Tuesday 8 June 2010
Saturday 8 May 2010
Evaluation
Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our two minuite piece is classified in the genre of an action comedy. As a group we decided that action films were best suited to cramp a bunch of camera shots into various scenes but as a low budget shoot big explosions and bloody scenes were not on our shopping list. This is when we then decided that an action comedy would still allow us to catch the camera shots and angles we need but also automatically reduce our budget.
Q. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The piece is based on three ametuer "gangsters" preforming a number of interagations and a kidnappings, there alomost the typical minorties in which have faced constant rejection in society throughout their lives and have resorted in "crime" but with slight comical adjustments. For the two minuite piece we've purposely hand picked people of different ethnicities to try and create humour for a wider range of audience. The audience we believe this will attract are the younger generation ageing from teens to mid aged people of all backgrounds and genders.
Q. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I would like to believe that institions such as film4 and fox serch light would invest in such film as both have previously worked on british comedy films such as Bend It Like Beckham and Four Lions both major hits.
Q. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Honestly I believed that this project was common sense and was going to be a walk in the park, but when it was anything but. I slowly realised that media is present everywhere and this course helped me recognise this.
The editing software wasn't so straight foward at first but eventually after a few lessons and pointers from the teacher and other students b as a group it became as second nature to us and easier to use. iMovie is an amateur film editing software that helped us with specific areas such as the freeze frame, a technique we were worried that iMovie wouldn't have. But for our credits at the beginning it was done on Final Cut Pro.
Not only has this course helped me understand more clearly about the media world, It's shown me that 110% is needed in everything you do and everything you do can be improved in many ways, One of the most pivital things in the Media course is teamwork because we had to plan days due to each person in the group may have lessons and other things they may be doing so we had to work around that, also communication was vital, when we had to communicate with each other on a time and place when we would do the filming and who will be editing, Zach was a pro at editing, Alaa managed to arrange a time and place for us to use the car and contribute consistently to the group in the editing part of the course, Yousef was vital in our Script without it we wouldn't have gone anywhere and myself, I was a catalyst in arranging how the acting and contributed towards directing aswell as everyone else.
Our two minuite piece is classified in the genre of an action comedy. As a group we decided that action films were best suited to cramp a bunch of camera shots into various scenes but as a low budget shoot big explosions and bloody scenes were not on our shopping list. This is when we then decided that an action comedy would still allow us to catch the camera shots and angles we need but also automatically reduce our budget.
Q. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The piece is based on three ametuer "gangsters" preforming a number of interagations and a kidnappings, there alomost the typical minorties in which have faced constant rejection in society throughout their lives and have resorted in "crime" but with slight comical adjustments. For the two minuite piece we've purposely hand picked people of different ethnicities to try and create humour for a wider range of audience. The audience we believe this will attract are the younger generation ageing from teens to mid aged people of all backgrounds and genders.
Q. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I would like to believe that institions such as film4 and fox serch light would invest in such film as both have previously worked on british comedy films such as Bend It Like Beckham and Four Lions both major hits.
Q. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Honestly I believed that this project was common sense and was going to be a walk in the park, but when it was anything but. I slowly realised that media is present everywhere and this course helped me recognise this.
The editing software wasn't so straight foward at first but eventually after a few lessons and pointers from the teacher and other students b as a group it became as second nature to us and easier to use. iMovie is an amateur film editing software that helped us with specific areas such as the freeze frame, a technique we were worried that iMovie wouldn't have. But for our credits at the beginning it was done on Final Cut Pro.
Not only has this course helped me understand more clearly about the media world, It's shown me that 110% is needed in everything you do and everything you do can be improved in many ways, One of the most pivital things in the Media course is teamwork because we had to plan days due to each person in the group may have lessons and other things they may be doing so we had to work around that, also communication was vital, when we had to communicate with each other on a time and place when we would do the filming and who will be editing, Zach was a pro at editing, Alaa managed to arrange a time and place for us to use the car and contribute consistently to the group in the editing part of the course, Yousef was vital in our Script without it we wouldn't have gone anywhere and myself, I was a catalyst in arranging how the acting and contributed towards directing aswell as everyone else.
