Saturday 11 February 2012
Friday 10 February 2012
Evaluation Question 2
How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
In order to create a professional look for our poster, magazine and trailer we had to use some media technologies which included, Celtx, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Adobe AfterEffects and Apple LiveType. With using these, we felt that this would result in our production work looking as advanced as possible.
Whilst planning our production, we used a programme called 'Celtx' to create a rough script of our trailer and storyboard, which allowed us to have a clear view of all the props, characters and shots needed for each scene which allowed us to be organised throughout the production work. We also used Adobe Photoshop to experiment with different fonts and find the most suitable for the genre.
In the production of the film trailer, we used a Canon EOS 550D to capture all of our shots. As I hadn't used this camera before, I found it difficult to use all the functions of it at first. However, we were then taught how to use specific effects such as the F-Stop and how to change the shutter speed. The F stop mean't we were able to change the focus which we used throughout our trailer, for instance in the first scene of Danielle running she is in focus while the background is blurry, which allowed us to create effective shots. Changing the shutter speed allowed us to adjust the exposure in which we used to make some of the footage which we had to film in day time darker in order to fit in with the rest of the trailer.
In order to edit our trailer, we used Adobe Premiere and AfterEffects. Before this production work, I had never used these programmes and especially found Adobe Premiere difficult to use, but after some practice and help I was able to use most tools and felt more confident to experiment more. We was able to put scenes together, add text, add sound, add transitions, cutting scenes and speed up/slow down parts of the trailer. The speeding up tool was extremely effective, as we used this to create tension in certain parts, and also for the voice over of 'Do you trust your friends', as speeding this up created a creepier tone of voice. Also, adding transitions to the shots was effective, and we chose to use the fade-to-black as this fits in with most horror trailers. However, sometimes where we wanted the editing speed to increase, we used cuts to create suspense. Adobe AfterEffects was used for one shot of Danielle running her hand down the tree, as this had to be filmed in day light due to timing therefore we had to manually darken the scene.
Our horror film poster and magazine were both created on Adobe Photoshop. I had used this programme before therefore had some basic knowledge on how to use some tools, but whilst producing these I started to use more advanced tools such as, blood brushes and creating image adjustments. We used the blood brushes in both the poster and the magazine to create the blood seen on the wall in the background with 'kill you' written which added more fear. This involved us downloading the letters, then colouring in it red, followed by using the blending tool to make it appear more realistic. Both images are of the voids, but on the magazine we added a picture of one of the main characters from the trailer. This involved cutting around the image using the Pen Tool then adding it to the image of the voids. We then created some image adjustments, changing the saturation levels and adjusting them to make it slightly darker.
For the Typography in our horror film trailer, we used Apple LiveType as we wanted a certain type of effect and we weren't able to find this on Adobe AfterEffects. We found one which created a shuddering, distorted effect on the text. To create this we adjusted the perimeters for the key frames.
In order to create a professional look for our poster, magazine and trailer we had to use some media technologies which included, Celtx, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Adobe AfterEffects and Apple LiveType. With using these, we felt that this would result in our production work looking as advanced as possible.
Whilst planning our production, we used a programme called 'Celtx' to create a rough script of our trailer and storyboard, which allowed us to have a clear view of all the props, characters and shots needed for each scene which allowed us to be organised throughout the production work. We also used Adobe Photoshop to experiment with different fonts and find the most suitable for the genre.
In the production of the film trailer, we used a Canon EOS 550D to capture all of our shots. As I hadn't used this camera before, I found it difficult to use all the functions of it at first. However, we were then taught how to use specific effects such as the F-Stop and how to change the shutter speed. The F stop mean't we were able to change the focus which we used throughout our trailer, for instance in the first scene of Danielle running she is in focus while the background is blurry, which allowed us to create effective shots. Changing the shutter speed allowed us to adjust the exposure in which we used to make some of the footage which we had to film in day time darker in order to fit in with the rest of the trailer.
In order to edit our trailer, we used Adobe Premiere and AfterEffects. Before this production work, I had never used these programmes and especially found Adobe Premiere difficult to use, but after some practice and help I was able to use most tools and felt more confident to experiment more. We was able to put scenes together, add text, add sound, add transitions, cutting scenes and speed up/slow down parts of the trailer. The speeding up tool was extremely effective, as we used this to create tension in certain parts, and also for the voice over of 'Do you trust your friends', as speeding this up created a creepier tone of voice. Also, adding transitions to the shots was effective, and we chose to use the fade-to-black as this fits in with most horror trailers. However, sometimes where we wanted the editing speed to increase, we used cuts to create suspense. Adobe AfterEffects was used for one shot of Danielle running her hand down the tree, as this had to be filmed in day light due to timing therefore we had to manually darken the scene.
