Little something I seem to have missed out… contribution.

So, Mr Jackson has been looking through my posts and it seems my contribution isn’t all that clear. Well, over the whole period of creating, making and editing ‘Breaking Reality’ i did try and make sure i had a go whenever possible. To do this, as well as lesson time, i also spent quite a few of my frees with Beckey colour correcting, adding effects and just having a little play about to see if we could find something different that we liked. We also spent the odd either break or lunch having a little go too.

Also, i brought all the results home from the questionnaire so i could count up the responses for each question to help the group and myself answer the evaluation questions. The music for the film opening was also down to me with a little input from the others to make sure they liked what i chose. Ideas for the film i enjoyed helping with, it’s quite exciting being able to create, plan and make something such as a film opening of your own with friends.

We had quite a few problems with the lighting at first and so myself and the group also spent our frees and lunch hour re-shooting.

I like to think i contributed quite a bit to the making of the film opening etc despite being off of school sick for a lot of the time!

Well, I haven’t been on here in a while. Shock Horror.

Bit of a pointless blog post if i’m brutally honest. Lol.

So… I just decided to re-watch Breaking Reality. No surprise really but, I still hate it.

Also, because of the problems we had with the whole Breaking Reality experience and the tasks we’ve had to do, things we’ve learn etc, I can no longer watch a film in the same way.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME!?

I joke, be seriously… I now find myself watching a film and taking notice of all the camera shots, editing and so on. It’s so frustrating but at the same time, it makes me feel quite intelligent as I know I can come out with things about it and my mum will just look at me with a hilariously blank expression. Bless her.

I think that’s all for now. Like i said, pointless blog… Byeeeeeee.

Evaluation question 7!!

LOOKING BACK AT YOUR PELIMINARY TASK (THE CONTINUITY EDITING TASK), WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU HAVE LEARNT IN THE PROGRESSION FROM IT – TO FULL PRODUCT?

I have loads absolutely shed loads. How to use everything involved – Final Cut, LiveType, Word Press, the equipment etc. But more importantly, i’ve learnt some self qualities and some faults. 

All the stuff that i have learnt about the softwear, programs and equipment, i have written about in question 6.

The personal qualities and faults that i have learnt however are that:

If i put my mind to it, i feel i can come up with some pretty good ideas, i do quite like to edit as i look forward to the end product, i love working as a team and exchanging ideas. I did media at GCSE which was completely different to what i am now doing at AS and so i never really had this whole creative opportunity before, the closest i got to it was doing a small film for the LAFTAS.

Another thing is, i’ve found out that i like to go for the options that no one else has! I find it more interesting and fun… Going out there and doing something completely different in a way, has opened my eyes as to all the different opportunities and ideas that come within different genres etc. 

However, i have realised that i can be very lazy when it comes to blogging and i must admit, when it came to putting everything together on Final Cut, i was again, pretty lazy. Richard knew pretty much the sort of thing that had to be done and has his own software similar to this at his home which enabled him to be able to take control as he knew what he was doing. I do appreciate all of his efforts and the things that he has taught me. I have realised i need to talk up more… I found myself a good couple of times sat there getting quite annoyed, wanting to have a go at editing but Richard, being his independent self, took it upon himself to do it. As i’ve already mentioned in a previous blog, if myself, Grace or Beckey wanted to have a go at editing we’d have to either do it in our frees, lunch and break, get to lesson before Richard or physically grab the mouse off of him. Even after hinting a few times and saying that us others had to have a go, it didn’t seem to happen…

 

 

Having done media at GCSE, i was pretty familiar with a lot of the terminology but obviously not all of it. I was more used to the basic terminology used in evaluations, textual analysis etc, rather than terms used with the camera and the huge range of different terms e.g. 180 degree angle, scores etc. And so, from doing the preliminary exercise and working my way up to the production of Breaking Reality, i have learnt a huge amount more. 

I really enjoyed the filming! I love doing the practical things to do with media… I like the excitement, coming up with ideas and then putting it all together. It’s fun but still pretty educational… When filming, there are certain rules that can help you e.g. don’t film against windows! It effects the lighting and can turn your cast into silhouettes of people, the rule of thirds – how filming so that the thing/person/object of your attention isn’t quite in the middle section of the thirds can make it look better – 

Another thing, the amount of work that goes into the whole process of post production, editing, research, coming up with ideas etc. So much longer than initially thought! But at the end of the day, it’s all worth it! All the research that you do does an incredible amount for when it actually comes down to creating your story boards and production ideas. No matter how hard you try, it will never be perfect. The amount of times that my group and myself have tried matching colours etc up is amazing and yet, none yet are a perfect match. This subject takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. I’ve learnt that all you can really do is practice and practice. You may not be happy with what you’ve done but that’s because you know the imperfections are there and every time that you see them, it will annoy you because you know that they’re there. 

