FALLING APART - VIDEO

HELLO!!!

After doing some last changes to our video, we are finally ready!

If the video donesn't work on your computer, here's the YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWnAjZUbu9A

Evaluation Question 7

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

I found the preliminary task very useful. It allowed making mistakes and learning from them, it was a good preparation for our main production.
For example, before we did our preliminary task, we didn’t know how to use a tripod. Our teacher showed us how to use it, but when we actually went out to film it was very interesting to explore it. We learnt how to film a pan, tilt and a steady shot.  
We have also learnt about continuity, match on action and the 180 degree rule. This is the first thing that we had to think about when we filmed our preliminary task so we knew that this is definitely something we have to consider when filming the main production.
We thought that the filming is easy and we tried to rush it, but as soon as we did the first shot we realised that it’s not that easy. We had to move the camera every time we wanted to film a different shot, sometimes the actors didn’t do what they were supposed to. So we learnt that we have to be patient and that filming takes time.
During our journey from the preliminary task to the full product we realised how important the use of shots is. It is important to use the right combination of different camera shots and angles to transmit to the audience exactly what you want them to feel.
Also, from the research and planning we learnt how important it is to know about your genre and the conventions of it so you can start to build our own product.
In the beginning we thought that we could go and film just with ideas in our heads, but as we went along we realised that storyboards and scripts are much needed. We filmed our preliminary task without a storyboard because we didn’t realise how important it was and we wasted a lot of time wondering around and making things up on the spot. We used a storyboard in our main production and it helped us be more organised and get things done quicker with better quality.

Evaluatio Question 6

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

During the process of constructing this product we learnt a lot of valuable skills which helped us to produce an original and completed piece of media work.
At the beginning we didn’t know how to use the tripod. Our teacher held a demonstration lesson of how to efficiently and smoothly use a tripod. Later on, in the preliminary task we had a chance to experiment with it and learn how to film the desired shots.

We also learnt that the camera needs to be adjusted correctly to the tripod so we can film steady shots. In the beginning it was hard to do this but gradually we learnt how to do it properly and after a lot of practice we produced quality filming and constructed a competed piece.

Regarding the programs that we used for editing and sound – Premiere Pro and Logic Pro, I didn’t know anything and I haven’t even heard of them. So, to actually learn how to use it in the montage we had to do a lot of practice. Every day we learnt new things, for example, the first thing that we learnt was how to put the clips together and then to make the scenes smooth we learnt how to precisely cut them at the right place.

By using Premier pro I have learnt a lot about different effects. We wanted many things to happen in our introduction and we did not have any idea of how to use the programme to add all of the effects that we wanted to the video. First we learnt how to add and cut shots, we have also learnt how to reduce the sound of remove it and add another to it. Experimenting with the colours and the lights we have learnt how to change the brightness and contrast of the video. One of the most interesting things was how to back up a shot. I was personally amazed of how many stuff we catch from premier pro.

Logic Pro, allowed us to produce our own sound which we thought would be best for our production. It took us quite a long time to actually learn how to put different sounds together and make a good sound overall. But after a lot of practice we became faster at it and we could easily pick up our desired sounds and create what we needed for the piece. This is what we did for the first part of the video; we found a sound and combined it with a specific piano sound which brought the suspicion that we needed, so we were quite pleased to use this program.

After that, for our main production we needed to change the colours and we experimented and found out how to do that. That also made us realise that the filming isn’t the most important thing. When editing we actually achieve what we want to transmit to the audience. An example for this is, when in our video the girl is getting ready and we filmed short shots of bits of her body like eyes, lips etc. and when we put them together it wasn’t like we imagined it to be so then we found out about transitions and by adding them between each shot it became much smoother and we achieved our goal.

Different web-sites have also helped us with the inspiration of the look of the production. We used different Google images to inspire us with mice-en-scene, lighting, camera, angles etc.

