First Reflection 2013

On Monday and today I had my first and second media lesson for the year. I was on exchange so am a bit behind but will hopefully be able to catch up!
 In media this term we are making a short trailer to a film. I am in a group with Millie, Julian and Charlie and we are doing a crime movie (not sure what it is called yet!) In our trailer we are having a murderer, a helper and a detective. What happens is that there is a file which is the information that is evidence that the murderer killed a young girl. The murderers "helper" than steals the files so the detective can not prove the murderer guilty. The trailer shows the detective trying to find the stolen file and eventually ends not saying whether he did or not leaving the audience in suspense.
I will post the shot list on my blog once I get it off Charlie and some of the videos we have shot so far. Today we shot the detective chasing after the helper and the helper dropping the key. We also shot the helper walking up to the key and smirking.

Detective- Lauren
Murderer- Millie
Murderer's Helper- Julian
Director- Charlie
Filmers - Charlie, Millie, Julian and Lauren
Editors - Charlie, Millie, Julian and Lauren

Final Evaluation Term 4- 14/11/12

Year 9 Creative Media Animation – Term 04 Mr Andrews

Task 4: e-pub, commentary and poster self-reflection and evaluation:

Part One: Discuss your feelings about the e-pub, poster and commentary task:

1.    Are you satisfied with the final result?

Yes, I am satisfied with the final result of my e-pub. I am actually proud of it and found it one of the more enjoyable tasks this year. I also think I was more successful with this task as I was more passionate about it.

2.    Did the e-pub require more/less time than you originally thought?

The e-pub required about the time I originally had but if anything more. Writing the directors commentary was the most time consuming part but making the actual e-pub with photos and everything did not take much time at all.

3.    Would like to change any aspects of your final project (layout, links, images, video and audio content, colour scheme etc)?

I would have liked to have had more time with my final project. I think if I had more time to progress and work on my e-pub I would have done a better and more sophisticated then I did. I would have liked to have written more information and have done each section better so the layout was clearer and information was easier to find.

4.    If you could start the project again what would you do differently?

If I had the opportunity to restart the project I would have put a copy of each scene on each page that did not have a directors commentary recorded over the top of it and then on another page or section I would have put more information with the scene that did have the directors commentary recorded over the top of it. I would have also put another media box on each section with the small piece of music that went with that particular scene and why we chose that piece of music to go with that scene.

Part Two: Respond to each of the following dot points (using complete sentences or paragraphs). You should include as much detail as possible in your responses.

1.    Discuss whether your e-pub and poster have turned out the way you pictured them?

My e-pub turned out the way I wanted it to but my poster did not. I envisioned my e-pub being the way it was with that background and that layout. With my poster I would have liked to have it more sophisticated with more information.

2.    Explain whether your e-pub and poster clearly depicts the style of your animation and describe some specific design principles that you have used to achieve this;

My e-pub and poster depict the style of my of my animation very well. They portray the message of it being a kid’s film with the bright colours and understandable music. The simplicity of the e-pub and poster is effective in attracting the younger audience. More importantly the main message which is to “Never Give Up” is portrayed.

3.    Describe any problems or technical difficulties you encountered while creating your director commentaries in GarageBand. These may include; sound or video issues, corrupt or missing files, difficulty using the iBooks Author or GarageBand software, problems importing/exporting files, etc;

Whilst making my animation I encountered the technical difficulty of not being able to loop my video while my audio was playing. As each of my scenes were very short they did not play for long enough to match the time I wanted to speak for. This was a problem that I wasn't able to overcome as I was not able to loop it.

4.    Did you have all of the necessary resources to complete your e-pub and poster or did you have to create new materials?

I had all necessary resources to complete my e-pub as I had access to a laptop every night and all the programs that I needed on the laptops.

5.    List the steps you used to plan and develop your project;

I firstly wrote the commentary for my scenes which made it a lot easier to complete my e-pub. I then dragged each scene into Garage Band and recorded the audio to go over the top. Then I dragged all those scenes into my e-pub and pasted the required information on the section for each one. I also did many screen shots that I also put on the sections for each scene. Then I made my poster and also dragged it in to my e-pub. Finally I did many final sections and edits to my e-pub which then made it complete and ready to hand in.

6.    Did you use content-lists, flowcharts or other documents during the planning process;

I only used one of these planning devices to prepare and plan my e-pub. This was a content list of the summaries and information about each of the scenes.

7.    Clarify any time-management issues you encountered during the creative process and describe the steps you took to improve in this area;

I did not really have any time management issues with this task except from missing the first lesson. But I then overcame this by learning very quickly and asking around for what we had done and help when required.

8.    Discuss whether you undertook adequate and detailed reflection throughout your project. i.e. Have you provided enough evidence to support your work? (Look back at your blogs and think about whether it looks like a whole terms worth of work);

I did not complete many reflections throughout this product as I did not have much time. But I did make sure I was persistent in uploading my updated work as a second back up device. I think I did upload a sufficient amount of information and evidence to support that I had completed what I had completed with my work. I also think the amount of reflections I was able to complete was a sufficient amount for the amount of work we completed in class.

