Jess - FINAL EDIT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRWNC6z9quU&safe=active

The final editing process

Its the 26th April and our media coursework deadline has finally come to a close. Unfortunately today we had a few minor hiccups with the final editing of our film. When watching our opening sequence, we realized the music at the end of our film, didn't fade naturally and it cut off abruptly. When adhering to this problem, the media file crashed; this meant we had to relocate the old audio file- which unfortunately did take some time. But luckily the music is now working smoothly.

Today we also realized that we had to add in our production company logo, and "working title films" we did this so that our opening would conform to the conventions of a real media product. In the final process when looking at our old clips, we realized we didn't add one in, this allowed the film to flow better.

How did we attract/address our audience? ACTIVITY 5

In our opening sequence we can see a clear similarity between our opening shot and the opening credits with the American sitcom "New Girl". This is useful because the target audience for our film is similar to that of the American sitcom. 

The music in our opening sequence

 we wanted to make it our aim to find a sound that our audience would enjoy. The song we chose by King Dinosaur- Grown up. We decided to go for song which had a happy- up beat vibe reflecting Jess's personality and nature. The music is similar to that in the Juno opening sequence and New girl opening credits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aW3LEVGQ-lE&safe=active  Link to New girl opening 

 In our research we had a look at the film, Uptown Girls.  The opening in both filmsand opening includes an animal. Having an animal wake you up, is humorous and this comparison highlights our genre of romantic comedy's.

Another British rom-com i looked at was Tamara drew, in this opening sequence you have little idea of the story line and it doesnt give anything away about any of the characters. Unlike in ours, you are introudced to Jess and through her actions the audience can learn a little about her. One similarity between the "Tamara Drew" opening and our "Jess" is the font type. Both in a traditional white font.

 In the opening of Legally Blonde i can also see a similarity with Jess. They both represent their genre and target audience because it attracts a young females with the application of make up. This reflects the personality of  both characters Elle (Legally Blonde) and Jess. In both you see the characters in there daily routine getting ready although Legally Blondes Elle is much more glamorous.

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Evaluation Activity 3

Definition of a Media institution: A media instiution is an established, profit based organization, that deal in the creation and distribution of advertising, entertainment and information services.

From my research its clear that if a film doesn't secure good distribution will end up going straight to dvd and this means the film wont get back the money invested.We chose Richard Curtis as our director because he has worked on films such as Bridget Jones diary and Notting Hill. These two films attract our target audience and are also Romantic Comedies. Richard Curtis is a prestigious director so we guessed that if he was to direct our film he wouldn't struggle to gain distribution.

We decided to make our own production company called SBG FILMS. This is our logo:
If this was a real company we would hope it to be similar to companies such as Studio  Canal and  or Universal pictures.

  

Activity 7

When comparing my preliminary task to our opening sequence i can see a definitve difference in quality. This was probably to the fact that when filming our preliminary task we did not use a tripod.

In our preliminary task we used a wide/ Long shot showing Brandons entire figure and the lcoation in the back ground

The preliminary task helped us a group develop better ideas about using camera angles, in our opening sequence of "Jess" we used a few more professional camera angles. In the shot below, we used an over head shot of  "Jess" struggling to pull up her tights. This highlights to the audience a little about "Jess"'s ditsy nature.

Another technique we used, was match on action in our opening sequence. Match on action is a continuity editing technique normally done in three stages. We used match on action to show the process of Jess opening and going out the door.

We also used an over shoulder shot in "Jess", similarly like our preliminary task.  Over the shoulder shots are used to show a characters perspective.

Being new to using media equipment as a group we were bound to break a few of the technical rules. The prominent one was the 180 degree rule.

Evaluation Activity 1

The purpose of an opening sequence is to establish the mood and visual character of a film and introduce the viewer to all or some of these elements:

• Characters
• Locations
• Narrative/Plot
• Themes
• Visual
• Genre

In our opening sequence we see our main character "Jess" going about her daily routine. In our planning process, my group and I contemplated whether we should have any other characters within our sequence. In the end we then agreed it would work effectively if we had "Jess" alone, because it  helps the audience identify the main character and focus on "Jess"'s attributes. This is a convention followed in many romantic comedy's for example in Juno and Bridget Jones Diary. Conforming to this convention meant that our opening sequence didn't give much of our plot away.

The music in our opening sequence was used to highlight some of our genre. The song we used felt  matches our romantic comedy. To find a non copyright track; we spent a good few days on Soundcloud trying to find the perfect match. The song we used in the end was found under the "indie rock" catergory. The chosen music can also suggest some of "Jess's"  musical interests as well.

Our opening sequence was filmed in a flat in North West London, we asked our actress Connie Martin whether she was comfortable acting in her own environment. She replied with "Yes yes of course, in fact acting within my environment would make my performance all the more effective" with this it was then decided we would film the opening sequence here. This was useful because then we then didnt have to labour over finding props and costume. Connie Martin also said "I found it easier to relate to the character of Jess within my space" When filming we included shots of the interior of Jess's home such as her bedroom and kitchen. We thought about the mise en scene quite alot, so of course some of interior had to be rearranged to create an effective representation of our genre. We also decided not to have an establishing shot of our location because we wanted the focus to be entirely on our character Jess.

When adding in our credits we felt it was important for the titles to tie in with the appropriated shots, for example when Jess is gputting on her make up; we have "Make up by Cerys Celeste Walsh" We did this throughout our opening with our wardrobe manager, and the company that would of provided the dog.

 

activity 6

In our planning process i had to quickly adapt to using the blogging tool, bloggger. Being unfamiliar with blogger at the start meant as a group we started a little behind with the planning process.

 The camera we used was the Sony- Handycam. This was the first time I have ever used a camera so it took a while to get adjusting too.
Another website that i had never used before, was soundcloud; although it seems like a pretty simple website, it took a while to understand the concept of refining our searches.

The other programme that we had to learn how to use was adobe premiere. We used this programme at our school learning centre; where he had to quickly adapt to editing our film.