My name is Tsz Kei Wong (Jenny) and this is my blog; it contains all of the work undertaken as part of the G321 AS Foundation Portfolio Unit within the OCR GCE course in Media Studies.
I chose to work in a group of 3 to produce a film opening in the chick flick genre. The project lasted four months, commencing in September 2013 and cumulating in February/March 2014.
I hope you enjoy my work and find it both successful and interesting.
Please use the navigation bar on the left hand side of the page in order to access my work, as organised into the five stages, Audience Reseach (including progression tasks), Planning, Camera Work, Coursework and the Evaluation. There is also a link to the St Mary's School Blog Hub.
Yours thankfully
Tsz Kei Wong (Jenny)
Friday 4 April 2014
Audience Feedback
I've showed my film opening to a few of my friend who are our target audience and they all find that:
- The background noise of when 'Sophie Reilly' is speaking is too loud.
- The texting bit at the end is too long.
- The background track was too repetitive.
- You can see the camera from the mirror (which we are going to fix).
Evaluation Activity 7
Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
Evaluation Activity 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Evaluation Activity 1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Friday 28 March 2014
Evaluation Activity 6 (Draft)
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
We have learnt many skills and tricks about using technology during the process of constructing our film.
Firstly, We used a 'SONY' camera to film our introduction. We learnt how to zoom in and out and how to focus to provide maximum quality to our shots, including making our shots stand out and be more defined. We also learnt how to use simple functions such as watching the shots you have just filmed.
We have also become familiar with the rule of filming such as not letting the actor lead the shot, but almost having the camera pushing them forwards and the 180 degree rule which is where filming only take place within an 180 degree angle which allows the audience to have a greater sense of the location of the scene.
During the editing phase of our film, we learnt how to use an Apple Mac and we all got used to how they work and function. We also learnt some tricks such as keyboard shortcuts and how to do print screen on Apple products.
We used iMovie to put all our shots together and make necessary adjustments. We learnt how to cut and split shots and put text over our footage in order to put our production company name, actors' names and film title on our film. We also had to put non-digetic and digetic sound into our film which to begin with, was difficult as we had to match the sound track's beat with the action going on in the shot, but eventually, we overcame that. The bit where we have our protagonist 'Sophie Reilly' caused problem as well as she was speaking to quietly, but we overcame that by adjusting the volume and dimming the background noise.
By using livetype we learned lots of skills about animating a title using confusing software, however after lots of attempts we finally made the production company logo for 'Illuminations Productions' seem to illuminate which emphasises the title as well as seeming as if it were typed appearing letter by letter.
We have learnt a lot during the process of making our film, it will ensure us that we will take less time to work our way through using technology as we now know lots of tricks and short cuts to help us further develop our knowledge.
We have learnt many skills and tricks about using technology during the process of constructing our film.
Firstly, We used a 'SONY' camera to film our introduction. We learnt how to zoom in and out and how to focus to provide maximum quality to our shots, including making our shots stand out and be more defined. We also learnt how to use simple functions such as watching the shots you have just filmed.
We have also become familiar with the rule of filming such as not letting the actor lead the shot, but almost having the camera pushing them forwards and the 180 degree rule which is where filming only take place within an 180 degree angle which allows the audience to have a greater sense of the location of the scene.
During the editing phase of our film, we learnt how to use an Apple Mac and we all got used to how they work and function. We also learnt some tricks such as keyboard shortcuts and how to do print screen on Apple products.
We used iMovie to put all our shots together and make necessary adjustments. We learnt how to cut and split shots and put text over our footage in order to put our production company name, actors' names and film title on our film. We also had to put non-digetic and digetic sound into our film which to begin with, was difficult as we had to match the sound track's beat with the action going on in the shot, but eventually, we overcame that. The bit where we have our protagonist 'Sophie Reilly' caused problem as well as she was speaking to quietly, but we overcame that by adjusting the volume and dimming the background noise.
By using livetype we learned lots of skills about animating a title using confusing software, however after lots of attempts we finally made the production company logo for 'Illuminations Productions' seem to illuminate which emphasises the title as well as seeming as if it were typed appearing letter by letter.
We have also learned how to use this software…Blogger! We have all produced our blogs and posted relevant information about the progress of our film introduction and other pieces of work. We can all now use Blogger efficiently and have learned that blogging has become a much larger phenomenon in todays society.
We used green screening when creating our animations, which took numerous attempts. Creases in the green screen proved to create discolouring in the shot whilst we were editing, as well as this, shadows and incorrect lighting also caused colouring problems.
We used green screening when creating our animations, which took numerous attempts. Creases in the green screen proved to create discolouring in the shot whilst we were editing, as well as this, shadows and incorrect lighting also caused colouring problems.
We have learnt a lot during the process of making our film, it will ensure us that we will take less time to work our way through using technology as we now know lots of tricks and short cuts to help us further develop our knowledge.
Thursday 20 March 2014
Evaluation Activity 2 (Draft)
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In the opening of our film, a stereo-typical impression is created of a modern day, upper class, independent school girl; we did this mainly through the clothing worn by the main character (Miranda) as well as the picturesque scenery of the school and the and also the type of car the character was driving which was a convertible Fiat 500; a popular car model for teenagers at the moment and the fact that the car was a convertible emphasised the upper class society that the film is set around.
A character that is similar to the role Miranda played is 'Poppy Moore' (played by Emma Roberts) from the popular and conventional chick flick 'Wild Child.' Firstly, the two characters are visually similar, both being blonde, slim, and generally attractive; this being a typical convention for the protagonist in a Chick Flick. As well as this the characters both dress similarly; Miranda is seen wearing an extravagant fur coat, a pink Ted Baker bag and RayBan sunglasses. Similarly, as shown in the image above, Poppy Moore is dressed in an eye-catching patterned jacket, a Louis Vuitton handbag and is also wearing sunglasses; the style of dress that both characters display shows wealth as they are both dressed in designer garments. As well as being visually similar, Miranda and Poppy are both new students attending an Independent school for girls.
In the opening of our film, a stereo-typical impression is created of a modern day, upper class, independent school girl; we did this mainly through the clothing worn by the main character (Miranda) as well as the picturesque scenery of the school and the and also the type of car the character was driving which was a convertible Fiat 500; a popular car model for teenagers at the moment and the fact that the car was a convertible emphasised the upper class society that the film is set around.
A character that is similar to the role Miranda played is 'Poppy Moore' (played by Emma Roberts) from the popular and conventional chick flick 'Wild Child.' Firstly, the two characters are visually similar, both being blonde, slim, and generally attractive; this being a typical convention for the protagonist in a Chick Flick. As well as this the characters both dress similarly; Miranda is seen wearing an extravagant fur coat, a pink Ted Baker bag and RayBan sunglasses. Similarly, as shown in the image above, Poppy Moore is dressed in an eye-catching patterned jacket, a Louis Vuitton handbag and is also wearing sunglasses; the style of dress that both characters display shows wealth as they are both dressed in designer garments. As well as being visually similar, Miranda and Poppy are both new students attending an Independent school for girls.
Wednesday 19 March 2014
Evaluation Activity 3 (Draft)
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Production company is responsible for raising of funding for the production or may accomplish this through an emissary. The production company can be either a small company or a larger one, selling its products to a film studio or presenting it at a theatrical venue.
Media institution such as Universal Pictures may distribute our film because they had already associate with chick flick such as Wild Child.
I have also researched other smaller institutions as i thought we might have a greater chance will smaller companies as our film is low budget and not well known. I found suitable institutions such as DNA film or Ealing Studio. DNA film may be interested in helping us to create our film because they participated in making Never Let Me Go which is a romantic film aimed at audiences similar to our film. Ealing Studio collaborated to make St.Trinians which is a film that has the same genre as our film therefore I think Ealing Studio would be interested in contributing in our film as St.Trinians was really successful and it is aimed at a similar audience, addressing similar high school issues and stereotypes.
