Production Diary - Week 24

In today's Lesson, we have paused production due to a Mock Exam we have for media on Tuesday, which will be a full run-through of how the real exam will be like. This would also mean that during Tuesday's lesson there will be no coursework being done and won't start until Wednesday's Lesson.

This week, I have uploaded a lengthy blog post, which includes all the details of how far I have reached my coursework at the current time. It has details on all three pieces of my coursework (Poster, Article and Film), which have included any setbacks that have prevented my production and created barriers. 

Production So Far

At this stage through the course, I am currently completing my Article and Poster; the film however has been taken longer than hoped to obtain the remaining footage - setbacks have occurred which I will mention later on.

The Article I feel is very well laid out with a good design and clearly readable for the readers; the target audience for my film article surrounds the audience I have targeted for my actual film, who are a younger audience of 15 year olds and over. I used 'Little White Lies' film magazine to give me ideas for my layout and design of my film article, as I feel this magazine is very creative and uses a variety of unique designs for each article they write about. I took my article design from Little White Lies - The Carlos Issue from 2010; this issue included an article which looked like an old Newspaper, with the old pink printed paper and the old black and white text; this was the basis of how I would design my article as it is realistic, creative and follows the needed conventions of a article, for example, the paragraphing. My film article is nearly finished, with all the text needed written up; the final parts I need to do for my article is add the images I would like to include. The setback that is preventing me from finishing my article, is that for the images I wanted was going to be screen shots from selected film scenes of my film and use them as the images, to give readers a little insight to the film. However, I cannot complete this as yet, as I have not finished the film yet, but hopefully I will still be able to obtain images from the scenes I have already shot. The image shows the draft and the current state of my article; it clearly shows that as mentioned all thats needed to do is add the images in. By looking at the drafted article, I feel that it clearly demonstrates the audience I am aiming for, because the colours used are most likely to attract a younger aged audience as they're more interesting than the plain film articles, which are unlikely to attract my targeted demographic. As my main characters are mainly female, I feel this will automatically attract a female-based audience; this is also reflected in my article where I have used pale colours, such as pink and a light yellow. 

The poster to my film has got the images that I planned to add onto it, as well as already has all the text required, such as the billing block and the title of my film. I could say that I am finished with my poster however, I feel uncertain to whether it is complete or not. For the time being I am going to edit the images a little more using photoshop, which I can complete by the end of the week. I used the poster for the movie Annabelle as a way to find a idea for the poster, where it is simple yet shows the story or some inkling about the plot. The poster, I feel is creative with the way I have planned the idea and tried to produce it with the picture of the same woman used twice, but viewed in different lights; this gives as drastic effect as it confuses the audience to make them see the good side of the character before the twist, which is not at first what the audience believes. The posters image is conventional for a psychological thriller as it shows a dark image, with the main colours used being either white, black or red. The poster reaches out to the target audience, as I find many young people enjoy scary movies, and even though it is not a horror film, they will still be attracted to psychological thrillers, which are very similar. In addition, a female audience, as mentioned previously, will be more drawn to the film, due to the use of two main female characters; as well as being drawn to the movie through the use of the images on the poster, as it shows one of the main female characters in the film. The poster is effective as it portrays to the audience the story I want them to see, as well as the ideas that will enter their head, such as "the girl on the poster is crazy", as they will be shocked when they find out the twisted plot in the end, which makes it a good storyline for a psychological thriller. The image shows my draft of my poster, which after a little minor edits will be complete; comparing the poster and the movie of the film, they reflect the film in different lights, which I believe to be a effective way to reach different audiences. 

The production of my film however, is a different story; I have found it very challenging overall with this coursework, not necessarily with the poster and article, but to create the film has been a tough task. As mentioned on previous posts, when I struggled to view and edit the footage that I shot over the Christmas holidays, this set me back a few weeks, especially without knowing what scenes I would have to re-do, due to the sound being too low or problems with the lighting that has caused the scene to be unusable. I have edited and placed the footage that I am going to use in the file (Premiere Pro), however, I cannot complete anymore than this until I have gained all my footage. It become difficult when working with other people to find a suitable time to suit everybody, as people's schedules are usually filled with their current plans, for example if they work or if they're sick. These little problems can cause production to pause and gaining the footage for the film becomes very difficult. These problems that I am experiencing is tough to overcome, especially as you cannot determine or know any problems that will occur, as well as trying to find a way around them to come to some solution. I am currently talking with my other actors to find a suitable time to which they will be available to film; realistically, it is difficult to get people to film with you and ensure all the factors, such as the actors, having the equipment and the location being free, are available in one time slot to get the filming complete. It is not excuses that are made and although it is my responsibility to get the filming done, it is not always an easy scenario to complete this and does take time; however, I am hoping to get the filming does as soon as possible. 

Production Diary - Week 23

With no progress with being able to edit my film due to technical faults, I have had to continue with the production of my poster and my film. I have heard from the technician that within the next week he will be able to get access to a file converter which will be accepted on the computer I am currently using; due to the security placed in the school, many converters aren't accessible as they're blocked, as well as most downloads. The technician is hoping to install the converter onto the desktop to which the files can be converter to be editable via the needed software, Adobe Premiere Pro.

Production Diary - Week 22

This week, as shown from my recent post on tuesday, I have been continuing with the production of my poster. I feel uncertain as to leave my poster the way it currently is as I feel it could be more conventional with the change of colours and layout of the needed features. If I can alter some features of the poster, hopefully it will be more uniform again and more conventional.

Poster Progress Part 2

After adding the image to my poster, I started to question the colour usage, as I felt there wasn't as much flow to the poster that there was previously. This made me think about the uniform for the poster and whether it met with the image. Looking at the poster below, I didn't like the use of the white for the title, as well as the placement of the other features. I have chosen to think about the poster and start my film review, as maybe this will make me decide the uniform of the two.

Production Diary - Week 21

This week, with the problems with my editing process, I have to decided to continue with the production of my poster and review. I have uploaded a post this week showing the progress of my poster, which is coming along well. Hopefully within the next week it will be completed and ready to upload, where I can move on to my review.

Progress on Poster

This is the progress I have made so far with my poster, I have decided to do it on a black background, using both white and red text. I am beginning to like the way my poster looks with the font types used and colours; this is beginning to show a uniform with the font types and the conventions needed to present a psychological thriller. All what is left to do with my poster is to add the picture I wish to use in.