Prezi evaluation

Here is my evaluation, constructed using prezi

A2 Production work evaluation on Prezi

If this is too difficult to see or navigate due to the size you can find the prezi in full by clicking here

Revised final edit

Here is the final edit of the film trailer, it was added because of feedback we gained from our audience

Final cut

Here is the final edit of our teaser trailer

First Completed edit

This is our first finished copy of the trailer, this is not the final product however, this is showing our efforts of changing and including shots after we edit. We need to change some audio on this clip and get shots that would form a better narrative. After that we just need to add title sequences.

Personal home pages and the construction of identities on the web

We received a handout by Daniel Chandler, a media theorist, our homework was to summarize his piece in 500 words:

In his introduction Chandler defines his piece as he states that 'the adoption of new media seems to involve a shifting or blurring of the boundaries of public and private' this this a valid point as new media technologies, primarily the internet, are portraying facts and information about people that used to be kept quiet and in private to the public. He argues this point as whatever that's written and submitted onto a webpage is automatically published on an international scale, anyone can see what you have placed on the webpage.

Chandler also explores the construction of identity on the internet, it is accepted theory that anyone can create an alternative identity for themselves on the internet, no one can check whether the information, photos or videos you post of yourself are actually yours. Thomas Erickson goes as far as claiming that useful information is just a useful side effect of the internet, and it's main use is to construct identity.

Chandler goes on to discuss asynchronous mass communication. Before the web was invented one-to-many communication and self-presentation was only available to those who were rich and who owned the media machines, the web allows the people to take control of this power and gives them the ability to communicate to many. As Martin Ryder states 'this medium (the web) appears to be open to mass producers as well as mass consumers.' The internet is obviously a form of asynchronous mass communication, it is like printed books or newspapers, rather than being like the telephone or face-to-face interaction. This comparison of web and printed books can be taken too far however as web pages are a audio-visual form of media, this adds to the fact web pages are more dynamic than printed books, as web pages can be connected and a user can jump from one page to another due to hyperlinks.

Chandler talks about the building blocks of webpage identity and seems to see the webpage as a big construction, the author of which takes time to construct pages that aren't just thrown together for acquaintances but for a much larger audience. Personal pages may be useless to other but to the author it is a big thing and it means a lot to them, this shows the long process that author's must put in to create their own home pages. There are minute details of web pages are also important, as people lay out pages in a way that suits them and their personality, so their identity is portrayed through coding and layout as well as content.

Many authors of web pages have adopted the function that is similar to other conventional media, expressing ones feelings to validate them with ones self. Similar to a diary or journal web users write on the web with the intended audience being themselves. This goes together with the ideal that the web can present and shape of self. The web causes the personal conquest to discover one's self is fused with the public. Identities and relationships are thus always questionable on cyberspace, as authors will be aware that anyone can see what they are saying, and they may change their self or opinions to suit what the majority of their audience think. This wariness of identities on the internet is most evident in chat rooms were it well known that adopted identities and even gender changing occurs. With the web a false sense of security can occur, if someone meets someone in real life that they have come across and read about on the internet they may feel they know that person, when in fact of course they are still complete strangers. The dangers of the internet and the power it gives people to construct their own identity is that internet users may find the real world as constraining their identity as they don't have complete freedom like they do on the internet. This danger is developed into the fear that people use the internet as a retreat from real life and the fact they can right the wrong of their identity online they will prefer their online identity and stay with that. The internet can offer a platform for people to deal with personal issues however, issues are hard to deal with face to face, online people may be more open to express their problems as there is no awkwardness of seeing the person your telling again.

Magazine cover completed

This is the second part of my subsidiary task, a magazine front cover which features my film, here is the completed magazine front cover

Film Poster

Here is my final film poster for the subsidiary task

Authorization for soundtrack

Here I have shown that the record company for 'chase and status' (who is the artist of the song 'pieces' that we hope to use as our soundtrack.) This shows we have done as much as possible to encounter copyright infringements and to gain a legal right to feature this song on our teaser trailer.

Film poster analysis

Here I have analysised some film posters so I can have an idea how my film poster should look

First Scene Edited

This shows us extracting audio form one of our clips, we had to do this to edit the audio on the original track, it was too long and the audio we are extracting here was replaced. Whilst editing this scene we ensured the cuts matched the music (which was the BBC news theme tune at the time

First Scenes Filmed

Here is the raw footage of us shooting out first scene, they are panning shots as this is our establishing scene

Compressing Movie

Here we have shown the process of compressing our movie, this enables us a lot more options in terms of posting as we no longer have to work with a .imovieproject. Using the 'Share' option from imovie compresses the file into a more diverse format, such as .mp4 or .m4v.
This is the process we will use to host the video on sites such as youtube or blogger

Prop planning

The hardest part of constructing our film trailer is props. We need make up to make me look zoned out, paint and make up to make me look like I've just been beaten up, along with props that mean the misenscene would like like a normal drug abusers life style.

We have decided that the most realistic looking herb is oregano, this is easily accessible and creates a good misencene.

This is a perfect example of the kind of paint pallette that we will use to give the impression that I have been beaten up. I believe it will give a rougher look than make up and will fit our genre better.

