Evaluation Questions

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)

Most of my inspiration was from the film 'American Splendor' and its opening sequence. I liked the way that the camera moved over the comic images and also the style of the comic images. When creating my comic's within 'ComicLife Magic', I tried to recreate the same style the comic's were in American Splendor, they were tinted brown, to give an old comic effect.

How does your media product represent particular social groups

My social group would probably be young adults and teenagers, most likely males. As my film is based on an action comic book and it involves someone waking from a coma to discover his powers, I think the social group I have stated above would fit well. 

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

An institution that might want to distribute my idea would be any who are interested in comic based movies and action ones to be specific. Maybe the same distribution as American Splendor but I would think who ever distributed films like Spider man, Batman or The Crow, just because these films are closer to what I wanted my film to be like. A man with a dark history but a life full of action. I think they would enjoy those two elements combined and thats what would 'make' the movie. 

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My audience would most likely be from the age of 15-16 to the age of 30 but it depends on what the person who viewed it would be interested in, as my film is an action film based on a comic book, i would expect people who are interested in action and comic book based films to be my audience. 

How did you attract/address your audience?

I attracted them by showing within the opening that it was obviously based on  a comic book, from when you see the first comic book image come into screen. I also showed a few images to suggested action will be involved. These images were of the silhouetted character, pushing the main character of the roof and then seeing him dead on the floor. 

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt that it takes more time and patients to create a finished product which looks professional and very visually clever or interesting. I felt like I need to produce a lot of versions of product before I got something which I liked and others thought were good to watch as well.

Working in Final Cut was fine but getting the images to work well with the titles was much harder than I thought it was going to be and in the end, I ended up putting the titles on the actual images and it look better than before. I think with making anything like I did with comic book images, trial and error is the best way to go, to make sure you have plenty of time to try things out to see if they work, get an opinion and then fiddle with it till it is perfect. I found with mine, that to do it right, was to get something good but to do it in a wrong way, was to get something which didn't look that great. 

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 think with mine it wouldn't make a huge amount but I think I did end up using it more than I thought. When making my footage for the end of the opening, I tried my best to take things out the shot which made it look more like a first aid room than a hospital room. As that shot was only a zoom in, I was precise in making sure the zoom in was only of a certain part of Kirk's body, starting from seeing his head to his lower legs, to just seeing his head. 

The rest of my sequence didn't really involve much continuity, but when making the image come in to frame, it turned out that having them come in from too many angles didn't fit well so making them read across a page made more sense. Also making sure the pictures were in the right order to tell the story with images correctly was a very important part. Without having them make sense, my sequence would be boring and quite pointless. 

Video Without Footage

The video below is my Coma video but a version of it without the last part of footage. A couple of people thought that my video would look better without the end footage but I decided in the end that myself and a lot of others preferred it to be included so it is now in my final version. This video below was made more for comparison between my final version and this version I could have had.

My Final Version - Coma

This my final version of my film opening project. I think it went quite well and turned out to be a good video, in my opinion. If I had another day to do this project, I think  I would probably use the extra time to play around with the order of my pictures and get some more opinions from others. As before I finished my project, there was a lot of debate on what order to put my picture in and whether to keep my end footage. I decided in the end to keep the end footage and I ended up changing the order of my pictures slightly and I think the end outcome is good. 

Constructive Criticism

"Dialogue could be bit louder, as music goes over voiceover" - For this I am planning to get rid of the voiceover all together as I think it is not really needed very much within my opening sequence. 

"Maybe have the comic's moving into shot, as if you were reading it" - I have decided to do this and also have the camera focused in on one part of the comic page and then move over to the main picture, where the titles appear. 

"Titles are often horrible placed on black parts of the pictures" - I will fix this by not actually having the titles outside of the comic at all but instead I am going to have them in a white box, within some pictures. 

"Varying the ways in which the comic's come into frame" - I will change this again by having them come in as if you were reading them and this way the comic's with come into shot in more simpler ways and varied. 

"Perhaps reduce the running to time to 1:30" - As I am getting rid of my voiceover all together, this will reduce my running time and will maybe be more interesting to watch. 

