How did you use Media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

                                                         'Blogger'

is a service that allows people to blog their work/research etc online. This is a service I have used throughout my projects, and is the place where I post all my work; pre-production, post-productions and main production. The website has allowed me to not only post my research online, but also display videos and pictures as well, and has allowed me to structure my work diligently. I feel very confident in using this service, and used it to display all my work including the research and planning, constructive work and evaluation, not only that but it allowed me to use other programmes such as ‘Youtube‘, which I could then incorporates into my research, which I did many times, especially when viewing other film trailers, and also placing my own videos onto my blog. Blogger can be viewed almost anywhere across the Globe, making my page easily accessible, so it’s a very reliable resource, and it allows people to comment on your work, meaning I could get critical advice and comments from anyone in the world about my work.

                                                        ‘Youtube & Wikipedia’

Both these programmes were extremely useful in my research, and I used them frequently to view videos, such as tutorials and editing footage, which helped me gain confidence in using programmes such as ‘Adobe Premiere Pro‘, which was a film editing programme I had never used before. ‘Youtube’ also allowed me to view a range of short films, which again gave me my inspiration for my Final Production, and gave me plenty of ideas. ‘Wikipedia’ allowed me to gain further research, alongside with ‘IMDB’ into the creations of some of the short films, and the features involved. I also used this website to gain knowledge on more well-known films, such as ‘The Grudge‘, and ‘Stepfather’ which helped a significant amount when trying to gain more information on my selected genre. Both these websites contributed to my construction.

                                                       Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
‘Adobe Premiere Pro CS5’ is a timeline based video editing software, which is not only used by members of the public, and aspiring film makers, but the BB2 and has been featured in the film ‘The Social Network’ This was the first time I had ever used this programme, and felt very unconfident in using it, as it appeared to be very complicated at fist glance, however after using ‘Youtube’ and watching a number of tutorial videos, I became familiar with the programme, and over time found myself guiding my way through it quite easily. Once I uploaded all my clips, there was a significant amount of editing that needed doing which is where ‘Adobe After Effects CS5’ came into the equation. This software became very useful in creating fade shots and adding final touches, such as colour tints, used to warm certain shots and cross fading, which made the scenes flow a lot better. Using this software gave me a lot of confidence in my ability to create the work I did independently, and looking back at my Foundation Portfolio I can see a significant amount of improvement in my Advanced Portfolio, and you can see this through the comparison of the quality of my work, especially in the final production.

                                                                   
                                                   Canon HF M306 HD
Canon HF M306 HD camcorder is the same video camera I used to film my Foundation Portfolio. Both times I have used this camera, it has been simple to use, clear and concise and get some great shots. The automatic and manual settings on the camera allow you to freely adjust the focus, zoom, light etc. This allowed me to have as much freedom as needed to capture the shots I wanted to get, which I successfully did. However one major problem I had with the camera this year was the file format of the video clips that were filmed, as they became a major issue when trying to import onto the software’s for editing, however my teacher managed to fix this problem, as I think he converted the files. Nether less the problem got fixed, and overall this piece of equipment is extremely useful.

What have you learnt from your Audience Feedback?

Throughout the process, feedback from my peers and teacher have helped me in improving my work, from the ancillary tasks to my final production. However I do feel like feedback has been rather limited for this project compared to the AS project, this could be due to the lack of time, as we have had to create a whole short film, whereas last year we just created a two minute film opening. However like I said, I have shown some of my peers, and my teacher has also given me critical advice, which definitely progressed my work.

The ancillary tasks, which consisted of the Film Review and Poster, both had changes made to them, this was due to class feedback, where they gave me their personal opinions and views on my first drafts. My review, needed small subtle changes to it, for example, they though using the same picture that was on my Poster for the review would link it all together a lot better, the feedback also gave me confidence in what I had already created, such as the star rating. However looking back at my overall finished task, I do think improvements can still be made after reflection, especially the review itself, I think I could of written a more detailed and structures review. The other task was the Poster, which again over a period of time I altered and changed, with the most important advice being I needed to change the font as some of the writing, such as the actors names, the audience were unable to read, as it wasn’t very clear or bold. I think my main influences and where I got the majority of feedback was by looking and researching official review websites such as ‘Total Film’ and looking at Film posters online, as researching these gave me a clear view as to what I needed to have featured in my tasks, and how I could improve them.
However when trying to get feedback on my actual final production I struggles a lot more in gaining the correct critical help to improve my film, this was mainly due to the fact all the filming was done at home, and when it came to editing my film, I did it my free time, when my class peers were not around. Again however my teacher did view my work after the first lot of editing, and she gave me advice and things I could do to improve the work, such as “include narrative when scenes cut to the children walking” and “use better light when entering the house to make the scene more clearer” in which I took on board, and choose to do another day of filming, just to gain those extra scenes and cuts that made a huge difference in the final outcome.

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

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

Evaluation Questions

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary task?
3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?
4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Final Production

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Filming

I managed to do all my filming over two nights. The first night I filmed all the kitchen scenes, as these scenes just involved one person. I tried the create the hostile, eerie atmosphere by using candles, and old rustic props, however seeing as this was my home kitchen, there was kitchen appliances, such as a microwave fitted into the kitchen, which I just had to work around. However as there is no clear time setting, it could well be set in modern time, so it wasn't something I was overly stressing about.

Also due to the small size of my kitchen, I had great difficulty trying to get the best shots, especially full-body shots, as there was not enough space behind me, so I had to make do with what I had, and try to create the best shots possible. Instead I used a lot of up-close shots and a range of angles, including a sweeping shot of the kitchen and the bloody props
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Creating the correct lighting was another difficulty, as I didn’t want to use full light, as it took away some of the atmosphere and tension, so I decided to use candles to create light and shadow, however I realised that it wasn't enough light to make things clear enough in the shots, so using a light underneath the kitchen cupboards, it definitely helped define the props and make each shot a lot clearer without taking any of the atmosphere away.

The costume and look I wanted the main character to have was a quite grubby, dirty look. I wanted him to resemble a character who obviously did not look after or care about his appearance, so using plain, dark clothing, and a touch of makeup, to enhance the shadow and dirt on his face, I believe I created a good look for the character.

The filming on Day one went quite succesfully, as i just needed to get a range of shots in one or two settings. After viewing the shots I captured on the first day of filming, i knew what needed improving, and what shots were left to be filmed, which was mostly the outdoor shots.


Day two of filming I had to make sure everything looked the same, especially the leading character. This I found tricky to do, as i could not remember what lights were on/off and what props were visual etc. Creating the outside shots again were hard, as the lighting had to be just right, however once it got to dark, you could barely see anything. However this did not matter in some shots, like the walking scenes, as you don’t necessarily need to see anything, you just need to hear. I also had difficulty getting actors for the second part of filming, as one of them fell ill, so instead I had to use my mother, which was really difficult as that character was meant to be a teenager. However I worked with what I had, and just filming from behind, you could only see her frame.

After finalising all the shots, and going into the editing process, I was rather happy with what was produced, however I'm still not overly happy with the final scenes, as it all looks a bit rushed and confusing. This again is somewhat due to the characters ages and maybe lack of direction.