Tuesday 30 March 2010

Project Plan - Analysis



Above is the original project plan I developed to ensure that deadlines are met. Analysing my project plan I can see that my project was running behind schedule from the filming deadline which had a knock-on effect on the rest of the deadlines. In order to make up for the lost time I had to design my poster and website whilst still editing the trailer in order to meet the deadline for the blog which was the 31/03/2010. Overall, I feel that the project over-ran due to the shots which were filmed had to be re-shot which put the editing on hold. Otherwise, if this did not occur the project would have been on track. Through re-evaluating my project plan I managed to meet the final deadline of the 31/03/2010 successfully.

Skills Developed Using New Digitial Technology

Final Cut Pro - Log and Capture Techniques:

Log and Capture Techniques Used

Final Cut Pro - Browser:

Browser

Final Cut Pro - Timeline and Canvas:

Timeline and Canvas

Motion:

Motion 1

Friday 26 March 2010

Final Website



I have embedded all three parts of my website above, and are the final product which I designed on Photoshop. As you can see all three parts of the website are consistent in terms of colours, images, layout, fonts and other codes and conventions. The reason I chose to keep the theme of my website consistent is to create an identity for my film. There are four colours I used for my website were black, white, grey and red which complement each other well, and the red was included to obviously construct a representation of romance and love. The three fonts which I used were ‘Helvetica’, which is one of the most commonly, used fonts, and I thought it complemented the website well and gave it a sophisticated look. I also used the ’28 Days Later’ font in deep red for my film title, which I previously used in my poster which helped to maintain the theme and identity of the film. The font for the actor name and the strap line were ‘Helvetica’. As you can see in the top right the trademark tree has been included which helps establish a sense of identity for the film. The image used was identical to the one in the poster but was edited slightly to fit in with the rest of the website. The main editing done on the image was more brushing around and in between the actors, which resulted in the website looking more spacious, less cluttered and clean. Along the bottom I featured the billing box, for which I used the font ‘SteelTongs’, and the font was coloured grey which complemented the colour of the navigational bar font. Two other features along the bottom of the website are the film rating, as well as the copyright and legislation laws, also in grey ‘Helvetica’ font. In order for the billing box and other features along the website to be legible, I had to brush the bottom part of the website in white, so that the grey would contrast. The navigational bar has four features which are the trailer, story, gallery and social media buttons which are all codes and conventions of a film website. As you can see, the social media buttons are heart-shaped which complement the story-line of the film well as it is a romantic comedy, and help to identify what the film is about. Another additional feature I added to fill the negative space I had in the top right of the website was a podcast on iTune available for download, if any of the viewers were interested and wanted to know more about the film.



The trailer/story page is similar to the home page. It features the actors names, film title and strap line at the top of the page, which is identical to that on the home page. However, I had to edit the size of the these features in order to accommodate for the trailer, storyline along the side of the trailer and the image below. I also featured the release date of the film, which I intentionally chose to feature on the trailer page, as the trailer is on that page and the audience may be willing to know when the release date as it is not stated in the trailer. The resolution of the trailer for my website will be 400x320 which does not take up too much space, but can be viewed without watching on full screen. Along the side of trailer is the storyline, which is inside a grey box to contrast against the website background and attract the viewers attention. Below the trailer is an image of the two actors in black and white, which once again complement the theme of the website and poster and helps to maintain the identity established. Along the bottom I featured the billing box once again as I wanted to maintain a constant theme throughout the website. Finally, in the top left corner is the trademark tree which I have used to help establish the identity of the film which the audience will recognise immediately.



