The Finished Primary Task

Below is a copy of our final film trailer for 'Press Enter'. From research to planning, creating, editing and evaluation. It has been a thoroughly enjoyable task in which I have learnt loads about the film industry and producing a trailer through all the steps. Our team is really happy with our finished piece, it has required a lot of editing and tweaks, but we have all worked well together and I hope you have enjoyed reading my work and watching the trailer below, thank you.

The Finished Ancillary Tasks

Below is a copy of my final ancillary tasks for our film 'Press Enter'. I have created a film poster and magazine cover and am really happy with how they are in their completed form. It has taken a lot of time researching, planning, editing and evaluating but I am pleased with the authentic look of my finished pieces. 

Evaluation - Question Four

"How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?" In this Google Slides presentation below I discuss the different software and hardware used in every stage of this project and my opinion of them and what I have learnt since the start of the year.

Evaluation - Question Three

"What have you learnt from your audience feedback?". I believe that audience feedback is quite possibly the most crucial part of making a media product. I have used audience feedback all the way back to my research task and continue to use it, I used it to determine my film poster, etc, I think it is of extreme value. Apple are known to do a huge level of market audience when making their products and despite the high prices and strong competition, their sales continue to increase. I wanted to conduct my research in multiple ways to get a lot of feedback. Recently, in Sociology, another one of my A Level subjects, we have been looking at different research methods and in particular the benefits of quantitative research compared to qualitative and vice-versa. For this task I decided to carry out some of each and have done along the way so that I could create a product that I was happy with as well as one that appeals most importantly to the consumer. A little while back, I did a blog post about my cousin Russell who has his own filming company, he gave our team some valuable advice and told me to send him the final copy when it was completed. I did just that and his feedback was extremely valuable to us. He told us that he really liked the trailer but felt the areas for improvement were fixing the lip sync errors between Liam speaking and the audio and to also tone down the phone call affect with the Prime Minister as it was hard to listen to. We re-watched our trailer and could agree with the points Russell made and so edited the film trailer, re-rendered and uploaded to YouTube, this shows how valuable feedback can be.

I also decided to send the video to lots of people that fit within the target audience bracket for their qualitative feedback to both the trailer and my ancillary tasks, I feel quantitative isn't as useful because it doesn't suggest what to improve but it does allow for wide-scale responses but in the case of a film trailer and ancillaries it is not effective as they are visual and highly subjective to one's opinion. Below is a recording of the feedback and results we received from Grace and Tim and how we plan to use this feedback.



To extend opinions and criticisms, I also asked a number of peers that fall into our target audience bracket for their opinion on my film poster, magazine cover and trailer. Below are pictures of the happy consumers and their opinions.

To conclude, I continue to believe that target audience feedback is extremely important and useful. I asked so many people and got an extremely positive set of results. I am really happy with the final product and feel that I took on-board all the feedback that I have received throughout the task and year.

Evaluation - Question Two

"How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?". I had thought a lot about this evaluation question during the task as I have always wanted my trailer and ancillary tasks to work well together, I felt the best way to discuss my views on the connection between them and what I would have changed would be through this attached voice clip below. The main and ancillary tasks can be seen as completed, at the top of my blog.

Evaluation - Question One

"In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?". In the presentation below, I explore my media product and compare it to the conventions of real products and decide which parts use, develop or challenge those traditional forms.