More importantly, DNA film had multiple collaboration with Film 4 so I think having DNA film co-produce with Film 4 as our distributors will get us the maximum exposure as we can by play our film on Film 4 which is easy access and most people will have it on their TV in the UK. Showing our film on TV will be the cheapest way to showcase our film, but it will not gain much audience attention, so we would like to show our feature film theatrically as well - in cinemas, as it is the best and most effective way to show a film and it creates a demand to see it. According to the Film Distributor’s Association, the most frequent cinema goers tend to be teenagers, students and young adults, and they are the most voracious media consumers. This benefits us because our media product is aimed at a young target audience. More than half of 15-25 year olds in the UK visit the cinema at least once a month. Due to this, hopefully a good distributor such as Universal Pictures will distribute our product because it is aimed a large, young audience.
Having Universal Picture distributing our film would not only get us British audiences, it may also promote our film internationally which will get us audience around the world, achieving maximum success.
Production company is responsible for raising of funding for the production or may accomplish this through an emissary. The production company can be either a small company or a larger one, selling its products to a film studio or presenting it at a theatrical venue.Media institution such as Universal Pictures may distribute our film because they had already associate with chick flick such as Wild Child.
I have also researched other smaller institutions as i thought we might have a greater chance will smaller companies as our film is low budget and not well known. I found suitable institutions such as DNA film or Ealing Studio. DNA film may be interested in helping us to create our film because they participated in making Never Let Me Go which is a romantic film aimed at audiences similar to our film. Ealing Studio collaborated to make St.Trinians which is a film that has the same genre as our film therefore I think Ealing Studio would be interested in contributing in our film as St.Trinians was really successful and it is aimed at a similar audience, addressing similar high school issues and stereotypes.
More importantly, DNA film had multiple collaboration with Film 4 so I think having DNA film co-produce with Film 4 as our distributors will get us the maximum exposure as we can by play our film on Film 4 which is easy access and most people will have it on their TV in the UK. Showing our film on TV will be the cheapest way to showcase our film, but it will not gain much audience attention, so we would like to show our feature film theatrically as well - in cinemas, as it is the best and most effective way to show a film and it creates a demand to see it. According to the Film Distributor’s Association, the most frequent cinema goers tend to be teenagers, students and young adults, and they are the most voracious media consumers. This benefits us because our media product is aimed at a young target audience. More than half of 15-25 year olds in the UK visit the cinema at least once a month. Due to this, hopefully a good distributor such as Universal Pictures will distribute our product because it is aimed a large, young audience.
Having Universal Picture distributing our film would not only get us British audiences, it may also promote our film internationally which will get us audience around the world, achieving maximum success.
Wednesday 12 March 2014
Filming of the Car Shot
We decided to use three camera as it is easier to keep camera continuity and it saves time.
Emily is in charge of camera 1 which is to pan when the car is turning into the school gate.
I am in charge of camera 2 which is to film the bit where the car is driving down the school drive.
Priya is in charge of camera 3 where she is in the car and try to film from the driver's POV.
When it comes to the round about bit:
Me and Emily are in charge of filming the car in different angle and Priya is in charge of filming the close up of the car ie. the wheels.
Change of Plan.....
After having our original storyline for quite a while, we decided to change our storyline completely as we find it not really exciting and it will not attract our audience's attention.
Therefore there will be a lot of changes.
Therefore there will be a lot of changes.
- Location: we changed from English 1 room to the Year 12's classroom as it will suit our storyline more.
- Shots: we decided to add in classroom shot with close up of people to show different personality in the classroom.
- We also moved our car scene from the end of the film opening to the beginning of the film opening as it is a convention of starting a film with a journey arriving at its destination which shows a new start.
New Storyline
- Pan starting on car (driving on Packhorse Road) into school drive and continues panning onto school sign.
- She (Miranda) drives into school, with sunglasses on, wearing a glamorous furry coat and carrying a large Ted Baker pink bag.
- She then walks into the front door of a very traditional private school (i.e. here).
- She then meets the head girl (Mollie) of the school who is very nice.