Draft of Opening Sequence

This is my draft version of my final video, for my opening sequence. So far, I think it has gone quite well and quite smoothly but there are a few things within this video above in which I need to edit before making it my final version. 

Firstly, I want edit part of the music, during the begin, where the voiceover appears there is a part where the person speaking is interrupted by part of the music being too loud and I want to edit this so that you can hear the voiceover that dame amount all the way through. This won't be too hard, as I just have to delete that part of the music from my soundtrack and then reload it into my final cut version of my video. 

The next part of my video which I need to edit or add to is the section at the beginning where the screen is blank during the voiceover. In this space, I am planning to make a heart rate monitor using AfterEffects and have that playing whilst the voiceover is playing. This shouldn't be to hard once I figure out how to make it but I intended to invoice one of my class mates or get help from a teacher to do start me off with it. 

Those are my main things in which I want to edit and have to do and there isn't really much else I would like to do but I am playing with the idea of maybe slowing down the speed in which the comic comes into screen. However, if I did do this, the music wouldn't be as long as my footage and I would have to edit that too and I really like my music and how it fit perfectly with my footage(from my point of view). 

My 3 Tips

My three tips to give, if I were to go back in time and repeat it all again are . . .

1) I would plan my time a lot better, so when it came to drawing my comics and learning new software, I would have plenty of time to do all that and have time to spare just incase I had to redo things and I wouldn't be under pressure to finish them last minute. 

2) Learning how to transfer footage properly before hand is very good advice, as I found out once I had got home after transferring my footage at college to my own laptop. If you don't transfer the files over correctly or you don't know all the settings, then the footage will become offline when opened up - so learning this before a weeks holiday would be very helpful. 

3) My final tip is that, I would have like to have turned out with better quality drawings so either getting someone to teach me draw things I couldn't or spending lots of time on them could have helped and therefore given me better quality drawings for my sequence. 

Positive Image

Today we were asked to draw a positive image of a part of half term, in which we felt good about and felt that we achieved something good. 

My image was of me, at my desk, on my laptop, finally after playing for a very long time with some software called ComicLife Magic, I managed to create a comic book full of images which I felt was a great achievement for me and the outcome was a lot more impressive that I first thought it would be. The software was extreme easy to use, produced something which was easily made but gave a great effect and by the end of two days playing with it, I badly want to buy it(as I have it on a 30 day trial). 

ComicLife Magic - Half Term

During my project, I have had a 30 day trial of the software 'ComicLife Magic', to use to make my comic image look more like they came from a comic book. Overall I really enjoyed using the software as it was easy and fun to use and it worked well for my film project. 

After drawing my pictures I just had to take pictures of each image and load them on to my Mac. Once loaded, they were easy to manipulate. I basically chose 3 or 4 different templates for the pages and made a part with each, e.g I would use one of the 3-4 templates and then use that one again after I had used another 2-3 templates for the next 2-3 pages. After having a template, I just had to slot in my images the way in which I thought they looked good and then click on each image to change its colours, textures and pretty much anything else you wanted to do to it. I decide to give most of my images a sepia effect and then the images which resembled love, I then made a warm red/pink colour. 

When each page was finished, I then just exported them all into one file which contain all the images together and from there I could import them to Final Cut. 

It was all really simple to be honest and I loved using the software and would happily go out and buy it. Throughout the whole of half term i don't think I had any problems, thought I could have tried out a few more things with the images, e.g putting the titles on the images to see what it looked like and that would have said me a lot of time when it came to my last bit of editing. 

Drawing Comic's - Half Term

Drawing the comic's over half term wasn't really hard at all. I had all my pictures all planned out before hand so it was easy to just get stuck into it. I measured out each picture so they were the same size each time and so they would look the same measurements within the comic. 

After drawing each image roughly with pencil, I then went over them with a pen so that they would show up nicely when I took pictures of them. As well as going over the lines with pen, I also shaded parts of the images so that it would give a nice dark comic effect when edited in 'ComicLife Magic'. 

When each of the drawings were finished, I took pictures of each of them, using a digital camera and then loaded them on to my mac ready to edit within ComicLife Magic. 

The images below are 3 of 14 picture I drew for my comic book. 

Voice-over for Beginning of Sequence

Below is the script for the beginning of my opening sequence. The script should last about 12 seconds when spoken in a steady pace and in a sort of serious and dark voice. 

Script: Draft

"Coma is a profound state of unconsciousness, a person in a coma can not be awakened, can not respond normally to pain and light and can not take voluntary actions. 

Coma's can be caused by intoxication, metabolic abnormalities, stroke, hypoxia and head trauma. 

After several years the chances of full recovery are slim, the outcomes vary from recovery, vegetative state and death but in some cases, there can be a miracle......"

Titles LIst

Coma

Long Road Productions

HeartReel Productions 

Film based on Comic Book by Philippa Price

Executive Producers Sam Chappell-Winnington and James Walker

Co-producers Lawrence Smith and Ashley Atherton

Action Director Hayden Martin

Director of Photography Tara Cox

Edited by Alex Whitcombe

Costume Designer Matt Hornby 

Music by Jonny Dawson 

Casting by David Pinchen and Matt Leonowicz

Kirk Kemp 

Susan Keefe

Alie Nicoll 

Rebecca Young

Josh Blake 

Tim Hodson 

Joe Robinson 

Location - Pictures of First Aid Room

I didn't manage to find an actual doctor's surgery or hospital bed to shoot, which didn't really surprise me but I did manage to get the first aid room at Long Road College, to shoot my one shot in. Below are some pictures I took of the first aid room and when looking at them, there are a few things which I need to do to make the scene look more realistic. Such as, making a drip stand and the drip and bringing in a white sheet to use as a blanket. 

Continuity Task with Expensive Camera's

Below is a continuity task, which I and three other class mates made to practice with the expensive camera's. The task was set to remake the same continuity task as we completed before but to make it using a better camera, making one version normally and another in HD. The first video below is the normal version which we remade and then under that is the HD remake. 
I found the task quite easy to do as I have done it before and it didn't take long at all to grasp how to work the different camera's. I really enjoyed using them and I think they will be even more fun to shoot with during our shooting period. 

When it came to problems with the camera's, there wasn't really any big problems but we did have a slight problem when editing. When transferring over the footage to the laptops, we noticed that the sound was very quiet and we couldn't work out a way to fix this during editing so that would be a thing to work on. 
I watched both the HD version and the normal version of my continuity tasks and compared them to see if there was any sort of difference between them. I expected the HD version to have a clearer picture than the normal version but that was as much as I thought I would see. So far, all I have noticed is just the picture and to me, even that isn't that different. 

Prop List - images

The image below is the equipment I will need to make my comic book, which I will put into final cut and then add some effect to, to finish my opening. 

The next and last image of a plain, white sheet. This is the only prop which I will need to use within my last and only real shot, in my opening sequence. This sheet will be used to cover my actor when he is lying in the hospital bed - playing my coma victim. 

What Else Needs Doing...

I have made a storyboard which is quite detailed within the pictures but could use a bit more writing under each of the shots to explain it a bit more. 

I have also created a detailed shot list to show what happens within my opening sequence, when and how each shot happens in the rough 2 minutes. 

Below are all of the things I think I have left to, to make sure my project goes to plan and works how I want it to. 

- I think my biggest priority at the moment is finding a location for my last shot and I still need to do. 

- I've found an actor willing to play the part but there are still something to organize in this area, as we don't know when we will do this and how he'll get to the location, where ever that will be. 

- Props are still to be made or borrowed - if I find an actually doctors bed to shoot, I may ask to borrow props(of course not to literally use but to have in the scene) but if I don't manage to find a doctors bed, I will have to recreate my scene and everything I want in it. 

- If something happens with my location, when I find it, I am hoping to have two possible locations to shoot so I have a back up if one falls through. When it comes to my actor, I think that is pretty secure but if not, I always have many people in the class to help and my brother. The props shouldn't be two much of a problem but if I cant get hold of real ones, a few of my class mates have said they would help me make them and they know how too.  

The weather will not effect my shoot too much, as it will be inside a building but it may stop people from getting to the shoot so I will be have a fews days to shoot it so that we have plenty of time. 

