Evaluation Question 7 (Vodcast) Looking back at your prelimanary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product

This is my answer to the 7th evaluation question. Also these are the prelim videos I refer to.











And here is the vodcast answer.

Evaluation Question 6 (Blog Post) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I used the following technologies in the process of this year;

1. Final Cut Pro
2. Adobe Premiere Pro
3. Blogger
4. YouTube
5. IMDB
6. Facebook
7. Mac OS
8. Camera Equipment
   
   

Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is a video editing suite which allow you to create multi media project. Via importing video clips and music to then create a project. We used this to create our film opening The Brief and also I used it to do my preliminary task nearer the start of the year. I had never used more advanced video editing software up until Final Cut. This meant it was a steep learning curve, but I felt I quickly got efficient with the software because of its simple layout. I used tools like the blade tool which allows you to cut up the clip you are using to create smooth and quick cut. I also used keyboard shortcuts thorough the year, which significantly increased my productivity. Some examples of this would be B for blade, A for the default selection tool. Furthermore I have developed a knowledge and understanding for making titles in the program making vodcasts much quicker and more aesthetically pleasing. So now I feel like I'm well accustomed to Final Cut.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Render settings

I also learned how to use Adobe Premiere Pro which is a more complicated video editing software than Final Cut Pro. I used it to edit the test for the POV Go-Pro Shots in our film opening and my Vodacasts for some of the evaluation questions. I feel I have progressed in my skill at using Premiere ,but as it is such a vast programme it could be a while before I become the same level of skill as I am at Final Cut. Because there are several colour correction tools which I find to complicated to use although I do have a vague understanding of them. However I do no the keyboard shortcuts which are slightly different to those of final cut pro X as to cut you use the letter C which I find makes more sense. I have also learnt how all the different transitions work however my knowledge of the music transitions is less extensive. During my time using Premiere Pro I have also leant what are the best render settings for the cameras I use. and here is a screen shot of those that is displayed on the right

Blogger

I had never used Blogger before I started the course, but now I find it a useful tool to show work. As I have used it to display my research and coursework. I have also used it to do research as I have look on other media blogs which have helped me throughout the course. It has been a great tool as I am able to get audience feedback from fellow students and teachers. Also it has allowed for good group communication as we can see what other people have been doing and so on.

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, which allows you to share and view shared videos. It has been a good website to use as it has meant that I have been able to upload YouTube videos to embed them in our blog. Also it has meant we have been able to gather audience feedback so we have been able to improve our work.. Finally it has also meant that I have been able to access old media which has helped with coursework.

IMDb

The Internet Movie Database (abbreviated as the IMDb) is an online database of information related to films, television programs and video games, including cast, production crew, fictional characters, biographies, plot summaries, trivia and reviews. I have used it many times to gather box office info and budgets. It has helped to access old media. There is also Box Office Mojo which is helpful and is similar to IMDB.

Facebook

Facebook is an online social networking service. I already new how to use Facebook. but it was helpful for group organization as we were able to meet deadlines. Furthermore we were able to gather feedback.  

Mac OS

Before this media course I had never used Mac OS and now I feel that I have developed a good understanding of the software. I used it to run my browser and my editing software. It was also helpful as it meant I could easily take screenshots. Which has resulted in a better blog. Finally it has meant I could run Facebook so communication had become much easier.

 Camera Equipment

I had some knowledge previously to this course but this knowledge was mainly photography based.

So this has meant I have gone forward in leaps and bounds. For example I am now more accustomed to changing the aperture and white balance to improve the look of the shot depending on the lighting you have at the time. This very much helps with continuity as it allows you to film at separate times in the day. Also I learnt to convert and use different media formats as I was using the Go-pro and the Sony DSLR. Which of course came with different formats. Furthermore having the used the Go-Pro I have learned to use different frame because of course Go-Pro's have better FPS capability's to the regular DSLR's. For example I used it when we were using shots that included a parkour element so we were able to slo-mo the shot and still keep it running smooth. So I feel my use of different cameras has developed a lot.

Overall I feel that I my knowledge developed

Evaluation Question 5 (YouTube video annotation) How did you attract/address your audience?

Here is the answer to the question given above done via YouTube video annotation.





Below there are some of my points repeated and developed upon in text form.


We had the ability to attract and address the audience in many different ways such as?

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Twitter
• Vimeo
• Tumbler
• Interview non-media studies students
• Interviewing media studies students
• Interviewing our secondary target audience
• Interviewing our core target audience

Attract

Facebook

Facebook Is a very useful way to attract your audience as the people who use Facebook are generally our target audience of 15-25 meaning if they hear about the film then they are more likely to be interested in actually watch it. Also it allows us to post rough cuts and tasters which will increase interest. Also often you can receive feedback on rough cuts which is helpful when making a micro budget indie like ours.



YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States. The service was created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005. In November 2006, it was bought by Google for US$1.65 billion. YouTube now operates as one of Google's subsidiaries. The site allows users to upload, view, rate, share and comment on videos. Also YouTube has over a billion users which is almost a third of all people on the Internet, and every day, people watch hundreds of millions of hours of YouTube videos and generate billions of views. This means a site such as this would be great to attract people to watching our film. 

If we were to talk to our core and secondary target audience it would allow us to reflect on what type of film they can relate to. Which would mean we could tailor our film using the feedback we receive in interviews to make sure we get a positive reply when we present it to an audience. For example  we would ask them questions about their opinion on the narrative, the cinematography and weather we represent them. 

We could then interview media and then non media students. This would then mean that we could gather two different sets of feedback.  As media students will have a different outlook on a film then a non media student. As media students will give us better analysis on camera shots, editing and semiotics. As this is what media students tend to focus on as they are in the same position as me. Whereas non media students will talk about the tone of the and whether the music fits the scene. So this would mean we would have two different opinions on our film. One from an people who are experienced in making films and others who would be watching the film. When we had received feedback we could then again tailor the film to make sure we have correctly and effectively address them. 

Address

Narrative

We did not directly address are audience with our narrative as we have little narrative in the film opening, however when we did it of course was spoken by actors of their age and also in the style they may do themselves. we also made sure it made sense by adding the full gym scene as it was important for our audience to know what's going on. We can see that the audience understands the narrative as they gave it a average of 8 out of 10 for whether the narrative was clear or not. We also use one shot of the phone on the bench when agent Cross gets a text about his mission this also helps with the context of the whole film. Narrative enigma is also used here as it keeps the audience attracted and interested. It also makes the audience ask itself questions. Also

Mis-en-scene

We used an urban Mise-en-scene which many of our audience would be used to as urban places are highly populated with the younger generation which of course is our target audience. Because it was it we shot it in overcast weather many of are target audience would understand this. As of course we would be looking for a UK release. In one of our shots we used a sign that says police on it. This represented the criminal side of the story. This was great as it addressed the audience, also connoting what was to come.

Music

We addressed them by using fast paced music which had an electronic and bass element. Which is similar to the pop music or rap/grime music which is popular with younger generations. We also matched the editing to the music which of course was fast paced do addressed our audience of (15-24).

Actors

The protagonist very much addressed the audience as he is of their age and their gender. Meaning we gave the audience somebody to directly relate to which I feel will create a clearer image of the character in the audiences head. Furthermore at the start of the chase scene agent Cross gets a call from somebody with a southern accent. As a general convention action films have a side kick who has a southern accent like the ones in the James Bond sequels.

Location
We addressed said the gym was in Leeds, this means we were addressing a higher proportion of the audience than if we just said the actual location Ilkley. For example 13% of the people wh watched Edge of Tomorrow were from Yorkshire.

Titles

We used animated titles that swooped in an out when cars hit them id this because It provided good information and effect. Animated titles were also seen in Captain America winter soldier showing animated titles to be a convention within action films. So this means we are addressing our action genre as the fans of this genre will realise that it is an action film. As of course like I said animated tiles signify the action genre.

Overall I feel that our film does a better job at attraction of audiences then addressing them as we have little narrative and characters.

Evaluation Q4 (Blog) Who would be the audience for your media product

Core Audience

Our core target audience would be a male of any ethnicity or social class aged between 15-30. As we exist within the action/thriller genre which as a convention aims for these criterion. An example of a person of this age is below in picture form.  

Secondary Audience  

Our secondary audience would be parents who have taken there children to go see the film. So this would mean the audience would be parents male/female between the ages of 35-60. Also we would apply a 12A certificate for our film so we could have an audience younger than 12 meaning we would have access to wider viewing figures. Also if males aged between 15-30 are watching the film then it may mean they will bring their girlfriends, which would widen the audience further to 15-30 females. Below there is some examples of what our secondary target audience would look like.

BBFC Rating

I would like our film to have a BBFC rating of 12A as I feel this will give us the widest audience. Our film fits this category as it has the same overall tone as other movies in the 12A category much like James Bond Spectre (2015). Tone is seen as important in the BBFC specification as seen in this quote taken from their website, "The overall tone of a film or video, and the way it makes the audience feel may affect the classification." Also we would have infrequent strong language in our film which would keep it in the 12A specification. This is their terms to keep the film in a 12A and I feel our full 90 minute film would be within the boundaries of the specification. "The BBFC's Guidelines state that strong language (e.g. 'f***') may be passed at 12 or 12A, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification. Aggressive uses of strong language may result in a film or DVD being placed at the 15 category. There is some allowance for puns on strong language at this category.
There may be moderate language (e.g. uses of terms such as ‘bitch’ and ‘twat’ at 12 or 12A)."  Furthermore we have no discrimination in the film which enables us yet again to stay in the 12A category. This quote is again from their website which specifies discrimination rules.  "Any discriminatory language or behaviour will not be endorsed by the work as a whole." Finally we would include moderate violence which is allowed by BBFC for a 12A, furthermore no horror would be used as this is not our genre anyway.

Changes made to fit audience

So far we are yet to make changes to the film in order for it to fit our audience. This is because are initial film idea already fit the audience we were aiming for. Apart from when we carried out audience feedback and we were told to include a female which we ended up following up in the character "Niamh" who plays a role similar to M from James Bond. We did this in order to attract more of a female audience. Because of this change we have increased the size of our secondary audience.

Proof of audience

Evidence for the fact action thrillers have an audience would be firstly, San Andreas (2015) when they received a worldwide box office of $473,790,832. Also Fast & Furious 7 (2015) received  a worldwide box office of  $1,516,045,911. Furthermore an example of a British action film that was successful would be Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows 2011 which received a worldwide box office of $545,400,000.

Choices made to create a Working Title esc film

Films created by the UK's biggest film producer (Working title) are marketed at audiences in the US in certain ways. For example they will not use regional accents as this means US audiences may find it harder to understand so they will not watch it. Whereas when the top indie film producer (Warp films) creates a film they will use regional accents because they know they will not be aiming for a US release. Also no top actors will be used in indie films much like ours, but we did not use regional accents as we purposely chose are actors as they had southern accents which is what Working Title tends to do. As we would be aiming for a small US release which I explain in the evaluation question 3.

Evaluation Q3 Distribution (Prezi) What type of media institution might distribute your media product and why

This is a prezi I produced for evaluation question 3. Click the link to view it.

http://prezi.com/bwvhplglmybj/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Evaluation Question 2 Video Podcast) How does your media product represent particular social groups

Something I would like to add would be the fact that we also represent the  authority and state as of course the protagonist is an agent of sorts who may have links with governmental organisations like MI5. Furthermore we also have an antagonist who represents the criminal underground in our country. So is representing the general sense of corruption which takes place inside and outside of government.


This is my answer to evaluation question 2.

Evaluation Question 1 (Video Podcast) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products

Here is a video podcast of my answer to evaluation question 1.