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.
Sunday 6 April 2014
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.
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.
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).
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):
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
- 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.
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:
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.
Tuesday 1 April 2014
Evaluation: Part One - Brief
Brief:
We eventually assembled a group: myself, Lauren, Aiden and louis. We had a discussion and came up with three initial concepts which were a desolation/isolation type and an idea of a serial killer in a small time but we decided to settle with the zombie apocalypse concept and we named our project 'A Zombie Movie'. We watched title sequences from a number of zombie films (Evil Dead, Shaun Of The Dead, The Walking Dead, Dawn OF The Dead) so we could establish some ideas which would be required for our title sequence and see what key conventions would be used (horror conventions, text positioning, effects, connotations and more). We decided to give our title sequence a generic name to give away the initial idea of a zombie apocalypse to the audience. We wanted our three protagonists to be seen as modern typical teenagers; to have the fixation and addiction to zombies, we mainly exercised this concept with games and films being presented in our title sequence. Modern teenagers also have a particular obsession with social media; we had a group discussion and decided that our title sequence should be based on social media itself (Facebook). We chose to use Facebook because it is one of the most popular social media websites, we wanted to present our concept of a zombie apocalypse by showing images of zombie connotations and to have a montage of photographs to present our three protagonists. The title sequence shows the profiles which our protagonists names which include photographs and videos of them - The photographs show that the protagonists are friends and together. There are some shots of video games in our title sequence; we wanted to include games and films which typical teenagers would scrutinize. For example, Left 4 Dead and a few others. We have certain aspects which we desired and presented in our title sequence and we included sub-genres: dark humour; to express comedic aspects to our title sequence; horror - we revealed connotations of zombies and images from various zombie games and films which modern teenagers would typically watch. We named our title 'A Zombie Movie' for the simplicity of revealing the main concept to the audience to give them the idea that it will be about a zombie apocalypse.
We also wanted to arouse an enigma for the audience to keep them interested in our title sequence by not using typical conventions which zombie films usually have in their title sequences. We did not want to cause too much disarray for audience by revealing our zombie because of our initial idea of our protagonists not being aware of a zombie apocalypse, but to slowly establish the concept. We researched information about zombie films and established that recent films have been parodies which include concepts like dark humour; we tried to make our title sequence more like a parody because we desired to have dark humour considered. Myself and my group thought that our title sequence had some originality because we have not seen films which have been based on social media websites as an audience.
We eventually assembled a group: myself, Lauren, Aiden and louis. We had a discussion and came up with three initial concepts which were a desolation/isolation type and an idea of a serial killer in a small time but we decided to settle with the zombie apocalypse concept and we named our project 'A Zombie Movie'. We watched title sequences from a number of zombie films (Evil Dead, Shaun Of The Dead, The Walking Dead, Dawn OF The Dead) so we could establish some ideas which would be required for our title sequence and see what key conventions would be used (horror conventions, text positioning, effects, connotations and more). We decided to give our title sequence a generic name to give away the initial idea of a zombie apocalypse to the audience. We wanted our three protagonists to be seen as modern typical teenagers; to have the fixation and addiction to zombies, we mainly exercised this concept with games and films being presented in our title sequence. Modern teenagers also have a particular obsession with social media; we had a group discussion and decided that our title sequence should be based on social media itself (Facebook). We chose to use Facebook because it is one of the most popular social media websites, we wanted to present our concept of a zombie apocalypse by showing images of zombie connotations and to have a montage of photographs to present our three protagonists. The title sequence shows the profiles which our protagonists names which include photographs and videos of them - The photographs show that the protagonists are friends and together. There are some shots of video games in our title sequence; we wanted to include games and films which typical teenagers would scrutinize. For example, Left 4 Dead and a few others. We have certain aspects which we desired and presented in our title sequence and we included sub-genres: dark humour; to express comedic aspects to our title sequence; horror - we revealed connotations of zombies and images from various zombie games and films which modern teenagers would typically watch. We named our title 'A Zombie Movie' for the simplicity of revealing the main concept to the audience to give them the idea that it will be about a zombie apocalypse.
