I created a 'Powtoon' in order to present my ideas for this question. Click the link down below and it will take you right to it.
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For this question I decided to record myself as if I were interviewed for a podcast, and the first voice you'll hear is my brother's, who's acting as the interviewer. I put together our voices and the background sound in Final Cut Pro.
For the second question I made a Prezi, which is a more aesthetic and entertaining way to present something compared to a PowerPoint.
For the first question I got the idea to create a director's commentary, as I've seen this done by a few directors after their films are released. 1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
In ‘Urban Decay’, my intro for a psychological thriller, there are many conventions, some of them being respected, while others are challenged. Firstly, the unintelligible voice of Alexis, the main character introduces the audience into her chaotic mind, which is quite a usual way of portraying the state of someone’s mind, in the similar situations to hers. The odd, unsettling music that is then being played emphasizing even more this feeling of uneasiness, along with the rapid paced editing, jumping from the static tv to shots of her in the location. Of course, the location was chosen for its old look, as it’s an abandoned, empty house. This makes the audience question why Alexis is there, alone, and why she’s staring at a tv that doesn’t work. The purpose of the TV is to give a glimpse of the protagonist’s mind, and make the audience question her well-being. The motif of staring is seen a lot throughout this intro: she stares at an empty wall, and stares at KL, the other character present. This could mean that she keeps her feelings to herself and prefers to be quiet, only gazing into nothingness, or looking right through people. Her body language and facial expressions furthermore conveys the atmosphere that I aimed to create, from the closed body pose, with her knees close to her body, to her emotionless face. Alexis’ costume was specifically chosen to make the viewer understand she is a hospital patient, as they usually wear robes, and KL’s casual, sporty look (while still matching chromatically with the dominant colors of the film) makes the audience question, yet again, something about this intro: Why doesn’t he also wear a robe? The answer to that would be that he has been staying at the hospital for quite some time, so he has certain privileges and knows his way around, i.e., the cigarette that he is smoking on the hospital ground. Another convention that was respected were other props used, the pills that Alexis ingests, as in most cases patients at a mental institution are required to take medication. Close to the end of the intro, Alexis is seeing a hallucination of a odd looking girl, staring at her, bringing up the inquiry of her mental state. On the other hand, there were some conventions that I challenged. Firstly, the hospital is white, and clean looking, which is rarely seen is such movies as mine. There are no doctors to guide or order the patients around, and the halls are empty which can be seen as unusual. I specifically chose a Sunday and an empty hospital to keep the focus on KL, and mainly Alexis, in addition to their interaction. The time of day chosen to film is still during the day, not evening or night, which would be expected from a thriller. This is portraying the beam of hope that is present, despite the distress inside the protagonist’s mind. She is seen as not fully trapped, but having faith that there is a better world outside those walls. The absence of music during the scenes set in the ‘real’ world, not inside Alexis’ mind, tries to, again, focus the viewer’s attention toward the body language and relationship of the two characters. Moreover, KL is being played by a Japanese actor, and his accent not a part of the usual accents seen on mainstream tv: american, british or sometimes latino. Therefore this convention breaks the pattern and challenges the audiences to empathize and respect his care for Alexis (whose accent is American). Alexis was chosen to be played by a teenage girl, with the intention of addressing the presence of mental illnesses in teens or young adults. What mainstream movies present would usually only be females struggling, but I chose a male character to play KL, in order to show a more accurate view of the world, while raising awareness and eliminating the taboo subject of males struggling with the same issues. The camera movements used in my opening were quite smooth and slow during the hospital scenes, which aim to show the aesthetic beauty of the hospital while highlighting the possible beauty of the world, seen through Alexis’ eyes. 2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text? I always enjoyed a film that is somewhat based on reality but has an odd feeling to it, as if something is not right, and seems out of place. This is what I tried to do in my opening, creating a somewhat relatable situation for teenagers but adding the twist of the unreal. While most movies would use grown up actors in their twenties to play teenagers, I wanted my actors to be actual teenagers in order to create a deeper connection between my intro and my audience. Of course, my work can also be enjoyed by older persons but it’s specifically targeted to teenagers. In order not to portray any specific illness in the wrong manner, I decided not to let the audience know Alexis’ illness, but let it out for interpretation. This was also used to help people who suffer from any mental illness or struggle with inner issues to relate their case to Alexis’, and get a deeper understanding of what’s going on in her head. She is seen as looking into the camera multiple times, at the beginning but also in the hospital, at the surveillance camera. This wanted to show the audience her subtle lack of humanity, of her potency to look into someone’s eyes, transmit them a feeling of uneasiness or fear, while looking right through them and not empathizing with them one bit. Her often stares could also be seen as a part of her paranoia, as she always feels watched by someone and she’s trying to figure her mind out. I am aware that severe mental illnesses aren’t present in most teenagers, but I want the audience to take her inhumanity and odd behaviors and relate them to their life in one way or another, or simply take a break from reality and take a look into the world of someone else’s mind. As this is quite an unusual movie, with a certain uncomfortableness tied to it, the best way to be savored is at a vintage cinema(i.e. not at a shopping mall) or at home, and alone with no distractions. I would also recommend the viewer to wear headphones and watch it at after sundown as the song and music, or lack there of plays a very important role in the development of the characters and the establishment of the atmosphere, hence the night time, when it’s quieter and little visual stimuli are present. I aimed to create a deep, personal journey for each of my viewers and if there were to be a whole movie constructed from my intro, to let them jaw-droppingly twisted yet unsatisfyingly in love with the aesthetic of the movie and the story. The marketing strategies that would be used for this movie, if there were to be a full feature film, would be a little unconventional. I wouldn’t prefer for too many interviews on popular YouTube channels or famous TV channels to be made, as it would take away from the overall experience. Very few additional details would be given after or before the movie would be made, as my main goal would be to always leave that ambiguity surrounding it. Not much information about the actors would be shared either, as I observed many times in my case that the actor’s actual personality didn't match his character, therefore changing my view about the movie. What would be done would be a Tumblr account of the movie where a few detail-thirsty fans would be able to ask a few question about the production or plot of the movie. I would use Tumblr as it’s one of my favorite social media sites, because it really focuses on the pictures on one’s feed and lets one user create, change and put his soul into his account and how it should look like, compared to Facebook, say, where the main focus is on socialising and self promotion. Moreover, the account would have a few snippets about the film before it would be launched, to create anticipation for the fans or future fans. Furthermore, one piece of merchandise (such as a ring or necklace) would be sold at a few shops for the true fans who would wish to get a physical totem representing movie. The trailer would be done is a minimalistic manner, showing a few key shots that inform the viewer about the movie yet leave a lot of the story to be uncovered in the actual seeing of the film. The song used would most probably be the one used in my intro, at a low volume, accompanied by tv static (as the TV is an important motif in the story). What would also be a great idea is to promote (on the Tumblr page or to small events dedicated to this movie) small, talented artists to create a few scenes of the movie through painting, drawing or three dimensional art in order to create synergy and direct some deserved attention towards them. 3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project? I’ve always been quite passionate about making films or taking photographs. I used to create short silly movies with my sister and work on iMovie as my platform for editing. I used to create photoshoots with my sister, putting her in different poses, wearing different clothes and editing the pictures (edited in amature programmes such as PicMonkey) and I can proudly say I enjoyed it. My blogs on Blogspot supported my affiliation with media in order to share my work with my friends and family. Comparing my work now with what I did in the past, I can surely state that all of my skills have exponentially grown. At the start of my project, I had little to no color editing skills, I used to create an unnatural and non-cinematic look to my videos, but by trial and error, the help of my media studies teacher and YouTube tutorials, I was able to improve my aesthetic calibration. Creating my list for props, locations, actors, outside help and equipment really helped me become more structured and clear. As seen on my blog, I changed some things regarding plot, props etc. and that only shows how much work is needed even into a mere video of two minutes. To some, this would be too overwhelming but I see it as a fun challenge to take up. Furthermore, I created a facebook messenger group to communicate effectively with my actors, and tell them everything needed to a great day on set. What also helped me get more organized is creating a script and storyboard, in order to get my many ideas on paper and see a preview of my work. Without these, the filming on set would have been very chaotic and would have confused my actors regarding my vision for the movie. What I also learnt was how to prioritize and improve my time management skills. At first I just never created free time to go and see locations and ask for permission to film but one day I decided that it’s a very important aspect that needed to be solved and went location scouting. My persuasion skills bettered, as I decided to film in a public space. It took a lot of convincing for the management of the hospital to let an amateur high school student bring her camera and film, but after going from one location to another and never losing my hope, someone said yes. The TV was another challenge for me to get, as I needed a small one, and only my grandma had one that size, but she very much enjoyed her time watching TV and plus, she lives hundreds of kilometers away. After contacting my parents and talking directly to her, I convinced her of the importance of this prop, but that wasn’t all. There were, clearly, no outlets to plug the TV into at the abandoned house, so I had to ask my dad to transport the 40-50 kg generator, along with the TV for it to work and show the static image, which was a must for my opening. Finally, I asked my brother to drive me and my actor to the location and help us transport the heavy props. For some better equipment and guidance, I met up with a professional photographer and videographer to help me. He landed me his gear but the explanation of how to use them was so short and confusing that I had to learn it myself. On the first day of shooting, before the actors arrived on set, I took my phone and camera out and tried to figure out how the tripod and monopod worked. Conclusively, I can surely state that I’ve very much developed my production skills, and I’m looking forward to learning and experimenting even more. 4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project? The camera I used was a Nikon D90, and for the surveillance camera effect I used my iPhone 7, as it has quite a good camera, and a fish eye lens attached to it to distort the look of the video. For stability in a few shots I used a tripod and for a smoother movement I used a monopod, that made the tracking shots way smoother and more cinematic. The software for editing my videos is Final Cut Pro, which I found was quite similar to iMovie at some aspects, therefore I found it quite easy to use considering my past experience with iMovie. For my production logo I used Illustrator to create the actual logo, the letter ‘X’, and Adobe After Effects to add the glitch effect and the text. To contact my actors I created a Facebook group and used the location add-on to help them come to the right place. There I informed them about the costumes they should wear and sent them the script. Instagram was used to promote one of my preliminary works that I created by posting three screenshots of the video and the link to my video in my bio. Youtube helped me understand how to use Final Cut Pro, specifically how to change the color of the text and how to see the scopes of the colors, in order to create a more aesthetic looking video. Without the help of Youtube tutorials I wouldn’t have been able to create my logo, at least it would’ve taken a lot more time and patience. Youtube also helped me find an appropriate song for the beginning of the video, and after some digging, I found a song that matched my idea of the perfect song. I used the site ‘Dafont’ to search for fonts to use in my opening. For my target audience questionnaire I used Google Forms, which is simple to use and has many features, including the ability to send the form via email or for participants being able to complete the questionnaire anonymously. Tes is the site for all of the media syllabus and lessons from this year, provided by our teacher, where I got. For all the editing and research, my MacBook Air was used. In addition, photoshop helped me edit some preliminary work photographs. For the creation of my blog I used Weebly. Tumblr was useful in the sense that it allowed me to create a moodboard for my film intro. In order to create my script, Celtx was a website recommended by our media teacher and was helpful when writing in a professional way, the in the right format. |
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