Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Film Evaluation

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

For the filming preliminary task i worked with Ben Davies, Jack Kemp, Sam Maddison and Luke Rimmer. i feel we worked well as a group this time, we constructed ideas within the group and shared our ideas and views.

2. How did you plan your short filmed piece? Did you use any other films for your inspiration?

When it came to planning our filming piece, we produced a storyboard. We all agreed that the location to film would be the media cinema room and the surroundings of the media cinema room. I didnt think of any professional produced films whilst planning, my mind was stuck on the task at hand.

3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

To complete the task we used the following equipment; a video recorder to film the scenes and Apple Macs to edit the filmed scenes. On the Apple Macs we used the software called iMovie to edited out scenes. We also produced some music on Garage band.

4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

We had to take the location of the filming into consideration, we didnt want to bore the viewer, we wanted to excite them to keep watching. When it came to planning and make the music in Garage band we had to take into account to make the scenes exciting and the music to match the scenes.

5. Which film conventions does the piece follow? e.g. music, match on action, 180 degree rule, camera work etc

The quick camera changes, match on action and the music makes this piece a action piece with a slight bitof comedy at the end. The whole violent chase because of dropping a pair of scissors.

6. Which does it break?

This is a hybrid piece where i have put the action and comedy genres into one genre, the action being the violent chase and the comedy being its all for dropping some scissors.

7. How did you consider mise en scene? e.g. lighting, camera work, setting, costume, props etc

We took mise en scene into consideration by the camera angle on Sam Maddison when he is at the top of the stairs with the sunlight in the background. Props/Costume was not planned and because we filmed over two days our clothes were different to previous scenes. Something to consider in the future.

8. How did you consider narrative? Is there a sense of a storyline? Can any theorists be applied e.g. Barthes, Todorov, Propp, Levi Strauss

We considered a story line with the curiosity of why the chase was happening with the answer being that i dropped some scissors.

9. How successful was your filmed piece? Identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

My filmed piece was acceptable and was better than my first filmed preliminary task. i would do a more structured story line for the task's that go towards my coursework and final grade, i would change/add digetic and non-diegetic sounds in some scenes, butoveralli am happy with the fianl piece.

10. What have you learnt about producing a short piece of film? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework?

I have learnt to plan more and stick towards the plan. i have enjoyed filming this piece than the other piece 'The Ball Job', we as a team/group worked better and shared our ideas within the group. when it comes to the final piece where we have many weeks to complete the work, the standards will rise and the piece would be even better.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Magazine Evaluation

1. Who did you work with and how did you manage the task between you?

In the magazine preliminary task i worked with Ben Davies, however i did most of the work because he did not feel confident about Photoshop and didnt want to have a go. In saying that he did take some pictures which turned out really well. We worked together very well, we felt limited with little knowledge of photoshop but go through the task.

2. How did you plan your cover and contents page? What magazines did you use for your inspiration?

We didnt really use any magazines for inspiration, we both had a similar image in mind for the magazine. We wanted it to be simple but effective, to catch the eye of the reader/buyer. From the start we both agreed to make the genre of the magazine to be Music and make the magazine a unisex magazine.

3. What technology did you use to complete the task, and how did you use it?

We used a Digital camera and Photoshop to complete the task. The digital camera gave us trouble because the memory was not working so we could only store 7 photos at a time. Photoshop gave us trouble also because the programe is new to us both.

4. What factors did you have to take into account when planning, shooting and editing?

We had to take into account; the lighting, the background and it has to be relevent to the genre of the magazine and reader.

5. Which magazines conventions does the magazine follow?

6. Which does it break?

For 5 & 6 we wanted to break into the unisex of magazine's, maximising readers. (Got confused with question 5 & 6)

7. Who is your target audience and how does the layout/images/fonts/colour pallate/cover lines appeal to them?

We wanted the target audience to be any age and any gender, that is why we made the font colours Pink and Blue to represent Female and Male. We tried to make the layout as simple and effective as possible, we asked the teacher several times what she thought and she was happy with what we had produced.

8. Does the magazine appeal to new or regular readers – how do you know?

I think the magazine would appeal to any readers interested in the music industry, im sure if it was professional with enough funding it could go far.

9. How successful was your magazine cover? Identify what worked well, and with hindsight, what would you improve/do differently?

I believe the magazine cover was a success, however if i had photoshop at home i would of spent my free time making/tweaking some bits on the cover to make it even more appealing. For future reference i would take even more pictures with a bigger variety, however as we could only take 7 pictures at a time i believe we worked well with what we had.

10. What have you learnt about producing a magazine front cover and contents page? Looking ahead, how will this learning be significant when completing the rest of your foundation coursework?

I dont think i will produce a magazine for my final piece in the future, however i have walked away learning the basics about photoshop and importing/editing images from a digital camera.

Magazine final prelim.

This was my front cover of the magazine which me and my partner (Ben Davies) agreed to call it Choons. Why? because when you say Tunes it sounds similar to Choons. we decided to go with the music genre because music is a increasing industry with a global fanbase. We decided to have Pink and Blue font to show that the magazine is a unisex magazine.
We wanted to keep the Contents page as simple as possible but at the same time make it look affective which would get the reader wanting to read more. The Contents page is simple with no layouts crossing over eachother. Overall myself and ben are very pleased with our final piece.

Magazine Practice No.2

Last lesson we were given time to finish our magazine (front cover + contents page). Myself and Ben Davies finished our magazine and i when i get back to school i will save them as a JPEG and upload it to my blog, i havent been able to do it from home because i havent got Photoshop, i have tried from my brothers laptop who has photoshop at his university but then had internet problems.
I enjoyed working with photoshop and producing a magazine because i walk away learning a lot from it, i dont think it has changed my mind about my final piece, but it did put a dent in it.
I look forward to media lessons when we go back to school.

Magazine Practice No.1

Today we were asked to plan a magazine front cover and contents page. I worked with Ben davies, however i was contemplating whether or not to work on my own. We was told to take a digital camera and go take pictures which were relevant to the genre of our magazine (music). We choose music because we both listen to music and is listerned by male and females across the globe, so the target audience is very wide. We tried to get pictures of some musical instruments, however the music room was locked and we couldnt find a teacher, so ben took picturse of myself listerning to music through my iPod, which turned out very well.

On monday i plan to take more pictures of my friends with instruments in their hands and use them for the contents page, Ben and i still need to think of a magazine title. I think i may struggle with Photoshop next lesson but will give it all to learn something new.
Early to start thinking about final piece but i was stuck on filming however i enjoyed taking pictures and i like the idea of putting a magazine cover together and contents page.

Editing + Music

Last lesson we were told to edit our scenes from the 'practical practice No.2'. We had encounted problems with the editing as told in previous blog, i managed to fixthe problem when i went to the Mac room, i then edited the clips and added Text (Title + Credits). We were then told to add music into the clips but were told we cannot use copyrighted music for the obvious reason that its copyright protected, so we went onto 'Garage Band' to create our own music. I found Garage band very limited but it was easy to work and with enough time and effort im sure i could produce something i would like.

Because we filmed our scenes over two days, there was a obvious change of clothing, so for future reference either try film all in one day (short films) or Remember what items of clothing you were wearing to then bring in next time.

I was happy with the final filming piece, however we still need to add our final garage band product to the short film.

Practical Practice No.2

My second practical practice, i worked with Jack kemp, Ben davies and Sam maddison. We was asked to film a conversation using a variety of shots but including over shoulder shots. However my group always like to go the little further and did a chase around school to then lead to a conversation. I thought this pracitcal practice went better than the first one. In the editing lesson we had camera problems and still had to shoot some more shots so we are behind on the editing, so we could not all edit together. Luke, jack and sam did some editing while in a 'study' but apparently have messed up the audio, so tomorrow i will go to the Mac room and try importing/sorting it out.

Mise-en-scene

Miss Elger set homework/essay on mise-en-scene on the opening credits of 'The Wire'. Im attempting it at the moment, and have written 41 words in 30 minutes, shows how stuck i am. i really need to try understand mise-en-scene more and how to write a essay.