The most important thing that has gone into this whole process however, is teamwork! My team have come up with some amazing ideas! And what makes it better? Is the fact that we can all add our ideas together and actually create something out of them. I know right now that without the input from my group, i wouldn’t have managed anything half as good as what we have. Teamwork can be very rewarding but it can also be very annoying… When it comes to being heard and getting a point across, it can seem like quite a mission to make sure that you’re heard. 

I’ve learnt that i am more of a team worker than an individual. I am pretty independent but i love sharing ideas with people within a group, comparing what we have and coming together to fulfill them. 

Evaluation question 6!!

What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?

What have i learnt? I’ve learnt absolutely LOADS. How to use a mac, how to use the programs on the mac, how much time and planning these things take and using the equipment….

Final Cut!

Well, considering I’ve never used this program before, I think I’m warming to it quite well…

There are so many little things to remember such as little keyboard shortcuts, controls etc! But it is majorly important that you do remember them because if you don’t, well then you’re going to find yourself stuck. So yeah, it’s all good that i am getting used to it. There are so may little things that go into making a film and to find out that Final cut doesn’t manage to fix everything (e.g. lighting when filming against a window). It has been a challenging experience but also an interesting one. I have learnt a lot through using it and all the possible opportunities that you face whilst doing it and that once you’ve finished and can see the finished product, the amount of satisfaction and happiness you get from watching what you’ve achieved is great!

The one thing with Final Cut that i didn’t like was the colour correcting! Having to do each clip one by one made it incredibly hard to match the colours up! However, we did manage to get it so that the change in colour wasn’t all that noticeable, I think obviously, as we were working on it pretty much everyday the differences stood out to us like a sore thumb making us dislike it and get really annoyed with it more than what it would have anyone else. 

Live Type!

Live type is something that again, i have never used before. However, i do find it easier than Final Cut. You can create some really good and effective titles on this program! I did enjoy this part of the task! It made me feel creative 😛 

I think that the titles are what make films look so much more professional! And there are so many of them! 

It’s always good to learn how to use new programs and expand your knowledge! As I have already said, I did enjoy using Live Type and I am more than happy to carry on experimenting with its different effects etc! 

Here are a few of the titles used in Breaking Reality… 

Word Press!

This again, like all the others, was completely new to me! I’ve never done anything to do with blogging… ever! I don’t really like blogging, especially after this week – it takes so long <– This is a major reason as to why I probably don’t like it! I do seem to be quite lazy when it comes to it but what has to be done, had to be done! But then again, I guess this is something new so i’ll probably end up warming to it! 

Macs!

Oh my Lord! Macs! They’re SO confusing! They take a LOT of getting used to! All the little keyboard shortcuts… there are so many to remember! But after a while, you start to get used to them, thank goodness! I learnt a new one today… the hash tag! On the macs, it’s ALT and 3 where as on a normal computer, it’s obviously the hash key – #. At first, i absolutely hated the macs but now that i’m using them on quite a regular basis, i can say they aren’t as bad as initially thought. 

Equipment!

Lastly, the equipment! AND i can happily say, yes! I have used this sort of stuff before! The cameras, thankfully, weren’t anything new to me. I liked using them! It was fun! Knowing that you are in the process of using this type of stuff to create something rewarding at the end of it just makes the experience all that bit better! 

Evaluation number 5!!

How did you attract/address your audience?

With our film being aimed at people around our age and in similar circumstances (in school) i think we found it easier to attract our audience than what we would have it was aimed at any other age, social class etc. 

Our first decision in post production was to make a film that was different to all the other groups choices and by doing so, we chose an action comedy. With it being an action comedy, we thought that after a little bit of feedback from other students and Mrs Hughes, to add in some ‘cartoony’, gaming effects. By doing so, we would hopefully attract the audience that we were after.

 

 

Also, by setting our opening in an environment that the audience could relate to (the school grounds) and upbeat music, instead of quite back ground music, we hoped to attract the ages we were after – we tried to make everything within the opening as appealing as possible e.g. titles, lighting, plot, mise en scene and so on. 

As mentioned many times before, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was a major influence on the making of our opening. The ideas that we took and personalised from it were the gaming graphics – the scoring system, lives etc. This was again, in hope to attract the audience that we were after. 

Our opening starts off boring but then gradually builds up, getting faster and faster. This was to try and make it seem more intense, make the audience ask what was going to happen? The build up, i think would attract teenagers because they would want to know what was going to happen as soon as possible whereas, i reckon older generations are more ‘into’ films that get to the point or just flow nicely throughout. 

Evaluation number 4!!

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Throughout first ideas, post production and final production, the target audience for Breaking Reality was 12+  for both genders but most so towards the males due to the action found within the film. It would be aimed at middle class, normal higher education students. The gaming graphics in the film i think help to attract the audience we were after. We chose to target this target audience as in ways, parts of it can easily relate to those watching it. The people it is aimed at are either of similar age to those in the film or in similar surroundings (school). Also, the scope in which films are available is now huge… You no longer have to wait months for it to come out on DVD, you can go watch it in the cinema or even on the internet (which pretty much, every teen uses). Now that the 2 minute opening sequence is finished, i do think we managed to create it to attract the audience that we were after.

