final piece completed!

Abandoned final version from Amin Team3 on Vimeo.

Here it is ,what you've all been waiting for! Team 3's fantastic final movie opening scene. produced by Amin Rarmoul, Idris Azeez and Myself. Hope you all enjoy it.

fonts

Here are a list of the fonts that the team found, we thought they seemed appropriate for a horror and used 'sell your soul' and 'ethon' in our final piece to display the text, eg. the day, title, etc

final movie poster

Here is the movie poster that i mentioned, that was designed by the team. We thought that it was very good as it attracts the viewer using the rule of thirds meaning the eye is immidiately drawn to the character on the far right when the poster is looked at. Also its a mystery as to what he's scared of and many people may be interested to know what is so scary. the writing at the bottom also which says 'save me' is not immidiately recognisable which suggests it has been rushed which adds to the whole scary rushing theme quite well.

feedback

Here is a printscreen of some of the feedback we got on facebook, we didn't get much that could help us with our film however it was interesting to see that many people thought it was good.

Evaluation

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

A: Our media product takes influences from other movies such as 'Triangle' and '28 days later' and adds to them improving on suspense building music and other things for example we used camera shots to capture quick pans etc. We used a variety of unusual angles which we feel add a sense of eeriness. Also we have a real sense of mystery and general fear incorporated the movie as we as the audience dont know what hes afraid of. The sounds We used were also a big part of the movie we used appropriate sounds which worked really well and faded them into each other in a subtle way. We also edited in sound effects in such as the loud bang noise that the I hear in the movie which was a lot more effective as it was a clear pre-recorded sound from 'Imovie'

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media movie doesn't represent particular social groups, however it may be said that it represents paranoid teenagers as the twist has not yet been revealed and it could be that the way he is seeing things is not really how it is happening. It may also appeal to those who are students in college as the main character is one.


What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Hmv, virgin megastores, zavvi, and all other stores that sell films might distribute our movie. It may also be available online as a podcast. 'Brain Damage films' is a horror movie distibutor who are dedicated to scaring the public. what happens is the movies are sent to the company and then they distribute them worldwideand domestically. some of their flicks can be seen here... MovieDistribution@BrainDamageFilms.com


Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for our piece would be those looking for a good horror to watch or just people who are interested in horror movies, particularly good ones. Also it could appeal to young students as they are at college and will be able to relate to it, also they may be interested in what it would be like if they came to an abandoned school and may be interested to seewhy the college is abandoned after seeing the advert/sneak preview.

How did you attract/address your audience?

We designed fantastic posters which we made look very appealing and interesting to the public, and advertised it on the social networking site facebook and myspace. We also uploaded a sneak preview of our video to Youtube and Vimeo for people to look at and told all our friends to check it out and tell their friends however I feel with more time we would've been able to really get many more people anticipating its release.

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

We've learned how to use high quality camcorders and use all the features adjusting things to our preferance, eg flash, focusing etc. We learnt how to attach and dettach tripod when panning smothly also which has proved useful and provided smooth shots. we've learned that when recording the microphone is very sensitive so we put in headphones when recording to make sure we did not pick up any unwanted sounds as we needed a fairly quiet atmosphere. we used white boards to keep track of the clips we had taken and also found that it helped to allow the camera to recognise that that was the colour white which made our shots alot more colour clear and accurate.

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

how to build up tense and suspension through sounds (diagetic and non diagetic sounds). I feel we have become increasingly confident with using the camera then when we first started, all members of the group have developed a steady hand when holding the camera. We learned useful shots that proved to be very effective in our later piece such as the tracking shot and the over the shoulder one. I also feel i have learned a variety of ideas which are very important to not only just our movie but overall movie making. I also feel i have learned how to record important and relevant information to my Blog (blogger). Finally the whole editing thing on movie was something that i learnt about such as its aspects, the sounds available as well as image and text. Finally I also learnt about getting ideas and constructive criticism and responding to it.

final piece

...

props clothing lighting sound

props clothing lighting sound

movie poster

here is a movie poster that was designed by our very own member Amin Rarmoul ...

finalising movie

The most of this week, the group have been finalisig the final movie opening scene. we filmed extra shots that were needed, found diagetic sound effects to add from IMOVIE, we also found background music for the film which included a silent hill song and another suspense building japanese track found on beemp3.com. the movie seems to be complete now and we have uploaded it to facebook to get some feedback which may prove useful.

editing

yesterday the group spent most of the day uploading our clips to the computer and editing them. after the shots were uploaded, we viewed the scenes that had been shot and decided on which we thought were the best and the order in which they should go in. we also realised that there are a few more shots that we need to maximise the eeriness and make our piece as good as possible so we wrote them down. tomorrow we will film these shots upload them and insert them into our movie. then we will need to look into sound effects and everything else.

setting the scene

Over the last couple of days me and the group have been continuing to film the opening of our movie. during the holidays we also came into school as shots of the school being empty were needed for our horror as it has been abandoned. we have almost finished filming all the shots and will be ready to edit them very soon.

starting to film for the movie

today the members of the group met up and we started filming. it was a holiday so we used this to our advantage as the opening to our film portrays a young man who is looking around a deserted school. I am still the main actor but also helped contribute to the group discussions when trying to maximise the eeriness off shots and showing which shots had been done and which hadn't and needed to be filmed. I wore the same clothes as that i was shown in on the movie poster to maintain the continuity of everything.

poster ideas

Here are two of the images that the team took earlier. I uploaded them to my photobucket account online and edited them, making them into possible posters or dvd covers. An idea i had for the name of the movie was ' Abandoned? ' this is as it is of a student who goes into school to realise that it is empty and to find he might be being followed which links in nicely in my opinion.

taking photos for movie poster, dvd cover etc

today the group went around the school taking photos for the movie poster, dvd cover etc. we decided that I am going to be the main actor so pictures were taken of me around the school walking around and looking frightened. the pictures have been uploaded and emailed to our home adresses, we are going to all have gos at editing them later to make them look good and as scary as possible.

possible influences for the idea

A really useful influence that came across me when I was thinking of influences for our idea was a movie called '28 days later' this movie is about a city (London) which has been destroyed by zombies. It links in with the idea we had as it is a horror with many shots of empty landscapes. I will have to watch the movie sometime soon for shot ideas, sound effects etc.

thoughts on the next stage

We are nearing the end of our second continuity piece now and are starting to think about what our actual opening 2 minutes of our movie will be. An idea that has been passed around is a student who is walking to school where no one is to be seen and when the student reaches school they realise no one is there either and everything has been messed up and that he thinks he is being followed. It is a good idea which will probably be used and will hopefully allow a selection of good shots.

continuity piece 2 work

Today we strung together the clips I filmed for the second continuity piece. we watched all the clips taken and decided which ones to use. We then grouped all the successful shots together, ready for editing but unfortunately we did not have time to do so, so it will have to be done next lesson.

finished continuity piece 1

Here is the first continuity piece we did completed.

continued work on continuity piece 2

today we continued to work on our second continuity piece. I was the camera man again and excercised the shots again, including extreme close ups, jump cuts and tracking shot. the actors were amin, idris, wasil and we brought an outside actor in as well who was blake. Idris was the director. many shots were taken which we hope will be better than the first continuity when we string them together next time.

continuity piece 2

Today we also started filming our second continuity piece. I was the filmer and excercised some camera skills again. I developed a sturdy hand while following characters, shot smooth consistent speed pans and took a canted shot which panned and then straightened out at the end.

editing continuity piece

today our group uploaded the video clips that we took and edited them into an actual small movie. special effects were added such as text which said 'continuity at the beggining of the piece as well as fading transitions to different clips.

CONTINUITY PIECE

Today we took the cameras out of the classroom to film for the first time. We did a continuity piece in which we took several shots of a member of our group, Amin, walking down a set of stairs and entering a room, we excercised many different angles and shots such as pedding, crabbing and panning.

shown film examples for inspiration

The other week, In class we were looking at a variety of short films produced by other media students. we were shown some really good ones and were told and discussed why they scored highly. we also watched videos that weren't so good which didn't score so highly and again told and discussed the reasons for the grades they got. There were a variety of genres amongst the opening scenes and as we are doing a horror, it began to get me started on thinking what will be shown in my teams film opening. I will post any good ideas I have.

The camera

The camera that each media group was given is called the JVC Everio GZ-HD40.

We were told we were lucky to be given them as they are very expensive and advanced cameras.

Some of the useful advantages include the fact when the film is uploaded, it is uploaded in the separate sections that they were filmed in which will save a lot of time when editing.

Here are the specifications of the camera :

Recording Format:
Hard Drive
Optical Zoom:
10x
HDD Size:
120 GB
Weight:
0.54 kg
Audio format:
5.1 Surround Sound
Optical Zoom:
10x
Digital Zoom:
200x
Lens Focal Length:
4.5 - 45 mm
Filter Diameter:
43 mm

camera shots, angles and movements

Here is just a slide that our fantastic media teacher Mr Hady displayed for us on the interactive whiteboard to help explain them and so that we could try them out.

tehniques the team used

Pan - you are actually turning (circular motion/carved)
Crab - straight line movement
Track - you are following
Zoom - increase the lense (camera is stationary)

White balancing is something we learned also. It is when you show something white, preferably a white sheet of paper. This will allow it to recognise and register that it is the colour white. The result will be a much better quality.

We all practised different techniques, but in particular I practised the birds eye view shot, the worms eye view, panning left, zooming in and out [lens], the ped up ad tilting up.

It was a good experience and it worked alright for the first try, however think me and my team I will need more time to develop my skills. But I look forward to working with them again and strengthen the steadiness of my hand as it was a slight problem.

practising with the cameras

Today we started using the cameras and practising the techniques inside of the classroom.
the main aim of the double lesson was to learn the basic features and improve our shot awareness.
Sizes, angles and movement
-shots are comprized of how much you can see per shot
-we must show a variety of shots, angles and movements

new cameras arrive

Today we were intoduced to the new cameras we are going to be using.
We were told about the features such as its battery life which is 2 hours long, the focus options, zoom features, its full HD broadcasting quality, light options and sound options. I am very excited to start using them as a group and producing some good quality footage.

lighting influence

Here is an image i came across on the internet, I thought that the lighting was very effective and could possibly be used in the first few minutes of our movie. The image gives a sense of uncertainty and fear which is exactly what we would be trying to show in our horror. The view is a close up as well which suggests quick reactions in this example.

Welcome

Hello im Rory Milnes, a media student ..
over the next couple of months I will be updating regularly about the horror movie my team is making. I will show camera shots that will be used and influences amongst other things
.. watch this space