- They then walk up the main stairs together, with the head girl explaining about the school
- Cut to Maths room (Mr Tucker) with people sitting on tables, chilling in chairs etc, socializing.
- The head girl then opens the door to show the new girl the classroom, it falls silent and all the other girls gradually stare at the new one. The new girl has a worried face as she sees the antagonist (Sophie), and makes awkward eye contact.
- A focus is then put on the antagonist who is glaring back at her.
- One chair is then shown at the back of the room with the head girl saying, ‘I think that might be your seat!’
- Antagonist then stands up to greet and shake the new girls hand, saying ‘Welcome to St Mary’s’ as she shakes her hand, pulls forward and (close up of ear and lips) whispers ‘let’s not have a repeat of last time’.
Thursday 27 February 2014
Evaluation Planning
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- The location of our film opening is based in a school, which is typical for many 'chick flick' films such as Mean Girls and St.Trinians.
- We use blue car, pink bag, fluffy coat, classroom equipment to match the typical chick flick requirements.
- There is a classroom shot where the camera pans across the classroom presenting different kinds of people in the class, such as the popular ones, the quite ones, the loud ones.....
- The font and style of our opening credits uses hand-written-like font also shows that it is a chick flick.
- The characters are introduced by giving each of them a close up shot of what their characteristics are.
- The opening also uses a pop rock background music which helps to suggest that the film is a chick flick.
- Our film is about a new girl fitting into her new school, which is a typical story line for a chick flick.
- An antagonist is also introduces having 'her eyes on' the new girl.
Friday 7 February 2014
Friday 31 January 2014
Plan For Our Film Opening Credit Animation
Here is a route plan of how our names appear and disappear on screen.
Monday 20 January 2014
Disney
For more than nine decades, the name Walt Disney has been preeminent in the field of family entertainment. From humble beginnings as a cartoon studio in the 1920s to today's global corporation, The Walt Disney Company continues to proudly provide quality entertainment for every member of the family, across America and around the world.
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In 18 November, 1928, Steamboat Willie is released at the Colony Theatre in New York, the real ease of Mickey Mouse cartoon and the very first appearance of Minnie Mouse.
Media Networks
Media Networks comprise a vast array of broadcast, cable, radio, publishing and digital businesses across two divisions – the Disney/ABC Television Group and ESPN Inc. In addition to content development and distribution functions, the segment includes supporting headquarters, communications, digital media, distribution, marketing, research and sales groups.
The Disney/ABC Television Group is composed of The Walt Disney Company’s global entertainment and news television properties, owned television stations group, and radio business. This includes the ABC Television Network, ABC Owned Television Stations Group, ABC Entertainment Group, Disney Channels Worldwide, ABC Family as well as Disney/ABC Domestic Television and Disney Media Distribution. The Company’s equity interest in A&E Television Networks, Hulu, and Fusion round out the Group’s portfolio of media businesses.
Parks and Resorts
When Walt Disney opened Disneyland on July 17, 1955, he created a unique destination built around storytelling and immersive experiences, ushering in a new era of family entertainment. More than 55 years later, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts (WDP&R) has grown into one of the world’s leading providers of family travel and leisure experiences, providing millions of guests each year with the chance to spend time with their families and friends making memories that will last forever.
At the heart of WDP&R are five world-class vacation destinations with 11 theme parks and 44 resorts in North America, Europe and Asia, with a sixth destination currently under construction in Shanghai. WDP&R also includes the Disney Cruise Line with its four ships - the Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy; Disney Vacation Club, with 12 properties and approaching a total of 200,000 member families; and Adventures by Disney, which provides guided family vacation experiences to destinations around the globe.
The Walt Disney Studios
For nearly 90 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under the following banners: Disney, including Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel Studios; Lucasfilm; and Touchstone Pictures, the banner under which live-action films from DreamWorks Studios are distributed. The Disney Music Group encompasses the Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records labels, as well as Disney Music Publishing. The Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Disney on Broadway, Disney On Ice and Disney Live!
In 21 December, 1937, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney's first feature-length animated film, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.
In 17 July, 1955, The first Disney park, opened in Anaheim, California, to an invited audience on this day.
Media Networks
Media Networks comprise a vast array of broadcast, cable, radio, publishing and digital businesses across two divisions – the Disney/ABC Television Group and ESPN Inc. In addition to content development and distribution functions, the segment includes supporting headquarters, communications, digital media, distribution, marketing, research and sales groups.
The Disney/ABC Television Group is composed of The Walt Disney Company’s global entertainment and news television properties, owned television stations group, and radio business. This includes the ABC Television Network, ABC Owned Television Stations Group, ABC Entertainment Group, Disney Channels Worldwide, ABC Family as well as Disney/ABC Domestic Television and Disney Media Distribution. The Company’s equity interest in A&E Television Networks, Hulu, and Fusion round out the Group’s portfolio of media businesses.
Parks and Resorts
When Walt Disney opened Disneyland on July 17, 1955, he created a unique destination built around storytelling and immersive experiences, ushering in a new era of family entertainment. More than 55 years later, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts (WDP&R) has grown into one of the world’s leading providers of family travel and leisure experiences, providing millions of guests each year with the chance to spend time with their families and friends making memories that will last forever.
At the heart of WDP&R are five world-class vacation destinations with 11 theme parks and 44 resorts in North America, Europe and Asia, with a sixth destination currently under construction in Shanghai. WDP&R also includes the Disney Cruise Line with its four ships - the Disney Magic, Disney Wonder, Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy; Disney Vacation Club, with 12 properties and approaching a total of 200,000 member families; and Adventures by Disney, which provides guided family vacation experiences to destinations around the globe.
The Walt Disney Studios
For nearly 90 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under the following banners: Disney, including Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel Studios; Lucasfilm; and Touchstone Pictures, the banner under which live-action films from DreamWorks Studios are distributed. The Disney Music Group encompasses the Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records labels, as well as Disney Music Publishing. The Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Disney on Broadway, Disney On Ice and Disney Live!
Disney Case Study - Tangled
Origins
Tangled is loosely based on the German fairy tale 'Repunzel' in the collection of folk tales published by the Brothers Grimm, two 17th century writters who are the most renowned fairy-tale creators creating other classics such as Cinderella, Rumplestiltzskin and Snow White. The Brothers were known for their gothic style of writing and their stories which are told now have been drastically adapted.
Production Companies
Writers: Dan Fogelman (Screenplay), Jacob Grimm (Fairy Tale)
Making it happen
Details
Finance
Production Companies
- Walt Disney Animation Studio
- Walt Disney Pictures
- Buena Vista Sound
- Digital Media Services
- Intelligent Media
- Open Road Entertainment
- Walt Disney Music Library
- Walt Disney Records
- Warner Bros. Studio Facilities
Writers: Dan Fogelman (Screenplay), Jacob Grimm (Fairy Tale)
Making it happen
- “Tangled” marks Walt Disney Pictures’ 50th full-length animated feature.
- Directors Byron Howard and Nathan Greno both became interested in careers as animators after visiting Disney’s Animation Studio at Walt Disney World. While waiting to get accepted into the program, Howard served as a tour guide and spent his days on the outside looking through the glass at animators at work.
- Rising stars Byron Howard and Nathan Greno take the helm, infusing the fresh talent of the animation industry’s newest generation of directors. Howard directed Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Bolt,” the 2008 animated comedy adventure that grossed more than $300 million worldwide and earned two Golden Globe® nominations(Best Animated Film and Best Original Song), and an Oscar® nomination for Best Animated Feature. Greno, a 14-year Disney animation veteran, served as head of story on “Bolt,” and has animation and/or story credits on “Mulan,” “Brother Bear,” and “Meet the Robinsons.”
A hair-raising experience
- Rapunzel has 70 feet of golden hair and more than 100,000 individual strands
- Special software had to be created to simulate movement for the hair, no one had ever animated that much hair before and no leading lady has ever had that much hair before!
