Evaluation: Use of Technology

Question 6)

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

For our reseatch into the teen romance-drama genre, we mainly used websites such as YouTube and IMDb to gain knowledge on the different films as well as looking at trailers and clips from the films themselves.

In the planning stage of pre-production, we used the software 'Celtx' to produce a script, storyboard, production schedule and character profiles.

Script:

 Production Schedule:

Character Profiles:

Storyboard:

During the filming process, we used a Nikon D5100, which is a standard DSLR camera. This gave our opening a more professional appearance and enabled us to work with focusing and zooming more accurately, developing our camera skills. We worked with a standard lens that enabled us to do this effectively. Working with a DSLR camera was much more helpful when attempting to capture the best quality in our digital filming, which would have been harder to achieve with a video recorder or flip camera. 

We also used a tripod to help us to keep the camera straight and enable us to steady the camera movement when using pans and tilts. This kept the camera on an accurate axis so that the shot was near-perfect. What was helpful as well was that the legs of the tripod extended very far so that the camera can be held at a higher angle and still stay straight.

The main software we used in the post-production stage was iMovie on the apple macs. Throughout the editing process, we put all the clips together, cutting out clips that disrupted the continuity and eliminating the inaccurate shots. 

We added music and credits. To get our music, we bought 'What If' by Emily Hazell from bandcamp.com using PayPal, and for the other songs in our soundtrack, we converted them to mp3 from YouTube.

When we added our voiceover, we found that the recording on the mac was fuzzy and it picked up the background noise very easily. In order to make the sound sound more professional, we used an audio editing software called 'Audacity' to eliminate the background noise.

 Throughout our entire prodution process, we used Google's 'Blogger' to document our research,planning and filming processes. We also altered the template and settings in order to make our blogs more appealing and link them to our chosen genre through images and fonts.

Evaluation: Comparison to Preliminary Task

Question 5)

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

In our preliminary task, we focused on the 180 degree rule and getting the sequence as continuous as possible whilst including a variety of camera shots and movement throughout. For example, we used a close up on the door handle as the girl opens the door, as well as a pan movement to follow her across the room.

This task enabled us to practice our technical skills and camera work before attempting to film our final opening.

We then transferred our newly developed skills into the filming of our opening, making sure there was continuity and accuracy, and that shots were clear and neat. For instance, in the sequence where we see Emma on her way to the train station, we managed to display a range of camera shots and movement whilst portraying continuity through her journey:

Continuity was really important in our opening so that it was easy to follow and did not seem like there were any gaps or jumps in the story. I think we worked best with continuity in the journey to the train station scene, as even though we did not show every single step of the way, the audience can still easily follow the journey, and it all links together.

Throughout our opening, we used a range of camera shots and movement, like in our preliminary task:

Evaluation: Reflecting on Our Opening

Question 2)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Question 3)

Who would be the audience for the media product? 

Question 4)

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Institution Research: Choosing Our Distributor

Question 1)

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

After researching several distributing companies that could work with our 'independent' film, we agreed that Fox Searchlight Pictures was the perfect choice. Fox Searchlight Pictures are owned by the huge American company 'Fox' and specialise in distributing independent and British films to American audiences, and internationally. This is crucial as it widens our audience and forms attachments to the Hollywood industry, perhaps allowing a chance for our film to be successful in the box office internationally if it becomes popular enough.,

PREZI PRESENTATION: 

The Final Product

After many late night editing sessions, we finally completed our opening for a teen romance drama film.

Changes During Production

Change in script:
At first, we made changes to the scene headings so that they matched up to the storyboard:

Then we changed it again during the filming process as, in our first attempt at filming, we found that the dialogue did not achieve the right effect and sounded a little strange, so we made Harry's opening line more casual, sounding less weird. In addition, we altered the opening sequence so that her reflection was in a bathroom mirror as we were not able to get a shot of her through the window of a classroom without a reflection of the camera:

Change of casting:
During the filming process, we encountered problems with scheduling due to our actress for Emma coming from another school, which meant that we had to work our schedule around her, which was not always easy. We discussed the possible solutions and agreed that we should re-cast the character of 'Emma' and use someone from our group, so scheduling would be easier to manage. As a result, we cast Katie as 'Emma' and re-filmed the train station scene that we had already filmed, changing our production schedule.
(add production schedule changes)

New character profile for Emma:

Change of Storyboard:
During the filming stage of our production, we decided to change the very beginning of our opening from a classroom to a school bathroom, as that way we would not need as many people, and it would be easier to work with less people. Plus, the lighting and colours were better in the bathroom location than in the classroom. We decided to alter the storyboard after filming just to show what we wanted it to look like and how we executed it.

Production Schedule

We decided to film our opening during the week around after school time due to the fact that we needed the correct lighting to create verisimilitude, as the part where Emma is walking to the train station, and the scene in the station itself are set around the time when school finishes (3.00pm - 4.00pm.) We arranged the dates around our lead actress as she attends a different school to us, so we had to work around the times she was available for, meaning Wednesday and Monday after school.