ORDER OF TITLES

Unfortunately i missed this lesson, so i was not able learn how to use TimeToast, however did find out the aim of the blogging task given to us. In this task we had to create a timeline of the title sequences of a film that was shown to the class in the lesson. The title sequence i have chosen to use is the film 'Juno' which was released in 2007. It was directed by Jason Reitman, and it stars Ellen Page and Michael Cera. the film is about to teenage lovers who end up with a teen pregnancy on there hands.

Timeline of titles

1) Ident - Fox searchlight
2) Distributor/Production Company
3) Film Title
4) Main Cast
5) Casting
6) Costume Design
7) Music/ Music Supervisors
8) Co-producers
9) Film Editor/Production Designer
10) Crew
11) Writer
12) Director

SUMMARY: SHOT BY SHOT REMAKE OF THE BREAKFAST CLUB OPENING

What went well?

In our final shot by shot remake we managed to incorporate a funny element to the opening by changing the script sightly to something more simple yet funny.

We also stuck to the shots quite well as majority of the shots we took matched the ones in the original clip.

What went wrong?

Some of the shots we took were quite shaky. This was due to the fact that we didnt time ourselves properly therefore wehad to rush some of the shots in order to stay within the time frmae given to us to film the task. this meant that we took shortcuts by not using the equipment provided to us such as the fig rig and the tripod. this therefore made some of our shots shakey.

How we could improve this

By planning well to make sure we get everything done correctly and well within the time frame would be, would help us imensely. this therefore would mean we could get more marks for the quality of our work produced.

Timetoast Juno Timeline

Creative commons

In today's lesson we were given the task of editing sound on to the opening clip of the film 'submarine'.Since the clip was soundless we had to add sound using creative commons, which is a programme that allows to gain access of  copy right free music through 'Sound cloud','jamendo' and 'ccMixter'.As me and my group where editing we decide to use indie mellow music as it best fitted the clip. Below is our clip that we made.

In our final piece we are not allowed to use music that is copy righted as there is two reasons that prevent us to do 1) Being our exam does not allow this 2) It is also a criminal offence to copyright something that is not yours and we could be prosecuted by the owner. 

Here is a brief song explaining what copy right is

Another option that we could bring into mind is that we could make the music for our piece by our-slef by using programmes such as 'Logic'  and 'Garageband' which two people in our group ( Me and Devon) have a two year experience of using. In addition our group could record our-self as I can play drums and Lorita  can sing which could be very useful in our final piece 

COPYRIGHT AND CREATIVE COMMONS

Copyright and Creative Commons

In the majority of films, their openings contain music which is playing in the background. In our final piece of work we are not allowed to use copyrighted music because:

A) The Exam board do not allow us to use it.
B) Essentially it is a crime and we could be prosecuted by the owner of the music.

What is copyright?

Copyright is when the creator of music, books, films, etc, gain the legal rights to there own creation therefore allowing them to control whoever uses it. If their creation is used without the owners consent, then the owner can press charges if they desire. this is all done to make sure the the owner gets paid.

What is creative commons?

Creative Commons is a hub for free, non-copyrighted music. It uses a number of online music streaming websites to search the internet for the best non-copyrighted tracks. Artists are also allowed to upload and promote there music through Creative Commons.

One task we were given in the class was to use Creative Commons to find alternative music for the opening scene of a film titled 'Submarine'. The clip given to us was quite a sad set of recordings, therefore we had to find music that was quite soft and calming.

Alternative music options

An alternative option when searching for music is to actually create the music ourselves. To do this we could use programs such as Logic Pro and Fruity Loops just to name a few. By doing this we do not need to worry about copyright and also it adds authenticity to the work we produce at the end of the unit.

RESEARCHING MUSIC AND SOUND - CREATIVE COMMONS

https://soundcloud.com/stevenobrien/rejected-ambient-orchestral:

This music could be used at the start of a horror or a sci-fi movie. it would probably match with long shots of some scenery for example, panning round showing space and other planets in a sci-fi film.

https://soundcloud.com/djbarrister/aint-no-mountain-high-enough:

This music could be used at the start of a film which involves waking up. it suits a journey to work or school. when the song breaks down it sounds like it could be playing on a radio in an old persons home as the song pretty much becomes its original however that doesn't last very long.

https://soundcloud.com/killthenoise/thumbs-up-for-rock-n-roll-with:

 This music could fit in a teen film easily as it suits the handsome bad boy character, when he turns up to school late. This is because it has a gritty rock sound to it which suits that typical characters description perfectly.

https://soundcloud.com/walidfeghali/with-wind-in-our-sails-epic-orchestral:

You would probably find this music in a film about pirates. it could open with pirates fighting on the deck of a ship. the start of the song it sounds like it could fit in a disney film.

Submarine - Creative Commons

Creative Commons

What is our task?

Like every other teen film opening, there is always music playing whether it's diagetic or non-diagetic. The syllabus is very strict about the guidelines for the music/sound we choose to use in our film openings. It has to be copyright free. 

What is copyright?

Copyright gives the creator of music, a film, a book,etc. legal rights to control who uses the product and how it is distributed. This is done to ensure the creator/artist will get paid.

Why is it important to use sound that is copyright free in our film openings?

First of all, using copyrighted sound is against the law. If we used a music track that had copyrighted protection, the posted your film on YouTube, you would be breaking the law.

We gain more marks if we create sounds ourself, for example, by using GarageBand. This is because it shows our knowledge of what copyrighting is and that we understand the copyright law by sourcing music that is copyright free. We are awarded more marks for increased level of creativity.

If we show that we are layering sound, for example, using a copyright free track but also adding sound effects like glass-downs and footsteps, and possibly a bit of ambient sound, like cars driving by or sirens, we will achieve high marks for our use of sound in your production.

What is the concept behind Creative Commons?

Creative Common is a website where artists upload their music and allow it to be used for free. 

In our lesson, we were given a video with no sound and were asked to find a copyright free sound/song that matches with the atmosphere the video perceives. Which is shown in one of our previous blogs.

I personally, would use Garageband as I downloaded their app on my iPhone. The app gives you all instruments,e.g. guitar, piano, violin, etc. which you can record yourself playing and you can make a soundtrack. 

Planning Final Project: Ideas

Our Original Teen Film Initial Ideas


We first decided on a character which we wanted to make our main character, this character is: The Nerd 

We then decided on a general storyline for the movie if we were actually going to make a 2 hour film. The storyline we decided on ideas about the nerd facing bullies and general struggles in his extremely hard and pathetic life. An example of a film which is similar to the ideas we have is Napoleon Dynamite, here is the trailer:

We then decided how to shoot a 2 minute opening for our film. to do this we used a storyboard to draw shot for shot our ideas.

The journey through teen film

Summary: Reflection of Final Shot By Shot Remake

What went wrong?

A lot of faulty concepts occurred within our remake as we had a shaky camera.
In order to improve on this, I will ensure for our original film opening, to use a tripod or a fig-rig. For the original opening, when using a fig rig, we will use a skateboard or something that can create a smooth panning motion.







Actors are essential in films. Without actors, the film will fall apart. That is why it is crucial that we use actors who are comfortable in front of the camera otherwise the intentions of the making of the film or meaning of the film will be unclear.

Final 'The Breakfast Club' Shot By Shot Remake

Shot by Shot Remake Bloopers

Bloopers

As you know, things go wrong behind the scenes so I thought it would be a good idea to show that things go wrong and it takes hard work and commitment to get the perfect result.

What have I learnt ?

In today's lessons we were set a task where we had to record shot by shot the opening scene of breakfast club.In order to do this we had to follow the typical stages of pre production which included creating a story-broad of each shot so we could easily work through when filming, we also had to bring in props for the filming which were an american football jersey for the Jock character and glasses which were for all characters as we wanted to define each character.

filming was pretty hard... :)

Overall filming was very hard as we had to film each scene shot by shot and not by our own ideas, we where also very restricted as were not able to leave the college grounds to film the opening car scene due to health and safety issues but instead we had to use toy cars to improvise which proved to have it's ups and downs including that its was a learning step how to improvise using objects that don't technically fit  in with what your doing , however it was very hard to use smaller objects which was time consuming which'd slowed down our work rate. 

After experiencing filming today i will have to change somethings for when i film my actual project these including that i will plan a lot during  the pre production stage with drawing storyboards and writing scripts  and making a checklist of props that i will need , with this being said i will work much quicker during the production stages. I also need to work faster when editing ( as I have been told by my teacher) during my spare i will need to explore deeper into the world of creating effects on final cut pro and learn more about it so i can make my work more interesting compared to others.

Comparison: Final Shot By Shot Remake VS. Original Opening

Final Shot By Shot Remake Comparison

                                      

Shot by Shot Remake:

Comparison

Shot by Shot Remake VS.Original Opening

              

My Progress

My Progress

So far within this course, I believe I've learnt a lot in terms of editing and filming, however in terms of my blog, the variety of ICT used appears to be quite limited. In order to gain higher marks, I need to include a wider variety of technology. For examples: 

• Vlogs
• Gifs
• Twitter
• Interviews 
• Embedding Prezi 
• Embedding SlideShare
• Editing Videos on Camtasia
• Instagram
• Tumblr

All the words in bold are titles of different social media websites/apps that I can use in order to develop my blogs and make them more thorough and visually interesting.

For our shot by shot remake of The Breakfast Club opening, my group and I decided to make bloopers of all the mistakes we made on camera, behind the scenes. We also took a few 'behind the scenes' photos for our blog, widening the range of technology being used in our blog.

Overall strengths:
I believe I've used a fair amount of technology.
I'm also completely up to date with all my work that's needed, and is also in logical order.

Overall weaknesses:
Although I have used a fair amount of technology, there is still room for development which I will start to do.

Filming & Editing: Making of Shot by Shot Remake

Overview

During the video shoot of the shot to shot remake, my skills to perform under pressure due to timed conditions were put to test. The atmosphere became very chaotic and stressful, however the job had to be done. 

We had to improvise with our shortage of props, i.e. real cars, graffiti on the walls of the building, etc. But we found alternatives like toy cars, and instead of using a wall of grafitti, we used a board. We tried to make them look as realistic as we could.

What I learnt?

The shot by shot remake enhanced my knowledge of shot types as we had to replicate the shot type accurately from 'The Breakfast Club' film. For example, for the photo below, we had to use the exact same shot type of the school corridor which is a long shot.



We also learnt how to edit films using the professional technology used by experts in pro-production. We used three different computers that were all connected to the one film we were creating but each had a separate functions. We also got to experience the pressure professionals do when making a film with a publicised release date. 

What will change when making our own opening?

Unfortunately, my group ran out of time and had to be given an extra few minutes in order to complete our shot by shot remake, showing that we struggled to cope with the pressure successfully as it was our first time shooting under timed conditions. I think one of the reasons that contribute to why my group and I didn't finish on time is because we took on each task/shot together. What would have been more effective is if we had given each other individual and different responsibilities which would have been much more faster and efficient. For example, if one of us had the responsibility of filming the shots while the other prepares the following shot simultaneously. And then switch responsibilities in order for each of us to have a go at everything.  

Review of teen film- The breakfast club

The breakfast club is know to be as one of the pioneers of teens films as it kick started the teen film genre with other iconic films such as 'grease' , 'back to the future' etc. The breakfast club follows a group of five  teenagers who come from a vary of different cliques each one of them representing one  such as the jock, the princess , the nerd ,the basket case and the criminal. All five of these characters are forced to sacrifice their Saturday and spend  eight hours in after school detention. The films main target audience is projected at teenagers of all ages and groups, the reason why this film did so good in the film industry as it was able to include all the stereotypes within teenagers which meant most teenagers where able to relate to  at least one characters in the film.

The Criminal.

The Nerd.

The Basket case.

The Jock.

 The Princess.

