Final Cut

The final cut of Auberry Manor has now been completed. As previously discussed in the evaluation we are very happy with the progress and finished product.

Evaluation - Question Seven

Looking back at the preliminary exercise, what have you learnt? Is this product better then the original construction?


A great deal has been learnt from completing a preliminary task prior to our final production.  It allowed us a detailed insight into the factors of completion and also allowed us to build our skills with the software.  This worked particularly well to our advantage as it saved much time and allowed us to feature complex edits.  The biggest lesson learnt, is time management.  It is essential in media orientated work that deadlines are met consistantly.  This was hard at first but we made thorough plans and arrangements to ensure our time was well managed.  This was improved dramatically the second time we filmed and edited, we believe this was because had already experienced the kind of time restrictions. 

The titles we have made are a considerable improvement from last time, they are now animated and have music.  This introduces the film brilliantly and creates a sense of proffesional apprhension for the viewer.

In conclusion, our final piece is definitely better our two preliminary tasks. As a group we feel that we have fully progressed from a low quality, low storyline to a high quality enigmatic plot that engages the audience very well. Overall we are very happy with the finished product.

Evaluation - Question Six

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

Being able to adapt to the equipment and software is essential in ensuring we can complete a professional looking product in a reasonable amount of time.  We wanted to take fulll advantage of the features the Apple Macs provided, for example, Garage Band, Soundtrack Pro and Final Cut. 

Although Soundtrack Pro contained the basic sound effects, but they were limited and so we discovered from garageband that it contained more adventourous and unique effects rather than the typical sound effects which the other media groups may have used.
Some of the editing choices we made were quite complex and did take some guidance to complete efficiently.

Thankfully, our preliminary task enabled us to grasp the concepts of the software fairly easily.  We chose to use our own camera as it was to a better quality and was more convential for our use. 

Evaluation - Question Five

How did you attract/address your audience? 


We attracted our target audience (15 - 18 year olds) using several different devices. The film was constructed in a manner that meant it would be appealing to the target audience. The previous question discusses the majority of appealing to target audiences. Appealing in several ways meant that ultimately the piece would draw the attention of the target audience and convince them to watch the remainder of the film.

Also, when we produced a rough cut, this was then viewed to many audiences including other media groups, random students and the public when uploaded onto youtube.We received many comments including Positive; Good camera angles, variety of camera shots, creativity in production logo, good use of location and Negative; The begining location shot is shaky, no titles, no sound effects/ soundtrack, the tour of the house seems long and no scary/suspense/intense parts.

After recieving these feedbacks, we agreed with most aprts of the critical views as we were not fully ready to complete our final cut. And so we then used the feedback to help us improve our rough cut, to what we have produced now, which is the final cut of 'Auberry Manor'.

Further Notes:
Our target audience is 15, we will research social networking sites that 15 years olds and above are interersting in. The internet is the perfect form of media for this target audience, it has been proved that teenagers spend 31 hours a week on-line. They spend more time on the internet than watch television. So we shall spend the majority of our money on advertising on the web. 

When advertising on the television we shall choose the most popular channels watched by this age group for example Channel 4 and popular music channel's such as MTV and Kerrang! 

Putting our posters on public transport such as busses used for the school run and buses running in and out town.  Advertising in magazines such as music magazines and gossip magazines populary read by teenagers.    

Evaluation - Question Four

Who would be the audience for your media product?


Earlier on in the research and development stages we outlined the target audience for our piece - this was simply defined as a 15 certificate with a 15 - 18 year old mainly Male audience. When working with the remainder of the planning and creating the finished product we decided to adhere to this as closely as possible.


The general interests of this age group are:
- Characters that they can relate too.
- Characters that they can look up to.
- Settings that are identifiable as realistic.
- Fast-paced editing
- Action-packed (often enigmatic) story-lines


We full-filled these criteria in several ways.

Identifiable Characters:

Realistic Settings:

Fast paced editing:

Action packed storylines:

Evaluation - Question Three

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


Rivercoast Distribution is a distribution company that generally deals with Horror-Indie films.  We thought this factor important as it shows they are familiar this genre and may be recognised by potential consumers or cinemas.


http://www.rivercoastfilm.com/

Examples include:
- Junebug
- Birthrite
- Desert of Blood
    - Expect a Miracle
    - American Meth


Here is a trailer of Desert Of Blood - we'll only show a short portion of this just to illustrate the kind of films usually distributed by this company.




The company would be good for us as they have quite a wide range of publication capablities and seem to be quite prudent at releasing more 'indie' films into the abyss.

Evaluation - Question Two

How does your media product represent particular social groups?


We thought very carefully about how to represent the estate agent and purchaser.

They are represented as thinking they are immune. They are naive and upper-class and there is a sense of snobbery.

