Final Film and audience test feedback

At the end of this post you will find the final film. 

We showed this clip to the same group that we used before so that we would get a pattern in the answers. We showed them the film and they said that they liked that we had added and changed everything that they suggested. They also preferred the new ending we gave it with the black out instead of the last car clip. Also they liked the ident that we added at the beginning and said that it gave a professional feel to the clip overall. 

The Final Film Opening:

Evaluation: Qu 7

Evaluation: Qu 6

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

The technology we used throughout the process is listed below:

Camera - FujiFilm bridge camera:

This is an image of my camera which is the camera we used throughout the filming part of the production process. This camera allowed us to produce high quality footage that we were confident in and could edit at a later date. This also allowed us to have a guaranteed high quality opening especially since the school cameras can be unreliable with sound, filming quality and battery life.

Laptop - Macbook Pro:

We used my macbook to look through and edit the footage, throughout this part of the process we all pitch in ideas to the group as to what we should edit in where. Each of us tried to edit however the boys struggled a little bit more as aren't used to using this laptop, so to compromise we decided that I would do the editing while they gave me the ideas.

Editing - iMovie:

This is the editing software that we had access to on my laptop, this helped us at it allowed us to create a high quality opening and use a range of techniques within the editing process. The programme comes with options of adding text to your film as well as copyright free sound.

Google Drive:

As we chose to work on my laptop instead of the school computers, it means that if I missed a day of school the rest of the group wouldn't be able to access the footage. After discovering the issue we decided to set up a google drive account so that anyone of us could log into the account on any laptop and access the footage that has been edited as well as the raw footage incase they wanted to change it.

YouTube:

Throughout the production process we have been using Youtube to upload the drafts online as we edited them further and made them better, this allowed the group to access to drafts and embed them into our blogs. As a group we found it a little unreliable at times with the uploading times and also sometimes the boys struggled to access the links, however after we discovered the issues it didn't take us long to solve the issue and carry on.

Blogger:

Personally I have been using blogger to log my journey and the groups journey throughout this process so that we can see how the footage progressed as our skills became better and as our ideas were being fully portrayed in the film. This is my first ever time using blogger and I have found it very easy to use which has benefitted me as it has meant that I can clearly show my progress throughout the course.

Outlook Office 365:

This is the email software that the school provides, we used this as a group to communicate our ideas and let each other know when we needed to have a meeting of how to improve our film opening. This software has also allowed us to communicate with our teacher with any queries in the case of one of us not being present at school that day.

iPod Touch:

We used Harry's iPod touch to take photos of us filming on the days we had set aside for this. Having these photos has allowed s to embed them in the blog and show the different ways we were filming and also show the fake make up being done on Harry before we filmed the hospital scene for the opening.

Sound - Bensound.com (copyright free):

Bensound is the website we used to download the copyright free soundtrack that we used throughout the opening. Although it took us a while to find this website that had the sound that was perfect for our opening, when we finally did find this site we found it quite easy to download the soundtrack and then include it in our opening.

Prezi:

Truthfully I have never used nor heard of Prezi before this project, however when i did use it I found it very simple and extremely useful to voice my opinions in a more inventive and interesting way.

Slideshare:

This website has allowed me to create powerpoint on my laptop of evaluations and research, and then embed them into my blog to be able to relay the ideas and information in a unique and inventive way.

Overall I would be happy to complete another project with my group, because although we had a few disagreements we managed to find a compromise and move on very quickly which was useful when we had to stick to serious deadlines. Also by having to use all of these technologies throughout the coursework it has increased my confidence in using new technology in the future of my course.

Evaluation: Qu 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

As a group in class we decided on who the audience would be and then we created a focus group using a sample of the audience. 

We wanted our film to build up in tension as it progressed to create dramatic scenes. We built up the tension by using a range of shot types as well as the pace of cuts becoming slower. We included the close ups of the protagonist to make it more intense when they were viewing it.
There will be other themes that will progress throughout the rest of the film if is was to be made, it will show the struggles of their relationship, possibly losing the passion of racing ect. These themes will be the elements that create a relationship between the viewers and the protagonist.

We decided that our target audience would be motorsport fans, however our film would also appeal to people that like the romantic drama genre as that theme is very present in the narrative. once we created a focus group that was a sample size of the audience we are aiming for, we asked them which elements they preferred and which sections they would like to see more of.

If the film was to be made into a full length then it would include more stereotypes that are followed and subverted, this will make the film more interesting to be viewed. Our protagonist in my opinion can easily be related to by the audience, and he also follows the male stereotype which makes it more appealing to men as he is the lead in the role.
The full film will also show how he goes through a life changing accident and reacts to the possibility of losing his life long passion of racing. People in the target audience would be able to relate to this as everyone has either been through a life changing accident or seen someone close to them go through it.

If our opening was to become a full movie I personally think that the audience pleasures will be as follows:
Emotional Pleasures: 
These are the pleasures that are created when a film creates emotional scenes that the audience can enjoy. In my opinion this will be the most common pleasure felt throughout the length of the film. We were aiming to create characters that the audience can built strong relationships with, they ill create these bonds because they will be able to go through the emotions at the same time as the characters.
The themes that will be present and play a part in our film that will put the audience in the same place as the characters and allow them to go on this emotional journey with them. The emotions will build throughout the film and this is what will make the film more interesting and keep the audience engaged throughout the film. The audience pleasures are what keeps the audience wanting more at the end of the film, this is also known as voyerism and this is when the audience enjoys feeling the same emotion as the characters.
Visceral Pleasures:
These are the pleasures the audience will feel as the film builds up a physical effect on the viewers. In my groups film we have included flashbacks that are the memories of the racer in his 'glory' days, this will create a feeling of nerves and sadness as well as the happiness of the memories; these feelings will be what the audience enjoys to feel alongside the characters.

Evaluation: Qu 4

Evaluation; qu 4 ppt from ameliabrandon

Evaluation: Qu 3

Evaluation: Qu 3 from ameliabrandon

Evaluation: Qu 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

There is one main stereotype shown in our opening and that is the gender stereotype. The gender stereotype isn't subverted in our opening as it is a strong male lead and he is independent, active and strong.

Our protagonist is wearing a black male race suit which follows that archetype that men are independent, strong and active. Also the idea of him being a race driver fits the stereotype of them going out to work to bring home the money.

The drop of the race car highlights the characters profession, however this subverts the stereotype of men having a 9-5 business job to support their family. Although it also fits the stereotype of males having a high status profession. This stereotype is supported in the camera work in the long shots and close ups we used when showing the protagonist, as it shows the importance of the character. The sound also enhances the status of the character and follows the stereotype of males playing an important part in society by increasing tempo when it was leading up to the race.

Another stereotype of the male gender is that they have quite fast paced lives and this is shown by having quick cuts whenever the protagonist is on the screen in the race suit, however it is subverted when he is shown in hospital as it subverts all stereotypes including having an active life. 

Evaluation: Qu 1

Production: Second draft evaluation

Sound:

In our opinion the second draft is a massive improvement to the first draft. We have now added sound into the clip, it is mainly non-diegetic, incidental sound that we have tested with our target audience to find which one they feel connotes an emotional tone. We have also chosen to add some diegetic sound that I was able to find in iMovie, it is a sound of the car starting and racing off with a screech at the end as it turns a corner. Luckily these sounds fitted with our filming, however we do feel that they are important as they are conventional features to this type of film and we feel that it creates the climax that we were hoping for our opening to have that will engage our viewers.

Editing:

We made changes to the editing that includes the sound mentioned about, and we have also improved the smaller detail in our opening, for example we enhanced the lighting. We had a little play around with the effects on iMovie for a while to see what we could create and we made the shots brighter and more visible. This made our establishing shots look way more appealing than they did to begin with as they were dark and a little gloomy as we were filming on a winters day. 

For the second draft we thought that the transitions were our main focus. It was our priority to make the opening a slow pace, this was to create the emotional atmosphere that we were aiming for, we decided to slowly fade the establishing shots out and then as the music gets quicker so will the pace of the transitions. With the hospital shot, we decided to fade out to white, this gives the impression to the viewer of the protagonist remembering something, and having a flashback.

The car is then introduced at the end, as the car is shown the cuts get quicker, and this is to create a tension and it will make the viewer pay closer attention as the pace goes up. It also creates the tone that will make it suddenly more exciting for the viewers.

Production: Sound sourcing, testing and titles creation

Sound sourcing and testing:

Today we looked on copyright free sound sites to find the sound we would use on the opening sequence, we used sites like bensound to narrow it down to three soundtracks to show to our focus group (the picture shown below is taken in the focus group). The group was a mixture of male and female all aged 15+ which is the right group for the target audience, and we played them the clip with the footage we re-filmed added in and had the sound option over the top, we then asked them which one they thought worked the best with the footage. The option they went for was the third one, this was a good outcome for us as a group as it was the same one that we had preferred also.

Titles creation:

As a group in our lesson today we looked through the different fonts and styles that the editing software had and we looked at which ones fitted the conventional theme that goes along with the motorsport sub-genre. There was only one that would have fitted so when showing the focus group the sounds we just asked them whether the titles fitted or whether they looked out of place and they decided that they fitted and worked well with the opening.

Below is the second draft of the opening clip that includes the sound and titles:

Production: Re-shoot day

Today we filmed everything we decided we need to in the evaluation of our rough draft. It went well, and we used the time effectively. I had previously emailed Mr Hopkins about gaining access to one of the grand stands at the track to film the actor walking us the stairs into the stands, I also had to speak to Mr Webber about using a workshop for the day to use for the rest of the filming as it had lots of different aspects that could help the clip. 

In the Workshop we filmed all the different shots of the protagonist putting on the race suit; we find this important because it will show the audience that he is going to be the protagonist of the film. Luckily, we spoke to Jacob and he let us borrow his race gear and helmet again and his friend Sam lent us his boots so that we could form a full costume.

This time we focused a lot more on the consideration of the angles and making sure that the camera was steady as on the first filming day we had a few shaky shots that we avoided this time by taking more copies of the shots so that we have back ups when it comes to editing.

The first time we filmed the shots in the grand stand of the protagonist walking up the stairs we had our shadows and the shadows of the camera in the shot which was an issue when editing because we didn't have different angles to cut in to be able to remove the shadows. This time we learnt from the previous mistakes and made sure that we checked the shots and that shadows weren't going to be an issue this time.

Production: Initial rough cut

This is the clip that we showed our focus, during the focus group we were also watching it and made notes of things that we need to change. This is what we came up with:

• We have decided that we need to enhance the colour on the establishing shots as the ground was frosty on our shoot day.

• We also need to re film the racer walking up the stairs and use a range of shots to with it.

• We need to film the racer putting the race suit on as we haven't shooted that yet and we feel that we need a wider range of footage.

• We need to add sound into the clip to enhance the emotions we are trying to portray

• We also need to add titles that include idents so that it includes the right elements so that it looks like a conventional opening that we looked at in our research and planning.

Issues that we found when we were watching it are that the clip is only 52 seconds long so we will use the elements above to extend the length to fit the 2 minutes, we also found that we will need to take the argument scene out unfortunately as it doesn't make sense without having the diegetic sound of what it happening, and we were avoiding having a script in the opening clip. 

Production: Audience testing

Earlier today we had a group of about 10 people that were both male and female and they were all over the age of 12 so that it would be real answers from the target market of our choice. During this session we showed the group the rough cut of the film and then asked them some questions. We got the answers we were hoping for along with some tips on how we could improve the film, however the main response was that they could tell that it was going to be a motor sport film and this is good as it is what we were hoping for.

This is a screenshot of the questions that we handed out to the group.
From the group we found that we need to add sound so that it adds atmosphere and creates meeting to the shots. Also we found that we will need to do another focus group that involves the different options of sound and titles that we are going to add onto the clip in the second draft of the film. The sound will mostly be non - diegetic as it will create theme of emotion that the rest of the film would have.

Production: Editing

As a group we are doing the editing with input from every one, the editing is taking place on my laptop as I have access to iMovie, however we thought about the risk that if I'm not in school on a day that we have planned to do the editing then the group won't have access to the footage, therefore we created a google drive account which is going to allow us to access the footage on any laptop at any time.

Production: Filming Day

Today we had access to a section of the Silverstone circuit called Corpse runway and tunnel, we also had unlimited access to the pits and the grand stands. For a short while of the day we were supplied with a car and a driver to work with in order to express the conventions of motor sport film. Harry, Dan and I went out and all had a go at filming different shots each to spread the work load.

In my opinion this day was successful however some shots we need to re shoot and film in other locations. All of this ext filming is going to be completed by Wednesday the 27th February. We have planned to meet at Harry's house to film the hospital scenes and argument so that it is in the right environment. By setting a time to get this done we have allowed weeks to complete the editing.

Here is a shot of me and Harry taking some establishing shots of the track on the day...

This is us setting up the camera to film our first shot which was an establishing shot. Throughout the day we faced many challenges however we faced the head on and fixed the situation as soon as we could so that we could still film everything we needed to. One of the issues was that the first tripod we had was broken, we had to thing back to school to get a new one however we could have prevented this by checking the tripod was in full working condition before we left.

Here are some more pictures of us filming throughout the day in the different locations:

This is me doing the fake makeup on harry for the hospital scene: