DEAR MODERATOR

Dear Moderator

Welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy looking through my work which contains posts  about our planning, evaluating and construction of our opening film Zest. I worked in a group with two other people, Esme Finch and Ellie Walton. Above you can find my answers to all the evaluation questions.

Thank you.

EVALUATION QUESTION 6

6) NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Please CLICK HERE 


This is my answer for Evaluation Question 6. Please click above to view.

FILM

please click HERE

EVALUATION QUESTION 7

7) WHAT HAVE I LEARNED ABOUT FILM MAKING

Since the start of the course, it is clear my skills in film –making and production has improved. Looking back at my preliminary task, I didn’t understand and put into practice the different camera angles and shots that were available for me. However, when creating my product, I learnt a variety of different camera techniques and shots including tracking, panning, establishing and high angle shots. Our planning, storyboard and researching ideas were a lot more thorough in our coursework than the prelim. I movie was the only technical programme I was familiar with before the production of our opening. I have now learnt how to use many new technical programmes that I hadn’t heard of before including premiere pro, Special effects, Wordle, Slideshare and even blogger. By using Special Effects I was taught how to adjust lighting and transport images to place over our green screen background.

I had also learnt a variety of things that were non -digital. For example, the cameras we used for filming (canon 550D) was a piece of technology I had never used before. For our prelim we used an ordinary camcorder, which proved to be a lot simpler than the Canon, which had so many other purposes built into it. I was taught how to keep the camera steady in tracking shots and scenes by using a tripod. Smaller issues that arose during our filming process was the problem of lighting. When filming for the first time we found the lighting was so bad we had to re-evaluate where we were going to shoot the scene, making sure it allowed for sufficient lighting.

Continuity was another problem that arose during the film making process. We had to take into account minor details like the clothing of the gap year student

to make sure it showed continuity. We couldn’t have her appear  a particular way in one scene, then when re capturing or continuing the clip, have her dressed in something completely different.

Since our preliminary task i feel a lot more confident in filming. As a group, we learnt it takes a fair amount of time getting everything in place, and sorting things out, making sure lighting is spot on and objects are in their correct places. We took many different shots of the same scene, trying out new and interesting angles we hadn't used before. Everyone in the group had their own input into how they wanted to see things done. All of our ideas were then combined resulting in an even better finished product. 

Sound in our prelim consisted of simple dialogue used to construct a simple plot. In our opening of Zest, however, we learnt how to create several layers of soundtrack which included a music track, dialogue and a voice over. As a group, we watched a number of film openings and television programmes to help us understand how a music track can be identified with a specific genre. For example, a sitcom like Two and A Half Men has upbeat, feel good, fast paced music. This helped us research a suitable music track that would be played in the background of our opening. We learnt how to frame the narrative by writing a voice over (of the gap year student) that would help explain to the viewer what they are watching. 

We learnt how to position our titles in interesting ways which would be used to catch the audiences attention. We had to put the titles in the right places that would be attached to the character it was showing. These titles were made on both Imovie and Adobe Effects. Besides the titles, we learnt how the music soundtrack can have a huge influence on the quality of the opening in understanding what it is about. At first we used instrumental music, which although was bubbly which fitted in with the characteristics of our restaurant, it simply didn't deliver what we acquired. In the end, after a lot of research, we used the song Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson. This song fit perfectly with our narrative voice over and helped portray our specific genre we were presenting. 

EVALUATION QUESTION 6

6) NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Please CLICK HERE 


This is my answer for Evaluation Question 6. Please click above to view.

EVALUATION QUESTION 5

5) ATTRACTING AND ADDRESSING AUDIENCES

I made a slideshare for evaluation question 5

Please CLICK HERE

EVALUATION QUESTION 4

4) WHO IS YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

When planning our film "Zest" we took into consideration what our target audience was going to consist of and the characteristics they might possess. Zest portrays characters of different stereotypes to create comedy for the audience. Our audience might contain a variety of people who enjoy comedy and cookery programmes. Teenagers might also find interest in the younger characters like the australian gap year student and the celebrity twins. This could be because they hold their same values and can relate more to these characters.

Here is a profiled audience for Zest: 

Age:15-30

Gender: Both

Television: Faulty Towers, Friends, The F Word, Hells Kitchen, Master Chef

FIlms: Bridget Jones Diary, No Reservations, The Inbetweeners and Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging 

Restaurants: Pizza Express, Nandos, Caluccios, Gordan Ramsey's restaurant and ZiZi's

Clothes: River Island, Topshop/Topman, H&M and Zara

Media: Iphone, Blackberry, Ipod, Ipad and Macs

Books: Jamie Oliver"s Cooking Book, Nigella Lawsons Cookery book and Cooking by Colour. Books might also consist of satire including novels like Animal Farm and Gulliver's travels. 

Wordle

EVALUATION QUESTION 3

3) DISTRIBUTION

 A prezzi was made to answer evaluation question 3

Click HERE for prezzi

EVALUATION QUESTION 2

2) REPRESENTATION OF SOCIAL GROUPS

 Bikers boys- according to Dick Hebdige, certain groups form sub cultures with specific identities that they signal through clothing and music codes. Here, the biker boys wear leathers, boots and tattoos. They also signal membership of their musical affiliations through references to heavy metal music: Ozzy Osbourne.

Austalian gap year-  we have noticed that Australians and New Zealanders are often depicted in media texts as having New World qualities of breeziness , humour, and irreverence for Old World conservative, stuffy, and traditional values. For example, characters like Crocodile Dundee and The Castlemaine XXX beer adverts contain comic representations of bold and breezy stereotypes. Our protagonist is a gap year student from Australia who has come to work in a UK restaurant and she is alternately exasperated and amused by the “Britishers” she finds.





Stereotype: celebrity chef ( left Heston Blumenthal) Cutting edge molecular Gastronomy, obsessed with inventing new recipes with scientific approach. High profile TV appearances. Our chef (right) is modelled on this stereotype





We have chosen a comic stereotype relating to body image here: fat people are often stereotyped in a negative way as figures of fun; Dawn French, for example, is famous for drawing attention to her large appetite in comedy sitcoms such as The Vicar Of Dibley.





Magazines and online news sites are crammed full of representations of celebrities: Their clothes, their escapades, their spending habits, their love lives and their holidays seem to have an inexhaustible fascination for readers. We depict celebrity stereotypes as being empty headed and obsessed with their body image.

This social stereotype is the posh social climber, like Penelope Keith in The Good Life.

We introduced them with wine being swirled in front of them as they are the kind of people who think of themselves as wine connoisseurs. This kind of customer likes to bandy about famous restaurants and hotels that they have dined in to show off. They are also the kind of people who follow trends in the press about the latest diet fads. Theyre likely to shop at waitrose and want to know all their food is ethically sourced and of the finest qualities. The recent horse meat scandal is likely to have appalled them and made them suspious of whatever they put into their mouths. At restaurants they are likely to talk very loudly and ghautily in an RP accent like Lead Better in The Good Life.

CONSTRUCTION:VOICE OVER

Dear Dad..

1) Well my gap year has got off to crazy start: I’m here in rainy England and Poms are WEIRD.

You know me, zest for life, well I thought I’d found my dream job

Real British restaurant, so I thought: but what did I find : a weirdo chef (Max)

(Before Eydie) Some of the customers are gross..

2) Bet she couldn’t go three rounds with a roo

3) I’d like to shove some of them in that celebrity jungle show!

4) Oh Dad! I’m trying hard to make a go of things, but the girls are bimbo airheads! (twins)

BANANA PANCAKE: banana pancake: banana being chopped? (Pancake in pan flip?)

5) But I’m really home sick ! I can’t see any boyfriend material here (biker boys)

6) (explosion) Oh dad, gotta go! Chef’s microwaved the wine again!