We also wanted to arouse an enigma for the audience to keep them interested in our title sequence by not using typical conventions which zombie films usually have in their title sequences. We did not want to cause too much disarray for audience by revealing our zombie because of our initial idea of our protagonists not being aware of a zombie apocalypse, but to slowly establish the concept. We researched information about zombie films and established that recent films have been parodies which include concepts like dark humour; we tried to make our title sequence more like a parody because we desired to have dark humour considered. Myself and my group thought that our title sequence had some originality because we have not seen films which have been based on social media websites as an audience.
Friday 21 March 2014
Draft Five - Title Sequence
This is our final draft of our title sequence, we have established more connotations of zombies by adding in more videos and images which appear in our title sequence. We have made more precise cuts when we edited the title sequence, we have changed the majority of the fonts which appear on our title sequence; we used Facebook to type up our fonts due to our title sequence being Facebook related. We have removed the ones which we customised on Photoshop and we have used Facebook to type up our fonts.
Thursday 20 March 2014
Feedback From Draft Four - Title Sequence
These are the feedback sheets which we received after the screening of our fourth draft of our title sequence during our previous lesson. As a group we had already discussed and shared our thoughts about the soundtrack for our title sequence; we knew that the lyrics did not correlate well with our specific chosen genre type. However, some people complemented the soundtrack which we used but there was some negative feedback. We were told that the soundtrack did no have lyrics which do not necessarily link with zombies, death, isolation, etc. However, a few others complemented it for the simplicity of using social media as part of our title sequence for the effect.
I particularly like the concept of using Facebook for our fonts and titles instead of using spending time on Photoshop to edit and customise fonts for our title sequence. It seemed like a brilliant idea to display our fonts on Facebook; we will consider this for our final and improved title sequence (our fifth draft).
From the feedback we received previously, we have already begun using the 'Hypercam' software to create more screen recordings for our title sequence. We needed to create more zombie connotations according from our previous feedback. We have taken another video of someone attacking one of our characters to make it seem that the zombie apocalypse has begun.
We intended to make a minuscule amount of zombie connotations - we did not want to follow the typical conventions of our particular genre; we wanted our audience to constantly anticipate and determine the genre by viewing the visual connotations. We wanted our audience to find out about our initial genre at the end of the title sequence due to the name of our film ' A Zombie Movie' the name is generic and it gives away the purpose of the films genre; this is why we wanted to keep our audience guessing.
But due to our feedback we have added more zombie connotations from videos and images which will appear in our final title sequence draft.
Sunday 16 March 2014
Foley sounds
Today I used a sound recorder to record Foley sounds of myself tapping the keys on a keyboard and the sounds of myself clicking the mouse; this correlates with the title sequence which we are creating due to the sounds linking with the characters interaction with a computer following the sequence: loading up the internet, logging onto Facebook and viewing the videos and photographs.
Friday 14 March 2014
Fourth Draft - Title Sequence
There is a minimal amount of zombie connotations in this title sequence; there is a single video of two of our characters and a wary person in the background which gets attacked by a zombie. We tried to make the zombie seem more anonymous and the characters oblivious of the zombie apocalypse. We received more feedback and we need to include more zombie connotations to convey to our audience/viewers, we also need to establish some fonts on Facebook instead of using customised fonts from 'Dafont.com' and even have the title sequence screened from Facebook for more effect due to the majority of the title sequences contents is Facebook. We need to add more posts to our characters profiles which display disarray from our potential characters. More videos of friends being attacked by friends - to fortify the ideology of zombie connotations which can be conveyed, characters being tackled and bitten. But the concept is to keep our characters uneducated from the initial circumstances; not knowing why their friends are attacking one another or other people or acting strange/different. We could also add short footage of a conversation which two or more characters are having on Facebook about the unconventional matters which are occurring.
Third Draft - Title Sequence
We have managed to accomplish and establish smoother pieces of recording for our title sequence, the screen recordings which I took previously on the Mac computers were not as good as expected for out title sequence; the footage that I captured was quite substandard due to the frame being too small and not as fitting as we desired. Enlarging the frames did not improve the size by much but it affected the clarity of the actual footage. I discussed this matter with my group members and we established that the screen recordings on the Mac computers was subsidiary. The movement of the mouse was unsatisfying due to the poor frame rate and the clarity was not as clear as we hoped for.
