Final Post:

This is the end of my blog :)
It is now ready to be assessed.
bye

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

My aims after completing my preliminary task were to, gain more confidence and independence using the different editing programs (On Location and Adobe Premiere Pro).
To be more consistant in my filming  and editing, making sure that all the camera movements flowed together nicely.
To become more organised with posting on my blog and getting my work in at the alotted times.

I feel that I have sucessfully achieved my aim to become more confident and independent when using programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro and On Location.For example, when using On Location I have learnt that at the beginning and end of filming I should film some footage of no relevance  or use so that if the file corrupts it wont effect any of the footage I need. I have also learnt how to link and unlink the audio file and add audio fades, although it did take a while due to my visual imparement. This also meant that I didn't learn how to do the more complicated things because I found it extremely hard to see the icons. However, it did not hold me back ads my partner was very understanding and able to help me with the more complicated areas.

I feel that my consistancy when filming and editing has improved greatly since the preliminary task. Things ran much more smoothly and clearly with less jumps and you could clearly see the differnt type shots (match in action).

I feel that I partially achieved my aim to become more organised as I did manage to organise and remeber meetings with the cast and to look at locations ect brinign all the right materials and resorces needed. However, my organisation where the blog work was concerned, wasn't so good. Although a lot of this was due to technical, issues I could have also done more to ensure that it was in on time. For example setting more of my free time aside to travel to college to finish the work.

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

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I found my phone extremely useful when it came to organisation as I could set reminders and sticky notes for any deadlines or meetings. Its quick and simple to use and simply rings an alarm and comes up with the list of things I need to do and when for. This also meant I could remind myself in advance as so I could assure that I had done things in the allotted time and not been rushing things last minuet.

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Facebook although widely know as a popular social networking sight was also very useful when I needed quick responses. It was also useful when doing my research because it enabled me to find out what kind of audience i should be aiming my film at. I also set up a feedback group which I regularly imbedded short clips of my film, mood boards the animatic and other such materials. I also linked my blog in so that people could keep updated and put in their own thoughts and views.

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I used photo shop predominantly in making the animtic and story board. I also had to use it to put in some of the pictures on my blog due to technical problems. I found this very useful as it was fairly quick and easy to use once you got the hang of it .However, it did prove a little tedious.

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I found that although blogger was quite useful for recoding my progress with my work and helped remind me where I was at, it also proved to be quite frustrating at times. It took quite a while to upload pictures and then fit in the text nicely with it and I have had to put in quite a few of the pictures in last minute because of the difficulties.

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I found youtube quite tricky at first because i had only ever used youtube to look at videos and had never attempted posting any of my own. However, after working with my partner and slowing getting the hang of it, it soon became much easier to upload various versions of my film the animatic and even part of my evaluation on there. It also proved very useful in my research looking at all the different styles within film noir. It was also useful for feedback when someone viewed or commented on the videos either me or my partner would receive an update e-mail which we could then work from to make changes and improvements.

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Using all of this technology helped me in achieving my task because it enabled me to organise myself and time keep, research , make my work neat and presentable, to make sense and keep track of the work I had done, get feeeback on the work I had done and keep up to date with my work (although admitidly not every deadline was met)
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Cannon digital Ixus 8015 was the camera that was used to film my piece. This was far easier to used than a handy cam because the file format was digital. This means that you do not have to used adobe or on location to upload the footage on to the compute. This camera also had a black and white feature making it easier to create that film noir effect. the camwea was strapped securely to a tripod which could be moved easily to capture things at different angles. The use of a tripod made it much easier to be exact with every shot and removed the danger of unnecessary movements which could have reduced the quality of my opening sequence.

Sony Handycam: I only used this camera once when shooting my audience feedback for question five of this evaluation. I found it very useful as it was quick and easy to use. I also used a tripod to make each shot steady so as not to reduce the quality. However it was much harder to use in terms of uploading the footage on to the computer. I also found it very hard to read the camera screen.

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I only used On Location (OL) once when editing the footage for my evaluation. I found it quite hard to use as the first time the hole file was corrupt and I had to begin filming again. The program also repeatedly crashed leaving me unsure whether the work I had done had actually been saved. However, once I had sorted out the problems it proved easier to edit than I though although I found it extremely hard to see the different icons.

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I found Premier Pro quite challenging to use as again I found it hard to see the icons and had to ask my partner for a lot of help. However, after a while I got the hang of using the program and could do the basics. For example, brightness control, audio fades and razor cutting)
I also had trouble with the program after I had edited because it became very jumpy and glitchy. However, I fixed this problem by rendering it after editing.

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To get my film opening on to my blog I simply copied the HTML in to my blog from youtube.
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I found most of the technology I used in the task very useful however others such as Premier and On Location to be quite temperamental and difficult to access due to my visual impairment. This was also a problem for me when using the Sony Handycam to upload my footage on to the computer as I couldn’t see the little screen to rewind or forward wind to the right place.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I feel that I was successful in atracting my audinece because when i showed my opening to my selected group of people and my class (between the ages of 17-19) i got very posative feedback. Although, some of my audience thought it wams more aproapirate for a slightly older age group they were still able to recognise that my opening belonged to the film noir genre, though they hadn't watched many.

A number of people said they liked it because it was unique and had a very different feel to most of the films released at the moment.

They also said they liked the fact that the combination of camera work and music created a feeling of sexual tension. They also thought the music gave the woman an almost sinister feel making them question her character.

I was expecting my audience to be a little confused due to my use of the enigma codes but they all said they understood it and could see that i had intended to create mystery between my two main characters.

Here is a short clip of one of the members of my audience giving their feedback.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

                                  Age of target audience: 16 upwards

Gender: mixed (I would like it to be suitable for both males and females)

I would like my film to appeal to a wide range of people around my age group (16-17) upwards. Ideally id like it to reach out to a more refined audience who are individualist and creative as film noir is quite often seen as an “arty” genre that steers away from the usual mainstream films.

This type of film would be shown in a smaller independent cinema such as the Electric cinema in Birmingham. This is because these cinemas tend to show more individual or “indie” films and don’t often show mainstream films.  There for I believe that our audience would be individualists (psychographic) people who are not afraid to stand out from the crowd and who are creative, rather than mainstreamers who tend to conform to the norm and don’t like standing out.

I would also like to aim my audience at B C1 (demographic) these are classed as more intelligent people. I would like this because I want my audience to be able to work out what is happening and what is about to happen by themselves rather than having a simpler main stream plot which works out the story for them.  

What kind of media institution might distribute your particular social group?

The distributer I thought most appropriate for my opening was Vertigo. I thought this was the most appropriate because my opening is a smaller individualist, niche product more likely to be released by a smaller distributer and shown in cinemas such as the Electric cinema and midlands Arts Centre.

This is because it is unlike most of the mainstream films that are released and is more likely to attract people who are more creative and individual.

However, the down side to this is that because it is a smaller distribution company there would be a smaller distribution budget making it harder to advertise and promote our film to make people aware of it. Vertigo are not part of a major conglomeration and are not horizontally integrated so don't benefit from the power of synergy  This means I would have to be more innovative in thinking of ways to promote my film. For example, Metrodome when promoting their film Shifty used a picture of someone on CCTV taking drugs with their face blocked out on their website where you could then replace it with one of your friends faces and E-mail it to them so they would think they had been court on camera taking drugs. The picture also came with the information about Shifty. This was a creative and clever way of promoting their film. This type of viral marketing I think would be useful for my film.  

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Gender:

Women:

Women are represented in quite an emergent light in my piece, through the femme-fatale. She is the dominant character because she is in control of her sexuality and she manipulates the male in to doing what she wants.

She is often the one who initiates flirtatious behaviour, such as stroking her finger down the glass, taking her cigarette out with her mouth and initiating the kiss at the end.

However this also frames women in a very residual light because she is still using her sexualisation to draw the male in.

The way her character is positioned to the audience also shows her in quite a residual light. For example when she is running her fingers up the glass it’s almost as if looking from the male gaze making her the object rather than the subject. This is a very residual idea of women being the subject to the male gaze.

The close up of her eyes is also quite sexualised as she is looking back and forth to the male

drawing him in further.

The femme-fatale also has more screen time that the male and when she is in a shot it is usually a close up. Even when there is a two shot of them together the camera always seems to be slightly closer to her connoting her importance and that everything that happens, happens because she wants it too.

 Unlike most typical Femme-fatale she is not wearing particularly revealing clothes and they do not suggest anything untoward. She draws the male in purely through her flirtatious behaviour.

Men:

Men are shown in both a residual and emergent light in my piece. For example at the very beginning he is seen to be quite cold. For example this close up shows him staring fixed at the camera in contrast to the females shifting glances.

There is also a difference in the way the male and female behave towards each other. For example at the beginning when we see the women running her fingers seductively up and down the glass we are then shown the shot of the man just casually picking up his glass, there is no sign of flirtatious behaviour from the male.

This follows residual ideology of men because it is the woman who is being sexualised and the man who is observing.

However, although the woman may be the one who is sexualised it is the man who is the most vulnerable because the woman is using her seductive charm to draw him in and take control. we get a sense of the males vulnerability when the male says “I felt like a helpless baby” It is almost as if the woman is toying with him showing her availability but making him wait and work for what he wants.

This is a very emergent idea of men being the weaker sex and allowing the woman to take control.

The finishing shot at the end of my piece also frame men in quite a residual light as all we can see is his silhouette dehumanising him making him

The shot of the mysterious male holding the gun demonstrates phallocentricity. The fact that he has a gun shows off his masculinity and sense of power and strength. This is almost like a shot from James Bond “The Man With The Golden Gun

”

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

-      Hello I am Rhiannon Valadini and I am the co producer of “One Two Many”.

-      My piece can be clearly recognised as a real film opening because of the block credits at the beginning. I used block titles to enhance the realism of the piece making it overall more authentic.

  

-      It is also recognisable as a real film opening because of the use of credits throughout the opening sequence. I used this type of title because it shows the typical conventions of a real opening title sequence.

- Another way in which it can be recognised as a real film opening is by the use of Barthes enigma code. This is another example of a typical convention of film openings.  

-      The use of music over the action of the scene is also another example of how this piece can be recognised as a real film opening.

-      The use of black and white is one way that my piece can be recognised as belonging to the film noir genre, as it is one of the typical conventions of film noir.

I also included typical characters associated with film noir in my opening such as the Femme-fatale and the heroin who falls for her. These particular characters are also some of the key conventions associated with film noir films. The femme-fatale uses her sexuality to draw the man in slowly. Fore example how she strokes the glass at the very beginning and how she initiates the kiss. It is often the femme-fatale that carries the power and control leaving the man weak and venerable. 

A voice over was also included in my piece demonstrating yet another typical convention of the film noir genre,

-      There was also an emphasis on the cigarettes using close up’s to connote their importance. This is a typical method used by the film noir genre. 

    At the end of my opening there is a close up of the mysterious mans feet rubbing out the cigarette this is another example of typical cinematography used by the film noir genre.