Final Edit

This is our Final Edit of our film Final Seduction

Skills Audit: Creation of Soundtrack

Skills Audit: Creation of Soundtrack (Plus screen grabs of compositions)

At this point in our process of making our thriller opening, we used a programme called 'Soundtrack Pro' to accompany our film, which helps to create an effective atmosphere and create an emotional conection with our audience. 'Soundtrack Pro' allowed us to merge our film together alongside a soundtrack that we made which reflected our film. 'Soundtrack Pro' allowed us to import our soundtrack on our thriller opening to create a sense of suspense.
Here are a few screen grabs to illustrate the process we used to create our soundtrack:

At the end of finding sounds that reflected our thriller opening, which we selected from different genres that were listed, we came up with our final soundtrack that is featured on our thriller opening. I found this process of creating a soundtrack using this programme to be the easiest programme that we used. I learnt how to create a soundtrack that sounded excellent and suited our thriller opening. However, it was a bit stressful looking through all the genres to choose suitable sounds that merged together well with each other and also fitted with my genre of thriller. We also had difficulties making our soundtrack flow onto our movie, as at some points the soundtrack paused or jumped a bit, which was one of the issues that we came across. However, i learnt how to create a suitable soundtrack using 'Soundtrack Pro'.

Question Five.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

While creating our thriller sequence, we decided that our main target audience would be the 'tech savvy'. This means that our target audience will be between the ages of 16-25. Below is a montage of images depicting the contents of the handbag/manbag belonging to our typical target audience member for our movie.This helped us to create a clear perception of what our audience was interested in.

TECH SAVVY.
INTERESTED IN;
most likely to be in some sort of education, weekend job, interested in socialising with friends, enjoys summer, likes shopping, cinema, new technology, social networking websites, facebook, myspace, bebo, twitter, music preferably house music as people this age like to go out clubbing, getting drunk, dressing to impress, driving, fast food, likes their independence, fashion photography, very busy, blackberry's, high street shopping, they usually use public transport, lazy, spends at least one hour a day on the Internet.

Laurel, 19, Hackney

An ambitious university student studying film. She enjoys going to the cinema to watch the latest releases. She enjoys shopping in Topshop and Zara to purchase the latest clothing trends. From the contents of her bag i can see that she has a lot of technological devices which means she is tech savvy. She also enjoys drinking Ribena which would be a good way for us to advertise our film in sponsorship with Ribena, as it would attract her attention to our film.

Maria, 20, Shepard's Bush

An technically savvy retail assistant who is interested in the latest technology. She spends her wages on River Island and updates her gadgets regularly. She smokes when she is stress and has her make-up bag full with all the latest products. As you can see from the contents of her handbag, she has a Blackberry and an Ipod. I could use blackberry and apple to advertise my thriller, as this would appeal to her as she possess' these products.

Claudia, 17, London

A determined college student who enjoys fashion, reading novels and her social life. She has her college pass in her bag which means she is very serious about her education and her future career. She has alot in her bag that represents her personality like nail varnish and perfume.

Darren, 16, Hackney

An respectable college student who enjoys his social life and photography. As i can see from his bag he has a portable camera which means he has a passion for photography. He also enjoys drinking Coke which would be a perfect opportunity for me to advertise my thriller alongside a Coke advertisement.

Lauren, 17, London

A keen college student who is very focused on her education. She enjoys creative writing and mathematics. She enjoys socialising with friends and going to the local park. She shops in high streets stores such as New Look, Primark and H & M.

Skills Audit: Editing (plus screen grabs)

Skills Audit: Editing (plus screen grabs)

At this point in our process of making our thriller opening, we used a programme called 'Final Cut Pro' to edit our film and create effects that helped to make our film effective. Final Cut Pro allowed us to merge our film together into one clip. Final Cut Pro allowed us to fade clips into each other and import our soundtrack on our thriller opening.

Here are a few screen grabs to illustrate the editing process:

Final Cut Pro taught me how to make my thriller opening run smoothly as one clip and make the movie look more professional. I found Final Cut Pro quite easy to navigate inorder to create the effects and merge clips together that i wanted. With all the advancements in Final Cut Pro, i can see why it would be used by professional editors. The features of Final Cut Pro allowed us to work faster and easier when editing. Final Cut Pro gave us more creative options and technical control.

Question Seven.