Final Directors Commentary

Directors Commentary

Introduction:

This is the introduction of our film “Never Give Up”. We chose to do the introduction like this as we thought it was creative and would enable a good first impression. We chose the natural brown colour as the books cover as the animation was set in a natural environment, which was the park.  The purple trim was chosen as it attracts both boys and girls, which is our target audience. We used black and white writing is easy to read and then we decided to make it shade in to give it a bit of class. This scene means a lot to Georgia and I as it was our first time animating something like this. We had to solve the problem of keeping the book in the same position after gluing which we did by moving the book as little as possible when we decided we wanted to glue something down. To animate this scene we had many practices to make sure the final scene we put in our actual final movie was of high quality.

Scene 2:

Scene 2 is the complication of the story. At this point of the animation the boy has just bought his balloon and then the dog with the lead comes and trips him over. We decided to put the complication close to the start of the animation, as the rest of the scenes are ways in which he try’s to fix the problem and get his balloon back. We chose to have the dog as the problem as it was another character in our film and it suited our target audience. Children are interested little animals such as cats and dogs and this would then attract them to our film. This scene was filmed with simplicity as it was very plain and was filmed from a level angle. We had to solve the problem of getting the lead around the boy’s legs without him falling over. This was hard as it was a very small gap where we had to put the lead for our fingers to fit. We overcame this by using a toothpick and dragging it around slowly without it braking.

Scene 3:

This scene was one we had to add in as we realised we missed the boy sitting up from when the dog tripped him over and he let go of his balloon. We added this in as it made the animation as a whole make a lot more sense. This scene was filmed from ground level as we were looking at the boy as he stood up. This scene was also very simple as it was a last minute add in. This was one of the problems we had to solve and we did by luckily by having enough time at the end to film it.

Scene 4:

Scene 4 was the start of the complex scenes. In this scene Georgia and I had to use fishing line to make the balloon float through the sky. This was very difficult, as we had to hold the fishing line and move it a tiny bit and try and take a picture without it moving. We ended up doing two of these scenes as the first one was a bit dodgy and was more of a learning experience. If we had more time to complete our animation I think we would have liked to have shot this scene again and have made it even more precise and smooth as it would have made the animation as a whole better quality.

Scene 5:

This scene is when the boy is walking along and discovers that the balloon has got stuck in the tree. This scene is one of the smaller but more complex scenes. Scene 5 was the scene Georgia and I used Photoshop to insert a light bulb. We decided to do this as instead of the character just looking up at the tree we really wanted to emphasise the fact that he was thinking. After he had thought of solution of how to get the balloon out of the tree he then walked off towards to the left to find what he needs.

Scene 6:

Scene 6 is shot at a medium eye level height. This scene is the scene Benji has his first attempt at throwing the ball at the tree to get it down. This attempt is a fail with the ball rebounding and going off the set towards the camera. The boy then also goes off the set towards the camera to retrieve the ball. We used the technique of using fishing line as an invisible support for the ball. This scene was difficult as the person holding the fishing line had to try and only make very small movements and keep it still when taking the shot. This scene also took a few practices to get it of a high quality.

Scene 7:

This scene is Benji’s second attempt at throwing the ball at the tree to try and retrieve the balloon. He fails this time as well with the ball rebounding off the set. With this scene we used the same technique as scene 6 by using the fishing line to support the ball while we took the picture. This scene was also shot at a mid angle level and is a small scene which is pretty much a replica of scene 6.

Scene 8:

This is scene 8 one of the final scenes that Georgia and I produced. In this scene Benji decides he is going to give up and forget about his balloon as much as he does not want to. His body posture also contributes to making the audience aware of the way he feels. He sits down on the ground between the two trees (the tree where the balloon is stuck and another tree) and crosses his arms. This scene then leads onto the next scene which is where Benji begins to cry. This scene is shot at a mid range angle and is very short.

Scene 9:

This scene is just a follow through scene after scene 8. Benji now begins to cry in this scene and bends fully over to express his full emotion. This really lets the audience know that he is really upset at this point in time and is on the verge of giving up. But this is when the solution arises and it happens naturally. The wind blows the balloon out of the tree that is when we used the technique of fishing line again to help support the balloon. Benji then turns towards his right to discover what has happened and that the balloon has now come down beside him. This scene was shot at a mid angle range the same as all the other scenes. We chose this mid-angle range as it displayed simplicity and this contributed towards out target audience understanding the animation as a whole better. Scene 9 is the last scene of animating with the actual clay figures and set as the credits and the closing is displayed in the brown book.

Credits:

This scene is the final scene of our animation. In this scene it is pretty much a finally with someone closing the book as if it was a storybook and then the credits appearing. We decided the book idea would be a good starting and finishing point for our animation “Never Give Up” as it would start and end on the same note. This scene meant a lot more than any of the other scenes to Georgia and I as it was our final scene we had to produce after 2 terms worth of work. Finishing this scene was such a stress relief for Georgia and I knowing we had completed everything we needed and all we needed to do now was put it together with a soundtrack. With this final scene we really brought the whole animation clay feel back down to Earth as it was again the book idea. The idea of the credits we thought of to combine the ideas of the book, animation and also bring in the aspect of it being similar to a movie.

