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

My three products use the conventions of media effectively because they all have been inspired by my own consumption of texts. For instance , my short film is drawn from my love of thrillers and my magazine is similar in many ways to the booklets I often read at my local cinema. Whilst adhering to these conventions , I also attempted to distinguish them from other contemporaries and make them original. For example you could describe my poster as an art deco piece or you could see it as an unusual composition altogether. This merging of old and new was what I hoped would allow me to create something in my favourite genre , whilst also trying to create a completely unique work. In comparison with last year , I felt that I was less experimental with my design choices , so at A2 I wanted to stretch myself further. I did this by writing my own screenplay , a vital planning stage towards any real media product. I found this challenging , but decided to make the script mostly serious , as I am not as strong at writing other genres such as comedy. I tried to get inside the characters head and see the story from their point of view in order to make the narrative more    believable. With the story , I tried to challenge the structure of society and the level of control the government could possibly have in the future. I think this story was quite original for a short film , and I think many would have shied away from the complex idea , since the film's running time had to be limited.

 

Finally , with my magazine review page I mainly adhered to the typical conventions such as Total Film and Empire as I found this task the most difficult of the three. I began reading these film magazines , which inspired me and reminded me of the typical layout of the media platform. I added a masthead first then began building the page with my article I had written. I found it difficult to get the spacing of the columns correct , but I carefully overcome this issue. I also re read the text to check for any common punctuation errors.

Click her to check out my prezi on this question

How did I use media technologies in the construction and research , planning and evaluation stages

The main technology I used was a camera and tripod during the construction of my product , to capture the footage. I tried to use this technology in inventive ways , using a variety of long shots , close ups and wide angle shots to get a strange and original effect and direction. After I collected my footage , I added the shots to Adobe Premier Pro , where I added a score and effects. The music was essential as I wanted it to make the audience feel uneasy , similar to the effect Psycho or Jaws succeeds at. I made sure that this music was fast paced and dramatic , to go with the action that unfolds on screen. With Premier Pro , I also added the black and white effect that changed the films impact dramatically , as I would have been pretty forgettable without the black and white effect adds a sense of loneliness and plainness to the world I created.

Blogger was also an important technology because it captured my progress at each stage.With the blog , I had a record of what I achieved and thought it was a good way of collecting responces.A you can see , I have added various tecnologies to the blog , such as Powtoons , which reduced the ammount of writing on blogger and made it more engaging for the reader.I also included a variety of Prezis and Animotos to reduce the ammount of tedium of just writing all of the information.

What have I learned from my audience feedback?

From programs such as Survey monkey , I have learnt a great deal about my genre and what people think of it. With the aid of this software , I was able to gather responses and data about their opinions on the thriller genre. Most people who responded had seen a short film , but most of them had been Disney produced. This data made me think that they had not seen a short film out of choice , but were shown it before a blockbuster in a multiplex. I shows that short films do not get the exposure or attention they deserve and are mainly popular to mainstream audiences as short animations.  Asking young people through the use of video feedback allowed me to figure out what the social group I needed to aim for was. I enjoyed collecting the video feedback the most because I knew the people I was interviewing and felt more confident when asking them.


With regard to my blog , my class and I wrote post it notes on each others blogs, explaining the positives and negatives. With this feedback , I learnt that my blog lacked regular updates of my ancillary and main tasks , but also did not have a huge amount of planning such as actors photos or equipment posted. To remedy these problems I went ahead and posted photos of my two main actors and some information on them. This peer feedback allowed me to see different points of view and I doubt I would have been able to improve the blog as quickly and effectively as much as I have without it.












                                                       Powtoon on audience feedback

Final pieces of work

Film poster

This is the final version of my film poster , which I was told was the strongest piece of my three tasks. For this reason , it is the least updated and is very similar to the original.I have altered the BBFC rating at the bottom of the page to a 12A since it did not have n extreme amount of violence of an 18 or the bad language of a 15.With the poster ,  I tried to captured a cynical style, with the giant eye being symbolic of the world ruled by the government. I included many typical conventions of a film poster , with reviews , a tagline , actors names and credits. It is very clear from looking at the poster  that we are still unsure exactly what this films narrative is about , and I did this deliberately to intrigue but also keep an air of mystery surrounding the production.

Magazine review page

I have made some key changes to this ancillary task recently , including the change of the main image.The previous image did not really represent the short film itself , and it may have looked disappointing from the still to an audience. I have also altered the columns as they were out of place and looked unprofessional. Re reading the article , it was apparent that there were several errors in punctuation and grammar , which I quickly addressed. The verdict box at the end also looked very plain and you could tell that this had been made on Photoshop. I tried to make it look more casual and easy to read for the audience.

Illusion short film

After encountering some issues with the college drive , I managed to recover  a good version of my film , even if it has some key moments missing due to the inability to export the film again . I tried to make the film as strange and original as possible , because I wanted the film to be memorable and break new ground. I think the reason it is original is because it takes the style and conventions of the past and puts them into the modern era , complete with a vivd black and white style.

Deadlines

I have included a lit of deadlines below to show if I am on target or not:

22nd April- Blog complete and ready for marking (on target)

24th April-Blog evaluation complete and ready for marking (not on target)

As you can see from the deadlines above , I need to more spend time on my evaluation to make sure I gain a higher mark. I have completed the first question , but need to focus on the others by adding analysis and incorporating different technologies within my answers.

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?

Within my short film , poster and magazine review page I attempted to create synergy. The  poster in particular was mysterious and elusive , so it intrigued but also kept the storyline and narrative as secret as possible so the audience could discover it for themselves when watching the short film.
The poster was drawn and inspired by the art deco style of the 30s , 40s and 50s , giving it a memorable and timeless quality. Similarly , the short film also recalled earlier periods of cinema as with the black and white effect and crime thriller storyline , similar to that in an Alfred Hitchcock project. I believe that the combination of my ancillary tasks  and my short film , was successful because the poster had the image of an eye overlooking the world below and I made this image prominent by the films close. My magazine review page on the other hand , attempts to address the conventional magazine layout and promotes the film to a wider audience. It took skill writing the review pages article as you have to be concerned in not spoiling the film for the audience while also critiquing its flaws and successes.

Blog feedback

                                                                What can I do better?
After receiving this feedback I discovered that my blog was currently marked at 13/20 and within band 3. Although I am pleased with this grade i feel that there is still a lot more to do in order to get a higher grade.Most notably was to improve on my time management which was not clearly detailed through the blog and add more technologies. I remedied this by going through and adding videos , interviews and more in order to make the blog much more interactive for the user. Another key aspect I needed to focus on was the lack of planning and research that I had pit into it including camera photos and actor pictures.

Consent forms

Before I began filming I knew that I needed to gain permission from my two actors. I designed a consent form for my actors signature. It is important to gather permission before filming as you have a clear indication of the actor or actresses involvement.

Illusion short film

This is the last version of my short film Illusion. I had some difficulty since the college hard drive I was using broken , making me unable to finalize and export the last version of the film. All I could manage to salvage was this version , but I am still pretty pleased with the end results.

Magazine review page progress

 After receiving feedback , I noticed that my review page was lacking compared to my film poster. I decided to concentrate much more on this ancillary task than the other to make sure that it did not affect my overall grade. I discovered that my font size varied too much and needed to be more consistent throughout the article.The size was just too large to resemble other sophisticated magazines and the columns were also untidy.There were several spelling and punctuation errors which I soon ammended too.To improve further , I need to alter the image as it does not have much synergy with he film , is out of focus and is forgettable.

Illusion short film( first draft)

The reason I have named this version my first draft is that their are elements of it that I am unhappy with . For instance , some shots have difficulty with sound , it is hard to hear what the characters say at times. Also , I want to edit the film further so it is shorter and more compact.The major issue I have encountered this year making a film is being able to decided the correct amount of footage to shoot. For example , I firstly recorded too little footage and then ended up recording too much , so I needed to narrow it down to the most important moments.

magazine review page update

After receiving my first draft back , I have changed much of this magazine review page. I was told that the magazine looked quite un experimental and plain , which I agree with. I decided to try to read and take inspiration from other magazines layouts I order to grasp a better understanding of the conventions. I intend to alter the main image because I do not think it captures the title of illusion very well. I am also working on making the text article more concise and larger as it does not go into much detail. Additionally , there is some blank space above the verdict box which definitely needs to be corrected. The columns of the text are unprecise and messy , so they need to be put in the correct positions.

Magazine review page reconstruction attempt

This was my attempt at a magazine review page reconstruction. I did not try to recapture the photo and therefore it is not a complete reconstruction. However , this task did allow me to practice positioning the columns and text for when I begin work on my own review page to promote my short film. I found this task much harder than I originally thought as it was too difficult to shoot this photo in particular due to the dark lighting involved.

Shot List (updated)

This updated shot list gave me something to come back to while shooting and made it much easier to capture the footage on the day. I attempted to vary my shots so that the action was still engaging and thrilling. It is quite challenging to vary your shots when most of the film consists of two characters talking over the phone , but in most areas , I thought that I managed it. The most common shot I included in the final product was close sups , as I believed it was essential to see what the characters had on their mind and it gave the audience some perspective on what they could be thinking.

progress update

I have progressed with my film now , as I have some more footage and am currently in the final stages of editing the film.I am quite happy with my work so far and have started adding specific sound effects to to create different moods. I did this from downloading files from Free sound , which allowed me to add  another dimension to the film. As for the visual effects , I have decided to add a black and white tint over the footage in order to make it have similarities with earlier film noir features.

Pinterest art deco board

I thought that it would be a good idea to use Pinterest to collect my research on other art deco  designs and see if they are similar or different to my own.I noticed that the text and color were very similar to what I had made the bold letters and striking colours. I tried to add styles from popular films such as Batman Begins and adverts, so I had a lot to compare my own design to.I like to use Pininterest when I have to research as I think its an interesting way of gathering sources.

To read my Pinterest art deco board click here

What is Art Deco?

This youtube video below exams the impact art deco has had on popular culture , influencing everything from posters to buildings to paintings.

film script - second draft

ILLUSION

STARRING:RICHARD BROUGHTON AND JACK MORGAN

DIRECTED BY: BRADLEY BROUGHTON

 [POV SHOT LOOKING DOWN OF CHARACTER RUNNING]

PAUL: “HELLO?”

PHILLIP: “HI PAUL.ITS PHILLIP? SUPRISED THEY HAVENT CAUGHT YOU YET”.THIS PLACE IS FULL OF GUARDS.ITS NOT THE SAFE TOWN IT ONCE WAS.

PAUL:OH ITS SO GOOD TO HEAR YOU

PHILLIP:YEAH YOU TOO.NEARLY WHOLE SECTOR HAS BEEN STAMPED NOW.IM JUST CALLING YOU TO WARN YOU.

PAUL:OUR LIVES ARE JUST TELEVISION SHOWS NOW TO ENTERTAIN THE GOVERNMENT.

PHILLLIP:YEAH THE PRESIDENT HAS ISSUED EVERYONE WHO GETS STAMPED WITH A GUN TO “PATROL”WITH.THAT MEANS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WHO ESCAPED –LIKE YOURSELF.

PAUL:WHAT DO YOU MEAN ?

PHILLIP:THEY ARE WATCHING PEOPLE DIRECTLY FROM THE TOWER.WHERE ARE YOU?

PAUL:NOT QUITE SURE.I THINK IM IN SOUTH DISTRICT.IVE BEEN WANDERING FOR HOURS .ITS DIFFICULT TO TELL.

PHILLIP:BUT IT’S THE RAVENS THAT ARE THE REAL PROBLEM.DONT UNDERESTIMATE THEM.

PAUL:TELL ME ABOUT IT.THEIR WATCHING EVERYWHERE FOR ESCAPEES.

