Media 16'

Here is our final film- 

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?    Here is our preliminary task- Visually our final product is to a much higher standard. I believe this is a result of careful planning when it comes to a shot list. During our preliminary we focused mostly on the script, and I believe we  did not pay as much attention to camera angles and composition as we should have. I learnt from watching our preliminary the importance of having a good shot list and this was something I made sure was done well in the making of our final product.  Here is an experimental we made at the start of the year. This was made in an extremely short period of time and I believe it improved my ability to make quick decisions when filming. 

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of contracting this product? Gopro- To film the underwater shots, we used my GoPro Hero 1. I had previously used this for purely recreational purposes however for this project I learnt about how to use it efficiently and get the best possible shots for the film. Due to the camera not having a screen I was concerned that the shots we recorded would not be what we wanted. However I learnt that due to the fish eye lens that the camera has a very wide scope and picked up exactly what we wanted.  Final Cut Pro- Here is a screenshot of the software we used to edit. Here you can see how I positioned different sound effects to create variation in the soundtrack to make sure it the soundtrack felt natural and was not overpowering. During this shot I also learnt about transitions. I experimented with fades to add more suspense and emotion to the scene as the character walks towards it. This was done by splitting the shot in...

How did you attract/address your audience?  Attracting An Audience Outside The Film Due to our film having a younger audience, a way in which we could attract our audience is through social media. Platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are something that can provide free and effective marketing for films. This is especially useful for an independent film like ours. Due to our film having mysterious elements this could be put to use in any marketing campaigns. For example by designing posters that do not reveal a lot about the film but are enough to entice an audience. I believe that interactive marketing campaigns would be highly useful in attracting our audience. This could consist of revealing parts of a shot and asking social media users to guess something about it. The comments received on social media posts like these would cause it to appear in more and more peoples news-feeds again increasing traffic on our page and extending our reach to our audience.  

Who would be the audience for your media product?  Here is a Prezi presentation I made addressing the question. Please also find a sound cloud link in the Prezi to a spoken explanation of the question.  https://prezi.com/view/EZP6UR785YLr4BvLJN66/

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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

KALOPSIA   We decided to name our production company "Kalopsia productions". We felt that the meaning behind the word was suited as it has similar tones to our first production. The plot revolves around what are character sees, and her reaction to this, just as Kalopsia has connotations to sight and eyes. DEFINITION - a condition, state or delusion in which things appear more beautiful than they  really are. As a combination of the Greek roots kallos,  meaning  beauty, and opsis,  meaning  sight (or opos,  meaning  eyes), in English  kalopsia  can also mean beautiful sight or with beautiful eyes. These are some of the ideas for our logo for Kalopsia. After researching and looking at similar logos to what he had pictured we have decided to create our own simple original logo. The idea of the eye comes from the definition that things appear more beautiful than they are. The decision to go with the name Kalops...

THE  SHOOT From where the taxi dropped us of, we had scheduled the walk to be around 20 mins,  luckily we made it there in about 10 which gave us more time to film.  On our way to our first location, as we came towards  the forest we noticed the strong similarity between this and "The Witch", a film we analysed. The dirty worn look of the cottage was exactly what we were hoping for, it still had to be recognisable as a home to ensure viewers would understand the plot. Again the forest had striking similarities to what was seen in the witch, I could also sense some similarities to "Hanna" with the absence of snow.  We were lucky that the weather over the past few days had been quite dry so the ground in the forest was as dry as possible.  Getting some shots involved moving through brambles and bushes, for example here I needed to get far enough away to get the final shot of the cottage. The regional plan for this shot was to do a reverse...

Titles  After analysing some opening titles we decided that we did not want to go with a generic font or thriller title aesthetic. We wanted our titles to resemble the look of "The Witch" more so than other thrillers such as "The maze runner". We decided that the obvious themes such as Witchcraft common to both our film and the witch, which results the  same social groups being represented. It also leads to a similarity in some underlying themes such as innocence. This is a main reason we chose to use the colour white in our font.  Colour After seeing white as a recurring theme We felt that choosing the colour white was the best option. We wanted the colour to stand out against the natural greenery of the landscape however we did not want it to look out of place or unnatural. Again with regard to colour the titles can be seen to represent the protagonist. White, usually associated with innocence and purity reflects the youthf...

Titles Analysis  Interestingly the majority of the films I chose to previously analyse did not have opening titles. One of the films that did however was Hanna. From watching the opening to the film I have noticed the following elements.  Each title fades in and fades out of the shot that it is featured in. The selected font is white which is interesting as the background is of a similar colour.  The titles are placed in the centre of the screen. Being placed against the barren landscape this also helps them to stand out. The way in which the titles appear in shots with no music also helps them to increase the focus on them. Stranger Things In stranger things the credits take a place against a black background. Surrounding it is the edges of the full title "stranger things". Stranger Things creates mystery in the titles in a different way to Hanna. The colour scheme is much darker and sinister looking however the choice of font remains white....

Costume Once we obtained the correct garment for the costume, it then had to be aged and made authentic. This was done by adding frays and tears to the neckline and sleeves and making the white gown look dirty and aged. This was done using a bucket of water and mud, it was then left to set outside on a rainy night which created the watery pattern and effects on the costume. This was important as our character has been submerged underwater for a long time. 

Makeup Makeup is an extremely important aspect to our film to create interest and to add authenticity to our character. Due to there being so much focus on our main character and her reactions to the environment around her we knew that makeup could be a way of subtly revealing part of our characters back story. Because our character has supposedly been submerged for a very long tie, discolouration of the skin was a big element of the makeup. Blue tones were added around the lips to suggest exposure to extremely low temperatures and purples were added under the eyes and around the face to give a general worn and beaten look. Subtle bruising around the neck and arms were also added to hint at her hands being tied tightly and that a rope had been pulled around her neck, ordeals that would have been experienced by victims of a witch hunt.The makeup was thoroughly blended to ensure that it was not glaring or unrealistic, we aimed for a subtle yet revealing look. To create the entire loo...

Audience Feedback  After pitching our idea to the class, we handed out some questionnaires asking the following questions. Here are some answers to our questions that we thought were particularly helpful.  Would you find any parts confusing, how would we improve this? "I think it may be difficult to know that she is a witch if you don't know her backstory" From what you have been told, if you were to watch this would you continue to watch the film? "Yes it seems interesting and mysterious" "What are your favourite parts?" "I like the fact that you are filming underwater" "I like the music + locations" Some other suggestions we received- "You might not want to film the underwater bit in the actual river, will be freezing, in a pool or something to create the illusion" The comment surrounding how it is difficult to know that she is a witch is something that we took into consideration but then concluded tha...

The Pitch Here is the presentation we made to our class using Prezi.

Origin Music And Sound We plan on having an original soundtrack due to the need for it to be so specific to the film. The reason we need it to be so specific is that our soundtrack effectively is the replacement for dialogue. The music will be what conveys the atmosphere and emotion however we do not want it to over power the shots either. We have decided that a simple piano melody would be the most fitting for this as it easily conveys emotion however it will not take away from the shots. Tracks To Take inspiration From T ogether we will live forever- Clint Mansell Preludes: La colombe (The Dove)- Oliver Messiaen, Hakin Austbo In the opening shots we plan on having music to create a mysterious tone however as the intensity and drama of the shots increase we will add more dissonance and it will become increasingly atonal. To record the soundtrack we will use garage band. Due to time limitations and possible future complications that could be faced in recording we have de...

Risk Assessment   Due to our filming taking place entirely outdoors there is a number of dangers that could also  be made worse in the case of bad weather. For this reason it is especially important that  we plan around the weather forecast. Risk - Meabh could become very cold and sick if she spends too much time in the water due to the time of year we will be filming. (March) Fix - We need to plan our shots in detail and know exactly how long we want them to be, angles, shot types, monologue etc. If we do this we can save Meabh time in the water, and keep her from getting too cold. Risk - Any of us could slip on the rocks surrounding the water and could injury ourselves badly. Fix - To prevent this from happening, all of us will wear sensible shoes to stop us from slipping.  Risk - We could damage our equipment such as cameras and tripods. Fix - We will keep them in padded bags and rucksacks and protect them really well.  Risk - Dress as...

Filming Schedule  Equipment (Filming) Camera GoPro Umbrella  Bottled Water  Tripod Lighting Memory Card Costume Makeup Pallete Other Food Money Transport Money   Packed Lunch Warm coats Rucksacks Towels Change of socks Mobile Phones Plan For the Day 16th March  Bus From Belfast: 0805  Bus To Belfast: 1910 Filming Our location is around 1 hour 30 mins away, in order to maximise our time we will leave early in the morning. We plan to film in reverse. The forest scenes will be shot first so that Meabh does not have to get into the water at the start of the    day, ensuring she does not get cold and uncomfortable. The week before I            printed of a copy of the shot list for each group member and highlighted key          moments to try and maintain focus on set as much as possible.  Filming quarter road: 1030-1...

As writer and director and writer of the film I have a clear idea in my head of how I want the final product to look. I am looking forward to seeing the final product and comparing it to what I have imagined. Here are some stills that I have taken from films I analysed that I found particularly inspiring. These 3 shots in particular hold the essence of what I hope to capture in our film opening. Including the dishevelled look of eleven, the panicked point of view shot from Hanna and the panorama in The Maze Runner.