Monday, 16 June 2014

Requirements for A2 media studies


Post Production

The post production was crucial to the success of my opening title sequence. The post production -process consisted of editing the sequence, gaining opinions from our target audience about the sequence, and making adjustments to the sequence based on the feedback.

We spent a lot of time editing the sequence and came up with multiple drafts of the final version. This was done so that I could spot any mistakes that were left in the sequence, and see if the sequence could achieve the SMART targets that I set out to achieve. Therefore, I kept making draft versions of the sequence, until I felt that they sequence was able to appeal to my target audience. The editing that I carried out consisted of putting clips together in the correct order, adding editing techniques like fades, shot reverse shots and jump cuts, adding in music and foley, credits, company idents and screen effects. I spent a lot of time implementing each part of these features into the sequence, as they all had to be of a high quality to look appealing to the target audience, and gain me more marks. The music was particularly important because it had to create a sense  of tension in the atmosphere, while varying in the volume throughout the sequence, so that it did not cover up the speech made by the characters. The editing software that I used to edit the sequence together was Adobe After Effects. I chose this software because it enabled me adjust the clips and sound in a detailed way, allowing for more precision editing, to generate a high quality piece of work.

I also gained feedback from a range of different audiences during the post production of my opening title sequence. I did this by posting questions, attached with questions of social websites like Facebook and Twitter, which allowed the audience to respond in a quick manor and in detail, telling me exactly what they liked and disliked about the sequence. I felt that it was crucial to gain opinions from a range of audiences of different demographics because it gave me a clearer indication into whether the sequence would appeal more towards my target audience or to another demographic audience, and thereby make changes if this was the case. Overall I would say that the feedback that I got from my target audience was very useful and detailed, as it told me how I could improve my sequence to suit them better. for example, my target audience did not like the original music that I put into the sequence, so therefore, I changed it to appeal to my target audience.

It is clear that the post production work that I carried out was crucial to the quality of the opening title sequence which had a direct impact on the grade that I got. It was important that I edited the sequence together in a way that made it look professional, but yet still appealing to my target audience. This was done by having a protagonist, accompanied with an assistant, and a protagonist holding a dangerous weapon in the form a sniper rifle. As a result, it attracted my target audience as it consisted of mystery and danger. The feedback that I received from my target audience was also very useful in the post production stage of the sequence. This is because it gave me clear guidelines on how I should edit the sequence, in order for it to suit them, and become a success.

Conventions Of Real Media Texts


Pre-production

My sequence has kept to the conventions of real media texts by having characters that are common conventions of media texts. I used research and planning in order to establish the common conventions of thriller films, thereby allowing me to plan the sequence with characters that meet the common conventions of thriller media texts. Therefore I planned the sequence during the pre production process so that the main protagonist has a companion, and is set in an “everyday location”.

Furthermore, I planned the name of the sequence on the basis of common conventions of thriller films. Thriller films usually have a few variances throughout them that may confuse the audience before finally explaining what it means. This convention was transferred into my opening title sequence, by choosing the name on the sequence ‘Vindicate’, after planning what the sequence was going to consist of during the pre-production stage.

 

Production

During the production process I aimed to include a range of features that kept the sequence in line with common conventions of media texts. One example of this is the way in which the film was recorded. I filmed the sequence using a variety of camera angles that are associated with thriller media texts, such as long shots, close ups, pan shots and point of view shots. Furthermore, during production, I also filmed the antagonist holding a gun, which is a common convention of an antagonist in a thriller film.

 

Post production

During the post production process, I added features to the sequence to make it follow common conventions of media texts. One way I did this was by adding music to the sequence. This created a sense of enigma to the viewer, which is common amongst thriller media texts. I also added a range of edits like jump cuts and fades. These are conventions of thriller media texts, so therefore my opening title sequence follows the conventions of media texts through the range of editing techniques used in the post production stage of the opening title sequence.

 

Research and Planning


Research and Planning

Pre production

The majority of the research and palnning was done before we produced the sequence. I carried out a large amount of research and planning, which was done primarily done to give me a greater understanding of what I would need to include in the opening title sequence and improved knowledge about how to use the pieces of equipment effectively in order to produce high quality results. My research and planning consisted of me looking into the use of foley, company idents, film credits, “SMART “targets, and editing software, as well as many other useful factors included in an opening title sequence. The fact that I conducted research into factors that were important in my opening title sequence, such as credits and foley, helped me greatly as I knew exactly what to do when I needed to include them, giving me the ideal opportunity to create a high quality ident or credit, gaining me more marks thanks to the research and planning carried out in the pre-production stage.

 

Production

The research and planning that I carried out during the production stage of the opening title sequence was that I we planned when we were going to film the sequence. This was crucial because if we planned to film on two different days, and the weather was dry on one day and wet on another, it would make the film out of continuity, if it is dry one scene and wet another, a few seconds later. Therefore we planned carefully what day we were going to film and ensured that we filmed all shot son the same day, around the same time, in order to remain within the bounds of continuity.

I also planned where each part of the sequence was going to be filmed on location. This was also important that I planned this carefully, as I would need to ensure that the relevant scene is shot in the correct environment. For example, if the sniper was shot from a high position, then the point of view shot should also look down onto the character or scene below.