The final part of my website is the gallery page which will feature a slideshow of images from the film, and is an additional feature for viewers to see. Through my research I identified that many film website feature a gallery page, and I decided to feature it on my website. As you can see the gallery page is similar to the other two pages and features the title, actors, strap line and release date at the top. In the top left once again is the trademark tree which I included to keep the theme consistent and maintain the established identity of the film. On the bottom half of the page is a photo of a bridge I took on Regents Canal which I edited in Photoshop and added a black and white effect to complement the other images on the website in terms of colour. Along the bottom is the billing box once again, as it would look bizarre if I had featured the billing box along the bottom of the first two pages of the website and not on the last. Finally, the main feature of the gallery page is obviously the slideshow gallery which is placed in between the bridge and the title, as I dedicated this are for it. I designed the slideshow galley on flash, and will go through in steps how I managed to do this. Firstly, I created a Flash file (ActionScript 2.0), and I then uploaded the images which I wished to feature in my slideshow into the flash library. I then set the resolution of the slideshow to 400x300 and resized each image to that resolution, and I therefore needed to change the resolution of the images also to 400x300 to avoid distortion. The next stage was designing the forward and back buttons so viewers can flick through the images. Then I created a code which works on (ActionScript 2.0) which allowed me to change the images when clicking on the forward and back button. The final stage before uploading the slideshow onto my website involved me exporting all three layers of the slideshow which were; the images, buttons and the action script in which the code is placed as .swf file and importing it into DreamWeaver and embedding the code on the gallery page. The end product was successful, and I am pleased with how the slideshow works and how its aesthetics as it complements the theme of the website. Overall, the website was a great success, all buttons work correctly and the overall image of the website outdid my expectations.

Website Link on Free-Hosting Server:

http://www.no-typical-love-story.net23.net/index.html

Mock-up (Website) and Website Analysis

Website Mock Up

Home Page - Mock-Up Analysis:

Above are the mock-ups for my home page, trailer/story page and the gallery page, as I will be creating three different parts of my website. I decided my website would be inspired by my poster resulting in a consistent theme, thus allowing the audience to recognise the film quicker. Firstly, I will analyse my home page mock-up. The font for my film title will be ’28 Days Later’ which is identical to the one on the website, as I intend to keep the theme of the film consistent. Also, the same colours will be used to complement and maintain the theme of the film and poster. The title, strap line and actor name will be on the top of the website, and will have the actor names above the film title, then the film title and finally the strap line. The image for the main page will be the same as on the poster, but will be edited slightly according to the websites layout. The trademark tree will be in the top left corner of the website which was featured on the poster, and should allow the audience to identify the film quicker. The navigational bar will go along the side of the image, and will lead to two other different pages which are; the trailer/story page and the gallery page. The navigational bar will also feature social media buttons, which are linked to a Facebook and Twitter fan page. The bottom of the website will feature the billing box, which will include all the actors starring in the film, editors, directors etc. Also, along the bottom of the page will be the film rating and other copyright, legislation laws. Overall, I intend to meet as many codes and conventions of a film poster which will hopefully result in a sleek and professional looking website.

Trailer/Story Page - Mock-Up Analysis:

For my trailer/story page I used the same title, actor name and strap line from the home page to maintain the theme of the website Again, I will feature the trademark tree which the audience should be able to recognise and straight away relate it to the film. However, I will need to edit the size in order to accommodate for other features on the website such as the trailer, the image below the trailer and the storyline beside the trailer. The resolution my teaser will play at is 400x320, and can be played in fullscreen as well. I will also feature a release date ‘Summer 2010’ beneath the title and strap line so the audience are informed if they are interested as to when the release date is. I will also feature the storyline beside the trailer so the audience can gain a little more insight as to what the film is about. The final feature of the website is the billing box once again along the bottom of the page, to maintain the theme and meet codes and conventions.

Gallery Page - Mock-Up Analysis:

The final part of my website is the gallery page which will feature a slideshow gallery of images from the film, and is more of an additional feature which the audience may look at as well as a code and convention for film websites. Through my research I identified that many film websites include a gallery page, and is a code and convention. Therefore, I decided to include this feature on my website. Once again, the page will be consistent with the other two pages, as it uses the same font and colours. At the top of the page are the actor name, title, strap line and release date. However, I will decrease the size of these features to accommodate for the slideshow which would be embedded in the website beneath. On the bottom half of the page I will feature an edited a photo of a bridge which I took along the Regents Canal. The image will be edited to black and white, in order to keep the theme consistent. Also, I will once again feature the trademark tree in the top left corner of the website to maintain the theme of the website, and once again will allow the audience to identify the film. Along the bottom of the page will be the billing box, which will be featured to maintain the theme of the website and keep the theme consistent.

Website Analysis:

Website Analysis

Monday 22 March 2010

Teaser - Final

No typical love story from St Marylebone Media Studies on Vimeo.



Positive Feedback:

Positive Feedback

Negative Feedback:

Negative Feedback

Overall, the feedback received was positive and the audience found the storyline interesting and clear, and commented saying that they wished to watch the whole film after being previewed the teaser to see what happens. The audience also thought that the music complemented the teaser well, and helps to maintain the films theme of being a romantic comedy. The final element of the teaser the large majority of the audience commented on was the good filming.

