Tuesday, 16 March 2010
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
My media production does not exactly challenge the forms and conventions of real media products but instead it follows them so that the viewer is not put off. What I wanted to do with “Reaperation” was to scare the viewer as much as possible, not make them jump but build up a surge of fear and adrenaline inside themselves. I have achieved this by creating quite a fast pace through the quick jump cuts. The unpredictability also helps create this fear/adrenaline.
Like in almost all films the first thing you see is the production logo title screen such as ‘Paramount’ or ‘20th Century Fox’. Rather than taking one of these well known titles I decided to make my own. I created the background by layering 3 pictures that I had taken on a previous occasion and then added an oil painting effect to them. The title itself I made from a font which I downloaded and then edited it accordingly so it was in the shape I wanted. This title was an animation which took me about three hours to create and one hour to animate. This title screen I thought was very successful as it turned out to look a bit like a Monty Python animation.
The next title screen was the film title “Reaperation”. This was another animation I made; I made this by drawing the title so it had the style that I wanted, I then scanned it into the computer and edited it. The scythe was made from another drawing which was scanned and edited. The animation took about 3 hours to create and 4 hours to animate. I am very pleased with the outcome as it took such a long time.
The next title screen to come up is the directors (my) name. The effect on this is a radial blur. This comes before the other title screens as the director is considered to have a more important role than the actors, but his name is less important than the title name. The actor’s names do not come in order of film relevance. I also used a radial blur on these names.
Another way in which this film opening follows conventions is that each clip is in a logical order. If I put the clips in a random order then the film would appear to be a trailer rather than an opening.
Like in almost all films the first thing you see is the production logo title screen such as ‘Paramount’ or ‘20th Century Fox’. Rather than taking one of these well known titles I decided to make my own. I created the background by layering 3 pictures that I had taken on a previous occasion and then added an oil painting effect to them. The title itself I made from a font which I downloaded and then edited it accordingly so it was in the shape I wanted. This title was an animation which took me about three hours to create and one hour to animate. This title screen I thought was very successful as it turned out to look a bit like a Monty Python animation.
The next title screen was the film title “Reaperation”. This was another animation I made; I made this by drawing the title so it had the style that I wanted, I then scanned it into the computer and edited it. The scythe was made from another drawing which was scanned and edited. The animation took about 3 hours to create and 4 hours to animate. I am very pleased with the outcome as it took such a long time.
The next title screen to come up is the directors (my) name. The effect on this is a radial blur. This comes before the other title screens as the director is considered to have a more important role than the actors, but his name is less important than the title name. The actor’s names do not come in order of film relevance. I also used a radial blur on these names.
Another way in which this film opening follows conventions is that each clip is in a logical order. If I put the clips in a random order then the film would appear to be a trailer rather than an opening.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media production does not really represent a specific social group as there is no ‘specific’ social group involved in it. It does however give a stereotypical view of the grim reaper by including his traditional black robe and scythe. The victim in my film represents just one of the many victims to come, if I had carried on making this film into a full length feature production you would see that the victim was not actually killed in that opening sequence. My victim has been designed to represent the average teenager that is likely to go camping for a weekend with a group of friends.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
As my film is fairly low budget it is unlikely that the distributor would be a well known company such as Dream Works who distributed “The Ring” which has been a great influence on my film. Instead it is likely to be distributed by a company like Artisan Entertainment who distributed The Blair Witch Project (a very low budget production) and House of the dead, or by Lion's Gate Films who distributed Rob Zombies films; House of a Thousand Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media production would be ages 18 – 35 year olds, but indirectly 16 / 17 year olds as well. It is generally aimed at people who are looking to have a good old fashioned scare. If I made this film into a feature length production I would not be making it for any other reasons, other to frighten people as much as I can.
This production is not aimed at a specific gender as I think that both male and females can enjoy it. I think however that the main audience who would watch this film would be the metallic fans of “Children of Bodom” as it is loosely based off of the Lake Bodom murders as is this band. This means that if the film were to be made into a full feature length production it would have to include Finish subtitles as the people of Finland would most likely like it.
This production is not aimed at a specific gender as I think that both male and females can enjoy it. I think however that the main audience who would watch this film would be the metallic fans of “Children of Bodom” as it is loosely based off of the Lake Bodom murders as is this band. This means that if the film were to be made into a full feature length production it would have to include Finish subtitles as the people of Finland would most likely like it.
How did you attract/address your audience?
I have attracted my target audience by making this film as frightening as possible. I did this using various editing techniques. The music is important in any horror film, as it is one of the best ways to build up tension. I started looking for tense music before I had started filming, this was so I could get a feel for how the music would fit into the film whilst I was filming and editing. While I was filming I had several pieces of music on my Ipod which found difficult to select, (this tracks were all copyright free). As I looked back over the footage that I filmed that day, I listened to these tracks to see what worked and what didn’t. When I brought the footage up on the computer and laid it out in a very basic edit I added several pieces of music and even tried mixing a few until I found the perfect piece.
I considered, creating my own music as I play in a band but it would have taken too much time writing and recording a piece as well as juggling with editing this film.
I added quite a few effects during the editing process in order to make this film as scary as possible and attract my audience. The first thing I did once I had my footage in the order I wanted it was to make the whole thing black and white. I originally wanted to film in the dark but my camera had trouble picking up any images due to the lack of light. I then added a flicker effect and an old grain effect to give it a spooky atmosphere.
Another technique I used to attract my audience was stop motion. I used this to give the reaper a ghostly appearance and to speed up the pace of the film. When the reaper jumps from place to place I used a blur effect to make it appear as if he is dissolving. This effect adds another layer to the film to make it feel extra eerie.
The film’s title attract my audience as they match the genre of the film itself. If I were to use a different typography for the titles I do not think that it would have as great an effect. For the films title I drew it myself so I got exactly the style I wanted and did not have to rely on finding something similar already prepared for me.
I originally wanted to use a forest/wood for my setting as the shadows created by the trees and the trees them selves give off a claustrophobic feel, but due to poor weather I was not able to do this. Instead I found an ally near my friends’ house where I could film, it probably isn’t as successful as a wood would have been but it did work fortunately.
I decided to cast my friends as the characters in my film opening as they were people that I could rely on and got on well with, so they didn’t mind when I was a bit obnoxious/impatient whilst trying to film/direct. For the victim I originally had a different person lined up but he was not available at any convenient times for my filming so instead, another friend play the part. I cannot say whether he performed better than the other person
I considered, creating my own music as I play in a band but it would have taken too much time writing and recording a piece as well as juggling with editing this film.
I added quite a few effects during the editing process in order to make this film as scary as possible and attract my audience. The first thing I did once I had my footage in the order I wanted it was to make the whole thing black and white. I originally wanted to film in the dark but my camera had trouble picking up any images due to the lack of light. I then added a flicker effect and an old grain effect to give it a spooky atmosphere.
Another technique I used to attract my audience was stop motion. I used this to give the reaper a ghostly appearance and to speed up the pace of the film. When the reaper jumps from place to place I used a blur effect to make it appear as if he is dissolving. This effect adds another layer to the film to make it feel extra eerie.
The film’s title attract my audience as they match the genre of the film itself. If I were to use a different typography for the titles I do not think that it would have as great an effect. For the films title I drew it myself so I got exactly the style I wanted and did not have to rely on finding something similar already prepared for me.
I originally wanted to use a forest/wood for my setting as the shadows created by the trees and the trees them selves give off a claustrophobic feel, but due to poor weather I was not able to do this. Instead I found an ally near my friends’ house where I could film, it probably isn’t as successful as a wood would have been but it did work fortunately.
I decided to cast my friends as the characters in my film opening as they were people that I could rely on and got on well with, so they didn’t mind when I was a bit obnoxious/impatient whilst trying to film/direct. For the victim I originally had a different person lined up but he was not available at any convenient times for my filming so instead, another friend play the part. I cannot say whether he performed better than the other person
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have developed and enhanced various skills through the production of my media project. One skill I have developed is my skill of using a camera effectively. The first time I laid my hands on a video camera was when I was seven years old. Since then I have progressed dramatically with the movement of the camera and the choice in shots.
I have also developed my understanding of Sony Vegas. Before this project I had only used this software a few times. This project allowed me to use different effects which I had not used before and I also now know what each effect does and what is possible on this programme.
I have also developed my skill of creating animations and editing photos in order to create the effect I want. Making logos is another skill which I have developed, I have only made a few logos on a computer but the ‘Carnival Productions’ one was by far my most successful. To create this logo I used Paint.net a programme I am now very familiar with.
I have also developed my understanding of Sony Vegas. Before this project I had only used this software a few times. This project allowed me to use different effects which I had not used before and I also now know what each effect does and what is possible on this programme.
I have also developed my skill of creating animations and editing photos in order to create the effect I want. Making logos is another skill which I have developed, I have only made a few logos on a computer but the ‘Carnival Productions’ one was by far my most successful. To create this logo I used Paint.net a programme I am now very familiar with.
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