Final Cut

Our Final Cut of Film Opening

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

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

I feel that I have progressed dramatically from the preliminary task to the main task, I honestly think it is because I have a clearer understanding of how important the pre production actually was. Before when we were doing our preliminary task we prepared our pre production but we did not stand by it this then meant that we became unaware of what was happening in the production of the film. By using this as a starting point for a new beginning I think we did better when it came to sticking by the story board and developing our ideas but also learning to come together as one.


Pre Production
As I said before in our preliminary task we did not focus on what was important and led us to start again. To avoid this in terms of the new task we divided the work load up between the group, once everyone had completed what they were meant to we then came back and discussed what we like and what we didn't like. This was good as this allowed us to take things we liked into consideration but also we took these forward. Once doing this we were able to create a pack this helped us plan out the different shots that needed to be done but also helped us so we can set out the props and prep the location.


Production
In the preliminary task we used to get really distracted because we used our friends as the cast members but we then decided that was a bad idea as it prolonged our filming time and 'wasted daylight'. For the man task we decided to hire actors that we did not know personally so this would keep everything on a professional level.


Post Production
When it came to us using the technology it was different because in the preliminary task we just focused on match on action, shot, reverse shot, continuity and not breaking the 180 degree. when doing the main task yes we focused on these aspects but it was also about creating a narrative and telling as story. We used the same soft ware but used different settings. So before in the preliminary task we did not do any colour grading as it was not needed, so taking this in mind we were very inexperienced when it came colour grading but with help we succeeded.


At the end of the preliminary task we decided to write down a few questions that we swore we would learn to answer in the near future and I can now say that I can answer these questions if asked.
The questions are below:
How to colour grade a film?How to create a voice over onto final cut pro?
How to add music onto final cut pro?
What is the main production of a film?
How do you get special effects on final cut pro?
How to get a split screen effect on final cut pro?
How to make a realistic script?

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

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

 

Throughout the process of creating this product I have learnt many things about the way technology has evolved. At first I was not very familiar with the many things that we used during the production process but I think as time went on and by allowing my self to get involved and experimenting with the given equipment I learnt how the 'new' world of tech actually works.

 

In the production process we were given DSLR cameras to film our film openings, with this camera we were then given a microphone, tri pod and steady cam. As I had never used one of these cameras before I was not aware of how it worked. By doing some research and getting to grips with the camera my self I was able to use the camera and film. Using the DSLR meant that we could capture all the shots that we needed and more but this also meant that we could capture not images but motion picture in high definition (HD). An example of this would be seen in our final cut when the doctor is cutting into the girls body. For this shot we wanted the resolution to be really high as we wanted the audience to feel as if it is from a first hand and they are actually watching this happening before there eyes.

 

The Image above does not look HD because when we converted it for YouTube it was then supressed and became very pixelated but you could still view what is going on just not the way we would like it to be shown.
Another thing that using a DSLR allowed us to do was to change the focus of the camera this meant we could either make our images/videos soft or make them sharp. This was also another way of focusing the camera on one thing so it would be come the new dominate figure in the image/video. This was used very often throughout our film opening as we wanted to build on the tension but also create enigma for the audience as we did not want them know what was going on. An example of this would be seen in the beginning of our opening where they was a soft image of a tray with medical equipment gradually came into a sharp image this created enigma for the audience as they did not know want the image was and why it was needed in the moving sequence.

This image is of the soft image in the opening.

 

I also think using the Mac's in the media suite was different because before this was the ordinary stationary laptops that we all used before but as time went on we were gifted with the brand new hardware of today that allows us to access different software's to help us complete various tasks. I had never use a Mac computer before this course and it was very confusing to be as I was not use to this type of technology but as I played around a bit I learnt quite a lot about how the computer works. This was a very key thing to learn about as we used the Mac's soft ware (Final Cut Pro X) to help us edit out film. Without this software I don't believe we would have achieved what we did this time around as this enabled us to try different things and leave our comfort zone which we are normally too scared to leave.

New Generation Technology

Old Generation Technology

 

 



 

Throughout the process of setting up our film on the internet I learnt about digital distribution, this meant that if we were to put our film on the internet it would be open to a global audience because it was distributed digitally. We also decided as a group that because digitisation has taken over the media world, Big global institutions would have the upper hand as they have the money to use this to there advantage and considering the storyline of our opening we believe that our opening will be distributed digitally to gain a wider audience. In comparison with the small independent institutions I have learnt that because they work on a small budget they do not have much to work with so having digitisation at there disposal is what they need. I say this because for a company like 'Warp Films' they are given a certain amount of money to spend on the production of film and they only have a small amount left for marketing I believe that the 'evolution' of technology; digitisation is slowly bringing the independent film companies in existence.

 

Refection

When creating our opening we learnt how things was done before we had the DSLR camera and I honestly believe that we as the 'teenagers of today' have it better off and I can definitely say that digitisation has not fully developed as yet. 

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

The video below is us as a group discussing and developing the evaluation question.

From left to right:
Desiree - 9022, Lauren - 9180, Naomi - 9053, Sophie - 9118

Evaluation: how does your media product represent particular social groups?

For this question we decided to have a audio clip and it was showing a range of different media's.

Evalution: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Who would be the audience for your media product?

-       We decided as a group that this film would be targeted to both genders and mainly teen as we don’t think that anyone over the age of 40 would be mildly interested in the type of film that we have created. I personally believe that our film would definitely raise some issues with women who class there selves as feminists. I say this because a feminist is woman who politically believes that men and women are equal and they must dress a certain way to protect their modesty. In our film we have slightly disobeyed the way they think. We choose to dress our victim in a short black and lacy dress because it would appeal to the opposite sex making her a prime target for interaction or even on a serious note abduction. Also by having the victim strapped down and her not trying to escape and being very defensive less this would infuriate the feminists as she was not trying to protect herself or even try and stand up for what she knows is right.    

-       As we said a while back the film opening is a 100% British but follows the storyline of an American film our initial target audience would be the British and the American hopefully reaching a global scale.

Evaluation: What kind of media insitution might distribute your media product and why?

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

-       Based on the story line of our film opening we thought it would be distributed by a conglomerate (big institution i.e. Warner Bros.). Our film is 100% British as it included a British cast, British crew, British director and British location but as our film follows the ‘traditional’ American horror story line we believe that this would appeal to a lot of viewers hence being distributed by a big institution.

-       Being that is it would be distributed by a conglomerate this will give them the large budget to market our film and distribute it using different media’s. I say this because currently our film opening is on YouTube, this is accessible to billions of people around the world. By using this source of networking we have transformed our film opening to what you could say started off as a ‘niche’ product to a ‘hit’ product gaining us a global audience.  

Below is a voice clip of the group discussing the question: