Georgi Honnor A2 Media 3260: 2014

Friday, 9 May 2014

Evaluation question 4: summary

I created this presentation to write in detail exactly what new media technologies I used during my research and planning as well as my trailer and ancillary texts construction and their evaluation.

Evaluation question 4- part 1

This video created by my production partner Charli Honnor discusses exactly what media technologies we used throughout the research and planning as well as construction and evaluation strategies.

Monday, 28 April 2014

Approaching evaluation question 4

Evaluation question four asks how I used new media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation strategies. Before I answered the question I looked at the key words within it, this will help me structure my response.

Evaluation question 3: What have I learned from my audience feedback?

After looking through my audience feedback I looked at frequent comments and what I have learned from them. I looked at comments that appeared frequently as they were more likely to be factual than based on personal opinion. I then looked at what those comments have taught me about my trailer and how I could improve if I were to make another trailer in the future. I created this video presentation using the Powtoon software that discusses exactly what I have learnt from individual comments.

Evaluation question 3

Evaluation question 3 is as follows:
What have you learned from your audience feedback?

Before I can determine what I have learnt I will have to look at the feedback itself to then decide what it has actually told me about my production and what I could do to improve it. The presentation below shows some of the feedback I got over the social networking site Facebook as well as by talking directly to my audience after showing them my trailer.

Friday, 25 April 2014

Evaluation question 2

I created this video to discuss my four points of focus. These points aim to determine how effective the combination of the ancillary texts with the trailer are in achieving their purpose.

Approaching evaluation question 2

I broke down the question into the key words to determine exactly what was meant by it. I then looked at how I could answer the question, producing four key focus points covering conventions, features that advertise and how well linked the pieces are.

Evaluation question 1: Conclusion

Evaluation question 1: Cinematography

I did an in-depth cinematography analysis to determine whether my media product uses, develops or challenges forms and conventions of real media products. The images below discuss how I have used, developed or challenged the forms and conventions of real media products.

Firstly I have used a range of shot types which is something I determined as essential in creating a visually appealing piece. It could be argued that the shots used are conforming and developing conventions as they are used to portray the same ideas as similar shot types of other trailers. For example, high angle shots are used to establish vulnerability of a character whilst slow tracking shots are used to create suspense.

Evaluation question 1: Editing

I looked at some of the most significant editing techniques used throughout my trailer to understand whether my trailer conformed to or challenged the conventions of real media products.

I concluded that many of the editing techniques that I have used comply to the conventions of real media products. I chose to use many of these techniques as I identified them as common features in real trailers and chose to employ their use in my own media product.

During my extensive research process I identified that crossing over the audio from one shot to another creates a sound bridge helping the piece to flow better. I then used this technique as evidenced in the explanation in the image above.

I use a fade to black to help the transition to a new location. A fade to black is commonly used to show the passing of time and this is what I am trying to portray; again making my media product comply to the conventions of real media products.

I cross faded the titles over certain shots to link their meaning to the scene. This was a technique that I observed in my research process in trailers such as Belle and Little Birds. This, again, makes my trailer coventional.

Sunday, 20 April 2014

Evaluation question 1: Mise En Scene

As discussed earlier I will be looking at a range of the microsaspects of my trailer to determine whether it challenges or conforms to the conventions of real media products. One of the things I am looking at is mise en scene which is a term used to describe what is in the scene and covers everything from lighting to the positioning of the characters. I have looked at whether the mise en scene corresponds with the fantasy genre as well as other trailers. This will help me answer question one. The presentation below examines aspects of the mise en scene and offers explanations into how the features discussed are either conventional or not.

Evaluation question 1 :Locations

Evaluation question one discusses conventions and whether my final media product conforms to or challenges them. Now that I have determined that my film poster and magazine cover both conform to conventions I am now trying to discover whether my actual trailer does, or not. In order for me to be able to find this out I will have to look at a range of features and microaspects of my trailer and compare them to the findings of my research. The first thing I am looking at is that of locations and whether they are conventional. Obviously there are no locations typical of a trailer itself but there are of the fantasy and drama genres. This is what I will look at to determine whether my locations are conventional. The picture below shows a few of the locations in my trailer.

1) The road and home
This location could immediately be recognised as conforming to conventions. During my research process I discovered that in the beginning of most trailer the beginning state of equilibrium is introduced. This can be seen where the protagonist Alice is walking home from school.

