Session 18 and 19

In today's session, we discussed what we needed to complete. for instance, moving the film into final cut and finishing the soundtrack. Below is an image of our meeting sheet:

sessions 16 and 17

in today's session, I added the dialogue to our film that we had recorded the previous week. As a comical idea, we decided to include the old lady using a jedi-like mind trick on the police officer. For this, i instructed the old lady character to wave her hand in front of the police officer. We have now more or less finished the main footage and must now edit it in final cut. In the 2nd session, I have been concentrating on the photography unit as well.

Session 14 and 15

In this session, we started recording some dialogue for our characters, in order to cancel background audio of the classroom, we took an attachable microphone and the main laptop to the media studio in the front of the college and recorded the dialogue. Fortunately, one of our friends turned up and provided an extra voiceover for us.

Session 13

Today, we showed our rough movie to Ash in order to get feedback. She made a note that more close-up shots were needed in order to achieve the right effect. We then went back into moviestorm to film a close up on the old lady's face before she pulls out the gun.

Session 12

In this session, me and Ed managed to finish all character actions and shots by staying in the classroom for our free period. Despite the soundtrack and voiceovers not existing yet, we have more or less finished the rough edit of our film.

Session 12 and 13

In today's session's, we completed the early edit of our film. We have edited

Session 10 and 11

In this session we commenced filming of our moviestorm movie. I have moved my characters over to the main project and we have decided on a birds eye view of the set for our establishing shot. Below are a few screenshots of our finished set:

Session 8

In this session, Ash and Ed wrote the storyboard. I took no part in the writing of the storyboard as i was off ill from college. However, Below are some of the photos that Ed and Ash took of the storyboard whilst I was away:

Session 6 and 7

Unfortunately, I was off college due to a heavy cold and took no part in the drawing of the key frames. however, The next day I did write two of the key frames that had not been written in this session.

Session 4 and 5

Unfortunately, I was off college due to a heavy cold. Because of this, I took no part in the writing of the proposal and cannot recount what happened in these sessions.

Session 3

In this session, we were asked to create a moodboard that represented the theme and content of our film. My moodboard included some elements of moviestorm and real life images. Below is an image of my moodboard:

Session 2

After deciding on the idea for our film, we then separated into our individual roles, with Ed as set designer and soundtrack composer, Ashleigh as the screenplay writer and director, and myself as the character designer and cameraman.

Session 1

After watching the tutorial on how to use the animation software Moviestrom, we were asked to devise a film of our own. I would say that it was difficult to think of an idea at first. However, Steve helped us by giving us an example of an old lady shooting a group of policeman. We then took this as our idea and then thought of a plot.

Session 10

L2 GROUP 1: ROULETTE END SEQUENCE - STAGE 1 from cmdiploma on Vimeo.

In this session, we played our project to the rest of the class. Fortunately, our project met with overall praise. Some comments included:

• Effective dialogue
• Good idea of using the POV camera shot from the point of view of the gun spinning on the table.
• Good Black and White effect

However, our project also had some suggestions for improvement:

• Factual errors: the fact that Russian Roulette cannot be played with a pistol.
• Editing: the framing could have been placed more effectively.
• Audio: some of the audio gaps must be filled

After watching our project on a bigger screen, I would say that it is very good overall, but could be improved. For instance, If I were to do something differently, I probably would have taken the time to buy a revolver as opposed to using a pistol.

Session 9

In this session, we added the complete soundtrack to our project. We have roughly finished our project now and are waiting to upload it to vimeo. The only thing left to do now is to create opening and ending credits.

Session 8

In this session, we were mainly editing out the minor audio gaps and reviewing Jamie's soundtrack. We have decided that the soundtrack fits the mood of the film very well, ranging from emotive, deep music at the point where the characters commence the game of roulette to fast-paced, synthesized music at the point where the surviving character retaliates against the villain. We should be able to move the soundtrack over to the main computer from Jamie's laptop this afternoon.

Session 7

In this session, Jamie finished editing the soundtrack together with the footage in Garageband. We also improved the effect of our footage by adding a 'black and white' audio filter and turning the format of the project into widescreen. If the soundtrack and footage are edited together by the end of this lesson, our project will be finished.

