PRODUCTION LOG - Audience Research Results

I gathered the results from the questionnaire that I gave out on-line to my target audience. Survey monkey is really good for this as it actually compiles the results for you and turns them into a graph or a table so that they can be easily displayed. This was a lot of help as it meant that my results were ready to post after a little time spent cropping them and aligning them on the page correctly.

Audience Research Results

Question 1 - I asked the participants what their favourite genre of film was, this is so I could get and idea of what people like to watch in a film and what they would want to see from my film.

Majority Vote - Romance

Question 2 - I asked how often the participants went to the cinema. This gives me a good idea as to how much the participants enjoy not only film but the cinema in general. From this I gathered that the cinema is not popular amongst this particular group.

Majority Vote - Once every few months

Question 3 - I wanted to know from the participants what aspect of a short film they like the most, which is the most important to them. This gives me a clue as to what aspects I should be focusing on when I shoot my own film.

Majority Vote - Script

Question 4 - I looked at how long a short film should be and asked my participants how long, in their opinion should a short film be. This is helpful as it lets me know the attention span of my taget audience.

Majority Vote - 4 Minutes

Question 5 - The final question fo the survey asked about what naratives my participants wanted to see. This shows me what my target audience enjoy watching.

Majority Vote - A Romantic Film

Equipment Research

 

These are the specs of the Cannon EOS 550D. This is the digital camera that I will be shooting my short film with. The cannon was the toughest piece of equipment to wrap my head around as it had the most features for me to use. This was good in a sense as it gave me the ability to mkae my short film as personal to me as I possibly could. Although taking a while to understand I believe that the Cannon EOS 550D was one of the most invaluable pieces of equipement that I had as it created the film and gave me the ability to watch my film as I made it.

I will be using a HAMA Star 62 tripod for stability, the HAMA Star 62 features three extendable legs that extend to a total height of 1.60m. The tripod was another key piece of equipment this time it was because it provided stability and a professional look and feel to my film. With the camera on the tripod the shakiness was reduced and in turn gave me the effect of a fixed camera adding to the intensity of the film.

PRODUCTION LOG - Discussing the software I'm using

This was a particularly argues task for me as I knew what I should write and what I should discuss but it was a matter of knowing what to talk about in order for it to be recieved positivly. I wanted the post to be easily readable by even the most technologically challenged of users.
I spoke about all of the programs I have used in great detail as I wanted to make it clear what it is like going through the process.

Editing Software

The editing software I have been given to use is the Adobe Master Suite CS6. Obviously I will not be using every single aspect of the master suite but I will be using a few. For example; I will be using Adobe Premiere CS6 and Adobe After Effects CS6.

I have very little to no experience with these two pieces of software as I have never really needed to make or edit a video before AS. Throughout AS and A2 I have learnt more and more about Premiere and I now feel comfortable using it and I believe I will be able to use it to a professional standard.

Premiere (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Premiere_Pro)

Adobe Premiere is an editing program that allows users to move clips around, edit the sound levels and to add images or other pieces of media as overlays. In its most basic form Premiere is a very very professional version of Windows Movie Maker. Premiere Pro supports high resolution video editing at up to 10,240 × 8,192 resolution, at up to 32-bits per channel colour, in both RGB and YUV. Audio sample-level editing, VST audio plug-in support, and 5.1 surround sound mixing are available. Premiere Pro's plug-in architecture enables it to import and export formats beyond those supported by QuickTime or DirectShow, supporting a wide variety of video and audio file formats and codecs on both MacOS and Windows. When used with Cineform's Neo line of plug-ins, it supports 3D editing with the ability to view 3D material using 2D monitors, while making individual left and right eye adjustments.

PRODUCTION LOG - Looking into character styling and prop planning

Today I looked into how I want my character to be dressed throughout the short film, this is important as I feel that the way that the main character looks is something that is very central to the success and appeal of the short film.

I looked at different outfits that are currently in style at the moment and what most of the shops are currently selling for inspiration as I saw it fit that shops would know what is best and what is in fashion currently.

Character Styling and Costume Planning

Initially the protagonist of my short film will be dressed in business dress. I have opted to use a smart shirt with smart trousers, a tie and smart shoes as I feel it's an outfit that many people can relate to as most people have to dress smart for work and for school.

