Evaluation Activity 7

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

Throughout this year in AS Media, I have felt that we have progressed well in becoming better at editing, films and utilizing different shots to match a certain genre of effect. I believe that our two minute film shows off our capabilities in the uses of technology, editing and visual effects. After having completed out two minute opening film, it’s great to look back at previous tasks to see how much we have improved since then. Looking back at our G321 Preliminary Task and ‘What are you doing here’ videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_nMOOS5oio and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFoWKDbPLW8 ), it is evident that we have improved significantly because we have worked on our editing and filming techniques.

In out G321 Preliminary Task, we used four main editing techniques – shot reverse shot, the 180° rule, eye line match, match on action and also the rule of thirds. We also used each of these editing techniques and more in our final two minute film, but we believe the way we have edited and filmed it in our film is more effective and appealing to our selves and out target audience. Our very first video we created was the ‘What are you doing here’ video. This was film using a small 1080p hand held camera and edited within Adobe Premiere Elements 10. As this was our first time using that video editing package, we weren’t very confident in our abilities to use it but luckily we also knew how to use Sony Vegas Pro very well, so every other content made after that was made using Sony Vegas. This transition between the two video editing packages has paid off, as we wear able to use more advanced features and create better edited videos. Our Preliminary Task was planned, filmed and edited all within less that 2 hour - and we were able to show off over four editing techniques, use a multitude of camera angles and was able to colour correct it to a satisfactory standard. At that time, we felt impressed with our level of work, but when it came to the actual two minute opening, we had nearly 2 months to research, plan, film, edit and make any adjustments that could make the film better.

These images below are form our G321 Preliminary Task which shows how we have used different editing techniques. We also used all these editing techniques in our final film, and more, to make our film more spectacular.

Match on Action

Match on action, also commonly called cutting on action, is an editing technique when one shot cuts to another shot that matches the action. This match on action shot shows a character opening the door. As I go to open the door, we get a quick close up shot of me grabbing the handle and then a long shot from the other side of the door. Match on action is very effective as it captures every that is happening from different angles. This has to be films and edited effectively otherwise it may break continuity and will leave the audience feeling disappointed. Big movie productions companies may use multiple cameras to achieve this in one take however we only has one camera to use so every time we filmed it, the acting had to be exact.

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot reverse shot is a commonly used editing technique when one character is shown looking at another character that is off screen. It then cuts to the other character looking back at the first character. We used shot reverse shot to exchange dialogue between two characters in the preliminary task and nearly every other film will use the same technique when two or more characters are exchanging dialogue. When using shot reverse shot, it also usually uses the 180° rule because that camera generally stays on one side of the imaginary 180° line.

Eye Line Match

Eye line match was used in out Preliminary Task to show the chair that one of the characters pointed to. Eye line match is effective because the audience wants to see what the character is seeing. We only used eye line match a few times in our opening film and this is because we wanted to create a tense atmosphere as the audience would want to know what the characters are looking at.

Rule of Thirds

Rule of thirds is used to place the subject within a third of the frame instead of the centre. This makes the shot look more interesting and engaging as subject/s are not always centred. We have used the rule of thirds many times in our film opening and below are images of a few examples of where we have used them. Many of the shots in our film use the 180° rule however we did have to use some shots where the subject was cantered because this added more variation between the different shots – making the film more interesting to watch.

Even though we felt that we had created out two minute opening film to the best of our abilities, there were some aspects that we felt we could have slightly tweaked and made better. The acting in our opening film could have been a bit better to make our film more believable, as that could have enhanced the audiences experience when watching it. The used of diegetic sound and non-diegetic sounds in our film were strong because we were able to use a good fast pace soundtrack for the fast shooting scenes and a sad/emotional orchestra music for the final scenes. Another very strong selling point was our uses of visual effects but we could have also included more genre indicators such as explosions and more antagonists to make this film look like a big budget film. This could have made the film more thrilling and breath taking to watch – conforming to the action and thriller film genre. 

