Evaluation No. 6

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

For this filming process, I used a Fujifilm S5Pro in which I took over 400 still frames to create my film. I used a Mac and Final Cut Pro to edits my clips together and add in effects. The top left hand box is to show everything you have imported into the programme. The screen with the image in is where I can see the edits to my film after I have rendered each section. The time line at the bottom is just the same as the iMovie timeline, where you edit your images together creating the full film. I learnt alot from this programme as I taught myself how to use this and learnt what each feature on the programme was. I feel that I have done a very good job learning how to work the programme and without this I do not think I would have been able to create my film in the same way.

To create each stop motion clip, I used istopmotion usually setting the frame rate to 6fps. To create an animation on this program

me you have to import each photograph straight from the digital camera, choose your frame rate and then the images are imported and put together for you. I found this programme a struggle as it always froze and crashed and then I had to restart the programme and re-import my images. I also found it quiet difficult to know how fast the frame rate would actually make the film so there was alot of trial and error in each of the stop motion animations I made.

To create the opening title of 'Un Autre Jour' I used Photoshop CS4. I have alot of knowledge with this programme and use it frequently so I found it easy to create this title. I then imported the Jpeg image straight into Final Cut Pro where it was edited together with the rest of the film.

In order to keep my shots steady I used a tripod for each photograph I took. I found this is a struggle in many photographs I had to take, particularly the part where the curtains open by themselves as to get this shot central I had to put the tripod and camera on my bed and hope that it stayed in the same place throughout each photograph.

Evaluation No. 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

This video and voice over answers the question explaining how the music, genre and titles are all suited for my target audience.

Evaluation No. 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?



I would say that the main target audience was children between the ages of 7-14. I also believe that this is a film suitable for the whole family however. I would say that the audience of my film would be intersted in the newer non-animated Walt Disney films for example Hannah Montana and High School Musical which is aimed at young teens. I think that my choice of music (Lesley Hunt - American Dream Man) also fits in well with these films and my audience as it is very catchy, upbeat and pop sounding. I feel that I have done a good job of creating a film for my original target audience and think that they would enjoy it and not get bored. The photograph above is Lily. I took this photograph of her smiling as it shows that she is a happy girl and I feel that this is exactly the age range of person that I am aiming my film at.

Evaluation No. 3

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Blue Version

View more presentations from oriananash.

Evaluation No. 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Lex is the only character that I have in my film. I would say that the only film I would be able to make a comparison with in terms of age, personality and ability would be Sabrina the Teenage Witch. We do not know how the character of my film would talk or act but we get the idea just from seeing her.

Although her powers are more similar to that of Matilda, she is much younger so the comparison is not as similar. In this photograph still shot of the film Matilda, we can see this is the part of the film where Matilda calls the book over with her powers. There is no sparkle in the way that Sabrina the Teenage Witch has them and I feel that it is very similar to my film. 

As a complete contrast to this, the main character from 'The Ring' at the begininning is also similar in appearence however without them even talking, we can see from the lighting, the music and the general mood from the film completely changes the way a character will act and come across to the audience.

Evaluation

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

Title font and style

My first screenshot shows the titles of my film. I have not yet seen this font as far as I am aware on any other type of film therefore I cannot compare the type of film that uses fonts like this. It shows what kind of film it'll be however with the cartoony style and the mismatched shape. I used a font face called ' ' which I think suits my film well and is unusual.

Titles
I chose to call my film 'Un Autre Jour' meaning 'Another Day' in French. I called it this as it is quiet a simple name but having it in another language demonstrates the originality of my film.

Setting and Location

I decided to film the opening sequence in my house. This is very similar to Matilda in the scene when she is in her house and has the magical powers to open the curtains, move food around and turn music on. I used the idea of the curtains opening by themselves and there was music playing however I did not show how the curtains opened or when the music came on as I did not want to take the idea from Matilda too much. I developed the idea by having the whole film as a stop motion animation and not as a real film which I feel makes my film more memorable and different to other films that use special effects.

Special effects, camerawork and editing

As my whole film was a stop motion, really I would say that the whole thing was special effects. The editing took quiet a while however i feel that the transitions and movement where as smooth as they could be before making the film look real. I got the critism when my film was shown to the class that I could have created a smoother zoom. I think that this would have been quiet hard as it just consited of photographs. Although I have 'magical powers' in my film, in comparison to Sabrina the Teenage Witch, I decided I did not want to add in the sparkle around the edge of thing that is moving and I also did not want to have the obvious 'point the finger and things move.' I feel that I did quiet a good job in representing how the items around the house were moving without being maybe tacky.

Story and how the opening sets it up
The story is not really simialr to any film I have seen before filmed in this way. If I had filmed it normally, I do not think it would have been that intersting a film however the lighting etc would have made it still look like quiet a happy young teenager/childs film. I would compare the opening credits to somewhat simialr to the opening of Napoleon Dynamite where the credits are presented on a plate full of food. I have challeneged and developed this idea, by making my film look as though it is also quiet 'do it yourself' and have the gloves moving around the fonts with quiet a school childish writing. I would compare the opening of my film to something simialr to that of the scene in Billy Elliott where he is singing and there are lots of odd camera angles showing close up and different angles on things in the room. The character of my film is not so much introduced. We begin the film by seeing her back and her walking away from the camera. We actually meet the character facially in the bathroom when she walks towards the camera.

Genre

I would say that I used and developed the ideas from Matilda for my genre where it is aimed and younger people however it is suitable for the whole family and would never get boring. I would say the opening of my film suggests that this film will be like Matilda from the fact that it is filmed in a house (also with Napoleon Dynamite) and maybe even the way the characters look.


Costumes and props
The costumes and props in my film were very similar. The clothes were moving around the floor and being put on making them both props and costumes. The character in my film began wearing a shirt and jeans. I was going to have the character wearing pyjamas in the opening stages on my preparation however I thought with this being a childrens film, it would not be suitable to show her getting changed fully so I made the character put a jumper on before she went out. The boots, the bag and the door are also props in my film as they are things that have been moving around and been placed in certain positions for the purpose of the film.

First viewing of my film

My film has now been shown to the class, after I have finally completed it, editing little bits and pieces. I feel that it went very well when screened as the only critisim I got was that I could make the zoom smoother. I understand this however I think that it would have been very difficult as I was zoomed out with my camera on the tripod and I had to keep locking the zoom and moving the bag then continuing with the camera. This was quiet hard and I think that I managed to zoom as smoothly as possible.

Documentation of filming process

This is just a quick video to document how I created my stop motion animation. I sped it up as it is just to document the process. I set up a video recorder on a tripod while I was taking the images on my still camera and recorded while I was working on my opening credits. This section of filming took 11 minutes however I sped the film speed up to 800%. I enjoyed creating this section and thinks that it looks good when all put together in the film.

Actual final filming session!

After putting together the rough cut of my film, I realised there was more I needed to add to it. On Saturday 13th March I completed my final filming session. In this session I filmed Lex opening the door and calling over her shoes. This makes the film viewers more aware that everything is moving because of the character in the film. I feel that this session went well and although these sections were not on my story board I think that they fit in well with the film. I managed to get the same lighting in the rooms even though there was completely different weather outside. This is good as if it was any different it would mess up continuity. The only problem I have now that my film is put together is that on the section where the character calls over the shoes, the photographs cut at the top and bottom as if they are letterboxed. I do not feel that this effects my film, I am just unsure why it has done it. I have enjoyed creating my film over the few filming session days I have had and feel that it was sensible to do it this way as it has been easier to put all of the film together and edit it without getting overwhelmed by clips.

Edits to my storyboard

Whilst shooting my film, I realized that there were parts of my storyboard that I needed to change. I changed the part on the day of filming where the character was supposed to clean their teeth. I changed this to spraying perfume instead as I feel that it went better with the film and was easier to shoot whilst showing what was going on. I skipped out the section of the film that was on my storyboard where the jeans move across the floor and get put on as the character was already wearing jeans at the beginning of the film. I am still however considering putting this shot at the very beginning of the sequence in order to add more length and make more sense of the film. In the last three frames on my storyboard, this was also changed on the day of filming as the character now walks towards the back door rather than the front and then the film cuts before the character gets outside. I feel that these have been successful changes to my storyboard and bring the film together well.

Editing of my film

To edit my film, I used the programme Final Cut Pro on the mac. Here is a screenshot showing the time line of my film and my editing process. I enjoy using this programme as I find it quiet simple and like the final products it allows you to create. During the editing process, when putting together the titles, I had to add a white screen behind it as they were in different positions. I added in cross dissolve and fade out to colour transitions in order to make the cuts in my film run together smoothly. At first I had difficulty with a glitch in the soundtrack where it skipped a few beats and got louder at the same point. I have played around as much as I can with the sound and have removed this error the best I can. I now think that it sounds smoother and alothough a small jump can be heard I am unsure why this is as the music is one clip, not one that has been edited together

First film cut

This is the first cut of my opening sequence. As it is not quiet long enough, I will be filming some more sections to add into my film showing the story meaning more and adding in some cutaways. I am pleased with the way my film has come out and even though I havent got any dialogue in my film, I feel that it works well. With alot of time and effort, I edited my film together on Final Cut Pro using transitions and cutting clips to fit together. I will update the film when I have filmed more sections and add them into the film. As the film ends very suddenly, I am going to also add a fade to black transition at the end so as the opening sequence has some kind of ending to it.

Final filming session

With all my filming hopefully now complete, I can begin to put my film together. By creating a stop motion animation, my timing has been the hardest problem. I have been unaware of how long the footage of my film will be when put together. For example in this final filming session, I filmed 40 minutes to create 30 seconds in my film. I feel that this session went smoothly. I edited the exposure on my camera as the house looked quiet dark as it was raining. It now looks as though it was a sunny day and goes well with the mood of my film.

This final session took 207 frames to complete. I feel that this has been a success as there were no problems when I was filming however I have had to change a few parts of my story board to increase the length of the film. Where originally the character was supposed to clean her teeth, she now sprays on perfume and I also added in a part when Lex leaves the house, I film the door shutting behind her. I did not film Lex leaving the house and going out the door however as it was raining and did not want that to ruin the colour continuity in my film so it ends with the character walking towards the door but not leaving.

I also do not feel that it was a struggle working alone. In fact I think it may have been easier in this section. This is because I filmed it at my house and did it in my own time. The only problem I had was running around moving the items that were supposed to be moving by themselves in the film. With an extra pair of hands this would have been much easier. I am currently unable to add videos to my blog but shortly when possible I will add sections of my video and my final cut put together.