Narrative Planning

We decided the easiest genre to fulfill was social realism so we have brainstormed some ideas about drug abuse, here is the narrative that followed:

James is a heavy drug abuser, he sits around in a cramped, messy apartment not realising when days pass or whats going on around him. The aim of our movie is to suggest the bad sides of drug abuse without becoming too much like a documentary. For this reason James has severe paranoia, he always envisages people watching him or following him. He even believes news reporters speak of him and talk about him. He is in deep trouble with his dealer, who is always on the hunt for his money or James' life. James must get off drugs, get a job, some money together and pay off the debt he owes before the consequences start coming around.

Narrative planning

The hardest thing for me and Chloe is finding a narrative for our film trailer, so we are currently looking for novels that haven't had a film adaptation. Here are some possibilities we found:

- The Boy who kicked pigs
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

The list is short at the moment as it's difficult to find novels that haven't already been made to film and that will be easy and realistic to shoot, we are currently working on changing the narratives of these books to suit our trailer better. We will upload a narrative when we have one developed

Sonny and Cher music video

Managed to download Handbrake, meaning I can upload the videos I mentioned in the earlier post, here is the music video me Chloe created

Genre planning

Here is our planning for the genre of our trailer, we weigh up the pros and cons of each genre and show how we came to our decision to make a social realist trailer.

Media and Collective Identity

We received a handout about media and collective identity. Here is my summary of this booklet:

The booklet starts out by discussing collective identity and introduces the ideas of two 'influential' media theorists, Buckingham and Gauntlett. Gauntlett seems to go into more detail when discussing identity, he theroises the extremes of identity, such as considering that 'we are all incrediably similar, but are programmed to value miniscule differences.' After presenting the ideas of these theorist the booklet goes on to explain how some of society take identity for granted, as we share our identity and our information on sites such as Facebook so freely. Goffman and one of his theories is also included as a form of explanation of collective identity, as he combination of the clothes we wear and the media we consume creates 'the presentation of self.'

The booklet goes on to explain how British films may serve to 'construct, reinforce or challenge notions of British identity.' To make this task simpler British cinema is broken down into three sections. The British Film Industry, the Burden of Representation and, British social realism. The section labeled the British Film Industry welcomes us to the conventions of the British film industry, introducing the category system and arguing the case for and against the link with Hollywood. An interesting point is made regarding the British Film Industry making movies to show our collective identity or just to make money, some argue that there is a split in British movies, some are made to rival Blockbusters and others are set with low budgets and are happy to turn a small profit and for the movie to be viewed by small numbers. They say this split is what is stopping 'serious' British movies that can change our collective identity to a more up to date and challenging one than previously conceived. Due to this link with Hollywood British filmakers are left with a dilema, they can pair up with an international company for funding and produce a film clearly aiming for an international audience; they could go for a niche market and hope British and European arthouse fans will be attracted or finally; they can make a low budget movie aimed at the mainstream British audience that will attract America through it's pecuilar topic and quirkiness.

The booklet goes on to describe how the representation in British film can construct a collective identity. It seems that representation in British film constructs a collective identity for those represented, as those represented can relate to the characters and a collective identity is formed for the group represented. As the audience view and accept the group being represented the identity of the group is strengthened, as knowledge of the group intensifies. The booklet quotes Bend It like Beckham as a case study, this is a good example as the representation of Sikhs is very realistic. The fact the misenscene is so true to the religion adds to the collective identity as it portrays the Sikh culture to a wider audience, and gives the audience a true portrayal of their lives. Unlike other representations there isn't a negative spin or any stereotyping involved, so the audience don't get the wrong idea about that culture.

British social realist texts add to collective identity as they deal with real social issues. This means the settings and the characters are meant to be realistic and believable. This realism of character traits will add a true and fair representation of a social group, thus giving them a collective identity.

Explain how stereotyping in British TV drama and British film contributes to a sense of collective identity

Essay Introduction:
The theory of collective identity suggests that people listen to the stereotypes portrayed in different media outlets and they let the stetreotype influence and sometimes even difine them. This would mean stereotyping contributes greatly to a sense of collective identity as people would change themselves to fit this stereotype and in turn fit in with society and the identity that suits them. It is also arguble however that stereotyping is drawn from collective identity itself, meaning that the media outlets see their audience, know how to impress them and create stereotypes accordingly. This interpretation would limit the effect stereotyping contributes to a sense of collective identity as it would appear collective identity contributes to sterotyping. Which theory is right is difficult to determine, as both have valid arguments for and against their main points.

Research

Decided to start some research into other film trailers, as this is what me and Chloe have decided to complete a film trailer as our main project film, youtube is the best place to look for videos and there were many professionally constructed pieces we looked at as an example of techniques used by the industry, here are some of those videos:





These are all films that are well known enough to have a good reputation and to have a good looking trailer but they are not big budget films with huge special effects, so I can learn more from films that are more realistic as I will have to make a trailer that does not involve Special Effects and my trailer will have to look realistic, this is why I believe I can learn from the above trailers.

I have also researched other A2 media projects on youtube, as a surprisingly large amount of students post their trailers online, here are some examples:




I believe researching past efforts of making a film trailer by people who are in the same situation as me might help, as I can learn from their mistakes and pick up on techniques they used that worked well and made the footage less amateur. There are some good trailers featured there and some that could use some work but I think overall researching previously made coursework attempts will help me as they made their trailers in the same position I will and so they have the same technology as me.