Overall, we felt satisfied with our final film – The Alliance. We were able to utilize appropriate camera shots, camera movement, editing techniques, sound, technologies and visual effect to make our come to life and to achieve the goal of creating a believable action and thriller film. Maybe next year when it comes to creating a trailer, we can create an even more amazing product because we will have had more experience and a better understanding of each specific genre and what they should and should not contain. 

Evaluation Activity 6

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

Filming Equipment

The uses of different technologies during production and post-production were one of our strongest aspects, and helped make our movie opening seem a real and immersive as possible. The image above is of our equipment we used we used during production. The camera we used was a Canon 70D with a Canon EF-S Zoom, 18-135mm, and lens. This DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera is capable of shooting 1920x1080p Full HD footage at 20, 25 and 30 frames per second. The Full HD resolution along with 30fps and a high bit rate allowed us to capture footage with very high fidelity. The Canon EF-S Zoom lens also allowed us to have a sharper and clearer image, and its 18-135mm range allowed us to capture a wider field of view compared to convention camera lenses with 50mm lenses. Another reason why we chose to use the Canon 70D is because of its amazing auto tracking focus and high ISO range. This meant that we could keep focus on the subject / character even when the camera moves around a lot.

Our microphone that we used was the K&F Concept Cardioid Microphone. We chose this cardioids microphone rather that an omnidirectional directional mic because cardioids mics pick up noise from in front of them and cancel out noise coming from behind, whereas an omnidirectional microphone picks up noise from everywhere. We could have an omnidirectional mic to capture more ambient sound but since we could drop in sound effects in post-production, there was no need to do so.

From the image above, you can see that we used a Glide-Cam Stabilizer. This used this stabilizer as it allowed us to capture more action shots rather than using a tripod and having a still shot. We could have used a tripod the whole time while filming and added camera shake in editing but we chose not to as it doesn’t give the same effect and feel as is we physically added camera shake when filming. Our film did contain a few still shots so that requires a tripod, but for the majority if the time, we used the FOTOWELT Glide-Cam Stabilizer.

We also used my Samsung Galaxy S6 to help produce our film. Although none of the film footage was captured with the S6, we did use it to record our film diaries and capture some images and footages for our research and planning. The great feature of the Samsung Galaxy S6 is that it is able to shoot at a verity of different resolutions and frame rated such Ultra HD 4K (3840x2160) at 30fps, Quad HD (2560x1440) at 30fps and Full HD (1920x1080) at 60 and 30fps.

Technology Program

The 4 main programmes we used during post production and editing is Sony Vegas Pro 13, Adobe After Effects CS6, Adobe Photoshop CS6 and Cinema 4D. Although some of these programmes may be similar, we used each programme for a specific thing.

Sony Vegas Pro was our video editing programme of choice because is contains a substantial amount of features to make a professional opening film and is quite easy and intuitive to use. I also personally knew how to use Sony Vegas quite well because of past experience. We also had a choice of using Adobe Premiere Elements 10 to edit our film in however we decided not to use it due to its lack of features.

We used Adobe After Effects, Photoshop and Cinema 4D to create the visual effects and animations in our film. We used Photoshop to create our film title and our institution logo, and then we exported it into After Effects where we then animated and render it. All of these are done on my personal computer because the PC’s at school didn’t have the correct software and they were much slower meaning that it would have taken substantially longer to complete the work. Adobe After Effects is a professional programme, also used by big companies, and it allowed us to ass many different visual elements into our film. This includes the muzzle flashes on guns and the blood hit marks.

The sniper scene in our film was the chip that took the longest to edit. It requires all four of the programmes. We first 3D motion tracked the camera in After Effects. We then modelled a sniper in Cinema 4D and textures it with Photoshop. This lengthy process took us a couple of weeks on and off. After having rendered the sniper rifle in C4D, it was brought into After Effects and Sony Vegas where we changed the colour scheme and added it the film. When adding Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) to our next project, we can do this whole process, or something similar, in a shorter time as we know what to do.