DVD cover
Below are two images produced by Yusif proposing the DVD cover.
This is the cover we have choosen.
This is the cover we have choosen.
A discussion of influence
Above is a snapshot from Quentin Tarantino's ground-breaking "Pulp Fiction" (1994). The shot has a distinct name, the 'trunk shot' and is a camera shot trademark of his. I believe this shot spawned the actual idea of Stolen? and would play a prominent role in this film.
Script for 2 Min film (Changes)
In order for the filming to be just under 2 minutes the script needed to be modified. Various scenes had to be moved forwards to the start of the film and many other scenes had to be completely removed.
We had to remove the "Man with no name" scene which is seen posted on our personal blogs because the timing was essential to our group gaining successful marks and by including the 'Man with no name" scene, otherwise the film will be forced to go over the time limit.
Certain dialogue was also changed in order to make scenes quicker and progressive. We also added various quick interrogation scenes to help build up towards the kidnapping and build suspense. We had to place the interrogation before the actual kidnapping because we did not have access to a car in time
We had to remove the "Man with no name" scene which is seen posted on our personal blogs because the timing was essential to our group gaining successful marks and by including the 'Man with no name" scene, otherwise the film will be forced to go over the time limit.
Certain dialogue was also changed in order to make scenes quicker and progressive. We also added various quick interrogation scenes to help build up towards the kidnapping and build suspense. We had to place the interrogation before the actual kidnapping because we did not have access to a car in time
Script for 2 Min film
It took several, frivolous hours on Microsoft word to compile a script. With great difficulty and vast knowledge of script writing, it made a a difference. Here is the script:
[Yousif is seen walking down the street.]
[Camera glances at his shoes then tilts up. Yousif is seen reading a book or listening to music on his MP3 player. Introduction to Yousif’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]
[Establishing shot of car on the side. Some form of audio should emit out of the car speaker system]
[Inside car, Zac is pointing camera pointing at Ashwin who is in the driving seat (recommended).]
Ashwin Oh my God! Are you stupid?!
[Introduction to Ashwin’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]
Ashwin No wait… don’t answer. You’re too stupid to answer that question.
[Camera is held by Ashwin pointing at Zac who is riding shotgun.]
Zac Ah you’re the stupid one.
[Introduction to Zac’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]
Zac You watch way too many movies.
[Camera returns to Yousif. Camera continues to follow his movements, perhaps at a different angle].
[Back to car, camera is placed on the bonnet pointing at Zac and Ashwin who continue to argue.]
Ashwin American girls don’t want you for you. They want your money!
Zac Since when? They have virtually no self-esteem, which is why they’re mostly bikini clad!
Ashwin Oh my God…
Zac What about you? Why Swedish?
Ashwin Why do you think?
Zac Get this through your head! She will never go out with you if she had to pick between you or Frankenstein’s monster!
Ashwin Is that a fact?
Zac Yeah!
[Ashwin turns to face Alaa who is sitting in the back seat behind Zac.]
Ashwin Yo amigo…
[POV shot of Ashwin pointing camera at Alaa.]
Ashwin What do you say to his quip?
[Introduction to Alaa’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]
Alaa Don’t get me involved.
[Camera is back on the bonnet facing Ashwin and Zac.]
[Alaa points at the windshield.]
Alaa There he is!
Ashwin & Zac together Where?
Alaa Right there!
[Switch to POV of Alaa. Yousif is clearly visible in the shot.]
[Back to bonnet shot].
Ashwin Showtime.
[Zac and Alaa exit vehicle].
[Mid-shot of Yousif oblivious to Zac and Alaa’s presence.]
[Entire shot of Zac and Alaa walking towards the camera. Black and white freeze frame. Brief appearance of the phrase ‘The Moroccans’. Back to colour.]
[A close in on Yousif’s reaction.]
Yousif Oh no.
[Yousif belts it. Mid-shot of him running off. Camera pans to The Moroccans and then quickly pans back to Yousif. Camera then pans in K’s direction. The Moroccans walk into the shot.]