The type of people who usually feature in horror films are below:

However the general consensus to the look of an office worker and estate agent are below:

Evaluation - Question One

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


When creating our opening sequence we deliberated on which of the conventions of horror films we would use. We decided to make quite a clever opening that was enigmatic rather then gory. Hence the removal of blood from the list.

We developed some of the conventions that we believed were quite tacky.

Example between it and a real sequence are below:

The modernisation of characters also helped in challenging some of the conventions.

Creating a 'trendy' look for the characters was key to portraying their niaevity at the situation.

We used the realistic burnt down hotel in order to create a realistic effect of the goings-on. It also allowed a high polished piece of work that we couldn't achieve. We simply didn't have access to huge studios and special effects.

The very tacky (if old) Frankenstein like monster escaping from a cave simply wouldn't appeal to the target audience. We developed these older style conventions into something much more usable for our modern target audience.


In the majority of modern and old style horror films, gore is highlighted.


We took a lot of inspiration from What Lie's Beneath.

Therefore comparing some of the shots below will illustrate some of the conventions that we used:

Review of Final Cut

After several attempts in improving our rough cut of Auberry Manor, including adding sound effects, soundtrack,visual effects and motions. We have finally completed our final cut, ready to be uploaded as an Quicktime Movie to be then uploaded onto youtube for public viewing.

We have done many things to our rough cut in order for it to be at a high and professional standard, this includes re-arranging the clips into an order which makes sense and does not confuse the audience, we also added several sound effects to certain clips to match the scene and sense of atmosphere during the scenes. 

We achieved this very well as we chose very carefully which sound effect as well as the  motion effect should go with each clip to create a sense of meaning.

Our next step is to then move onto our evaluation of our whole project, including; research, ideas, construction then going onto how we achieved our final product 'Auberry Manor'. 

The good things that went well during this project, the obstacles that occured and ways in which we can improve this project if we had time or had to do it again.

AUBERRY MANOR

Garageband - Tuesday 16th March

We wanted to find some unique sounds that other groups may not have featured.  Rather than using the normal sound effects on soundtrack pro, we looked at a piece of software called Garageband.  Here we found a library jammed with exciting, cinematic and intriguing music.  We selected some music we thought appropraite and added it to our sequence.

Rough Cut Feedback

Feedback is an essential factor in creating a successful production.  It is key that the audience can connect with the drama, and have an understanding of its narrative.  If we are not succeeding in pleasing to audience fully we must go back and analyse our sequences.  After 'Auberry Manor' was shown to a class of A2 Media students we recieved some useful comments.  One of which being that our shots were too long, we agreed with this point and adressed it promptly.  Another major comment was an issue with continuity, the group noticed that we have some flaws in our shot orders.  We watched it ourselves and agreed strongly, this also reinforced the importance of feedback.  The postive comments were that our narrative was immediately clear and understood. They also appreciated the time and effort put into creating animated credits.  We found this excersise very useful and have used the comments given, to hopefully create a better film for our audience.

Progression - Friday 12th March

Today was a very productive lesson, we had the chance to finally get down to editing our sequence shots.  We enjoy this part as we like to observe the drastic change a mear colour filter or a sound effect can make to a shot.   As a group we came to the conclusion, after the anaylysis of our preliminary task, that we were going to use as many sound effects as possible.  We used very few in our first production and we found that this was to our disadvantage as we believe they add an extra layer of excitement to the sequence.  We went on soundtrack pro and selected some sounds that we wanted.  These included a creeking door, a womans scream, footsteps and banging. 

Credit Still Shots

These are the two images that we created using Adobe Photoshop CS4, they have been developed into animated sequences with some sound. 

Firstly 'Whatever Productions', we wanted this to fit the genre of our film, so the sequence could flow accordingly from this point.  We started by collecting an image of a heart monitor. 

Changes & Adaptions

During our filming, our storyboard has undertaken serious changes and adaptions.  This was mostly due to the immense inspiration the abandoned locations offered.  We were able to immerse ourself in the story and the plot which opened up many options and ideas. For example, we have a shot of two characters in conversion, during the filming of this we realised the optimum potential for this shot.  The characters were stood directly in front of murky frosted glass.  Considering our story and the elements of suspision and terror, our group came up with the idea of having a shadow pass the glass fom the other side.  We tried this out and it worked brilliantly in creating a ghost like effect.

The idea has undergone several transformations during our research and development stages. The largest of which was the complete change of plot. We have know minorly adapted the story, shots and ultimately the effect on the audience to maximise the 'punch' of the sequence.

Production Company Animated Sequences - Ideas

After looking at some logo designers in the worldwide market we couldn't gleam much inspiration and ended up brainstorming the ideas within our group.

We looked at:
http://www.logodesign.co.uk/logos.php#
http://www.logoquality.co.uk/

The two ideas were eventually used and we have begun to create the titles using a variety of software (mainly Adobe Photoshop CS and Final Cut Pro).

Whatever Productions:

We decided to use the trace of the heart monitor and have the title of the production company appearing during the flat-line. Accompanied with sound we decided it would look proffesional and like the logo's we had seen previously on films. We also wanted the connotations of death and danger to co-operate with the type of horror film that we might be associated with.

Jingleberry Films:

For the actual producer of the film's we decided to adopt a much more playful and friendly scene. It was decided that the text of the company would appear accompanied by some 'splats'. We also wanted to accompany the 'y' of the Jingleberry with a swinging cherry. We hoped that this would also represent an all-round company that focused mainly on those films produced for a younger target audience.

Current Progress - Tuesday 2nd March

We are thoroughly engrossed within the editing and sequencing now. We have created some really good titles for the production companies and have evaluated the footage that we have filmed so far. Unfortunately it seems that we are going to have to re-film the entirety of the estate agency section due to a technical hitch.

We are very happy with the progress so far and look forward to publishing the work as it becomes polished.

Shot Still's

After shooting the footage for the sequence as a whole there are some brief still's of the footage below:

The shot that first introduces the idea that the character  is looking for the estate agent.

The first obvious position in which the audience are introduced to the idea of a ghost. A shadow is seen in the glass behind the two central characters.

The two characters featuring in a shot-reverse-shot.

The estate agent going to investigate.

The estate agent leaving into the dark.

The estate agent being brought to a unhappy ending by a shadow.

The buyer looking for the character, unaware that she has been killed or injured.

Current Progress - Friday 26th February

We were finally able to wind-up the shoot today and have completed all of the neccesary shooting to fulfil our new storyboard. Due to several issues with set changes and inspiration from locations we adapted the storyboard in order to make the best use of our surroundings.

This afternoon we finished the so-called 'scary' parts of the shooting in order to create and deepen the sense of apprehension. This was done under full permission at the Combat Gym. We filmed over 30 differing shot's and plan to edit and remove the parts we feel are unwanted or redundant in the following week.

We are, as a group very happy with our current progress and are looking forward to settling into the editing.

Title Experiments

Although this title shown is not to the style we are looking for is has given us good practice in using the tools to create an animated professional looking title.


Image by Cool Text: Logo and Button Generator - Create Your Own

Jakob also created some still title's:

Secondary Location Photography

As previously discussed, due to safety issues we have found it neccesary to source a secondary location that we could use for finishing, polishing and enforcing shots. We discovered the gym shown above and used a stills camera to capture some location photography.

Current Progress - Tuesday 23rd February.

We have began rough editing our piece today, along with completing other tasks that contribute to our final sequence.  
We have discarded all of the footage that is irrelevant or unusable and have cut together the shots that fit our storyboard model. After looking over our shot's we adapted the storyboard slightly in order to create a better atmosphere using our shots.
Last week we encountered some safety issues with filming in the Royal Pier Hotel and had to scout for another location that wouldn't affect continuity. It is an old dance and combat studio that has been abandoned and has a similar and continuing atmosphere to that of the hotel. We need to polish and film some further shooting and have adopted this location as the place to do it. We received permission to film and are planning to do so on Friday 26th February. The shots that we want to film are: Emotional close-ups, spooky discoveries of the building and the eventual death or disappearance of the estate agent.
We have also planned to re-film the estate agents and stairs portions of the film as they simply don't match the quality we desired. There also plans in place to create the flashback sequence.

Opening Sequence Purpose

Our opening sequence serves to do many things.

Firstly the opening sequence should introduce institutional information. It should do this in the form of the order of titles and the beginning opening animatic production titles. It must also draw in the audience; hopefully with a strong sense of character, plot and location - an audience would be compelled to watch on and discover the remainder of the fate and misfortune of Mr Scott. The sequence should also set up a narrative and enigma. An enigma is a character or situation that is puzzling or inexplicable. Our film and sequence should introduce sectors in both of these criteria.

Animated Storyboard

To get a better idea of pace, effects and the shot length we decided to create an animated storyboard.

The animation was created using PhotoStory 3 for Windows. The pans and zooms in this are rather amateurish and in some cases don't fully comply with the sort of finished project we might create. From this we have learnt that the fluidness of shots is extremely important and that allowing the audience to have a limited view of the scene is very important.

Sound Recording

It has been commented that the quality of sound amongst similar (student) products has not been that good. Therefore in keeping with the polished and professional nature of our film we have decided to designate an external microphone to achieve a better quality of finish. If any of the sound is not to a high standard, we may re-record some of the sound and overlay it whilst editing.

Representation

When originally creating ideas for the plot, we summarised fairly quickly that we would use a stereotypical set of characters. The central character is represented to the audience in such a way that they can take control of how they feel. It is likely that the originally pomps young man will get a negative reaction similar to that of the estate agent. Some sympathy might be conjured when the woman is killed, however it is likely that her initial 'stamp' on the film will be outlived by the actions of the other character. The film is unlikely to break any serious stereotypes but might create a sense that the higher classes can 'slum it' when the going gets tough.

Variety

We ensured throughout the filming and storyboarding process that we included a variety of angled and degreed shots in order to create both a varied piece of media for the audience and a technically well accomplished piece of film. There are some big close-ups and some panning shots. This will be key to keeping a fluid piece of media. The mid- and long-shots which rule the majority of the piece are also all well considered. This is to ensure that the framing and contents of the shot add to either the enigma or representation.

Uses And Gratifications Theory

The Uses and Gratifications Theory is about what the audience 'get' from a piece of media. Whether this be escapism through reading a fiction novel or a sense of social interaction (something to discuss with peers) by watching the news.

Our opening sequence should fulfil the majority of the four theories about the uses of the media by audiences.

Information

Although it is unlikely those outside the local area will learn much about the surroundings,

the sequence, and more importantly the completed piece should inform the audience about a realistic, twisted and corrupt side to the notion of spirits.

Personal Identity

The characters acting in the piece are aged a lot older then the target audience. The idea of this is to appeal to a wider (older) target audience whilst still communicating a sense of aspiration to the younger viewers. Allowing identification with the characters and there situation will provide some level of individuality compared to films of a similar genre.

Integration and Social Interaction

This category becomes extremely difficult to comment on pre-distribution level. The film might provide a discussion platform if it was well critically received. It doesn't offer any type of companionship towards the audience however a connection with the central character does enforce the idea's of the plot.

Entertainment

The audience should definitely enjoy the piece. Most pieces of media are designed so that either the audience enjoy the experience or hate it so much that they end up enjoying it. Our sequence is likely to enthral the audience and they should enjoy watching and creating ideas about the situation.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory is great for discussing and determining if an audience is likely to accept and enjoy the piece of media that you create. It seems that the audience will enjoy Auberry Manor and this means that the sequence will be successful.

Logo Inspiration

Although filming is our main priority at this moment in time we must still consider other factors of our production. One of these is our logo for our company, 'WHATEVER PRODUCTIONS'. We consider it very important to create a great logo that is memorable and unique. We want it to look professional as well as meaning something to our group, making it personal. It must represent our group and our work (especially the genre), making it something that describes us as a team and the film that we are looking to produce in this instance.. We have reviewed many different logos from huge recognisable productions companies, some are shown in the picture presented. All of the logos are interesting and unique.

We personally like Dreamworks, because it simple, yet captures attention. This is something we would like to work toward with our logo, we want it to be fun and formal at the same time. Too be taken as a real and polished production company can be crucial to the audience outlook on the finished product. It's important however that the logo apprehends the denotations that our target audience may receive - for these reasons the logo still must be interesting and lively.
Logos are like the face of a company - they present the company and are what the people see when they watch particular films. Usually certain film companies keep to certain genres. For example, Dreamworks usually do childrens film, whereas New Line Cinema have done many horrors. This is going to be continued into the production company we create, it will have a focus on thriller/teen/horror films.

The inspiration that we have drawn from the images above will allow us to create something original. Its is likely to be a dark backgrounded, light texted logo due to the connotations of horror films. The logo and the images attached with it will be key to the production of our animated opening sequence. To be able to properly plan this, the group will have to determine the aesthetics of our stationary design.

Current Progress - Friday 12th February

We began filming the opening sequence today. The shots that we decided to look at first were those that featured earliest in the film - the estate agent shots and those of the characters entering the building. Now that those are complete we can move on to film the remainder of the sequence.
We believe the shoot went well, we incurred no problems and managed to record approximately ten mintues of film. It is crucial we film more than we need because during the editing process alot of film is discarded, or doesn't look good enough. Thankfully the weather was light and dry, allowing us to record some outside scenes as planned.

Auberry Manor

After deciding the name of the hotel, that features in our film, we decided to edit a photo of the location, with a new hotel title. This reinforces the authenticity and professionalism of our project.

Location - Estate Agents

We decided to look into the possible locations of an estate agents. We decided upon Skylight Estate Agents on the Boulevard in Weston-super-Mare. We looked at a range of possible locations in the area before deciding upon this one, both for it's upmarket tendencies and the aesthetic looks of the external of the building. We discussed approval with the company and they agreed that we could film at this location.

The building as an image:

We also took the shots that were required for the estate agents: