Evaluation Question 1

Strict order of title sequence & directors cut

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluaion Question 4

https://www.facebook.com/tyler.andrews.14855377

This is the kind of person that would watch Chasing Shadows.
A typical teenage male, who's into Rap and R&B music, sports and enjoys watching movies. 

The wider audience for teenage movies in general would be teenagers aged 13 - 19, both males and females - varying depending on the genre of the film. For example, girls in general are more likely to enjoy watching romance films
And boys in general are more likely to enjoy watching action movies. 

The target audience for Chasing Shadows would watch the film for purposes of diversion, escapism and possibly social interaction. 

The USP of our film is that it is a unique blend of thriller and comedy which has been filmed, directed and produced on a shoestring budget. This would appeal to our target audience which are teenage males aged 14 - 18 because humour is an appealing factor in a film as well as thriller. 

Evaluation Question 5

Interview with Montel

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 7

I used camtasia to show the progression of my of my skills from the preliminary task to the full media product. 

Research and Planning
For my prelim, we didn't construct a storyboard. Perhaps this is why the prelim looked less organised than my actual media product, Chasing Shadows - because a story board was created for Chasing Shadows.

Tasnia Khanom's Slidely by Slidely Slideshow



We completed a prezi to pitch our media product, Chasing shadows. 

I didn't have many skills when i made the preliminary film, but only knew the basics such as how to record footage, and edit using final cut pro on simple terms.

As i progressed in media studies, i developed further skills such as developing my knowledge on final cut pro - i was able to edit using more complicated features such as transitions and special affects. 

I also was introduced to creative commons - a website which allows you to download music legally. This made it possible for me to add on music to my media product.

Camera skills

During the preliminary task, I only knew about several shot types and how to record footage from certain angles. However, as I progressed, I learnt how to focus the camera so it isn't blurry and record from different angles and shoot different shots to make my film more visually stimulating.
My knowledge about shot types and camera angles had grown, therefore it enabled me to explore different types of shots while recording my footage. 

Mise en scene 

We didn't have many options in terms of mise en scene for the preliminary task. But in Chasing Shadows, we used various locations to establish were our film is shot. 

 We also had more props such as the mask and a plastic knife for the 'killer' in our film. We also had better costumes for the actors to fit the character profile as opposed to our preliminary task - because for that, we didn't have costumes, nor any props.











Lighting

We changed the lighting throughout our film, Chasing  Shadows. We did this by switching off the lights and blocking out natural light by closing the blacked out curtains in the classroom to add to the 'thrilling' aspect of our film. We wanted to show the passing of time. We used the spotlights in the classroom to highlight our main character Marcus. In our preliminary task, we could not alter lighting, we filmed our footage in natural light only. 

Editing
Obviously, my editing skills had improved since the preliminary task as I had progressed in using Final Cut Pro. I had more footage to work with and my match-cuts flowed simultaneously compared to the flow of the footage in the prelim - which looked amateurish. 
One aspect that stayed the same during both my prelim and final media product was that we followed the 180 degree rule in both tasks. 


Sound
There was absolutely no sound in my prelim, but there was a whole range of sounds in Chasing Shadows. We used different types of music and sound affects to make the film more interesting.

Here is a video of the music we used in Chasing Shadows.

Titles

In Chasing Shadows, we followed the conventions of a title sequence, but the prelim had so titles. 

So, throughout this process I have acquired knowledge about a lot of things and grasped concepts I never thought i'd come across. Concepts such as using digital software such as motion, camtasia and final cut pro.
It has been great working in a team, although there were a few difficult times making decisions and agreeing on certain factors about our films - like which angle to film from and which shot type would look best. I never thought i'd have to be this independent in terms of taking control of my own learning, but this is a good thing - now I know that you have to be independent as well as be able to work in a team in order to achieve the best in life.

Production Schedule (late post )

ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Due to the lack of time we had we failed to make a CRUCIAL change to our film. Firstly, when doing titles we never learned to do titles on the application motion, so we did our titles on final cut pro. We chose the colour white as we wanted to keep it simple however, the white clashed with the colour of the atmosphere so we changed it to BLACK. Unfortunately, this clashed with the classroom scenes and so we changed it to red as we thought the red would add to the horror of the film the red looked bloody. Sadly, when receiving feedback from peers minutes before the deadline they argued that's the red didn't work as it was just too bright and noticeable. We noticed that other groups did there credits on motion and the colour of there titles didn't clash with any of there scenes and this was because it was professional. I tried re do our titles on motion but time ran out so we had to settle for the bright red unfortunately.

Skills I Have Learnt & My Experience

New Skills

So, throughout this project I've acquired a bunch of great skills that I'd like to tell you all about.
Here it goes: 

•  The Blogger - Before media studies, I had absolutely no idea about blogging. I literally didn't know how to use a blog. Of course I had heard of blogs, such as Tumblr, but I was never really involved with those kind of things. I found it fairly easy to start blogging because I love expressing myself through written words, and to be honest, it's not really that difficult for me to just start typing away. Whatever comes into my head gets typed down. Like a stream of consciousness I guess. (Obviously mistakes have to be corrected).

• Using Equipment - Well, what can I say about this? There are so many pieces of equipment I used throughout this project. Firstly, I got to use a JVC camera, with a tripod! I leant how to set the camera up properly, to ensure that it was secured so it wouldn't get damaged. I learnt about the different settings on the camera. For example, how to focus it, zoom, change the setting to adjust lighting etc. I also learnt how to pan and tilt. I used a digital camera, and took loads of pictures. I love taking pictures - so that was great. I also got to use a flipcam, which was fun because it's a quick way to film a shot needed. As well as that kind of equipment, I became familiar with Mac computers again. I hadn't come across it since year 9. It was good fun using all the new equipment. I became familiar with everything around me in no time.

• Filming - Firstly, filming is so not easy! I thought all you do is position the camera correctly, press record and you're off. But NO. It's so much more than that. Skills are needed people. Plus, you need to be smart about the positions and angles you're filming in. I learnt about the 180 degree rule and the thirds rule - which I had no idea about before. Despite being aware of these rules, ridiculous mistakes were still made during filming. But, we corrected them. 

• Software - There are so many different types of software I have learnt to use because of this project. Firstly, Final Cut Pro. (This was used to edit our swede, prelim, The Breakfast Club remake, rough cut of Chasing Shadows, and finally, the complete production of Chasing Shadows. Motion was used to create our movie idents. Prezi was used to create the presentation for our pitch and it is far better than Powerpoint, so I'll definitely be using that again. Make a Gif, to make unique and original gifs for the blogger. Creative Commons and SoundCloud to find legal music and sounds. Youtube, (for trailers and videos). Camtasia, for great pictures and so much more!
  

• Editing - Editing using Final Cut Pro has been fantastic. Although I didn't really get to explore it as much as I wanted to, I realised that when using Final Cut Pro - the possibilities are endless. I leant how to edit and put a film together, using effects such as fade in, transitions, split screens, importing and exporting files, putting sound and music onto a clip etc. 

My Experience 

Overall, it has been a great experience. I believe that it was different than anything else I've been a part of before. I was put into a group where people had many different talents. It was impressive to see my group work in different aspects of the project. One thing that was pretty difficult to get around was that, everyone was a leader in my group, and everyone wanted to take charge one way or another. So yes, we had to compromise and we worked well as a team, despite wanting to take on the role of the 'leader'. It wasn't perfect - nothing ever is - but it was fun. 

I guess now, it is time to say Goodbye... 

Music and sound editing

The sound effects we used were

• slow heart beats 
• fast heart beats 
• Rap music that Marcus raps to
• music that was quite creepy an unpleasant 

the music we got was from sound cloud we got a 

dub step beat that was fasts and catchy. 

we got a few sound effects from YouTube like the heart beat. 

we took some music from sound cloud

The Idents

The idents were an important Factor in making the film. we chose to do it 2 times and change the idents many times. This is because the first pair did not fit the Film and the second ones were more simple which was what we were aiming for. The first production ident was to hard to read. The writing was red and thin and it finished to quickly, therefore we changed it to more thick writing and simple text so it's easy to read. I also changed the Beezer Production ident as it was childish and unprofessional and it looks better if it is on a simple background with simple text.

(Unfortunately there are technical difficulties uploading the idents) 

Character Profiles.

Bernard Mensah

Marcus Mensah             

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Marcus Mensah is the main character in our film 'Chasing Shadows'. He is a 16 year old student. He is arrogant, rude and conceited. Marcus has behavioural problems - he is always behind in school work and homework.

We tried to portray Marcus Mensah's character through his style of clothing. He wears his uniform incorrectly, and wears items that are not part of school uniform - such as his cap.
We also tried to show Marcus's character through his dialect. He speaks in an informal, colloquial manner. We hoped that this would represent a stereotypical rebel character.     

Stereotypical Rebel character from
Donnie Darko.


 

Mohammed Madey

The Stranger

Gender: Unknown

Age: Unknown 

The stranger is the 'threat' in our film 'Chasing shadows'. He is the instigator of the events that occur throughout the film. The stranger has no identity. He wears a mask and black clothing.
We hoped that the black clothing would depict a sense of dominance and the mask would create mystery around this character. The stranger does not speak. This is because we wanted to create ambiguousness and an obscure atmosphere in the film. 

Masked killer in Scream 2.

  

Emanuel 

Gender: Male

Age: 16

Emanuel takes on the role of Marcus Mensah's friend. He is also portrayed as a rebellious student.

                   

Framing tutorial

In the framing tutorial, we learnt 14 major steps that have to be followed in order to ensure that our film openings are to the best quality they can be.The 14 steps are:

14. Keep the camera steady
13. Vary your shots
12. Have actors walk in and out of the frame 
11. Use the tracking shots to create movement
10. Shoot plenty of  'Cutways' 
09. Mirror the actors POV
08. Pan slowly in one direction only 
07. Don't zoom (Zooming causes an amateurish look)

The Thirds Rule 

06. Focus on your subject
05. Continuity is vital - Take photos 
04. Match cuts make all the difference
03. Remember 'The Thirds Rule' (The thirds rule is a grid you use to make sure your filming is in the centre.Most of the time you imagine the grid is there while recording to ensure the clip is accurate.)
02. Close ups are essential
Finally number 1. NO HEAD SPACE - EVER.   

Close Up Shot. 

CHASING SHADOWS - OFFICIAL COVER

This is the cover for our film, Chasing Shadows.

This is the back cover for our film Chasing Shadows. 

Making Of Chasing Shadows Cover.

This Picture was taken on Friday 14th 2014.
This was the first day we filmed. 

I edited the picture to give it a rough 'edgy' look. 

However, I decided that the first edit wasn't good enough, so I added colour on the original to make it look more appealing. 

I decided that I liked this look, so I added that Title
'Chasing Shadows' and the names of the two main
Characters. 

I added the word 'deception' under the title, to give a clue
about what the film may involve. 

Lastly, I added a lens flare to add to the 'look'
of the cover.
I also realised that I had made a mistake by writing
the characters name instead of the actors name, so I changed
'Marcus Mensah' to 'Bernard Mensah'.   
 

Chasing Shadows Cover- 1

I (Mohammed Madey) made this basic 'Chasing Shadows' title font via font generator on google.

This was the cover photo I chose to use because it showed Marcus and the mystery man.






Me and Tasnia both made our own covers, which was unplanned, however it gave us a better variety to choose from.
We agreed to use her cover instead of mine because hers is more edited and professional therefore having better quality. 

 The film is 18 rated as it has explicit content not suitable for younger viewers, they may find it frightening and uncomfortable.

Conventions Of A Teen Drama Title Sequence

The Lift Situation...

The was a issue regarding the lift scene that we have in our opening.

We used two different lifts when filming our lift scene thinking that it would look ordinary,  however our media teacher Marissa spotted it when we showed her the scene.

The reason why we chose to use two different lifts is because we were filming during a lunch break and the ground floor was being occupied by a host of students walking in and out of the library, and into the canteen. We decided to film the whole lift scene in one floor, so we used the lift on the right for the character Marcus to enter and the lift on the left for Marcus to come out of. The main things that exposed our lift scene difference were the size difference of both lifts, the latter lift was much bigger and had a different front look, it also had a huge dent which differed to the other lift, making the scene very unprofessional and confusing.

When the mistake was spotted by Marissa we had doubts on whether we could film the whole lift scene again to correct our mistakes because it was so close to the deadline and we were a bit unsure if we would have enough time to film and edit it again on time. We came to a conclusion to film the scene again during a time where lessons would be taking place and the ground floor would be more isolated, it was a very good decision as now, the scene looks much more continuous and more enhanced.

DEADLINE DAY

Today is the deadline day for our film opening and you could say we are under stress.

Oh look, were actually under 'stress'.
But No - Our faces don't look like that right now. More like...

Bernard Mensah 

Saheba Yasmin 

Tasnia Khanom 

Mohammed Madey 

• We have yet to put music into the film, however we have a planned a schedule and the opening should be finished before 3.
• The editing for the film is complete and all the clips that we need are in the film and they are edited so the story is complete. The only thing that needs to be done is the music
• The sound effects need to be placed into the opening in a effective order 
• There is music as well that needs to be put into the opening 

(put in pictures of editing process of music editing)