How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We tried to aim our media product at a number of different social groups. However there is one social group that it aims at more than others and this is the teenage ages of 17-18 year olds who attend college or sixth form. I say this because the characters in the film are the age of 17. As well as this the camera shots for the film are taking at the characters house so it is obvious he hasn't moved out yet. There are also taken at the characters sixth form. H is sitting in  classroom in one of the scenes.

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

Recce

We managed to do a recce at both areas of filming. The photos we took are currently stored on Mitchell's phone and cannot be transferred onto the computer as of yet. We will add the pictures when we are able to get hold of a transfer cable.

Main Task Mitchell & Stuart

How did you attract/address your audience?

In our media product, the two-minute opening to our thriller film, “Hunted”, we tried to appeal to a certain target audience, which is really important to do in the very opening of the film that we made as a group. To attract the audience, we had to make sure our key features were met. We aimed for a movie based on a target audience of teenage males and females, with a rating of 15 so the audience age is not too restricted and we wanted to keep the category of age as 16 to around the 35 year old mark. Once we had figured out the targeted audience we had to think of the different aspects that would attract this audience and how these would help to maintain the interest of the viewers.

Firstly we really emphasized that this was both a male and female film. We did this by shooting close ups of both male and female characters. This allows the two different genders in the audience to connect with the two different characters. We also used the appearance of the character to our advantage. For example the male is wearing a suit so he looks very confident in himself and smart. On the other hand the female is in normal rest clothes and in a room on her own on her laptop. This shows she is lonely, vulnerable and lacking in confidence. The two differences in character gives the audience something to think about and attracts them. 

We used different back ground music like piano and some low level drums and bass. Music sets up the atmosphere, comes across as creepy and sinister. Silence is seen as one of the most effective tools, we used silence in the form of having no dialogue. This not only didn't give to much away but it also shows the disturbing atmosphere of the sequence.

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

To make our film opening there was lots of different technology's that we had to learn how to use then incorporate them into our media product. I was already familiar with some of the software we would be using but had to revise most of the features. However the little i did know helped me in the prelim task. I believed it acted as a foundation for learning more throughout the film opening process. The point while constructing my media product was to learn and take on board how I did it and be able to do it again without having to learn. I should also be able to take the digital skills i have learned in all areas onto what ever I do in later life. What i have learned about the technology is especially important if i move into the film industry. I will need to know the basics and some more advanced aspects. I believe i have learned this through making my film opening.

 We used this Sony Handycam Camcorder which could film up to 1080p videos. I had used a camcorder before, however this was a new, modern and up to date one with lots more features to learn about. This particular model Fitted with a 6.7cm LCD viewing display and touch screen, the Sony Full HD Camcorder lets you see the exact footage you are capturing. The Sony Full HD Camcorder also features a built-in zoom microphone so you can capture clear audio, dialogue and ambient noise. We used this camera in the prelim task and came familiar with it after using it to shoot the shots we needed. the main challenge was coming familiar with the zoom and touch screen technology on the 6.7cm display. I have learnt how to use the interface of the camera which made it much easier when using it to film our film opening shots. We had a problem with the cameras SD card when we first took shots on it. When we plugged the SD card into the MAC it said there were no videos on there. However when we plugged it back into the camera it said there were videos on it. To fix this learnt how to wipe the SD card then change the cameras settings to always save shots directly to the SD card. This fixed the problem and we knew for next time to set up the camera properly. We chose to import our film to our editing software as a 480p file. This is not HD quality which was unfortunate but the file size for a HD shot was to big to save onto the SD card. We used the voice recorder on the camcorder which was easy to do because when you started to record the camera automatically recorded sound.

The hardware we used was an Apple IMac. An IMac is the best hardware you can use for film making and editing. it also makes blogging your research and planning and evaluation and nice experience. Powered by fourth-generation Intel Core processors, iMac has speed built in. Every model in the lineup comes as standard with an Intel Core i5 processor, topping out at 3.4GHz. As well as this if you buy your IMac from the Apple Online Store, you can configure your iMac with an even more powerful Intel Core i7 processor, up to 3.5GHz. The iMac display looks great from any seat in the house. A technology called in-plane switching (IPS) gives you a bright picture with excellent colour from nearly any angle. And LED back lighting offers instant-on, uniform brightness with no waiting.This makes it great for watching back your movie as you are editing it and make shots and because of the latest in quad core processors software used for editing and effects run smoother than ever and are a dream to use. Apple is also the style icon for the media industries especially. They ae top of the market when it comes to design, architecture and film making. This means it is good to learn the skills i needed to learn about the Apple IMac now because if i had a job in this area later on i would 9 times out of 10 be using an IMac. Overall i learned how to use the Apple OS. It is different to th Windows OS in that the command buttons are different. Learning the keyboard buttons was important but know i am confident using the IMacs commands buttons. The browser on the IMac was completely different. The minimize, close and maximise buttons were on top left hand side where as on Windows OS there are in the top right. The programs i used were situated on the program bar along the bottom and i learned how to use lots of programs at the same time and have them all open on my program bar ready to use. I also learned how to screenshot and create folders on my desktop that were easily accessible. I also improved my skills on the software we used to create our films. This leads us on nicely to the software part of the technology.

Installed on the IMacs was the Adobe CS5.5 suite with all the software that comes with it. The main two pieces of software that I used to create my film opening was Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects. Each are very different in what they do and what you can achieve. They have lots of different features to learn but this comes with the more you use them and the more confident you get with trying new things on the software.

I really enjoyed using the software. After effects was my favorite because it allows you to add lots of depth into your film and gives you so many options to add into your film to make it better. In the prelim task i got to use premiere pro to put clips together and then added one explosion effect at the end of the prelim task. I did not know how to use this feature on after effects before i made the prelim task. However after i had been shown how to use the keying feature on after effects i found it very easy to use any green screen effect into the background of a certain scene. I then looked at YouTube video tutorials to consolidate my learning and to learn new features. I played about with software during my prelim task so that when it came to making my really film opening I was at home with the software and knew what most of the key features did

      

  

February feedback

Your web-log looks promising and now needs completing.  Ensure that creative technologies have been used to present your evaluation.

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