Film Trailer - Stages of Development

The first stage of editing the film trailer was to find suitable clips of current news and make a montage for the very beginning. We firstly created a minute long sample of clips and put a filter and music on them to make it fit the theme of our film [1], we knew that the introduction to the trailer couldn't be this long but it allowed us to have options for later debate. We then created the first part of the trailer, it was not a perfect version but was a good start to the project in our eyes [2]. However, feed back from peers and family taught us that the plot was not clear enough and that the trailer needed work through reconstructing the order of scenes. The film trailer construction has been changed since the first edits and storyboard. I feel that making a plot clear through a trailer is a difficult task as naturally the ones making it know the plot inside out, so it is easy to forget how the story will be seen by a viewer who has no pre-knowledge of the films plot. As a group, we looked back at our storyboard and clips that we have recorded and considered how we could rearrange the events in the trailer using the same clips and basis. We did this by looking at the storyboard and rearranging the steps as shown below as well as stripping back on unneeded scenes as we were starting to get a sense of how long each part should be to keep the audience engaged, [3]. Although the changes we made were time consuming it meant that our finished trailer will make more sense and it is paramount that the trailer creates mystery but not confusion to audiences. The rearranged storyboard and first edits are attached below.

[1]

[2]

The Blooper Reel

Throughout the project, it's fair to say we've had a lot of fun. We have enjoyed the processes of the task and working as a team has proved a success as we are friends outside of lesson meaning our communication is good, teamwork is good and we are able to have a laugh during production making the task a whole lot more enjoyable for both us and the cast. We have put together a YouTube video with some of the outtakes from filming our trailer, enjoy.

Choosing a Final Film Poster

I have shown the research, planning and development of my film poster throughout the year. I am now left with two film posters that I am happy with but am undecided as to which I prefer. 'Poster A' was the first I created which has black 'Press' text and a darker edging to the poster. I feel this makes the film trailer seem more dark in tone, which it is, but the text could be harder to read. 'Poster B' has white 'Press' text and a lighter edging to the poster than 'A'. I feel the white text looks good as it matches some other text on the poster and is easier to read but may not have the same impression of fear and darkness that 'A' presents. I decided the best way to decide which poster to use would be to ask people both male and female to get a general consensus. I will also ask a range of ages however the majority will be of the bracket of 16-24 as this is our primary target audience. This will be easy to quantify to find the favourite. I will also ask people their opinions in more depth to find out what they like about their chosen favourite and why they prefer it to the other.

Picture A and B

Opinion Research

Hannah Barfoot (21) - "I prefer Poster B with the white text as it stands out as clearer to the eye and you can easily see the whole title straight away. The black 'Press' makes it a little difficult to notice as the eye focuses too much on the red 'Enter'".

Oliver Riches (18) - "Poster B looks more professional as the white text matches the names at the top and makes the poster consistent. I also feel the dark edges of Poster A mean the poster doesn't stand out enough".

Joshua Bailey (18) - "I think that Poster B stands out more and would look suitable in more places, it can be easily read on a computer, paper and on a bus, etc, because of its lighter colours".

Benjamin Glanville (17) - "I prefer Poster A because black looks a more appropriate colour to use. The white text looks too upbeat and given the nature of the story, not sinister enough".

Feedback Results
I asked the question, 'Which film poster do you prefer, and why?'. The pie chart above shows the results with a win for Poster B with the lighter surrounding and text with 29/40 compared to the 11/40 that Poster A received. I felt this win was significant and so decided that Poster B would be the one I used. Some feedback is shown below the chart explaining peoples decisions. Based on this majority and the opinions given, I have chosen to use Poster B. I agree with the comments made and although I can understand the appeal to Poster A, a decision has to be made and for my project. In both my project and real life media, the most effective method to make decisions is by asking your target audience, and this is the method I have taken.

Constructing a Film Poster

In this post below I discuss and show the different stages of making my film poster. It explains the photos I used, and how I edited them using Adobe Photoshop. When making the poster, I was always sure to look back at my plan to guide me so that I could remain focused. The video is attached below and discusses the decisions I made, how I edited the poster using Photoshop and an issue I had due to computer hardware and how I intend to resolve this.

 

Constructing a Magazine Cover

I decided to make a post about making my magazine cover. The presentation below discusses the stages of making it and the tools that I used on Photoshop to make the magazine to a good standard and produced in a way that looked like the plan I had previously sketched.