These two images are of our editing in Sony Vegas Pro and Adobe After Effects (SVP on the left, AE on the right). The screen shot of our editing in Sony Vegas Pro only shows off a small section of timeline. The screen shot of After Effects shows us editing our sniper scene. At that point, we had just finished rendering our sniper in Cinema 4D and it was brought in to AE where we integrated into the shot to make it fit into the hands of the antagonist. 

Evaluation Feedback

Shonam, you've been so independent this year - make sure this level of skill is demonstrated in this stage of your portfolio - evidence everything you've done!

In your responses to your final production make sure you are clearly referring to choices and outcomes in an evaluative way - make sure you are addressing the areas outlined by me below:

What did you do? Explain a transition or effect you opted for in the editing process.

What effect did you achieve?  Explain how the choice you made was intended to make the target audience think or feel.

How does this show progression in your use of skills? Explain how this is better than your AS production's outcomes by linking to what you did in your portfolio last year.

These choices are really important for you to reflect on to show you fully understand how you have developed your skills - and make sure you evaluate the comments made by the test audience (the class) using specialist terminology.

We do not have long until the deadline, Easter Monday, for this final stage of your portfolio - so make sure you are pushing yourself and achieving the marks your efforts this year deserve!

Evaluation Activity 5 - Opening Scene Analysis

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Activity 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

From pre-production towards the end of post production, we’ve always intended reaching out to a male audience from ages 15 to around mid 30’s. We chose this age range as we knew that by choosing a younger age range, it would limit that we could have shown on screen so making a 15 rated film, we could add more verity to the genre that we chose. Another reason behind why we chose this age range is that thriller, horror and action were the main genres that we were deciding upon from the beginning of research and planning. This would mean that our film could contain a lot of violence, death, injure and blood – things that will not be appealing to a younger audience.

Our target audience’s hobbies would be sports or any physical activities such as rugby, football and basketball. They would be into playing violent or action video games such as GTA (Grand Theft Auto), Call of Duty and Battlefield. Our target audience would like our action and thriller film because their hobbies are similar to our film as it contains many action scenes.

Our film is primarily targeted towards males because males are stereotypically more violent and aggressive meaning that they prefer watching action films that contain dangerous and violent scenes. Females on the other hand stereotypically prefer romance or drama films, making our film not as suitable for a female audience.

Evaluation Activity 3 - Director's Commentary

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

Evaluation Activity 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our characters in The Alliance were inspired protagonists and antagonists in other action, thriller and adventure movies such as The Expendables, The Transporter, The Dark Knight Rises and Mission Impossible. We wanted to attract a target audience of males aged around 15 - mid 30s, these were similar target audience for the film that inspired up.

We wanted our main protagonist of the film to be similar to Frank Martin, played by Jason Statham, in the action/thriller film, The Transporter. Jason Statham is well known for his appearance in many action and thriller film titles such as The Transporter, The Expendables and Spy. From the image of the two protagonists above, through mise-en-scène, we can tell that they both have the same props. They both use prop pistols to connote to an action / thriller film. Through mise-en-scène, you can also tell that their clothing is different. This may be due to the location of the film because our film is set in the woods where as Transporter is in an urban environment. The clothing in our film is more green and camo to suit the location. Jason Statham, in Transporter, wears a full suit. This gives the impression that he is like a spy or is a wealthy character. This is also true in the James Bond films as the main protagonist is a spy who wears a suit.

