Final Post

The end is upon us!




THIS BLOG IS NOW CLOSED.

Last evaluation questions!

The last questions are here!

Evaluation: COMPLETE!

Question 5.



Question 6.




Question 7.

Evaluation 3 and 4

And some more!

Question 3.




Question 4.

Evaluation 1 and 2

Evauations are done! The end really IS near! So yes, here are the first two questions...

Question 1.



Question 2.

Media Showcase and Evaluation Stress!

MEDIA SHOWCASE

We had our Media Showcase where we showed an audience of teachers, students and friends our films.

Mac 1 went last and it was very nerve-wracking! We all spoke about our journey, the concept of 'Mourning' and the type of shots we used.
We asked Josh to come so that the audience could recognise him in the train time lapse shots, allowing them to grasp the concept easier.

It was a real success and we got some great feedback!

EVALUATION STRESS


I have finished answering my evaluation questions and have already filmed a few of my responses. I just need to film the rest and edit them so that digital evidence of what I'm talking about can be incorporated into the evaluation.

The end is upon us.

Showcase Update!

Lucy, Athena and I met up for Starbucks today (sophisticated, I know).
We wrote a rough speech and figured out who's saying what. We want the audience to know the loose concept of 'Mourning' and the relevance of the title and Josh being in every shot.
Hopefully they get it because if they don't.. Well, that's another matter. *evil laughs*

So yeah, that's happening on Thursday. Very exciting.

Thought I'd incorporate another form of media in this blog, being a Media student and all, so here is the soundtrack/song featured in 'Mourning':

Have a nice day :)

Titles vlog!

Thought I'd explain the whole 'Mourning' concept. Apologies for the crazy hair; I am fully aware that I look like Medusa.

Last minute change!!

After going through an examiner's report on Wednesday, the fact that we didn't put specific credits in 'Mourning' came to our attention.
Luckily, the deadline we had to meet a few weeks ago was a personal one, set by Miss Foster, to allow time for things like this to be rectified and, I'm guessing, so she doesn't lose her hair due to the stress of no one getting it done on time.

So yes, here is the vlog on what we changed and why:

Miss Foster being ever-so mature with a USB lead...

How it looks now:

MOURNING

I know this has been greatly anticipated since our fabulous prelim back in September/October, but the wait is over. It's here.



Athena, Lucy and I are so proud of Mourning and it's been so much fun!
The idea was originally just going to be a feel-good film about a girl on a train and now it's intricate, deep and damn right amazing, don't you think?
That maybe a little big-headed but I cant even elucidate how proud I am of Team Mac 1 for actually pulling it off. It's better than we expected and now I sound like I'm accepting an Oscar so before I go, shout out to my mum and dad for supporting me and Foster for her media-ness.

Peace.

Final film vlog!

Completely forgot to put this on at the time!!

The vlog Athena and I did after we uploaded our film (which will follow tomorrow)

COUNTDOWN

Strangely enough, I'm not scared about these countdowns! (Show me a countdown for my History exams, and I will cry you a river)

I think it's because I've been enjoying Media since September and had just great fun, so revising won't be a chore! I'm really confident in both Section A and B in the exam so that's always positive! My mock results gave me an extra boost too - where I got an A!! - so I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully I'll come out with the grade I want :)

So yeah, the countdown:

 I can feel myself counting down the seconds as I write this... 

Done and dusted!!

And so, the film is done and evaluating must begin.
Here's a quick vlog of me looking my finest and chatting media gibberish, as per usual.



  The questions I promised:  

• In what ways does your film opening use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?    
• How does your film opening represent particular social groups?   
• What kind of media institution might distribute your film opening and why?   
• Who would be the audience for your film opening?   
• How did you attract/address your audience?   
• What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this film opening?   
• Looking back at your prelim task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the final film opening?

Nearly there!

The shot Lucy and Athena got today was absolutely fantastic and the changes they've made to the film made me cry with happiness when I saw it - I'm not even joking. 

They took my advice and put the font in lower case too and it looks absolutely stunning. I am so incredibly pleased with it!! Roll on Friday!

Here's a picture of the font!! All of our names are in the lower right hand corner of the screen and, like Being Human's credits, they're simple, effortless and simply amazing. 

I cannot explain how happy we are as a group with how our film has turned out! :) 

Update!

I was away all week on a geography field trip so I haven't been in media since last Friday!
However, my wonderful team have updated me on what they've changed, which, as always, is just improving our film even more so; which I didn't even think was possible.

Music-wise
We've decided to scrap Kings of Leon's 'Closer' for when Athena walks round the corner into the lift because it proved really difficult to mix the two songs together without the change sounding too dramatic. So now we're just going for Foals - Blue Blood. The ending of the song is just as good, if not better, than 'Closer', so Team Mac 1 are very happy bunnies.

