Looking back on the Preliminary task, what do you think you have learnt in the progression from that to the actual production?

In the Preliminary task we looked at 3 major techniques of filming. These were:

• 180 degree rule
• match on action
• shot/reverse shot

What have you learned from technologies in the construction of your product?

During the creation of my opening to a film, 'All in Time', I have learned a lot about technologies involved. They have been a major part of the production and distribution of my film.

The camera

To begin with, technology was needed when shooting the opening and gaining the material needed to form my film. We used a DSLR Nikon D3100 camera. This was used to gain all the footage needed to complete our opening to 'All in time'. It was a crucial use of technology, as without it the filming would not be able to be completed. It is a digital camera, which allowed us to track what we had recorded to allow instant rerecording if it was necessary. This means that our production process was very efficient. We also had to use a SIM card reader in order to put these recordings on the computer, to put all the different recordings together to produce the end product. I developed skills on how to use the camera through filming, by getting hands on I learned how to use the different features on the camera, it was a brand new camera into the school so this was a huge learning curve through the process.


7300 4-section tripod- technological equipment
When we first were introduced to the tripod we a few technical difficulties in the assembling of the tripod; this was down to a piece missing from the set. This difficulty in the first recording taught us to prepare before each recording and check all the equipment can be assembled before. This was very important to ensure that we met the deadline of the recording, as we didn't waste any more time. Through this process we learned how much the tripod influenced the stability of the shot, as we recorded it without and then recorded with the tripod, the different was huge.




iMovie on the iMacs
We used iMovie on the iMacs to edit and bring together the aspects of our film. This involved adding a soundtrack that suited the scene, a voice-over and pulling everything together. IMovie was not only used in the final opening only, but also during the research process, for the documentary. This allowed me to practice using the iMac, more specifically the iMovie, which was crucial in the editing process. It enabled me to learn how to use all the different features present on iMovie.

Celtx

When planning the opening of our film we used Celtx. Using this we were able to draw up a shooting schedule, a script, a story board and information on characters. This enabled us to keep organised when filming and meant we were very efficient in producing. During this process I learned the importance of the planning process when producing a film and how the use of technology plays a major role in all aspects in the film including the planning.

Websites
In the research and evaluation sections of my media coursework I have used different websites to present and collect my findings. These included:

• Survey monkey
• Powtoon
• wideo
• prezi

Survey monkey was an important part of the research as it gained a lot of the data that was reinforced into the opening. Prezi, Powtoon and Wideo were used in the evaluation of my media coursework, in both cases I learned how to apply each icons into my film and used the different programs on the website to create the videos for my blog. In this process I learned that there are various different creative ways of presenting findings and information across, along with learning how to navigate very different websites and their importance in today's society. Most of the population now use the internet to find and do all different kinds of things and this is a major part of the technology used.

Blogger
During the process of producing my film I regularly blogged what I had done to present all aspects of my coursework. This includes research, the end product and the evaluation of my product. Towards the deadline for the coursework, my blog was deleted due to the computer generated machines detecting it as spam. I needed to learn how to retrieve my blog and how I would respond if it was to permanently be deleted. Using blogger I also learned different ways of presenting the different aspects of my coursework onto my blog.

Youtube and Youtube converter
We also used Youtube and Youtube converter to upload the music we needed for the opening, it was a very simple and effective way of adding the non-diegetic sound into the backgro
und. We converted the video that was on Youtube to a mp3 file through the website: Youtubecoverter.com.

Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Throughout our opening we have used, developed and challenged different codes and conventions. However, because our film is a mainstream film we used and developed most of the conventions as we needed to make sure that our film suited the worldwide market that current mainstream films do. The conventions of these films allow us to follow what the audience want, hence we can target the worldwide market. Here is a video showing how we have used, developed and challenged the forms and conventions of real media product:

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Throughout our opening we have presented teenagers and female social groups. This video shows how our media products are representing these social groups and whether they challenge or reinforce the stereotypes of the social groups:

Who would be the audience for your media product?

A lot of the research looking into the target audience that we conducted has been incorporated into our film. We wanted the audience feel as though they could relate and connect to the characters and the situations that occurred in the film. To ensure this happened we felt that it was important to make the characters, settings and situations similar to those of the target audience. This way they could understand what the character was feeling and therefore relate to the character. As our film is a teen rom-com, our target audience is teenage girls. We therefore made the film very similar to that of a teenage life. To present who the target audience is and how we fitted our film to suit them I used 'PowToon.com'.

What kind of media Institutions might distribute your media product and why?

Before choosing the Institution we would use to produce and distribute our film we need to ask ourselves a few questions based on what sort of film our opening will be:

Will it be mainstream or independent?

• Our film is very similar to films within the mainstream industry
• It is our very first film and so we will need a big company that will absorb the losses if we were to be unsuccessful
• therefore we will chose a mainstream company.

Which company would be best?

• We researched many different ideas into which companies would be suitable a few were possibilities:
• Universal
• Disney Pictures
• Paramount
• Walner brothers 
• However after looking back at our research we chose Paramount. This was partly due to it being the producer and distributor of mean girls which was found to be the most popular film in our primary research.

Now that we had what institution we were going to use we could look into paramount in more detail. After much research with the use of websites, such as Wikipedia, I put together a PowerPoint to present it all. I used Prezi to do this, which allowed a creative way of producing a PowerPoint.

All In Time

Here is our end product, it is called 'All In Time'. We have used all the camera shots and movements to help tell Ellie's story, one major technique that helped in the telling of the film is the voice over which gives and insight into her inner thoughts and her life.  

Alterations to All In Time.

As we filmed the opening, although we gained all the shots required, we did not have the facilities to have the screen split into 4 separate quarters which meant we had to rethink the beginning part of our opening as it was not realistic to complete. Despite this it was very easy to rectify and change. We decided to just leave out this particular part and go straight into a medium shot of Ellie walking around the bush.

We also found that some of the voice-over was not relevant to what was occurring in the opening and we felt it would be best if we altered it slightly, to ensure the audience did not get confused with what was going on in the film.

These were quite easy to alter as they were quite small changes, however although small, they did help with the overall flow of the film and understanding for the audience.