Sunday 6 April 2014

Evaluation: Part Eight

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?


I found that the screen recordings which I captured deemed to be unsuccessful; we was not able to establish the quality of footage which we desired by using screen recordings. (The clarity was horrendous and the frame rate was terrible). However, we managed to established significantly improved footage for our title sequence by using a software called 'HyperCam' we managed to capture clear footage and from viewing our title sequence drafts - you can see the drastic change in the quality of our footage development. We managed to make a considerable change to successfully capture our desired footage in better quality.

Our improvements have enhanced the quality of our title sequence and it has been developed substantially; we transitioned through technology. For example, we used a my DSLR camera for our first few drafts to capture our footage - the footage was too shaky and blurry. We eventually moved onto screen recordings; I tried gathering screen recordings for our initial footage. However, the frame rate was horrendous and we did not gather the footage which was required for our title sequence. We refined and developed our title sequence by using 'Hypercam' to capture our footage - the software proved itself to be successful for our intentions of creating our final draft of our title sequence. We decided to dispose of the fonts which we used before hand because they did not suit our title sequence according to some of our feedback and we decided to establish our fonts by using Facebook - our font concept drastically improved as our title sequence is based on social media (Facebook) it seemed to be a accomplished idea to use social media for our fonts.

By improving our title sequence: we could include more connotations regarding zombies by initially including more footage of zombie attacks (zombies in general); foreshadowing a variety of weapons to convey and connote future bloodshed and death to the audience (show one of our protagonists killing a zombie); include more photographs of our protagonists along with their friends and zombies (to show the zombie apocalypse is essentially ascending). Extend the length of our title sequence to include more footage and photographs.

Evaluation: Part Seven

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

We used cross media convergence within our progress by using mobile phones a technology as a device to record on as an alternative to a specific camera. Due to social media being one of our main concepts; we decided to use footage which I captured on my phone to upload to social media websites (Facebook) which relates to protagonists and relates to our target audience - people with the similar age to our protagonists have uploaded videos via phones to social media. Therefore, it relates to our target audience. I have learned that alternative technologies can be used to capture videos or photographs to relate the audience to characters or initial concepts of our film.

I think that using a phone for recording was successful as it links with the concept of our target audience uploading videos to social media by using phones as a recording device.

We used my DSLR camera to capture photographs of our protagonists in the particular scenes which we desired, along with the ambience which we deemed necessary for our title sequence. We considered the environment due to our initial concept of our protagonists being shown in a outside as well as inside locations. We converged to phones to capture videos and photographs and we also converged to software on computers to associate with our title sequence.

I used a sound recorder to capture sounds of the clicking of the mouse and the sounds of myself typing on a keyboard; I did this so we could use it for our title sequence for emphasised Foley sounds.

I used screen recordings to attempt to capture our footage for our title sequence. Once I initiated the screen recording feature on a computer I captured footage of myself proceeding with the following: loading up the internet; typing in 'Facebook' in the search bar; logging into my characters profile (John Bell); browsing the media and observing the photographs and videos which have been uploaded to my protagonists Facebook profile. However, we faced some anomalies- the screen was too jittery; the frame rate was unsatisfactory (extremely poor); the clarity was atrocious. We managed to download a different software called 'Hypercam' to record and capture our footage for our title sequence. I have learnt that different pieces of software is specifically used for particular concepts. By converging to my phone from my camera has helped me establish the idea that teenagers use phones and other devices (convergence) to capture videos and photographs which would eventually be uploaded to social media websites. Therefore, I have used various pieces of technology to capture our footage and photographs for our title sequence.

Saturday 5 April 2014

Evaluation: Part Six

How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

Our media product represents the specific social group which we have established from our audience profiling and research; typical modern teenagers. I used my phone for a type of hand held cinematography - this relates to our particular target audience because modern teenagers are involved with the technological advancement (using social media and technology like phones). Our media product shows that our protagonists use Facebook (a type of social media). Therefore, this particularly relates to typical teenagers regarding social media being part of the teenagers generation - technology. The typography which we used is established along with social media; the social group which we intended to focus on utilises social media - due to this, we wanted to use Facebook as a source to relate to our social group (our typography is based on social media to relate to our particular social group - stereotypical teenagers). For our audience profiling; we researched what typical teenagers are particularly interested in regarding to media - music, television, films (what teenagers watch, observe, listen to) and other interests which relate to typical teenagers. We included this as part of our contents for our media product by showing what our particular protagonists are interested in which also relate to what the social group (typical teenagers) are also interested in. We wanted to follow the stereotype to relate our protagonists to our audience (social group).