The Shirt and The Tie:

The shirt is going to be a simple buttoned up white shirt. I have chosen it to be a plain shirt as I feel this is not only the easiest type of shirt to get but I feel that using simplistic clothing will be helpful as it will not detract from the focus of the video and the other elements of the video. Using a simple shirt will allow the audience to focus on other aspects such as the storyline and hopefully on the message. I also feel that the bland nature of the shirt will establish a secondary meaning of how clothing is important to everyone and how it should not be important at all. The tie is a simple black tie. It suits the plain shirt nicely as it contrasts well with it. The use of these different shades will juxtapose nicely with the backgrounds and settings of the video as it will establish the differences with nature and technology.

The Trousers and The Shoes:

The slate back trousers will match the Tie and help to juxtapose to the natural settings. the use of this juxtaposition will help push my short film into the light and make it more interesting to the viewer. The shoes will be your average everyday smart shoes. This is yet again another key item of clothing as it will be used for various close up shots that will help to pin down the idea of nature vs. technology or nature vs. industry as I will use a shot of the protagonist stepping in mud.

After the "Transformation" the protagonist will have a television head. this head will serve as a reminder to the audience as to how the media industry has consumed our lives and taken over our minds.

The Television Head:

The television head will be created using an old TV unit that is now damaged. by removing the components I will make it suitable to be worn. I will be adding a padding around the neck hole to provide comfort for the actor. The components will take time to remove as there are surely many components. I will be attaching a hinge to one side to allow the head to be opened and worn. The TV will be heavy but with the components removed it shouldn't be too heavy.

PRODUCTION LOG - Analysis an existing movie poster

Today I created an analysis of an existing movie poster in order to help me create my movie poster later on. This is a very beneficial task as I get to see what the professionals do, obviously movie posters are everywhere but you rarely get time to actually take a seat and look them over for a long amount of time in order to understand everything that has been done in order to get all of the information about the film.

            This is also beneficial as I see what I should be doing in order to create my own short film poster and what sort of information I should include in order to allow my audience to get a full understanding of what my film is actually about.

Analysis of an Exisiting Movie Poster - Gamer

PRODUCTION LOG - Researching Postmodern Theories

I looked at the theories and motifs behind the highly controversial arts movement that is postmodernism. I needed to research postmodernism as it is a main feature of my short film as my short film fits many of the conventions of postmodernism.
I researched theorists like Jean Baudrillard and I looked at his work and how it has influenced films such as The Matrix and Blade Runner.

Postmodern Theories

Postmodern theory from jakejosling

PRODUCTION LOG - Evidence of Films I Admire.

This was one of the tasks that I found the most difficult as I was very torn on what I could catagroise as a film I personally admire. At first I just figured I should list all of my favourite films and why they were my favourite films but it is very likely that, that would have just been a plethora of strange and irrelevant reasons. I instead chose to go with films that I admire for the way they were shot, the way they tell a story and the way that they play out. I feel that having this sort of focus increases my chances of making a film that someone may admire a lot.

PRODUCTION LOG - Planning for the article

Today I complete my film poster. Obviously it still needs the images from my short film, I will be obtaining these images upon shooting my short film.

I have been using Adobe InDesign CS6 to create my poster, this has been an interesting experience for me as I have found getting used to the new update very challenging, obviously all of the previous items are either there or improved, but with these new upgrades comes a certain need for revision of the software.

The poster itself has come along nicely. Throughout its life the poster has proven to be a challenging feat. Now that it is 99% complete I can begin work on my actual article.

So far the article features many placeholders. This is so that I can visulaise the page before I actually make steps to complete it.

This is what my article looks like after today's lesson. The blue boxes represent where I will be placing images once I have obtained them. The placment text was good as it gave me na understanding as to what I should be writing and how much space it was going to take up. It also gave me an overall feel of what the article would look like with the text added.

You may notice a box on the first page that has been coloured grey. This is the only complete item on my article so far and it is a small fact file type box.

Evidence Of Films I Admire

For this section I have decided to choose two different films. These two films will be films that I admire for specific reasons such as:

• Cinematography,
• Sound,
• Story,
• Characters,
• Use of Special Effects.

The first of these films is Saving Private Ryan.

 

 

I have chosen Saving Private Ryan not because it is my favourite film but because it employs fantastic cinematography in its scenes, these amazing shots deliver a high quality and emmersive feel to the film. I particulalorly like the scene that has since become dubbed "The Beach Scene". This is the scene in which the soldiers are storming the beaches of normandy, I believe that it is one of the best shot scenes in a movie to date. I hope to emulate these shots in my short film as it really grips the audience and forces a focus on the intensity of the scenes.