However, there was constructive negative feedback which was useful and was commented upon by a large majority of the viewers, which was the soundtrack was too loud and overpowered the dialogue in specific scenes. Therefore, I will need to edit the sound level of the soundtrack and the dialogue to ensure that it is clear and the audience understands what the film is about. The audience also thought that the voice-over was poor which I agree on, however the voice-over improved towards the end of the teaser. Finally, the audience felt that editing was basic, and there wasn’t much variety of editing resulting in the teaser looking a little basic. Overall, I am pleased with the feedback which I will use to improve the teaser where possible.

Final - Poster:



Above is my final poster, and I am extremely pleased with the final outcome. The most noticeable addition to my final poster is the billing box which is a code and convention of every film poster. The main issue I faced with the billing box was selecting where I should place it, and the colour I should use to ensure that it is consistent with the rest of the poster in terms of theme, layout and complementing the poster image. The font used for the billing box is ‘SteelTongs’, which I downloaded of www.dafont.com to ensure that my poster meets the codes and conventions of a film poster. Underneath the billing box I included the website for the film, and I put coming soon as the release date for the film has not been set yet. Overall, I think the poster is successful and aesthetically, and has achieved the look of being sophisticated yet simple, and is not too cluttered or complicated. Personally, I think the poster will help me to target the films audience effectively.

Second Draft - Poster

After completing my first draft, I used the feedback I received to make improvements to my poster which are shown below.



As you can see the improvements made to the poster were filling the negative space in the top left quarter in the poster by placing a tree there, and brushing around the two actors to create an effect of separation, through which I tried to insinuate ‘forbidden love’. Despite featuring the tree in the top left of the poster it does not result in the poster looking cluttered. Also, through brushing around and in between the characters, it has resulted in the poster looking less cluttered, and giving it a cleaner look. Overall, I am pleased with the progress with poster, as I have still managed to maintain the two characters being the main feature of the poster. There are improvements that I will need to make which are including all the codes and conventions of a poster which are featuring the billing box, website and the release date of the film.

Photoshoot and First Draft - Poster

Final Poster:



Above is my final poster, and I am extremely pleased with the final outcome. The most noticeable addition to my final poster is the billing box which is a code and convention of every film poster. The main issue I faced with the billing box was selecting where I should place it, and the colour I should use to ensure that it is consistent with the rest of the poster in terms of theme, layout and complementing the poster image. The font used for the billing box is ‘SteelTongs’, which I downloaded of www.dafont.com to ensure that my poster meets the codes and conventions of a film poster. Underneath the billing box I included the website for the film, and I put coming soon as the release date for the film has not been set yet. Overall, I think the poster is successful and aesthetically, and has achieved the look of being sophisticated yet simple, and is not too cluttered or complicated. Personally, I think the poster will help me to target the films audience effectively.

Second Draft - Poster



Above is my final poster, and I am extremely pleased with the final outcome. The most noticeable addition to my final poster is the billing box which is a code and convention of every film poster. The main issue I faced with the billing box was selecting where I should place it, and the colour I should use to ensure that it is consistent with the rest of the poster in terms of theme, layout and complementing the poster image. The font used for the billing box is ‘SteelTongs’, which I downloaded of www.dafont.com to ensure that my poster meets the codes and conventions of a film poster. Underneath the billing box I included the website for the film, and I put coming soon as the release date for the film has not been set yet. Overall, I think the poster is successful and aesthetically, and has achieved the look of being sophisticated yet simple, and is not too cluttered or complicated. Personally, I think the poster will help me to target the films audience effectively.

As the completion of our teaser is almost complete, there are only a few things left to do, which are;

- Voiceover
- Re-import ‘No Typical Love Story’ closing title from motion as it I didn’t export it under the correct settings the first time, resulting in the closing title displaying pixels and not looking smooth.
- Cut scenes in length in order to decrease the length of the teaser as it is close to the 1 minute 30 second limit.
- Add slow motion to selected scenes
- Edit audio and voice decibel levels in order to make dialogue clear in the teaser.

For our poster image I made a photoshoot plan in order to know what types of photos would suit our poster. Below is an animoto clip of the photos taken at the photoshoot.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.





First Draft - Poster:



The first draft of my poster has progressed steadily, but I have been struggling with how I should layout of the poster, and selection of colours since the image is black and white, resulting in designing the poster even more challenging. The poster looks incomplete at the moment as there is a big white space in the top left quarter of the poster, which I have been trying to figure out how I should fill out that negative space. Overall, I am pleased with the progress as I feel that I have a foundation to work on now, and experiment with ideas, layout etc.

Film Poster - Research

Progress over the past couple of weeks:

As my responsibility in the group was editing the filmed footage on Final Cut Pro, and using other applications such as Motion. As I have never used Final Cut Pro nor Motion I have been familiarising myself with all the shortcuts and tools at my disposal to ensure that my teaser looks as professional as possible. The first application I used was Final Cut Pro, where I had to capture and log all the footage onto the Mac. As I only needed to certain scenes, and many scenes were re-shot, I had to select the best of each scene. In order to select the correct footage, I had to use my shot list and teaser plan, as this identified to me what the group wanted the teaser to look like, and secondly where on the timeline should each scene be placed.

Also, simultaneously I had to start planning for the poster for our film. Therefore, I had to perform research on other film poster similar to our film genre and which I personally thought were aesthetically appealing to the eye. The poster which appealed to me the most was the film ‘Remember Me’ which is a ‘Romantic Drama’. However, the main reason as to why I chose to analyse the poster is due to the fact that for our photo-shoot for the poster we intended to take black and white photos, and as the ‘Remember Me’ poster had a black and white background image I thought that using that poster to inspire my poster would be ideal.



As you can see the poster for ‘Remember Me’, it uses simple layout, and is uncluttered but still effective. The colour theme is consistent, and complements the black and white poster well and effectively. Also, the layout is also effective as it does not cover the main image, but still features all the codes and conventions of a typical film poster. The difficulty and challenges I would face with designing an effective black and white poster is colour choice, as not many colours complement a black and white image. Since, ‘Remember Me’ uses a deep red for its font colour, and since ‘No Typical Love Story’ is a romantic comedy, red will complement my poster image well as well the story line of the film. The billing box is placed under the title which I thought of implementing in my poster as the two main actors in my film would be placed below, with a white background above them, in which I would place the title, strap line and billing box. Overall, I really think the ‘Remember Me’ poster is an effective and simple poster which is exactly what I want for my film.

Another film poster that I analysed was ‘Adam’ which does not use a black and white image for its poster, but it does use a simple but effective layout which I personally think suits our film.



Another film poster that I analysed was ‘Adam’ which does not use a black and white image for its poster, but it does use a simple but effective layout which I personally think suits our film.

Through analysing the ‘Adam’ film poster, it simple yet effective once again. The main image is placed in the top half of the poster, and bottom half is used for the title, strap line, nominated awards and billing box. Aesthetically, the poster is simple yet effective, which results in a sophisticated looking poster. The bottom half of the poster is white and clear cut with the top half being the image. Through the bottom half of the poster being white, it contrasted well with the title, strap line, billing box and nominated awards. Also, the colours and fonts complement the image well, as the font colour is blue, and there are a variety of shades of blue in the image which result in the fonts and the image complementing each other well, resulting in a consistent theme throughout the poster. The strap line is placed above the title of the film, and both use a serif font which complement the poster image well as the characters seem to be in their late 20’s to the mid 30’s. Therefore, through using a serif font, it results in a more mature and sophisticated looking poster targeting an audience in the age bracket of 25-35. Through splitting the poster in half, in which I will use one half for the image and the other for the titles etc, which is an idea I extremely like and am strongly considering using for my poster. However, as the poster is not black and white I don’t know how my poster will look with a black and white image, and whether it will work. Overall, personally I think the poster is simple, but sophisticated at the same time which is exactly what I wish my poster to achieve.

The reasons as to why I selected these two posters as inspiration are due to the fact they are of a similar genre, and I thought that through analysing posters of a similar genre will inspire me and allow me to create a poster which is effective in capturing and appealing to its target audience.



