Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?
The aim of this slide is to give a step by step analysis of how I used different media technologies to construct my film and why I chose the technologies and programs.
I used different media technologies in the construction of making my film, from the Research and Development, The Productions through to The Evaluation I used a wide range of technologies to help assist me with this. To begin with, I used a variety of software in order to assist me with researching my 3 chosen films, articles and posters.
To research my chosen films I used websites such as IMDB.com and BFI.com to find out facts and information such as when the film was distributed, funding, actors and directors ect. For my posters, I first I used google to research my 3 films posters, I was successful in 2 of these 'This is England' and 'Natural Born Killers', however because 'Fridge' is an Independent film that is not as well known as my other film choices such as 'This is England', it was impossible to find a poster as it didn't exist. After noticing the style of the posters, fonts, colours and techniques I took inspiration from this and created my own two posters. I will discuss how I created these later on. For researching the articles I used Sight and Sound magazine and Empire magazine, two popular common film media magazines that have reliable information and provided me with a platform to begin my research with and base my own article on. The two magazines contrasted with one another and therefore I chose to focus on one, which was Empire magazine, I will discuss how I created my own article based on an Empire magazine article later on. I also used youtube to watch clips and sections from the films as this was easily accessible and allowed me to watch short clips for free, I then used Microsoft word to type all this information out in my own words, this was then transferred online to my Weebly account.
The aim of this slide is to give a step by step analysis of how I used different media technologies to construct my film and why I chose the technologies and programs.
I used different media technologies in the construction of making my film, from the Research and Development, The Productions through to The Evaluation I used a wide range of technologies to help assist me with this. To begin with, I used a variety of software in order to assist me with researching my 3 chosen films, articles and posters.
To research my chosen films I used websites such as IMDB.com and BFI.com to find out facts and information such as when the film was distributed, funding, actors and directors ect. For my posters, I first I used google to research my 3 films posters, I was successful in 2 of these 'This is England' and 'Natural Born Killers', however because 'Fridge' is an Independent film that is not as well known as my other film choices such as 'This is England', it was impossible to find a poster as it didn't exist. After noticing the style of the posters, fonts, colours and techniques I took inspiration from this and created my own two posters. I will discuss how I created these later on. For researching the articles I used Sight and Sound magazine and Empire magazine, two popular common film media magazines that have reliable information and provided me with a platform to begin my research with and base my own article on. The two magazines contrasted with one another and therefore I chose to focus on one, which was Empire magazine, I will discuss how I created my own article based on an Empire magazine article later on. I also used youtube to watch clips and sections from the films as this was easily accessible and allowed me to watch short clips for free, I then used Microsoft word to type all this information out in my own words, this was then transferred online to my Weebly account.
For the development stage of my media studies, we were told to create several things in order to present alongside with our film. These being, a Logline and Synopsis, a Treatment, a Screenplay, a Storyboard, a Shot Plan and a Shot List. I used a variety of software and hardware to complete this task. To begin with, I used google to find model treatments and synopsis's, I then created a checklist of everything it had to include, how to present this and what not to do. I then used Microsoft word to type up my Log line and Synopsis, making sure I stuck to my checklist plan. Here is my Checklist.
My next step was to create a screenplay (otherwise known as a script), shot plan and shot list. I first had a look at a few scripts online, paying attention to the format and font type. I then created my own script, I did this by using Microsoft word, this was simple to do and free, I then changed my script and adapted it as I went along because I wanted to keep improving and developing it in order to make it better. Here below is an image I found online whilst researching script formats and styles. I then used the information from my script in order to create a shot plan and shot list. My aim was to match the script, with the shot list, this was simple as I used Microsoft word in order to transfer the information over to a new document and present it in a different format, but with the same information. I found the shot plan quite difficult to begin with, as I had to consider each of the shots, the numbers, the setting and format, however I over came this as I created multiple shot plans, and with each one I improved, as did the shot plan.
