- Digital Technology
- Creativity
- Research and Planning
- Post production
- Using conventions from real media texts
Digital Technology
The digital technology I used in my AS coursework, I found reasonably difficult because I hadn't used it much previously. For example, Adobe Premier Pro and Garage Band. Adobe Premier Pro, was probably the most challenging piece of software I used. This is because although I knew the basics such as adding in clips and cutting them down, things like blurring out a specific part of the clip whilst zooming in was very difficult. However, I feel a lot more confident with the software now as making the opening title sequence of a thriller enabled me to use Adobe Premier Pro often. I felt that my knowledge at the start of AS was very limiting and therefore I was restricted. I feel that if I starteD AS again now with my current knowledge, I could do a lot more and be a lot more creative. Premier Pro is probably the easiest piece of editing software and by using this I got to piece together my opening. Moreover, learning to use the camera was very interesting and It didn't take me long to get to grips with how to use it and film zoom-ins or pans. Using the camera allowed me to be creative as I got to experiment with different types of camera angles and positions to see what looked best, but also limiting in the fact that it was my first time and I wasn't aware of how to use it to my full advantage. I felt that the cameras ran out of battery too fast when filming which became a problem. As well as this, using the editing software Premier Pro, enabled me to incorporate smooth transitions from different shots. However, I did feel that I was slightly limited when it came to digital technologies as the only software I knew roughly how to use was Garage band and I felt short for choices, this meant that I found it difficult to find appropriate music/sound effects for our thriller.When editing certain parts, for example the protagonist slamming the front door, we had to edit the sound levels when on Premier Pro, as the sound of the slamming was too low and couldn't be noticed making it seem unrealistic, therefore we had to increase the volume but try and keep the music at the same volume level as before. I now realise the potential of what I can achieve as I'm constantly learning new things that will develop my skills and make my work a lot better and more sophisticated.
Creativity
Making the opening title sequence of a thriller increased my creativity because it caused me to think for myself and become more independant. Initially, we were looking at making a psychological thriller. However, we realised the idea was cliche, so I had the idea of making a political thriller. Thinking of different props and locations to use to make the thriller good was challenging, but caused us to think outside of the box, which resulted in many different ideas from all of the group. I feel the most creative part of our opening was when we thought of having a shot looking into the mirror at the protagonist tightening his tie and looking a himself. This is an important shot because the tightening of the tie creates interpretations such as his frustration as he pulls it tighter, or another interpretation that he's getting ready for something which increases the ambiguity and sinister tone. Moreover, the fact he is looking at himself connotes he is questioning himself and preparing himself for what he is abut to do with foreshadows the later events of the opening. I think that the flashbacks are quite original elements of our thriller as thriller openings don't usually include flashbacks. As well as this, I think the fact that the audience has a clear idea of what is going on -For example the flashback of the protagonist scrolling down the list of ow to make a c4 bomb also makes it original as usually the audience is kept in the unknown. However, we were influenced by other media texts such as 'enemy of the state' because this is also a political thriller and we used this comparatively when creating our opening of our political thriller. The digital technology available to us, for example, the mac books, really helped due to the software on the computer that enabled us to edit and add sound. The internet also really helped to find the perfect sound effects and music.
Research and Planning
In my AS coursework, research and planning helped me to create my overall product. Carrying out research on existing codes and conventions of the thriller genre and the sub genres allowed me to understand what to include and also influenced our decision of a political thriller. Additionally, I researched into the age restrictions and what our target audience take preference too, we did this by creating a survey that included questions such as 'what do you expect from a thriller opening?' and 'what is your favorite sub genre?' Conducting this survey helped us achieve the best results as we knew what different people liked. The planning stage such as story-boarding and producing the animatic, I also found challenging but all together allowed me to see how the final product may look, although it changed a reasonable amount between the animatic and the final opening. The storyboard was made again after our ideas had changed slightly and this really helped us with time efficiency as we always knew exactly what we were meant to be filming. However, I didn't understand the full importance of the research and planning stage at AS which I now realise could have made my final product much better. Nevertheless, the planning process helped with organisation, resulting in a better product. From my AS coursework, I think I have a much better understanding of the importance of the research and planning stage as they provide a basis for the finished product.
Post-Production
After filming, and gathering all of our sound clips and images, we mainly focused on editing and adding in bits we thought was necessary and that would make the opening better. The editing was very time consuming as you had to be careful when cutting clips down to ensure you got the right bits you want to include. As well as this, I took into consideration the transitions I would use as it wouldn't look good having too many of the same transitions. However, not much of the text was created only in post-production as most of our opening was created when filming. To edit we used Adobe Premier Pro, this piece of software allowed us to modify many things on our raw material such as intertwining shots and changing the sound levels. We included our music towards the end of the post-production stage, our piece of music included different songs, therefore we had to include an audio transition to ensure a smooth unnoticeable change. Furthermore, we had to increase and decrease certain sound levels so that the audience would be able to hear everything clearly. This improved my overall skills with the different technologies, which will help me when creating my A2 coursework. By editing the raw material we were able to create meaning out of transitions For example, the flashbacks were shown with a 'fade to white' transition before and after the flashback, allowing the reader to recognise that he is not in present time, but in the past. We also modified the picture in the flashbacks to be black and white which also added to the audiences' recognition that it is meant to be a flashback. Consequently, using all of these modifications allowed me to develop my skills in editing and also made me aware of how to create meaning in the post-production stage. This gained understanding of the process will allow me to progress well from my AS to A2 coursework.
Using conventions from real media texts
We used many conventions from existing media texts because we recognised that the audience love familiarity between films. However, we did realise that too much familiarity could become boring, which lead us to make our opening based on conventions from real media texts but also challenge some conventions to make an exciting and unique opening. We have used conventions of night time shots and tense music which all provide familiarity. Moreover, shots we used such as the close up of the protagonist on the train, rubbing his face and the shot of him tapping his foot are also conventions that allow the viewer to understand his impatience/anxious attitude. I think the way we included the conventions was very successful. To keep our opening exciting, we challenged conventions such as having a flashback in an opening. This is unconventional for a thriller as the opening never usually includes flashbacks, and if it does, they are not shown in black and white. Moreover, the fact the audience knows what the protagonist is planning is also unconventional as thriller openings are usually very ambiguous, I am happy with the unconventional aspects of our thriller as it makes it different from other thriller openings. Challenging and using existing conventions of real media texts has made me more confident to challenge and use existing conventions of my A2 coursework.
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