2) Woodland
A lot of the trailer has that of a woodland location and this again is typical of the fantasy genre. This could be due to the mysterious and somewhat spooky nature of the location.

3) The tunnel
The lighting in this shot is exceptionally magical looking and the fact that they are in a passage/on a journey makes it stereotypical of the fantasy genre.

4)Railway bridge
The stone bridge is somewhat picturesque and this is key in fantasy films where what you see is often old, beautiful or magical to look at.

5)Shed
Although filmed in a shed this location is meant to be a wooden hut in the woods. This looks like the scene out of a horror film but it could be said that fantasy and horror films can cross over quite a lot. It could be argued, however, that this location is more 'horror' and therefore my trailer could challenge conventions in terms of location- supported by the horror quality to the woodland location also. The hut in the woods could link to stories like Snow White , however and hence argued as conventionally fantasy.

Evaluation question 1: Poster

I created this Prezi presentation to evaluate my film poster and whether it challenged or conformed the conventions of real media products. I looked at several features of the poster and concluded my findings and looked at how I got this result.

Evaluation question 1: Magazine cover

As mentioned earlier I will be evaluating all of my final coursework pieces against evaluation question 1. This presentation goes through my steps to determine whether my magazine cover conforms to or challenges the conventions of real media products.

Approaching evaluation question 1

Evaluation question 1 is as follows: In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? I have 3 final products being my theatrical trailer, my poster and magazine cover. I will now need to evaluate all of these according to this question. I created this mindmap using the bubbl.us software to help me structure my response.

My theatrical trailer

This is my final product; a full theatrical trailer for a film I created 'Alice'. I have had to convert it into a video file that is of poor quality to enable upload, this, however, an issue I hope to resolve. The trailer can be viewed below.

Thursday, 20 March 2014

Approaching my evaluation

I created this wordcloud to detail the possible ways in which I could present my evaluation. As I will be getting marked on the creativity of my posts I will need to think carefully about ther ways in which I create my evaluation. I will use a range of presentation techniques to ensure that my evaluation is engaging but will also need to make sure that it includes all of the information key to examining the successes and failures of my trailer.

How has my trailer changed?

My trailer changed considerably from the original storyboard I created. These changes are detailed in the presentation that I created below.

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

My magazine cover

This is my final magazine cover, as you can see it is supposed to be from the Sight & Sound publication.

How I made my magazine cover

I created this presentation to discuss how I made my magazine cover from editing the background image to adding the text and logos.

Test covers

Here are a few of the test covers I made for the 'Little White Lies' magazine, they are shown on the presentation below.

Georgi Honnor's Slidely by Slidely Slideshow

Editing the image

After selecting the image below as the one that would appear on my poster I tried two different filters on it using the Photoshop software. These are shown next to each other below.

Image one is bright which works well with the fairy tale/fantasy genre, image two is darker which may not match the genre as well as image one. Some fairy tales, however, if not many of them do have a dark side and the dark filter with the woodland background could represent the genre well.

I have decided to use the brighter one, however as it has a lighter and happier feel to it which I believe works better with the genre and story line.

Making my magazine cover

Possible magazine covers by Slidely Slideshow

My film poster

How I made my film poster

The presentation below details every step of my film poster creation process, about each layer and how it was made- including why I chose to include the features used.

My film poster: Possible images

I decided that I would use a still from one of the shots from my trailer for my film poster. I selected a few shots that could make a good film poster and will have to make a decision as to which one is the best. The shots up for selection are all shown below. Some film's have a variety of film posters/ a selection of them such as the Les Miserables film where they had a different poster for each character. I would like to do this, however, coursework requirements state that I have to submit one poster for marking. This means I will have to pick. I have therefore decided to examine what I like and perhaps do not like in each of the images below.

Image 1 (Alice Foreground, Fairy Background)
I like that it has the main character as well as a fairy to establish the genre. The main character being in the foreground of the shot shows her importance whilst the fact that she is looking at the fairy again shows that she has some significance also.

Image 2 (Alice kneeling)
It is a good shot from the film and has good lightning for the mood it was trying to set, however, the dark lightning (although successful in achieving its purpose in that particular shot) gives the impression that the film is a horror. I have therefore decided that this image will not be used for my film poster.

Image 3 (Tunnel)
This is quite possibly my favourite shot from the whole trailer, the lighting is different and very interesting and the image itself is very engaging. Whilst this images lighting suggests that there is a journey taking place (a key theme in our narrative) it does not give enough away about the genre. It is not typically 'fantasy'. I have therefore decided that this image will not be used on my film poster.

Image 4 (Alice in Woods)
This image again is good as it is of Alice- the film's protagonist. It does, however, appear quite dark and is not stereotypical of the 'fantasy' genre.

Image 5 (Alice Purple and Gold Ribbons)
Again I like this image due to the fact that it is of Alice- the main character and my research showed me that many film posters use an image of the protagonist. The head jewellery and ribbons indicate the genre of fantasy whilst the wooded background supports this. I do, however think that the image of Alice's face is a little too close up.

Image 6 (Charli in Black Shawl)
I like this image as it is clear and the lighting is good. It is the only image I have where the character is looking straight into camera- this is a type of image that was popular in the other film posters that I analysed (such as Another Earth). What it isn't, however, is of the main character, this make it less ideal for the main image for my film poster.

Making my poster: Concluding research

I have referred back to my research that I conducted way back in June at film posters. Below is a presentation that I made then looking at what I had learnt from my research and what I need to include in my film poster.

poster from GeorgiHonnor

Making my logo

Like last year I have decided that my production company will be called Honnor&Honnor. This is because my surname is Honnor, as is my production partners Charli. Like other trailers that I have seen during my research process they all have logos evidenced somewhere within them to state the production company. My research led me to making the decision to include such a logo in my own trailer. This logo, like many others I created using the Photoshop software. I used black, white and red for a 'modern' look and so that it matched the other titles in my trailer to make sure that it didn't look out of place. It is also very clear meaning it can easily be read by the audience. The sans-serif typography enhances the logo's modern appearance. The picture of my logo can be seen below.

Making titles: Green ratings screen

During my research process I identified that this ratings screen is common in all of the trailers I have analysed. This led to me making the decision to include it in my own trailer. With all of my trailer having to be original and made by me I decided to make it on Photoshop rather than screenshotting it from another trailer. Below is the picture I created, I used a green background and then added multiple layers of text. I made it look as similar as I could to the ones seen on other trailers.

Making the ratings titles

Find below the presentation that I made about creating the ratings titles.

Making the name titles

Find below the presentation that I created detailing how I made the name titles for my trailer. I have decided that I will not use the name titles in my trailer, not only because my film is supposed to be an independent film but because my trailer has too many titles and it didn't look true to form when they were included.

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

Behind the scenes: in pictures

Here is a presentation that I created of some of the 'behind the scenes' images.

Behind the scenes by Slidely Slideshow

Filming log: changes

When filming I encountered some problems which have led to me having to make changes to my trailer. I also found other locations on the way that looked nice or good for my trailer, these 'random' shots may be able to be incorporated into my final piece- again changing my storyboard further. The extent of this change will obviously be evidenced in my final piece.

Collecting props

I have decided to use a range of costumes from a large collection that I have. Luckily I have many costumes appropriate for our trailer due to the many shows and productions that I have been in. These include dresses for the princesses, Fairy, Goldilocks and Gretel.

Hansel will supply his own jeans and shirt whilst Amelie has her own school uniform and rucksack for the role of Alice.

We have got a dark coloured shawl for the wicked witch as well as a grey one for the ‘Cinderella’ themed shot where Alice looks like a workhouse child.

Chloe will wear normal, everyday attire for her scenes, it doesn’t matter too much.

Props such as dolls and teddy bears are available from Amelie. We have a selection of ribbons and jewellery for the shots as well as glitter.

Find below a short presentation of a few of the costumes that I have found for our trailer.

Costumes by Slidely Slideshow

Shooting schedule: Monday 3rd February 2014

Find below the table I created to detail exactly what shots I need and when I will film them. It also includes the actors I need, the locations and the props I require. This plan will help me to structure my day effectively in order to get all of the shots that I need.

Shot required	Location	Actors required	Props required	Time
Prince Charming Eyes	Ravens Wood School	Laurence	None	8:00am
Prince Charming hand	Ravens Wood School	Laurence	None	8:10am
Prince Charming yelling	Ravens Wood School	Laurence	Crown	8:20am
Newsreader	MS1	Mr Southworth	News desk, projector, news background, newspapers	10:40am-11:00am

Shooting schedule: Sunday 2nd February 2014

Shot required	Location	Actors required	Props required	Time
Alice walking down road	My road in Forest Hill	Amelie	School uniform, rucksack	8:00am
House	My road in Forest Hill	None	none	8:15am
Shed	My shed	Amelie	Workhouse child costume, teddy bear	8:30am
Fairy	My house	Georgi	Dress	9:00am
Goldilocks and Rapunzel	My kitchen	Charli, Amelie’s hands	3 cups, 3 bears, 3 straws, 3 chairs, table, ribbons	9:15am
Woodland shots	Sydenham Hill Woods	Amelie, Charli, Romeo	Normal clothing, fairy clothing, bubbles, workhouse child costume, doll, glitter	10:30am-14:30pm
Washing up	Amelie’s kitchen	Chloe	Mug and sponge	15:30pm
Alice scared	Amelie’s kitchen	Amelie and Chloe	School uniform	15:45pm
Alice window	Amelie’s house	Amelie	Pyjamas, plant	16:00pm
Alice bedroom	Amelie’s bedrrom	Chloe and Amelie	Pyjamas, story book	16:15pm-17:00pm
Staircase	Chloe’s house	Amelie	None	17:05pm
Magic Carpet	Chloe’s house	Amelie	Magic carpet, bangles, glitter	17:15pm

Shooting schedule: Saturday 1st February 2014

Shot required	Location	Actors required	Props required	Time
Lightning turn around	Olivia’s stables	Lightning	None	9:00am
Track of tree lined field	Near railway bridge	None	None	9:45am
Railway bridge	Railway bridge	Billi, Olivia, Star, Freddie	Dresses, horse tack	10:00am
Princess shots (various)	Canada Heights	Billi and Olivia	Dresses, horses	10:45am-14:30pm
Rapunzel on horse	Canada Heights	Georgi	Dress, Delilah, bridle	14:40pm
Lane walk	Lane	Olivia and Billi	Dresses	15:00pm
Hansel and Gretel	My stables	Sophie and Bruce	Costume: Dress and old shirt with jeans	16:00pm

Monday, 17 March 2014

Casting: White horse

Find below a selection of images of the horse that we have cast for the role of 'The White Horse' in our trailer. We have not only chosen Delilah because of her colouring (referred to as grey in horse terms) but because of her good nature and manners. She was trained by myself so I know her well, she is easily available for filming and I trust her 100% meaning I should be able to ride her bareback in canter.

Casting Delilah by Slidely Slideshow

Monday, 10 March 2014

Casting: Star

Animals can be very challenging to work with when filming as they cannot easily be communicated with and be told what to do. The animals I need to cast are a strawberry roan horse, a white horse (known as grey) and a dog.

Some of our friends own a small strawberry roan mare named The Frosted Princess of the Midnight Ballet, or her stable name is Star. We decided to ask them to create a video of her to see how good she was. This was the result and we have decided that Star will appear in our trailer. This decision was made due to her good behaviour and ability to be controlled without even a headcollar on.

Casting: The fairy

The slidely presentation below shows a few pictures of the Fairy cast in my trailer. The fairy is in fact myself. Me and my production partner Charli Honnor decided that I was right for the role as we would both have a small part in our trailer and I fit the character description having long blonde hair and being in my late teens. I have acting experience and have played the role of a fairy on previous occasions. Having made up the storyline myself I have a clear idea of what I want the shots and fairy to look like, so having me play the role gives us an advantage as I can help our final product look as close to perfect as possible as I know exactly what I want each shot to look like.

Casting: Fairy by Slidely Slideshow

Casting: The princesses

This Slidely presentation shows some pictures of the two princesses that I have cast. They are Olivia Miller and Billi Davis who are both 15 years old. I have chosen older actors for the roles as they will be required for a lot of shots so will need to be able to cope with long days of filming. They are both also good friends meaning their close bond should be evident when filming which should look good on camera. This is useful as casting complete strangers with no acting experience can prove difficult when trying to make them look like friends on screen. Both are also confident around horses and riding which is required for the film. Olivia and Billi also have acting experience and live not too far away and are available after school and weekends.

The princesses by Slidely Slideshow

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

Casting: Alice

The image below is that of a mind map that I created when I was casting for the role of Alice: our main character. I looked at the skills required and then assessed the ability of our actors against this. I have decided that Amelie Honnor will be cast as Alice as she acts very professional and her acting skills were very good when we cast her, she was able to imagine the 'make belive' situations in the fairy tale storyline without looking fake, which helped us make the decision.