Evaluation Part 7 and Part 8

Evaluation Part 7 and Part 8 - Prezi Presentation

Evaluation Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6

Evaluation Part 4, Part 5 and Part 6 Video and Slideshow

Evaluation part 4, part 5 and part 6 from Ghanshyam Shiyani

Evaluation part 4- In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our title sequence uses many codes and conventions from the Spy Genre. We displayed these codes and conventions through various locations, props, costumes, sound and cinematography.

We filmed at very conventional Locations in London, we filmed the expensive and high class landmarks which are also iconography found in other spy genre films like the James Bond franchise. We filmed Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and even the MI6 building, which shows the audience our narrative, and it also implies that this is a spy film.

The costumes we decided to use was mainly formal clothing except for the Agent X character as he was on the run and trying to blend in. We decided to choose formal clothing as it shows the British class and also looking at other spy films such as the James Bond franchises, they all wore formal clothes such as suits.

We used various props to show the audience the genre and these were very conventional props such as an Investigation wall, wanted pictures, newspaper articles and we even used a briefcase which is very iconic in spy films as it gives the mystery of secret files.

The soundtrack had to be a very typical action soundtrack, the type of soundtrack that is instantly recognised by the audience as an Action genre or even a Spy genre. My group and I found our soundtrack on YouTube and it was also copyright free, we felt this was a very iconic soundtrack and that it definitely displays codes and conventions of an Action/Spy film.

Evaluation part 5 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We represented many particular social groups in our title sequence.

Agent X the protagonist is a young adult aged character dressed in informal clothes, this brings the young adult social group to be interested in our movie as Agent X is a young adult character. He also has various props such as guns, which gives the representation of masculinity in the title sequence.

The antagonist Morgan Freeman is dressed in formal clothing with a shirt and tie along with formal shoes, this gives the representation of an upper class social group, someone more wealthy and high up in the hierarchy.  It also shows authority with those working for the government or the British intelligence. Michael Caine is also dressed formally with a suit and formal shoes. Both these characters are also fairly elderly characters which also represents old age and how the elderly social group are represented as well dressed with class.

Evaluation part 6 - How did you attract/address your target audience?

 I feel that we have reached our target audience of British males aged 18-29 years.

In planning we decided we needed young main actors to appeal our young target audience and we also planned that we need weapons as props and even a chase scene as the opening scene of the film to appeal the target audience.  We accomplished this target as we have some fairly young actors along with very big famous actors such Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, this means we have star power and that we attract even more viewers especially those in our target age range as well as those outside. We also have a chase scene in the opening scene, which our target audience usually appeal to. We also have gun props in the actual title sequence itself, which also appeals our target audience of British males.

Some quotes from our feedback sheets informed us what went well and how it may attract our target audience. One of the quotes was “Text was good” which informed us that our typography choice was enjoyed by some people, which are near the age of our target audience. We had “Good establishing shots” which helped us understand that the audience also enjoyed that.

Some people felt that “the time lapse goes on a bit too long” which told us that our audience may get bored if it’s too long. This shows that we can improve our title sequence by shortening some of the scenes as it may get boring if its long and not appeal our target audience.

Evaluation Part 2 and Part 3

Evaluation part 2- Who would be the audience for your product?

 The target audience for our film Agent X is British Males as our film is British and it features British iconography. The age range will be 18-29 Years as they are more likely to watch an action film in the cinema, and they are more likely to get involved on the hype around a new film and even use social media to promote it. My group and I researched into other films with a similar genre such as Bourne Identity. The Bourne Identity target audience were teenagers and young adults.

Evaluation part 3- What type of media institution would distribute your media product and why?

My group and I researched many distribution companies such as Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Eon Productions as well as Universal Studios. Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Eon Productions have created successful spy films such as the James Bond Franchise. Universal Studios distributed the Bourne Franchise and this film is also very similar to our genre and context in Agent X.  The Bourne series and James Bond series are both very successful spy genre films and also have a very similar target audience to our film Agent X. Famous worldwide distribution companies also distribute these two film franchises. We would benefit from their reputation and success in past films, which could lead to our film Agent X gain worldwide attention. Universal Studios will be an alternative distribution company to consider as they also distributed spy films but they are mainly American films whereas Agent X is a British film. My group and I decided to choose Eon Productions as our distribution company as well as our production company because this company is British.

Evaluation Part 1 - Brief

         

The brief my group and I were given was to create a title sequence with an opening scene that has copyright free sounds. We were given the choice to create any fictional plot for the title sequence along with any genre that my group and I wanted to choose. We decided to choose a Spy genre, which is a subgenre of Action. This meant that we must look at codes and conventions of the Spy/Action genre meaning our title sequence may feature guns and chase/fight scenes.

The start of the title sequence introduces the British iconography with the British flag and the houses of parliament. The beginning of the title sequence shows Agent X trading a top-secret briefcase about his case with his ex fellow agent. Throughout the title sequence we see Morgan Freeman the antagonist get frustrated as he fails to find Agent X. The opening scene is a short chase scene where Agent X gets found but does manage to escape.

Final Edit - Agent X Title Sequence Final

 

This is our final edit for our Agent X Title sequence and my group and I are very pleased with it. It has turned out exactly as how we planned with better developments as production went on and by having more research we were able to improve our title sequence for our target audience to enjoy. I feel that we don't need to improve this title sequence anymore, made we could've just added more establishing shots or London Landmarks but even then its only a slight improvement.

Journal 17 - Completing the Editing

Yesterday, James and I completed the Final Edit for our title sequence and I will soon upload it on YouTube and as a post on Blogger. James gave his views and opinions as well as advice on how I can improve the editing as its always great to have a second opinion. I have done the time lapse edit, slow motion edits and I have also added colour filters which I created myself along with a CCTV filter which was pre-made by Final Cut Pro X. Then last part was to add the Typography with the fonts we chose and then add the soundtrack for the Chase scene and Voiceover for the chase scene where i say "I found the target". Our teacher wanted us to re-film the desk shots but we explained to her that we tried and it looked very bad as the camera was shaky, she then said it will be fine to add a filter and to add slow motion and a black and white filter in the tear down scene. Thats why I decided to add dark filters and to slow the tear down scene to add a more dramatic effect.

I will now export the Title sequence and soon upload it on YouTube.

Journal 16 - Creating the Title for the Sequence

Today I created the title design on Photoshop and this will be used with various transitions to appear on the screen in an animated form. This will be done on Photoshop and then on Final Cut Pro X. See the images below of screenshots of when I was making the title.

I made the main logo first on photoshop, I then spilt them into three parts which will gradually transition on the screen.

After creating all this, I put the files into Final Cut Pro and editing in transitions and effects to make the title animated and appear on the screen gradually, the title video can be seen below.

Journal 15 - Choosing the Final Font and Typography

My group and I decided on the font and typography we will use for the title and the main text with cast names and production company. For the cast names and production companies we used the font Neuropol and that was also the top font in the questionnaire that I conducted.

For the main title typography, I did some research on the internet for spy fonts and I found a font called Spy Agency, that font can be seen here: http://www.dafont.com/spy-agency.font

My group and I decided we liked this font a lot and we will use it for our title. I will make the title on Photoshop and then put it into Final Cut Pro X.

Journal 14 - Finding the Soundtrack for the Chase Scene

Today I have started editing and I will soon hopefully complete the editing for the Final Title Sequence of Agent X. My group and I looked at various soundtracks and we decided to choose this one of our Opening Scene (Chase Scene).

I uploaded this chase scene soundtrack on YouTube and it was copyright free, so we decided used it for our final edit.

Journal Entry 13 - Re-Filming The Desk Shots

Today my group (Adam, Thomas and James) re-filmed the desk scenes. Last time I was the main cinematographer but yesterday I wasn't able to be there to re-film the desk shots. The desk shots yesterday were instead filmed by Adam but my group decided they didn't want to use these shots as the camera was very shaky and the lighting wasn't very good. My group decided to keep the same shots from before which I filmed as it was less shaky and it had good lighting.

All thats left is for me is to finish off the editing and create that final edit for our title sequence because we now have all the shots we need. I now just need to choose a font for the typography and the soundtrack for the opening scene (Chase Scene).

Journal 12 - Completing the Opening Scene Shots

Today my group and I went to Bexlyheath during our media lesson in order to complete the opening scene (Chase Scene). The start of the chase scene was filmed in London we just needed to finish the scene off and that was done today. We shot the scenes in London of Agent X going down the stairs and those stairs lead to a car park shot which was filmed today in another location. We filmed it in such a way that it was all continuous and it looked like the same location. My group has planned on refilling the desk scenes but that has not been fully confirmed. The chase scene will have its own soundtrack which links to the scene and builds suspense.

Journal 11 - Re-filming the Establishing Shots

Today my group and I went to Central London to re-film the establishing shots and the briefcase exchange shots.  Adam and I both took turns to film the shots and I filmed the shots of the Parliament House, the British Flag, the time lapse shot and the brief case exchange shot was filmed by me. Adam filmed the tilt up shot of the MI6 building and the CCTV shot of Agent X. Some of the pictures of us filming can be seen below.

Some of the shots were taken in different places as before and we decided to add a shot of the British flag to show this is a British film and its also iconic. We had to film the time lapse shot in another location as there was a event at trafalgar square so we filmed the time lapse shot slightly away from there. In our first edit people didn't notice that Agent X walked by in the time lapse shot, this time I placed the camera in the right spot so Agent X can be seen clearly and I will edit the shot to slow down when Agent X is on screen and then pick up speed when he is off the screen.

While we were in London we decided to film our opening scene which we planned as a chase scene. In this opening scene I play the Antagonist (Morgan Freeman) and I spot James who plays the Protagonist (Agent X). I then chase him down the stairs into a car park. This scene will be completed at another car park as we couldn't film at the car park in London. The opening scene shots were filmed by Adam.

