TECH RUNNER | AS MEDIA PRODUCTION

Production Name

After asking several people what they thought of our Top 3 Production Names (Tech Runner, System Error and Project OverDrive) the one name we found was the most popular was "TECH RUNNER" which was inspired by our fellow classmate Faith Starie. To begin with me and fellow group member Ronan Johnson picked this name because it related to our storyline, it was easy to say and easy to remember and honestly, sounded great! However, as me and Ronan were going through the IMDB Action Film pages we came across a familiar and a favourite film "MAZE RUNNER" we instantly saw how it relates to our production name, Tech Runner and we liked the name even more. So taking the Maze Runner Resemblance on board me and Ronan discussed that we could use the same font that they do for our Production Name as the font itself is simple and doesn't draw too much attention away from a shot it overlays but at the same time you can't miss it but also, by doing this we would make the audience think of the Maze Runner as they see the name and the font (Intertextuality) which would mean that they would instantly want to carry on watching to see if it's as good. Also, the Maze Runner has a similar/close target audience as we do which helps us with the fact that they also thought this font would appeal to the audience.

Last Minute Changes

While filming we did change or remove some elements of our production:

The first thing we decided not to use was the Antagonist having powers. We had just finished filming the scene where the Victim was peering around a tree when we decided that giving the Antagonist powers could make the production look very unrealistic and in some ways corny which wasn't the look we were going for, so as a result we completely removed that element from the production which thankfully didn't affect anything else major within the storyline.

Another thing we changed was some of the dialogue. We didn't have much dialogue to begin with but as we filmed it into the production it just seemed unnecessary (e.g. Before the Antagonist and victim start the fight scene they are suppose to exchange some lines of dialogue about the 'device') . So as I edited the footage I did two different scenes, one with dialogue, one without and after comparing them I went with the one without the dialogue as the dialogue seemed out of place and when it wasn't there it looked better and didn't feel like anything was missing. Another time that we did this was when the Antagonist is about to shoot the victim and they say "you didn't have to die" we removed this because the Antagonist doesn't actually kill the victim until a few shots later and we felt it was a sort of 'Spoiler Alert' whereas, we wanted it to be more sudden instead of the audience definitely knowing the victim dies.

Also, while editing I changed a few things:

On our shot lists and storyboards it's written/drawn that when the Antagonist shoots the Victim the first time, you see the gun fire and then the Victim fall. Well, while editing that certain scene was on a part of the soundtrack where there was a sudden quite spot so instead of seeing the gun fire you see the gun get brought up into the certain of the frame and then the screen goes black and you hear a gunfire and then when the soundtrack builds back up you see the Victim fall.

Another changed I made was when the Antaognist and Victim were in the woodland area and the victim had just stop by a tree and the Antagonist shoots but hits the tree not the victim because when have you ever known it to be that easy in an action film? Well, when I edited in all the effects on the footage it just didn't look right and fake. So instead of having all the effects I changed it so that the audience see the Antagonist get out their gun and the soundtrack suddenly intensifies and then you see the victim begin to run again.

Audience Feedback

After me and Ronan showed our production to some fellow Media classmates and peers we got some very positive feedback.

Kate, aged 17, who isn't a media student says, "I think it's really good and i especially like the gunshot part where the sound stops and the screen goes black as the gun is fired." I personally really liked this part as i edited it and watched it back I thought it worked really well. She also said "the music through out the whole thing went really well and seemed to flow" I'm really happy with this comment as it did take me awhile to match the soundtrack up with the intense parts of the production and the less intense parts.

Abbie, aged 16, who is a peer but did GCSE Media said, "I really like it, definitely how it takes place in more then one location, i feel that it keeps mine and the audiences attention more then it would if it was in just one place for the whole time." I'm glad that Abbie felt this way as this was our aim and the reason we had more then one location.

Olaf, aged 18, who is also a AS Media student said, "The ending title sequence of the production name was brilliant because the entering and exiting of the text matched with the soundtrack which emphasised the importance of the title but not only linked to it being an action film but it look amazing! Also, it was good how you only had the production name and no fancy effects as that would of took some the attention away from the name itself, one thing i would suggest is maybe make the font slightly thicker but other then that, loved it! I also noticed that you used the same font for your credits at the beginning as you did for the production name at the end which i think was a good choice." I'm really pleased that the ending title sequence was commented on but to also have some criticism, this has been taken on board.

Abigail, aged 12, who isn't a media student said, "I think it looks really cool, the music in the background suited it and i like how there was some mystery in there like, what is that USB/device do? I also really liked the end part of "THE TECH RUNNER" I re-watched that part over again because i liked it a lot, and how there wasn't lots of talking because that can be really boring." Comparing our other responses to this one you can see how the Media students noticed more things but also that they all noticed different things as well, all the comments were positive which is amazing and they also let us know that the choices that were made in pre-production were good ones.

Finished Editing!!

I have added the finishing touches, music has been put in, text in place and everything is complete!!!

Focus Group | Production Name

Me and my group member Ronan sat down with some of our peers who were the age of our Target Audience and we asked them about the ideas for our Production name sort of like a Focus Group 2.0.

Filming Schedule

I made a shooting schedule for our production as filming got very hectic for us as we were faced with multiple barriers but we still managed to get it done!

Filming COMPLETE!!

All filming is done! We are happy to all the filming done so that I can now finishing editing it which i plan on doing straight away, it shouldn't take too long as it's only the last few shots that needed filming and to be edited in, the soundtrack is already in place along side all text and sound effects.

Editing #1

I have edited the credits onto our production and I used the same font (Pirulen) we plan on using for our production name because after me and my fellow group member Ronan, did some research and some drafts we found that it looked good but it was also simple yet effective, simple in a way that it didn't take any attention away from the clips but the audience doesn't miss it.

Production Name Ideas

Today me and my fellow group member Ronan decided to brainstorm and come up with some ideas for out Production Name. As you can see by the picture was wrote down some elements of our production to see if we could get any ideas that way and then we went and asked some of our classmates if they had any ideas or suggestions. After asking several people we decided on our Top 3 of "Tech Runner", "Project Overdrive" and "System Error" as they all link into our Antagonist wanting to get the device from the Victim. We plan to record some conversations with some people asking them what they think.

Creating The Message In The Production

I'm currently making the text message that the Antagonist receives at the beginning of our production, this will go at the top of the phone as if hovering over it to show the audience what has been sent. It also makes the audience feel apart of what's going on. To do this i got an image of an Iphone Imessage bubble, cropped it so that the background was transparent and then got the correct font for Imessage and wrote the message i wanted.

24th January 2016

Today was Day 2 of filming and have completed 2/3 of the it, we were unable to finish due to the camera battery dying before we could finish filming in the final location. However, we have planned to meet up to continue filming after school to complete our production.

The Weather - Day 2 Of Filming

Tomorrow is DAY 2 of filming and compared to last week the weather is definitely looking better!

Antagonist Voice Update

After showing my team the little montage I create of the different types of voice effects on the Antagonist's voice we all agreed to not have an effect on it and to just leave it as the Antagonist's natural voice. We decided this because as we tried all the different effects in the production none of them seemed to fit and it made the production seem almost corny and very unrealistic but also, all effects gave the Antagonist a mechanic sounding voice and the audience could of jumped to the conclusion that the Antagonist was some kind of robot which would of made them associate our production with one such as Terminator (this is known as intertextuality) and even though that is a very popular film that is not what we are aiming for. Therefore, we shall be using the Antagonist's natural voice in our production.

Software #2

In our production we had decided that when the Antagonist received the text message we would have it appear above the phone in a text message like box. To do this i will use PhotoShop CS6, I have used this software for awhile so i know how to use it already making it easier to do.

Antagonist Voice Effects

During Pre-production we decided we would give the Antagonist a voice effect to further hide their identity. While editing the first scene of our production i found that it made it seem unreal so i stopped and edited together a series of clips of the Antagonist talking and used different effects each time to see which sounds better, I'm still unsure however, i hope this will help to officially decide.

17th January 2016

We headed out to film today, we started way off schedule due to having to get lighting. We managed to get all shots in the first location complete and begun filming in the second location when it began to snow, we waited to see if it would stop as the shots we'd already done of this scene it wasn't snowing and we couldn't suddenly have it snowing. Sadly, it did not top so we had to postpone filming until the weather wasn't snowing which we hope to carry on filming during the week.

Weather For Day Of Filming

We have decided to film between 11am - 3pm tomorrow. We picked this time because by keeping an eye on the times that it's light and when it starts to get dark, this is the time when it's most light but also, especially tomorrow it's not raining or snowing at these times. A concern I do have at the moment is that due to it currently snowing, that the ground tomorrow is either going to very muddy or snowy which can both cause a higher risk of slipping over but if we have to re record anything we will have to be careful it making the shots look the same.

