Evaluation point 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
This is a vlog with all of the members discussing what we have learned and how we can improve on it.
Evaluation
Evaluation Point 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have used the following technology in my final piece:
Software’s and Programmes
Adobe Premiere Pro CS6
I used Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 for the bulk of the editing because it is a programme that I’m accustomed to; while it has a large learning curve, it allowed me to create a plethora of effects and titles to match my finished piece. Below there are screenshots of the editing process with captions for an insight of the whole process:
A repeating video of a blood splater was used to prolong the blood splater underneath thwe title befoe it faded away. This required me to make a new sequence.
The font used in my piece was ‘American Captain’. he settings outlined next to the resource monitor shows the modifications of the original font to make it fit my theme.
Chroma Key tools in Adobe Premire Pro allowed me to filter out the green from the stock footage of the blood splatter. This made it easy to layer the image below the film title.
This screenshot shows the layering required for the overlays in the characers titles, and that the audience would be able to see both the overlay and the footage clearly.
Opacity settings in the ident were time labled to give a fading in and out effect, to smootly transition shot to shot.
This screenshot shows the majority of the opening title sequence, and the amount of layers and animations required to make my peice look like it does now.
Animation timestamps were used to manually animate the titles in most of the sequences. For example, the screenshot here shows the location of the titles in a different time in order for he programme to manipulate them across the screen.
Animation was used here as well, with the exensive use of he 3D tool in Adobe Premire Pro. The title is animated to follow the door closing, so manual animation was required.
This is the bulk of the footage after the opening title sequence. In this part of he sequence the editing process showed main use of sound, as in the opening title sequence the only thing the audience can hear is the music.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft word was used as my primary document writer and typing software, as it is easy to use, and helped in creating documents while befitted the final film, such as the script for the final film. Having the script was an important part of the film, as the actors spoke the lines fluently.
YouTube
YouTube allowed me to upload all videos related to my coursework (including my final film) for free and was easily embeddable into my blog posts. The simplicity of YouTube and free features was easily the best choice for my uploads. YouTube also allowed me to check onto my video’s statistics and views, giving me a more detailed evaluation.
WordPress
WordPress is the blog site which I use to neatly show all of my coursework. It is a free website which allows you to easily own a blog, and is very simple to use. I chose tis website as it is easy to attach media and writing together, to create an easily viewable blog.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft PowerPoint gave me clean presentations which I uploaded onto my blog. The programme is relatively easy to use, and the file type is easily supported by many programmes. It allowed me to present my coursework on a smaller footprint, with revolving slides onto a single page, which saved me space, and made my blog look relatively neater.
Snipping Tool
Snipping Tool allowed me to take screenshots of my work; unlike using the Print Screen button on a keyboard, I could highlight the area I wanted to take a screenshot, which saved me time in where I would usually have to crop out unwanted parts of photos.
Hardware
AMD-Based Personal Computer
This is my personal computer which I used to edit my final film, and perform computerised tasks running all software above. It’s running Windows 10, and has high specs to carry all the load of high resolution video editing.
Canon EOS 6D with 24-105 mm Lens
This is the camera I used to film all of my coursework (including my final piece). I used this camera because having a DSLR helped in shooting in low light conditions, which was useful specially in filming a dark genre such as Film-Noir. The lens also allowed me to take advantage of the manual focus, which gave me the option to pull of shots such as focus pulls and extreme close-ups.
Pen & Paper
Arguably the most useful technology I have used in the production of my coursework and the final film. Having a pen and paper at hand allowed me to quickly jot down notes and share it with the members of my group.
Evaluation Point 5: How did you attract/address your audience?
These are all annotated screen grabs with timeline in the bottom of the pictures to show he location of the annotations.
The video is updated with annotations and can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTJRWaXtk_o
Evaluation Point 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?
This is my Power point on my perfect audience member. It is point 4 on our evaluation.
Evaluation Point 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
This is a slideshow of our evaluation point 3. It includes details such as why we chose our production logo and name, and how our film fits into our chosen genre.
Evaluation point 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?
This is our directors commentary for our final film. It involves Benni, Peter and I explaining the representations that our final product shows the audience.
Evaluation Point 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Clicking the images will bring up a detailed analysis on each screenshot.
We chose ‘The Vendetta” as our title of our film, as it is a Italian term for revenge, a plot in our film.
The characters in our film fit the film noir theme, by having mafia bosses into our final film gives a typical interpretation of the 1940’s, and the messenger was an important character in the film, as he starts the illegal drug trade with the bosses.
Costumes were very smart suits in our final film. This is because mafia gangsters in the 1940’s are typically seen wearing sharp, smart clothing of some sort.
Camera work and editing involved mainly focusing on the characters and the props used to visualize the plot. For example; a focus pull was used here to show that the audience focuses onto a different character to continue the plot and add a dramatic effect into our film.
We chose this font ‘American Captain’ as our preferred font, as it was very bold and easily readable, and the shadows which drop from the grey lettering gave it a authentic look to the typical 1940’s style fonts used in famous film noir films.
The plot of this film is the short deal between two mafia bosses exchanging currency for cocaine. This was chosen as a key still from our film, as the cocaine was an important prop for the plot and the whole exchange.
The genre is suggested in this still that it is a film noir film, because the exchange of the money for drugs is a typical thing seen in 1940’s films. Involving a deal in a isolated place makes this still worth being called Film-Noir.
The setting is in a isolated church in an unknown location. This is a typical place where gangsters would commit illegal activities (e.g. drug dealing) so that it is harder for them to be caught by authorities. The setting choice also gave us alot of space to work with, making camera shots and different angles easier to execute.
Special effects are used shortly in the film, as the only prominent special effect was the gunshot, because it is highly illegal for a student of 17 years of age to own a gun and fire a blank infront of everyone. The gunshot used 2 layers of special effects, one for the spread of the flash from the muzzle, and another far muzzle flash reaching to the edge of the screen to signify power. Other than this shot, the only special effects which were used was the titles.
Dylan Hatton's Media Blog 