Post production

The research and planning carried out in the post production of the sequence was that I posted questions to a range of audiences both online and face to face in interviews. By completing this act and gaining feedback I was able to understand what my target audience wanted, and was able to relate to whether I needed to include more conventional clips that I recorded, or more subversive clips that my audience preferred.

 

Creativity


Creativity

Pre-production

During the pre-production process, I had to come up with a range of ideas for what our opening title sequence was going to be. Therefore, we decided to brain storm ideas to eachother, until we were able to agree to what we wanted to film. To generate ideas, I watched a range of famous opening title sequences and thought brought the positives together into an idea that proved popular with the group. Besides watching previous pieces of work to come up with ideas, I was creative by asking our target audiences what they wanted to see in the sequence. While I was doing this, my rest of my group was using different sources of information that could provide benefits to us in the opening title sequence. Therefore my group was creative in the way in which we gathered information about our opening title sequence.

I created multiple moodboards in an attempt to be creative an generate ideas about the opening title sequence. I did this on the internet website pinterest, as well as create a poster in powerpoint, full of images and captions about opening title sequences of the same genre, thriller. As a result, I was able to use thoughts gathered from the moodboard, and include them in my ideas for the opening title sequence.

Furthermore, I went to various different locations to see if they were suitable for filming the opening title sequence. This created a range of different perspectives and ideas that I could use to decide on how we could exploit a certain location, to make the opening title sequence as good as possible. Therefore we chose the location that was best suited for our opening title sequence.

 

Also, we used a storyboard to plan the order in which the sequence should run. We took multiple drafts of this storyboard, which enabled us to plan any new features that we wanted to include, and discuss whether they were applicable to our sequence.

Production

During the production of the opening title sequence, I had to be creative as it was clear that it was not as easy to replicate particular scenes as I first thought, due to issues like sunlight and the ablitiy to film parts of the sequence in the way that I would like to to create certain representations due to a lack of space or other issues. Therefore, I had to film parts of the opening title sequence in a way enabled the correct representation, but also catered for issues caused by space. I also was creative in the way in which the sequence was filmed because I decided that it would be more effective if a certain scene was shot in a different way, on the day. So therefore, I took multiple shots of each scene to get various representations and angles, thereby allowing the best clip to be selected in post-production.

Post production

There was creativity in the post production process of the sequence as there were countless adjustments made to the sequence, before the final version was released. As a result of all the changes, my group created 9 drafts of the sequence. The adjustments we made were mainly used in synchronising the sound, eliminating all “black” parts of the sequence were there was a gap between clips, and varying the length of the sequence, in order for it to fit within the time limit. The editing process also gave me the opportunity to experiment with ordering clips in a particular way, and deciding which way was best for the viewer.

I decided to get views from a range of audiences, all of different demographics, before producing the final version. The opinions that I gathered allowed me to create a clear indication of what I had to produce in order to suit everyone. However, I had to be creative in the way, in which the sequence was edited, in order to include clips that everyone, in particular the target audience, would appreciate.

Technology


Pre-production

In the pre-production of my opening title sequence we used the internet to research what we had to include in the opening title sequence in order to gain the best marks and achieve well. By doing this, I was able to identify what I needed to include in order receiving high marks. The internet further aided the pre-production of my opening title sequence because of websites like YouTube and Weebly, which enabled me to view previous opening title sequences to see where they did well and to see where I could include these in my own opening title sequence. In contrast, I was also able to see what made a opening title sequence loose marks, and was able to avoid putting these in my own opening title sequence.

 

Production

I used multiple examples of technology in the production of my opening title sequence with the use of a 700D camera, which we used to film the sequence. The camera is a very sophisticated piece of equipment which allowed me to film the sequence to a high standard. As a result it made the sequence look visually attractive to view, as there were no parts of the sequence which were blurred or out of focus when you expect them to be in focus.  I also recorded sound which was implemented into the opening title sequence as foley, we did this by using the technology in a music studio to record and adjust the sound in order to fit to be suitable for my opening title sequence. As a result of using the music studio I was able to gain more marks, proving that the use of the technology in the production of the foley was significant.

 

Post production

During the post production process the use of technology was significant as it allowed me to edit the opening title sequence using advanced editing software (Adobe After Effects). This piece of software allowed me to implement a range of editing effects into the title sequence such as fades, jump cuts and text effects at the end. As a result of this, I was able to gain marks through use of a range of editing techniques thanks to technology used in editing the in the opening title sequence. I also used technology in the evaluation of my opening title sequence. This was because it was requested by the examine board in order to gain more marks. I used Pintrest, Prezi, Slideshare, Lino It, Kizoa and I recorded my own directors commentary using my own camera and editing software at home. As a result of using a vast range of technology in my evaluation, I made it look visually appealing and professional, as well as developing my knowledge of all the different technologies online.

I also used social websites such as facebook and twitter in order to gain feedback from people on what they thought of my opening title sequence. Therefore, I could use this information to adjust my opening title sequence in a way that was necessary to make it appeal to my target audience.