During the film the school principle requires the students not to talk , move from their seat or sleep through the detention. After the  teenagers slowly get bored the criminal decides to  break the silence by annoying each member of the group, which slowly causes tension  between each member of their clique which the director is able to show how each clique differs from each other.  As time passes by group begin to become more friendly and develop conversation from time to time, the criminal then proposes that the group should smoke cannabis in which they all finally agree to. When smoking  they all become friendly with  each other and they start to reveal their dark secrets to each other , it is then at this point the director John huges is able to breakdown each clique and show how really alike all of them are to each other but due to things such as  stigmas each clique are hostile to each other and ignore each other rather than showing compassion and friendliness.

Overall I enjoyed the film very much as i was able  to relate to some of these characters and enjoyed how the film use the codes and conventions of a standard teen film.It was very interesting as this film was made during the 80's (quite a bit before my time) and i was still able to see that this film was  the kick starter for the teen film industry and it is also interesting being able to compare and contrast with later teen films such as 'mean girls' '10 things i hate about you' etc. and how they borrow similar features from the early generation of teen films.   

'The Breakfast Club' Storyboard Template

Travelling and Arriving - Storyboard

Donnie Darko blogging task - characters

CHARACTERS -( Donnie Darko)

 
In the beginning the first character that is show is Donnie Darko who is shown to be the main character as he is in the middle of his friends showing he is the leader within the group, but he is also shown to walking at a much faster pace than his friends maybe implying that he is not  as close with them.

During the 0:23 the evil antagonist who is also the bully is shown to be walking through the hall his appearance has a evil smug look on his face and then he is shown to walk very close to Donnie almost nudging him when passes him this shows that they clearly don't like each other , this also links back to binary oppositions as these two characters are clearly opposite from each other with one being the protagonist and the other being an antagonist . Lastly he gives an evil grin to the headteacher which shows conflict as she clearly despises him due to the fact on ignorance on her face.

At the 0:40  the camera pans across to show a young youthful teenage girl looking at the mirror with the use of this action we can clearly see that she is a 'pure'due to her having hardly any make up and a innocence face and  the  fact that she is on her own implies that she is almost like a 'undiscovered' beauty as she is not exploited by popular girls as she doesn't  heavily use make up and wear revealing clothing to make her look beautiful but instead shes relies on her natural looks 

lastly at the 2:00 we are shown a group of young girls who are cheer leading they mostly follow into the appearance and stereotype  of the popular girl as they follow the typical codes and convection's such as having blonde hair Caucasian skin etc. also they adopt the norms of a popular girl by taking part in the activity cheer leading. however the girls look really young around the ages of 12-14 this maybe because the director wants to show how fast young girls are willing to group into women and transform their looks so they can feel pretty and popular. 

DONNIE DARKO ANALYSIS - EDITING AND CAMERA

CAMERA

This mid shot is used to show that life at this school may not be like a normal school, it suggests that things at the school are different and twisted. Also its part of a continuos shot which may show that school life flows.

The use of mid shots in the corridors helps show the audience the characteristics of each character shown. for example here we see two wonderful students casually snorting their cocaine in the corridor with a teacher looking onwards in the background.







EDITING

The majority of the scene is a continuos shot which helps show that the life in the school just flows no matter what. Slow motion is also used to helps showcase each character in a more detailed way allowing the audience to analysis them in much more detail.

Travelling and Arriving Analysis - The Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club Analysis

How does mode of transport establishes each different character?

Princess - Driven to school by her dad in a BMW, moans about missing shopping for detention, doesn't say bye to her dad - spoilt.

Athlete - Driven to school by his dad in a pick-up truck. Father cares about him and his success in sports, he pressurises his son to succeed.

Criminal - Walks to school alone, walks in front of a driving car - careless. An outsider. No family.

Basketcase - Girl is driven to school by her parent. When she arrives, she leans on the window, attempting to say bye to her parents, they drive off before she gets a chance to say bye - detachment. Expensive car - rich family. Parents may be more involved in their professions as they do not seem to care that their child is in trouble.

Brain - Hardworking. Is driven to school by his mother and younger sibling. Mother is very strict and eager for her son's educational success - 'find a way to work.'

