Question 7-

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

Looking back at my preliminary task (above), I have picked up on so many camera and editing mistakes and have now learnt so many new skills and gained so much more knowledge about the software and thriller industry since then. 

When we originally started filming the prelim, I had no experience with using the camera and the camera's equipment and therefore felt unconfident about producing the piece. But, we were all aware that the task wasn't going to be at a high or professional standard, again to us not having the experience, so we saw the preliminary as an opportunity to learn new skills and techniques instead of it being a well-produced and professional task. After being shown how to use the technologies, I quickly picked up the techniques and was ready to apply my knowledge and understanding into the actual opening sequence. Throughout the preliminary task the footage is to a poor standard and very blurry, this was due to us not knowing how to focus the camera's lense or how to adjust the lighting to make the footage brighter. However, I have now learnt how to do these tasks because my peers and teachers taught me by; firstly by showing me and then by watching me use the camera on my own and advising and correcting my actions. In addition, the footage at times is very wobbly/shaky and this was because a tripod wasn't used to support the camera when filming the prelim. However, in our final extract, we ensured that a tripod was used to make our quality more clear and to prevent the footage from shaking. Also in our preliminary task, the lighting is very un-natural and too harsh, and in some scene's there are unwanted shadows that appear over our bodies and faces, making the quality again look unprofessional. However whilst recording our actual opening sequence, the light bulb blew and resulted in us having to use natural lighting, which we feared would lower the grade of our extract. Although after viewing the footage back and applying a black and white filter over the top of the footage, we found that the video looked better without the lighting as it looked more natural and realistic, instead of being harsh. Furthermore, after watching the prelim back, I have noticed the lighting stand in the background, which isn't meant to be visible on camera, and therefore makes the preliminary look un-professional. 

Another point to note is that I am now able to successfully edit footage, whereas the editing of the prelim task is very poor and I am able to pick up on a numerous amount mistakes. For example, at the start of the extract, I share some dialogue, but due to slowing the footage down, my voice had been deepened and has made me sound robotic and un-natural. The reason for this is because, I wasn't aware that I had to detach the audio from the footage first and then add then slow the footage down, but again this is something I have now learnt. Also simple mistakes were made, such as cropping too much off a scene resulting in the end of the dialogue being cut out. The reason for this was due to us not knowing how to be precise when cropping the footage and also we were rushing to complete the task, therefore we didn't put much effort into the editing. However, I now know that this will affect your grade significantly if the editing is wrong and that putting in minimal effort won't result in a good grade. Furthermore, whilst editing the actual opening sequence, we ensured that there wasn't any simple mistakes/errors. Also in the preliminary, the audio doesn't fade in and out and therefore doesn't sound natural or flows. However, after being taught how to include transitions over the audio such as the fade in and out, I wa sable to imput the transitions in the actual opening sequnece, which was something that I didn't know how to do when editing the preliminary task. 

 

Question 6-

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

Question 5-

How did you attract/address your audience?

Question 4-

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Research- http://www.slideshare.net/CharlotteEmmaVicki/target-audience-of-thrillers
https://prezi.com/jzs6b3a9ykxn/target-audience-thriller-films/

Question 3-

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

Question 2-

How does your media product represent particular media groups?

Question 1-

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

THE FINAL OPENING SEQUENCE!

'UNORTHODOX FINAL EDIT'

Final editing stage

Finishing off our opening title sequence

After re-filming the establishing shot at lunch time, we returned back to college in time for our final editing lesson. In this lesson we aimed to download the new footage, make the necessary alterations and then double-check over the whole video to ensure that the extract was appropriate and had no faults. Firstly, we transferred the footage from the camera and onto the computer. We then viewed all of the recorded shots and then decided to choose the best footage and fortunately they were clear and flowed nicely, which was a relief! Following this, we imported the clip into the software, cropped it down, applied the black and white filter and re-added the titles. Next we inserted the new nursery rhyme on top of Evan's singing scene and removed a few seconds from the beginning and end of the audio that was insignificant. It took us a few minutes to get the audio in-sync with the movement of Evan's mouth, but eventually it was completed. During the end of the lesson, we made the news reports slightly quieter as we felt that they were too loud and could be distracting and then finally, we viewed the whole opening thriller sequence and was happy with what we had produced, so we then uploaded the extract onto YouTube, ready for others to view. 

Re-filming

More re-filming!

Today at lunch time we went down to our filming location and re-filmed more establishing shots of the antagonist's home. We hoped that we could record some footage which would be suitable enough to use in our opening sequence. 

After collecting the required tripod and Cannon 700D camera from our media classroom, we walked down to the location and set up our equipment ,  bearing in mind of the possible safety hazards. Fortunately the weather was fairly dull and cloudy today, meaning that we didn't have an issue with the lighting or exposure from the sun, also another advantage of the weather was that we were aiming for the footage to have a dark, sinister feel and this was what were given. We firstly started to take a few shots using the same upwards tilt technique like we had done previously, however we felt that we should take some other various shots in case the tilt was un-successful again. So therefore we used a downwards tilt, and simple panning shots from both the left and right. Once we had recorded these shots we played back the footage on the camera and ensured that we had at least one suitable clip, and then following this we returned to College to continue editing. 

Voice Recording

More Recording

After discovering that the audio didn't match with the scene we had to re-record the nursery rhyme again with the help of our main actor, Evan. However once we had collected the micro-phone we noticed that batteries had died, and couldn't find another one for a while. So as a result we unfortunately wasted a little bit of time. Although, we did eventually manage to record Evan singing the song again and now aim to download this audio onto the computer and re-film the establishing shot tomorrow in our media lesson, weather pending. 

Adding in the new footage & sound

More editing

In yesterday's media lesson, we continued to make our extract more complete. This was done by adding the audio of Evan singing the nursery rhyme onto Adobe Premier Pro as well as the establishing shot of the antagonist's home. During the start of the lesson, Emma added the nursery rhyme into the extract, but we were faced with an important issue. The new audio didn't match the scene and you could tell that the audio had been voiced over. This then meant that we were going to be slightly behind, however this issue can easily be solved by recording Evan again, as it was the timing that was the problem. So therefore we have now arranged to record Evan within the next following days. 

 Furthermore, myself and Izzy then began to edit the establishing shot by cropping the duration of the clip down and applying a black and white filter over the top, so that it matched the rest of our opening sequence. However whilst we were making these alterations, a black border surrounded the footage and we were unsure as to what it meant or how it appeared. So therefore we though that zooming in on the clip may remove the boarder, but this then didn't seem to work as the footage became slower, blurred and looked too bright and over exposed. Furthermore, we then had to decide on what to do and this was an issue due to the deadline getting closer and closer. So, we thought about cropping the clip even more, so that it missed out the slower and un-focused tilt. But then this would result in us losing a unique camera technique and we feared that this may affect our overall grade if we used a more generic camera shot. After discussing the problem we eventually decided to re-film the establishing shot the next day during lunch, meaning that we could edit the footage in the next media lesson. Also, towards the end of the lesson Izzy and Emma recorded the last few news reports and then uploaded the audio onto the opening sequence, meaning that this section was done and no longer required improvements.

Inserting audio & more editing

Today we decided to take advantage of our free period and continue with our editing. Due to the deadline being just around the corner, we have to utilise our time and try to make more alterations whenever we can. Our main aim today was to import the footage that we re-filmed yesterday onto the computer and into Adobe Premier Pro and to also insert the audio which again was recorded yesterday, into Evan's singing scene. 

After the audio and footage was downloaded onto the computer, we added the new voice over of Evan to the ending of the extract, which is where the antagonist says 'Daisy'. However this was more difficult as we thought, as it was hard to match the audio with the movement of his mouth and for the dialogue to sound realistic and clear. Once this was done we adjusted the sound level and made the audio louder. The reason for this was because we wanted the ending to be dramatic and having loud audio would more likely to engage the audience. Following this, we inserted the establishing shot  and the pressing of the doorbell into the software, in addition we had to remove the old footage and then crop the new footage down to an appropriate duration. This was because we don't want the opening sequence to be even longer, as it only just gets away being the time that it was. Later on in the lesson, Izzy went into the studio and recorded more audio for the news report scene.  We felt that this was significant as this scene doesn't flow like we wanted it to and agreed that more over-lapping audio will sound better. However after downloading the new audio onto Adobe Premier Pro, me and Emma found that the audio didn't sound disorientated enough, but after making alterations to the sound and moving the audio into another folder, we managed to make the audio sound how we would like. 

