EVALUATION QUESTION 4:

How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

The technologies that were used in the process of constructing our product are:

Blogger: All the work that has to be done has to all be typed up on blogger, every step of the way of the whole process I had to show what was being done each lesson. Images and videos where uploaded to help further with my explanations, for example a video and image was uploaded for my major influence to show exactly what sort of thing I want for my film. The poster where the main character who dies in the middle and people who mean the most to her, but also the suspects, on either side, and the video where there's a lot of tension and drama. I was also able to upload other things like Prezi for evaluation question and use Scribd for storyboard.

YouTube: The final finished version of my short film was uploaded onto YouTube so I could post it on the blog, but also, so I could get people to watch it and comment for my audience feedback. This is an easy way to get audience feedback because the viewers can watch the film whenever is suitable for them, then comment straight away so everything that they just watched is still fresh in their memory. YouTube was also used at the beginning a lot of time to watch short films. I watched a few, all in different genres. We watched the short films to give us ideas for our own and also to analyse and have an idea of what a short film should have in it.

Adobe Premiere Pro: This was the programme used when editing. It was easy to use and I learnt all the main features needed to edit clips, easily. When I first started editing last year, and finding each clip and putting them together to make them flow and look realistic, I thought it was hard, but then I got used to it, and started enjoying it, and then I was really looking forward to editing and putting together the clips for this coursework as this time I was doing it all by myself so I could learn more about the programme. When using Adobe Premiere Pro, the new features I learnt was editing the volume, to make it fade and to make it lower so the voices can be heard, and also, I learnt how to edit the lighting, because in some scenes it was to dark so I had to put the brightness up. 

InDesign: This was the very first time for me to use InDeisgn. This programme was used to make the film review article. This was the best programme to use for an article because it was easy to create a columns, and insert images by selecting and creating a box with X in it, and all you do is drag the image in, and edit it by making is smaller or larger, or cropping it to the right size.

PhotoShop: For me, the best programme I used throughout the whole process was PhotoShop. At first I had no clue how to use it and many times asked other class mates how do to things, but once they had shown me, I worked the rest out for myself, it was also interesting exploring everything the programme could do even if it meant I kept messing up my work and starting again. Every time I made changes to my poster, I was eager to do it myself and figure it out, if I was really stuck, then I would ask for help. This programme was easy once I got used to it and it allowed me to put together three completely different images to make it look like one image, which was lucky for me because I did not know if it was possible to put different images together and still make it look good. It was also easy to select the right type of font that I wanted, because on my poster I have used a few different fonts. PhotoShop allowed me to edit the main image of the characters to make it look almost animated. I chose to do this because as a normal image it looked a bit fake and when I started playing around and editing the image this one made it look the best. It also allowed me to add the effect on the background of the white light in the middle, to make the image stand out more and to add a little bit of colour to the page.

EVALUATION QUESTION 3:

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

This is some of the feedback that my audiences have said so far;

This is what another viewer said, her name is Afeefun Nessa, aged 18: "You should have made the characters a bit more clearer, besides that it was good. Quite funny. The film made more sense after you explained the reason for it. If it was a bit more clear on the character roles that would've been better but all in all good job." 

From my audience feedback I found that the characters where confusing for the audience. I could have improved this by having two different actors playing each of the male characters, but the whole concept behind using the same person for both characters was to show that they are twin brothers to make it seem even more bad what Tessa had done. Most of the audience understood the film and the message behind it. The audience understood that it was a drama film and did not say that it confused them and thought it would be a romantic film, which is one of the main things I was worried about. 

EVALUATION QUESTION 2:

EVALUATION QUESTION 1: (PART 3 - POSTER)

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

On my poster, using PhotoShop, I put together three different images I took from my photo shoot, this is because Jakiya was playing two of the characters who are twins therefore I had to take separate pictures. I also took a few separate pictures of Nafisah (playing Tessa) by herself holding a knife covered in blood. In the end, I decided to get a picture of Tessa by herself and Mac and Wyatt by them self and by using Magic Magnet on PhotoShop, cutting around them and putting them together to look like one whole image, having Tessa in the middle and the boys on either side, so the poster immediately shows that in the film she's had to choose between them, or that the boys have had a fight and she's stuck in the middle.  This allows the audience wonder what has happened and why Tessa is holding a knife. The main influence for the poster to have Tessa in the middle and the boys on either side was from Star Trek, where there are two characters on each side of Chris Pine, who is in the middle to show clearly that he is the leader.

The image is placed at the top, taking up 3/4 of the page, this is because I think the image is the most important thing on a poster, whether it is just one single object or a group of people. If the image is effective and engaging, and grabs the audiences attention then the audience is more likely to be interested and will want to watch it.On my poster, in the billing blocks I added the cast names, such as the actors, the director, producer, executive producer and editor. The release date is placed at the bottom, but is in a bigger font than the billing block so that it stands out. Next to the release date is the company what is distributing it; Dolby Digital. This is a well known company that have produced many successful films such as Batman Returns which was the first movie to used Dolby Digital technologies. The title of the short film is placed underneath the image. I used to different fonts, the word Wedding is in a font which looks elegant whereas the word secret is in block capitals to emphasis that the secret is the important thing in the film. I got this idea from other real wedding movie posters, such as 'A Christmas Wedding Date', 'The Big Wedding' and 'Our Family Wedding'. In all these posters at least one word is an elegant font and the rest is normal font. 

EVALUATION QUESTION 1: (PART 2 - ARTICLE)

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

For my magazine, I simply called the magazine 'Film Magazine' to show that all the best films will be published in the magazine to allow the audience to see what other magazines have rated it and what the critics think about the film. The main colours I used grey, black and white. This is to show that the film is not about romance, instead is gloomy and sad, so it keeps in theme with the poster and the film. I used three images, a main image placed at the top, and two smaller behind the scenes images at the bottom on either side so all the characters can be seen in the magazine as only three characters were shown on the poster.

The main images, at the top, takes up 1/3 of the page, it is a behind the scenes picture of Louise, played by Tasnim, giving Wyatt, played by Jakiya, a kiss on the cheek. I added these images so its eye catching to the audience, if it was all text it may seem boring want it wouldn't engage with the audience. At the bottom of the image I put the title 'Wedding Secrets' in the same font as it does on the poster, in white. The title has a grey block underneath it to separate it from the caption which outlines in basic what the film is about. I tired to make my first sentence interesting to grab the audiences attention as the opening paragraph is the most important part of a magazine article, also known as the lead. If the first paragraph doesn't convince the reader to keep reading then they wont be interested in the rest. After immediately catching the audiences attention I went straight to the point of the message behind the film. After the lead, the next most important thing is the conclusion which I did through what the verdict was from this magazine. the ending of a magazine feature should bring the piece to a satisfying resolution for the reader. In a short paragraph I summarized what some main points of the film, good and bad, to even it out. 

On the left column of the article, there is the film information such as release date, genre, cast and director. Underneath it, I had verdicts of other magazines such as Guardian, The Sun, Empire and Total Film. I think its important what other top magazines rate the film as it could influence what the reader thinks about the film, if they see magazines like The Guardian and The Sun giving it high rating the reader might think its a good film if those magazines are saying its good and go to watch it. In various places I put long blocks of grey to separate certain parts and also to add some colour. I used grey for the blocks to carry on the theme of the film.

EVALUATION QUESTION 1: (PART 1 - SHORT FILM)

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

The structure of my media product is developed through the conventions of drama in short film. The codes and conventions I used in my short film were;
- Involvement with props that can be harmful such as knifes or guns.
- Characters will usually include someone vulnerable and gangs.
- Someones private life becoming public.
- Betrayal.
- Crimes will usually be murder/drama will usually be to do with family and friends.

I decided that 'Wedding Secrets' would be an appropriate name for my short film because it instantly tells the audience that the film is going to be about secrets that will ruin the wedding. It is short and catchy which will allow the audience to remember what its called. The word 'secrets' is an enigma, it makes the audience wonder and question, what is the secret? Who is keeping the secret? and what are the consequences? I chose this name for the film because I didn't want to confuse the audience, I wanted them to understand right from the beginning what the film was based upon and it allows the audience to guess what happens. The location I chose was at an ordinary home, I wanted to get across how the characters are extremely close and are like family to one another, by having them in the house it emphasis's that they've known each other for many years, instead of having them outside, which could seem like they haven't known one another that long. The costume was casual, with the girls, one was wearing a maxi skirt as the other was wearing trousers and top. I did this to show the difference between the girls, Louise (wearing maxi skirt) is more reserved and quiet, whereas Tessa (wearing trousers and top) is more confident with her self and her body, and is out spoken. With the boys costume, I found out that guys usually wear sweat pants and sweat shirts at home, so I got Jakiya (playing both the boys) wearing sweat pants and sweat shirts, this could also reinforce how comfortable they all are with one another, coming to each others houses wearing whatever they feel comfortable in.

FINAL FILM

FILM REVIEW

POSTER

FILM EDITING

For the editing, like last years coursework, once again I used Adobe Premiere Pro. This is because last year I found it very easy to figure out how to work it, and I am already familiar with the programme so I did not need any help with the editing as I know all the features I needed. The new features I used on the programme that I did not use last year that I learnt for this coursework and used was how to edit the lighting, sound and add text while the film is playing and make the text match with the ringtone and texting sound. 
We previously used this for last years coursework, for the preliminary task and audience research and have come to be very confident with it because of its simplicity and ability to function alongside Adobe After Effects. It took a long time to edit and a lot of hours went in to it. Colour correction was needed to make it appear more darker and to make it suit the genre, we also needed to give a high standard finish so we were careful in selecting the best shots and made sure everything was smooth and crisp. We added titles and created fictional names, it was a challenge timing the soundtrack to suit the sequence, but we managed to pull it off in the end and make both the soundtrack and film flow. Overall it was a satisfying process.

PHOTO SHOOT FOR POSTER

These are three of my favourite images from the photo shoot that I could use for the poster. The first image is of Tessa by herself holding a knife with blood on it. The 3rd image would be put together with the second image, on the empty side of Tessa, so it looks like their both looking at her, and she is the center of attention. I would do this by using PhotoShop.

FILM REVIEW EDITING

To make the film review page, I used InDesign, this is a quick and easy programme to adapt to. Its easy to create a box to drag in, and add images, and it allows me to create columns like real magazine film review pages to make it look more realistic. I added the main image at the top, which is a shot from the film, it has two of the characters. In the article, I put in the details of the film, for example, the release date, genre, the actors and the director. I also added how many starts other magazines rated the film out of 5.

MOOD BOARD

This is a moodboard that I have created which pretty much sums up the drama/crime genre. There are a lot of crimes, blood and arguments in this mood board which usually appeals to targeted audience and teenagers but it also shows the consequences of bullying which lead to death which is really what this film is about at the core. If it is going to portray bullying and betrayal in such a graphic way, it needs to be in the right way, and there should be a message behind it, I have incorporated this feature in my short film.

PROPS

Apart from the filming and editing equipment, there are very few other things needed. I will need  mobile phones which is used often in the film, knife and fake blood, which will be used from the house that we will be filming in and a tablet that one of the characters is using in the beginning of the film to make it seem like a normal usual day at home. Also, I will need boy clothes for the character that will be playing two male characters, which again will be borrowed from someone. These are a few of the basic needs, if anything else is need then I will post the changes.

EQUIPMENT

The equipment I will be using to film is the Song Handycam, this camera will allow me to shoot in high definition and get a good quality images. The tripod that will be used will be the Velbon DV-6000, it is quick and easy to set up, move and dismantle. This camera will be easy to handle when using different camera techniques and camera movements because it is small and light this allowed me to move it how ever needed and also it allowed me to carry it home so I could find a suitable, appropriate location to film, instead of having to record in college, which is what I might have had to do if the camera was heavy. I am using this camera because I used it for my coursework last year and I have familiarized myself with it and learnt how to download the images to the computer. This camera was easy to use, even though I was not the camera man last year I still learnt how to use the camera from the preliminary task and recording audience research results. It was easy to get use to again, because there are not too many buttons and knobs like other cameras, it was straight forward and it was easy to stop and start recording and delete any unwanted clips.