Tuesday, 12 May 2009

storyboard


These are the two pages of the storyboard that nick wrote. With each picture of each shot, there is a brief description.














Wednesday, 6 May 2009

Feedback from our Questionaires

From the questionaires that we sent out for people to judge our work, we got certain responses. One response was that they could easily recognise what genre the film was because of the good opening. Also they thought that the film fit the pacific genre correctly as they found them selves laughing at our video. Also they added that they could laugh at the film opening because they could relate to main character, they saw people at their school who acted the same as our main character.
Another response was that they felt very engaged from the beginining of the film and felt drawn in straight away. They also commented that they knew it would comedy because of type of effects we included in our film for example text narrations that gave humour. Also they thought that our media product would attract a larger audience because the music is funny and its gives a good atmosphere.
The final reponse i will write about says that the beginining made them very interested in the film because, "its like we wake up with the character at the start of the movie ". Also Its obviuosly a comedy, the on screen text is ironic because of whats happening on screen.

evaluation of two minute opening of my film

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

We as a group decided to start our film with non – diagetic sound of our main character’s dialogue, Melvin. We as a group decided that this would be the best way that we could show what the main character was like as a person and show the personality was like, however everything that he says within the beginning scenes ironically shows the opposite. This kind of narration is normally found on comedies, by doing this, the audience can find out a lot of information about the character and so they I know exactly what to expect from them. Also we found that we couldnt mess around too much with settings because with only having a short period of time, we had to show as much information about the setting as we could so the audience can understand it better.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The mise-en-scene within the whole film was quite dull, this including the school corridors and classrooms. We made sure that all the shots looked quite dull because this gave the idea that the hall monitor wasn’t enjoying his time within school and that his life wasn’t as bright as it could be. Also the iconography is very strong within this opening of the film, for example tables, chairs, bags, posters everywhere and whiteboards, because of the strong iconography it easy to tell what type of genre we are looking at. The music used in this opening says a lot about the film, for example the music builds up as we see Melvin getting dressed, we build the character up with what he says and the music building up to be let down when we see the final image of Melvin dressed in his Hall monitor uniform and he has his speed gun.

The first two minutes of this film shows clearly show Melvin as a geek and show everyone that he is a social outcast. He takes his job of being hall monitor very seriously; this is shown on how he acts with people and the way he is treated by other people because of this. The first time we can see this is when Melvin is stood in the mirror, this shows the audience how Melvin is deluded into thinking he looks really good and that he thinks that he dresses cool. This can be shown with how much time it takes for him to get ready and how much he stands in the mirror making sure he looks appealing, or what he thinks is appealing. The next time we can tell the Melvin is a geek is when Melvin is stood on the corner with his speed gun and dressed in his Hall monitor uniform. This shows the audience how geeky Melvin can be. He takes his job really seriously and because of this gets picked on by everybody else at the school. The character’s dress code shows a lot about him and explains a lot about him. For example his nerdy checkered shirt shows the audience that he is not up to date with the latest trends and also he doesn’t want to be. Also he walks round with his sash saying “hall monitor”, this shows the audience he is proud of what he is and yet also shows them that he is showing he is a nerd and he has no worries showing other people. The cuts and the positioning of the video clips show a lot about the character. The video shows Melvin to be a nerd because of how to clips are put together, every time a statement comes onto the screen about him, there is then a short clip to show that actually it is the opposite. For example there I a part in the film opening where Melvin says he is “a ladies man” this is followed by a clip showing Melvin trying to talk to two popular girls and him getting rejected and pushed into a wall.

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

After doing research into comedy distribution, I found that other teen / school comedies were very popular with audiences and attracted a lot of tension. I have also looked on www.boxofficemojo.com to find out just how popular similar films were and to see how much money the film earned. A few of the films that are like our film were American pie that earned $235,483,004, this film was made by Universal, and another relevant film is Superbad which earned $121,463,226 and this also was made by Sony, also there is Napoleon dynamite and that earned $44,540,956 and this Is made by Fox studios and finally Not another teen movie and this earned it self $38,252,284 and this is made by Sony.
This shows us that alone our genre is very popular with audiences, when the film is made well. Although throughout all of the films there is no precise studio that stands out to make good school comedies. Out of all the company’s above I have decided to go with Fox studios because one of their films in particular “Napoleon dynamite” is most like our film. It also deals with social groups found within schools. Also another reason to pick Fox studios is because they are renowned for making successful comedies.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my film would be teenagers. This is because we have set the film out in such a way that the audience will be able to relate to the characters especially Melvin, Melvin is one of those characters that everyone has experienced in their life and because of this the audience can really relate to the character. We attracted the audience in many different ways for example making the film so that all the characters in it could be found in the real world hence giving the audience the feeling they know a lot about the film before it starts. My film also attracts the audience because the film is based on something that the intended audience would know all about, and that is school and the social groups that are found within the school environment. This will attract the audience because it take them out of their lives and shows them someone else’s life doing the same things, for example going to school, doing homework. This shows the audience a different take on their life and it interests them. We asked a number of people to comment on the beginining of our film to see if made a good opening and interested the audience, this is what we found out. One person thought that our piece of work is targeted at school age kids as it deals with their lives and social settings and scenarios. Another person thought that our film applied to geeks, teenagers and students just because of how my main character is portrayed.

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

I have learnt a lot about filming during making this clip, for example adapting two cameras to collect the footage that we wanted and then we could take parts out of each film to create one piece of footage that collected all the shots and movements that we needed. Also I found out to get the best footage it was a good idea to film each scene a few times, this way we could collect a lot of footage and was better so we could cut it all down and make one good clip that included everything we needed in each shot, this also made our whole 2 minute clip run a lot smoother and it was more precise. I have also learnt that when using the camera’s to collect our footage, the camera didn’t always pick up all the diagetic sound of our characters talking, this meant we needed a different way to include sound onto our film without having the re- film the whole clip. To overcome this problem with used a microphone and watched over the film talking into the microphone where there was supposed to be sound, we then used the sound we had just recorded and adapted it into our film.

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


Looking back to my preliminary task I believe I have learnt a lot during the progression to the final product. For example I have learnt it takes a lot of effort to create a film and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to get exactly what is wanted. I have also learnt that when using editing software it is quite easy to move video clips, cut them and then edit over them, the software is very interesting and makes creating a video clip a lot of fun. I have learnt a lot about the creating process, this included making a detailed script, creating a shooting schedule so we could work out when we could record all the footage that was nessessary for our film to work. Overall i have learnt it takes a lot of time to create a film, and with that there is a lot of processes to go through to make sure that the film lives up to the standards.

Thursday, 9 April 2009

costume ideas

we used a particular idea for what the nerd should wear, so that the audience could easily tell how he is resembled and shown to be like. we went for the typical look of a nerd which included using a checkered vest top, that golfers are found to wear, this will also worn with some plain school trousers. also with this our main character wore a plain white t shirt underneath that was tucked in, this was to show that he really didnt care what he wore.

Thursday, 12 March 2009

shooting schedule

Day 1 - we filmed the classroom scene, where we see our main character getting bullied and having paper balls thrown at him. i show this by doing a panning shot of the room which our protagonist is in before following the other pupils to the back of the room. we then switch to a point of view shot where we can see a fellow student talking before laughing and throwing a paper ball at the nerd.



Also in day one, i filmed the hallways scene, this included our main character needing the prop of a speed gun. for this scene i needed two cameras so we could see the angle change as he walked around the corner. for this we used a mid shot as he is stood on the corner and then zoomed out as the teenagers pass the hallway monitor to see the full story of what is happening.



Day 2 - we then focused on our last cut scene and that would be in the school hallway with 2 girls. here we see our protagonist standing on the end of the hallway to see two girls walking past him, he then tries talking to them to be rejected and then pushed into the wall. here we used one camera and i focused mainly on the hall monitor to see his reaction as the girls walked past him, to do this i slowly zoomed in to the hall monitors face and as he started to talk i slowly zoomed out so we could see the reaction on the girl's face.



Day 3 - here we focused on the last bit of the film that we needed to do and that was filming the hall monitors daily routine which consisted of getting up, going into the bathroom, doing his hair just getting ready for his school day. for this we used an aerial shot to see the hall monitor wake up and get out of bed, after this we used a over the shoulder shot looking into the mirror to watch him get ready.



Day 4 - here we focused on editing the footage that we had to make sure our film run smoothly. this included cutting out any bits of film that we didnt need and making sure only relevant footage was left. after this it was a case of putting the clips into order. this was quite an easy task except on the odd occassion it took a bit of time to find the relevant clip and to make sure it went into the right place and nothing else should of came before it. my next task lies in putting in effects so the clips run one to another this includes using cuts, fade in's, fade out's and more effects. after all this is done i then concentrated on adding non diagetic sound of a thought track for the beginning of the film, this also included adding non diagetic sound of music so it sounded better and more action packed and it build the tension up for the film.

Wednesday, 11 February 2009

who did what?

This is a short summary of who did what in our project.


I created the titles Hall Monitor by using photoshop, this was quite easy however was hard to find a inhaler that looked like the shape L.


Fraser wrote the script, we all worked together to create a script that would be funny yet make a good film.


Nick drew and wrote the storyboard and then photocopied it so that we all had a copy and find it easy to work from it that way, nick also did the camera postions with the group so we could all agree where the cameras would be.

me and nick then went onto the internet to look for a suitable non - diagetic sound to put into our film. we encountored a lot of the problems along the way a lot of songs started of well but then did not sound like a suitbale song. however after quite a bit of searching we found a suitable song called "old school party"

Nick also took the job of creating a camera map so we knew exactly where we would need to film each scene from and what angles we would have to use.

Stevie created the shooting schedule, this made making all the shots really easy as we then knew exactly what to do and where. this made making plans easy as we can see it what order the clips are made.



when we started filming, a lot of the acting feel upon Nick as he is the lead character, so as nick was in the film, i filmed the shots, here it was upto me to make sure the film ran smoothly and that the video looks like what my group has written up.

All the filming was left up to me and fraser, we were the two camera men and worked together to capture all footage that we needed.

Fraser did a lot of the editing although the rest of the group helped when it came to more difficult parts of the editing.

Tuesday, 3 February 2009


here is the title of our project. this took a lot of time to create using photoshop, i encounted a lot of problems on the way including finding a suitable inhaler that could resemble the letter L. it was hard to find a right size to get the writing as it had to be adapted by the picture. i now will work on the background so i can find a suitable background that makes sense.

Tuesday, 27 January 2009

treatment for our project

Our film is titled "The hall monitor" and is based on an ordinary boy, who is entitled the hall monitor at a basic school.



The first scene we see is an arial shot of our main character in bed, here we can see that the character is laying in bed, but on the bed is a corny star wars quilt. This is to show what the main character is like, for example in this case he is nerdy. Also with this camera shot you can see the bedroom that belongs to the main character and here we can see that he has loads of figurines computer parts everywhere and geeky star wars wallpaper.



The next scene focuses on the main character whilst he is stood up, here we get the camera panning around the head of the character, this is whilst we have voiceover in the background this is done so it builds the character up to be amazing and powerful, when realistically he is nerdy and geeky and nobody really likes him, whilst the voice over is happening.




We cut from the panning shot from around his head, to going to little short videos. this is used because when the voice over describes something about the nerd, we will have a little video to show that what they say about him isnt exactly right and shows what actaully happens and shows the true personality of the character. This is to show the comedy factor of our production.


When the videos of him have finished, the opening titles of the film come in, but when they do there is a non diegetic sound of the stars wars theme, and the titles are copying the movement of star wars to show the likeness of the main character and what he likes. There will also be non diegetic sound of ? over the titles.




The next scene is in a classroom surroundings, this is where we get to see a long shot of a bully sat at the front of the room and here you can see a lot of tables within the room and at the end of the room, we get to see the hall monitor sat at the end of the room to show that he is bit of a social outcast as no one will sit next to him.



When everything is looking to be ok, the hall monitor starts breathing deeply and and camera zooms into the face of the main character and you can see the fear in the face of the hall monitor, teacher starts panicing, and runs out the room and comes back with gas and air to try and help out the hall monitor.



The next scene we get to see that after the hall monitor calms down, he is then allowed to go out early so that he can put on his sash and with a mid shot can see that he is ready to patrol the halls with his sash, his broken offences book and his very useful speed gun to make sure nobody runs through the halls.



The next scene would be an over the shoulder shot you can see the everyone in the classroom is doing the work, but the hall monitor is sat on the computer playing space invaiders, this shows that where most of the class are doing his work and taking school quite seriuosly where as the hal.l monitor thinks he is to good for school and so he plays the games.



The scene following would be where the hall monitor meets a girl in the hallway, but the girl he meets is a jock's girlfriend but he doesnt know this, he makes up a story about how she is running to fast through the halls when really she is going at normal speed he does this just so he can talk to the girl. here it is obivouos that he likes the girl.



The next scene there loads of cut scenes firstly showing the girls telling her friend that she fancies the hall monitor, and from that the girl tells these lads and then the lads tell her boyfriend what has happened. This shows the audience of what order things happen and this shows them what happens because of the conversation that started this. This also has engima codes on what is going to happen ? this builds up the story line and gives the idea that they are going to meet.

The next scene is full of cut scenes showing the this particular girl talking to the hall monitor and loads of occassions everytime that the girl talks to the hall monitor, the hall monitor slowly becomes more cooler and more people start to respect him and to take him seriuosly and listen to what he has to say.

The next scene cuts to the hall monitors class participating in p.e, here is a long shot of the hall monitor throwing the ball, but as he does you get the idea that really he is weak and cant do it. as the game goes on people start to see that maybe he isnt as cool as people made him out to be, but then there is close up shot of hall monitor and he hears a voice say to him "use the force" and with that he throws the ball with everyone else watching him, and as he seems to do it something happens and the ball swerves and hits the jock in the head and he starts laughing and the crowd cheers.

The next scene shows jock starting a fight with the hall monitor and the hall monitor looks at the girl he likes before he does anything and then they start fighting, after a few minutes of fighting the hall monitor beats the jock and the jock falls over in pain and rolling in mud. the hall monitor is then greeted by his new girlfriend and they start to celebrate and walk slowly to the sunset but as they do the jock leans up and picks up the sash and shakes him hand at him.

Wednesday, 21 January 2009

Comparison between Rush hour, Stormbreaker and Women in Black

The beginning of Women in black starts with titles, the titles of the film are very simplistic with a plain black background with simple block font, also the letters appear with parts of the letters missing out of them, also whilst this is happening there is a mild cloud moving across the writing. this shows the audience they are watching a thriller. However with Rush hour the titles are very fast, they come as soon as the screen brightens, the writing is also very big bold writing this is to emphaise the film and writing also the writing is action packed. this shows you the audience that this is a action and comedy film. although the title sequence in Stormbreaker is a very traditional sequence. The title sequence sequence is then followed by diegetic sound bridge and then slowly fades into action.

Tuesday, 20 January 2009

research team comedy genre openings

Below is my results of our research by watching Rush hour.

we have found out in our revision of comedy that there are normally so many different types of comedy including sex and sexuality, work and relationships and also family mishaps, these are used because most people can relate to some points of each situaion.

By watching rush hour, we saw how the characters where represented for example Carter is represented as a sterotypical black person. We have decided to include typical sterotypes within our final project, for example our main character will be shown as a nerd, we will use this as it is a starting point of making our comedy. we will be using sterotypes so our audience can see easily what type of people are in our project, we have decided to have our main character as a nerd because a lot of film stars a geek as the main character for example napeolan dynamite and all amercian pies. it is easier to base a film that way and we found it is easier to make funny and to have fun with.

The Titles within Rush hour where very fast and action paced, the writing is very big and bold writing so that it stands out. We will be able to incorporate this type of titles because for our film we can show that the film will be funny and action packed by the way the titles will be shown.

At the Beginning of Rush hour, each main character is shown once at a time, showing a breif description of each character and showing the audience a bit of what they are like. This giving the audience enigma codes of what might happen? and what the story has to do with each character?

Thursday, 15 January 2009

Comedy Breakdown

In my group we have found out a lot of information about comedy and because of this we was able to find out what we can use within our own project. We have found out there are a few different Narratives within comedy, these include Mishaps where something always goes wrong, work or relationship issues, family related issues or sex or sexuality. These are the main narratives found within comedy and appear quite often.
We also found out that the main settings for a comedy are schools where people can hang around together, parties usually associated with teenagers but on the odd occassion includes adults, work is more associated with the adult characters usually to show their class and how their lifes are like and on the odd occassion settings could include holiday scene.
The Stock Characters include the jock is usually the althletic one and thinks he is therefore better than the rest, the slag is the one that normally believes has had sex with more than two of the people she hangs around with, the nerds who usually are the goodie to shoes that do everything by the book.
A Key audience for comedies are usaully teenagers as they can get more of the jokes and find it more funnier, teenagers are more likley to get a few friends together and go to the cinema to watch the latest comedies, where as adults are less likely to do this. however this is not saying that adults do not watch comedies as they do and some comedies are made bit more for adults for example love actually.
Some main films that we associated with comedy are The anchorman, Blades of glory, Amercian pie, Night in the museum, Happy gilmore and Hancock. These films are classed as comedy yet these comedies teenagers are most likely to enjoy more yet adults still watch them.
With all this revision my group has come up with many different ideas that could help our project. this allows us to find out what conventions and other functions we will be able to use in our project, including using sterotypes, we will use this in our project for our main character we will use this so we can make our character look like a nerd and so we get the image that we wanted.

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

example blog

TESTING ........... OR AM I?