The soundtrack we chose to go in our film opening is 'Banana Pancakes' by Jack Johnson. We chose this because it is a feel good, upbeat and cheerful song which immediately puts you in a good mood. Also, the lyrics in the song relates to the main theme and focus in our film opening.

CONSTRUCTION:POSTER

This is are final constructed poster which includes dates of the release of Zest and our website link which our targeted audience can look at 

CONSTRUCTION: WEBSITE PAGE

This is our official website page giving viewers the options to take part in our interactive games and view pictures in our personal gallery

CONSTRUCTION: WEBSITE PAGE

Today we took a few pictures and edited them on photoshop to decide which pictures would be used to accommodate our text.

EVALUATION: FILM RELEASE DATES

The 29th of March is our chosen release date for our film Zest. We choose this time of the year as it is around Easter when schools are breaking up and teenagers and children are on holiday. By having our film released in the holidays it will allow our audience the time to come and see Zest. There are other current films that have been released this Easter which also have the same comedic appeal as our own film Zest. A few of these films include Silver Linings Playbook, Identity Thief and This is 40

CONSTRUCTION: TITLES AND EDITING

Today we filmed our titles. We used different cookery objects including a pan, toaster and cutting board to display these titles. We poured milk and grease onto both the board and pan which will be used to conduct and carry out these texts. As soon as we were done filming, we edited these clips on special effects.

DISRIBUTION: ATTRACTING & ADDRESSING OUR AUDIENCE PLANNING EVALUATION Q.5

Today we focused on distribution using the BFI site on digital distribution.

Today we spent a lot of time investigating distribution which is a key element in the chain between the film’s production and its audience. Distributors use a spread of means to gain traction and build awareness, such as digital media:

·      Film website

·      Trailers on the website

·      Facebook

·      Twitter

·      Aurasma (linking print with online trailers)

Distributors also use print advertising:

·      P+A includes poster campaigns

·      Interviews in newspapers

·      Campaigns in free papers like Metro

Trailers and other media

·      10 second spot TV campaigns

·      30 second TV campaigns

·      Cinema traikers

·      Screenings

·      Tv radio interviews

·      They also set up distribution for DVD rights and exhibition rights

    In order to attract and address our  audience i have planed to set up a number of products that distributers take responsibility for including: 

•   A Facebook and twitter for our film where people are able to write comments and reviews about it 
•   We have used posters of still imaged shots 
•   Website pages where audiences can connect to interactive games using aurasma 

CONSTRUCTION:EDITING CUSTOMERS

Today we edited all our scenes which involved the different costumers. We edited the green screen in the background, replacing it with the environmental image of a restaurant. We decided to use a green screen as shooting in a real life restaurant, with all the background noise and insufficient lighting proved difficult. There were a few problems we faced when filming with a green screen. For example in one of our shots we had one of our customers wearing a green jacket. This proved difficult when trying to edit the background green screen, as it also changed the colour of our customers jacket.

Posh couple

Editing Background

CONSTRUCTION:CHEF

Today we filmed our chef scene which was in the style of Heston Blumenthal. We brought out these scientific qualities Heston Blumenthal possess by presenting our own chef in a lab coat and using test tubes to hold noodles and other food objects. Heston Blumenthal possess characteristics and comes across very focussed and concentrated. We therefore portrayed our chef as being very direct and focussed as he slices the tomatoes sharply.

Close up of Chef preparation

Over the shoulder shot of Gap year student observing Chef

                 

CONSTRUCTING: LIGHTING FAILURE

Today we tried filming our first scene of our opening which included our Heston Blumenthal inspired chef preparing recipes for the restaurant. However, as we were filming we found the lighting was so bad we couldn't even see the face of the actor. As a result, we moved to an area which gave us sufficient lighting to film

Bad lighting

re-capturing the same scene (better lighting)

CONSTRUCTION: COSTUMERS

Today we started filming the costumers who appear in our restaurant opening. This included the fat girl with her mother and the biker boys. We placed a green screen in the background of our shot which will allow us after filming, to go back an edit into a  restaurant background. We also placed menus posters around our scenery setting to really emphasise and bring out the restaurant name. 

Biker Boys

Close up of fat girl picking at her teeth

CONSTRUCTION: ZEST OPENING SCENE

Location filming in Esher of ZEST establishing shot outside restaurant. Ellie, Esme and I went down to Esher to film the first bit of our opening scene. We set up the camera on the other side of the road for filming the opening shot of Esme walking into the shot.

In this scene we have the Australian female gap year student who  is arrives outside the restaurant. As she approaches the restaurant she checks her phone to verify the location in which she then appears to enter. We have close ups of the restaurant window, advertising board etc to provide us with sufficient material for cut away shots. 

PLANNING: TITLE

This is our edited title of our restaurant. We are going to place posters of this image around our scenery setting and on our menus to really emphasize and bring out our restaurant name.

LOCATION

Zest Call Sheet - A2 MEDIA STUDIES CALL SHEET

SHOOT DAY: FEBRUARY ONWARS
LOCATION:HIGH ST. ESHER, SURREY KT10, UK

WE TRAVELED TO OUR LOCAL TOWN, ESHER, TO OUR CHOSEN LOCATION, "COTE" TO FILM THE FIRST SCENE WHICH CONSISTS OF DANI (OUR GAP YEAR STUDENT) ENTERING THE RESTAURANT SHE IS ABOUT TO WORK IN FOR THE SUMMER

11:45 TO 13:))

CAMERA EQUIPMENT:

- HD CAMERA (CANNON D550)
-CANNON CAMERA
-TO BATTERIES
-1 MEMORY CARE (16GB)
-TRIPOD STAND
CAMERA BAG AND PROTECTING LENS
COLLAPSIBLE DOLLY

PROPS:
SAMSUNG PHONE

WARDROBE:
COSTUME (ESME FINNCH)DANI
OUTFIT 1- BLACK AND BLUE DIESEL JACKET, BOHEMIAN SCARF GREEN AND GREY, SAND DESERT BOOTS, BLACK TIGHTS AND WHITE SHIRT

PLANNING:TITLES

Today we did a bit of background research into how we were going to construct and present our titles. We looked at Art of the Title and observed how different movies had presented their titles. We looked at a couple of movie openings including James Bond and To Kill a Mockingbird. This gave us some ideas into how to use our creativity to make the titles interesting. For example, in James Bond Casino Royal they presented their title sequences on playing cards, guns and money ( three major themes in the movie). We decided we wanted to use food (our major theme) to compose our titles.

Food Inc gave us inspiration into how we were going to assemble our titles. Food Inc places their titles onto different food objects which we plan to do in ours.

PLANNING:LOCATION

These are the pictures we took from the interior of the restaurant. Unlike the other restaurant, this one showed qualities and characteristics that resembled our cafe like atmosphere we are trying to achieve. Although we are not using the interior of this restaurant to film, we have taken into account the qualities that make it a cafe and applying it to our own scene.

PLANNING:LOCATION

Today we walked down to our local town to look at possible restaurants we could use for our opening scene. These two pictures are the exterior of our two final choices. The restaurant on the left is more posh, whereas the one on the right  holds a more cafe like atmosphere which is ideal for the restaurant we are trying to portray in our own opening clip.

PLANNING:CHEFS DIALOGUE

Today we researched quotes of Heston Blumenthal (our inspired chef)  which gave us ideas into the dialogue of our own chef. This is what we came up with:

Molecular gastronomy is the way to go....

If it's good enough for Heston, it's good enough for us.

I’ve got prawns with a soy foam and fruit noodles.

I’m planning a medieval feast complete with blood sauce and sea foam

On the menu tomorrow, beetroot meringue and snail porridge

Now where’s my blow torch?