- If all the hairs on a single head of hair 12 inches long were laid end-to-end, they would stretch 26 miles. If all the hair on Rapunzel’s head were laid end to end they would stretch for 1,820 miles.
Details
- The film features an exciting climactic scene with a dazzling, lantern-filled skyline. Every lantern has its own animated fire that contains 10,000 micro points of light. The highest lantern count in a shot is 46,000 lanterns, which equals 460 million points of light!
- The waterfall and stream in the tower valley were animated to match the characteristics of streams and waterfalls in California’s Yosemite. The effects supervisor took a two-day trip and shot more than 150 video clips for reference. The art directors were then able to pick out their avorite characteristics. More than 10 million individual water droplet "points" make up the waterfall.
- Grizzly River Run in Disney’s California Adventure Park was used as inspiration for water leaks on the rickety wood dam that bursts. In the film’s final scene, 23 million gallons of virtual CGI water were released in the collapse of the dam.
- The immersive fog that creeps in around Gothel and Rapunzel at the campsite is also intended to symbolize the emotional effect of Gothel clouding Rapunzel's mind.
- The “Tangled” animated cast includes five main characters, 21 thugs and 38 townspeople. Leading up to the film’s dramatic lantern scene, the Disney effects team was called upon to create a crowd that consisted of nearly 3,000 people. This is the largest crowd that the Studio has ever created for a CG feature.
Finance
Tangled spent 6 years in production at an estimated cost of $260 million which makes it the most expensive animated film of all time. The opening weekend in the UK, the box office made £5,106,612 and in total in the UK £35,518,895.
Distribution
Distribution
There are two reasons why Tangled made big news on it's release.
1. As of yet, Tangled is the most expensive animated movie to date. To put it into context-
The movie holding the title of most expensive is the Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers andThe return of the King) costing 281 million, only 21 million more.
However, James Cameron is famous for his big budget movies. Terminator 2 (1991) was the first movie to cost 100m. Titanic (1997) was the first to cost 200m. By the time James Cameron was making Avatar in 2009, budget was enormous. The official budget is supposedly 237m dollars, but it’s not uncommon to see claims and speculations that place the budget closer to 280m dollars.
2. The film uses a new animation technology which completely killed traditional hand-drawn animation, forever solidifying CGI as the “new cartoon”. This is one of the first time Disney has relied pimerily on CGI for an animated film. Many amateur cartoonists were in uproar over the effects this would have on hand drawn animations.
1. As of yet, Tangled is the most expensive animated movie to date. To put it into context-
The movie holding the title of most expensive is the Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers andThe return of the King) costing 281 million, only 21 million more.
However, James Cameron is famous for his big budget movies. Terminator 2 (1991) was the first movie to cost 100m. Titanic (1997) was the first to cost 200m. By the time James Cameron was making Avatar in 2009, budget was enormous. The official budget is supposedly 237m dollars, but it’s not uncommon to see claims and speculations that place the budget closer to 280m dollars.
2. The film uses a new animation technology which completely killed traditional hand-drawn animation, forever solidifying CGI as the “new cartoon”. This is one of the first time Disney has relied pimerily on CGI for an animated film. Many amateur cartoonists were in uproar over the effects this would have on hand drawn animations.
Reviews, Articles
Thursday 16 January 2014
Storyline of Film Opening
The film starts with a close up of a girl doodling in her notebook. It then zooms in into the notebook with animated titles of director, screenwriter and producer. We then hear a school bell ring and the girl shuts her notebook with the film title on the front page.
We then go to the next shot where the girl will be walking down the hallway holding the note book in front of her with lot of other school girls saying 'hi' and interacting with her. The girl finally reaches to her locker and we show her opening the locker from the camera shooting from the inside of the locker. The will be post-it notes on the locker door and folders with actors name on it. Then she slams he locker shut.
We then jump to another scene showing the girl walking towards her pink car with one or two post-it note on the wind screen with actors names and some messages from people, eg 'loving the car'. We then see her get into the car and the camera cuts to show the car from behind and it drives off round the corner.
Monday 13 January 2014
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