Donnie Darko Analysis - Locations & Mise-En-Scene

Donnie Darko Analysis




Within the beginning of the clip, a clear shot of a conventional yellow school bus is established which contributes to the idea of establishing a school environment, along with the teenage males that jump off the bus wearing school uniform as their costume establishing their characters of students.

Conventional Locations:

1. School corridors
2. Playground
3. Lockers
4. Classroom

A sense of separation and cliques is established throughout the clip as the camera pans past the nerds who are seen studying, using books and pens as the props, portraying an image of a strong devotion to their studies and a group of girls who are seen dancing, singing, hugging and smiling, who are all wearing skirts which is stereotypical as not all girls wear skirts all the time  - the 'girly' conventions. The trouble-makers are seen pulling faces to the authority showing a lack of respect and care for the superior. He is seen doing drugs which is considered his prop and establishes him as the care-free student who isn't devoted to his studies.

DEVONS TARGETS FAM

Time to reflect on my progress

In the past i feel that i have not had enough detail in my work. I think i need to improve this.

Also i think i need to have the blog always around me so i can blog more because i can be very lazy at times which i know hinders my performance.

recflection on your progress

 3 good points about my blog: 

+ good use of gifs/moving images. 
+ all my blogs are detailed and contain a lot of information. 
+ always relating back to the topic.

3 things negatives about my blog 

- need to keep update with some work. 
- start blogging about things that link to teen films that are not on task sheet. 
- making layout more interesting for the viewer.

 Things i should consider:

• using images

• creating GIFS

• embedding video

• embedding slideshare

• embedding prezi

• VLOGS

• wordles

• annotation apps

• edited clips in camtasia

• director's cuts

• timetoast

• director's commentaries

• photobucket

• twitter

• interviewing people!

• Go animate!

Reflection on Progress

Reflection on Progress

Throughout this AS Media course, I have gained a countless amount of new skills. 
In terms of editing, I have learnt how to thoroughly edit videos on Final Cut Pro. I have also learnt how to improve a video or film by adding special visual and sound effects in order to enhance a certain atmosphere or emotion to the audience. 

I have also learnt how to consistently produce detailed and relevant blog posts. In order to make the blog posts detailed and visually interesting, I include gifs, photos, videos. All these visual techniques are used as visual representations of the concepts I try portray within my posts. 

I also used presentations for my Pitch as it is more eye catching and interactive with the presenter and the audience, too.

In terms of filming, I have learnt how to replicate shot types, e.g. mid shot, close up shot, long shot, etc. I have learnt which particular equipment is needed in order to create professional videos. For example, zooming is forbidden during filming as it looks very amateurish and unprofessional. We also learnt which shot types are necessary for which moments. For example, a close up shot would be appropriate when trying to strongly emphasise ones facial expressions or emotions.

What to do in order to improve:

Using a wide range of ICT is a useful way of gaining marks and making my blog posts more interesting. 
In order to make my blog more interesting, I will use:

• Slid.es - An alternative to PowerPoint and makes slideshows more visually interesting and interactive.
• Prezi - Another alternative to Powerpoint.
• Vlogs - A video instead of a blog - the video must include all the information that would have been included in the blog. It is like a blog post being presented orally instead of visually.
• Animate - Information presented in a video of pictures.
• Wordles - An eye catching method of writing important information. 
• Timetoast - Schedules or orderly videos presented on a timeline.
• Camtasia - A method of editing videos to make them more capturing.
• Twitter - A social networking site that can be used to advertise upcoming blog posts or videos. It can notify the audience of any important information and can gain us more views on our blogs.  

BLING RING REVIEW

The Bling Ring is a teen drama based on true story about a group of friends who become very rebellious and turn to a life of crime by robbing the rich and famous's homes. The film tackles the typical teen angsts of self-image, friendship and the level of there self esteem, as well as the issue of rebellion and the ease of slipping into crime.

If we exclude the the fact that this is not a typical teen drama, we still see ways in which it is. for example the use of the clique as the main group is still a typical feature of any teen movie. The film also has the 'New Boy' which is the main protagonist in the plot, which is also a key feature of a teen film. However, apart from those two features, there is not really anything else that makes this film a typical teen drama.

Despite it having an extravagant storyline, the film is relatable to the teenagers of modern culture, with it portraying a group of teens being sucked in by the media and being moulded by modern society into what they would call the 'perfect image'. It also is relatable to the modern youth by the way social networking is presented in the film as a hub for literally everything, showing that the generation we live in is a cyber one.

TASK 2- 3 TEEN FILMS

3 TEEN FILMS

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE

Napoleon Dynamite gives the teenage audience an insight into the life of an awkward, outcast of a high school in the heart of Idaho. one of the reasons this film was successful was because it had its themes of bullying, popularity, first love, and typical teenage angst. These are all very relatable themes which was probably why it was so successful. It was rated PG and its rough target age group was 11-17 which is the majority of the teenage age range. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHDi_AnqwN4

PROJECT X

Project X is a very raunchy comedy about three high school seniors who throw a huge party that spins wildly out of control. This film was aimed at the older teens, 15+, which is understandable. this film is relatable to most teens as i feel that most teenagers want to be a party animal and show there wild side once in a while, which for me i feel is the main attraction for teens to this film. Themes portrayed in this film are sex, drugs, partying, popularity, conflict with parents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvbMfHj63_c

TWILIGHT

This teen thriller is a fantasy adventure about girl that gets caught up in the world of vampires and werewolves. The target audience was probably teen girls aged between 11-15. it contains strong themes of love and desire as well as themes of typical teen angst. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edLB6YWZ-R4

Holiday Task - Analysis of Teen Film

Bring It On: All Or Nothing Review

The film 'Bring It on: All or Nothing' is the third instalment of the 'Bring It On' sequel. All the 'Bring It On' films revolve around high school cheer-leading. All the films from this sequel have a tenuous link as they all feature the similar theme of cheer-leading competition between two competing squads.

This film is a teen film with the sub-genre of comedy. I say it's a teen film as it explores the special interests of teenagers, e.g. First love, heartbreak, how to fit in, being the social outcast, etc. However, it introduces comedic elements in order to de-emphasise the problems the characters face. 

This appeals to a teen audience as it could show them that the problems they face can easily be overcome and forgotten with a bit of humour, happiness and by looking on the brighter side of things. 

This film portrays a negative and positive outlook on teenagers. At the beginning of the film, it focuses on portraying the idea that teenagers are very much socially constructed and shaped by society in which they conform to the social rules.It also conveys that if anyone who rebels against the social rules, they're looked down on and bullied. It connotes that teenagers are now socially segregated into 'cliques' and conform to their own rules that come with the subcultures they belong to. However, towards the end of the film, teenagers are conveyed in a healthy way and the films conveys the idea of teenagers being able to have strong team work and healthy competition which pushes them to work hard for what they want to achieve.

In this teen film, there is a rivalry between two cheer-leading squads. The main character has best friends in one squad which she no longer belongs to and struggles to stay loyal to the cheer-leading squad she is now in. However, her old squad have a bad influence on her which she is unaware of at the start of the film. Throughout the film, we watch the main character grow and recognise which group has a bad influence and eventually chooses to leave them behind, making the smarter choice. 
This has a major link to other mainstream teen films as they all primarily consist of decision making, i.e. whether it's about making the right decision between the right or wrong partner, or about the right or wrong friend, etc.

This film differs from other teen films as the conflict within this film is based upon two cheer-leading squads who are competing against one another, not between two cliques or subcultures which is conventionally what many teen films do. This film connotes the competitive nature of teenagers . It has a good outlook on teens as it shows that they thrive for what they want and are determines which isn't the stereotypical outlook teen films convey of teenagers.

In this teen film, the protagonist moves schools to an area that consists mainly of black people. She is immediately considered as an outsider as she is physically an outcast due to her white race. She is portrayed as a spoilt, white girl as she moves from a rich area, to a working-class area. No one seems to like her at first but she eventually grows on the people and gradually begins to fit in. This is similar to a lot of teen dramas, e.g. The Bling Ring, as the protagonist begins as an outcast and gradually grows to become part of the clique.