What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? (Question 3)

What does a Production company do? 
A Production company is generally responsible for creating a film, this would include all processes from pre-production to post-production. They take care of all the processes that focus on the creation of the film: Thinking of the concept/idea, script writing, storyboarding, funding, filming, editing etc. It provides the finished product for film, television, radio, video etc. 


What is your idea of a film distributor?
A film distributor is the company/person that buy the rights to the film and then sells it to other companies/cinemas in order to release it for public viewing. they do this in order to make money for both the producers and the distribution company itself. Examples of unofficial distribution companies would include, youtube and Facebook where people can display their own work to the public without needing to  contact companies for distribution. 


Who might be the distributor for your film and why?
A company that could distribute my film would be 20th Century fox or Warner Brothers, who  distributed Dude, where's my car? and The Hangover respectively. Otherwise my product would be mainly distributed on youtube/Facebook as it would be seen by a variety of people all over the world.  


Where would the money come from for a film such as yours?
The money for a film such as mine would come from the producers and any investors that were interesting in helping us to create the product. We could also get funding from our distributors or any advertisements that we make and give to advertisement companies, as their advertisements would create interest in the product and encourage people from my target audience to watch the film meaning that more sales are made by the cinemas and as such more money gets back to the producers. 


Why have the various people been named in your title? Which jobs appear in your titles and in what order and how have you reflected this?
We have included mainly the actors names, Ryan, Jamie, Chris, James, Daniel, Kayleigh and Alisha, with the last two not actually appearing in the opening sequence though originally the would have done however due to time restrictions we were unable to include that part.  Our group members are all named as stars of the production (Kayleigh, Ryan, Jamie and Alisha) yet we were all involved in the filming, editing and conceptualisation of our sequence. 

Looking back at your Preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? (Question 7)

I feel that since the preliminary task I have become better equipped to deal with obstacles/problems that might arise during the process of filming, such as forgotten props, low battery on the camera and lack of variety between shot types. I have also learnt to be more cautious when choosing my location for filming and that we need to have good communication skill when working in a group. For example, the prelim taught me that I shouldn't film facing a window as it's near impossible to see what's happening in shot when that happens. I've learn that there are a variety of inventive ways ti create interesting shot's, My group in the prelim have very limited use of shots whilst my second group worked hard to ensure that we'd have a variety of usable shots.  Use of 180 degree rule in my prelim was more tentative and less accurate, whilst upon reaching the filming of our final product we were more sure of our abilities and as such were more accurate in our use of camera meaning the we were better able to stick to the 180 degree rule. Also in terms of shot reverse shot we were able to film this more efficiently when creating our final product whereas we all learnt when our prelim that we could find a variety of more interesting ways to film shot reverse shot than what we had been doing. As for Match-on-action, my prelim group was quite successful in doing this, and my group for the final product would have been successful if we had been able to keep the example of match on action in our sequence. However due to time restrictions we were unable to include it. 

How does your media product represent particular social groups? (Question 2)

The character of Barry in our opening sequence could be compared with the character Alan from the Hangover. This is mainly as a result of their nature. Fro example, Barry in our sequence is supposed to be a fairly simple character of low intelligence and a lack of common sense or rationality. As shown when he asks instantly for a "Cuppa" rather than asking why he's taped to a tree and upon realising where he is he seems to care little about the fact that he is in such a strange situation, instead complaining about louis' seeming difficulty, by refusing to make the tea. We see it again when Barry is reminded by Louis that he has claustrophobia. the fact that he needs reminding of his fears exemplifies the fact that he;s not particularly smart or rational. Similarly Alan in the Hangover shows a lack of rationality and sense in that he is the reason for their situation in the first place due to his drugging everyone. That he would think this a good idea again suggests a lack of intelligence/rationality.

What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing this product? (Question 6)

We used a wide variety of technology in the production of our opening sequence;

Camera
The camera was probably the most important piece of equipment that we used as we used it to gain the footage for our final sequence. We ensured that every group member had a turn at using the camera, with those who were more experienced teaching the other group members what to do. Those more sure of their camera work would also do parts without use of a tripod, though this happened rarely as a majority of our shots were supposed to be static with only minimal panning or zooming.


