Lara Parsons AS Foundation Portfolio 9825

 

 This week, I worked on my CCRs. I completed the script, filmed and edited them before finally uploading them.

Answering the question: How did you integrate technologies- software, hardware and online- in this project?  

 Answering the Question: How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues? Transcript: My product falls under the fantasy genre category, specifically the film is based within the subgenre of a low fantasy. Fantasy films are known to draw in an audience with their extravagant and unrealistic storylines that allows the audience to escape the abruptness of their daily life.  I followed the conventions of a low-fantasy film by having the film take place in the real world in which the theme of normality is important due to the sense of familiarity allowing the audience to grow comfortable and therefore become more concerned and intrigued towards the climax of the film as they identify an issue that could affect something they both recognise and love.  I also included the theme of supernatural events by having Dahlia’s dreams leak into reality which is only hinted to as I wanted to maintain enigma codes in order to heighten s...

Answering the question: How did your production skills develop throughout this project?  Transcript: Q- Would you say that your production skills have developed throughout the project? Definitely, throughout the process of producing my opening sequence I was able to greatly develop my skills in terms of both physically shooting scenes and editing the final product.  I initially began this AS-level media studies course with a very brief knowledge of both shooting and editing but I have progressed with the assistance of my peers, my teacher and tutorial videos.  Q- First of all, how would you say your editing skills have progressed? I started off the course using iMovie to edit my preliminary task. This meant that I had more limits to how I would be able to edit my opening sequence. After identifying this issue I decided to use Premier Pro. As a beginner to the software, I started with a more basic knowledge such as importing and trimming clips to compile them. After experi...

  Answering the question: How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text? Podcast Link: https://soundcloud.com/lara-parsons-19668789/ccr2 To engage with the audience I used the theory of  Uses and gratification by Dennis McQuail to entertain my audience through the sense of escapism that is provided when watching my film as it allows them to forget about their worries and problems for a short time. I also intend for the feeling of fulfilment to be prolonged as the final message of the film is intended to aid with the identity side of this theory as it encourages the audience to be open to their dreams and live as themselves regardless of societal pressure. The theory of binary opposition by Strauss, is seen within both the setting and between the idea of dreams vs reality. As Strauss stated that one side of the pair must be seen as more valuable, I decided to use this specific pairing as it is quite controversial as to which si...

First edit: Final Film Poster:  

  WWW EBI Good/appropriate font. Bigger font on institutional titles and maybe make it a bit more sophisticated, it is a bit boring and simple especially as it starts silent, there could be some folly or music added there to make it less awkward. Good variety of shots and use of movement in some of the shots.  Stabilize shots on premiere pro to reduce the shaking. Interesting and smooth transitions between the real/dream worlds. Maybe make it more clear that the reality world is dreary by desaturating the shots etc and just in general edit the colour/brightness of some of the shots to make it more interesting. There is a good use of a voice over to introduce the storyline as this also follows the conventions of an opening sequence. I like the music itself but it can be a bit distracting at times so maybe change it to a lesser known song and reduce the volume. Good use of vibrant shots within the desert setting. Some of the shots seem a bit rushed so if you could extend them a ...

 This week I was able to complete my initial draft and used the feedback that I had received to improve my opening sequence and so I decided to re-edit the entire opening sequence to refine everything from the start. Once I was happy with my edits, I added the titles and credit overlays. I also decided to change my institutional logo clip to make it more sophisticated, professional and eye catching and used premier pro to create this: I also further enhanced my opening sequence using a tutorial on how to place text behind a figure in premier pro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9gBczOFn-s

  Over the winter break, I was able to film the majority of my clips for my opening sequence, specifically those shot in the desert, and so I began to sort through all the recordings to identify the ones I personally preferred and believed would best suit the story line. I began to compile and edit the videos together.

  Upon completing my final draft of my opening sequence, I decided to make mind maps for the CCRs to break down my talking points before I would write them:

  This week, after completing my final edits on my opening sequence and refining it using teacher and peer feedback, I made a film poster using photographs I had taken whilst shooting in the desert. Before doing this I decided to analyse the following movie posters: Common features among all these posters that made them appear as more professional and appeals to the audience is : -A bold and eye-catching font for the title. -The main protagonist placed centrally on the poster (most times it is a close up, making it more intimate which provides a connection to the audience) -Imagery of objects/events that are relevant to the plot of the movie -Credits the actors of the movie (normally at the top of the poster) to attract the audience using star power. -More credits are placed at the bottom of the poster in a cluster. To start with my own poster I selected a photo which seemed very intimate as it was a mid shot of the protagonist. There was a link to the story line due to the backgro...