Session 6

In this session, we added gunshot sounds to our project in two areas. 1) in the part of the footage that Jamie shoots himself and 2) At the end where the two characters face each other quickly and the screen fades to white. The gunshot is meant to leave the question open as to who dies ultimately. Also in this session, we transferred our footage into garageband ready for Jamie to add the soundtrack. Apart from the soundtrack and a few minor audio gaps, our project is more or less finished. Below are a few production photos of us editing that were taken today:

Session 5

In this session, we showed the rough edit of our film to Steve for review. He gave the project a good overall review, but told us that a few minor details needed adjusting, such as audio problems and the speed of some of the camera shots. We have started adjusting these problems and have also begun to add the gunshot sound effects. Hopefully, the whole project should be finished tomorrow.

Session 4

Today, we finished the rough edit of our project. All footage has been edited effectively despite a few obstacles such audio bugs and continuity errors. We have also uploaded pictures of the 'fake blood' bottle to flickr:

The next step that we hope to achieve soon is to add the soundtrack and sound effects. Unfortunately, our project contains several plot holes and factual errors that may not make sense. The most notable of which being that Russian Roulette cannot be played with a magazine fed pistols. If I could change something about the project overall, I would have organized the shots so that there were no continuity errors and taken the time to buy a cheap toy revolver.

Session 3

In this session, we commenced day 1 of editing our project with all footage completed. Unfortunately, we detected several audio bugs in our footage and have edited them out. We have also uploaded the new footage to final cut and are currently editing them into the old footage

Session 2

In this session I have started documenting the sessions more promptly. We went out to film the last of our footage this afternoon. Fortunately, we have finished all our footage and will soon upload it ready for editing. A notable difference in our filming today is that the bottle containing the fake blood had been more full, resulting in a more realistic blood effect.

Below are some production photos that we took whilst on set:

We also took pictures of the props that we used and of our set:

Session 1

Today we finished the draft edit of our action-thriller. When we had finished, we found some shots that were ineffective or didn't make sense. We have decided to re shoot some of the shots in a way that makes sense and adds to the tension. For instance, we have decided on a fairly Hitchcock-like shot of the camera being spun on the table so that it resembles the spinning of the gun. This shot should make for a surreal experience for the viewer. We have also decided to correct our breach of the 180 degree rule and film POV shots in which the characters break the fourth wall and talk to the camera representing the opposite character. Although we had planned to finish our project today, we still have several shots to film that we hope to finish tomorrow.

Action-Thriller questionnaire - results

As a task, I was asked to compose a questionnaire and ask people about which draft poster they preferred out of the three. I found that a majority of the class preferred Poster 2 as the best to promote the film, Whereas the poster that people found least effective was Poster 3. I would say that this does not differ very much from my expectations, as I was almost certain that Poster 3 wouldn't come across very effectively because I decided to draw a very simple poster due to a lack of ideas. I knew that Poster 2 would be the most effective of the posters because it sets the scene and intrigues the reader without giving away the entire story.

Poster 2 would probably be my choice for the final poster because it is intriguing and sets a clear visual summary of the plot but doesn't explain every detail, Thus intriguing the viewer. There has been some suggestion to improve my posters, such as adding more color and imagery, to make the title stand out and to make it seem clearer to the audience what the film is about. As for own opinion, I think that there are some design elements that don't work. For example, think that I should add more imagery to the posters in order to make the premise of the film clearer to the viewer, and make the text on the poster larger and bolder.

Saatchi Gallery

This is a contact sheet composed from pictures that I took during a college trip to the Saatchi Gallery. The Gallery is a museum for contemporary art which was opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985 in order to exhibit his art to the public. The gallery has a mixed range of abstract art. This includes art made of everyday items and very surreal sculptures.

In order to construct this contact sheet, I visited the Newspeak - British Art Part 2 exhibit. This art show inlude several strange exhibits. Such as a room that has been filled with oil that is almost invisible to the viewer where there is a waist-deep walkway that extends into the room which to the viewer, one side of it looks completely invisible. There also many incredible sculptures that are crafted from everyday items such as two giant dogs that are made out of cardboard. In addition, there are also many sculptures that are made from traditional materials for sculpture making such as latex and wire, but display very surreal imagery. A very notable example is "Saddleback", a sculpture where two strange animals resembling pigs are attached to each other front-to-rear.