[Camera moves downwards showing The Moroccans first, then K. The Moroccans make a grab for him.]
[Series of shots depicting K’s fear and The Moroccans’ stoicism. Switching between shots of Ashwin in the car and back to the action. Perhaps a POV of Ashwin when The Moroccans take K to the boot.]
[POV shot of one of the The Moroccans pointing the camera at K who is in the boot.]
K Eh? What?
[Freeze frame in black and white. Introduction to K’s character and a single phrase appears on the screen: Snitch. Back to colour.]
Snitch No!
[Boot door slams 4 times in succession. In each of the slams, a separate shot is used. POV of one of The Moroccans, then mid-shot of the The Moroccans from the left, then right, then trunk shot respectively.]
[In the Drama studio, treated as an interrogation room, Ashwin sitting opposite the Snitch. The Moroccans on either side of the table.]
[Over Snitch’s shoulder shot of Ashwin.]
Ashwin So, tell me what I want to know.
[Over Ashwin’s shoulder shot of Snitch.]
[Snitch is afraid and nervous].
[Yousif is seen walking down the street.]
[Camera glances at his shoes then tilts up. Yousif is seen reading a book or listening to music on his MP3 player. Introduction to Yousif’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]
[Establishing shot of car on the side. Some form of audio should emit out of the car speaker system]
[Inside car, Zac is pointing camera pointing at Ashwin who is in the driving seat (recommended).]
Ashwin Oh my God! Are you stupid?!
[Introduction to Ashwin’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]
Ashwin No wait… don’t answer. You’re too stupid to answer that question.
[Camera is held by Ashwin pointing at Zac who is riding shotgun.]
Zac Ah you’re the stupid one.
[Introduction to Zac’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]
Zac You watch way too many movies.
[Camera returns to Yousif. Camera continues to follow his movements, perhaps at a different angle].
[Back to car, camera is placed on the bonnet pointing at Zac and Ashwin who continue to argue.]
Ashwin American girls don’t want you for you. They want your money!
Zac Since when? They have virtually no self-esteem, which is why they’re mostly bikini clad!
Ashwin Oh my God…
Zac What about you? Why Swedish?
Ashwin Why do you think?
Zac Get this through your head! She will never go out with you if she had to pick between you or Frankenstein’s monster!
Ashwin Is that a fact?
Zac Yeah!
[Ashwin turns to face Alaa who is sitting in the back seat behind Zac.]
Ashwin Yo amigo…
[POV shot of Ashwin pointing camera at Alaa.]
Ashwin What do you say to his quip?
[Introduction to Alaa’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]
Alaa Don’t get me involved.
[Camera is back on the bonnet facing Ashwin and Zac.]
[Alaa points at the windshield.]
Alaa There he is!
Ashwin & Zac together Where?
Alaa Right there!
[Switch to POV of Alaa. Yousif is clearly visible in the shot.]
[Back to bonnet shot].
Ashwin Showtime.
[Zac and Alaa exit vehicle].
[Mid-shot of Yousif oblivious to Zac and Alaa’s presence.]
[Entire shot of Zac and Alaa walking towards the camera. Black and white freeze frame. Brief appearance of the phrase ‘The Moroccans’. Back to colour.]
[A close in on Yousif’s reaction.]
Yousif Oh no.
[Yousif belts it. Mid-shot of him running off. Camera pans to The Moroccans and then quickly pans back to Yousif. Camera then pans in K’s direction. The Moroccans walk into the shot.]
[Camera moves downwards showing The Moroccans first, then K. The Moroccans make a grab for him.]
[Series of shots depicting K’s fear and The Moroccans’ stoicism. Switching between shots of Ashwin in the car and back to the action. Perhaps a POV of Ashwin when The Moroccans take K to the boot.]
[POV shot of one of the The Moroccans pointing the camera at K who is in the boot.]
K Eh? What?
[Freeze frame in black and white. Introduction to K’s character and a single phrase appears on the screen: Snitch. Back to colour.]
Snitch No!
