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!!!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

Shot List

Risk Assessment

Now that we finally have all of our locations we decided it was time that we did the Risk Asessment. For all the locations the risk assesment was the same:

Signed:

(Madison Flaherty)
Name of person responsible at the shoot: Madison Flaherty

Props

For our production we decided that we would use a fake gun as it is very typical for a gun to be in an action film and definitely in fight scenes. While in the process of our storyboards we decided that a gun would help protray the action genre by also help make the scenes more like a professional action scene.

A big thing that influenced us to use a gun within out production was analysing aome action films themselves. Going through them I noticed that most of them all had a weapon of some kind within the opening, so we took that idea and put it into our production. 

Location Pictures

Location One:

Location Two:

Today I went out to our filming locations to take some pictures. I tried to take some of the camera angles we already knew we would be using to see how they would look. Going down to the locations also let me see what time of the day we should film, these pictures were taken around 10am and there was natural lighting, not too many people walking around that would get in the way of filming and it was slightly foggy which would help add to our suspense and mystery side of our production.