Group 32: 2016

Friday, 5 February 2016

Jan Bantic - Signing Off

Aight, it's been fun.

I wish Group 32 could do it all again.

For now, though...

Goodbye.
*sad music*

(Watch COMMUNITY #AndAMovie)

This project has been a unique experience, both in terms of the actual media elements and producing a two minute film opening, and in meeting a great group of people with whom I will remain friends for ages!

Thank you to them, and to the whole media department (especially Louisa)

Signing off

Throughout this entire process the people that have always had my back were Callum, Esther and Jan (my group) they were the best group i could hope for and i hope we remain friends for a very long time. To my group, i hope you guys go on to do great things and enjoy life to the fullest because you never know what will come knocking on your door. Below is a poem i dedicate to the blog

It's been a long day, my friend
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
We've come a long way from where we began
Oh, I'll tell you all about it when I see you again
Damn, who knew?
All the planes we flew
Good things we've been through
That I'll be standing right here talking to you
'Bout another path
I know we loved to hit the road and laugh
But something told me that it wouldn't last
Had to switch up
Look at things different, see the bigger picture
Those were the days
Hard work forever pays
Now I see you in a better place
How can we not talk about family
when family's all that we got?
Everything I went through you
were standing there by my side
And now you gon' be with me for
the last ride
It's been a long day
without you, my friend
And I'll tell you all about
it when I see you again
We've come a long way
from where we began
Oh, I'll tell you all about
it when I see you again
First you both go out your way
And the vibe is feeling strong
And what's small turn to a friendship
A friendship turn to a bond
And that bond will never be broken
The love will never get lost
(and the love will never get lost)
And when brotherhood come first
Then the line will never be crossed
Established it on our own
When that line had to be drawn
And that line is what we reach
So remember me when I'm gone
So let the light guide your way, yeah
Hold every memory as you go
And every road you take, will
always lead you home, home
It's been a long day without you,
my friend
And I'll tell you all about it
when I see you again
We've come a long way from
where we began
Oh, I'll tell you all about it
when I see you again
When I see you again

Callum CC - Signing Off

To whom it may be concerned,

I am writing this blog post in order to, firstly, reveal that this is the end of my journey in terms of this part of coursework, and secondly, to convey my feelings having finished this project.

Pride is a feeling that comes to mind when thinking about what I've done over the past few months, and the fact that I actually showed my mam my piece of work reinforces this. She was happy and proud with it, and therefore I am happy and proud with it.

Gratitude is an emotion I also feel now I've finished this blog - I'm very thankful for my group (they were definitely the best group of people I could've got, even if Jan is a bit too much of a perfectionist, Faris is very hyperactive and Esther is a protestant). Also Louis (aka Louisa Cunningham) was great with us and so I'm grateful for her.

Finally, I'd like to say the fact that at the start of this year, I was dead certain I was dropping Media after AS, and now am a lot less sure surely shows how much I have enjoyed this project. Thanks to everyone. God Bless. Safe.

Wednesday, 27 January 2016

Question 7 - Callum

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

Question 6: What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

JUST IN CASE THE ABOVE DOES NOT WORK, PRESS PLAY ON THE BELOW VIDEO. THE CONTENT IS THE SAME:

Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Question 6 - Callum - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Questions 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from process of constructing this product?

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

Please click on the link below to view our Wix which is our response to question 5

http://estherpotter04.wix.com/group32

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

The Target Audience Member Profile has been created as a Facebook Profile! Click the link here to see our research combined into one profile for Tino, our target audience member:

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011332591550

If the link does not work, the login is:
Username: ab57029@student.candi.ac.uk
Password: Toonarmy9

Please click to see Tino's posts, pictures, likes, and interests, as well as his general information which represents his profile as a member of the Target Audience, and why we chose him.

Callum CC's Slidely by Slidely Slideshow

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Question 2 - How does your product represent particular social groups?

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

This side angle shows the main character doing something intriguing and mysterious - holding a candle in a basement - and so immediately grabs the audience's attention. Her clothing, dark, shades her personality as troubled.

Here, we see the character's feminine and vulnerable side. She is holding her handbag to her chest, making herself physically small as possible.

The antagonist's personality is best encapsulated in this shot. Eyes wild, face covered, dark clothing, large figure - all create a domineering and intimidating screen presence, showing his aggression and angry disposition.

Question 2: How does your media product represents particular social groups?

Question 2 from EstherPotter

Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Question 1 from Faris Abass Jibril

Below are just screen grabs of the slideshare in case you aren't able to see it in the format above.