500 Days of Summer is another simple yet effective, with the sophisticated look of a poster I am striving to achieve with my poster. The poster uses predominantly neutral colours which results in a clean finish such as white, cream and light blue. The selection of colours complement the image of the poster well, as well as the Sans Serif font, which all combined result in a consistent theme throughout the poster. I was considering using the poster layout with Chase sitting on the top of the tile, and a close-up of Sam’s face at the bottom with a neutral background. Also, the top half of the poster has a notepad background, which isn’t too obvious but is noticeable. Since my film is related with teenage love, I thought including a notebook effect would complement my storyline well. The placement of the title in the poster is in the centre which is good as it will capture the audience’s attention. Another witty effect on the poster is the use of the strap line over the notepad background which creates the effect of a diary, and with the male character sitting on the title writing complements the whole top half of the poster extremely well. The final feature on the poster which I may feature on my poster is any nominated awards for the film, which may give my poster a more authentic look and feel.

Planning

Filming Schedule:

Our group consists of three members (Nikola Mimic, Christina Sukar and Megan Duffy), which is a relatively large group. Therefore, I thought that planning our time ahead would help to divide up the responsibilities, set deadlines, which all members would be able to see by checking my blog.



Contact List:

I made a contact list in order to be able to contact any of the group members or cast if necessary outside of school time, or during school time to remind or ensure any of the group members where to meet, or what they’re responsibility is. Despite, knowing all of the group members and casts free periods, there were times when one of the members or actors was not in the common room, and would therefore need to be contacted. I also took all of the members and actors emails if I needed to sell any files, but I did not use emails for communication as it is not as effective as texting or calling. Also, all of the group members had each other added on Facebook which eased communication outside of school.



Time Plan:

I created a time plan for my A2 course on Excel, to ensure that I meet deadlines and plan my time effectively. Through creating a time plan, it will ensure that as a group we can manage our time effectively, and ensure that deadlines are met.



Planning and Research - Presentation:

Animatic No Typical Love Story Nik Mimic from St Marylebone Media Studies on Vimeo.

Teaser Analysis:

As I focused my poster analysis on ‘Remember Me’, ‘500 Days of Summer’ and ‘Adam’, I decided that I would analyse teasers of different films which are more similar in terms of genre. In terms of the design the posters I have analysed are the aesthetic design I am going for, however in terms of story they differ from my films storyline. Therefore, I thought analysing teasers of films which are more similar to my films storyline would benefit my film, as it may inspire me with ideas which I could implement when I do the editing. The three trailers that I will be analysing are:

- High School Music 3 - The Seniors
- A Cinderella Story
- 500 Days of Summer



‘High School Musical 3’ is a romantic teenage comedy, where as seniors in high school, Troy and Gabriella struggle with the idea of being separated from one another as college approaches. Along with the rest of the Wildcats, they stage a spring musical to address their experiences, hopes and fears about their future.

The trailer begins with a bell ringing insinuating that a match is about to begin, as you can hear the crowd cheering in the background. The first scene is an empty hallway of the college, and then an empty theatre and an empty basketball court which immediately establishes the scene which is obviously a college. This also suggests to me that the film is targeted towards the 13-18 year olds age bracket, as this is the age of people at high school. The soundtrack of the teaser appeals to that age bracket, as it is music which teenagers would most likely listen to, thus complementing the storyline of the film. Surprisingly there is no voiceover featured in the trailer, but the reason may be is that it is the third sequel and the audience therefore anyone who has followed the film through from the first sequel will already understand what the film is about, thus there being no need for a voiceover. The editing of the trailer mainly involves fast cuts, which emphasises that it is a fast, action packed and since it is a musical they tend to be intense, which through the editing used helps to construct this.

Comparing the storyline of HSM 3 to our film, I can identify elements of the film which are similar to mine, such as; Zac Efron plays the role of a popular guy at high school, which in our film is Chase, as they are both loved by the girls. The target audience of the film is almost identical to ours and will therefore appeal to a similar audience. However, due to the inclusion of sexual references in the film, it has been given a rating of (PG13), whereas ours will be rated (12A) as it will not feature as many sexual references, and will be targeting a younger audience.



‘A Cinderella Story’ is a romantic teenage comedy, about a teenage girl who is routinely exploited by her wicked stepmother; the downtrodden Sam Montgomery is excited about the prospect of meeting her Internet beau at the school's Halloween dance.

The trailer begins with a voiceover establishing the situation of the lead character, which instantly informs the audience that it is about a teenage girl who doesn’t fit in. The first couple of scenes identify that the girl is not popular in school, and is exploited by her stepmother. As the setting of the film is at high school, this suggest to me that the film is targeted towards the 13-18 year olds age bracket, as this is the age of people at high school. The soundtracks used in the teaser are similar to what the target audience would listen to and complement the storyline well. Another feature of the trailer is the voiceover, which helps the audience to make sense of the teaser and as to what the storyline may be about without giving away too much information. The editing of the trailer mainly involves fast cuts, which emphasises that it is a fast, action packed and since it involves dancing which tends to be intense, which through the editing used helps to construct this.