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

Looking back at our preliminary task, Our group have realised how we gained new skills and also how we developed our existing skills throughout this process. The preliminary task helped us alot as while filming we realised how this task will help us to film our thriller sequence. As none of us have had previous experience with filming. Therefore we took advantage of this task from doing this we now have a full understanding of how to film, edit and also create soundtracks.

Below we have a clip of our bloppers which contain different clips from each film. These bloppers show some mistakes that occured while we were filming. After looking at these mistakes we now know how we improved key elements like mise en scene, editing, filming. But not only did we improve our skills they also were downgraded.

Skills that were improved

Many of our skills were improved while filming, but I am going to explain in great detail which skills were majorly improved.

Mise en scene

I personally feel that the mise en scene that we created for the escort was of a high standard. As not only did we dress 'Charlotte' in s

mart clothes accompanied by a pair of high heals. We also bought a blonde wig. This shows that mise en scene was one of our main aspects throughout the sequence. Not only did we dress 'Charlotte' we also paided attention to 'Lauren' who handed over an important piece of paper, as we added a pair of high heals and a black blazer, which made her look sophiscated and from a high class background. We also added a shirt to the male 'Jevoney' which helped him to look smart aswell. We focused on mise en scene as in our premilinary task, it wasnt an important factor, therefore it didnt look as good as we wanted it to be. Although we gave 'Lauren' a watch, we should of added more props and clothing to make her character more obvious. Here are some photos to help my opinion look more clearer.

Mise en Scene of Charlotte - Thriller Sequence.

Mise en scene Of Preliminary Match Cut - Lauren

Match Cuts

Although our match were not bad in our preliminary task, our group felt that we should make them look better in our thriller sequence. Therefore we made sure that our match cuts were of a high standard. The audiences that watched our thriller sequence, mainly commented on our match cuts. By saying they were good and they enjoyed them.

Certain aspects of the preliminary task that we didn't improve.

While filming our thriller sequence, we experimented with various amounts of shots. Including close ups, establishing shots, wide shots ect. But while filming our thriller sequence, we came across a shot that was not filmed at a high standard. Therefore, unfortunately our shots weren't filmed at a high standard.

Question Six.

This video shows what types of technology we used while creating our thriller sequence. We came across many types of software and technical equipment that we never used before. Software like Live type, soundtrack pro and final cut pro.

Question Three and Four.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? How will you attract your audience?

Youtube is famously known for individuals to upload personal videos. But some videos become so popular, that they are may gain a global audience. Therefore, young students have posted their own videos on to youtube to hopefully gain a high reponse. As many of students have done this I feel that if I was to upload my thriller sequence. Hopefully it will become popular. For example, the video below has has 8,075 hits from september 22nd 2009 which is a very high response for such an early upload.If I was to upload my thriller sequence to youtube, I would try to appeal to my audience. By adding an interesting title, and also adding a layout which will help it from looking dull as it is on a white background.

Also I would create a facebook page advertising the thriller opening. This will help to appeal to a teenage audience and the 'tech savy' are most likely to be using facebook and youtube.

I would also use another social networking site called MySpace to advertise my thriller opening. Hopefully, this will allow my thriller to become successful as the other student thrillers that have follow this route.

Here is an examle of a student video that i found on Youtube.

Intro to Cameras & Health and Safety Tutorial

Health and Safety

In today's tutorial, we were shown a demonstration video which explain the health and safety issues that are involved when working with the cameras. It explain the precautions we should apply when we are operating the cameras.

Here are some examples:

• There must be two individuals attending to the camera at all times
• Ensuring the camera is removed from the tripod before being re-located
• Keeping away from water or any other substances that could potentially damage the camera
• Also making sure the camera is held correctly
  

This lesson allowed me to understand the importance of the camera's welfare and condition. It helped me to learn how to maintain the camera's condition when i am filming in different locations.

Skills Audit: Livetype and Sound

Livetype

Livetype is a programme especially designed for apple mac's which allows with the editing of a movie. It allows you to cut and edit clips turning it into a flowing movie. You can create match cuts shot from different angles and heights. It allows you to merge the clips together to create a long or short movie.

Sound

Sound helps directors create a soundtrack to accompany the piece of film that was created in livetype. There are various genres to choose from including:

• Voices
• Instruments
• Drums
• Beats
• Violins
• Jazz ect.

Sound is important in a film because it helps to set a tone for it. The music can also portray a characters and audiences feelings. Depending on the sound, it can create an atmosphere and arouse the audiences emotions. The sound also makes the movie more intriguing and interesting. Certain genre's need music to help it become obvious to others what the chosen genre of the film is. For example a thriller sterotypically has a fast beat, which symbolises a heart beat, but also a high pitched violin will accompany this beat.

Question Eight

Audience feedback and comments on our thriller opening

There are alot of positive words showing on the wordle image. What suprised us was how big hooker appeared as this showed that alot of the audience picked up on the idea of our character stereotype.

After we watched everybody's film we got people to comment on what they thought on the film. Here you can see what people had to say on our film:

The Story Board

These were our storyboards. Although during filming we realised not all of them was needed. we found out the long shots of the buildings was unneccasary as it had nothing to do with the film itself

Pitch

To enable us to start filming our thriller sequence we had to sell our ideas to our teachers. Therefore we made a slideshow which consists of locations, treatment, production company, skills audit etc. Here are some screenshots to show our pitch.

Rough Cut

Final edit of livetype and sound filming practice

Final Edit of Livetype and Sound filming Practice

Preliminary Match Cut Film

Preliminary Match Cut Film

Preliminary Match Cut

Today we had our preliminary match cut exercise. In the lesson we were given a synopsis "A character opens a door, walks into a room, sits down opposite another character and they share a few lines of dialogue. " In the film we had to make sure we included at least one match cut, an example of shot/reverse shot and showing out understanding of the 180 degree rule. This went better then the bag swap as we are now more experienced in using the camera by now and have a better understanding of editing.

News and Current Affairs Events: Haiti

Haiti Earthquake

News and Current Affairs Event: Haiti

On January 12th 2010, a disaster struck one of the most poorest countries of the western hemisphere, Haiti. A devastating earthquake made an massive impact on the country causing it to deteriorate within seconds of it striking. Before the quake Haiti's population totalled just over 9 million after the quake an estimated 50,000- 100,000 people lost their fight for survival after being killed dramatically. The earthquake measured 7.3 on the Richter scale leaving thousands of people needing urgent assistance. Thousands of buildings have collapsed and aftershocks continue. The affected population are now living on the streets and in makeshift camps in open public spaces. Funds are urgently needed to provide food, water and health care. Charities such as the British Red Cross are offering these resources and fundraising to help donate to the unfortunate people in Haiti.

Thriller Sub-Genres

There are different types of varieties in regards to the Thriller genre. Some are more common then others, however all types are recognised. Here are a few sub-genres of Thriller and an example of a film that conveys that genre.

• Action Thriller - James Bond
• Conspiracy Thriller - The Chancellor Manuscript
• Crime Thriller - Seven
• Drama Thriller - The Prestige
• Erotic Thriller - Basic Instinct
• Legal Thriller - The Innocent Man
• Political Thriller - The Day of the Jackal
• Psychological Thriller - The Talented Mr Ripley
• Spy Thriller - Mission Impossible
• Religious Thriller - The Da Vinci Code

I think the crime thriller inspires me most at the moment as it focuses on particular topics such as criminals, murders, robberies and chases. I feel these elements will provide a fast paced atmosphere for when i create my own thriller opening. The essentials of a crime thriller help to keep the audience at the edge of their seats and focused on the film. I am also motivated by this genre because i have studied a few examples of this type of genre and enjoy watching them. Crime thrillers are gripping, capturing, fascinating and mesmerising to watch as a viewer.

The Art of the Title in Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

Style of the titles: Comic/ Pop Art, News Print Text, Blocky, American, Vivid Colours, Symmetrical Lines

What the Titles Says: Warner Brothers (produced), Main Actors, Main Title (Superman/Batman Public Enemies), Casting and Voice Direction, Editor - Margaret Hov, Music - Christopher Drake, Based on the D.C Comics Characters, Graphic Novel by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGrunnes, Written By Stan Berowitz, Batman created by Bob Kane, Superman created by Jerry Siecel and Joe Shuster, Executive Producers - Benjamin Melinker, Micheal Unlah, Producer - Micheal Goguen.

Images: In the opening sequence of Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, the images show famous buildings that connote America, such as, the Empire State Building, The White House and also the American Flag. This portrays the image of a superhero as having authority and proud of their country. Also, by showing the famous Batman and Superman symbols identifies who the characters are. Throughout the sequence, a majority of the clips were created with the use of pop art colours, for example, the use of yellow, red, blue and white, this also creates a 1950's vibe.
There has been different types of shots being displayed for example, established shots have been used to show iconic images which symbolise America, for example, the Empire State Building etc.
This title sequence appeals to me as the images and colours are very bold, bright and unusual.