Filming 
Athena and Lucy are going to film the last little shot of Athena actually putting her headphones in at Oakwood. Even though she has her headphones in the whole time, they aren't particularly visible and we just want to reduce all chances of any marks being taken off of the final film. I am not going because I have a history lesson (yay) but as always, I trust them to get exactly what we need.

VERY exciting times.

Font: FOUND

I THINK I'VE FOUND THE FONT I'D LIKE TO PUT IN OUR FILM!!

As I said previously, the BBC really do know how to do title sequences and Being Human is no exception!
The simplicity of it is absolutely amazing and if we can get this, or one similar, in our film, I will never moan about anything again.

Here are some snap shots:

It's simple, lower case and in the bottom left hand corner of the screen.

Similar to the one above, but you can see where it is in the shot.

AND MY PERSONAL FAVOURITE:

Isn't it just so effortlessly brilliant?!

The background for our credits is black too, and our text is white. But after seeing this, I think I'm going to ask Athena and Lucy if we should try the text in lower case as well, because at the moment, our names are like so: Alice Winter, Athena Periclis, Lucy Nagle and Joshua Cann... So maybe no capitals? 

I shall ask them tomorrow and change it and then blog about it. 

WE'RE SO CLOSE!!! :D

Ripper Street

The credits for Ripper Street are absolutely fantastic and they really remind me of the Se7en title sequence.
I've always thought that BBC programmes have the best credits and this one is no exception!

I can't really describe it but here it is:



There's a few silhouettes in there and the text kind of newspapery..? I can't find actual words to describe it to be honest, but they're fantastic and really fit with the nature of the programme!

Regarding our own credits, I'm still a bit dubious about the text. For the sake of getting it in, we just picked a random text and decided to come back to it later, but when Athena and Lucy changed the film into black and white, they picked a different text. Admittedly, it's A LOT better but I'm still waiting to find a text and get that "OMG YES THIS IS THE FONT I WANT IN OUR FILM" epiphany. Maybe I never will and the font will just have to be something we agree to disagree on but I am still searching.. And so far I am unsuccessful.

Maybe the BBC will let us use their font for Ripper Street? :D

Black and White

We've made a few changes to our film, how exciting!!!

LAST VLOG

THE TIME HAS COME.

This is our last on-set blog from Team Mac 1 ft. Josh.

More credits.

The vlog should be here tomorrow, the SD card is playing up with Athena's laptop (Technology these days, SIGH) so we're going to just pop it into the Mac tomorrow in our lesson.

HOWEVER, I have some credits to blog about
I don't watch this programme, Utopia on Channel 4, but I was recommended to check out the credits and that's exactly what I did; they're VERY simple but I adore them. They're just effortlessly sophisticated, something Team Mac 1 have been trying to get for our film.

Flicking through texts is getting tedious and it'd be brilliant if we could just type in "THE FONT THAT THEY USE IN UTOPIA" but alas, life is not as simple, so we're just going to have to keep flicking.

So yeah, I'd like to go for something like this:

Obviously, we're not going to have this ghastly yellow in the background. We're going to go for black/dark navy. Probably black. 

This screams sophistication, I love it! Simple, capital letters, let's hope we can find something similar!

Nearly there!

And so, the time has come when we're charging our equipment and reminding Josh about filming for the LAST TIME. Emotional.

Tomorrow, the team are off out to film:

- The Bump Shots - where Athena and Josh bump into each other, which we shall slow down and make it all dramatic. This is the shot that changes the whole tone of the film opening; the music is going to go from fairly upbeat to eerie
- The Final Shot of the Lift - so we can do the credits properly - in the midst of Athena losing her iPhone in the lift and a random woman giving it back to her and after untangling the headphones and Athena nearly stealing the poor woman's oyster card, we didn't actually get the shot we wanted.


We will have a very emotional last vlog with Josh on set for you (whoever 'you' is, I can't stop addressing a random audience) to have a look at. Tissues at the ready, the end is in sight kids.

