Evaluation 6 : Use of Technology

How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project? 


Hardware

MacBook Pro, Camera, Tripod, GoPro 

Software

Premiere Pro 

Online

Blogger, Youtube for tutorials and music downloads, Facebook and Line for chatting

Research

We've been researching on spy thriller movies on google to understand what the plots are usually like. We then decide what what the storyboard will be (an outline) and came up with an idea of plot twist. In person, I also look back to the sub-genre film that I did before to further improve my understanding about thriller. Most of the procedures we do are recorded on Blogger, a very convenient tool because everything posted on it will not vanish, so I don't have to worry about where to store my work.  

Planning

The planning has been a bit complicated because we needed to decide on everything and produce a rough timeline. The storyboard and the casting was not too difficult because we can put them on paper and there are so many people in school that are available. It's gotten to the complicated part when we have to find a day in which all the members and the actors are free because the location is far away from school and it would take all evening to complete it. Unfortunately, two stuntmen turned out to be busy on our agreed date so we have to film the scene where these two stunts will not appear. Everyone involved in the filming of Undercover is added to a group chat on Facebook. This is where most discussions occur, including the time the two stunts mentioned their unavailability. 

Filming

The camera is our main hardware because it needs to be used to film every scene. I was the one who looked at the time schedule and to tell others to move on whenever we've reached our time limits. The underwater scene was the only scene that creates tremendous time-consuming because many things went wrong when filming, such as the angle of falling is not powerful enough or the camera did not function properly in the first attempt.

Post Production

We combined each scene together to create the film. It was difficult when we tried to make each scene connect to one another because the filming was cut into scenes, not straightly filmed as one file of video. Sound effect comes in and helps to solve this problem because we can change the sound effect when the scene changes. The sound blending function on Premiere Pro is very useful at this stage. Moreover, we had a hard time on deciding what position should the text appear in different scenes and the font used. Music is also one issue because some music that we feel that they perfectly suits our film is not license-free. After we realised we should be using license -free music, we almost had to re-do the whole sound effect. 

Evaluation 5 : Skills Development

How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

Codes and Conventions : At the start of the project, I did not quite fully understand what codes and conventions are and had no idea how it will play a role in determining the film that will be created. I rated myself as a 4 at first because I thought codes and conventions only meant mood created along the film. When I finished, I have come to realise that codes and conventions also meant the tradition of specific kinds of films and what to expect from it. I think there are still a lot more to know if I were to fully and deeply understand codes and conventions so I rated myself up by +1 at the end. 

Planning and Organisation : It was a 5 at the beginning because I was the producer of the film and my duty from the very beginning was to organise the schedule and keep up with the paperwork. I think I did fairly good because we were able to shoot the scenes we intend to in the amount of time given. It has come up by +1 because I feel that my responsibility to keep up with the work, the evaluation process, has not been up to date as it should. 

Camerawork : It was a 3 at first because I had very little idea of what camera angles should be used in each scene in order to make that particular scene be most effective when the film is being put together. I have been observing the working cameras from my two other friends and considering the final product when the video is ready to edit, I can see and understand more why each scene has to have that specific camerawork. For example, the scene where the female protagonist first appears, a long shot technique is used because it suggested that some important character is going to make a remarkable appearance. In this case, I think it enhanced by +2

Visual Effects : Exactly identical rating to the camerawork, both before and after. at first, we decided to only use the colour red at the beginning of the opening but then we changed our mind and added another colour in because we thought it  might be boring to stare at blood dripping down the screen for almost  half a minute. The effect does not have anything that special from the beginning until the end too. I rated up by +2 because the change we've made has made a difference to the film opening. 

Editing : Editing has been the skill that I find fairly hard to develop because it requires a lot of playing around in the program. In the previous sub-genre film, I did not complete or show any signs of advanced editing in it. It was just a similar editing process put together with different sound effects with a little play with the sound (fade in and fade out). I think it only came up by +1 because I've learned to import fonts from other places and knew that there are some easy process that could be completed in no time. At first, I have zero idea that some huge changes to the film are done quite easily 

Creative confidence : Came up to a 5 from only a 3 at the beginning. We included an illustrated scene to build up the plot twist at the end and it has been beautifully put together. At the start of the project, we did not have this idea at all. The problem was that George (the actor for the male protagonist) aren't allowed to wear a tuxedo in the swimming pool, so he has to go shirtless for the shooting. The scene is then got confused by our peer audience because there are no signs of him taking his clothes off before he got kicked into the pool. We then decided to add the scene of the female protagonist being seductive to help provide a clearer picture of why he appears shirtless in the pool - a romantic scene. 

Evaluation 4 : Distribution

How would it be distributed as a real media text?

Genre of the film: SPY THRILLER

Blockbusters VS Smaller films 

I view that the film 'Undercover' would be better if it was released on blockbusters. Spy thriller is the genre that attracts the middle age group of audience, age 40 - 54, so a kind of formal process on blockbuster is needed. The target audience is quite widespread as the population of aged 40 - 54 is the widest in most countries. 

The film is also suitable to be released on UTorrent or BitTorrent because it is where every group of audience can have access to the film very easily. 

Strategies

I would release the film in October, the month of halloween, because a spy thriller genre is the genre that can make people feel afraid and be fearful while watching. However, Halloween is on the 31st of October but I won't release it in cinemas too close to the date of Halloween because Halloween and the days near it are for going out to party, not for going to cinemas. The global release will be in the middle of October. The perfect date is the 15th or the 16th because that's exactly in the middle of the month. 

I would also advertise the film by promoting it on billboards and on social media. Billboards will be effective because age 40 - 54 is an age group that applies to adult. Most adult at this age often works and owns a private car. When they drive and saw the giant billboard, it would pretty much attract their attention. As for social media, I will create a Facebook and an Instagram account that is fully dedicated to the movie. Adults today uses social media a lot so if the promotion comes up on their newsfeed, it will distract them for a while.  

Lastly is the official DVD release date. It will be released 3 to 4 months after it's out of the cinema because that will keep the audience to have a high demand to be watching it again. 

Evaluation 3 : Audience 

How does your product engage with audiences?

Overall personalities of the target audience regarding YouGov

The illustrated profile 

Feedback from the person who's personality is similar to the target audience: 

1. Person: My Uncle
2. Age: 55 years old
3. Occupation: Businessman 
4. What he said : "I would very much enjoy the kinds of movies that involves SPY because I find it fascinating, compare to what movies, dramas and soaps in our country are like at the moment. I think I will enjoy it because most spy thriller movies are full of mysteries to think about while watching. If the movie can be categorised as 'spy' and 'thriller' with a plot twist at the end, I would love to watch it as it is a good opportunity of  practising my analytical skills along the movie." 

Evaluation 2 : representation

How does your opening represent social groups or issues?

Created with Padlet

Evaluation 1 : conventions 

How does your product use or challenge conventions?