From our research on this particular social group; we have selected a particular attire for our protagonists which also relate to typical teenagers (jeans, chinos, 'hoodies', trainers and other pieces of apparel regarding to our social group). The particular colours which sustain the attire of our protagonists are informal; we chose these particular colours for our protagonists attire to make them seem puerile to correspond with typical teenagers. We used some bright colours to make our protagonists seem  childish and in some cases immature, the colours partially express our characters personality with the colours of their attire - links with typical teenagers - clothing.

We tried to synchronise our particular soundtrack and the editing together to make it seem more fast paced along with the contents in the temporal duration of time of our title sequence. Our editing is quite fast paced; the photographs of our protagonists (shots) are swift and moving more in time with our soundtrack. This could convey to the audience that our protagonists lifestyles are fast paced; the photographs of our protagonists with friends at parties could also connote that our characters have fast paced life styles - typical teenagers usually attend parties. The music enhances the speed regarding to the contents of our title sequence.

We wanted to set up an enigma for our audience by using a soundtrack which may seem more in opposition to the horror genre; the soundtrack lacks connotations of zombies and horror conventions. We used this sound track because it correlates more with the concept of using social media and music which modern teenagers tend to listen to. We wanted our audience to keep thinking about what else could happen in the film instead of constant repetition of zombies which give away the main ideology to the audience. We wanted our audience to think about the zombies as there are limited zombie connotations shown in our title sequence - we did not want to follow typical zombie films where connotations of zombies would constantly be conveyed to the audience. We wanted our title sequence to be more original in comparison to other zombie films.

Our media product shows one of our protagonists commenting on a post on Facebook of a video (revealing our protagonists) which shows his disarray, it also shows that teenagers are able to communicate over social media in their generation of using technology.

Friday 4 April 2014

Evaluation: Part Five

How did you attract your audience?

I believe that we reached our target audience because we used concepts which relate to our chosen target audience; we used social media to be one of the main elements for our film. Our target audience (18-25) relate to our protagonists because of the similar age to our audience and social media is used by our particular audience. Aspects like comedy is shown between our protagonists when they appear together in various places or socialising with other friends at parties. Some of the contents of the photographs present 'mug shots' of our characters when they are shown with other friends - to be shown as typical teenagers; also it brings in a sense of comedy for the audience. This conveys to the audience that our protagonists have friends who might be susceptible to the zombie apocalypse.

Our title sequence presents horror/comedy/thriller films which would appeal to typical teenagers which would correlate to our protagonists and of course target audience. The temporal duration in which the images of films which relate to this concept; conveys to the audience that our protagonists seem to be intrigued in the ideology of zombies.

The feedback which we received from our questionnaires state that we were successful for: our title sequence being established on social media (Facebook) - links with our target audience; the music lacked zombie connotations (lyrics) but some others liked the music; the photographs which are used throughout the title sequence worked as a comedy aspect - the feedback which was received approves of the images used (the particular timing for each shot is accurate).

The music which we used for our title sequence seemed to be particularly unsuccessful; the lyrics did not connote zombies or death to emphasise our title sequence. However, some of our feedback declares that the music which we chose worked - some people liked it.

Due to our feedback; we were unsuccessful due to the scarcity of zombie connotations. Our audience wanted to see more zombie activity. However, we used images which suggest that our our protagonists are obsessed with the ideology of zombies which sets up an enigma for the audience: conveys that zombies are suggested. The particular name for our film 'A Zombie Movie' portrays the title sequence to be initially about zombies - it gives away the main concept away to the audience. Due to lack of zombies; we wanted to set up an enigma for the audience and to make them more intrigued into watching our title sequence -  instead of following typical zombie films where zombies would be constantly shown, we wanted less connotations of zombies for our audience to have the assumption of thinking about the zombies (where they would be seen and presented). We did not want our target audience to be shown too many zombie connotations; we used imagery to connote that our protagonists are into zombies like typical modern teenagers. Therefore, we wanted our title sequence to be more original for not presenting an over abundance of zombie connotations whereas the title sequence for the film 'Zombieland' has constant zombie activity.

To improve our title sequence: select a song which establishes and conveys more zombie connotations which could also relate to death or disruption to our target audience - this could make the music more synronised with our particular title sequence; More zombie activity (videos/photographs which could exist in our target audience).

