Dead Man's Love

Ancillary Tasks

Our first ancillary task was a magazine and this can be seen below:

For our second ancillary task we produced a poster and this can be seen below:

Evaluation Activity Four

-     How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Evaluation Activity Three

-          What have you learned from the audience feedback?

Overview

Evaluation activity three part 2

Evaluation activity three part 3

Audience feedback for our magazine

Evaluation activity three part 4

Evaluation activity three part 5

Evaluation activity three part 6

Evaluation activity three part 7

Evaluation activity three part 8

Evaluation activity three part 9

Evaluation Activity Three part 9 -

Evaluation Activity Three part 9 - 1

Evaluation activity three part 10

Evaluation activity three part 11

Evaluation activity three part 12

We also received feedback from someone abroad who was very good at analyzing films and his feedback is shown below.

Aite bruv,
Here's a couple of perceptions on your feature film extravaganza.
First up, it hangs together nicely in general. Continuity is pretty well adhered to, the lighting is well chosen and technically the whole piece is well constructed.
The minor things that distracted me were mainly abrupt editing. In a couple of moments (I'm thinking specifically of the night/morning switchover, and the cut between the office & arriving home), the editing is a bit harsh. Maybe a slower fadeout, or having some sound that spanned across both sides of the cut would reduce the harshness of the cuts.
Bottom line is, it's very enjoyable, and is dark without being typically angsty. Good job bruv.


This feedback was particularly helpful and from this we did notice aspects, which should be changed. This led us to mess around with the fades because he said they were harsh, however in the end we thought a longer fade did not work. Therefore we decided to leave that aspect of it. Nevertheless we were very pleased by his response and the constructive criticism we received was very good and from this we did notice things that could be done. Overall the fact he said it was enjoyable and that the "continuity is well adhered too" was pleasing. Also, this feedback was from a male and does fit into the younger bracket of our target audience and because of this it was even more effective.


As well as this another written feedback we received is shown below.


"That film IS brilliant! Well done to the characters! =D ... made me laugh at the end, the boy wi the towel on his head... brilliant! Never expected that! So funny! =D xxx "


Even though this feedback was from a female, it was still pleasing to her and what was more pleasing is that we realized our film could target a female audience as well and that the comedic elements were well received by most. 

Evaluation activity three part 13

Evaluation Activity Two

-          How effective is the combination of your main products and ancillary texts?

Across our 3 products we have created a "serious; dark" appearance to our film and we have done this specifically to portray our main character in this way. This is because we wanted to conform to the typical feel of a zombie as seen in films such as "The Crazies and Zombieland". We realised that having a serious outlook for a film would be needed because of the genre we intended to place our film in. We intended to make this clear with our main characters serious facial expressions to express intensity. Also the killings of our main character and these were representative of a typical Zombie film. Therefore we needed to consider these elements and incorporate them into our main products and ancillary tasks.

We also made an effective combination between the main product and our magazine whereby we used screenshots from the film for the magazine. We have done this so we could clearly portray the type of genre we intend to create. However we did not include a screenshot for the poster because we intended to make it more professional and produce a separate image. Therefore we took a separate image, yet incorporated the right tone and intensity that was seen in the film.

We also tried to incorporate the same tag line in our poster and magazine to create consistency between the two. This would be particularly helpful for our viewers because they could easily see that they are both from the same film, due to the consistency in our ancillary tasks. As well as this we have included our main character straight from the start as seen in our film, and for our poster and magazine he is the centre image. This shows consistency between all of our products and allows our viewer to familiarise themselves with our main character. Also, by placing our character in all 3 of our products the viewers will then know that it’s our film when they see it online, through shops and other ways in which the audience may purchase our short film.

Furthermore we have included our production company name/logo in our poster, which is also in our  film. This is done to show continuity between our magazine and poster. This also tells the audience the producer of our film and it says who they are. Therefore our media products are all recognisable between one another and also by including this in our film.

This image shows who produced our film and the various actors in the film.

In this image you can clearly see "Blue Box Productions" and this shows that we have used our production companies name in two of our media products.

We also included the name of our film quite brightly in our film, posters and magazine. This was incorporated so our viewers knew that they would be viewing a media product to do with our magazine. The images of our titles are below:

We have also incorporated a similar color scheme between our poster, magazine and film and this is done to highlight the coldness of our character. And even though we have included comedy into our film it is still relatively dark humor. Therefore the blue colors is affective and to a degree highlight the intenseness of our film in many ways. Furthermore we wanted to retain a similar color scheme because we thought that it would be easier for the viewers to know its the same film, particularly using the blue as it is a relatively prominent color. Often using red with it as they work well together as they are totally different contrasts.

(Show the blue image within the film)

Overall we were pleased with the combination between our main product and ancillary tasks; however we do feel that the poster has slightly let down the professionalism of our film and main task. This is because we feel the image was not up to scratch of a professional poster, Even though we were happy with the overall feel we felt that it would not be seen alongside posters from films such as “Gladiator and Sherlock Holmes” which is where we wanted our image to be competing with. Nevertheless we do feel our main film and two ancillary tasks did create an effective use of branding, and at the same time emphasising our zombie-comedy genre, thus attracting our key customer demographic.

