2. Q1) HOW DOES YOUR PRODUCT USE OF CHALLENGE
CONVENTIIONS AND HOW DO THEY REPRESENT SOCIAL
GROUPS?
I believe that my movie challenges the conventions of a normal sports
movie. As usually movies with a genre of sports are usually
documentaries. Such as the movie ‘Athlete’. Which is a documentary
about a blind senior, twin sisters, and an athlete running a marathon. Its
very rare that they are produced as movies
However it does use conventions rather than
challenging it as like every sport movie, my movie
clip is also based on a true story about an athlete
who has build up their success through out their
lives; from the start. How they’ve devoted their
lives to their talent, and come a long way on the
road of triumph. But some how, something or the
other happens, putting an end to their
success. In all movies this obstacle is usually doing drugs, or
getting into an accidents, where they show how in their past, and
from their childhood they were into a certain sport, and excelled at
it from the start. This is the usual plot of all sports movies.
3. Such as the movie ‘The Arm Strong Lie’ which is based on Lance
Arm Strong, a worldwide known athlete, a champion at cycling,
who took steroids which affected his career greatly. Or even in
the TV show ‘one tree hill’ where the star actor, Nathan Schott
gets into a physical fight
is thrown out of a window of a bar; ending
physically disabled. Putting this whole
basketball career to an end. These kind of
movies usually have sad, slow beat,
instrumental tunes for the movie. Such as
mine. Which is the tune of
‘Say Something’ by a great big world.
Movies like these always show the
athlete to be devastated about their loss
of success and usually careers. Which is
exactly the plot of my movie, where
Maliha, is shown to cry over her medals
and trophies, not to mention shown
shattered when coming out on a
4. They all use props such as medals, and trophies signifying their
success. They're also always shown in a sporty attire and jerseys.
In my movie the girl, through out, is wearing sports tracks. And
even in the flash back, in the gym scene she's wearing a Nike
sports shirt. Also in the flash backs where's she's shown as a
child, she's also wearing a jersey and where in the field scene
she's also shown to wear her own sports jersey, with her name
printed at the back. They usually also have flash backs showing
that they’ve been talented and playing the sports for long periods
of time. Not to a mention they always have a coach who is very
supportive and encouraging of their efforts such as in my movie as
well. They're always shown to train and physically build up
themselves. And effortlessly trying to work hard to maintain
themselves physically and metaphorically speaking, their success
as well. Such as in my video as well where she's endlessly shown
to work hard in the gym and on field along with her coaches
support.
5. In my movie, the camera angles used are mostly
reflected on the shots from movies such as Bhaag
Mikha Bhaag, the Arm Strong Lie, Breaking Away and
Cycling Dreams. Such as the shots of her crying over
medals, the cut in of her feet while running or training,
close up shots of her crying or working out. Social
groups represented in my video are athletes. The whole
movie is based on sportsmanship, and sports&games
altogether. Its based on an athlete alone, and the plot
reflects her struggles and her success as a professional
sportsman.
6. Q2) HOW DOES YOUR PRODUCT ENGAGE WITH
AUDIENCE AND CAN IT BE DISTURBUTRED AS A REAL
MEDIA TEXT?
My movie is a mass movie production and doesn't’t target any
sort of niches, such as a particular subgroup of people, sex or a
specific age. Therefore it can be catered to a varied age
bracket. This is because athletes are of various ages, not just
from one age group. Even though they are usually young adults
but not all of them are. Such as Muhammad Ai who is the age
of 73. This movie caters to all those people who are
professional sportsmen, such as Lebron James, Tiger Woods,
Serena Williams. Or all those who love sports, and are sporty
people playing in their school teams, or on the street such as
street football. These are usually high school or college
children; all who are talented at the art of it. It basically caters
to the age bracket of 14 and above, having a rating of ‘U’.
7. Hypothetically speaking, I believe that this being my first movie, it
can not be distributed by the big six. Let alone the fact that my
production company is small, so cant even afford it. Also, Mainly
because even though catering to a large age bracket and being a
mass production, its such a genre that most people wont really
prefer to watch, specially in terms for ‘entertainment’. Only people
who genuinely are interested in the arts of sports or such movies,
in relevance with documentaries of the stories of athletes would
watch it. So I believe it would be a risk of investment of hiring one
the big six. Such as even the movie ‘The Armstrong Lie’ didn’t hire
any real distributing companies, rather a few people joined
produced it together as a whole. Such as Alex Gibney, who was
also the writer of the movie, Frank Marshall, Beth Howard etc. Or
the Movie ‘Athlete’ or ‘Unbreakable’ which didn’t even have a
distributing company to begin with. Therefore I would use a small
distributing company to market my film, and would use
conventional ways or marketing it my self such as releasing
posters, word of mouth, or on online websites such as blogs,
8. Q3) HOW DID YOUR PRODUCTION SKILLS DEVELOP THROUGHOUT
THIS PROJECT?