Instead we downloaded a different software which substantially improved our title sequence with a dramatic effect. The footage was much more smooth and more satisfying to watch; the close ups which we intended to use for our title sequence was much more clearer and viewing practically everything became easier.
I borrowed and used a sound recorder to capture sounds of the following: the clicking of the mouse and the sounds from typing on a keyboard. I used a sound recorder to capture Foley sounds for our title sequence
Second Draft - Title Sequence
We faced difficulties of capturing footage by using screen recordings as suggested by our teachers from our feedback from our previous screening of our title sequence. The frames are too small and it is extremely difficult to read the text which is displayed on the screen. I tried enlarging the screen but that only decreased the clarity of our footage and photographs. The movement of the mouse was too jittery and the frame rate was quite poor due to the outcome of capturing screen recordings. We would have to discuss the matter with our group to substantially improve our film work and clarity of our film work. We may have to use a different type of software or program to capture the desired pieces of footage which we need.
The title sequences time line is four minutes long due to the soundtrack not being cut up on the editing software 'Final Cut Pro' we would have to establish and conclude more precise editing for our title sequence.
Update: As a group, we have discussed the current anomalies and improvements which need to me made and secured. We will be using a software called 'Hypercam' which we will download on one of our own computers at home - we have tested the quality of the software and it has a dramatic effect on our title sequence by substantially increasing picture quality and clarity. We hope to capture the desired footage which we need and we predict that this software which we downloaded will bring ina significant improvement for our title sequence and we'll be awaiting feedback from our teachers to ask for their opinion on our work.
Thursday 13 March 2014
Journal post - screen recording
From the feedback which we received from our first title sequence draft, I previously took screen recordings to capture the scenes which were required for our updated version of our title sequence. However, we had to contend with a few anomalies which affected the act of screen recording. We could not enlarge the screen wide enough to fit our desired scale, we also had to deal with changing the frame on Final Cut Pro for every single piece of footage which I captured by screen recording, the footage was affected due to blurriness when exported to DV on final cut pro. We dealt with the issue by using a different program to capture screen recordings. We also changed from DV to AVI; due to the blurriness which we experienced when editing on Final Cut Pro. We had a group discussion and concluded that we should not use the screen recordings which I gathered, the screen recordings which I took on the macs in school were considered useless due to the problems which we had to contend with. We managed to capture the footage which we needed by using a different program and we changed from DV to AVI.
I managed to capture screen recordings of the photographs which were taken and uploaded and historic photographs of Aiden and Louis (I did not upload any photographs of myself to Facebook or other social media sites because I could not get hold of any, instead I used photographs of myself around other groups of people from parties, outings, etc). I took screen recordings of myself opening the internet and using the search bar on Google to open Facebook and to begin logging into my characters profile, plus to view the posts, events, etc which appear on my profile. I also took a screen recording of the videos which I uploaded to our characters Facebook accounts, I took the videos on my phone to make it seem more realistic where a teenager would be video recording his friends (to include the handheld effect and to introduce more realism). Finally, I gathered screen recordings of comments and status' which I created on the accounts which we created for our characters 'going camping' and the comment which was made for one of the videos which I uploaded, our characters are not meant to realise that there is a zombie outbreak of course, but the comment justifies that our characters are noting small events and other abnormal occurrences. Luckily, we established another way to capture improved versions of my screen recording videos.
I managed to capture screen recordings of the photographs which were taken and uploaded and historic photographs of Aiden and Louis (I did not upload any photographs of myself to Facebook or other social media sites because I could not get hold of any, instead I used photographs of myself around other groups of people from parties, outings, etc). I took screen recordings of myself opening the internet and using the search bar on Google to open Facebook and to begin logging into my characters profile, plus to view the posts, events, etc which appear on my profile. I also took a screen recording of the videos which I uploaded to our characters Facebook accounts, I took the videos on my phone to make it seem more realistic where a teenager would be video recording his friends (to include the handheld effect and to introduce more realism). Finally, I gathered screen recordings of comments and status' which I created on the accounts which we created for our characters 'going camping' and the comment which was made for one of the videos which I uploaded, our characters are not meant to realise that there is a zombie outbreak of course, but the comment justifies that our characters are noting small events and other abnormal occurrences. Luckily, we established another way to capture improved versions of my screen recording videos.
