Monday, 26 April 2010
Voiceover Evaluation
Monday, 19 April 2010
How Do My Products Compare To Real Media Products
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To compare my film poster with a professional media product I am going to be using the poster for the film 'The Last House On The left'. I have chosen this professional media product for comparison because, like with my poster, the main image is of a house. Here is the Film Poster for "The Last House On The Left":
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For Comparison purposes, I am going to be analysing Two main areas:
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Denotation and layout: Comparing this poster to mine, they layout and denotation is is similar. The main image has the house centralised in conjunction of mine, however the image on 'The Last House On The Left' itself is a much longer shot than the image used on my poster. The other three objects on the page, the name of the film, credits and slogan are again in simlar positions to mine. the slogan and credits are centralised and positioned in the same place as on my poster. The title of the film is slightly different however purly because it is a much larger title.
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The 'Last House On The Left' poster has two very apparent differences with my poster however; the first being there is no reviews on the poster and the second being no classsification logo. The creators have done this to make the house in the long shot image the complete focus of the page, attracting people to the title and slogan of the film.
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Denotation: Due to this Film poster and my film poster being very similar, the connotations that each poster generate are simlar. Both slogans on the posters engage the cousmer on a personal level as one is a retorical question, asking the coustmer to ask themselves what they would do, and one engages the consumer directly, as the slogan is refering to 'you'. Furthermore, the connotations of the house shots in both posters is a sinsiter location, connoting the genre of the film as well as causing the consmer to ask themselves more questions about what goes on at that location, thus generating the apprehension that a poster is supposed to.
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Film Magazine Front Cover
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To compare my film Magazine front cover with a professional media product I am going to be using the Magazine front cover from 'Total Film' a famous professional film magazine. I have chosen this professional media product for comparison because is it the type of magazine front cover I was trying to emulate in the creation of my magazine front cover. Firstly, here is the front cover I have chosen to analyse:
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Like with the analysis of the film posters, i am going to be looking at two main areas for comparison:
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Denotation and layout: This magazine front cover, though it is centralised on a horror film, has quite a few differences to the layout and denotations as my magazine front cover. in comparison to my magazine front cover, this magazine is quite conventional. The first main difference is that this total film magazine front cover is much brighter, the prodominat colour being white while it being greys, blacks and reds on my magazine front cover. Another distinctive difference between the two is that my magazine as distinct font and object differences; for example, my magazine has two three dimentional starts in the bottom left corner and top right corner, which is somthing that this magazine for total film did not include.
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some similarities between the two magazine front covers is that the title of the magazine is at the top of the magazine and underlapped by the images. furthermore, all other text and objects are leading down the right and left of the pages.
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Connotation: Though the magazines in themselves are different, the connotations are very similar. This is because that magazine front covers are constructed to make the magazine eye catching and create shelf appeal. in terms of this, both magazines are effective because they have eye catching in different ways
Friday, 9 April 2010
Evaluation Of Magazine Front Cover for No.38
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Feedback
Evaluation Of Film Poster for No.38
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Evaluation Of Group & Own Performance
In this final section I will be evaluating the different aspects of my own performance and commenting on how this could be improved. The different aspects are:
- Production of Research and Planning
- Production of Media Products (Trailer, Poster and Magazine Front Cover)
- Time Keeping
- Working In A team
- Production of Research and Planning
As this section was simplistic in terms of researching information about the genre , I experienced no difficulties and had effective strategies for gathering information which involved being organised , methodical and thorough. In terms of planning the project, this was done with my other team members. We were ultimately able to complete this aspect to the satisfaction of the team but had to overcome initial differences in certain areas. .Tasks were distributed fairly between the three of us but we initially found it hard to agree on the treatment of the trailer, so much so that we ended up producing four different treatments. Another problem that occurred in this section was that we initially did not know we had to post all our work onto the blogger website. We had collated all our work into one presentation and subsequently had to convert it all to make it suitable for the blogger website.
Production of Media Products
Trailer: This section of the production part of the project was done as a group. We completed our trailer efficiently, using my own personal laptop and a teammate’s camera. As we had our own equipment, it meant that we could produce the trailer without having to source materials elsewhere. We took most of our shots very quickly at the production stage of the project, and had soon developed a basis for the trailer. As a group we had no problem sharing the workload and unlike the planning stage, we agreed on most decisions, with the exception of an issue over sound and pace as we started to develop the trailer more. To rectify this, we incorporated more short, almost ‘blip’ like shots, and I located a website that allowed you to download professional sounds which suited our purposes exactly.