Evaluation Activity One

Evaluation Question One on Prezi

Poster Update

Our poster is coming along. Today we took the image of Luke (Samuel White) so we could place it on the front cover. We chose to take an image rather than extract it from the film because we thought by doing it this way we could make sure the background and lighting was suitable. As this has been done I have been significantly increasing my understanding of "Adobe Photoshop" and have learnt how too cut round objects, change the lighting for the background and split particular objects. Furthermore I have learnt how to import and place them into the background of the particular image and this has been done in the poster because we have an image of the graveyard behind.

A key point which we have used a lot is 'feathering' and this has allowed us too make the poster look more realistic and generally more professional.

This is the first draft of our poster with the image with the changed color of the font. This has been done because the 'black' that it was before didnt show itself over the darkened side of his face.

Final Magazine

The magazine has now been completed with all the finishing touches added, regarding to the layout. The only thing that may need to be changed is the text but even so this would be very minor anyways.

Update

Film names

We have recently been coming up with new film ideas for our film and have come up with various film names:

• Imagine
• Dead Man's Love
• Zombie Returns
• Return of the Zombie
• Changing

Update

From this we decided to choose "Dead Man's Love" because we thought this one would be effective and outlines the plot of our film and our target audience also said that this one was the most appealing and effective.

Creativity

What features of your work would you say are original to you? - Think about the use of lighting, mise-en-scene, the poster, the use of certain tones, the use of a digital camera to shoot footage etc

Over the past year our group has been working on producing a film and during production we have all had roles doing particular things. The work of mine, which has been original, could be considered to be the layout of the poster and all the text that has gone into it, including the choice of colors and font. This has been particularly interesting and has improved by ability to use Publisher and indirectly my views on film posters and the overall image they try to indicate. Furthermore, I have worked on the other ancillary tasks, which meant we had to produce a magazine, highlighting our film. Throughout this I chose a suitable layout, which I thought, would match our film and also the coloring. This also led to me needing to choose a suitable font to match the tone we intend to create. Additionally, the images we chose had to be carefully deliberated because we needed to make sure we chose the right images to portray out film in the correct light. However, in regards to these images we did all go through them together. For production we all had a say on what the shots were going to be and on occasions got help from our actors, therefore it would be difficult to not specific parts which I would say were totally original to me. However for editing, Sam and I both worked together on the opening and for this I can say I had a specific role in editing, highlighted in the beginning of the film.

• which media texts and producers have influenced your creative decisions? - Clearly consider those musicians that you have examined / or film short. Be very specific here. Also think about other media texts apart from just music videos, as this will demonstrate that you have embraced all forms of media, perhaps think about online technologies.

Over the course of our production various producers and films have influenced us. Firstly we were influenced by the films we did last year - "Silent Revenge" and "Hidden Crime". After we did this we looked into other films of a similar genre. The main film we looked at was "Shaun of the Dead" because this film is England's most renowned zombie comedy and we thought this would be a good base to work around. Furthermore, this film enhances many characteristics we want to portray - with Mickey portraying the laid back friend in the film, with the main character being similar to the main character who is played by Simon Pegg. In addition to this film we were also influenced by the funny program "Men Behaving Badly" because this show has 2 guys living together, of which one of them is very lazy and does little around the house. Therefore, we thought that this would be good to incorporate into our film and would add to the comedic value.

In terms of the music we had to be very careful to show certain emotions at particular times. One of our most important decisions was to choose the music we intend to have in the car. At first we were thinking about having 'cheesy' pop to add to the comedy, however on reflection we felt that it would be more suitable to start very seriously and show a twist after the hit of the car. This led to us deciding we would use more common radio music, influenced by "Tinie Tempah - Pass out" and "Eminem - Love the way you lie".

• How successfully does your work engage its audience and provoke its interest? - be clear here about the creative process. You don't need to get into audience theory, just the ways in which your creativity engages - think about a wide range of technical aspects that you have used

Throughout the production of the film we have always thought about how we would engage the audience? To begin with we knew from the start we would need to start with an enigma in order to keep the viewer watching to see what happens. Furthermore the change in location, from the car to Luke (Samuel White) walking engages the audience because they are yet to know of the connection between to two. Furthermore, the realism of the situation helps to engage the audience because they can see themselves in this situation and this helps them too engage them into the short film.

During the house scene we tried to use a wide range of shots to keep the viewer engaged. This can be seen straight from start where the story shows both Mickey and Dave in the toilet at the same time. Yet this situation does engage the audience because it is showing two activities, which are considered to be private. Yet we challenge this and place both in together, of which they act very comfortably, challenging the usual norms. Another comical aspect that engages the audience is when Mickey throws all the rubbish out, but literally throws it out. Yet this 'gag' is more suited to the teenage generation because it does run in the minds of every teen, but because it is widely frowned upon, morally incorrect and rude no one does it. This means that no one will do it, challenging the usual saying of 'throw it out'.

In addition to this we tried to place the comedy into the background or slightly place it in to the short film so that comedy isn’t placed as the main part of the film. This is highlighted in the work scene where Ryan is reading a piece of paper, yet in the background Luke is beating up his colleague, therefore it leaves the viewer wondering what’s going to happen and this keeps them engaged throughout.

• Consider some of the creative choices you had to make during the course of your production – how to use cameras, lighting, dialogue, color etc. How did you make these decisions, and how did these contribute to the final production? - Ensure that you talk about your choices and decisions. Don't just explain, but evaluate and comment on.

Over the course of production we have had to make many creative choices, all in turn aiming to enhance our film. In regards to lighting we were fortunate enough to have a film light. Therefore we could focus it on certain aspects of the film. In some cases I did contribute with the lighting saying that it should be focused on certain aspects and this was relatively important because the viewer could then engage with that part which is highlighted because it would be seen to be very important. In terms of camera work I did try to contribute. For the particular camera shots we all had say and debated which we thought was the best as a group, therefore it can be seen that not one of us had sole camera control. Over the course of production we were also using a more sophisticated camera and we all had to learn how to use it. When we were filming I successfully learnt the panning shot and its effectiveness in particular circumstances, and also the zoom in from blur, which was tricky as lots had to be done at once. Yet this was successful and is used in the film when Sam enters into the house and also right at the start with the opening shot. In terms of angles there were all relatively straightforward because we were simply producing a film, therefore there was very little variance over the angles of our shots. In terms of the mise - en - scene there was very little to discuss because it was all stereotypical clothing - Luke with his suit; Mickey wearing 'slobbish' clothing, similar to his friend. 'The wife' wearing typical women’s clothing and lastly the driver wearing simple clothing, typical of an everyday man. Therefore it all builds into the realism of the situation and potentially engages the audience because of this.

Editing and Filming Update

Magazine progress

We have been adding to our magazine, which is needed as an ancillary task. Recently we have been adding pictures to the magazine to make it more visible. After playing around with the images for the small section we believed the part where Mickey (Samuel Peckham) and Dave (Edward Watson) look at each other, a picture of this is below:

The picture we have at the moment on the right hand side is good because it shows our support characters and gives an idea of our type of film -shocking, funny.

However we have yet to find a suitable alrger image for the background and we are considering having a photo-shoot to take an image which would be suitable for the magazine. If this background is not suitable enough we may just decide to choose another background because it may be more suitable and thats why as you can see above we have a mixed blue and white background because we are trying to experiment with colors. Furthermore, we have not ruled out the possibility of adding an image behind it, however we have not found an image yet, but when we do we will try it to see if it works well.

Second day of filming

An image of the location we shot and us filming is below:

Research and Planning

Research and Planning on Prezi

First day of filming

First day of filming

We have just completed the first part of our filming and it took place Sunday 16th January. We started at 10.00 all meeting at the school gates and filmed for approximately 3 hours. The parts we filmed were:

Luke (Sam) walking home from work.

He then gets to the road.

As he gets to the road he only looks left

He then gets hit by the car

The driver gets out of the car and runs over to see if Luke is OK.

He then runs back to his car and gets his phone which he dropped because he was on the phone whilst driving and rings the police.

The driver looks behind but sees Luke has gone, running over to see where he was hit, realizing he has gone wondering where he is.

We have now completed the first 2 scenes, all the way until Sam (Our main character) was hit by the car and then disappeared. Overall we thought the filming went quite well and we managed to film a number of shots from various angles, however we did have trouble with the cameras and battery, but we did get around this and it wasn’t a big problem because we had another camera. One other minor issue was the wind, but this was simply because we had trouble with the green screen, however again this wasn’t a problem as we just managed to get round it. I believe the next time we film we do need to be a tad more prepared in knowing what shots we are looking to get for each scene so we can speed up the filming process and potentially film more in one day allowing us to have more time to edit in the future.

Are aim as we were filming was too take many different shots so when we were editing we could choose shots which were most suitable for our film. To do this we often had 2 cameras playing at once - one which was handheld giving the affect that the viewer is right next the character, whilst the other one was on a tripod. Regarding the car scene it was mainly hand-held to give the whole scene a 'realistic affect' to entice the viewer.

Another issue we faced which we were unaware of at the time was that in my scene there were 2 Lucozade bottles when I go to see where Sam is, however one friend of ours who is interested in special effects suggested we masked it by placing the pavement over the top and after enquiring this was then done.

Unfortunately I was unable to capture the weather for the day, however it was 4 degrees on the day with a low of -1 degrees and there was grey cloud with near to no sun.

Pictures of our location and us filming our below:

Filming Dates

After careful consideration we have come across two dates in which we will start our filming.

• We will be filming the car scene this Sunday (Sunday 16th January)
• Our second date will be on Sunday 6th February and when we do this we will be filming the house scenes.