Comparing the storyline of ‘A Cinderella Story’ to our film, I can identify elements of the film which are similar to mine, such as; Sam Montgomery who plays the role of an unpopular girl at high school, which in our film is Sam. The target audience of the film is almost identical to ours and will therefore appeal to a similar audience. However, due to the inclusion of sexual references in the film, it has been given a rating of (PG13), whereas ours will be rated (12A) as it will not feature as many sexual references, and will be targeting a younger audience.



‘500 Days of Summer’ is a romantic comedy drama film, and is an unusual romantic comedy about a woman who doesn't believe true love exists, and the young man who falls for her.

The trailer above is of the film ‘500 Days of Summer’, which was one of the best romantic comedies in 2009. It is a touching, but entertaining film, with an interesting way of telling the storyline. The reason as to why I chose to analyse this trailer is due to the fact it features a voiceover which appeals to me as I was considering including it in our film. A voiceover is extremely important for our teaser, as it is difficult for the audience as to what the film is about. Therefore, through using a voiceover the audience will get an insight as to what the film is about without giving away the too much of the storyline, which should help to interest the audience and want to watch the film. There was a variety of editing which helped to help the audience understand the storyline of the film, especially in the intro where they have two split screens of a young boy and young girl which immediately informs the audience this is a love story. Also, fade-ins and fade-outs were used and timed well with the music, which helped to build the atmosphere and suspense of the film.

Comparing the storyline of ‘500 Days of Summer’ to our film, I can identify elements of the film which are similar to mine, such as; a boy and girl who fall for each other but then there turns out to be an unusual twist in the tale which also occurs in our film. However, due to the inclusion of sexual references in the film, it has been given a rating of (PG13), whereas ours will be rated (12A) as it will not feature as many sexual references, and will be targeting a younger audience.

I have focused primarily on 500 Days of Summer’ and ‘High School Musical 3’ and ‘A Cinderella Story’ for my research, as all three films are similar in terms of genre.

30th November - 4th December (WHERE I AM NOW)

My Role:

Work completed between the 30th of November – 4th of December:

During this week my responsibility was to create a moodboard for our film ‘No Typical Love Story’, which I created on Animoto, as it allows me to insert images that I wish to be featured in my visual moodboard, which the website then renders and adds effects to enhance the video resulting in it looking more interesting. The images featured in the visual moodboard were of film posters, characters, locations and other images which are related to our film and which inspired our film. In my moodboard I featured the film poster of ‘A Cinderella Story’, ‘Mean Girls’, ‘Beauty & The Geek 2’ and ‘High School Music 3’, which are all films which inspired our film. Images of locations were featured in the moodboard which will be used as some of the film locations, such as; Paddington Gardens and Marylebone High Street. The reason as to why these are our film locations is due to the fact that St Marylebone is based just off Marylebone High Street, and is close to Paddington Gardens.

Another responsibility I had was to create an animatic for our film, using Christina’s shot list which she typed up for me. Through using the shot list, I drew each of the shots by hand, which I tried to make as realistic as possible, in order to get a realistic idea of what our film would look like in real life.

When drawing all the shots for the animatic, I used a template which had four empty boxes per page in which I would draw each different shot in. Through using the template, it ensured that all the shots were symmetrical in size which resulted in a much more professional looking animatic. The challenging part of designing the animatic, as I had to draw several different shots per scene to achieve an illusion that the character is moving in the animatic. The more shots I did per scene, the smoother, professional and realistic the animatic would look. However, I was constrained with time, I limited myself to a maximum of four shots per scene. I scanned all the drawings for my image instead of photographing them to ensure that the quality of the images in the animatic were high. Once I had scanned all the images for my animatic I opened them in Adobe Photoshop, in which I cropped them all to the same size. Instead of using Windows Movie Maker, I decided to use flash as it allowed me to edit the animatic more professionally and add effects such as slow motion, zoom, fade in/out as well as well as editing the speed of the cuts. All of these editing tools ensured that my animatic was of a high quality and professional looking. The key final part of creating my animatic was deciding on the frame rate of the video, which was a key element as the higher the frame rate, the smoother the image. However, I could not have my animatic run at 25fps, and at the same time ensure that it looks professional. Therefore, I decided that the optimum fps for my animatic was 10-15fps, which made the animatic a bit longer as well, which was a positive. I also added the film title at the beginning of the animatic, and the strap line at the end. The final part of ensuring my animatic was professional was adding a soundtrack which I downloaded off the internet, and I thought was suitable for my animatic. The soundtrack I added was a mellow song, which seemed a little sad as there is a sad part to our film. Therefore, the soundtrack used complemented the animatic well, and resulted in a much more professional looking animatic.