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Question 2 - Callum

Question 1 - Callum

Friday, 22 January 2016

WE FINISHED

What we learned during this process

Vital editing skills

How to to use programs such as Premiere Pro and After affects

Working in a team

Planning

Production

Storyboarding

How do we feel about our product

We are very happy with the way the the story and how everything came together very well, we are also happy with the way the sound works.

EDITING: New Credits

Candi Studios IDENT
Easter Rising IDENT
Distributed by Easter Rising
Produced by Candi Media
SERENA ABBI
Title: ICARUS
JAMES CONNOLY
MICHAEL COLLINS
casting by PATRICK PEARSE
costume by MATHIEU HIMRI
music supervisor ARIANNA GIBBS
music by EVA NUNES
edited by ELIJAH BANKS
production designer FAUSTINO PEREZ
director of photography JORDAN BENNETT
executive producers TOMASZ MARTONIK and ABBIE MARSH
written by LUKA LOVRIC
directed by SIRAF ABASS

Thursday, 21 January 2016

Editing Evidence

Adding Sound and Titles to the Sequence

We have made progress since the last editing session, we've added a bit more sound and adjusted it to fit the sequence. By that I mean we made the sound escalate during the shots of Callum and deescalate during the shots of Esther. We did this to show

Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Feedback Mid-Production

PROOF OF FILMING - BEHIND THE SCENES

Monday, 18 January 2016

Casting

For our title sequence we need an actor and an actress. We do not need an extras.

We looked at the people in our group and based on their acting abilities chose:

Callum

Callum will play the male assassin

Esther

Esther will play the girl

Friday, 15 January 2016

Rough Cut 2 Group 32

Feedback on Rough Cut 2 - Group 32

Wednesday, 13 January 2016

Feedback from Teacher During Production

Feedback
During the editing process we were told a few things that should be changed:

Bring in the cross cutting of Callum (Bad Guy with Bouncy Hair) in earlier for the purposes of continuity due to the inconsistent lighting of the candle

Door Slamming shot needs to be shorter and an echo needs to be added for a better fitting reaction from Esther, to help the audience feel as if it is a genuine response

Distortion towards the end of the sequence; to emphasise the fact that Callum is the bad guy, that he is evil, and Esther is the heroine

Also, the motif of Callum (the duh-duh beat) needs to be a lot higher than that of Esther to make it clear to the audience that they are polar opposites in terms of character - the low pitched drum to the high pitched singing

Monday, 11 January 2016

Pitch evaluation

What we did well:

It was well presented
We showed good planning, especially with our locations (The backups for the locations especially)
Our high level of detail was good

What was not as good:

Slightly rushed due to time constricts
It wasn't clear if Callum's character was following mine or not
There were practical issues with collecting dust
Our storyboard was too short

Our targets:

To extend the storyboard through more shots
Use a sound motif with the cut to convey the relationship between the characters

Saturday, 9 January 2016

Final production schedule

Update - Editing Process

On 08/01/2016 our group spent 3 hours in the editing suite, primarily working on sound. We responded to feedback after we premièred our rough cut to the class, cutting out the part where a camera shake is detectable. We spend a lot of time looking for sound, specifically a creepy, eerie score which would add to the atmosphere. Unfortunately, many of these scores, on sites such as bensound,com and royaltyfreemusic.com were just TOO creepy, and seemed closer to the music in a Horror movie as opposed to a Thriller. Then, I had a brainwave to add in a beat; something that sounded like a heartbeat, but sped up the score and gave it a bit more energy (important for the scenes involving the male character - me). It is for this reason we used a slow, high pitched (copyright free) score downloaded from online, and the instrumental of Lady Leshurr's "Queens Speech 3" - split, looped and distorted to avoid copyright infringements. We worked for a long time to get this perfect, with the group splitting also to create a foley for each different action that needed it in the title sequence, such as the dropping of a matchbox. This was a very productive lesson and was a big step in terms of adding sound to our product. Above are some pictures of the group working very hard, and a Camtasia video illustrating our editing should be uploaded in the next few days so stay tuned.

Wednesday, 6 January 2016

Blogging health check 3 - FEEDBACK

My weaknesses are not the content of the posts, but uploading them and on a regular upload schedule

To improve, I will complete my targets and upload all of my missing posts.

Rough Cut Feedback

Blogging Health Check 3: FEEDBACK

While my blog so far is apparently of good quality, particularly with analysis and reflection, it's suffering because of my poor time management and relatively limited use of IT to post, and the frequency of posting has been erratic since production started. I've also missed out on a few key posts, which I will remedy as soon as possible.

In order to improve, I'll make sure to keep up with the blogging checklist, making a timetable for consistent and frequent posting. I'll also catch up with the key posts I've missed. With regards to the fairly limited range of IT, I will try to use programs that I've not yet used, like Camtasia.