Overall, I don't have a back up plan, but I have little back ups for each part of my shoot so it all goes to plan and it should as this is my only shot - it is easy to back up. 

- When it comes to effects, I am planning to use after effects and a software called comic life. I have comic life on my laptop at college and at home on a 30 day trial which should be more than long enough. But after affect software I only have on the laptop at home so I will be need to time my session at college so that I get plenty of time to use that software then or I will have to find a way to get it at home too. 

- Finally, with my music I am getting my boyfriend to make the music and he has given me permission to use it within my opening sequence. I will plan time to spend on helping him with the music, as I will want to make sure it goes the way I want it to and then transfer it over to my opening. 

Shot List - UPDATED

This is a more solid version of my shot list, edited from my previous draft shot list. 

The following shot are shown in black and white - to show the darkness and seriousness of his situation. 

1) shot of long road production logo

2) shot of my production logo - HeartReel 

3) shot of moving heart rate monitor, dialogue over top, along with beeps and music and then the monitor line flows into the title of my film, Coma. 

4) first shot of comic strip - showing a hospital room, with a young male coma victim in one of the beds - the shot slides in from the bottom left corner - at a steady pass - in time with the music i'm intending to have. 

5) the next comic strip slides in from the right side - showing the picture horizontally and the picture is of the same male in the hospital bed but this time the picture is zoomed in close to view him, the equipment and the bed. 

6) The sixth shot is a close up of a doctor, this is meant to show him explaining the patients status and setting the serious mood. The comic strip comes into the screen from the bottom, slides up and zooms in a little more. 

7) My next shot shows the male still in his coma bed but he is being attended to by the hospital staff. This shot comes in from the top right corner, slides in a zooms in a little. 

8) The next shot slides in from the bottom right corner and zooms in on a picture of him in his bed and this close up is quite close to him and views his upper body. 

The following shots will be shown in a warm colour - most likely a shade of red. This is to show the romance between him and his girl friend - it shows his memory of her. 

9) My ninth shot slides in from the left side, viewing a horizontal image of the coma victim and his girl friend at a cinema. This image is drawn as if you were looking from behind them. 

10) The next shot is an image of the both of them in a park together and the male is swinging his girl friend around. This shot comes into shot from the bottom and zooms in on them. 

11) The which follows after is brought into screen from the top of the screen, slides into shot and then zooms in. The picture shows the both of them sitting down to dinner and views them from the side so you see one of them at either end of the table. 

12) The next comes in from the top left corner and again slides in and zooms in. The image is of the both of them just standing watching a sun set and holding hands. 

13) This next shot is slightly different and I think I may change it at some point if it doesn't work but it starts off small and diagonal and slowly zooms in and comes into shot horizontally. 

The images show the both of them kissing and his meant to show the love that they had for each other. 

14) Shot fourteen is showing the both of them sitting on a park bench together. This comic strip comes in from the bottom right corner, slides in and zooms in. 

The following shots go back to being shown in black and white - again to show the darkness and seriousness of the issues shown in the pictures. 

15) This shot shows the young male standing the edge of a tall building and a dark shadow(the attempted murderer)standing by the door behind him. This images slides in from the bottom and again zooms in. 

16) The next shot slides in from the bottom left corner and zooms in on a picture of the dark shadow, having just pushed the young male of the building and the young male following to what you think to be his death but turns out to be his coma. 

17) In the next shot, it shows the young male on the concrete floor, with a puddle of mud around his head and this shot slides in from the bottom of screen and zooms in quite close to the image of him. 

18) The shot which follows comes in from the bottom right corner and zooms in on a image of the ambulance and medical team attending to him and also showing a keep out sign to stop the public coming in to see. 

19) The next shot is of the dark shadow standing on the top of the building, staring down at the scene. This shot comes in form the bottom of the screen and zooms in quite close to the dark shadow. 

20) The second to last shot shows a view of the shadow from the back of him, then looking on to the ambulance driving away in the distance. This shot comes in from the top left corner and zooms in of the image of the shadow. 

21) My last shot starts of small and zooms in to a close shot of the last comic image. This images shows the young male in his coma bed and the shot slowly fades into a real shot of the young male in an actual bed. 