Draft - journal
We need to make improvements to our title sequence; the draft turned out to be too dark due to insufficient lighting (poor lighting control) we also had a few other anomalies which need to be altered. The film was quite shaky and it made it quite difficult to read the text on the screen. I received some feedback; I've learnt that I can use screen recording on a mac computer as an alternative - instead of using a camera (it would be easier to capture close ups etc).
We have already began re-shooting our title sequence; due to the anomalies which had to be fixed. The colour and contrast is more suitable for our improved title sequence. Some of the photographs were repeatedly presented in our title sequence (draft). We removed the images which were presented more than once.
Monday 3 March 2014
Draft one - Title Sequence - Update
We presented the first draft our title sequence. We had already begun re-shooting and gathering more footage and linking in more connotations of zombies - a video which I took on my phone, I recorded Aiden and Louis in the woods and captured the first actual zombie attack which is meant to be presented in our next draft of our title sequence. We did not use a lot of the concepts which we learned from a zombie make - up tutorial which we all watched. We only used fake blood which I applied to Lauren's face due to the zombie is meant to be in the background an not as noticeable, lots of makeup for our zombie would be unnecessary. We thought about using Foley sounds for our title sequence; the clicking of the mouse and the sound of someone typing on a keyboard - I could borrow a sound recorder to do this.
Due to Lauren's absence, I took the liberty of informing her the feedback which we gained from our first screening, I also started screen recordings which was recommended for smoother footage and to improved clarity. I am going to experiment with the screen recording system and see what I capture. When Lauren is present I'll discuss and show her the footage which I captured by using screen recordings which was recommended from our feedback.
Draft one - Title Sequence
This is the first draft of our title sequence. The lighting is really poor; too dark, we would have to record our footage in a different environment to have a tremendous change to the lighting. The camera was also extremely shaky; which affected the clarity for the viewer and the shakiness needs to be removed in general due to it is unnecessary, we'll may have to consider filing and gathering our footage in another perspective and we may have a group discussion to enhance our ideas to develop our title sequence to assemble a second draft due to the first draft being unsuccessful. We will present our title sequence to our teacher; to gain feedback to improve our title sequence significantly.
Tuesday 25 February 2014
Additional Information For Our First Draft
During the holidays, we had taken photographs of our characters and some video recordings plus some footage which I took on my phone which needs to be uploaded before we commence the editing process for our first draft. When we get the opportunity: we will use 'Mpeg Streamclip' to export our photographs and recordings to DV; begin editing and creating sounds for our first title sequence draft (Foley sounds, soundtracks). Once we have exported our recordings to DV; we can begin editing for our first draft.
The video which I took on my phone presents the zombie, but our protagonists are not meant to notice the antagonist (zombie) in the background attacking a wary victim.
The video which I took on my phone presents the zombie, but our protagonists are not meant to notice the antagonist (zombie) in the background attacking a wary victim.
Soundtrack Draft and Update
We created a draft for our soundtrack and we tried editing a little bit more on Final Cut Pro to see if we could make anymore improvements.However, it sounded very distorted and there was parts where the sounds began to echo. We would have to substantially improve this soundtrack if we decide to use it for our title sequences. With this soundtrack; there is no sign of a similarity which the soundtrack and our initial concept for our title sequence share. We may have to change our soundtrack to see if we could find specific lyrics which inherit a correlation with our concept. We would have to have a group discussion to expand our thoughts on the soundtrack; to wither change it or improve it.
Update: We have kept this soundtrack but we have an improved version which plays throughout our title sequence drafts. We are still thinking whether or not if we should change the soundtrack whilst we have time.
Principal Shoot
Myself and my group arrived together at one of our initial locations to initiate the start of our title sequence; we took a series of photographs of the location (we collected photographs of the ambience) and we also took photographs of those who will be shown in the title sequence (myself, Louis and Aiden - as planned). The photographs below are examples of what we took on Saturday 8th of February.
This is our initial location and we captured photographs and some videos for our title sequence.
Friday 21 February 2014
Costume plan
These are the kind of ideal clothes which our characters (protagonists) will wear; throughout the shooting. The characters obviously cannot change the clothes which they wear due to it interrupting the continuity. The clothing chosen are typical pieces of clothing which teenagers usually wear. We found that these pieces of clothing would fit into our title sequence.
Saturday 15 February 2014
Journal - Zombie make - up and first scene with the introduction of a zombie
We managed to find some fake blood which was required for the appearance of our zombie, we did not need to spend a great amount of time on applying make - up and other materials to our zombie due to the zombie is meant to be partially anonymous and discrete - our characters are not meant to be aware of a potential zombie apocalypse in early events. I applied the fake blood to Lauren's face and she interacted (viciously mauling someone in the distance) with Lucy Horton which offered her time and assistance when we needed a zombie to attack a wary person in the far background when our characters would be playing around with the sticks and objects which they find and to pretend to be characters from the Star Wars films, I asked Louis and Aiden if they would make sounds and mention quotations which specific characters state in the films. I took two videos on my phone instead of using my DSLR camera; for the simplicity of my character video recording the friends he is out with. However, the sounds which occur in the two videos will not be heard in our title sequence due to the soundtrack which plays over our title sequence.
An image of Lauren and the fake blood which I applied to her face.
Wednesday 12 February 2014
Black sails - analysis practice
Black Sails
At the beginning of the title sequence, the sea could connote that pirates are a main part to the television series, dark colours are typically used in pirate films for the simplicity of the immoral times (murder, death, crime, etc). The colours that are used are dark and there is a small piece of light in the centre (could possibly be moonlight) and the text is displayed in the middle of the screen.
An ornament is presented and the symbols which are displayed on the object could convey the following subjects: religion, nationality, class, group or even decoration to the audience.
A ship is presented and there are skulls which could foreshadow death and bloodshed. Skulls are typically used in pirate films to connote danger or death to the audience (usually displayed on sails or flags). Cannons are also displayed and are typically shown on pirate ships, could convey future events (oversea battles/war/mutiny) to the audience, horses are presented in the title sequence could represent travel to the audience.
Skeletons are introduced in the title sequence and it could connote future death or an enemy/threat which lingers in the dark. In one of the shots; the skeleton is behind a female figure, this could convey that the concept is subtle.
Connotations of weapons are used to convey purposes of death and are typically shown to foreshadow the concept of death. The audience can interpret that piracy is a part of the film due to the previous figures of boats and other key features which signify the subject of pirates.
Figures of characters are displayed holding various weapons and all have an aggressive look on their faces; this could represent war and other occurrences which involve specific nations (war between two counties or more).
I like the layout of this image as it shows structures riding the waves; this could convey destruction oversea. In the background there is a character with a piece of material placed over his mouth, this could connote to people that are captives.
A ship is displayed sinking in the sea which could convey to the audience that battles have taken place overseas, could be a reference to pirates sinking otherships. Conflict is presented oversea and on land throughout the title sequence.
The music which is played throughout the title sequence sounds orchestral, bagpipes seem to be playing in the soundtrack; this could convey that the film evolves around Scotland due to bagpipes being a traditional Scottish instrument.
Overall, the title sequence for this television series has intrigued me with the historical concepts which are involved in the title sequence, Connotations of subjects are clearly displayed to convey specific purposes to the audience to foreshadow future events and actions. The music which played gradually grew louder, especially with the drums which played throughout the title sequence. The designs of figures which are presented in the sequence which represent war interested me whilst the music was playing. The title sequence felt strong.
At the beginning of the title sequence, the sea could connote that pirates are a main part to the television series, dark colours are typically used in pirate films for the simplicity of the immoral times (murder, death, crime, etc). The colours that are used are dark and there is a small piece of light in the centre (could possibly be moonlight) and the text is displayed in the middle of the screen.
An ornament is presented and the symbols which are displayed on the object could convey the following subjects: religion, nationality, class, group or even decoration to the audience.
A ship is presented and there are skulls which could foreshadow death and bloodshed. Skulls are typically used in pirate films to connote danger or death to the audience (usually displayed on sails or flags). Cannons are also displayed and are typically shown on pirate ships, could convey future events (oversea battles/war/mutiny) to the audience, horses are presented in the title sequence could represent travel to the audience.
Skeletons are introduced in the title sequence and it could connote future death or an enemy/threat which lingers in the dark. In one of the shots; the skeleton is behind a female figure, this could convey that the concept is subtle.
Connotations of weapons are used to convey purposes of death and are typically shown to foreshadow the concept of death. The audience can interpret that piracy is a part of the film due to the previous figures of boats and other key features which signify the subject of pirates.
Figures of characters are displayed holding various weapons and all have an aggressive look on their faces; this could represent war and other occurrences which involve specific nations (war between two counties or more).
I like the layout of this image as it shows structures riding the waves; this could convey destruction oversea. In the background there is a character with a piece of material placed over his mouth, this could connote to people that are captives.
A ship is displayed sinking in the sea which could convey to the audience that battles have taken place overseas, could be a reference to pirates sinking otherships. Conflict is presented oversea and on land throughout the title sequence.
The music which is played throughout the title sequence sounds orchestral, bagpipes seem to be playing in the soundtrack; this could convey that the film evolves around Scotland due to bagpipes being a traditional Scottish instrument.
Overall, the title sequence for this television series has intrigued me with the historical concepts which are involved in the title sequence, Connotations of subjects are clearly displayed to convey specific purposes to the audience to foreshadow future events and actions. The music which played gradually grew louder, especially with the drums which played throughout the title sequence. The designs of figures which are presented in the sequence which represent war interested me whilst the music was playing. The title sequence felt strong.
Font designs
The feedback from our questionnaires confirmed that the first font is our favourite. However, as a group we think that it is quite boring. We edited the font and played around with it to see if we could make it anymore intriguing.
We decided to try a shadow effect for our title but we desired something else for our title, the colouring around our title (white/grey) makes it look relatively comedic; something which does not suit desired title.
We used the same concept (shadow); we changed it so it was a dark red shadow.
- Aiden preferred this version more in comparison to the others.
we used the same shadow idea to create another rough design, we changed the shadow colour to a dark grey.
- Louis preferred this design.
In comparison to the fonts which our group has designed, I have decided that the font with the grey shadow effect is my favourite.
- Lauren is uncertain on which font she prefers.
Post #2 - Production company
Codes and Conventions:
- Low key lighting
- Faint images
- Foreshadowing death/bloodshed
- Isolation
- Scenary - rural
- Foreshadowing
- Psychopath/killer - glimpse of character
- Equilibrium
- Knife - foreshadowing - physical weapons
- Medical imagery - experiments
- Dark clothing - not suits, jeans, T-shirts and trainers
- Orchestral music
- Scrape like sounds - intensify the audiences move
- Connotations of blood
- Connotations of weapons
- Slow paced editing - enable the audience to observe specific elements for longer durations (slow motion)
- Hand held footage
- Hand held - shaky - unbalance
- Close ups - weapons - scenary - etc
- Tracking
- Point of view shot
- Low angle (worm eye) and high angle shots
- Pan movement
- Establishing isolation
Tuesday 11 February 2014
Font notes
During class we had a discussion about different font types and a class analysis of the following title sequences: Catch Me If You Can; Lord of War and Forest Gump. We included the conventions of each title sequence which have linked connotations which unveils a synopsis to the story and the metaphors used which gives specific parts of information away to us as an audience. We noted the specific region of where the title sequence credits is established and positioned. We found the discussion useful for further research as we learned and became more familiar with the concept of title sequences.
Forest Gump
Catch Me If You Can
Lord of Way
Forest Gump
- The colour white - the feather - purity
- Large font - centered - traditional
- Quite plain
- Soft and tranquilised
- Newsprint
- Fades in
- Serif font
- Slow paced - calm - steady
Catch Me If You Can
- Two different fonts represent two different characters - personalities - roles
- Font sizing and clarity - easy for the viewer to read
- The font changedand transitioned0
- Saul Bass (colouring, projectile lines)
- The concept of constant movement - fonts link with the film - characters
Lord of Way
- Fonts/writing - war time - serious
- Main characters names presented in the centre, cast and crew appear at the side
- Metal printing
- Large fonts - centered - names, etc
- Emotionless, serious - relation to war
- White coloured fonts
- Dark background
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