MOOSIC

Initially, this as the list of tracks we had down for what Athena's character was going to listen to through her headphones. At the start of our media journey, we agreed that the music was going to change with the shots, so it would have been very choppy. But we all thought that would sound "cool" and "indie" and "different":

 1. Charlie Simpson - Sundown
 2. Klaxons - Golden Skans
 3. Grimes - Oblivion
 4. Imagine Dragons - Radioactive
 5. Joy Division - Disorder
 6. Temper Trap - Love Lost
7. Alt-J - Interlude 3 & Dissolve Me
 8. Passion - Little Secrets
 9. Kings Of Leon - Closer
 10. (Music towards the end) Florence + The Machine - Seven Devils/ Instrumental?
 11. (Overhead shot - beginning and then getting onto the train) Foals - Blue Blood/ Instrumental?
 12. (Slow motion shot) Foals - Spanish Sahara
 13. (Lift closing at the end, fade into black) Foals - Fuge
 14. (Getting on the train) New Order - Ceremony / Beginning of track

Luckily, we've come to our senses and realised that the 'choppiness' isn't going to be so good after all. So we knuckled down the tracks to these beauties (at the moment... they could change at any point):

Foals - Blue Blood; for the credits and right the way through till the lift shot when it turns to Kings of Leon - Closer. 

We all got Media-Goosebumps when we saw/heard it all come together. It was a very special moment. 

Plan

I've found a working computer!!!! Success.

Here is the picture:

Very neat, as you can see, but we've powered through most of them, and got all the timings and the music next to the points so it's easier to interpret.
I'M SO EXCITED

Lift shot!

Lucy, Athena and I got our lift shot yesterday! It looks fantastic and our editing is coming along brilliantly!


I shall put a picture of the rough plan we did for the order of the shots tomorrow because my laptop has decided that it wants some time out and made my screen go black so we aren't friends anymore. And my phone, despite claiming to be "smart", won't let me post a picture. Apologise. We were all lied to; there's nothing clever about BlackBerry's.

Title Ideas

Athena blogged about this a few weeks ago and I just watched it so thought I'd do the same!



LOVE the simplicity of it - nothing fancy; just plain old black and white. Sophisticated.
To be fair, all along we did say we'd go for simple titles to contrast with the fairly complicated story line so this is just tangible evidence of what we were all thinking would suit our film opening.
However, I'm still not sure what will look better; Credits at the start in silence OR credits popping up in between shots with Athena's music in the background (That's diagetic sound, I believe.. Ooohh media term).
The first one will set a really eerie tone just before Athena gets on the train, which is when the music will start. But then the second one will gradually build tension up. AND I'M JUST NOT SURE.


SO
Friday's lesson will consist of:
- vlogging about the sound/music
- de-stressing me and coming to an actual conclusion regarding the credits
- de-stressing Foster regarding our whole entire film and showing her the FABULOUS shots we already have
- deciding when we're going to film the over-head shot (We'll probably go at lunch time)
- and sorting out when we're going to our new lift and christen it by getting some shots with Josh - I'm thinking Monday because we're all oh-so-busy and hopefully it won't be as cold... Priorities... :--)

Pictures!

Here are some pictures I forgot to post after our filming session the other week:

New filming location!

WE'VE FOUND A LIFT THAT FITS THE REQUIREMENTS AND DOESN'T NEED A PERMIT. REJOICE. REJOICE.

Here's some pictures:

Ooohhh, isn't it eerie and scary and a perfect scene for a brutal murder? :----)

Today

GOOD NEWS.
Athena, Lucy and I went out in our media lesson to try and film the Inglourious Basterds shot.
My doubts were confirmed: the wooden bits on the car park had poles in the middle of them so we couldn't slide the camera along.
However, we got Athena to walk below the bridge in the town and we tracked her from above, sliding the camera along at roughly the same pace as her walking.
The end product was a bit shaky but we really like it - we will probably re-do it so all is well.


BAD NEWS.
Today, Lucy, Athena, Josh and I attempted to shoot the lift scene of our film. Attempted being the subjective word here because we did try. And failed.
A security man with funny eyes asked us if we were filming, reminding us that it is a "private property". The others just left me to waffle our way out of it, which I successfully did. (You're welcome, guys.)

And so, the quest to find a lift that fits our requirements and doesn't have hawk-like guards protecting it like the dementors of Askaban continues:
One of our friends rang her dad, who's a police man, and asked him who we need to talk to about getting an Enfield Council permit to film in the precinct in the town. Apparently its free.. Raise the roof. We should be sorting that out this weekend so in the mean time, Team Mac One will be brainstorming about a few things:

- Production name - Athena suggested 'Shadow Play' which we all liked. I, for some reason, suggested translating "MURDER" into foreign languages to be subtle/funny/original/generally strange.
- Where/when we will be filming the bit where Athena and Josh bump into each other.
- Music - both bouncy/energetic and dark/sinister.

But we shall keep you updated!!
(Whoever "you" are..)

On a totally unrelated note, here's a cute kitten

Guess who's back!!

Happy New Year!
I am back and blogging, as you'll all be pleased to know.

Vlog:



Shot I spoke about in the vlog:

Little creation of the title I did in Paint:

I PROMISE it will look better in our actual film. 

Promise.