Re-filming & recording

Thursday's media lesson 

Last Thursday we decided to re-record all of Evan's dialogue , such as when he is singing the nursery rhyme and when he says 'Daisy' at the end of the extract. The reason for this was because, the audio was too quiet and slightly muffled and we understand that sound is very important in the opening sequence, so in order to get the best grade that we can, the audio must sound more professional and clearer. At first Evan was struggling to get the dialogue in sync with the footage, but after a few recordings we managed to get an appropriate recording, which was then uploaded onto the computer and into our editing software. 

During our afternoon media lesson we decided to create more voice recordings of News reports with the help of our friends. We originally started to record a few days ago, but after playing back the audio, we discovered that more recordings had to be made in order for the dialogue to overlap each other and flow. In addition, we then decided to disorientate the dialogue as this would create a more realistic and eerie effect and again this would be appropriate for the thriller genre. Later on in the lesson we went to go and re-film the establishing shot of the victim's house and the pressing of the doorbell. The reason for this was because the original footage of the house was lagging and jumped whilst being played , and this made the scene look poorer quality and slower and in the original footage of pressing the doorbell, you could see our reflection in the door's window, and clearly this was un-professional.

Once we arrived at the filming location, we were faced with a problem which was the weather. Due to it being a bright, sunny day and the house being exposed to the sun, I found it hard to not have my shadow appear on the door frame whilst pressing the doorbell. However, we finally managed to find an appropriate camera and hand angle in which the sun couldn't interfere, and fortunately we were able to avoid the shadows. Next we re-filmed the panning shot of the house, but decided to set the camera at 50 frames per second, rather than the original 24 frames per second. This was significant as it slowed the footage down and flow better.  Furthermore, after taking a few recordings we were confident that the footage would be better quality and flow more smoothly, so we headed back to our media lesson and uploaded the footage onto Adobe Premier Pro. 

Audience Feedback part 2

 Audience response to version 2 of 'UNORTHODOX: 

I have decided to create another questionnaire which has enabled me to find out what the audience thinks about to the extract and whether there is anything which is disliked or could be improved. I will take all responses into consideration and hopefully make alterations/improvements to our opening sequence.

 Q1- How do you feel about the new title name 'VISION PRODUCTIONS'? 

Person 1- 'I think it looks much better and more appropriate with the eye picture'.
Person 2- 'The production name sounds more realistic, so obviously that's a good thing'
Person 3- ' It's unique' 

Q2- Do you like the chosen font, colour and size of the titles?
Person 1- 'Yes, I think they are quite sinister and look good in the sequence'
Person 2- ' Yes because they are fairly subtle and don't take up too much room on the sceen'
Person 3-'Yh I like them as they're clear to read' 

Q3-  With one word, how would you describe the ending of the extract? 
Person 1- 'Dramatic' 
Person 2- 'Suspenseful'
Person 3- 'very intense'

Q4- Are there any scenes that you would improve/change?
Person 1- ' No i don't think so. I like it all'
Person 2- ' Maybe the establishing shot at the beginning because it's a bit jumpy' 
Person 3- ' You can see your reflections in the door's window, so that be could possibly be re-filmed'. 

Q5- How do you feel about the duration of the extract?
Person 1- ' I think the duration is fine'
Person 2- ' In some scenes you could probably crop out a few seconds as they don't need to be there'
Person 3- ' It has a good duration because every second is important and intense'

Q6- Do you think there is enough titles or should there be more? 
Person 1- Yh, there's not too many or too little'
Person 2- ' Yes because you don't want the audience to be too distracted'
Person 3- ' Yes, the amount is fine'

Q7- Do you like the sound effects that have been added? 
Person 1- ' Yes, especially the shower as it sounds really realistic' 
Person 2- ' Yh they are good' 
Person 3- ' There aren't too many so that makes it good' 

Q8- Whilst watching the opening sequence, how do you feel?
Person 1- ' On edge'
Person 2- ' I feel a bit nervous'
Person 3- ' Freaked out'  
 
 I have found the questionnaire useful as it has given me an idea of how the audience feels and what they like/dislike about the opening sequence. Majority of the responses are very positive and have made me more confident about our work, however I have recieved comments which requires in me making alterations to the extract, such as some people thought that the establishing shot and door bell pressing needs to be re-filmed as the footage is not professional enough. So as a result I will share my results with the other members of the group and schedule the re-filming.