Audit of AS skills - Using Conventions from real media texts (Blog Post 5)

Audit of AS skills

Using conventions from real media texts

During AS media I had learnt various skills in terms of using conventions from real media texts.

First I analysed what the main conventions were of an opening title sequence (in general), from there I looked into thriller opening title sequences in depth, doing this enabled me to get a better understanding of thriller opening title sequences. For example, the credits are consistently shown throughout the opening title sequence, a sense of narrative/sense of enigma and the use of fast cuts as thrillers tend to have quick shots.
 

Conventions of opening title sequence:

 

 

Analysis of existing opening title sequences:

 

Furthermore, analysing Jack Reachers' main conventions allowed me to expand my knowledge and understanding of difference aspects such as representation, camera, sound, mise en scene and editing.

 

As mentioned earlier; the cuts were predominantly fast paced to give the audience a sense of action and excitement, the music tends to be fast paced music with a sense of mystery, in terms of mise-en-scene I discovered that the props were predominantly weapons for a thriller opening title sequence.

 

In terms of representation, the protagonist (in most thriller films and films in general) were male, however some were accompanied by female sidekicks or even a damsel in distress where the protagonist had to rescue the female. The antagonist also tended to be male, this is because they tend to appear more fierce and threatening, however some films are subversive and have female antagonists such as cruella de vil in 101 Dalmatians

 

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Audit of AS skills - Post Production (Blog Post 4)

Audit of AS skills - Post Production (Blog Post 4)

Below I have created an online presentation using PowToon to give you an audit of my AS skills in terms of production. PowToon lets you animate your presentation with various templates, you can then embed it onto YouTube.

Audit of AS skills - Research and Planning (Blog Post 3)

Research and planning

The answer is presented via SlideShare, which is a website that enables you to upload your PowerPoint online.

Audit of AS skills - Creativity (Blog Post 2)

Audit of AS skills - Creativity

Blog Post #2

Pre Production:

 Whilst working on the AS media task creativity was a key aspect when producing our final product. We used various forms of creativity, for example we called Mike Harrowes (a video editor) on Skype in order to help us with the post production of our product. This enabled us to get a better understanding of editing as Mike gave us very useful tips. Another example of creativity used was when 

Production:

 In terms of production I believe the use of creativity by me was good. This is because in some shots of the production I directed Harry on what shots could work, For example in the shot of Harry (the assassin) I filmed that so that when it comes to editing the piece together it would make harry look more fierce with the zoom in effect.

Another form of creativity was the use of guns in the production, the guns were bb guns but were painted black by Jeremy to make it look more realistic, this enabled us to look more fierce as the props shown looked professional. Furthermore, we wanted a different weapon for the assassin to suggest that he is more powerful, in doing so we used a real air rifle; the rifle belonged to our friend Liam who had a license and was supervising us. 

Post Production:

In post production we were creative in various ways, for example we decided to create our own production company and logo instead of using an existing one. This is because we wanted to set our own brand; something that people could familiarise with when watching our final product. In order for us to create our own production company logo we used PhotoShop; which is a software that is for professional photo edits.

As I was lead editor I wanted to be creative as possible, I was creative in the sense that at the end of the video where the gun shot is heard, the film title 'Vindicate' is actually in synchronization with the title which I believe is a unique and creative factor. This idea sprung to mind and I thought i could implement it in my product to make it seem more appealing for the viewers. The colours white and red/salmon pink also indicated two meanings; the white meant innocence (the assassin kills one of the agents who are completely innocent working on patrol) and the red/salmon pink representing blood.


Furthermore, our media trip to the British FIlm Insitution (BFI) back in November, enabled us to get a better understanding of how 
independent films can be distributed and how they can acquire the right budget. I believe by going to the BFI trip also made me think about our target more in terms of demographic and psychographic, knowing this made me think more critically. 

Audit of AS skills - Digital Technology

Audit of AS skills - Digital Technology

Blog Post #1

Pre production:

Whilst working on the AS media task (preliminary task and the final opening title sequence)various types of technology were utilized in order to produce this media product. A Canon Legria was used in the preliminary task, this was a basic camcorder which helped me to understand the basic understanding of how to use a camera which came in handy in the future. Furthermore we used an in built microphone meaning that the sound was very basic and background noise was picked up.

In terms of editing, we used professional software's such as Adobe After Effects and Final Cut Pro X, this was a huge advantage because it meant that we could make our overall product more aesthetically pleasing for example I could expand the timeline on the project to get the correct position meaning that I could cut the shots in specific areas making my overall project neat and tidy.

In terms of editing within pre-production we used Adobe After Effects to help compile the clips, however it was very difficult at first because I was not familiar with the software, however after a few hours of working on the preliminary it meant that I had learned various factors such as rendering the project, adding titles and even zooming in/out of the timeline.

Production:

Another Camera was used in the process of the final opening title sequence, the camera that we used for the final opening title sequence was a Canon 700D, this is a DSLR camera which shoots at a very high quality, by using this camera it meant that we could test some other new features that wasn't available in the previous Canon Legria, therefore it meant I could expand my knowledge and understanding of digital technology such as a DSLR camera.


Post Production:

In terms of post production, we over dubbed the audio in the final opening title sequence due ton the background noise as the first scene was shot outside, subsequently this had meant that the background noise were eradicated meaning that the opening title sequence seemed more professional and crisp. This was done by using a Apple Mac and a software called Garageband. The dialogue was recorded on a condenser mic.

As regards to editing, we used professional software's such as Adobe After Effects and Final Cut Pro X, this was a huge advantage because it meant that we could make our overall product more aesthetically pleasing for example I could expand the timeline on the project to get the correct position meaning that I could cut the shots in specific areas making my overall project neat and tidy. With the preliminary task I only used After Effects, however with the final opening title sequence I used Final Cut Pro X, this meant that I could try out a new editing software to see if new effects were available.