I believe I’ve come a long way, from the very first video I shot as practice in
September, to shooting my final video. Through my eventful experience the
baseline to what I’ve learnt is that every single, small detail, and every single
aspect reflects your video, and its plot in some way; whether directly or
indirectly.
Firstly, I learnt about the different proportions and frames. How leaving space
for head room is completely vital. I learnt this mainly with practice, as I had to
shoot shots numerous times whenever the headroom was cut off. Rule of thirds
where the subject of your frame has to be positioned at one side of your frame
leaving the space for them doing some action such as hand gestures. At the
end of it all, I got knowledge to the inside of production. How different angles
are shot. I know now that when in movies the subject is feeling dizzy or
something camera men use track shots, where they rotate the camera 360
degrees to portray that dizzy effect. Or how huge crowds are shot with a jib shot
where the camera is elevated off the ground on a small crane. I know now all
the specifications there are to producing a particular scene. And I can now
comment on various movies, whether it be criticizing or honouring it. Such as
commenting on the commendable work of the producers of birdman; the movie
shot in one scene only. I know exactly which points I can critize it on. I believe
now it comes naturally; pointing out flaws and fault of the movie.
9. my knowledge has increased most about camera angles. How not only
one scene should contain numerous angles so the scene doesn’t look
lifeless or monotonous but how every single camera angle represents
something. Each angle portrays an image in a way. Such as the point of
view shot, which is shot by putting the camera on the subjects arm. It
gives a meaning of how the subject is doing something, such as point to
someone, or grabbing something. Or in the case of my movie, she is
fixing the position of her trophy, and metaphorically actually trying to fix
her success back to the way it was. Or the over shoulder shot which is
shot, as the name suggests, by placing the camera over ones shoulder
and shooting the subject in front. This can be to show that someone’s
looking at the thing or person in front, such as during a conversation. In
the case in my video where she’s looking at her self, training in the
mirror. Or even the close up shot where you zoom in on your subjects
face to highlight an emotion or expression. In my video Ive used a close
up shot as my establishing shot of my subject and the again, where in
the gym scene I've shown her face covered with sweat, her expression
bursting with determination; to show how hard she's working. A two shot
where you portray two people having some a conversation. Where in
my video I've shown the girl and her coach talking, where the whole
scene just portrays how proud the coach is of the girls efforts, and how
he is telling her that she's come across well over time.
10.
11. Ive learnt the importance of misenscence, which I believe
covers the word ‘CAMPS’; Costume, Action, Makeup, Props,
and Setting.
The way your subject dresses and what kind of makeup they
have on are one of the most vital things in producing a movie
clip. As they have to be completely in line with the plot of
your story. This is why in my movie, my subject wears a
jersey, in the flash backs shown of her running and training
on the field. In the gym flashback, she’s shown to wear a
Nike shirt which says ‘run for glory’ which contributes to the
plot, where she’s shown as an athlete. With very insignificant
makeup which is just done for touch ups as bold streaks of
makeup would look rather fake or irrelevant.
12. Ive learned how every small, insignificant detail matters so much
in terms of actions and reactions. How every move contributes
some how to a particular scene and how every action should
have some hidden meaning attached to it because that is what a
good movie clip should posses. Like in my movie, I shot the
subject laying her fingers on her trophy which showed how much
she values her success, and how much she misses it all. Every
scene shown her expressions contributing to the plot and scene
of the movie. Where in the gym and field scene she's
determined, resolute and unwavered in her road to success. Or
In the hospital scene where she's hopeless, flattened and
completely helpless.
I’ve learnt how every single little prop, which maybe blurred at
the background of your frame or highlighted at front, all justifies
your video in someway or the other. Such as in the scene where
my subject is doing push ups in the gym, I put up to dumbbells in
front of her so the whole scene could look more realistic. Even
the props of all the trophies and the medals, just reflected on all
the success and honour the subject has achieved in her life;
which is one of the main themes of my video.
13. Along with the props, the setting plays the most significant role in
the production process of a video. I’ve learnt how choosing the
location you’re going to shoot at is the most important as not only
does it contributes to the realism of the video, but it just paints a
complete picture of your story. Without a suitable location, at least
what I have come to learn is that a movie wont be on point.
Therefore choosing a wrong setting or background for your movie
is one of the biggest faults one can make. This is why I chose the
most real and relevant locations for my movie. Such as a gym and
track field to show her train, and a hospital to show her disability.
Which I believe makes my movie clip as close to a real life, and a
true story based movie. I’ve learnt about lighting and music and
how they both seeming, at first so insignificant, yet play such an
important part in a movie. I learnt how there are so many types of
lighting, and they all mean something. I previously didn’t even
know there were types of lights and I would’ve never been able to
figure that they represent something. Learning the division of light
was so important. Low key which is where there is dim lighting
and a dull atmosphere, usually done to represent pain, sorrow,
horror etc.
