Saturday, 10 May 2014

Evaluation Question 2. Essay

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

There are two social groups that are presented in our film are working and middle class. The middle-class social group is represented in the form of David and his family. David and his family are all of the white-British race and have a positive representation in our film but can be shown as a negative race in films like 'Green Street' which is another film from the sport drama genre. In Fight Night you are able to see the contrasting, stereotypical difference in the fight scene where Terrell 'The Tank' acts aggressively towards David's brother, this is show by the way he speaks and his actions as he viscously head butts him. There is only one female through-out the film which is David's mum, Janine. Once she enters the film she is currently doing the washing-up which is a well known stereotype and symbolises that she is a house wife, you can see that she looks after herself in terms of her appearance because of her hair and well clean attire, this is also representing the femininity of females. On the other hand both Terrell and Dylan are represented as two masculine young men, both of them being semi-professional boxers who are due to fight in less than 24 hours.

The working class social group is represented through the character Terrell who is a young, black, male that is considered as a 'Thug' by the older generation. Although Terrell is not conveyed as a thug in my film, he is the protagonist and does start trouble. Terrell makes his race look like a disgrace when he aggressively attacks David's younger brother in the street and he then tops it off by spitting on him, which in my point of view is the up most disrespect. He has gained this hatred for David because they first met in a junior boxing ABA's final where David slaughtered 'The Tank' in the second round, ending him with a technical knock-out. This encounter was only one of the reasons as to why he hated David so much, Terrell thought that if he dealt damage to his little brother then it would have a mental effect on David therefore he might have a chance of winning. By doing this it shows how low he really is which reflects badly on the lower class which should make the audience think badly of them.

The middle class is represented in a good light, in the film where David approaches his mum and gives her a kiss shows how much love he has for his family. Despite the fact that 'black teenagers that live in South London are the more disruptive race and commit most crime' is just a stereotype but Terrell does well in supporting this due to his unsporting behaviour; which explains the reason as to why I thought Terrell would be ideal to play this character.

Evaluation Question 1. Essay

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

I feel that my film does not challenge any forms and conventions of real media products, if anything it enhances the conventions of similar media products which is why it has a similar pattern in scenes. I say this because in similar films such as 'Rocky' and 'Fighting' there are always scene where the fighter is training for a fight, this shows the famous montage of the main character, in fight night this would David Starr as he is the protagonist through-out. There is also another convention that is followed in my film and that is the simple editing technique known as jump cutting. This is a good technique to use because it allows us to go back and forth to show both the lives of the protagonist and antagonist.

After watching my film and comparing the titles I can see that their entrance, the style of writing and the colour is almost the same as all of the 'boxing' related films. Moreover, being that my film matches the conventions of films in the same genre it is quite similar therefore, people can relate to it more.

Throughout my film there is another common factor that represents the forms and conventions and that is the technical codes that is used throughout, I have used a variety of different shots which allows a similar denotation in contrast to films in the same genre as mine. I used certain shots because of the mood it conveyed, this helped me to create an emotional link with the viewer to gain their sympathy in certain scenes but also to grasp their intensity. 

In terms of the diagetic-sound there is vary little in comparison to the non-diagetic sounds. I have added an instrumental over the top which doesn't quite match the conventions of a film that matches my genre therefore it challenges the forms and conventions of real media products. The trap beat is put in place to establish the location of where the film had been shot, this would also explain why Terrell uses certain demanding words like 'oi' and 'come'. Furthermore this music can be considered as quite aggressive which is also why it matches my film because the storyline is quite aggressive. In addition to the sound I found a sound on final cut pro that increases the intensity head but that Terrell 'The Tank' dishes out to David's younger sibling. 

Throughout the film the pace at which shot is edited varies, this is to match the intensity and pace of each scene, for example the pace of editing increases when their is action happening but it slows down when there is nothing happening. I also tried to edit it so each scene changes with the beat which allows a more smoother effect.

Despite the fact that you cant actually see what shot is being used because of the titles are running over the top, at the end of my film I use a extreme close up shot of David so you could see the detail of his eyes, the transparent writing allows you to enhance the storyline as it allows you to get a good understanding of what is going to happen.

Wednesday, 7 May 2014

Evaluation Question 3. Photoshop

In this presentation I have constructed answers which describe the ways in which my film could be viewed to my target audience. Furthermore, this questions also demonstrates who would/could distribute and promote my film.




Evaluation Question 7. Essay

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at my preliminary task and comparing it to the standard of my work now I feel a lot more confident in planning and producing a short film. I am able to take everything that I have learnt from the preliminary task and use it to my advantage by learning from my mistakes. There are some new things that I have learnt about codes and conventions which has inspired me to ensure that I can use them in my film as they play a big part of the interpretations made by the viewers.

I have learnt a lot of things along the way but most importantly I have learnt what affect different types of camera shots and angles can have in a scene. By learning all of the shots and knowing when to use a particular shot is vital when recording because it allows you and the viewers to see things from a different prospective.

In addition to the importance of different camera shots and angles I have also gained knowledge in terms of how sound can change the mood of the scene. The use of diagetic, non-diagetic and foley sounds are all things that can be incorporated in to a scene which allows the producer to make the viewer to gain a better understanding of what's going on in the scene. I was highly inspired by a clip on YouTube that played a scene with sound and without sound, this allowed me to see the differences and what impact sound can have on a scene. Sound is a key aspect of my film and I have included different sounds and short pieces of music at specific points of the film, this allows me to inflate the image of the scene.

Moreover, the most crucial aspect of filming is the editing which is done on final cut x. Once I first done my preliminary task I wasn't sure on how to use it and what tools would allow me to improve the content of my film; since then I have been using this program on a weekly basis to edit my film and I have also found what affects different tools have, for example by adding a short transition which fades to black makes the transition between scenes a lot smoother instead of just cutting from one scene to the next.

Lastly, understanding the media that is presented to us in the real world allowed me to receive and extract important presentation techniques that I could use to make my film a lot better in terms of quality. By keeping up to date with the media it has allowed me to grasp the key concept of how industries sell and what they do to influence to whom it may concern. By doing this I am able to then mirror their skills used in order to create a good, high quality final product. I can also use these skills to make more short films which allows me to show my ability in media therefore others can gain inspiration from my work.



Evaluation Question 6. Voiceover

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

Considering it was the first time that I have constructed and edited a film, I think that I have learnt a lot of new things from using technologies when creating my film.

Although I had a good understanding on how to use most of the technology I now have a better, more developed understanding on how to use each piece of technology to the best of my ability. Filming 'Fight Night' allowed me to further my knowledge because I was constantly using different technologies throughout the process of making my film.

Some of the technologies that I used are:

- Digital SLR
- YouTube
- Blogger
- Search Engines
- Final Cut X

The piece of technology that I used most was the digital SLR, this was due to the fact that this was the only piece of equipment required to record my film. Using the digital SLR was new to me as I have never handled a camera like this and I only know the basic thundamentals of how to use a camera, for example how to turn it on and take a picture/video. Throughout the process of recording my film I gained a better understanding of how to use this camera by watching tutorials and asking lots of questions so I could then extract the information that would be most useful to me.

In addition to the digital SLR another pie of technology that I used was youtube, as a teenager growing up in this day and age I am very familiar with this platform as I use it to listen to music. One of the features on YouTube that I have never really used is 'embedded',  this allowed me to to cope the embedded code and paste it on to my blog without having to convert it first.

Moreover I have also used a very well known piece of technology called google, It also allows me to browse the internet in order to find what I am looking for, I use this search engine on a daily basis as it is a very fast and reliable source. I also used google to find films in the same genre as mine, films such as ROCKY BALBOA AND FIGHTING. By using google it allowed me to gain inspiration from other producers which I could then use in my film.

I also used google for the following:

- to find copyright free soundtracks that we could put over the top of our film.   
- to find props
- to look at good locations

And other things that played a vital role in the production of our film

Lastly I used a piece of technology called final cut x. This probably played the biggest part in the production of my film as it allowed me to take clips from the digital SLR and combine them which created the end product... Fight night

This was the first time that I have used a software that requires a good understanding on how to use it because the technicalities involved. 

The first time that I used final cut x I didn't even know how to crop a clip but throughout the production of my film I have picked up tips that allowed me to apply it to my final piece. 

As time went on I became more farmiliar and confident with the software because I am now able to locate things such as editing techniques, filters and small things such as the transitions.

Furthermore by developing my understanding on the technology I now feel confident that I can put together a good quality film that is less time consuming because I know how to use it.

Another piece of technology that I have used is blogger, this is a site which allows you to upload post so anyone can view it. I have never really used this before as blogs have never been appealing to me up until I had to produce my own film. I have used blogger hundreds of times now and have made myself very farmiliar with the site. Blogger is a key aspect to my film production and has allowed me to upload posts in order to show my progression with my film.


Tuesday, 21 January 2014

Fight Night: Props Extended


The 'Fight Night' poster



This is one of the props that was created to show the big event that 'David' has been training for over a long period of time. This will be one of the most important props throughout the film because the camera will focus on this poster to show the importance of it.
This poster was created on photoshop, we took the pictures earlier on in the week and used different tools to crop and fit it on to the poster to make it look realistic. Furthermore, the names were thought of on the spot, 'The Star' foreshadows Davids career of up coming star about to be the biggest and best boxer of all time. On the other hand 'The Tank' shows that Laing is big, strong and hard to move.
As you can see 'David' is the challenger and is competing against Laing 'The tank', this is the make or break of his career which is why it is so important to him.

Friday, 17 January 2014

Fight Night: Sound

Sound
 


 
 
Throughout our film there will be many different sounds that may need recording seperately using our own resources to mimic the real sound. In addition to creating foley sounds we will be using the video above for inspiration to broaden our knowledge on what we can do to create different sounds and effects, for example in the scene where David tries to intervene with the damsel in distress he may get bottled or stabbed, we havent decided yet but will come to a conclusion as we come to filming this scene. If we come t decide that David will get bottled then we may well record a bottle being smashed or we may also try different things to see what sounds most alike.

Movie Intro's

Movie Introductions

              


There are many different production companies that can be used to inspire and influence our decision in relation to our film. Furthermore, the video above that was take from youtube shows the majority of the production companies trademarks and logo's, they are very simple but very noticeable.