Planning - props

Props

List of props - 

- hospital drip - recreated one or real(if able to get one)

- hospital look like bed and room

- maybe a paper band round the wrist to look like medical wristband 

- paper for drawing comic strips on and editing in comic life software

My list of props is quite small as for most of my project, the only thing I will be using is the Mac to use effects and pencils/pens to draw my comic strips. The last shot is the only part I should need proper props for. 

Planning - costume

Costume

Well my last shot is the only part which I am planning to organize costume for. The costume which I want for this shot is, a basic white vest or t-shirt and anything below that doesn't matter as it will not been shown with the bed cover will be over most of the body. 

Planning - location

Location

Well most of my time will be spent in class or at home working on my comic strip but I will need to find a location to do my last and only real shot. I want my last comic book shot to fade into a real shot of a hospital bed or a bed I can look like one. I will need to find somewhere to do this, for example, the first aid room in college or maybe ask my doctors surgery if I could film there for a little bit. 

This is the only location I will need to find and I will have to make sure I find a place which I have got permission to work on and I am able to get my actor to the location. 

Animatic

This is my animatic for my opening sequence, Coma. It hasn't got any music, as at last minute the music changed when transferring over to my laptop but I will try put an updated version on the animatic with all the music on it as well. There aren't too may titles but it gives you an idea of how it would go. 

I quite enjoyed making this animatic and ended up making it a bit too long but I'm sure this can and will be changed. 

Major Issue Throughout My Project

The following is one major issue which may occur throughout my project and of which I should take note of and see how I can help this problem which I may face.

3}  My last issue is getting after effects and comic life software on my laptop at home. This will be a big issue, as I need time to work on my project and especially my comic and will have to some of it at home. 

Solutions -

- I could find a way of buying them at some point

- I could also talk to Dave, who is a class mate and others have mentioned that he may be able  to get them for me

- I will most likely download the comic life software for a 30 day trial at home, as well as at college

Major Issue Throughout My Project

The following is one major issue which may occur throughout my project and of which I should take note of and see how I can help this problem which I may face.

2} My second issue is being able to find someone who will be my one actor, for my one shot and this person would need to lay in a hospital bed, asleep. This is vital for my shot and I will need someone who is male and around the age of 17 to 19. 

Solutions - 

- I could ask one of my family members to act for my shot, as they are closer to home - which is likely to be near to my location. 

- I could also ask my class mate Kirk, who seems fit and willing for the part and I think that would go well. 

Major Issue Throughout My Project

The following is one major issue which may occur throughout my project and of which I should take note of and see how I can help this problem which I may face.

1} My first issue is that I may not be able to find a hospital bed for my last and only shot. This is a big issue, as I need this shot for my opening sequence and need it to look realistic. 

Solutions - 

- I could see if I could use the first aid room inside of college but I would have to make the drip, which may not look to great. 

- I could ask the doctors in Over if i could borrow one of their rooms for a little while but they are most likely to say no. 

- I could also ask my neighbor as she is a nurse and may be able to give me access to that sort of thing

- If worst comes to worst, i could always recreated my scene just using a bed and some materials. 

Issues Throughout My Project

Nuisances

- drawing of comic strips - my drawings may not be very good quality and I may need someone to help with drawing them.
- I need to be able to make good effects for my opening and may need some help with this again too.

Minor Concerns

- I have quite a small amount of time to complete this project, so I will need to sort out my time well.
- I will also have to find the time to do part of it at home too, as lessons times are really not long enough.
- I will have to make sure I get the music done in good time too, especially as someone else is completing it for me.

Major Issues

- I think my biggest issue will be that I cant find a hospital looking bed to shoot one shot of, but I will have to ask people I know, such as my neighbor, who is a nurse or see if the college has a first aid room with a bed. 

- Also finding an actor for my last shot will be an issue, I need a male between the age of 17 and 19 and willing to lay in a hospital bed. I think I may have nearly found this person but still needs sorting out. 

- My last major issue is managing to get the software, at home, which I need for my project and this will include after effects and comic life software. i will want these outside of college so I can continue with my work then because college time is not long enough. I will mostly find a way of buying them somehow.