Welcome to my Media As blog. Throughout this blog you will see my journey of how I and the two production company's Get-Away Productions and Arrow Production created the opening title sequence of "Surviving", a zombie action movie. Throughout the blog you will see the process of making this movie opening including what research is needed.
Tuesday, 26 April 2016
Sunday, 24 April 2016
Final Cut "Surviving"
There where some issues in the last final cut I uploaded such as "then" and "Now" had no significance so I removed them and there was a black space where there should have been a title. I have now fixed these proplems and here is my final cut for the opening title sequence of "Surviving"
Saturday, 23 April 2016
Evaluation Q1: Convention and Representation
My Prezi on representation i talk about both why I choose to make this my character and have this time of narrative.
Talk show
For my first evaluation question I did a talk show where I interview myself and ask about conventions used and not used.
More
Looking at the narrative theorists in more detail, my movie in some ways follows Propps character theory but at the same time not fully. The main character is the Hero in the story but not in the sense that he saves the day but more that he is who the story evolves around. Later on there would be a villain, not just zombies, the reason for this is so the movie wouldn't be as dull and I could integrate some of Todorovs Equilibrium theory of how the movie starts of "normal" but escalates with a "villain". Levi-Strauss theory doesn't really apply as every one who has survived has done something bad and is in some ways seen as bad. So instead of having Good v Evil it is more like Evil V Evil like in "Deadpool" (2016). I do however follow Rolands enigma theory, the reason for this is because without it every one would already know every thing and not be bothered with what happens in the movie.
The reason for having more "main" British accents than american ones is 1 because they are usually cheaper and then will keep the budget lower. The 2nd is so the British audience can relate and know who these actors are and then want to see them on the screen. Another reason is, in america British people are seen as more posh and polite and I wanted to break this stereotype by having the British character be from the north or "hard parts" of England so to let the american audience know that Brits are tough, tough enough to survive the zombie apocalypse.
Talk show
For my first evaluation question I did a talk show where I interview myself and ask about conventions used and not used.
More
Looking at the narrative theorists in more detail, my movie in some ways follows Propps character theory but at the same time not fully. The main character is the Hero in the story but not in the sense that he saves the day but more that he is who the story evolves around. Later on there would be a villain, not just zombies, the reason for this is so the movie wouldn't be as dull and I could integrate some of Todorovs Equilibrium theory of how the movie starts of "normal" but escalates with a "villain". Levi-Strauss theory doesn't really apply as every one who has survived has done something bad and is in some ways seen as bad. So instead of having Good v Evil it is more like Evil V Evil like in "Deadpool" (2016). I do however follow Rolands enigma theory, the reason for this is because without it every one would already know every thing and not be bothered with what happens in the movie.
The reason for having more "main" British accents than american ones is 1 because they are usually cheaper and then will keep the budget lower. The 2nd is so the British audience can relate and know who these actors are and then want to see them on the screen. Another reason is, in america British people are seen as more posh and polite and I wanted to break this stereotype by having the British character be from the north or "hard parts" of England so to let the american audience know that Brits are tough, tough enough to survive the zombie apocalypse.
Friday, 22 April 2016
Evaluation Q2: Distribution and Audience
To talk about my audience I created a radio show.
A Vodcast where I talk about distribution of my media film.
I have looked at real distribution company's that might pick up my movie for distribution. When researching distribution company's I looked for company's that had previously distributed low-budget movies, horror movie, cinema releases worldwide. The distribution company that I think might agree to distribute my movie is Stage 6 Films. Stage 6 Films have distributed movies such as "The Boondock Saints 2" (2009), "Moon" (2009) and "Insidious: Chapter 3" (2015).
Stage 6 Films usually distributes in america but sometimes distributes worldwide in all media forms. These movies dont usually follow the gant rule even though some of these movies have some know actors such as Rose Byrne, Norman Reedus, and Kevin Spacey. Seeing as I have Chloe Moretz in my cast I think this is a good fit.
The chances of being picked up by someone like the Big 6 is very unlickly seeing as they usually distribute high budget movies with A,B list actors and well know directors, all though there has been exceptions such as "The Purge" (2013)(Universal Studios) and "Saw" (2004)(Warner Bros) which where both big box office successes and in the Horror genre. Iven so the chance of this happening is very small.
A Vodcast where I talk about distribution of my media film.
I have looked at real distribution company's that might pick up my movie for distribution. When researching distribution company's I looked for company's that had previously distributed low-budget movies, horror movie, cinema releases worldwide. The distribution company that I think might agree to distribute my movie is Stage 6 Films. Stage 6 Films have distributed movies such as "The Boondock Saints 2" (2009), "Moon" (2009) and "Insidious: Chapter 3" (2015).
Stage 6 Films usually distributes in america but sometimes distributes worldwide in all media forms. These movies dont usually follow the gant rule even though some of these movies have some know actors such as Rose Byrne, Norman Reedus, and Kevin Spacey. Seeing as I have Chloe Moretz in my cast I think this is a good fit.
The chances of being picked up by someone like the Big 6 is very unlickly seeing as they usually distribute high budget movies with A,B list actors and well know directors, all though there has been exceptions such as "The Purge" (2013)(Universal Studios) and "Saw" (2004)(Warner Bros) which where both big box office successes and in the Horror genre. Iven so the chance of this happening is very small.
Thursday, 21 April 2016
Evaluation Q4: Technology
A screen recording of Adobe Pro while I talk about the technology i´ve used.
I used convergence through this project when I used my phone and camera for filming as they are 2 different type of equipment.
TBC
Who wants to be a Millionaire
For my evaluation I created a fake "Who wants to be Millionaire", where its heavily media related.
I did this to illustrate the use of technology, and some of the questions are related to the research I did.
Evidence
of using links:
Links to Vodcasts:
Vodcast 1: Idents
Vodcast 2: Semiotics
Vodcast 3: Narrative
There is a list of other technology ive used such as screenshots, Facebook for contacting actor, Skype for radio show and other tweaks for the movie. Ive also used multiple 4GB USBs to store shots and voice overs.
In the post where I analysed the opening of John Wick I created a GIF using an online GIF creator. I also used VLC when I played the movie and recorded that to create the GIF.
I also use DaFont to download the fonts I used in the opening. I also used the features of Window 10 like Outlook Mail to contact people and Windows 10 calendar to make sure I was on schedule.
As you can see in my screen recording I used both Netflix and Amazon for information and screenshots.
I used a program called DropBox to send the photos and videos I took on my phone to my computer as well as send files between my to Computers.
I used convergence through this project when I used my phone and camera for filming as they are 2 different type of equipment.
TBC
Who wants to be a Millionaire
For my evaluation I created a fake "Who wants to be Millionaire", where its heavily media related.
I did this to illustrate the use of technology, and some of the questions are related to the research I did.
Evidence
of using links:
Links to Vodcasts:
Vodcast 1: Idents
Vodcast 2: Semiotics
Vodcast 3: Narrative
There is a list of other technology ive used such as screenshots, Facebook for contacting actor, Skype for radio show and other tweaks for the movie. Ive also used multiple 4GB USBs to store shots and voice overs.
In the post where I analysed the opening of John Wick I created a GIF using an online GIF creator. I also used VLC when I played the movie and recorded that to create the GIF.
I also use DaFont to download the fonts I used in the opening. I also used the features of Window 10 like Outlook Mail to contact people and Windows 10 calendar to make sure I was on schedule.
As you can see in my screen recording I used both Netflix and Amazon for information and screenshots.
I used a program called DropBox to send the photos and videos I took on my phone to my computer as well as send files between my to Computers.
Wednesday, 13 April 2016
Surviving Final
The music is added, the song is "Don´t Fear the Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult. I got a friend to play the music for me.
The "Then" and "Now" text didn't hold any significance and therefor I removed them. I had also left a black gape where the title should be so I will change that.
The "Then" and "Now" text didn't hold any significance and therefor I removed them. I had also left a black gape where the title should be so I will change that.
Thursday, 24 March 2016
Bridget Jones Baby
Bridget Jones's Baby is distributed by Universal Picture. Universal is a big company and the movie took advantage of this through the distribution strategy. What they are doing is releasing the movie on the same day both in America and UK. This is risky as it increases the risk of piracy. We assume this movie wont follow the Gant rule because the movie is set in the UK and the characters are also British.
The movie is targeting an older audience as the can relate with having a baby. Unlike the other ones this one doesn't have the same male appeal as the title has baby in it and Renee Zellweger is older, the movie also doesn't have the same male comedy. The jokes used and the fact that there is swearing also anchors the target audience at an older age.
In the trailer you see Ed Sharon which is a marketing point to attract the younger teen audience, as that's his target audience.
There is also intersexuality of the original movie when she is sitting alone in her room with the same clothes and the same song is playing.
There is also intersexuality of the original movie when she is sitting alone in her room with the same clothes and the same song is playing.
Thursday, 17 March 2016
Notting Hill
Notting Hill (1999)
Genre: Rom-ComDirector: Roger Michell
Writer: Richard Curtis
Stars: Hugh Grant, Julia Roberts
Budget: $42Mill
I only found that the movie was shown in 12 country's but seeing as the movie was very popular it was most likely shown in more.
In the US it made $116Mil (3 October) and in the UK it made £30Mil (19 September)(now equivalent to $43mil)
The marketing focused mostly on Julia Roberts(evidenced by poster) seeing as she is the American star. The American actors are the ones that are heavily marketed as the distributes want the American audience to see a familiar face to sell more tickets in America another example of this is Bridget Jonas's Diary.
Even though they market it well in America most of these Working title Rom-coms don't follow the Gant rule as there main market is the British because they can relate and understand the British humor.
The movie got a 15 age rating from BBFC, which it is backed up on the imdb page. The movie got a lot of criticism form people because the movie is set in Notting Hill which is a place where there are many African American people but in the movie not one African American was seen.
It is very easy to identify Notting Hill as a Working Title film because it follows the WT Rom-Com conventions of the American girl and the clumsy British guy. It was also worked on by Richard Curtis who is now famous for making Working Title a lot of money by following this format.
Tuesday, 15 March 2016
My Journey
In the start of the year we looked at general film openings and analyzed mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing and sound. The film openings we looked at where Les Miserable, Pride and Prejudice, Love Actually, Bridget Jones´s Diary, This is England and then a movie of our choice where I chose to do John Wick.
Then we started to learn about media language. We where given a sheet where we added media terminology as we went on. The reason for this was to expand our knowledge in terminology as its an important part of both our written exam and our blogs.
We then went on to create a pitch of what our media film opening. For the pitch we had to have a some what clear idea of what we wanted to do, this included: the genre, location, narrative, character, etc. After creating a post on the idea then we had to give a presentation to the class while being recorded, during the presentation we got questions from the class that we had to answer.
As a group we where assigned to create a micro-drama. Before we started planning the micro-drama we created a continuity sequence, this was so we got used to the cameras as well as know how to create a smooth continuity sequence. After we created the continuity sequence we started the pre-production stage of the micro-drama, this included, casting, script and storyboard writing and location scouting. Then we started the production stage, we all met up at the film locations and we started filming using the roles we had previously been set. After all the filming was done we started editing using the school computers and editing software. We then watched the final product in class and posted it on YouTube. This was a vary useful experiment as it got us ready for our pre-production and production stage.
Then when we knew what genre we wanted to follow we analysed movie openings in that genre. I wanted to do a Zombie movie so i looked at these movie openings: World War Z, Zombieland, Dead Snow, Dead Rising Watchtower, Resident Evil. All these movies are zombie genre but also have something that makes them different. World War Z is a big budget zombie movie with an A list actor which you don´t normally get in zombie movies. Zombieland is a comedy zombie movie. Dead Snow is a Norwegian gore zombie movie. Dead Rising Watchtower is based on a video game with no cinema release and Resident Evil is also based on a video game but was successful enough to spawned 5 more movies after the first one.
After doing some research into the genre we started to evolve our idea. We did this by going in more depth of how the costumes would look, what props would be needed and what camera angles to use. Then we created a storyboard to get an idea of what the filming world look like.
I created three vodcasts to begin with, where I discuses ideas that I would use through research in movies with the same genre. Doing these vodcasts gave me a clearer idea of who my target audience was and how to attract them. It also gave me more inside to Adobe Pro as I used technology I hadn't previously used.
As a class we then set out to create a swede of the movie Tyrannosaur. We started of in the pre-production stage like we did in the mirco-drama, after all the planning was done we then proceeded to start shooting. We shot everything on the school ground as this was meant to be a quick exercise. After the filming was done we gave each-other different editing roles so every one would work on editing. I edited the second sequence where I learnt a new technique "Slow motion".
Then we started to learn about media language. We where given a sheet where we added media terminology as we went on. The reason for this was to expand our knowledge in terminology as its an important part of both our written exam and our blogs.
We then went on to create a pitch of what our media film opening. For the pitch we had to have a some what clear idea of what we wanted to do, this included: the genre, location, narrative, character, etc. After creating a post on the idea then we had to give a presentation to the class while being recorded, during the presentation we got questions from the class that we had to answer.
As a group we where assigned to create a micro-drama. Before we started planning the micro-drama we created a continuity sequence, this was so we got used to the cameras as well as know how to create a smooth continuity sequence. After we created the continuity sequence we started the pre-production stage of the micro-drama, this included, casting, script and storyboard writing and location scouting. Then we started the production stage, we all met up at the film locations and we started filming using the roles we had previously been set. After all the filming was done we started editing using the school computers and editing software. We then watched the final product in class and posted it on YouTube. This was a vary useful experiment as it got us ready for our pre-production and production stage.
Then when we knew what genre we wanted to follow we analysed movie openings in that genre. I wanted to do a Zombie movie so i looked at these movie openings: World War Z, Zombieland, Dead Snow, Dead Rising Watchtower, Resident Evil. All these movies are zombie genre but also have something that makes them different. World War Z is a big budget zombie movie with an A list actor which you don´t normally get in zombie movies. Zombieland is a comedy zombie movie. Dead Snow is a Norwegian gore zombie movie. Dead Rising Watchtower is based on a video game with no cinema release and Resident Evil is also based on a video game but was successful enough to spawned 5 more movies after the first one.
After doing some research into the genre we started to evolve our idea. We did this by going in more depth of how the costumes would look, what props would be needed and what camera angles to use. Then we created a storyboard to get an idea of what the filming world look like.
I created three vodcasts to begin with, where I discuses ideas that I would use through research in movies with the same genre. Doing these vodcasts gave me a clearer idea of who my target audience was and how to attract them. It also gave me more inside to Adobe Pro as I used technology I hadn't previously used.
As a class we then set out to create a swede of the movie Tyrannosaur. We started of in the pre-production stage like we did in the mirco-drama, after all the planning was done we then proceeded to start shooting. We shot everything on the school ground as this was meant to be a quick exercise. After the filming was done we gave each-other different editing roles so every one would work on editing. I edited the second sequence where I learnt a new technique "Slow motion".
Monday, 14 March 2016
My Final Edit Draft 2
This is my second edit for my film opening, I've changed a few shots around and I've added a voice over. There are still things I need to change which includes things such as a sound track, and the voice over isn't final.
Friday, 4 March 2016
Male Gaze
The male gaze is a theory from a feminist film critic "Laura Mulvey". It refers to how a text is created to please male viewers. Films aren't made with a male gaze as its seen as negative thing. If a movie has a lot of male gaze it will have a high chance of failing the bechdel test as woman are seen as objects and not a valuable part of the narrative.
The clip above is from Transformers (2007) where male gaze can be seen as Megan Fox is moving in unrealistic ways to show off her body. Another example of a movie where male gaze can be seen is in all the James Bond movies as the women are always portrayed as objects and end up dying without having any other significant purpose.
In this image you can see Roger Moore as James Bond and two Bond girls. This is a good example of where male gaze can be seen, the girls are wearing little clothes and hiding behind Bond because they are seen as weak and helpless. The fact that females in James Bond films have a the name "Bond Girls" instead of their actual names is anchors the fact that they don't hold any significance.
The clip above is from Transformers (2007) where male gaze can be seen as Megan Fox is moving in unrealistic ways to show off her body. Another example of a movie where male gaze can be seen is in all the James Bond movies as the women are always portrayed as objects and end up dying without having any other significant purpose.
In this image you can see Roger Moore as James Bond and two Bond girls. This is a good example of where male gaze can be seen, the girls are wearing little clothes and hiding behind Bond because they are seen as weak and helpless. The fact that females in James Bond films have a the name "Bond Girls" instead of their actual names is anchors the fact that they don't hold any significance.
Thursday, 3 March 2016
Representation of Sexuality
In class we looked at the clip above from the British TV show Torchwood and was asked to analyse the clip. Just from look at the first clip there is allot you can deconstruct, without thinking about sound or editing.
Starting off there is intertextuality to "Silence of the Lambs" with the glass wall, which for movie fans is a sort of Easter egg in the fact that if you don't watch movies it will seem as a coincidence.
This shot is a medium close up which is unusual for the opening because in movies they use extreme long shots to clearly identify the location and sometimes the time period. This medium close up creates a narrative enigma because the audience don't know where she is. They slightly follow the stereotype of a woman in the facts that she has long hair, and some make up. If this was a full stereotype she would be blond with red lip stick and have heavy make-up, but it doesn't challenge any conventions so it's not counter hegemonic, instead its normative because we assume that this is what a girl should look like (with long hair and make-up) because that's what the media has told us.
As the clip continuous you see that she is the central protagonist, this is anchored by the shot reverse shot flowing the 180 degree rule. Even though the action is happening in the cell the camera focuses on the protagonist so the audience can see what the protagonist is feeling. As the shot goes on it uses continuity editing to have a smooth feel to it.
When the victim is on the floor they use a countertype because it's a female that helps her in need to a handsome man. A "male gaze" is connoted as the girls start kissing, when this happens the non-diegetic music starts playing this clearly signifies a relationship. Then it cuts to a typical male stereotype in a chair watching. The stereotype is anchored by his body language.They also use a false scare when she leans in to one of the cells, the non-diegetic and diegetic sound goes quite so when the monster screams it startles the audience, the editing pace also increases slightly to get more action and engage the audience.
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