PHILLIP:KEEP TO THE SHADOWS,THE RAVENS ARE HUNGRY THIS TIME OF DAY.

PHILLIP:SOUTH DISTRICT!OH IM SORRY.SO SORRY.

PAUL:WHAT DO YOU MEAN?

PHILLIP:IVE.BEEN.PROMOTED.I HAD TO  PROTECT MY FAMILY.THEY WHERE YOU ARE NOW!RUN!HES COMING  FOR YOU!

PAUL:OH GOD TRAITOR[DROPS PHONE]HES REVEALED MY LOCATION

THE ANTAGONIST:THANK YOU PHILLIP, BUT YOU DIDBT HAVE TO BETRAY YOUR FRIEND AFTER ALL.HES ALREADY BEEN TAKEN CARE OF!

PAUL:[LOOKING DOWN AT HAND]GASP!

PAUL:HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

PAUL:I WAS NEVER STAMPED! ITS IMPOSSIBLE!

THE ANATGONIST:DO YOU GIVE UP YET?THE ANSWER TO THE RIDDLE WAS SLEEPING. YOU WERE STAMPED WHILST YOU WERE ASLEEP!

ANTAGONIST:ENJOY YOUR LAST MOMENTS BEFORE THE RAVENS FIND YOU!(SOUND EFFECT OF GUN FIRE)

PHILLIP:RUN!

THE ANTAGONIST:DON’T FORGET-I PULL THE STRINGS AROUND HERE AND YOUR MY PUPPET!

END-PHONE RINGING SOUND EFFECT.

                                                                                                    

                                                                                                 Video on writing a screenplay

I enjoyed watching this video because it was interactive and engaging.I learnt an awful lot about writing a screen play as it goes into great depth about what is involved through the process.

Art Influences

As part of my research I created a Powtoon animation on the art that had influenced my film.It shows why I had chosen to take inspiration from the designs of the 20s and 30s and how my poster compares with classic posters such as Metropolis.I have explored what art deco is and how it interests me.The reason I attempted to go for this style was because my film is a thriller that has segments that involve film noir.



       The posters for Metropolis(1927) and Black Swan(2010) and my film , Illusion (2014/2015)-

The original poster for Fritz Lang's
Metropolis

Poster for the Black Swan (2010)

Artist Influences

SALVADOR DALI

Before I started the process of writing and creating my film and its poster I decided to look into past artists for inspirations.Salvador Dali was one of the best known examples of the surrealist movement and I tried to make my own poster unusual in this same style.My own poster takes influence from these pieces below , with its giant eye, overlooking the city below.




                                                      An Interview with Salvador Dali

The persistense of memory 

MAX ERNST


Max Ernst invented a graphic art technique-frottage.This involved using pencil rubbings of objects as a source of images.Secondly he also created the graftage technique.This involved using paint to scrape canvas to reveal imprints of objects underneath.

The elephant celebes

Filming screenshots

Below I have added some shots from my first filming session. The film follows two young characters .One is on the run from the corrupt government , whereas the other is trying to protect him from inside of the capital.The film is a thriller as It is slowly revealed that everything is not as it seemed at the beggining. I have not finished editing the final version on Premier Pro , so I have shown my progress through these photographs-

Peer Feedback

To collect feedback on my blog, My peers assessed my blogs by giving me some positives and negatives. It was generally written that the blog needed to focus on updating my work more regularly. This would show the tweaks I have made to the design. Secondly, I also needed to add more time management posts in order to track the amount of work I have been doing. On a more positive note, my peers found that I had successfully used a range of digital technologies to enhance the blog and make it more engaging. I think this exercise helped me immensely , as it gave some directions to improve that I would not have thought of.

Last year , my blog was very text based and I wanted to make my second more interactive with the audience. I tried to engage them with more videos and websites to make it  was more immersive. My peers noticed that the use of technology was definitely better as I have had time to learn how to operate a range of websites.I aim to make the blog better overall by showing the process of designing my product at different stages.


                                                          Here are each of the comments: