In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the forms and conventionss of real media products?
We followed many conventions of real media products, in that we followed the same processes when creating the product. All film makers test different camera angles and shots to see which they prefer, similar to how we created a short preliminary task to try out shots and angles. We created a story board for each part of the film opening which is exactly what must be done for real media products. We also researched into existing media products to draw inspiration for our own, and spent a long time choosing appropriate locations and music to fit with the film opening.
In a real media product the opening scene must do a number of things, including introducing characters, establish the setting of the film and make it clear of the products genre. We established the main character, mainly due to the fact that despite the infected zombies, he is the only character remaining, and is thus the focal point of the film. The zombies can be identified by their messy domineer, ripped clothes and animalistic behaviour and movement. This is a key convention of the zombie sub genre. We did however challenge some conventions as in many zombie films, the zombies themselves are slow and sluggish and we decided that to have a more intense chase scene the zombies needed to be quick and agile. I feel that this worked very well and made our product stand out to others all ready in existence.
The setting was created in our opening scene to appear lifeless and desolate. We did this by only having Dan in the shot, and no traffic or members of the public. The music also helps the audience to feel the settings isolated and dead environment. Many other film openings use either fast or slow music to help set the scene and create an atmosphere. We used the atmosphere of the scene to make the genre obvious to the reader. The slow music at the start creates an atmosphere of isolation and desolation, typical of the post-apocalyptic genre, which is a sub genre of horror. The zombie scream and zombie characters themselves, who are covered in blood are typical of the horror genre, again making it clear to the audience. We developed this by using fast music during the chase to create a build of tension and amplify speed. This makes the scene more intense, again typical of the horror genre.
Overall i would say that our Film opening certainly follows conventions that existing film opening follow, however we have challenged some of these conventions by trying things differently and experimenting during pre-production and production. We also developed conventions of existing zombie films, for example making the zombies faster, in my opinion making the product better and therefore will become more successful.
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Product Feedback
I posted our Film opening on the popular internet community website Facebook.com. The feedback that was recieved was extremely positive. The more popular are media product, the more people will be willing to spend money on watching it at the cinema or on DVD. If the film is successful then television companies will pay to broadcast it. The popularity and feedback is crucial as it gives you an idea of how much profit the media product would make.
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
Editing the footage
Once we had finished filming we had to edit on a computer to get our end product. For this we used a programme called Las Vegas movie studio 9.0. Overall we had around ten minutes of footage when our opening sequences had to be around two and a half minutes. This obviously meant that we had to cut alot of the footage and in some cases even elements of the story's plot to keep withing the time limit. First of all we decided that the very beginning scene, with the black screen and the girls voice, could be cut as it simply took up valuale time space and simply didnt add much to the zombie apocalypse theme that we were striving for. Many of the shots that we had were of high quality however felt that they whent on far to long and so we simply cut them down, keeping crucial actions in but leaving out the unecessary. This made the film run smoother.
When it came to the zombie chase part of the sequence we had to think how to make it seem fast and pacey. To do this we cut long parts of the zombies or dan running into shorter clips, which played one after the other gives the impression of speed. We had to completely cut the first appearance of the zombies, when they are huddled and about to run, as we felt that the shot looked to corny and also the downside of seeing traffic in the background. I feel that the shot offered little to the overall scene. At the very end of the chase scene we see Dan fall to the ground and clutch at the grass, we put this shot in slow motion and faded it out to the movie title. I feel that by doing this it adds alot more dread into the scene, with the message of inescapable death.
We als edited the music and sound in the scene. We muted most of the sound from the actual footage as it featured far too much sound of passing traffic. We did however leave some sounds in such as the noise of the chain on the fence and dan jumping over the gate. I think that hearing these sounds highlights how empty the streets are and how isolated he is. We added the music and were very pleased with how well it fit, however there was a problem as we thought the second song started too suddenly and we needed something to set it off. We incorperated a zombie scream as dan looks up and starts to run to make it clear what dan was running from and also as an introduction to the song. The fast paced music fits very well with the chase and it also fades out simultaniously to the last shot.
I personally felt that the scene we had was a good one however something was missing. It needed to be darker and more mysterious. I had watched a number of films for inspiration and desided to use a method used in many films such as The Dark knight and The Legend of sleepy hollow. The colour balance of the scene can be changed to make it brighter or darker. We lowered the brightness to make the film seem very grey and therefore more dismal and hopeless. Overall im very happy with how we edited our film opening sequence and feel that it has been a great success.
When it came to the zombie chase part of the sequence we had to think how to make it seem fast and pacey. To do this we cut long parts of the zombies or dan running into shorter clips, which played one after the other gives the impression of speed. We had to completely cut the first appearance of the zombies, when they are huddled and about to run, as we felt that the shot looked to corny and also the downside of seeing traffic in the background. I feel that the shot offered little to the overall scene. At the very end of the chase scene we see Dan fall to the ground and clutch at the grass, we put this shot in slow motion and faded it out to the movie title. I feel that by doing this it adds alot more dread into the scene, with the message of inescapable death.
We als edited the music and sound in the scene. We muted most of the sound from the actual footage as it featured far too much sound of passing traffic. We did however leave some sounds in such as the noise of the chain on the fence and dan jumping over the gate. I think that hearing these sounds highlights how empty the streets are and how isolated he is. We added the music and were very pleased with how well it fit, however there was a problem as we thought the second song started too suddenly and we needed something to set it off. We incorperated a zombie scream as dan looks up and starts to run to make it clear what dan was running from and also as an introduction to the song. The fast paced music fits very well with the chase and it also fades out simultaniously to the last shot.
I personally felt that the scene we had was a good one however something was missing. It needed to be darker and more mysterious. I had watched a number of films for inspiration and desided to use a method used in many films such as The Dark knight and The Legend of sleepy hollow. The colour balance of the scene can be changed to make it brighter or darker. We lowered the brightness to make the film seem very grey and therefore more dismal and hopeless. Overall im very happy with how we edited our film opening sequence and feel that it has been a great success.
Thursday, 11 March 2010
Characterisation and props
Our main character was a teenage boy played by Dan. We purposly didnt give away his name in the opening sequence as it made him more isolated from the audiance, just like he is isolated from humanity in this zombie post apocalptic world. We made him wear warm clothes as he is sleeping outside and a bag, full of food and other essentials. We made him look nervous and on edge throughout the scene.We needed to get a largish group of people to be zombies in our scene. We recruited 7 friends and fellow media students to play these roles. They wore ripped and old clothes and messed their hair up. We also made fake blood from water, flour, coffee and red food colouring which we put on their clothes and faces. Since we were working to a very tight budget (there pretty much wasnt one) we had to make do with what we already had and what we could make. We told them to move fast, yet awkwardly to portray the rage-infested zombies. I personally feel that they did a great job at performing as zombies and have contributed to our media peice greatly.
Soundtrack
For our soundtrack we thought about what music would fit with the mood of each shot. For the duration of the first half of the scene we will be using the beginning of a Bring me the Horizon song 'The sadness will never end" as it shows how isolated the boy character is, and how deserted the surrounding setting is. Lastly when the zombies attack, the music switches to another song by Bring me the Horizon 'Death Breath' which has a high tempo and highlights the intensity of the chase.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Film opening synopsis
1. The scene begins with a black screen, we hear a girls voice saying 'I dont want to die' gradually getting louder untill it reaches a scream and the camera switches to an extreme close up of an eye opening suddenly to the sound of an alarm on a watch..
2. We see a close up of the watch on a wrist, which is then turned off by a shaking hand.
3. Long shot of a teenage boy curled up in the corner of what appears to be an old bus stop. He slowly and cautiously gets up.
4. Medium side shot of him exiting the bus stop, slow music begins (showing isolation)
5. The Boy walks down the road and we see a shot of him walking past an old long abandoned pub. This shot shows how he is alone in the world. Music continues.
6. Low shot of boy walking past, we dont see the upper part of his body.
7. Walks past another bus stop, we see a newspaper page on the glass, with the headline 'The dead continue to rise'. This shot makes it clear to the audience of the films genre; Zombie horror.
8. Long shot of boy climbing over a gate and walking down a public footpath into fields.
9. Three seperate shots of the boy walking through a field, each shot shows him further away from the camera.
10. Camera positioned behind a dead body, we see the boy approach from a distance and stop.
11. Over the shoulder shot, over boys shoulder looking at body.The slow music stops and he whispers "shit". He then hears a loud screech from behind him and quickly turns around.
12. We see a head on long shot of a number of zombies running towards the camera.
13. Mid shot of boy, he shouts "Oh Shit!", turns and runs. At this point fast paced music begins.
14. The following shots are fast paced and switch quickly between the boy and zombies running, highlighting the intensity of the chase.
15. We then have a low shot with the boy tripping and thus bringing him into the shot on the ground. He clutches at the ground as we see zombies getting closer behind him.
16. The scene fades to black, where we hear 'i dont want to die', as at the start, and a scream as the film title 'Death Breath' is shown.
2. We see a close up of the watch on a wrist, which is then turned off by a shaking hand.
3. Long shot of a teenage boy curled up in the corner of what appears to be an old bus stop. He slowly and cautiously gets up.
4. Medium side shot of him exiting the bus stop, slow music begins (showing isolation)
5. The Boy walks down the road and we see a shot of him walking past an old long abandoned pub. This shot shows how he is alone in the world. Music continues.
6. Low shot of boy walking past, we dont see the upper part of his body.
7. Walks past another bus stop, we see a newspaper page on the glass, with the headline 'The dead continue to rise'. This shot makes it clear to the audience of the films genre; Zombie horror.
8. Long shot of boy climbing over a gate and walking down a public footpath into fields.
9. Three seperate shots of the boy walking through a field, each shot shows him further away from the camera.
10. Camera positioned behind a dead body, we see the boy approach from a distance and stop.
11. Over the shoulder shot, over boys shoulder looking at body.The slow music stops and he whispers "shit". He then hears a loud screech from behind him and quickly turns around.
12. We see a head on long shot of a number of zombies running towards the camera.
13. Mid shot of boy, he shouts "Oh Shit!", turns and runs. At this point fast paced music begins.
14. The following shots are fast paced and switch quickly between the boy and zombies running, highlighting the intensity of the chase.
15. We then have a low shot with the boy tripping and thus bringing him into the shot on the ground. He clutches at the ground as we see zombies getting closer behind him.
16. The scene fades to black, where we hear 'i dont want to die', as at the start, and a scream as the film title 'Death Breath' is shown.
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