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

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

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

Research and Planing:
(Red = Brand New)

During the research and planning phase of the sequence we used:

• Blogger
• Powerpoint
• Piktochart
• Emaze
• Photoshop 
• Presi
• Mac PC
• Premier pro (For the animatics)
• Youtube
• Sound Cloud

 They allowed us to visually see others ideas as well as our own, allowing us to shape and mold what we were planing and thinking about around them. The programs: blogger, powerpoint, piktochart emaze and Photoshop were great pieces of software to use. Not only were they free but they provide beautiful looking templates which were easy to use, develop and conform to what we want. They were an excellent way of displaying information in a neat and fancy way. The extra  time and effort that went into producing them was well worth the effort. We used YouTube and sound cloud to find sound and music for the opening, using software like clip converter to change it to the right format available for the later stage of editing.

Filming

Whilst we were filming we used:

• DLSR Camera
• Tripod
• Green Screen (for the titles)
• LED lights

                For Props for filming

• Mac PC Camera
• Photoshop
• Printer

 They've allowed us to make high quality pieces of work, whether it is for the actual footage for the opening sequence or if it's for the main Titles. The footage needed to be thought of before hand hand rather than at the present time of recording. But that didn't stop us from trying different shots we thought would look good at the time. We also had to be careful with the actual equipment. If the shot was blurry or out of focused that clip was practically useless. The green screen was a very new concept for me. I had never used it before but knew the basics of what it did, just not how. We used the green screen to make it easier to turn ourselves into moving silhouettes on a background of our choice. Using the footage as well as photoshop and after effects we made the titles.


Editing

After filming to improve the clips we used;

• Photoshop
• After Effects
• Premier Pro
• Audition

They have made improving the sequence much much easier. Premier Pro is where the who of our work came together. I had never used it before. At first it looked complicated, in some ways it still does but i feel that I have learnt alot about cutting the footage, adding effects, adding movement to objects. After effects was also new and again was difficult. However once you knew what to do it only took a couple of minutes to produce the silhouettes  for the titles. It was a very creative idea which honestly i didn't think would work or look good but in the end it was all worth it. Audition, I had no idea it even existed. Despite that it fixed a problem we were having with the audio, making the sound file more distorted like a telephone. When it came down to Photoshop i had the most experience within the group. I made the backgrounds for the Titles, the pictures for the production ident, the Polaroid and the two main title designs which were unfortunately never used in the final cut as they didn't fit in with the rest of clip. 

The only things we had to repeat was the title design which didn't portray the mood the opening was creating. I made two designs but in the end we used standard text with police lights flashing in the corners. I was rather disappoint but it was necessary.  

Who would be the audience for your media product ?

The Unit (Finished)

In What Way does your Media Product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

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

Conventions:

• Slow build up of the sound track
• Introduces characters
• Builds up tension
• Establishing shot of setting
• Close-ups
• Flashbacks
• Fast and constant crosscutting
• Production and Distribution Logos
• Titles

The slow build up of the sound track helps create tension within the piece as the action and mystery starts to pick up past. It will attract the attention of the audience and will make them stay to find out what happens after the cliff hanger, encouraging them to think and predict the possible outcomes. It also clearly displays the theme of the sequence. The opening also introduces the main characters and the one whom is essential to the plot.  The establishing shot shows the location of the opening, showing that it has a local setting. The production, distribution ident and Titles showcase the companies and crew behind the production. The constant crosscutting throughout the opening fractures the story line and reassembles it in a unclear way creating a sense of mystery and a flashback effect. The close-ups high light certain objects and actions focusing the audiences attention on currently meaningful and bewildering actions.



The close up is similar and inspired from the film "Seven" directed by David Fincher. He uses short shots of seemingly random objects like the book, razor and cogs and puts flickering titles between them to create an opening. We have used the same style for our chains, metal and Polaroid.

The cross cutting  is similar to the movie "Inception" directed by Christopher Nolan. The scene shows a van getting attacked and also a man walking out of the hotel. The two scenes are starkly juxtaposed to each other unlike ours. Ours show a constant theme of mystery, on the one hand one scene is of the crime scene whilst the other is of the psychos actions.

The distribution ident tells the audience who made the film and who distributed it. In ours we used "vertigo" films who have made a lot of good thriller films in the past.

The steady increase in pace for the soundtrack increases the tension and the sense of urgency in the opening much like in "Jaws" where the soundtrack starts of slowly but then builds up to the climax, creating high levels of tension and perhaps stress to the viewers. Our film has our music building up tension throughout with a sudden stop at the cliffhanger.

For the titles we used a combination of bare black backgrounds and silhouettes to the names off, similarly to "The spy who loved me" which uses the same idea as ours.

Conventions of a thriller

• Male protagonist
• Blood
• Low key lighting
• Jump cuts
• Tracking shots
• Pans
• Close ups

A male protagonist is used to appeal to the film's target audience - men. Mise-en-scene such as blood and  bodies are used visual to increase the tension and add realism to the drama, making it easier to believe its true. The low key lighting conceals elements within the shots allowing villains, key objects and evidence to remain hidden till they're needed later on in the film. It also creates a sense of danger and fear within the deep, dark shadows. Jump cuts are usually used when multiple things are happening that we’re unaware of and the jump cuts fill us in, they allow us as the audience to make assumptions on what the story or characters will be like. Close ups can either show the emotions and feeling's of any character, or highlights certain objects necessary to the plot of the thriller.



A male protagonist is used often in thrillers, such as "The girl with the dragon tattoo" directed by David Fincher. The main (male) character (Mikael Blomkvist) played by Daniel Craig tries to solve the 40 year old murder of a mans niece. Unlike ours, however they also have a female protagonist called Lisbeth Salander played by Rooney Mara who not only saves the life of the main character but also kills the villain.

The mise-en-scene (such as blood) makes the film more believable and therefore more scary and shocking towards the audience. For example at the start of saw the two men wake up in the dark, when the lights comes on the blood covered body makes the already scary situation more gruesome and adds a serious tone to their predicament.This extra little detail not only fills up the shot but adds danger, violence and encourages the imagination of the audience to make up a story behind it.

For the titles we had used silhouettes which is uncommon to see within thrillers. It is a very simplistic idea but combined with the right background and font it can work work really well. It is similar to the titles used in "the spy who loved me" but we take it a step further turning different shots into silhouettes. We had mid shots, long shots, close ups with a few pans which made the silhouettes. In the final version we removed a few of them to make a more continuous footage.