 

The second film I have chosen is The Hurt Locker.

 

 

 

Similar to Saving Private Ryan, The Hurt Locker employs dramatic camera movements in order to establish emphasis and to intensify the scenes. Although, The Hurt Locker features some of the best sound in modern cinema,

Research into a Director

My chosen director is Neill Blomkamp as he started off shooting and directing short films and has since progressed into the feature film industry. One of Neill's most recent and most famous works is the film Elysium starring Matt Damon. It is a sci-fi thriller film that has received many good reviews recently.

Neill was born in South Africa which is particularly important as his short film "Alive in Joburg" is possibly the piece of film that shot him into the feature film industry. Neill has made a handful of short films with his most famous being the film Alive in Joburg. Alive in Joburg was later shown at a festival where it was picked up by world famous feature film director Peter Jackson (Famous for the Lord of The Rings trilogy and many more films). Peter and Neill then made Alive in Joburg into the feature length film District 9 which was met with great reviews. More recently, Neill has gone on to work on the film Elysium starring Matt Damon, a science fiction thriller.

In 2009 Neill was named one of the Most Influential People of the year and Forbes magazine named him as the 21st most powerful celebrity from Africa.

Neill has frequent collaborations with the actor Sharlto Copely (The start of District 9) whom he met at 16 years of age when they attended the same high school. Neill and Sharlto worked on 3D projects together and formed a strong bond. Today they still work together on projects such as Elysium.

Neill is set to direct and co-write the film Chappie in 2015 which will star his lifelong friend Sharlto Copley.

 

PRODUCTION LOG - Planning the research into a director post

My chosen director is Neill Blomkamp as he started off shooting and directing short films and has since progressed into the feature film industry. One of Neill's most recent and most famous works is the film Elysium starring Matt Damon. It is a sci-fi thriller film that has received many good reviews recently. 

 

I started off by Google searching Neill's name to see what results would come up and to see what he looked like because I thought that would be an important thing to know, especially if I'm going to research him.

I then watched his most famous short film "Alive in Joburg" which is a short film that was picked up by world famous director Peter Jackson and then turned into the box office hit District 9. It is important to watch his work because it gives me an idea as to how he directs his films. 

PRODUCTION LOG - Working on Research tasks

In today's lesson I have worked on my research tasks; I mainly looked at the short film "Alive in Joburg" which is directed by the director who I researched into Neill Blomkamp. First, I watched the film all the way through once taking in as much as I could (and enjoying it).

 
            I found the film on YouTube.  It’s had over 35,000 views and has been re-uploaded several times, this makes it difficult for me to understand fully how many views it actually has.
            I then opened a word document and played the film. I paused it every time I found something that I deemed good enough to write about. I then opened the word document and wrote a paragraph about it. I coupled the paragraph with screen grabs from the video to make it more engaging.
            First I noticed the documentary-type style of the short film. I established that this added a sense of realism to the film as it could easily be passed off as a legitimate news broadcast.
            In the end I eventually wrote two whole pages of information, I then uploaded it to slide share and ticked it off of my checklist.

Analysis of an existing short film

PRODUCTION LOG - Making a survey

I spent today's lesson signing up to a website called survey monkey in order to create a survey that I will later post onto my social media accounts to gain responses. I this website because it came highly recommended as it has some very nice features that give you survey that little extra bit of flair.

The survey will be posted tonight and I will collect the final responses at the end of the month

PRODUCTION LOG - Creating my Storyboard

Nearly every film will have a storyboard, whether the film is a low budget short film like my own film or a feature length million dollar budget film like The Dark Knight, it's likely most films have a storyboard.
Storyboards allow anyone in the production to gain a visualisation of what the project will look like upon completion. The storyboard would most likely go to the cameramen as it would give them an idea of what the director wants the scene to look like.
The storyboard is set up so that as much information as possible is on it so that at a later date I can maintain my original idea and theme.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard for my short film. The storyboard will help me and my actor work out the scenes and how they should look whilst we are filming. This is important as it will let me get as close to the vision in my head as possible. It will allow a near exact copy of what I want from my film. I have written in what the audio will be doing whilst the clip is rolling, this will help me later on during the editing phase as it will remind me what is to happen

 

 

 

 

Audience research survey

I worked on a survey that I gave out to my class in order to get some feedback on what sort of stuff my target market enjoys watching.

This is the link to the survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HCQXG8J

I will gather the responses in and produce another post that demonstrates what my target market want from a short film.