Tripod


The tripod we used on shots where we needed the camera to be steady and using our hands to hold the camera would have been insufficient due to most of our group members having unsteady hands or being actors in the production.





Mac
The mac was another integral part of our project, in that it was the place where our sequence actually came together and was built up. The mac held all of the programs that we needed to use to create our final product.






Final Cut
This we used to actually put our sequence in order and add any 
effects/sounds/music/titles/transitions that we thought would be needed in our production. We used it to add in any effects/transitions/titles/music/sounds that we deemed necessary for our work to be successful at attracting our audience.




Blogger
We used blogger to keep ourselves on track with the production of our project, we used it to ensure that we all knew what to do and when.






Live Type
Live type we used to create the titles for our opening sequence, we then saved and imported the titles onto our actual product. We used this as it meant that we had a professional yet easily achieved title sequence to use for our final product.  

Youtube
We used youtube to publicise our production and ensure that it was seen by our intended audience, we also used youtube to research our reference sequences from the industry and also to see properly whether or not the music we wanted would fit with our sequence.

Scribd
We used scribd to upload all versions of our script so that when we were re-writing we would be able to easily keep track of the most useful script to use in our re-writes as a form of reference. It ensured that we always had a version of the script no matter which person had originally saved it in their documents, this meant that it was easier for us to work should any group members not be present for a lesson. 

iMovie
We use imovie for the main/sole reason of importing our footage easily onto the computer so that we had a quick and simple means of moving the footage we needed into final cut.




IPod + Portable Docking station
We used this so that we knew what to to when we were out filming our sequence. It was used when filming Louis' fall from the tree and Barry's phone going off. This was mainly for the benefit of the actors as they then knew what to do based on which section of the song was playing.



Photoshop CS5.1
Photoshop was used in the creation of the production logo along with Gimp and to a degree Adobe Flash/Microsoft PowerPoint. Flash was used to create the line work and PowerPoint to create a perfect cartoon moon shape, whilst Photoshop coloured and assembled the picture and Gimp was used to make last minute adjustments when I had no access to photoshop.

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (Question 1)

1. The title of the film, and the way in which it leaves the screen.
The title of our film challenges the general conventions of our comedy film due to it's being slightly obscure. The fact that the title doesn't give much away is a challenge to the conventions in that based on our research into films such as the hangover and dude wheres my car, the  titles for those films are very representative of the events that will be occurring within the films.
In contrast our titles fit in with the conventions of our comedy genre due to the way in which they exist the screen. This is due to it's being fairly quirky and fun, meaning that the audience is already seeing clear demonstrations of the genre. The font and colour of our title also helps us to present the genre in that it's quite a happy/fun colour/font, it's almost like bubble writing which would portray our genre through the more happy/comedic/childlike feel. 


2. Setting/location.
The choice of setting/location helps us to set the scene of our comedy film, as the characters waking up in a park is quite a strange place for them to be. This is made stranger through the fact that they are just waking up meaning that they've done something rather strange for them to end up sleeping in a park. That the whole opening sequence is centred around a tree rather than moving to a more typical/normal location, further suggests our genre as it keeps the audience in the stranger more unusual place, and as such adds to the comedy, especially considering that one of the characters is left there whilst the other walks away at the end of the sequence.

3.Costume and Props.
The costumes are simple everyday clothes which helps us to represent our chosen genre and sticks to the general conventions of a comedy film. The simple costume helps us to represent the characters as typical everyday people that have been put in an out of the ordinary situation. This relates to comedy conventions and also makes the characters easier for the audience to relate to. The use of everyday props but in a place where they wouldn't normally be found (party poppers in a park for example) sticks to the conventional use of everyday props in comedy films. The items being taken out of their general context and being put into the opening sequence of our film which is set in a part, makes the situation comedic. Use of general props out of context is a convention of comedy what we have managed to use within our sequence.