 

Ancillary Task Planning - Film Poster

As with the magazine cover, I felt that an ideal place to begin my planning for my film poster would be to review all the research I undertook at the beginning of the year. From looking back at this, some of the key points I read were:

• The text should be stylish and fitting to the film, but also clear.
• The main focus should be the characters.
• Any other focus should be on subtle equipment and props.
• Include generic features such as cast names and a billing board.
• Make sure that the colours work well together and the poster is not seen as over the top and instead sticks to a few dominant colours.

With this in mind, I decided to roughly design three different posters using the user-friendly program of Microsoft Paint and ask my friends and family of the target audiences age on their thoughts. The designs were rough but would allow for me to decide a format which I feel is an important starting point for designing a poster. The designs do not show the picture of Joe playing the character of Liam as I explained that it is assumed that a large picture of the main character would fill the gaps. I wanted a large quantified number that would be easy to understand so I simply questioned people which template is most authentic and preferable to them and received the below results.

Now that I have decided my template, I felt I should find a suitable picture of Joe to use. I have previously blogged a range of pictures I have taken of Joe throughout the task and now I need to decide which is most engaging and appropriate. From my research, I have decided and believe that a poster with Joe making eye contact with the camera is most engaging and can also lead to people feeling uncomfortable and given the severity and tense aspects of our film trailer and concept, this is fitting. I reviewed all the pictures I had of Joe and decided to edit and use the attached picture below. With my template and image decided, I decided to roughly draw how I imagine my poster to look below.

 

Ancillary Task Planning - Magazine Cover

As with a lot of tasks, planning is a very important stage so that the production of a product stays focused and precise. There is a risk that with no planning, the film trailer or ancillary tasks could appear unplanned, rushed or may have contingency errors. Planning also allows for the production time to be cut as there is a clear direction for the task. The first step I wanted to undertake in my planning was to carry out some further research. I have already researched how magazine covers are created and their features but felt some further reason into the format would help my to draw a layout.



By looking at the templates above, I decided to design an initial template and with that decide what would belong on each part of the magazine cover. I made the template on Microsoft Paint as shown below. I then printed this template and wrote the contents of each area within the boxes. I decided the rough text that would be used as well as colours and fonts.

I feel at this point, I understand the norms and conventions used by magazine producers and felt I could produce something that felt authentic and followed the customs. I decided to draw a picture of how I would like the magazine cover to look, from this I have something to copy when using Photoshop, which will save thinking-time and reduces the risk of making both textual mistakes and continuity errors. The picture I drew is attached below which shows how I envision my magazine cover to look like.

Taking Pictures

Before considering the exact type of picture I would like to use of Joe for both my magazine cover and film poster, I felt it was important to take many photos in many locations. By taking lots of photos, I would be able to look through them all afterwards and consider which photos are most appropriate. By having a folder full of photos of Joe, I will be able to be picky and decide which location, expression and clothing looks most suitable for the task. I made sure to take different photos of Joe and Maria everywhere we went so I would have many options when it came to creating my ancillary tasks. The photos can be seen below.

Day One of Filming - Vlog

I decided to make a vlog discussing the events of the first day of filming. We've had a fun and busy day and the video below is me discussing it as well as some still photos from the day.

Filming Schedule

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Contributor's Release Form and Risk Assessment

It is hugely important for this task that we make sure the characters involved understand that the films and pictures will be used towards our project and published online. This is why we have used a contributor's release form. It is great to have used this now as we can make sure the actors are aware of the tasks involved and less chance of them quitting out half way through the project claiming they didn't understand the terms they signed on. We spoke to both Joe and Maria in depth about this and they both agreed to the terms and signed this form. We hope that during the film there are no hazards that will affect our production team and cast. However, you can never be too careful and so it is important to consider any possible risks, so that the producers and the cast are aware of the potential hazards involved in the project. I made a table in Google Docs and shared with both Vince and Max. We will make sure to update this throughout the course. I believe that if we were to fill out all of the suspected hazards now, we may miss some and so it is important to keep a digital copy that we update throughout the duration of the project. Immediately below is an early copy of the risk assessment form and further down, a final copy is attached.

The Animatic

An animatic refers to an animated storyboard. Boards are usually brought into an editing program and are cut together with the correct timing and pace of the real product using sound effects, dialogue and recordings, etc. In a previous blog post, I have already looked at the different stages of the storyboard and explained them in depth so we felt for this animatic task we could create something a little more entertaining and fun whilst still being engaging. We decided we would attempt to create a fun but useful animatic using Lego. A member of the team, Max, is a big Lego fan and I was shocked at how many different pieces Max still has, we could create almost anything! Attached below is a video of the Lego animatic and the in-depth breakdown of the storyboard can be found on the 'Storyboard' post.

The Sound

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The Final Storyboard

Now that we have determined the characters, cast, costumes, props, location and setting, it was time to come up with a firm story. In a previous blog post I made an initial storyboard with the idea of a young hacker. Since we have discussed this idea and developed it further. We want the trailer to be about the struggles our young person has with the world and the effects it has on him. Below is a picture of the storyboard I have drawn as well as a video explaining what each picture is meant to show. We will use this as guidance and to remind us how we will structure the trailer.

325 Productions UK

My cousin Russell set up a filming business a few years ago called '325 Productions UK' (www.325productionsuk.co.uk). His company is based in Sussex but I have seen him record a video on the Isle of Wight in which he used many different bits of equipment as well as using multiple camera angles. His company has been very successful so far and so I thought I would contact him for any advice for us when filming.

I read his advice and showed the rest of the team and we found it very helpful. He gave advice mainly for the editing stages which is really helpful as we are hoping to make it seem as professional as possible. We will remember his advice and it is very good to know that should we have any queries I can message him at any time. His website is shown below:

The Cyber Security Division

The antagonist in our film in many ways is also the protagonist, he is his own enemy. The story if in full, would largely focus on his struggles and dilemma as to whether his hack was the right thing to do. However, the Cyber-Security Division will be featured in the trailer and is a secretive government organisation which aims to tackle hacks and is in the process of investigating Liam in the trailer. Below I have created a logo for the CSD which we may be able to use in the trailer as a symbol to show that it is an official organisation by the government as the logo on it is very recognisable as an authoritative symbol in the UK.

Liam's Computer - Hacking Screen

When we think of hackers and their computers, I think its fair to say we think of small green letters and black screens with a lot of text and no images. We wanted to create a screen that looked like this so it was obvious to viewers of the trailer that he is a hacker and what he is doing in that time. Below shows the picture I made that will be seen on the character of Liam's laptop which shows that he is hacking someone's phone in Sandown on the Isle of Wight. This screen will be seen in the finished trailer.

Location - Finding a Cafe

We decided in the location stages that we wanted a scene in a cafe with the characters of Maisie and Liam. Cafes are common locations for young people to chill out and is a perfect location for our planned scene. We decided that we would go around cafes in the local area in before the filming stages to see if they would be suitable and see if it would be permitted. As Joe and Maria have limited time to film due to work and other commitments, we made sure that we arranged locations and themes through thoroughly to be as efficient as possible in the time we have with them. The first cafe we went to was called 'Muzzas' in Sandown (Bottom Left). It seemed like a nice filming location but also a very busy cafe and small and so filming in there without filming customers could be awkward. We then asked 'Fresh Cafe' (Bottom Right) if we could film in their cafe but they said they would not be willing for us to do it as they felt it could affect their customers. Lastly, we went to 'Daisy's Bakery' (Top Left and Right) which seemed perfect as it was nice and big and a typical cafe. It's spaciousness also meant that we would be able to experiment with many different camera angles and we wouldn't have difficulty fitting in. After a long chat, they said yes (as long as we bought coffees!) and so we've now secured this filming location.