[Boot door slams 4 times in succession. In each of the slams, a separate shot is used. POV of one of The Moroccans, then mid-shot of the The Moroccans from the left, then right, then trunk shot respectively.]
[In the Drama studio, treated as an interrogation room, Ashwin sitting opposite the Snitch. The Moroccans on either side of the table.]
[Over Snitch’s shoulder shot of Ashwin.]
Ashwin So, tell me what I want to know.
[Over Ashwin’s shoulder shot of Snitch.]
[Snitch is afraid and nervous].
Copyright
Due to the fact that the track we are using is a recognised song by a popular artist there are issues with Copyright. Therefore we have written a letter to the Copyright holder in order to gain their permission for the use of the track "Next Hype"
Friday 7 May 2010
Music
In our 2 min piece we have added a non-diegetic sound which is played throughout the end of the clip. we decided on the song because it is upbeat and it fits perfectly with our fliming.
The mp3 we played was Tempa T- Next Hype
We have asked for his permission for us to use hes song in our piece
This is Tempa T the artist that made the song, Next Hype
The mp3 we played was Tempa T- Next Hype
We have asked for his permission for us to use hes song in our piece
This is Tempa T the artist that made the song, Next Hype
Thursday 6 May 2010
Decisions
We choose to use a car in our final piece as we explored the number of great camera shots and angles we could capture.
The picture above was captured as we were out location scouting and exploring camera shots and angles for the car scene.
The picture above was captured as we were out location scouting and exploring camera shots and angles for the car scene.
Support from outside of the group
Throughout our project we recieved help a numerous amount of times from people outside of our group. These people had helped us film shots aswell as featuring within both the continuity and final piece.
This is Kwabena, he voluntarily joined us through our first continuity piece where he had a part in contributing towards directing and ideas of futhering our story board.
This is Tanvir who had aided us several times on different occasions for our final piece. He not only featured in the final cut but also had helped gather other runners for the final piece.
This is Kwabena, he voluntarily joined us through our first continuity piece where he had a part in contributing towards directing and ideas of futhering our story board.
This is Tanvir who had aided us several times on different occasions for our final piece. He not only featured in the final cut but also had helped gather other runners for the final piece.
Wednesday 5 May 2010
Hyundai Coupe
In our 2 min piece we were able to get hold of a car, the Hyundai Coupe to film with, we had a group discussion and we come to the fact that if we were able to get hold of a car, we would be able to get loads more camera shots then without using a car, and also it fits perfectly with the story, we were planning to kidnap a person and throw the person in the boot, so having a car was an ideal priority that we had to get.
Saturday 1 May 2010
Video Time
We started our 2 min filming, and so far it's going rather well, I have taken a few snapshots of the camera work, Editing and acting in the making.
This is Zach on the Apple Mac, editing the work we done, linking everything together so its all smooth also adding effects which our Media teacher informed us that its important we add some sound because it will gain us a few more marks.
As you can see here an image captured of myself interrogating Oshoma (A friend we used in our filming) with Yousef in the back videoing an over the should shot of Oshoma capturing the facial expression of me.
this is my POV of Danso's (Another cast in our film) he is capturing his eyes, we not only use video we also take Snapshots, taking advantage of all the use the camera has.
This is Zach on the Apple Mac, editing the work we done, linking everything together so its all smooth also adding effects which our Media teacher informed us that its important we add some sound because it will gain us a few more marks.
As you can see here an image captured of myself interrogating Oshoma (A friend we used in our filming) with Yousef in the back videoing an over the should shot of Oshoma capturing the facial expression of me.
this is my POV of Danso's (Another cast in our film) he is capturing his eyes, we not only use video we also take Snapshots, taking advantage of all the use the camera has.
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Filming
I have a little bit of experience with filming outside of this course which made it alot easier to use the camera. The JVC Everio is ideal for our project as its compact and ready for use. I began filming on my group continuity second piece along side with Zach as Yusif and Alaa tried a little acting. This was the first time the group had started filming in public areas which became a challenge especially when a group from our class had decided to film beside us in the same location for our second continuity.