For my contact sheet, I chose an abstract exhibit where all pieces are made out of everyday items but focus more emphasis on the abstract nature of the artwork rather than the extravagance of other contemporary pieces such as the giant cardboard dogs. These pieces included several luminous mushroom shaped objects that seemed to be made from balloons, hexagonal glasses that were arranged in a honeycomb-style pattern and a giant digital clock fashioned out of many small clocks in which the hands make up the time on the digital clock. I am not sure of the names of the artists behind this exhibit. I chose it because i am fascinated with how the exhibit shows the art can be made from the smallest contemporary items.

These are the draft posters for the Action-Thriller project.

The first draft (far left), is both a teaser and a promo as it gives all necessary information to the viewer (title, tagline etc.) except the full cast list and crew. It includes the lone image of the gun on the table with unused bullets, leaving the question as to what the film is about still open, hence the nature of a teaser trailer.

The second draft is the same as tthehe previous, a hybrid of teaser and promo. It includes all necessary information except a full cast list, but still informs the viewer of the nature of the film.

The third draft is purely a teaser trailer, as it doesn't include mush information except a cast list and title. It involves a bleeding hand on the floor next to the gun and leaves the question open as to who's hand it is and why it is there. The only clue is the title Roulette, which leads the viewer to believe that it is centered on a game of chance.

Poster Example - Phone Booth

PEOPLE

The poster includes a fairly well-known actor - Colin Farrell. The poster also includes the three other main characters - the main character's girlfriend, his wife and the cop that helps him - but emphasizes mainly on the victim in the Phone Booth. This makes the viewer feel that the victim is the only character that is important, which is true as the film is only seen through his perspective - trapped in the claustrophobic phone booth.

DESIGN

The design of this poster is fairly intricate, with the victim in the phone booth, obviously panicking and distressed with the text placed to fit the booth. In the phone booth, there is a bullet hole, which could suggest the hostage situation to the viewer before he/she has seen the film. In the reflection of the phone booth, the other characters can also be seen.

COLOR

The color of the poster is very pale. There is little color variation except for the skin tone of the victim in the booth. The only other variation is the text "your life is on the line" which is written in Red.

TITLE

The title is very clearly written in a slightly "razor-sharp" font. It is also written to match up in a parallel with the side of the phone booth.

OTHER INFORMATION

The poster also includes a very clever tagline which is meant to draw a double meaning between the victim's situation an the irony of the phone booth - "your life is on the line".

Poster Example - The Deer Hunter

PEOPLE

This poster includes an instantly recognisable actor - Robert De Niro. He is displayed as the only character on the poster. This could be a conveying the sense that he is the only important character in the film.

DESIGN

The design of the poster is fairly dark, but at the same time mysterious. If the viewer had never seen the film before and did know about the infamous "Russian Roulette" scene implied in the poster's image, they would probably not know why the character is holding the gun to his head. In my mind, this creates a sense of anticipation and excitement, that the viewer does not know when this scene will come at the time of the film's release.

COLOR

The poster is mostly black. However, the text and the image of Robert De Niro stand out in white. His headband stands out in Red. In my opinion, the basic colors convey a sense that the film may be grim and dark in mood.

TITLE

The title stands out in bold with a strightforward font. The white text is easier to read against the black background. In my opinion, the straightforward but bold font conveys the fact that the film has a very straightforward storyline, but is still very powerful.

OTHER INFORMATION

The poster also includes the full cast below the title. This poster does not include a tagline.

Poster Example - Seven

PEOPLE

This poster includes the two main characters and their actors - Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman - Clearly stated at the top of the poster.

They are presented almost as symmetrical mirror images of each other. This could be to convey the fact they that in the film these two characters are the same type of person - Cops trying to catch a killer.

DESIGN

This poster is designed to give the impression of a grim plot and setting, as the poster is very distorted. This poster remains true to the mood of the film as the film is set in a very grim place where it never stops raining.

COLOR

The color of the poster is very Sepia colored. This is designed to convey a grim mood and a sense of darkness. Even the actor's faces have been included in the Sepia tone of the poster.

TITLE

The movie's title is very clear as it stands out with a strange, chilling font and also stands out because it is the only white text in the sepia toned poster. The text is easy to read but most of the text is also sepia toned and is smaller and more straightforward than the title.

OTHER INFORMATION

The poster also includes a tagline that very much sets the scene for the film - Seven deadly sins, Seven ways to die.