Blogger was also very useful for us to share our ideas and by receiving different comments we were able to make improvements and make our production better. It also gave us the opportunity to look at other people’s blogs and see in what way we could make our blogs easier to use. We learnt how adjust the entire blog and the right side bar. Also how to upload pictures and videos, and adjust the pictures’ size.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Generally, the conventional target audience for Addiction movies is young people. We decided to go with the convention and targeted at people aged 15-25.
We also targeted at the female gender as mentioned earlier because we believe that girls are more likely to get attacked by the male gender. We absolutely followed the convention of a boy attacking a girl because the aim was to show the vulnerability of younger girls and the danger they would be put in if they take drugs.

We addressed this type of audience by using a teenage girl as our protagonist. We thought that this way they would identify with the character and it would have a bigger effect on them. They might start thinking about what it would be like if they ever take drugs and as we also tried to educate them, we hoped that they wouldn’t want to go through what our character went through and they wouldn’t take drugs.

We didn’t use a specific ethnic group in our production because we aimed at a wide range of ethnic groups. We used a Persian and an eastern European girl. We believed that by adding different races into the piece we would attract different ethnicities.

We tried to attract them by having a happy sound which could also be considered emotional and as we know, females are more emotional than males so by using this kind of music we targeted at attracted the female gender.
Also, the tragic sound within the sad scene where we see the girl drugged, attaches the audience by making them feel sorry for her and in some specific cases to make them realise the danger of using drugs.

The location of the second part of our production is a pink room. Stereotypically pink is associated with girls. This is one way that we tried to attract our target audience which was 15-25 girls.

The storyline that includes going out to party also attracts the targets audience because they are the stage of their lives when they go out a lot.
The main theme of the production was drugs. We used this to catch the audience’s attention because people at this age are more likely to use drugs when they go out.

The use of the colours in the two parts of the introduction is attractive because the audience is able to feel and see the different moods of the scenes and stay engaged.

 

 

 

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

After doing research we decided on what would be the most suitable age group for our audience. People aged 15-25 would be most interested in watching our production so this is something we had to consider if we want our production to be successful. The audience is very important for any piece of work.
We’ve chosen this age group because we know that teenagers are the most vulnerable and likely to get addicted to drugs. We wanted our audience to identify with the characters and imagine themselves in the same situation.
We targeted the female gender because the aim of our production was to show how dangerous it is for girls to take drugs and not be able to take care of themselves.
We didn’t aim at any specific ethnic group and that’s why we represented a variety of ethnic groups in our production. We didn’t aim at any specific social grade because people from any social class could get into the world of drugs but according to how we have presented the protagonist, looking at where she lives and how she dresses, it would be middle and working class.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

 

Age

We wanted the protagonist of our production to be a young teenager.
WHY
We believed that teenagers are not experienced enough and curious about everything so they are more likely to try drugs.
HOW
We tried to show that by setting up a room which is pink for her bedroom. Also, the language and the subject of the main character and her friend’s conversation reveal that she is younger. For example, she cares about her appearance when she goes out, she is discussing her night out with her friend, she isn’t married.

Gender

We wanted a female to play the main character.
WHY
We wanted to follow the stereotype of females being weaker, more emotional and more vulnerable in certain situations. Usually girls are the ones getting attacked.
HOW
We’ve shown this by having the girl in a location which implies danger e.g. the river and the possibility of her dropping in it. We also showed it by making her have ripped tights and smashed make up, this symbolises that she is in a bad condition and she is emotionally unstable.

As an antagonist we chose a, tall, white, and dark hair guy. We wanted him to wear a hoodie because usually the way of dressing represents different social groups. In this case the antagonist is dressed in a way that expresses his status and it could relate him with a delinquent or a person that experiments antisocial personality which relates him to a person that goes against the norms of society by committing crime or being deviant. Hiding his face was a way of making him look more suspicious and to create tension. His age is not clearly identified because we can hardly see his face but by the way that he dresses he looks like a young adult. This is a way of relating him with people in society that are seen as dangerous and create more suspicion and tension in the moment that he is walking behind the girl.

Ethnicity

We chose a white girl to play the main role.
WHY
We used the stereotype of a teenager who follows westernized fashion and lifestyle. Movies usually use as a stereotype white girl because since long ago they have been having more freedom that other ethnic groups. We did not want to challenge the stereotype so we followed what is usually seen more often in modern British society.

Class and status

The class and status it is not really clear , but it could be working class and middle class people because they are more usually related to drugs and going out to parties. The drug that we have chosen as we researched it is not the most expensive one so many people could afford it, it is not like cocaine that just rich people would be able to afford paying for it every day.

Sexuality

We wanted her to be an ordinary girl so she can relate to every teenager. We chose her to be straight because the majority of teenagers are straight.

Evaluation Question 1

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

Veronika
Anna

Camera work:

Conventions used:

Close-up shot - The close-up shot takes us into the mind of a character. It is used to reveal deeper emotions or show more detail. This is quite a specific shot which is used in drama film because it helps the dramatic storyline; it affects the audience much more.

We met this convention by using a close up shot on the girl’s feet stepping in the water without shoes used as the opening shot of our production to directly indicate the genre to the audience by showing someone’s vulnerability and making the audience feel sorry for the person. This straight away engages the audience and provokes questions about what is going to happen which makes them follow the storyline. For example, in the movie Now Is Good, they used a lot of close up shots when they wanted to reveal the girl’s emotions. Close up shots are also used in TV dramas like East Enders because it is a good way of showing emotions.

High angle - High angles make the object seem smaller and less significant. If a character is shown it makes them look powerless and miserable. This is a shot quite often used in drama films because we often see people struggling or having problems in drama movies so they are more likely to be shown through a high angle.

We used this convention because we wanted to have the effect that it has. High angle shot on the girl making her look powerless and helpless. It also shows her facial expression which seems to be very confused and this adds to the idea of her being lost and that suggests that she might be in danger and not aware of what might happen. There was a moment in the movie Django which even though is an adventurous movie they used a high angle shot to make the audience look down the person dying on the floor and it made him look powerless.

Conventions developed:

Long shot is usually used to set a scene, a location. For example in the movie Listen to your heart there is a long establishing shot of a big city in the beginning. The idea of the city used as an establishing shot suggest that cities are more dangerous, there is more people and it is easier to get attacked so the mood and the expectations of the audience changes. We used a long shot to give more information about the location and what’s around the characters but we developed it by making it a high angle shot and left it for longer to show that she is not actually alone in the ‘empty’ looking place, and there is someone behind her which is suspicious because of his look.

Conventions challenged:

We understood the convention of a city being very busy and surrounded by people but we showed her in an isolated place to show that even though there is people living in this place she is alone. This idea makes it even more dangerous knowing that there are more possibilities of getting hurt in a place, where there are people with a lot of different intentions. We understood this convention and challenged it by isolating her in the city. The likelihood of her getting attacked in this situation is increased. This will raise the possibilities of

 

 

Mise-en-scene

 

Conventions used and developed:

 

·         Atmosphere

Pathetic fallacy – rain is negative, darkness etc.

Pathetic fallacy sets the mood of the movie especially in drama films. The weather usually affects people’s mood and we used the rain and we also developed it by emphasising it when she actually steps in the water without shoes to create a better dramatic atmosphere. The bad condition that the girl is in, combined with the bad weather increases her vulnerability. Again, an example for this is the movie Requiem for a dream. I’ve noticed that when the weather is sunny good things happen, and when it is winter bad things happen. The weather could symbolise bad and good.

We worked hard to get the message across by using the rain but we couldn’t film in the rain because we didn’t have the necessary equipment or assistants.

·         How the characters are introduced:

There is evidence that most of the people start using drugs or start smoking because they have been influenced by their friends or people who they want to impress. An example of this could be the movie called Thirteen. It shows how friends can be bad influence. We wanted to use this convention but also try and develop it. We developed it by making the friend of the protagonist insist for the drugs expecting the main character to be the ‘victim’ but we challenged it by  not showing which one of them is the bad influence because there is nothing that indicates it. We tried to send a social message for young people, how peer pressure could be bad in society and also, to emphasise the fact that nowadays the accessibility of drugs is increased and through our production we show that even young girls can buy drugs.

Conventions challenged:

Usually attacks and bad things happen at night but we broke this convention by having the guy attack the girl during the day. The light of the day symbolises safety and white could symbolise freedom, but actually we challenged this in our production to show that bad things can happen during the day as well, especially when you are in a bad condition.

 

Editing

Conventions used:

Sound – The sad song that is at the beginning of the production sets the mood and the drama of the situation we wanted to emphasise the changes in the mood by creating a contrast between the two parts to transmit the different emotions of the two scenes. The ‘’happy’’ sound that we added in the second part changes the audience’s mood and makes them realise that this is actually the beginning of the film and the girls is just alright this time. This will intrigue the audience by wanting to know what is going to happen with the girl. A movie called The Lovely Bones is a good example of showing contrast through sound. In the beginning there is a happy sound introducing the girl’s life but that changes after she finds out she is actually dead, the sound changes into a dramatic one.

Conventions developed:

Colours of the scenes – usually in movies, girls are presented in different ways. For example, the clothes they wear, and their own room – it all represents their personality. Our character is more girly, and we showed this by her room being pink which represents girly, easy going, more innocent.  But when editing, we realised that the lighting affected this because it was a bit dark, so when we edited the shots we made them lighter.

Conventions challenged:

Titles – By doing our research we have noticed that Drama films have very simple titles because there is no need to exaggerate the titles when the drama is transmitted through the storyline. For example, the movie Big Fish and Pursuit of Happiness show this. We wanted to break this convention because we found a good way in which we could symbolise the meaning of our title which was Falling Apart. We had a glass breaking which was breaking the conventions of a normal drama title.

Started from the end of the film and broke the convention of a storyline going in order. We showed this by having the Glass breaking symbolising a life being shattered and destroyed. Going back reversed showed how everything was okay before. We also visually communicated saying 9 hours earlier.

Titles 3

HELLO EVERYONE!!!

I haven't been posting lately due to the Christmas Holidays. The weather wasn't suitable and it was quite cold to be filming outside, plus it was holidays! I tried to enjoy it without school pressure!

But now I AM BACK!

I was quite excited to see how the production is looking so far, and I was quite happy when I realised that it is almost done.
One thing we needed to do is add the actual title of the movie, which is 'FALLING APART'. My partner asked me today, what comes to my mind when I hear 'falling apart'. So, I said something broken, like a glass which is very thin and breaks into pieces. Suddenly she said, that's a great idea! I was a bit confused while she was already on YouTube searching for something. Then we both chose a free copy right clip which was exactly what I had in mind: a glass breaking! I thought that this would be a great symbolisation of what the movie is about. We downloaded it and we added it in between the first part and the second part of the sequence. Then we added the titles in capital letters in the middle of the screen in black and white which we thought goes well with the background. This is just a screen shot of what it looks like:

There is also a sound which goes with it and we decided to leave it. It is like a loud bang when the glass breaks. It all looks very good and suitable together.

After that I thought of ways in which we can show that after the titles is the actual beginning of the movie and what the audience has just seen is the ending of the film, kind of like a flashback. So, I thought of changing colours, writing something like 17 hours earlier. But after seeing this clip, I knew how it is going to be. After showing this title, we will reverse it, kind of like the glass goes back together and we see a title: 17 hours earlier. This could also imply that what the audience is going to see after this title, is before all the drama has happened and before 'the glass has broken'. I think this is a great way of highlighting that this is the beginning of the film. Here is a picture of what it looks like: