A2 blog

http://charliehmediaa2.blogspot.co.uk/

Dear viewer,This blog contains my efforts towards my Media AS such as research, preparation for my final piece, my final piece itself and much more. Hopefully you enjoy viewing my blog and gain a better understanding towards my pice and what inspired and influenced it and the progress towards it. 

Opening Sequence: Freaks

Evaluation question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task) what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

I answered this question through creating a webpage via wix.com
http://charliestarr98.wix.com/freaks 

Evaluation question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Question 6

Evaluation question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation question 5
There were many ways in which I attracted and addressed my audience. I mainly did this through the characters having a similar age range to the audience to create increased empathy and sympathy based on similar age. My piece would also attract adults due to them feeling sorry for the freaks more as the freaks would be young and possibly the age of some of the audiences children and relatives. This way of attracting audiences and others are listed below.

Evaluation question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

My filmed response to evaluation question 4.

Evaluation question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

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

I think the kind of media institution that would distribute my product would be one that is know for releasing horror/thriller/jumpscare films as these are the kind of categories that my piece would fall into. Therefore due to them being institutions that are known for creating films such as these it would attract the correct audience to my film. As you can tell from my opening sequence my final product would be a dark and suspence-filled film. In research I studied pieces such as the works of Tim Burton and looked at films of his for example The Corpse Bride. This inspired the monochrome overlay on some of the shots and the use of delicate music to contrast with the horrors present. Therefore I feel that due to these aspects Warner Bros may be a good distributer of my product.

However, they are not know for horror films, which as i mentioned previously would be an easy way to attract the correct audience. Due to this media institutions such as Twisted Pictures may be more appropriate as they are renowned for producing films such as the SAW series which encompass a more gore filled and tense kind of film. This would mean that an audience of similar interest in gore and suspense would be attracted to my film and therefore my film would carer to the audience more.

Another reason why media institutions such as Twisted Pictures or Lionsgate (the producer of horror films such as The Cabin in the Woods) would be more suitable for my final piece rather that the likes of Warner Bros is because Warner are commonly known for producing films that are PG or 12 and so therefore they would be aiming it at a less suitable audience.

Evaluation question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Evaluation question 2 answered in the form of a voice recording

Evaluation question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

What an AS foundation portfolio production pitch should include

Synopsis: Punch paragraph to spark enthusiasm

Example: Present day setting of a ghost story set un children's home, which slowly uncovers a dark truth

Mood board: A range of images

Outtakes

The runaway freak

For one of our scenes we chose to have one of the freaks run away from the freak show.
For costume we decided to dress him in ragged, torn clothing which was muddy and dirty to make it look like he had been running through brambles and bushes in order to escape the ringmaster. We filmed the actor running through the school feild which had many bushes and brambles surrounding it. Our original scene was just going to include the freak running, however we included a trip to show his exhaustion and desperation to escape and to convey to the audience a sense a fear for the freak.

Make-up for the final piece
For my final piece I did the make-up for each of the freaks. The first freak was a lizard so I used the netting that comes with oranges and green, black and silver eyeshadow for a scale affect, I used this on the forehead, cheekbones and chin. The second freak was more of a beast and more animalistic so I teased her hair and used red paint to make warrior-like scars/slashes and black around her eyes to make her look more ominous. For the third freak, me, I painted a skull on my face in black and white cream facepaint and made my hair look messy and tangled.

                  Seska's (the lizard boy's) final make-up
                   

                  Royann's (half animal) final make-up

                          My (skeleton) make-up

    Make-up process

Here are some pictures taken while I was applying the make-up and while I was having my face painted white.

People with abnormalities (often classed as freaks) moodboard-inspirational pictures

Original storyboard - later adapted during filming but the rough idea of how we wanted the piece to look

The Ringmasters costume

Inspiration: We wanted to ideally use a traditionally themed ringmaster jacket and trousers

What we did: We were unable to purchase a traditional, due to cost and time taken for it to ship being too long so instead we used a MCR (My chemical romance) black parade jacket instead, but still included a top hat.

 Costume Ideas

These were the costume ideas for our piece. The first presented is the ring masters costume; a top hat and a red ring masters jacket, red waistcoat and black trousers. However when it came to filming, we were unable to fund the ringmasters jacket, so instead used a 'black parade' jacket, black trousers and still included the top hat.

In this design we redrew the ringmasters outfit as the top hat and 'black parade' jacket. In this drawing we included a whip, however we later decided it would be better for him to carry a case file instead, and we decided the case file would be a good way to incorperate our titles into our piece. The other outfits were the same as in the piece apart from instead of a skeleton jumper for the skeletal figure we used a hole covers, distressed looking jumper. We felt the skeleton jumper would look too tacky and would take away from the dramatic atmospere we intended to create.

Film recomendations

Animated:
The Corpse Bride
Atlantis
Aristocats
101 Dalmatians
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Horror/Gore/Slasher:
Chucky Childs Play 1,2 and 3
Sweeney Todd featuring Johnny Depp
Final Destination series

Comedy/Chick Flick:
Sex and the City
Bridget Jones's Diary
Meet the Fockers
Dumb and Dumber
Couples Retreat
Easy A