Action-Thriller storyboard

This is the establishing page for our storyboard, It includes the establishing shot of the two victims waking up in an anonymous room and the mid-shot of the villain entering.

This is the first part of the main body of the story, in which the victims start playing Russian Roulette.

This is the main body of the game of Russian Roulette, This is also the page in which one of the victims dies as a result of the game.

This is the page in which the action of the story happens and the story comes to a quick end.

Action-Thriller Moodboard

Above is the Moodboard for my Media group's upcoming project. An end sequence from an Action-Thriller about two victims that are kidnapped by a psychopathic character and forced to play Russian Roulette much like Cold War torture. This Moodboard is intended to show some stereotypical elements from other Action-Thrillers that will be used in our project. Such as dark settings and strange images. As our project is about the theme of torture (specifically cold war russian roulette), I have chosen some images from The Deer Hunter (from which their is a very powerful scene of russian roulette torture) and Marathon Man (From which their is a scene of Nazi dental torture). I have also chosen images of dark rooms and weapons in order to emphasize on the violence of the project. The images of the The Deer Hunter and other images of hostages are intended to show the theme of victimization, as the characters in the project are also meant to victims at the hand of a psycho. You may also notice that I have included some images that emphasize the psycopathic nature of the third character in the project.

Garageband task

As a task alongside our Bomb plot project, we were asked to compose a small soundtrack in the music program called garageband. As the subject matter of our short film was quite serious, I felt that I required quite a heavy and distorted sound. I searched the many samples of different music available in GarageBand and eventually came up with this:

This is my soundtrack. I copied this audio file from my account on divshare

Here is an image of the basic Garageband layout:

As you can see, The program is quite intricate. The right-hand side shows a range of different musical styles such as Rock/Blues, Jazz and different instruments such as Drums and Guitars. The centre shows my audio track and and the left-hand side shows the different interlacing instruments that I have put together.

Below is another image, this time of my complete audio track, just before exporting:

Print - The Daily Mail

Institution

The Institution for this media example is the head office of The Daily Mail, As they are responsible for Printing, Publishing and editing the newspaper.

Purpose

The purpose of this media is to inform local people of events around their local area, other area and the world.

Distribution

I would say that the company responsible for distribution is the company Associated Newspapers ltd. as they are the publishing company

Target Audience

I would say that the target audience mainly consists of adults and some young people that are interested in world events.

The Phone Call write-up



Section 1: The Task and Planning

We were given the task to film and edit a piece of footage to look like a real-time phone conversation. This footage is the first of three chapters that will make a story about a supposed bomb plot in the college. In order to do this, we would have to film in two separate locations within the college and have both characters speak on the phone. Below is a shot list/plan for the phone call, that we had to stick to in order for the video to make sense:



After being talked through what shots we had to include (Establishing shots, close-ups), we set about drawing up a storyboard. The shot list was quite useful as it helped us keep track of what shots we had to do next. The Storyboard process went quite well despite a few creative differences over shot location and style. Ultimately, we decided on where to shoot the phone call and how to shoot it.

Section 2: Filming and Editing

The shooting process flowed better than it did when we shot the horror stills. For instance, we all acted more professional and each individually knew our role within the group and how to do it. We also immediately knew what to shoot next thanks to the shot list. My main individual contribution to the project was that of playing one of the characters and partly behind camera direction of the project.

The editing process also went without a hitch. It was just a matter of trimming the clapperboards at the beginning of each clip and lining up the footage perfectly in a way that made it look like a real-time conversation. Below is a “before shot” of the final cut timeline before the clapperboards are trimmed off:




The Clapperboards certainly helped us Final Cut by showing us which shot was which.

At the climax of the editing process, what we had was essentially a “rough cut”, which means a cut of the footage that is not yet complete, in a sense that it is missing a title card and a soundtrack and maybe some other effects that may be added later after approval.

At the end of the footage is a shot of Character 2’s hand opening the door to G19, in Chapter 2: The Meeting, we will need to follow this on with a “match-on action” shot, which is when the cameraman lines up the characters in the same way that they were before the shot cut and follows it up as realistically as they can in the next shot.