In our original questionnaire, we asked ‘Who do you think were the target audience for this film?‘ The feedback that we got back from this shows us that it is likely that teenagers (12+) would be the expected target audience.

In our altered questionnaires which we gave out to a few members of lower sixth, we asked ‘Would you pay to watch the full film Breaking Reality if it were to be released in the cinema this year after having watched the first two minutes? If so/not, why?’ The feedback that we got back showed us that 11/15 said yes, 1/15 said no and 3/15 said maybe – 

However, if we had of targeted our opening at a female audience, it would have panned out so much different. If it came to the action then there more than likely wouldn’t be physical violence, more so ‘bitchy’ comments and rivalry. As for the comedy? Even if it was used in the same sort of context, it would still pan out very different to a female audience. It isn’t very often that you’d expect a female to laugh at the childish humor used within the opening and so we would have had to plan it out in such a way to attract them. 

Evaluation number 3!!

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

With Breaking Reality being a British film, the media institution options aren’t as open as that for an American Film. However, there is still a small variety of institutions that dominate the UK film industry: 

The British National Lottery

Film 4

United International Pictures

Warner Brothers

20th Century Fox

Sony

I think Film4 would be the best media institution to distribute Breaking Reality as they are known for showcasing British Film-making, US independent films, Hollywood blockbusters, mainstream drama and comedy etc. As they are known for guaranteeing a choice type for every type of film fan and have produced and distributed Academy Award winning films such Slumdog Millionaire and Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady, I feel that they will be able to distribute my film successfully. 

Slumdog Millionaire was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight as well as winning seven BAFTAs. The film was down to Celador Films and Film4 productions and was projected to cost US$15 million and so Celador Films found a US distributor to help share the costs. They found Fox Searchlight Pictures who made and offer that was thought to be in the $2 million range. However, Warner Independent Pictures made an offer of $5 million to win rights to the picture. Huge costs! But with Breaking Reality being a low cost British film, Film4 would hopefully be the institution to happily distribute it, especially as results from our questionnaire show that it could quite possibly be a very successful film.

Evaluation number 2!!

So me and Beckey have decided to answer question number two together:

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

And to do so, we have recorded ourselves having a discussion answering questions that all together answer the one above.

The questions that we will be looking at are:

Who were you planning on aiming your opening/film at? What social class?

You say your film is an action comedy… Do you feel you have been able to meet some kind of humorous aspect in your 2 minute opening?

Would you consider uniform to be positive?

Are there any films you can think of that also attract this social group?

Do you think that the daydreaming and violence ha a positive or negative effect?

Do you feel your opening had targeted the right social group?

Here it is! Oh my word, how embarrassing!

Evaluation question number 1!

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

Choosing to do an action comedy, it was challenging to find films that could help us with our ideas for our opening sequence. The real media product that we have to reference is Scott Pilgrim vs The World, directed by Edgar Wright. Two other real media product references that we have are Hot Fuzz, also directed by Edgar Wright and Sucker Punch, directed by Zack Snyder

Edgar Wright is a well known English film director. As well as directing Hot Fuzz and Scott Pilgrim vs The World, he has also directed the well known Shaun of the Dead. He has worked along side the likes of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. He is known for his fast action style editing and likes for deadpan humor. A quote from Edgar Wright about his interest in genres such as comedy and horror: 

I’ve always been fascinated by horror films and genre films. And horror films harbored a fascination for me and always have been something I’ve wanted to watch and wanted to make. Equally, I’m very fascinated by comedy.

For our opening sequence we wanted it to be a British film. As well as action, we wanted comedy and how were we to do that? Add ‘cartoony’ graphic effects, as influenced by Scott Pilgrim vs The World.

Here are some of the effects in Scott Pilgrim vs The World that influenced us and our attempt at them…

Scott Pilgrim vs The World

Breaking Reality 

The first ‘cartoony’ effect to appear in Scott Pilgrim vs The World appears at 0:49 as the word THREE! From then on the ‘cartoony’ features keep coming in the form of lightening bolts etc.

Here is an opening clip for this movie:

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As mentioned earlier, graphic effects were a big influence in the process and production of Breaking Reality’s 2 minute film opening. The games that came to mind when we discussed game scores, features etc were games such asTetris, Block Buster and any other old, arcade type games. 

Taking Breaking Reality off of my mind just for a few mins…

So, Breaking Reality seems to be taking over my mind at the moment, there is so much that i have left to do with it (evaluation! Which, is on its way, just need to finish planning it). By doing so? Having my weekly dose of Take me out!

It seems to be the only thing i really want to watch on TV! Apart from Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents! Both programs i think are great haha. Although, i think Take me out is probably the most appropriate to blog about…

To be honest, the reason as to why i like it so much is probably because i loooooove Paddy McGuinness! He is actually hilarious. Or at least i think so…

No likey? Nooo lighty!

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Aaaaaaaaaaand back to Breaking Reality we go…..