The next step was to create a story board. The most important thing I tried to do whilst creating the storyboard was to match it to the script, this is important as otherwise it would be confusing to follow the shots and plans as they would both be different. To begin with, I printed off my script and revised the details, I then used a camera ( a Cannon 600d) to present stills, each of them matching the script plan. I then transferred the still images onto the computer and started to order them on a powerpoint presentation. I have several Story Boards as with each script that I developed, I also changed the Story Board to match, at the beginning of this process, I was unsure of what images I wanted, some of the stills were out of focus, the size of each image on the powerpoint was different and some images were in landscape format and others were in horizontal, I quickly learned that this was incorrect and changed it to suit. After developing my story board multiple times, I am now happy with the end result as it is simple, neat and allowed me to shoot my film with confidence and calmness as I followed my plan.
The next step of the development process was to create 2 posters and 2 articles which conform to the standard conventions of our chosen genre. To create my poster, I used Photoshop. To begin with I found using Photoshop really difficult, I had never used this software before and therefore found it challenging to use. However, our teacher ran through the basics of Photoshop and I quickly gained knowledge of how to use it and what can be done on it. My first step was to take more stills on the Cannon 600d of my main character, I wanted to take at least 20 so that I had options which lead to a wide range of ideas. In the end I chose two simple images, one of the girl looking at her reflection in the mirror and the other of the girl sitting down in an empty classroom at school. I found, through the research stage, I preferred simple and not too busy images such as the poster of 'This is England', as complex posters look confusing and overwhelming, this takes away from the main point of a poster which is to present the characters and sell the story. I then used, Photoshop to create layers to the poster. I created another checklist of questions that a poster should answer and fulfilled this. I attempted to use pastiche from my chosen researched films to create my posters. I liked the simplicity of the 'This is England' and 'Natural Born Killers' posters, I tried to replicate the feel and mood of the realism genre by using realistic costumes, makeup, and setting (the first setting is in a house and the second is in a school). I wanted the film to be a 15 certificate so I used Photoshop to copy and paste the certificate off the internet, I also researched independent film companies and the awards, that they have and suggesting that my film were to be nominated for these awards, such as Cannes Film Festival. I liked how my images were simple because I feel this is more affective, I chose a large bold font for the title of the film, which stands out and is easy to read. I also changed the contrast and light of the posters in order to give it a grainy, dull feel, mirroring the films style and mood.
To create my article I used Empire magazine as an inspiration, paying attention to fonts, colors, imagery, layout, columns and style. I first started by analysing an article from Empire magazine and taking notes as to what I could use within my article, I decided that I would conform to the colours used within Empire magazine such as, mustard yellow, red, black, white and gold. I liked the font used, however because I couldn't find the exact same one, I found one similar on Microsoft word and used that one. This was very effective as is stood out, bounced of the page and caught people's attention. I then realised that the majority of images used within Empire magazine are snapshots taken from the film, this is what I have decided to do, as it conforms to my brand identity too, by having the same actress within each ancillary text. I then began to put my article together on Microsoft word, I used columns to space out my wording, I than began to write the article in the style of Empire magazine, meaning that I used colloquial, descriptive language explaining the MIGRAIN of my film. I then began to change the fonts and sizes of the wording, I also copied over the image of the snapshot taken from my film. The final steps were to create borders, stars, fact information, arrows, titles and quotes to give my article the finished look.
The final part of the process was creating my film. I used the Story Board, Script and Shot list to assist me with this. I shot my film on a Cannon 600d, this was simple and fairly easy to do once the camera had been set up. At first, I found the focus of the lens quite challenging to sustain as it wasn't stable and didn't just stay in focus from the start as I thought it would. However, I moved on from this issue with a few practise rushes, becoming more confident and comfortable with the camera and its style. In my film, I have a few out of focus shots, this was intentional, I wanted some of the shots to blur in and out of focus, the reason behind this was to add to the enigmatic narrative, and to make the audience feel that they were in the room and are in the cameras position whilst the film is going on. To help me with the 'shakiness' of the shot, I used a Safari tripod. This was so useful as it helped me to sustain a clean and non shaky shot. To edit the film I used final cut express. I first found this challenging as I haden't used the program in a while, however once reminded of the basics It took me a couple of lessons to edit my film together and after that I had finished.