Film Poster & Magazine Front Cover: These where my ancillary tasks and had to be completed on my own. These posed more of a problem than the trailer as I had some software issues. I firstly opted to create them both on Adobe Photoshop, but changed my mind when I found the software too hard to use. I managed to complete them using Microsoft publisher to a professional standard after producing four drafts and a final piece for each.
Time Keeping
This is referring to how well I was able to meet deadlines and how I managed the time I needed to complete this project. I would say I did this effectively even though my ancillary tasks took longer than I had planned. This overlapped onto time I needed to do this evaluation comfortably but hopefully has not affected the standard of it.
Working In A Team
I found working in a team to be a positive experience. My team members had similar opinions, views, work ethics and focuses. We were able to resolve problems in a friendly and constructive manner, tasks were divided fairly and everyone's opinions and suggestions were valued. I felt we worked very efficiently as a group.
Evaluation Of Media Technologies
In this section of the evaluation I am going to be assessing the use of the different media technologies that I used to produce and finalize this project. I will be discussing why I used them, how effective I though they where and whether or not I had any issues with them. The media technologies and software’s that I used to complete this project are the following:
- Imovie
- YouTube
- Blogger
- Standard Camera
Imovie
This was the software package created by Apple and used on Apple Macs. It is what we used to create our trailer. In our College we have two Macs, however, I own my own Mac laptop with this software on it, and therefore meaning it was efficient for us to use my laptop due to there being three groups.
This software was very effective. The editing tools that where available on it where perfectly adequate for the type of editing that we needed to do. The layout of the software was efficient and easy to use. The software allowed us to import sounds, images and shots very effectively as well as offering a database of sounds, transition frames, fonts and coulors (for text shots) on its own. Furthermore, Imovie made it easy to export the completed version of the trailer.
We experienced no problems with this software; however, initially we did not know how to use the entire program effectively. This was something we cover came as we proceeded to use and get used to the software.
YouTube
We used YouTube to receive feedback from other people. We uploaded our completed trailer onto the massive internet site in the hope of receiving comments from people across the world. This worked successfully as we did receive a range of feedback.
Nothing much can be evaluated about this as all it required me to do was locate a file and press a button titled ‘Upload’, so in that sense the software was very efficient.
One problem we did experience with it was that the first time around we attempted to upload the video from the school system,. Which was blocking us from doing it.
Blogger
This was an internet blogging website that allows us to post regular pieces of information as the project was progressing. We used this to post comments throughout our planning and research primarily, but then subsequently decided to use it to post the evaluation topics furthermore.
This software was effective as the posts appeared in chronological order, and furthermore could be edited after they had been posted. The users could furthermore edit the appearance of the different blogs to make it more specific to what they where doing, for example we placed a picture of the house from our trailer on our blog.
We had one problem with this internet site and that is that you cannot order the posts once they had been posted, meaning that some things become mixed together.
Camera
The camera was very advanced, having lots of settings that attuned it to the different dark mise-en-scenes we used. Furthermore that sound quality that the camera produced was very professional. Finally, the camera was perfectly compatible with my Mac Laptop with made the whole process very effectively.
Comparison of ‘No.38’ trailer with the cinematically released trailer for ‘The Unborn’
Here is a link to ‘The Unborn’ film trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNjpWjdRX54
In this section of my evaluation I am going to be comparing my trailer with one that has been professionally released. I would like to assess whether I have used the conventions and techniques in the creation of a piece that is of a sufficiently high standard.
I have chosen to compare ‘No.38’ with ‘The Unborn’ as they are both horror films about children. This means the shots, images, transitions, sound and construction of each trailer will be interesting to compare as the subject matter is similar. To do this, I will be comparing four aspects;
- Sounds
- Images & Shots
- Transitions
- Overall Construction
Sounds
There is one distinct difference between the sound used in my trailer and that used in ‘The Unborn’. In this more dialogue and voiceover has been used in order to display more of a narrative to the storyline of the film. We opted against this because we wanted to generate more suspense through sound and visual images.
In terms of connection, transition and Foley sounds the two trailers are similar. We where able to achieve this professional standard by using a website that made professional sounds available for anyone to use. Sounds like this have been used in a similar manner and for both trailers. For example, connection sounds like thuds, screams, sharp screeches and groans are used throughout both trailers.
Images & Shots
The difference between the shots that have been used in ‘No.38’ and ‘The Unborn’ is that the professional filmmakers have access to highly advanced and technical equipment as well as budgets to build sets and buy expensive props. Taking that into account, the shots used in both are effective as the appropriate mise-en-scene, lighting and camera movements have been used.
‘The Unborn’ uses more long shots to accompany the dialogue of the trailer where as ‘No. 38’ is a trailer based on breaks of pace to create suspense. The specific shots used however, things like zoom shots, high angle shots and pan shots are used in similar ways, both being accompanied with the correct lighting and mise-en-scene. Another difference in terms of opportunity to create impressive visual effects is that the makers of ‘The Unborn’ have the ability to take birds-eye-view shots of groups of people, something that we of course cannot do due to rigging equipments being needed.
Transitions
The transitions used in our trailer in comparison to the ‘Unborn’ film trainer are minimal. ‘The Unborn’ uses a wide range of transitions including flashes, fades, and looping images as opposed to our trailer using simple transitions. The reason behind this large contrast is that the software we used did not offer a wide range of transition choices, and of course, ‘The Unborn’ trailer is very professionally made, meaning they have the technology at there disposal.
Overall Construction
Although ‘The Unborn’ is a professionally made trailer the quality of it is not exceptional. The trailer seems to give away too much of the storyline and includes a lot of scary effects-not keeping enough for the film. The creators of ‘The Unborn’ appear to have forgotten that the point of a trailer is to generate expectation and make people crave to see the actual film. Their trailer fails to have this effect.
‘No .38’ on the other hand does generate the suspense that is needed to make someone want to see the final product. Furthermore it establishes the genre of the film firmly as it does have some ‘scary’ scenes, without revealing too much of the storyline. We had deliberately constructed the film to be this way as we wanted to leave the viewer with the anticipation of a complete mystery.
Deconstruction Of Film Trailer
This is a simple text deconstruction of the trailer, For a detailed deconstruction, please see my Voiceover evaluation.
In this stage of the evaluation I am going to critically deconstruct my own trailer. As this is an animated piece of media, I am going to deconstruct it in a different manner as I did in the planning stage of the project. I am going to break the trailer down into sections, frames and seconds in order to be able to fully explain each part.
The trailer in total is 1 minuet 14 seconds long, an adequate time for the conventions of a teaser trailer. I am going to break it down into six sections of unequal time ; the reason for this is that it has a combination of fast passed transitions and slow paced motion, both of which require deconstruction.
Section One: (1 – 15 seconds) Frame Count: 6
Section Two: (15 – 26 seconds) Frame Count: 3
Section Three: (26 – 44 seconds) Frame Count: 9
Section Four: (44 – 51 Seconds) Frame Count: 8
Section Five: (51 - 61 Seconds) Frame Count: 6
Section Six: (61 – 74 Seconds) Frame Count: 4
Section One
Section one is the introduction to the trailer consisting of 6 motion frames. There is limited pace in this opening sequence as it was created for anchorage and establishment of the genre. The first frame is a shot of the house at a semi-low angle shot, No.38 on the street, followed by two longer paced shots of the child, and a medium angle shot with a candle. There is also a very low panning shot of a Childs feet walking down a corridor. This three frame sequence is then followed by two 0.2 second blip image of a burning crucifix and a bloody knife, both at birds-eye-view medium shots, which then fades into a slower paced zoom shot of blood dripping from a second knife.
This entire opening sequence has a very dark mise-en-scene, and is accompanied by a mixture of none diagetic sounds and a single use of voiceover. Whispers and droning noises can be heard while the child and house are in shot, and fast thumps accompany the rapid paced two frame sequence. The voiceover is recorded whilst the child moves along the corridor.
This opening scene was constructed, as previously stated, for anchorage. This lets the viewer know the setting is a house. Then the genre establishment, touched upon in the first three frames, is fully established by the blood, sounds and pace of the last three. The voiceover is none diagetic, using the lyrics from the famous nursery rhyme ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ aids this opening scene in both anchorage (as it lets the audience know the character is a child) and genre establishment (in the way the line is sung creating an incredibly sinister effect).
I also wanted to touch on some symbology in this opening scene. We used a shot of a burning crucifix for two specific reasons, genre establishment and controversy. The use of a burning crucifix has connotations of Satanism and evil, thus reinforcing the genre of the film as horror. It is controversial due to the unacceptability of Satanism in society and the fear it generates. However it also engages an audience’s attention in a very effective manner
Section Two
Section two is a connection sequence consisting of three longer frames. The first is a text frame reading the words ‘What if I am not the abused’. This scene finalizes all genre establishment and provides the anchor from the first section, in addition it gives the audience insight into the plot of the film. The next two frames feature a shot of the child with a candle,( the same shot as the first sequence) except the camera zooms more slowly towards his face. This is accompanied by the same none diagetic sound of whispers as in the first sequence. The second shot is of the Childs feet walking up a set of stairs, again, at a very low angle shot. The sound heard over this shot is the second voice over; ‘How I wonder where you are’, which is again a none diagetic voiceover. This small construction was included to slow the pace down again and continue the narrative of the trailer ,before pacing up again. We decided that without this sequence the trailer ran too rapidly and ended too quickly.
Section Three
This is the longest section in the trailer. It lays between the important narrative section and the very high paced montage before the concluding sections. This large section is included for three main reasons, to build suspense before the high paced montage, to show some graphic images to give the viewer an insight into its gory nature , and to finalize the trailers narrative in terms of voice-overs.
Section Four
Section four is the highly paced montage of horrific images accompanied by loud none diagetic quick shudder sounds. This section builds on the suspense created in the previous one and finally puts a face to the child that the viewer has so far not seen properly. The face is seen in a mirror and really adds to the anticipation as we almost expect to see another shadowy figure behind him. The montage of shocking images and the pace that they are presented, are designed to instill in the viewer a sense of shock.
Section Five
This is another connecting section used to slow the pace down slightly before revealing the name of the film. In this section we used four shots of the child moving closer to the camera, from long shot to two medium shots and finally a close up in a very dark mise-en-scene, accompanied by a boom in sound every time the shot changed. After this medium paced montage is ended another text frame is seen displaying the name of the film.
As previously stated we included this effect to connect the fast paced section with the final one. Without this the trailer would move too quickly from a very high paced sequence to a slower paced one, making it look unprofessional.
Section Six
This is the final sequence in the trailer consisting of three very important frames. The first is a medium shot of a girl covered in blood crawling from around a corner before being dragged away to the diagetic sound of a guttural scream. This shot then fades into the final text frame displaying the words ‘coming soon’. The final shot is a close up of the child blowing out the candle that we have seen him looking at during the trailer . This is accompanied by none diagetic whispers until he quickly blows it out thus defining the sudden end to the piece. It is the intention that this final sequence leaves the viewer so intrigued that they desire to see more.
Introduction To Evaluation
In this evaluation I will be judging the effectiveness of my trailer, and of my own performance working within the production of this piece, and the manner in which I tackled each task.
- Deconstruction of my own ‘No.38’ trailer
- Deconstruction of my own Film Poster
- Deconstruction of my own magazine front cover
- Comparison of ‘No.38’ trailer with a cinematically released trailer for ‘The Unborn’
- An in-depth voice over of my own trailer explaining how and why the different shots, transitions, sounds and mise-en-scene where used, created and why.
The second section of the evaluation discusses how the magazine poster, film trailer and film poster create synergy. This section makes reference to the topic question “How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary tasks?” Here is what I am going to do to complete this section:
- A further analysis of how my magazine front cover, poster and trailer connect and create synergy.
- A comparison of my film poster, magazine front cover and trailer as a whole with the promotional packages that where released with ‘The Sixth Sense’ and ‘The Unborn’
The third stage of the evaluation discusses audience feedback, referring to the topic question “What have you learned from your audience feedback?” This is how I intend to complete this section:
- I am going to create filmed interviews with people I have shown the trailer to, judging their reactions, opinions and thoughts.
- Furthermore I am going to post the trailer on the world wide internet site ‘YouTube’ and allow people to comment on it, taking note of their reactions, opinions and thoughts.
The final section of the evaluation discusses my own performance and how I used different media devices to complete each stage of the project. This is refers to the topic question “How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages? ”This again is how I am going to evaluate my work;
- Explanation of how I have used different media technologies to complete this project. Therefore meaning I am going to be explaining how I used blogger, camera, youtube and Imovie.
- Explanation about my own performance and how the group worked together