14. Where as high key lighting which is the completely opposite of low
key lighting and is where there is ample lighting spread across the
frame. Which is preferred when showing a scene of drama or
comedy. Personally have come to learn that music is the aspect that
somehow make the movie come together as a whole. It plays with
your sentiments and how choosing the right kind of music is a very
important decision to make, and should be considered very critically.
As music represents every scene, every action, and every emotion in
a movie. Such as my music selection which is a very sober, slow
beat, devastating instrumental tune. Which represents how sad the
subject is over her loss emotionally and physically. As compared to in
the training scene where the music is still slow beat, yet motivational,
and inspirational. Therefore I believe all the knowledge I’ve gathered
these past months; during all the tiring practice sessions all
contribute to polishing my production skills and its made me so much
better at implying all the knowledge I’ve attained and understanding
the process of production. After all, ‘practice makes perfect.’
15. Q) HOW DID YOU INTERGRATE TECHNOLOGIES (HARDWARE,
SOFTWARE, AND ONLINE) IN THIS PROJECT?
At the start of the semester I was very technologically under-
educated; Honestly. I knew very little about hardware, software, and
online-based sites, mostly because I never really actually had to
work with them. I mostly developed and used the methods of
blogging; software’s to edit movies such as Imovies, Windows movie
maker and Sony Vegas, websites to cut and fade music, and to get
sound effects.
Firstly I learned about creating a blog. All year round we published
practice videos on it. I was introduced to the art of blogging, and by
the end of the semester had in-depth knowledge about the ways it
goes about.
16. I learned how to get artificial sound effects from various sites,
such as sound bible, real affects, sound cloud. Which I
would’ve never originally discovered. They helped me so much
creating my movie. Where in I used it in the accident scene and
I had no other choice of getting such an effect unless I actually
made the two cars crash into each other.
I learned to download music form various sites such as
mp3skull.com, Bmp3, Ytpak, and then cut and edit them on
music software. Then fixing narrations and adding voice overs
to my clip and adjusting it on IMovie, while fixing the volume
input level and reduction of other tracks, and background voice
as well, to provide a perfect audio for the clip. Simultaneously
understanding the importance of fading in and out the music to
give it a smooth effect. I learned how you could change each
key of every tune and make it high or low key, and balance it
out; giving the perfect adjusted sound. I would’ve never worked
so hard with finding the appropriate music and editing it each
key to make it suit the scene of the movie if it wasn’t for media
studies.
17. I learned to use IMovie's in order to edit my videos in extensive
detail. With monthly practice and usage of it, I now know it
properly. From how to split clips, so that each part of one clip
could be separately edited. Like in my video, where the girl is
running on the field and then there’s a slow motion of her stopping
at the cones. Editing my clip on IMovie's was very important
because I needed the perfect kind of contrast of colours on my
flashback scenes to make them actually look like they're in the
past. Using transitions was so important to, to somehow stitch all
the different clips together. The most important transition which
had to be carefully presitioned was the dissolve effect at the
beginning where the clip shown where she's lying on the ground is
dissolved onto the next one which portrays that she's thinking
about all that comes next. Or how a fading black out effect would
portray that she's now thinking about her past, and the next scene
will be a flash back. Lastly, the white outs, which was its for the
accidents scene, showing that the crash was very impactful.
19. Over time, I've understood the importance of cut ins. How cut ins
are so very important in a movie, how they can make one boring,
monotonous scene seem so interesting. Ive used them several
times in my movie clips. I believe these were very important no to
make a scene a drag. Cuts ins are usually shown when a scene is
very long or shown as a close up shot when the subject is doing
some important action, such as in my movie clip where she’s
shown to fix her trophy, or during the flash back of her winning the
same medal back in 2003, there’s a close up shot of her
happiness when she received it as a child. There were also cut ins
during the gym and running scenes where there are cut ins of her
shoes, showing her speed. There's also a cut in of her jumping
over the cones, where the cut in is a low shot, shot from binate
her, showing that she's actually over the cones at a high level.
Cut ins can even be shown of a completely different scene all
together. Such as in the opening scene of the movie Lucy. Where
they show cut ins of animals along with her being at the hotel.
20. I discovered various types of transitions and effects
all that join one clip from another. Such as using
fade outs and black outs for showing flash backs, or
white outs for showing accidents.
Lastly, I got a hand of using my camera on different
modes. Even though I was originally good at using
my camera for shooting, now I however use different
modes of the camera which I previously didn’t. such
as the macro mode, which I used in all the close up
scenes to get a good quality frame where everything
is in deep focus, or the sports mode which I use to
shoot them gym and field scenes to stabilise my
shots.
21. -I believe Ive come a long way from where I
began. I think it was mostly due to
continuous hours of practice and
determination.
