Evaluation Q4 - Continued

Construction;

- Photoshop

This is a  useful tool for creating processed images and designs and it is what I used to make my DPS

- Final Cut Express

This is the editing Program that I used to edit my final piece. It differs from I movie by being both more intuitive and professional, for example on this you can make your own grade with different effects and colours where on I movie you only have a set choice of a few things. This package is the younger brother of final cut pro which is used at an industry level by the BBC and Channel 4. 

- Quicktime Screen Recorder

This program allows you to record and voice over what you are doing on the computer and is very useful in tutorials and for your own evaluation

Here are some of the many media products that have been developed in the last few years that have revolutionised the media industry. They have not only helped me but also the many thousands of companies that rely on media to survive. No longer do magazines have to be painstakingly drawn and cut, no longer do films have to be edited on spools. The industry has been revolutionised and its the Internet’s fault.

Evaluation Q4

How Did You Use New Media Technologies in the Construction and Research, Planning and Evaluation Stages?

The Research Stages;

Blogger Polls - I used them to get research on different aspects of the film 

Youtube - Even though I used this feature in every stage its worth mentioning how much the web 2.0 has changed how companies gather research. Companies used to have to pay millions to get their products out there and noticed but now, thanks to you tube, there are completely free and legitimate ways to get massive publicity.

 

The Planning;

SLR Camera -

I used an SLR camera to take pictures of the filming and locations when I was location hunting. This camera is more useful than traditional film cameras because you can instantly transfer the information without much effort or time allocation.

- Word and Powerpoint Processors
These programes that we now take for granted would have been the dream of a media producer in the 80s. The shear useability and diversifulness of these programs alow even the most amature of individuals to produce professional looking documents without much input at all.

Evaluation Q3

What Have You Learned From Your Audience Feedback?

I have learned much from my audience feedback. for example;

This was my original poster

But after people mentioned things like the fact that "its very bland and has no vibrance or colours" and "where is the picture of the lead actor, usually thats what draws me in most." From this I went away and reworked the poster so that it included these things and more;

I did the same thing for my DPS. After People said that the first design was to bland and had to much writing I decided to make something very different. The main points that where changed because of audience research and Feedback were:

The Position of the main picture

The layout of the design 

The article Its-self 

and the sum up review at the end

I also did this for the film as well. After Doing Initial research with polls and interviews I found that the best genre to do would be Psychological Thrillers. From this I found that the Genre has a few distinct conventions that should be held. For example the narrative should be very confusing and have a lot of enigmas. 

From This I developed my Film but the audience research Didn't Stop there. I decided once I had made the assembly edit to ask my peers to audit it and come up with improvements I could make. They came with many things like;

"you should make the colours darker to emphasise the darkness of the dialogue"

"you should clean up the edits a bit"

Here is a video of some audience research   

From this I made my final edit.

Evaluation Question 1

In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Develop or Challenge Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?

Here are the Individual Slides But Watch the Video Anyway 

Evaluation Q2

How effective is the combination of all three of your media products?

Here is a video of some responses to my video about the effectiveness of the products.

These are just two of the responses to my film but other people also said;

"I like the way the colours blend in though all three of the pieces and hold it together, the connotations of the grade really compliments the story and I feel for the dullness of his life."

"I really find the rugged look of the poster and the film a brilliant way of spreading out meaning across all three pieces as you feel that you can see aspects of his life in the poster, which seems to be a page from his diary, and you feel lost in his mind during the film."

From this I have made my response to this question;

Here is A link to the Film;

Final Version

My Reflection on the Final Cut

Final DPS

The Final Cut

The Final Cut On Youtube

Click on the Link Because it Was to Big to Put Onto the Blog

How I Edit

This is a short video clip of how I edit my movies in Final Cut Express

Audience Feedback

For further research into what my audience wanted, I decided to ask my audience directly by screening my first rough edit and then ask them what they thought was good and what they thought I could improve on. I will probably use this to tweak my film and make improvements to the ancillaries.

Comments about the good were:

"I liked the opening shot of the slow zoom into his face and the flashbacks that run throughout"

"I liked the aesthetics of the room and how it really did look like a psychiatrists' office"

"I really liked the theme of that the film has, the message it carries and also the dialouge which is easy to understand but technical enough that it doesnt seem as if it has been dumbed down"

Some comments about the things to improve were that:

"The colours seemed to be over saturated and yellow which didnt suit the dark depreesed tone of the film"

"It needed something to signify the flash backs  as they seemed to crop up randomly"

"There is are a few points that need to be tidied up as the drag on a bit"

Here is a video of 2 of the responses to my film

My DPS

Final Poster

My First Rough Cut

3rd Draft of the Poster

2nd Draft of the Poster

The Changes I have made are these:

• I set the background as crumpled paper for two reasons. One, it makes it seem as though this is a page from his scrapbook or notepad and shows that he is obsessing. Two, its a metaphor for the state of his mind and how screwed up he is.
• I added the polaroids to have an image of the main characters and to make the poster seem more like both his mind (when they represent his memories) and his report (when the psychiatrist is trying to diagnose him).
• I added the quote t make it more obvious what the film is about. Taglines are often used in this way like the famous quote from Alien "In space no one can hear you scream" which instantly tells you that the film involves space, screaming and running away.

First Photoshopped Version of the Poster

I really liked this one. I found the simplicity and boldness more appealing than other busy posters and the head stood ou more than the others. I found it personally said more about what I had made because it was undefined and raw. 

However my teacher thought that although it was good there was not enough information being given of and that was more destructive as it left people confused. Plus there were no main characters on the front. This is a convention that is difficult to twist as a main character make the film seem more real and relatable.

  

Initial Poster Designs

I was inspired for these ideas by a website I stumbled across called wildammo.com. On the website there is a page of alternative poster designs for existing, founded films that, as soon as I saw them, loved. It was the simplicity that I loved the most, the way the posters said so much by using so little and how they almost seemed better than anything the original could achieve.