Our antagonists in our film are made to look very mysterious, violence through mise-en-scène and camera angles. They wear dark black clothes and black balaclavas to make them more threatening and dangerous. We wanted out antagonists in our film to resemble Bane, played by Tom Hardy, from The Dark Knight Rises.  The picture of Bane, in the photo above, denotes him wearing a dark brown leather jacket with a metallic bullet proof vest underneath. Both the images of the antagonists use a low angle camera shot to give them more authority and to make them seem more powerful. The antagonist character in The Dark Knight Rises also wears a mask because of an accident that occurred when he was very young. The mask also makes him look more intimidating and feared conforming to the thriller genre. Other antagonists in our film wore balaclavas because we wanted to achieve the same effect of making the audience feel intimidated by them.

Evaluation Activity 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)

Title - The Alliance

We named our film ‘The Alliance’ because the plot for our film is about a group of people (the alliance) that were formed after a large number of antagonists brought war, crime and drugs into the UK. Their mission is to stop the antagonist mercenaries. (More about the plot here - shonamshahig321.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/own-film-treatment.html).

In the opening we are presented with two members from The Alliance. We tried not to show too much about their identities in the opening because it keeps the target audience more engaged as they want to know who they are.

We created the title for our film in Adobe Photoshop then animated it in After Effects. We wanted to stay conventional to the action / thriller genre so we made our title big and bold, and kept it one colour. The white colour made it stand out well in the dark black background. We also gave the title a worn our look to connote an action film, as it has been batter and bruised, and it makes the title more visually appealing for the audience.

Institution

The institution for our film is ‘Whitehorn Productions’ and we chose this name because it is unique and appealing to our target audience. We went for a profession look to it, like Lions Gate Entertainment and Paramount Pictures as these film institutions companies are well known for their action, adventure and thriller films. We designed our institution logo in Adobe Photoshop and then animated it in Adobe After Effects. These professional programs allowed us to create what we imagined it to look like, and also making it appealing to our target audience.

From the image of our film institution above (Whitehorn Productions), you can see we tried making it look cinematic and professional. We made the text bold and black, which makes it stand out in the white / light blue sky. We also added lens flared to enhance the look. As this is one of the first things the audience will see in the film, we needed to make it stand out and really grab the audiences’ attention. When we animated all the visual elements , we made the seem 3D as the cameras moves closer to the title. (Whitehorn Productions - www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNli7SBgMew)

Setting / Location

The location for our film was in the woods because this is conventional in an action and thriller film. Also in our ‘Questionnaire and Feedback’ (shonamshahig321.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/questionnaire-and-feedback.html), we asked our target audience of 15 – mid 30’s year films what location will best suit a thriller and an action film. Many of them said the woods would best suit this genre.

From the three images above, it is evident that the location for our thriller / action films was in the woods. We chose Ashtead Woods because it contained a large area of land for us to film in.

Costume and Props

We wanted the costumes of the antagonists and protagonists to be slightly different. They both needed to connote an action and thriller film as well as making is it easy for the audience to tell the different between the two.

The costumes for our antagonists are dark clothing which connotes danger and violence. The antagonists also wore balaclavas to keep their faced hidden, and this also made them seem more mysterious and frightening.

The costumes for the protagonists were green / army camouflage clothing. This made them easy to differentiate between the antagonists. We can also see that one of the protagonists is wearing a camouflage bag which adds to the realism of the film, keeping the audience engaged. The green camo clothing also links to location making it effective as they tie together well whereas is our location for the film an urban setting, we wouldn’t have green camo clothing but more grey/black clothing.

The main props for our film opening were prop guns. The guns connote shooting, death and crime - making the opening film stay true to an action / thriller genre.

Camerawork and Editing

Throughout our opening film, we used mostly pace editing near the start to set the speed of the film and match on action to connote an action film. During action scenes we used a verity of different camera angles such as close up shot, long shot, over the shoulder shot and medium shots. These make the action scenes less dull and boring and keep the audience engages. During production and post-production, we had to make sure we didn’t break continuity in filming otherwise the film will seem fake and poorly edited and filmed.