Some Last Pre-Production Research

Before we took out to film I decided i would look at some tutorials and online advice to see if i could improve anything or to make sure we didn't do certains things while filming. Instantly i came across a video titled "Top 15 Mistakes Beginner FilmMakers Make" i instantly click on it to make sure we don't make any of these mistakes.
Here's are the Top 15:

1. Weak story
2. Undercooked scripts
3. Bad sound
4. Poor casting choices
5. Poor shot composition
6. White walls (lame, dull)
7. Poor lighting
8. Unnecessary insert shots (added random close-ups of random things during a scene.)
9. Lingering
10. Too many pregnant pauses (silences that could slow the scene down and lose the audiences attention.)
11. No blocking (movement)
12. Too much chit chat
13. Action for the sake of action
14. Clichés
15. Generic music

After watching this i will definitly keep in mind some of the things said.

Editing Software Tutorials

As i've previously said we are using Final Cut Pro X to edit our production, I have used this software mant times before so i know the basics however, i'm not 100% sure on how to get that professional, finished film look in an editing software. Such as, the letter box frame, soundtrack and colour correction. So I looked up on youtube for a tutoral and found this one:

Within the first 5 minutes the video shows me how to put the letterbox effect on my clips which is definitly helpful as that's just what i wanted but also gives me even more then what i was hoping to find as it is the whole package on what i need to do, to make my production look professional.

Dialogue Script

In our production we don't have much dialogue but we thought it we be effective to make a script anyways. I included the shots that the dialogue took place in and EXT. to show that the shot took place outside. I also, included any Digetic or non-digetic sound that was in the shot.

Photo Of Victim

For our production we include of photo of the Victim so that the audience know their identity. In our previous Media lesson we went out and took a variety of photos of our Victim to see which one would fit best for the photo in our production. After trying out different setting and backgrounds we came to the decision that we would use this one:

 

We have our Victim against a white background looking at the camera with almost no expression on their face. This gave the impression that the photo was a sort of mug shot. We then changed the colour of the photo to black and white as looking at the original photo it looked too casual.

 

So for our production the Antagonist will now get out their phone to have this picture on show for the audience to see.

Production Pitch/Sum Up

Being unable to film gave the chance to go over everything again so that i could make any chances to improve it but also to sum it up and get everything down and sorted:
Here is my sum up/Pitch of our production:

10th January 2016

We had planned to film over the weekend however, we ran into some complication as we needed the photo before filming and we haven't been able to do that, we have no planed to do that during a Media lesson so that we are able to film. We also walked into the issue of weather, it was heavily raining meaning the equipment would get wet and we wouldn't be able to do some things we would of done otherwise.

Focus Group

Today we asked some of our classmates questions about elements of our production and the genre itself.

MoodBoard

As we plan on filming for our production soon i decided to make a Moodboard of some things that are in our production such as the gun, the USB (the device), the way the phone would be held in one of the shots, the clench fist represents punching and the fight scenes, there's the black jeans of the Antagonist and blood as it's a convention within the action genre but also, we have some within our production, not a lot but jut enough.

Preliminary Task

We filmed our preliminary Task today as we are close to filming. We all took part in the editing and me and Ronan we in it.


Update: After filming our production and doing some further research we noticed that our preliminary task doesn't correctly show match on action however, this really does show how far we've come from the beginning of this production.

StoryBoards

Plot Blocking

Fake Blood

It's typical of a fight scene to contain some blood, so because of this we decided that we would add some to ours, not too much just small amounts.
The Fake Blood:

This is the fake blood we will be using. I have used it before during previous productions. It provides a realistic look and isn't harmful to skin, it is also easy to remove.
The blood would be on the victims face and hands during the production to emphasise the injuries of the fight and just help the scene itself look more realistic. To apply the fake blood we would use brushes as i discovered that if you were to use things such as tissue or Cotton buds then the blood is absorbs by them before applying them and it doesn't give a good effect.


Blood Capsules:

In our production there is a shot where the victim is hit by the Antagonist and turns to spit out some blood. The fake blood above is advised that it shouldn't be consumed. However, blood capsules are powdered fake blood that can be put in the person's mouth and reacts with the saliva in the person's mouth to create fake blood that's not harmful if consumed but it's not advised to swallow it. I have used these before so I know they work and look realistic and that they aren't harmful. This will help that shot look more realistic and it will be much easier to create and easier for Ronan, who is playing the victim.

2nd January 2016

Storyboards are complete,  printed off sheets and drew and wrote everything on them and I'm having to scan them onto my laptop in order to post them on my blog which is taking awhile. By finishing the storyboards we know everything we will be doing during filming and i cannot wait to film!!