Wednesday 7 April 2010
Editing
Using iMovie
I actually found my first time using imovie an easy experience. The programme is quite straight foward, although it did help seeing it being used before by zach.
I was actually quite pleased with the outcome and would definitely recommend it to begginers.
I actually found my first time using imovie an easy experience. The programme is quite straight foward, although it did help seeing it being used before by zach.
I was actually quite pleased with the outcome and would definitely recommend it to begginers.
iMovie
iMovie is a proprietary video editing software application which allows Mac users to edit their own home movies.
To organize, just import. Plug in virtually any digital camcorder and iMovie starts importing your video. Then iMovie helps you organize your video just as you organize photos: by putting everything in one central location and grouping video clips according the date they were taken. So it’s easy to find the clips you’re looking for — whether to watch or to edit. Don’t have a camcorder? You can still use iMovie: It displays video you captured on your still camera and imported into iPhoto.
iMovie '09 supports the most popular video formats like AVCHD and MPEG 4, and even the new iFrame video format. iFrame is designed to make importing and editing video fast and easy without taking up a lot of space on your hard drive.
Working together
Alot of the filming production involved the group as a whole getting together and planning several pieces of work in which contributions were vital. Examples of which are followed script writting/dialog, story boarding, location scouting and most importantly our open idea board.
The group and I are working on a story board for our first continuity piece
The group and I are working on a story board for our first continuity piece
Monday 5 April 2010
Sunday 28 March 2010
Filming in the making
In yesterdays lesson we used the camera to video some more camera angles and shots of Yousef comming out of a newsagents, it was a breif shoot due to the camera battery running out, but as you can see below I have uploaded some pictures of our progress and how we set up in videoing our piece.
As you can see here, Zach is filming Yousef exit the newsagents, he is using the hand held approach to capture the movement of Yousef.
This is Yousef, Zach and Ashwin looking back on the previous recordings discussing how it looks and if anything will need to be done to either change or improve the shots.
As you can see here, Zach is filming Yousef exit the newsagents, he is using the hand held approach to capture the movement of Yousef.
This is Yousef, Zach and Ashwin looking back on the previous recordings discussing how it looks and if anything will need to be done to either change or improve the shots.
Saturday 27 March 2010
Progress
Today in lesson we as a group sat down and discussed what our next steps were going to be, we all decided to stay with the intial plan of using a car to help us with our 2 mins piece because of the wide variety of camera angle we could achieve from using car, I have agreed a time and date with my couson for us to use the car for our piece, all we need to do is start filming.
Also today in lesson we took the cameras and started filming around the school block, and as we were filming me and Ashwin contributed to the group with an idea that we do something simluar to MTV cribs, but in a funny way, we didn't just say it because of the fun of it, there are a load of camera shots and editing required and we belive it would be a success but at the momment its just a thought amongst the group.
Also today in lesson we took the cameras and started filming around the school block, and as we were filming me and Ashwin contributed to the group with an idea that we do something simluar to MTV cribs, but in a funny way, we didn't just say it because of the fun of it, there are a load of camera shots and editing required and we belive it would be a success but at the momment its just a thought amongst the group.
Thursday 25 March 2010
JVC Camera Equipment
The JVC Everio GZ-HD300BEK is an Ultra-compact Full HD HDD/microSD hybrid camcorder featuring 24Mbps High bit rate Recording, with KONICA MINOLTA HD LENS, 60GB HDD for up to 25 hours of Full HD AVCHD recording, 1920x1080/50P output, and face detection
Friday 19 March 2010
Working on the First Continuity
Originally for our first continuity story board was a very rough outline of which we were looking for as a group. Our main target was to get familiar with the camera and experiment with shots. Many of the shots used were not from the original story board as they did not come up to standards which is why the story board for the first conmtinuity is currently being editted and will shortly be uploaded.
Saturday 20 February 2010
The Introduction of SF
Sober Films was established in 2010 by a group of young A-level students, initially aiming to create short films for its viewing audience.
This blog shall allow our followers to stay updated on our latest activities and innovations throughout.
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