Once the animatic was complete, I uploaded it on Youtube as well as Vimeo, which I then used the embed code to embed onto my blog.

In the upcoming week I will be presenting our film, which will focus on a variety of aspects with regards to the film. Once I have completed the presentation, my next responsibility will to edit the filmed footage on Final Cut Pro.

Sunday 21 March 2010

Animatic

No Typical Love Story - Animatic from Nikola Mimic on Vimeo.



I created an animatic for my teaser in order to give viewers an insight as to what the film will be about, and potentially look like. In order to create an animatic I had to draw out each shot separately, which I then put together on flash to achieve the illusion of the characters in the shots moving. Despite, the process of drawing each shot being time consuming, the end result was positive and useful in giving an insight as to what the teaser would look like.

The images of all the shots were put together on flash which was time consuming, as I had to adjust the frame-rate of the animatic, but also needed to add music, and edit it according to the length of the animatic. I also had to add an opening title which as ‘No Typical Love Story’ which was obviously the title of our film and the strap line at the end of the animatic ‘When love can come as a complete surprise’. I decided that the optimal frame rate would be between 10-15 fps, otherwise the animatic would be too short and not look as effective.

No Typical Love Story - Moodboard

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The visual moodboard I created on Animoto featured a variety of photos which would give my audience an insight as to what our film would be about. I decided to feature photos of Zac Efron as he is featured in films similar to ours such as; High School Musical, and is admired by many girls in my target audience age bracket. Zac Efron resembles Chase in our film. I then featured film posters of films such as; High School Musical, Mean Girls and A Cinderella Story, which are all films similar to ours in terms of storyline and genre. Images of Marylebone High Street and Paddington Gardens were included, as these are some of the locations in which the film will be shot. I featured images of a diary with hearts and writing, and a heart on the beach as it is obviously a love story. Finally, I featured images of a heart made out of barbed wire covered in blood, and an image of Romeo and Juliet as this constructs the theme of forbidden love.

Research and Presentation

Introduction:

As a group (Nikola Mimic, Christina Sukar and Megan Duffy) formulated a storyline which would be interesting yet comical for our film.

Synopsis:

Synopsis

No Tpyical Love Story is a romantic comedy, but combines a variety of other film genres such as chick flick and is similar to American teenage love films, which tend to be a bit cheesy but comical. The film focuses on Chase (Nikola Mimic) and Sam (Rachel Mansour), who fall in love with each other when they meet at college. Sam is a new arrival at college and seems shy, conservative, and who takes studying extremely seriously. Sam deemed as unpopular in college bumps into Sam who she then falls for. Chase on the other hand a popular male within the school is their dream boyfriend, but the unlikely occurs and they begin seeing each other and get to know each other better. Within a short space of time, they form a connection which seems inseparable. However, secrets which are revealed and have been hidden from both of them are unveiled, and the couple realise that they are twins which were separated at birth.

Target Audience:

The target audience is predominantly the 11-18 year old age bracket, leaning more towards females, but may appeal to males within that age bracket, that tend to enjoy watching romantic comedies which involve teenagers. The target audience will be able to relate to the film as they are experiencing these events in their current time in life, or will be soon of they are younger. It is a film which would be more enjoyable to watch in the cinema, whether it is the younger segment of the age bracket who can go with their parents, or the older segment which can go with their boyfriends or even in a group of girls.

Questionnaire:

No Typical Love Story - Questionaire Results

Through the results it was obvious that the vast majority understood the plot which was a positive result. Females showed a greater interest and were much more interested in watching the film than the males which is not surprising. A reasonable amount of the people surveyed said that they would go to watch the film in the cinema, which is another positive as it confirmed our expectations. Overall, the results were extremely useful and clarified that our target market were females, and would be watched in the cinema.

No Typical Love Story

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