4. Camerawork and editing. 
We've related our opening sequence to general comedy conventions through camerawork in that we've used a lot of close up, and mid-shots. The conventions of camera in comedy films is that the shots need to show the reactions of the characters to the events of the opening sequence. We've decided to also not use many/any shots with a long duration. The ASD of comedy films tends to be fairly high, as such we've kept our ASD quite high also in order to keep with the conventions of comedy. We've also made use of framing to add comedy where Louis is in first seen in the tree. Most of the editing for our film opening was sequencing, but we did also have some moments where we sped up and a shot in order to create some comedy. We've fit in with comedy conventions by not using a lot of editing other than sequencing, we've used minimal effects and have kept the look of the opening fairly simple. 


5. Story and how the opening sets it up. 
The story of our film is that the two main characters and some of their friends have had a night of drinking and a rather strange party, they wake up the following morning unable to remember what happened or understand how they've gotten where they are. This is set up in the opening sequence through the flashback and Louis' obvious confusion upon waking up. This fits in with conventions of comedy through the fact that they then go on a journey to find out what had happened, something that 'Dude, where's my car!' and 'The Hangover' also do. 


6. Genre and how the opening suggests it.  
The chosen genre for my groups opening sequence is comedy, and I feel that on the whole we have managed to clearly show this to the target audience. We have demonstrated this genre through our presentation of character/the manner in which the characters are introduced, use of props, gimmicks and Dialogue. Character presentation helps to represent the genre also in that comedy films typically include characters that the viewers can relate to and align themselves with. As such my group has kept the style/clothes of our main characters fairly simple and casual, whilst still maintaining the comedic element of having the buttons on Louis' shirt done up wrong. Another aspect of character presentation would include the characters speech. We have also kept the way in which the characters speak very simple and natural, so that it flows well and can be related to by the audience,  this means that the audience gain feels better able to relate to the characters we've created and as such we are able to fit with the conventions of a comedy film. As mentioned previously the props we've used in our sequence help to communicate the genre to the audience through their unusual context/ the strange way they've been used. The dialogue helps to present the genre as we tried to make it quirky, interesting and comedic in it's confused nature. The dialogue shows the characters personalities which helps the audience to relate the the characters.


7. How characters are introduced.
The characters are introduced in very strange ways with Louis falling from a tree having been woken up by his phone ringing, and Barry waking up taped to a tree. This helps our film fit to the general conventions of a comedy film due to the fact that it's a strange location which creates humour and interest. It also fits with comedy conventions as they enter the scene in such strange ways yet seem somewhat uninterested in the fact that they've fallen from a tree/remain taped to a tree other than their initial confusion. This reaction at the same time seems to challenge conventions of comedy in that based on the films we watched and used as references, the characters tend to be more concerned and react more than we had our characters react.


8. Special effects.
Comedy films on the whole seem to use minimal special effects, similarly we have used very few special effects, adding only a slight colour/brightness change in order to show the flashbacks as being flashbacks. The colour changes added a slight misty effect over the flashback shots which helped to signify the haze through which he'll remember the events of the night before due to the alcohol. Other than this there was little/no real use of special effects which fits with the comedy conventions. 

How we attract/address our target audience? (Question 5)

Planning for a directors commentary of our opening sequence and How we attract/address our target audience? (Question 5)

Here I am including a rough(initial) plan for the commentary we will be completing in answer of Question 5.

~All/most group members would speak at some point in the commentary.
How did we attract/address our audience?

• Production Logo- We chose to put this first in order to let the audience know who created it but it also fits with the genre and does introduce the music well.
• Titles- We thought that bu having the titles come in and then fall with a clatter it represents the genre well and also relates to the theme of drink within the production (The glass clattering)
• Setting- We thought that setting it in a park would cause confusion and interest in the audience so they would want to continue watching the film.
• Music- We thought that we would use macho men as it added comedic effect to the film.
• Actions: We had Ryan fall out of the tree as it was a fairly easy gimmick for us to pull off that we thought would also gain laughs from our target audience.
• Flashbacks:
• We included these to give a brief insight into what had happened the night before that led them to where they currently are, they are also comedic- we would latter return to the time in which they were set(the party after the opening credits)
• Taped to a tree- this was included for comedy and to get the audience to feel interested and want to continue watching.