Costumes and Props

We have now chosen our characters to be in our film trailer. It was now important that we decide how our characters will be presented through their clothing. Within a trailer, it can be hard to understand the personality of a character as you have not known them long enough. Dress wear and props can help the audience to understand how the characters behave without the need to see them for more than a couple of minutes, this is why clothing is hugely important. We have also picked out the props that will be used. Props are generally great in film and media to emphasise what is happening in a scene, some may be more obvious than others but all help to create a realistic landscape. It is important that a trailer creates a sense of 'wanting to know more', however it must be clear what the story is, and props can be important to reinforce this. We have again used Google Slides which is a great presentation software as any edits made after embedding update automatically which is a feature I really like as if changes are needed, it is easy and quick to do.

Characters and Casting - Part Four

Now that we have our male protagonist, we needed to find a female lead that would fit into the role well as well as having on-screen chemistry with Joe. Maria had shown an interest in the project since the start and was very keen to play the character of Maisie in our production. A leading characteristic of our female character will be determination and enthusiasm and so, when Maria came to us so enthusiastically, it made sense to give her an audition as well as a on-screen test with Joe. I then have made a video below similar to before which shows Maria playing the part.

Characters and Casting - Part Three

We decided the quickest way to find actors and actresses was through a 'send-to-all' email. This would allow people to come to us, which would hopefully mean they are dedicated and enthusiastic. Once we had narrowed down our possible actors, we firstly decided to cast the male protagonist. We did this by taking some practise shots of scenes and deciding the sort of character we wanted Liam (our protagonist) to be and deciding the sort of person we wanted to cast him. A video is attached below along with the email, with some of the scenes from the auditions as well as our decision and reasons for it. I have also attached a picture of me editing and making this short video. This is quite new for me and although not part of the trailer, I found it useful to have experience with editing videos, photos and music.

Character and Casting - Part Two

In an earlier post, a Google Slides presentation was attached which described a rough idea of the sort of characters we would like in our trailer as well as the traits of the cast that we desire. We also considered issues that we could face and how we will find the right actors and actresses for the trailer. Since this post, Vince, Max and myself have had many discussions into the story line of our characters. We all agree that it is important that the characters have a strong background story, because even if this isn't shown in the trailer, it helps us to understand the characters as if they were real and helps us to know how we want them to be portrayed. We are also in agreement that we should make a film concept as if we were to make a full feature length and then decide what would be in the trailer instead of just considering this to be a trailer. This allows us to make sure the trailer makes sense and that we don't add random parts to the trailer for effect only. Below is a Google Docs table I have created which shows the characteristics and background story of both our protagonist, antagonist and female role. We discussed these characters in great depth and keep making little changes to the story. One significant change we made was to alter the story of the main characters mother. Initially we had the idea that she had once checked her phone whilst driving causing her to crash and costing her life, we then discussed this on our Facebook group chat (as posted below) and changed it to a story that meant another driver checked their phone, causing them to crash and kill the protagonists mum. This is posted below.

The Comedy Conflict

This post is not a part of the planning stages for our film trailer, but instead something I found when investigating how to have a strong connection between film producers and actors. It is true, that in our film trailer, it is likely that we will all have much enjoyment and probably a lot of laughs but when making films on a large sum of money where you can't afford to go wrong, you can imagine the tension in the studios. In another of my A Level subjects, Economics, we look at something called the 'principal-agent problem'. The principal-agent problem describes the tension and difference of opinion between managers and shareholders. It is the case of two parts of a business having different ideas causing tension. For example, a shareholder may want money quickly and in a large amount whereas a manager may be spending heavily on investment ready for the future. The article I found between actor Bill Murray and director Harold Ramis reminded me of this theory. The film 'Groundhog Day' made in 1993 is one of my favourite ever but behind the scenes were huge tensions. Murray had worked with Ramis for years before and they became a some-what comedy duo. However, during Groundhog Days production, Murray reportedly often turned up late, argued with Ramis a lot about the direction of the film and had many different ideas. Many believe that Murray had had enough of his career always being because of Ramis and wanted to prove he had what it takes to be successful without Ramis. The duo didn't talk for around 21 years but when Ramis hit his deathbed, Murray did visit and had personal talks. It is believed the duo made up at the last minute and Murray can be seen in the clip below respecting Harold Ramis at the Oscars.

 

More and More Hacking

The hacking theme that we are interested in pursuing is giving more and more to us. The more I listen to the radio news, read Facebook articles or even hear people talking about issues, the more I realise that hacking and cyber-security is such an issue at the moment and so seems such a contemporary theme and has come at a perfect time for us. Below are some news articles I have found and collaged all written within the last week from around the world. There is a post from the BBC News Facebook Page, The Guardian, BBC News Website, Bild (a German news corporation), CNN (an American news corporation) and Russia Today. I found the articles were all relevant but also interesting that when I typed 'hacking' into the search news section of RT the top result was a satirical video of Donald Trump.

Storyboard - First Draft

At this point we have just done the characters and casting stages and still need to decide on costumes, props, location, etc, however I wanted to look ahead to the story-boarding stage and create a first-draft storyboard. I did some light drawings and many captions and potential dialogue. In the future, I plan on creating a more in-depth storyboard. The story is below and hopefully understandable but in summary, it is a story of a hacker that is upset with how the world works and the lack of security and knowledge and is faced with two options, doing nothing or releasing everything include businesses, governments and citizens pictures and messages, etc.

Our Initial Ideas

We have been saying between us for a little while now that we like the idea of action and more specifically the theme of hacking. It is an exciting premise and can be taken in multiple directions. Recently, I have enjoyed the story of the Russia-American hacking which has dominated the news for a while now along with hacking articles related to Yahoo, iCloud and Anonymous. We want to look further into this and so went onto YouTube and news sites to get an understanding of the latest hacks and why it can be a threat to us. This is a concept we are all interested in, and although it is still in early stages, I am sure our finished piece will have either a story based around hacking or if not, an element of hacking to it.

Characters and Casting - Part One

For the first part of the planning stage in this task, we will be discussing the main characters in brief detail. Although (at this stage) it is unclear exactly which characters we require, we can determine the type of attributes we are looking for. We can also decide our casting process and auditions, if necessary. An important part of this task is to also consider what could go wrong. To begin with the characters are casting part of the planning stages, we make a collaborative 'Google Docs' file in which we would all make suggestions and voice our opinions, we then gathered the information and made this Google Slides presentation below.

Meet The Team / The Planning Stage

I've now reached the planning stages of the course which is an exciting step because it means I can use all the knowledge I have learnt in lessons and in the research tasks towards the actual piece. Much of the work we have done to date has been very much independent. Before continuing on with the tasks together, we thought it would be a good idea to discuss what we are looking forward to in the task, discuss any possible concerns and explain why we chose to work with one another. By doing this, we would greater understand each others expertise and concerns. The document is attached below.

Christmas 2016

Today is the 12th day of Christmas, it's been a great Christmas and New Year but now I am excited to continue with my media work. Prior to Christmas, some of us were given the opportunity to contribute to the Christ The King christmas video. This was an enjoyable but also helpful task. We were split into groups and given camera's and tri-pods, for this task I stuck with Vince and Max which was a great decision as it meant we could have some experience working with one another and discovering our individual skill sets and how we can work together to produce a high quality film trailer. The Christmas film give us all some experience filming, but also with dealing with people that are in the scene and the equipment. Overall, it was a highly helpful task but also a lot of fun which is an important part of media, as it will always appear greater if the people behind the production are enthusiastic about it. The video is attached below and at present, has 44,000 views :