As the start of the opening, we used a ‘call and response’ like feature whereby the film suddenly cuts to black and a credit appears. This allows the audience to know when a credit is going to appear and cutting to black created tension and suspense in the film.

Mid way through the opening scene, we also used the editing technique Shot Reverse Shot to show the exchange of dialogue between the two protagonists. From the two images above, you can see two close up shots of the two protagonists. Using shot reverse shot when two characters are talking is more effective than one long-winded take because it’s less boring to watch.

Match on action is an editing technique commonly used in action, thriller, and adventure films. It captures the scene from different perspectives – all without breaking continuity if it has been done correctly. We used match on action during all our shooting / action scenes.

In post production, when it came to editing our film, we changed the colour scheme of the film to make it more conventional to an action and thriller film. These film genres typically have a dark teal / blue / green colour scheme. The setting is usually a bit dark to connote mystery so in Sony Vegas Pro, our editing programme, we colour corrected and graded our film to give it that conventional look. Changing the colour scheme makes the film more believable and therefore making it more appealing towards the target audience.

In editing, we used made the film more cinematic by using an aspect ratio of 2:35:1 or 2.39.1, for a widescreen viewing experience. A widescreen aspect ratio is used in nearly every film today like ours. Older aspect ratios like 4:3 are rarely used and others like 16:10 and 16:9 are used less in movies but more in documentaries and Television. Our widescreen aspect ratio gives a greater field of view, adding more visual fidelity in each shot of the film and making it more pleasurable for the audience to watch. It also helps immerse the audience into the film where as a smaller aspect ratio is less pleasing.

Title Font and Style

Throughout our opening, we kept our fonts, animation style and positioning as consistence as possible. For all our credits, we used the font ‘DINPro-Regular’ and made it a bold white and all uppercase to make it pop out. All of these credits were faded in from black and then faded out to black. We felt consist text / credits is very in any film because it doesn’t confuse or disrupt the viewing experience for the audience. If the text changes from one font design to another, that audience may become confused, as they may interpret it as something else. Within out credits, we made the font size of the name bigger than the text besides it. For example, in the images above, the name ‘Whitehorn Productions’ is made bigger than ‘Present’. We positioned all the credits in the bottom left of the screen to keep it consistence and is makes it easier to look out for the next credits.

The font we used for the film title, The Alliance, is Poplar Std. From our research and planning (shonamshahig321.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/font-titles-research-planning.html ) we had a multitude of different fonts to choose from but Poplar was the most popular among our target audience, and it was also the biggest and the boldest making it stand out the most. We also edited the font in Adobe Photoshop to give it a scratched / worn out look.

Genre and how the opening suggests it

Our film opening contains many genre indicators that suggest an action and thriller film. Some genre indicators in our films include prop guns, the costume of the protagonists and antagonists, the death of a protagonist and the use of editing. The pace editing also shows that this is an action because of its fast cuts and transitions between different action.

Visual Effects / Special Effects

Before

After

The use of visual effects and technology is one of our strongest features in our opening film.  From all the images above, they show that we have used many different visual effects to make our film more realistic and conforming to the action and thriller genre. All of these effects were created using professional grade programs such as Adobe After Effects, Cinema 4D and Adobe Photoshop. When analysing different shooting scenes from lots of different movies, we noticed that all the muzzle flashes on every gun shot were huge and bright – illuminating up much of the scene. We tried achieving the same effect with the big muzzle flashes.

The before and after images of the sniper was created using Adobe After Effects, Photoshop and Cinema 4D. Since we didn’t have an actual physical sniper to use, we used Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) to put a large sniper rifle in the hands of the antagonist. By using the 3D camera tracker within After Effects, we were able to track the footage and import it into Cinema 4D. There, we created a model sniper and the tracked footage made sure that the camera position for the forage and the sniper were the same. The big gun is appealing to our target audience as it show them that there are different interesting weapons in the film, giving the effect of a bigger budget film.