Evaluation: Part four

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

We began to research the conventions of the genre by looking at various films for further inspiration. For example, Evil Dead conveyed connotations of weapons and blood (the colour red was emphasised by blood to exemplify the specification of death fluently) to foreshadow future bloodshed and death. The red also connoted danger to the audience - weapons are presented to emphasise the idea of death and danger being established. The low key lighting emphasises the mood and tone of the film to the audience, giving away connotations of sadistic effects which might be considered in the film. We had gained more of an idea of the containing conventions which are required in the same genre of our film; we developed our understanding of the conventions used in the horror genre to elaborate upon for our film.

We researched the conventions which seem to be illustrated in horror films which may seem particularly relevant for our film. Evil Dead, used close ups and cropped out parts of an image so the audience could not exactly work out the image which they would observe. The blood (colour red) and the low key lighting are two powerful components which convey the conventions which appear in horror films. The lighting for the film 'Zombieland' is more natural and the title sequence shows footage of characters attempting to eradicate or flee from the undead characters which appear in the title sequence, the title sequence unveils clips of action which may be elaborated in the film. The connotations of weapons and blood are elaborated frequently during the duration of the title sequence.

Our title sequence appears to be modern because of the technologies considered (social media - Facebook). The photographs and video footage shows that our setting is in an urban region - some of the photographs present our protagonists with other friends at parties (historical events). The lighting is natural not artificial. The editing (pace of shots) is fast paced; this could connote to the audience that the fast paced movement of our title sequence applied for our protagonists lifestyles.

We used hand held cinematography to capture the effect of unbalance within the videos and to relate the concept with our target audience of typical teenagers using social media to post videos and other types of media. Hand held cinematography can intensify the moment for the audience as the footage is not very steady, the audience would have to focus on the contents of the hand held footage to establish its meaning - the enigma which we set for our audience - iconography of zombies and unbalance which is conveyed in the footage,

We set an iconography by showing the repetitive features of zombie films/images/games within our title sequence to establish what our protagonists are obsessed with, it also conveys to the audience the main concept of the film (zombies). The iconography set presents the main concept of our particular genre to the audience; by giving detail and information away to the audience about our specific genre which is emphasised in our film (information of our genre; iconography of zombies being elaborated through images and footage).

The soundtrack which we used for our title sequence corresponds with the concept of social media and the association of the target audiences preference in modern music (fast paced - along with our editing, synchronising them both for greater effect of pace.

These are concepts which we planned on using for our particular title seqence; they are typical conventions which appear in horror/thriller genre films and we considered these conventions from our research after watching various title sequences of the same genre for inspiration for our film, these are conventions which we established from our research (typical conventions for the horror genre - research for conventions of horror):



  • Low key lighting 
  • Faint images
  • Foreshadowing of death/bloodshed
  • Isolation
  • Scenery - rural/urban
  • Foreshadowing
  • Psychopath/killer - glimpse of character
  • Sets Equilibrium
  • Knife (other weapon types) - foreshadowing physical weapons
  • Medical imagery - experiments
  • Dark clothing 
  • Handheld footage - intensifies the particular area for the audience
  • General slow paced editing - longer duration of time for the audience to observe specific characteristics
  • Orchestral music or heavy rock
  • Scrape like sounds - dissonant sounds
  • Words scraped - engraved into materials - suggests or foreshadows something
  • Connotations of weapons
  • Connotations of blood  
  • Hand held - shaky - unbalance 
  • Close ups - close ups of weapons, characters (abstracts of character qualities)
  • Tracking shot
  • Point of view shot
  • High and low angles 
  • Birds eye view
  • Worm eye
  • Pan movement 
  • Establishing shot
The conventions (part of research) of a title sequence may consist of the following:

  • Introduction to the protagonists
  • music and sounds being elaborated throughout the title sequence
  • The editing - time and pace of the shots - continuity
  • Connotations of weapons which can be considered to be exemplified to foreshadow death and bloodshed
  • Genre information which is conveyed to the audience 
  • Enigma 
  • Setting and location: rural/urban
  • The use of imagery
  • Mise en scene/cinematograohy/sound and editing- emphasised
  • characters/protagonists - types/roles
  • Cast and crew
  • Film title
  • Lighting - affecting mood and tone for the audience
  • Colour - establishing the particular concept of connotations (meanings for particular colours used; red could indicate violence/danger and blood)
  • Location
  • Soundtrack/theme tune
  • film contrast
  • patterns and tones of editing
Our title sequence contains the conventions of the cast and crew which is shown on the social media which is presented in our title sequence - photographs of the particular protagonists are also shown to the audience for visual information. The protagonists which are shown share their similarities which they may have with the audience (interests - film/music taste). It particularly shows how teenagers would use social media, one of our protagonists demonstrate how they browse Facebook and communicate to others by observing posts of footage which is exemplified in our title sequence. The film is presented to be modern due to the technology which is used with the title sequences (devices - convergence). The relation between our characters regarding zombies appear to be an obsession for the characters whereas photographs of zombies/zombie games/zombie films and general images set up a particular iconography for the audience which is related to the zombie concept. 

Thursday 3 April 2014

Evaluation: Part three

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


Columbia:
The budget for our film is considerably reasonable in comparison to the other films which we have researched for our pitch. Our budget for our film is approximately £15 million. I researched the distributors for the films which I have previously mentioned and which appear in the pitch which we created for our film; we used these films as further influence and inspiration to help us develop our very own conventions and other concepts for our film.

We chose Columbia to be the distributor of our film because Columbia has previously distributed films which have the conventions of the following genres: dark humour/horror/thriller - one of the reasons that we chose to have Columbia ad our distributor is because the studio distributes films which have the similar genres which relates to our film. I used IMDB  to research if Columbia has distributed towards a film which has similar aspects to our film (a zombie apocalypse) I could not find a zombie film which has been distributed by Columbia so I assume that they have not. We desire Columbia to be our distributor because of the particular genres which relate our film. Columbia has distributed films which take on the role of horror but not a zombie film, from the information which I have gathered; Columbia distributes films which may have relatively high budgets (our budget is £15 million). Columbia distributes films which have similar target audiences to our particular film.

'Spider Man Three' had a worldwide gross of $891 million. I can deduce from this that it is quite successful
from the worldwide gross which has been established from this film alone.

Sony Pictures:
We had considered Sony Pictures to be our distributor. However, by researching the budgets for the films which Sony Pictures distribute are relatively higher than our budget. Therefore, we could not have Sony Pictures to be our distributor. Sony Pictures mainly considers more humour/drama films.For example, Sony Pictures distributed the classic 'Oliver Twist'. However, Sony Pictures distributed Zombieland which is potentially a film similar to ours with its target audience and similar conventions.

20th Century Fox:

From our research; we established that 20th Century Fox distributed one of the films we used as an influence/inspiration for our particular film (28 Days Later). The target audience is relatively different in comparison to our target audience. Therefore, this distributor would not be suitable for our film due to the difference in target audience; the target audience for this particular distributor is teenagers/young adults. Certificate - 12-15. The target audience for 20th Century Fox is too low for the target audience which we desire (18-25) we will not be using 20th Century Fox as our distributor.


We have looked at various distributors to see which one would be most suitable for our film; we believe that Columbia should be our distributor because of the similarities in which our film has to films which have been distributed by Columbia and the similar target audiences which our film shares.

Wednesday 2 April 2014

Evaluation: Part Two

Who would be the audience for your product?

I can deduce that the target audience for my film would be for adults (18-25) as it is a dark comedy/horror/thriller film. I think that it would appeal to the target audience which I have stated; The characters (three main protagonists) that are shown in the title sequence are young people which are shown together as friends. I think that my product would appeal to my audience because it relates to their age, the protagonists have a similar age to those who would be viewing my film. I think that the older audiences would like my product because of the zombie apocalypse concept going on for generations in film. We also wanted our particular target audience to be close to other zombie films so that our target audience could relate themselves more with our characters. We looked at the age rating for various films: 28 Days Later (18); 28 Weeks Later (18); Evil Dead (18) and Zombieland (15). I think that my films would be certified to be an 18 plus (18-25 preferably). We also had a group discussion about the target audience concept and we all agreed that our target audience should be 18-25; this is also stated in our pitch for our film.

As a group, we handed out questionnaires with one particular question which asked people which age our protagonists should be for our film. We gathered our information and received feedback with the following age ratings:
  • 18-26
  • 20-30
  • 15 Plus  
We had to play as our characters (protagonists) for our film so therefore, it would be more ideal if our age rating for our characters would be nearer to our potential age. We also wanted the target audience to be similar to the age ratings from other zombie films which I previously stated. We had discussed the ages which we should decide on and it has been confirmed that it is 18-25.