Production: 2011

Monday 4 April 2011

Sunday 20 March 2011

Audience Feedback

Click this link for a video showing our peers feedback.

Monique Hayden Production Blog: AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

Some other comments I've received about the opening since screening to others are below.
'I thought that the part where he got beaten up looked like a dream, so a bit confusing but otherwise it was a good opening!' - George, 20.
'The music was edited really well with the video, the part when he put the headphones in was brilliant'. Nikki, 17.
' The animation was cheesy and I was confused by the whole thing' Bobby, 19.

Friday 18 March 2011

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

During the process of making the product Conflict I learnt a lot about different technologies in both the production and post production processes.
Firstly, I learnt how to use a flipcam with and without a tripod for our continuity sequence. They were useful because of how compact and easy to use they were but shots were quite difficult to steady without a tripod. When filming the actual film opening I found it easier to get a steady shot with the Sony HD camera rather than a flipcam. The only hindrance of the Sony is that it would probably be unsafe to take it to the areas we originally wanted to film in because of it's attractiveness to thieves.
After filming, I watched tutorials on how to use Adobe After Effects and this helped with creating the company information at the beginning of the sequence. I also learnt how to use Adobe Final Cut Pro which was useful but in the end we decided to edit on a different format that one of the group members were very confident in as it would produce a higher quality end product.

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

Who would be the audience for your product?

Thursday 17 March 2011

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

How does your product represent particular social groups?

Our product 'Conflict' is an urban drama set in South London so the social groups are represented in a certain way. It is too easy to label every teenager from urban areas with the same label which is given by the media, usually 'hoodies' or 'yobs'. It's dangerous to stick to negative stereotypes and only focus on what older generations and different social groups think they know. Although the opening shows the protagonist to be a gang member who is constantly involved in gang culture and warfare, the rest of the plot sets out to go deeper to understand the reasons for this and also convey how people can change in the future. The social group represented in the opening are gang members of similar ages (16-19) with a majority being male. This typical set up of gang members is a simple way to let the audience know the genre and key ideas of the film within 2 minutes. This is important because of the risk that viewers will get bored out of confusion and not be engaged for the rest of the film.

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

Our product 'Conflict' is of the drama genre with an underlying urban themes. The product adheres to conventions of the genre as some sort of conflict is always at the core of a drama and the purpose of a dramatic storyline is to emotionally touch the audience. Going back to the treatment, our film has these exact qualities and includes a personal struggle as well as pain and other hardships. Because of the urban undertones, our product can be categorised with other urban dramas that also realistically reflect urban strife. In the UK there are many products with the same conventions and it could be argued that a new sub-genre of 'urban drama' has been created in the past 10 years. It is similar to films such as Kidulthood in the sense that the characters emotional side is portrayed rather than just focusing on gang culture with no justification for the violence, drug use and rivalry with other gangs. Also the soundtrack is mostly grime and the mis-en-scene such as costumes are all tracksuits or 'hoodies' which are heavily associated with South London gang culture. These are two more examples of other similarities to films of the same genres. On the other hand, 'Conflict' challenges the conventions of drama films because it is reliant on high action which isn't typical of the drama genre. This is because of the nature of the narrative, it needs to be explored in a fast paced and exciting way.

Monday 14 March 2011

Audience responses to rough cut.

Production meetings and notes;

Friday 11 March 2011

Equipment and personnel organisation.

During production we had to organise and inform our teachers about the dates we wanted to film this was a crucial factor as camera renting had to be done during school hours and we had to have suppervision from an adult.

Also we had to inform and organise dates for our main protagonist to be on set during prouction.
During these dates we also had to have back up cast just incase certain characters were unable to attend on the filming days set.

We also had a backup HD camera for small parts of filming we needed to do outside of school hours.