Our Production Schedule

This is our production schedule and it shows what times we have planned and are going to plan to shoot along with the location, equipment and the members of the group who will be coming. This schedule helps us stick with the times and informs us when and where we filmed certain scenes, which can help us when we need to reshoot some scenes as we will know where to go.

Questionnaire For Typography

I decided to create a questionnaire for the typography just so I can see what fonts we may need to look out for. This questionnaire was not conducted as a group, because I am the main editor I conducted this questionnaire so that I can see what typography and fonts my group and I can use for the Final Title Sequence. I used the fonts we found before and asked various people in my school which font they prefer for a Spy/Action Film Genre.

5/11 people preferred Neuropol and 4/11 People preferred Xperia, whereas only 2 people preferred Breamcatcher. This questionnaire will now help me decide want font my group and I may want to use and it will also help me decide what type of design I should look out for when picking the typography. The results in this questionnaire doesn't confirm that we will be using this font, it just helps us choose a font or find similar and better fonts.

Feedback For The First Edit

These are the feedback sheets for our first edit of the 'Agent X Title Sequence' and these sheets were filled by our teacher and fellow pupils. We have read these feedbacks and we will improve the title sequence in our final edit, hopefully being able to improve it.

Journal 10 - The New Soundtrack

My group and I have decided on a new soundtrack for the final edit. We went back to our before research where we found various soundtracks, that before research can be seen here: goo.gl/zJHoc8

We have decided to choose Soundtrack 1 from our before research - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNzEtud5rFM

All thats left for me to do is put the new soundtrack in the final cut file and edit the shots and the text so it is synchronised with the new soundtrack and so it suits the new soundtrack.

First Edit for Title Sequence

This is my groups first edit of our title sequence. This will be developed with additional shots and new fonts as well as a new soundtrack. I edited this on final cut pro x and some of the editing processes can be seen in my previous posts.

Journal 8 - Presenting the Class our First Edit

Today my group and I presented the first edit to our class and we gave feedback sheets to the audience and asked them to fill in the sheets after they have watched the first edit of our Title Sequence. Some of the feedback suggested we choose a new soundtrack which my group also agreed with. We were also suggested to choose a new font which I was already in the process of planning as this was just a rough edit. Some people were also very confused with what was happening in the title sequence as I played two roles, this will be changed when we re-film some of the scenes as only then it will make more sense. The title sequence also felt short and we were told to then create an opening scene which the exam board also wants us to do.

Changing the Soundtrack

My group and I have decided that we no longer like the first soundtrack we chose for the first edit. We chose that soundtrack from a link provided by the Welling Media and Film Blog Site (http://wellingmediafilm.blogspot.co.uk), (https://audionetwork.lgfl.org.uk/terms.aspx). My group and I don't feel that the soundtrack suits our film and it doesn't synchronise well with the text and the scenes. We have found some more copyright free soundtracks before, and we may consider using one of them now, we will be conducting a class feedback tommorow and then we will decide what new soundtrack we should consider for the final edit. It takes quite some time to find a copyright free soundtrack for this genre, but my group and I will be working together to find the soundtrack that we like.

Journal 7- First Edit Completed

I have finished the first edit for our title sequence and I will soon upload this first edit on YouTube and on this blog. We still have some more improvements to be made in our final edit such as re-filming some of the shots and establishing shots and we need to chose a new font for the title and text along with a new soundtrack that suits the genre better. We have put this first edit on a USB and presented it to my class. The class will give us feedback which will hopefully give more ideas and help for improving our title sequence and to create the final edit. We also made a very big mistake i he first edit, I played two characters in the title sequence which made things very confusing for the audience. My group and I decided that either Thomas or Adam will play the role of Michael Caine at the start of the title sequence. I will be refilling most of these scenes as I am the main cinematographer and therefore I need to make sure that the video quality is perfect as well as the smoothness of the camera, but most important I need to make sure the tripod is level and not slanted.

Journal 6 - Typography Ideas for our Title Sequence

We have now completed the first edit but now we just need to find the right Typography and Font for the title and text throughout the title sequence. We have looked at various sites and sources to find these fonts such as DaFont.com and 100freefonts.com. The image shown below are some of the favourite fonts we preferred for the Spy/Action genre.

My Group and I have decided that "Xperia" and "Breamcatcher" is so far the best suited fonts but we change this when we create our final edit.

Editing Process of our First Edit Title Sequence

 Here are some screenshots of editing that I have done on Final Cut Pro X

I have sped up this scene on final cut pro to give a time lapse look and feel and also gives a really nice affect to the audience.

I added transitions on the start and end of the text in the first edit. I will do this in the final title sequence too, once we have picked our finalised font.



I used the blade key on Final cut pro to create a jump cut in the final scene.

I added stabilization in this video as it was very unstable and shaky because I filmed it handheld. With the stabilization this scene looks very smooth and more professional.