Started EPUB- Never Give Up

More Work Completed

Directors Commentary

Introduction:

This is the introduction of our film “Never Give Up”. We chose to do the introduction like this as we thought it was creative and would enable a good first impression. We chose the natural brown colour as the books cover as the animation was set in a natural environment, which was the park.  The purple trim was chosen as it attracts both boys and girls, which is our target audience. We used black and white writing is easy to read and then we decided to make it shade in to give it a bit of class. This scene means a lot to Georgia and I as it was our first time animating something like this. We had to solve the problem of keeping the book in the same position after gluing which we did by moving the book as little as possible when we decided we wanted to glue something down. To animate this scene we did have many practises to learn hoe

Scene 1:

This is scene 1 of our animation. It is the first scene of actual animation with our clay man. This scene is not that well done, as it was our first scene we completed and did not have time to re-shoot it before the due date.  We used different skills to shoot this scene such as making our character move smoothly and changing the colour tone to make it look like it is the middle of the day. We chose to make the scenery very plain so our target audience would focus on the characters and what they are doing.  This scene means a lot to us as directors as it was the first scene we have ever shot using this type of animation in out lives. We filmed this scene from a level angle as it also made it simpler.

Scene 2:

Scene 2 is then the complication of the story of our animation as the boy has just bought his balloon and then the dogs lead comes and trips him over. We decided to put the conclusion close to the start of the animation, as the rest of the scenes are how he try’s to fix the problem and get his balloon back. We chose to have the dog as the problem as it was another character in our film and it suited our target audience. Children are interested little animals such as cats and dogs and this would then attract them to our film. This scene was filmed with  simplicity as it was very plain and was filmed from a level angle. We had to solve the problem of getting the lead around the boy’s legs without him falling over. This was hard as it was a very small gap where we had to put the lead for our fingers to fit. WE overcame this by using a toothpick and dragging it around slowly without it braking.

Scene 3-4:

This scene was one we had to add in as we realised we missed the boy sitting up from when the dog tripped him and he let go of his balloon. We added this in as it made the scene make a lot more sense. This scene was filmed from ground level as we were looking at the boy as he stood up. This scene was also very simple as it was last minutes add in. This was one of the problems we had to solve and we did by luckily by having enough time at the end to film it.

Scene 5:

Scene 5 was the start of the complex scenes. In this scene Georgia and I had to use fishing line to make the balloon float through the sky. This was very difficult, as we had to hold the fishing line a tiny bit and try and take a picture without it moving. We ended up doing two of these scenes as the first one was a bit dodgy and was more of a learning experience. If we had more time to complete our animations I think we would have liked to have shot this scene again and have made it even more precise and smooth as it would have made the animation as a whole better quality.

Scene 6:

This scene is when the boy is walking along and discovers that the balloon has got stuck in the tree. This scene is one of the smaller but more complex scenes. Scene 6 was the Georgia and I used Photoshop to insert a light bulb. We decided to do this as instead of the character just looking up at the tree we really wanted to emphasise the fact that he was thinking. After he has thought of solution of how to get the balloon out of the tree he then walks off towards to the left to find what he needs.

Scene 7:

Scene 7 is shot at a medium eye level height. This scene is the scene Benji has his first attempt at throwing the ball at the tree to get it down. This attempt is a fail with the ball rebounding and going off the set towards the camera. The boy then also goes off the set towards the camera to retrieve the ball. We used the technique of using fishing line as an invisible support for the ball. This scene was difficult as the person holding the fishing line

Work I completed in todays lesson 30/10/12

Directors Commentary

Introduction:

This is the introduction of our film “Never Give Up”. We chose to do the introduction like this as we thought it was creative and would enable a good first impression. We chose the natural brown colour as the books cover as the animation was set in a natural environment, which was the park.  The purple trim was chosen as it attracts both boys and girls, which is our target audience. We used black and white writing is easy to read and then we decided to make it shade in to give it a bit of class. This scene means a lot to Georgia and I as it was our first time animating something like this. We had to solve the problem of keeping the book in the same position after gluing it whilst animating this scene that we managed to overcome.

Scene 1:

This is scene 1 of our animation. It is the first scene of actual animation with our clay man. This scene is not that well done, as it was our first scene we completed and did not have time to re-shoot it before the due date.  We used different skills to shoot this scene such as making our character move smoothly and changing the colour tone to make it look like it is the middle of the day. We chose to make the scenery very plain so our target audience would focus on the

Notes 30/10/12

On Poster put:

• Title
• Release Date
• Main Character (featuring)
• Director, creator name
• Rating (G, PG, M, M15+ etc.)
• Tease the audience
• Remember colour attractions mood
• Target Audience 
• May make/produce more than one poster 

Directors Commentary:

• Make sure you target it at the right target audience
• You can do two different directors commentary (one for kids, one for adults)
• Basic commentary and then written under the screen.
• Write script first