nine frame grids in the program photo Shop:




I have explained some of the shots and what they are for and briefly the effect.



This is my practice nine frame grid of the selected imagery, I did this to see if the images all looked effective for the nine frame grid.



These are some of the screen grabs that I am using for my nine frame grid:





The aspects to consider across your nine frames are:

1. The title of the film
2. Setting/location
3. Costumes and props
4. Camerawork and editing
5. Title font and style
6. Story and how the opening sets it up
7. Genre and how the opening suggests it
8. How characters are introduced
9. Special effects