Our horror film poster and magazine were both created on Adobe Photoshop. I had used this programme before therefore had some basic knowledge on how to use some tools, but whilst producing these I started to use more advanced tools such as, blood brushes and creating image adjustments. We used the blood brushes in both the poster and the magazine to create the blood seen on the wall in the background with 'kill you' written which added more fear. This involved us downloading the letters, then colouring in it red, followed by using the blending tool to make it appear more realistic. Both images are of the voids, but on the magazine we added a picture of one of the main characters from the trailer. This involved cutting around the image using the Pen Tool then adding it to the image of the voids. We then created some image adjustments, changing the saturation levels and adjusting them to make it slightly darker.
For the Typography in our horror film trailer, we used Apple LiveType as we wanted a certain type of effect and we weren't able to find this on Adobe AfterEffects. We found one which created a shuddering, distorted effect on the text. To create this we adjusted the perimeters for the key frames.
Monday 6 February 2012
Evaluation Question 1
TRANSCRIPT
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In our trailer, we used typography, using the font 'Subway Novella', in order to inform the audience of what is going on with some of the characters, without giving too much away. The font was a grunge style, which we then added the effects of flicker, blur and scatter to in order to create a distorted image. This also involves the viewers personal thoughts, as its based on friendship and could lead to them questioning their own peer groups. For instance: 'do you trust your friends?'. Also, we decided to have the release date in October, as this is the month of Halloween and when most successful Horror films come out in cinemas worldwide. Furthermore, we used a review from Empire magazine which adds some realism to the trailer.
We have included some aspects of Vladimir Propps eight broad character types:
- The Villain - This character is used, but it isn't given away in the trailer who it is.
- The Donor - This character isn't used, as there isn't one particular hero but instead they are all portrayed as victims but trying to help each other get away.
- The Princess - You could argue that this character is used, as Tyra is portrayed as the most vulnerable as she wanders off and gets discovered dead by the group of friends.
- The False Hero - This character is used, as one of the friends is the killer, but acts as a Victim/Hero with the rest of the friends, but this character is never revealed in the trailer in order to keep the audience guessing.
We challenge and develop some of the broad character types, especially the False Hero. However, there is also some that we don't conform to, such as The Helper, as it says above this is no Hero.
We also used some stereotypical characters in our trailer:
- The Wanderer - This is Tyra, who hears a noise and decides to wander off on her own in order to investigate. She is then found dead in the Voids.
- The Final Girl - This is Danielle, who's security is taken away from her when she is left alone.
We didn't use character such as 'The Jock' and 'The Popular Girl', as we wanted to challenge the forms of these stereotypes, and have all the characters seen as equals. This links in with 'Mulveys Male Gaze', which is the theory that the camera is from the point of view of a male, sexualising women, which we didn't conform to, as I said above we wanted to repel against the normality of having girls shown as sexual objects in Horror films and have them seen as normal people. We challenge this theory by including a brave female character, and using the 'Final Girl'.
We did follow Todorov's Narrative Theory to some extent:
A state of equilibrium of the outset - Our trailer starts with a disruption of the equilibrium by some action, with the end being shown at the beginning which goes against Todorov's Narrative Theory, as it normally starts with a state of equilibrium of the outset.
A recognition that there has been a disruption - This is when Tyra is then found dead by one member of the group.
An attempt to repair the disruption - The rest of the group try to escape the Voids, and keep everyone safe.
A reinstatement of the equilibrium - This isn't included as it creates suspense as to how the characters solved some of the problems shown, rather than given two much away.
We chose to use the Voids in Acland Burghley as the main setting for our trailer, as it has a creepy atmosphere and is extremely dark; making it appropriate for a Horror film. Also,
we used parts of Acland Burghley school including dark areas, as it is supposed to be based on a normal event which turns for the worst and a school is seen as a safe environment.
Our trailer also relates to some aspects of the Uses and Gratification theory, especially diversion and personal identity. Personal identity as they are able to relate to the characters, as they are portrayed as normal teenagers, therefore may find some similarities between a character and themselves. Also, diversion as they watch how the characters are shown suffering, and they can be thankful that they aren't going through this making their own lives seem better.
we used parts of Acland Burghley school including dark areas, as it is supposed to be based on a normal event which turns for the worst and a school is seen as a safe environment.
Our trailer also relates to some aspects of the Uses and Gratification theory, especially diversion and personal identity. Personal identity as they are able to relate to the characters, as they are portrayed as normal teenagers, therefore may find some similarities between a character and themselves. Also, diversion as they watch how the characters are shown suffering, and they can be thankful that they aren't going through this making their own lives seem better.
Thursday 2 February 2012
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Wednesday 1 February 2012
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