With this project, we have certainly learned a lot about Final Cut. For Example, One problem that I had is that Craig’s voice is slightly low on camera. In response to this, we multiplied his voice signal to make it more clear. It made me realise that a majority of the problems that are face by amateur filmmakers can be solved in editing.

Match-on action

Match-on action is a technique of filming where a shot is taken and then followed on in the next shot as realistically as possible. For instance, filming a person opening a door and then following on with them entering the room that the door leads to.

The 180 degree rule

The 180 degree angle is an imaginary line that cuts through the scene. If crossed, the scene may swap over and cause confusion for the viewer. For this reason, crossing the line is usually avoided.

This is an image of my timeline before editing, including clapper boards

Snatch - Stereotypical Target Audience Member

This is my interpretation of a member of the target audience for the 2000 crime film Snatch.

As you can see, a person interested in the film Snatch would most likely be interested in other crime films like Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and The Italian Job. They would also most likely be into British Rock n Roll and other heavy rock music such as The Rolling Stones, The Who and The Sex Pistols. As far as TV goes, the target audience member may be interested in British TV shows such as The Inbetweeners and This is England '86. The target audience member may also like gaming. If they are into gaming, My mind tells me that they would be interested in heavy, violent games such as Modern Warfare and the Halo series as Snatch is a fairly violent film. As for brands, the target audience member may be interested in a mainstream popular alcohol such as Fosters beer. In terms of clothes, the audience member may wear simple generic clothes such as a white t-shirt and jeans.

Find Your Tribe - Result

I visited a website called find your tribe y result was in order to find out what type of person i am. My result was Indie Kid. I agree with this, as I love to be independent and free from control. I also have a passion for rock 'n roll and alternative indie music. I also love independent filmmaking.

Tribe description

You are an Indie Kid! There’s nothing like the twang of a guitar to get your Converse tapping. Indie Kids are part of a mass – whether that means swaying with their friends at a gig, commenting on Drowned in Sound’s message board or trawling through band profiles on MySpace for the next exciting sound. It’s amazing what can still be done with a guitar, you know.

Logo Report

Photoshop

I would say that coming up with an idea for a logo and putting it onto paper. At first I tried thinking of simple ideas like "Stickman films" as a working title. I then tried to think of a more imaginative title and logo but a logo that was still "do-able" in photoshop. I then reverted to a subject that I am passionate about, music. I created a simple logo - a spyrograph type shape that resembled the sun - and coloured it in yellow. I then wrote the title, Psychadelic Entertainment freehand and in different colours to give the impression of a psychadelic experience and irregularity.

Final Cut

I would say that the most difficult part about Final Cut was choosing a way to introduce the logo and title with a suitable sound and visual effect. I overcame the visual problem by having the sunshine image and title fade in. However, I may change this at a later time. I have not yet overcome the sound effect problem. I would like to find a suitable sound effect for the psychadelic image,

Conclusion

Overall, I would say that I am most pleased with the fact that although my logo didnt take long to make and used few photoshop effects, it has a very peaceful effect on the viewer and gives an impression of imagination and possibility in the films it represents, mush like psychadelic music.

Electronic Media - Halo Reach Invasion Gameplay

Institutions

The institution responisble for containing this product is youtube.

Purpose

The purpose of this product is to inform people of the graphics and multiplayer experience involved in the game.

Distribution

The company responsible for distributiong this footage is Microsoft game studios

Audience

The intended audience for this product is young people and fans of the game

Advertising - Halo Reach trailer

Institutions

The institution responisble for containing this product is Youtube.

Purpose

The purpose of this product is to advertise and inform people about the upcoming game.

Distribution

The company responisble for distributing this product is Microsoft game studios

Audience

The audience for this project is mainly young people, gamers and people who are anticipating the game.

Audio/Visual - The A Team trailer

Institution

The institution responsible for containing this product is the youtube website

Purpose

The purpose for this video is to inform people about the upcoming film

Distribution

The company responisble for distributing this product is 20th century fox.

Audience

The intended audience for this product is mainly young people and popeople who have been anticipating the film.

Audio - AC/DC "If you want blood"

Institution

Youtube is responsible for the institution of this product, as it has contained the product ready for people to see

Purpose

The purpose for this products to entertain fans of the band.

Distribution

Atlantic Records were responsible for the distribution of this song as they are the label that manages ACDC

Audience

This product is mainly aimed at music fans, both young people and adults.