Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

For our preliminary task we had to film a character walk through a door and talk to someone on the other side. With this we had very little time to plan and decide on what we were going to do, we simply just found a spare room and went for it with very little preperation. This is very different to my final piece where the planning began months ago and every little aspect was decided before I even stepped foot into my location. For our preliminary we used ourselves as actors as we couldn't find anyone available at the time who was willing whereas for my final piece the first thing I checked was whether I would have the actors to acheive what I wanted as it would have been very difficult to find two children who could speak french 30 minutes before I started filming. 

     With the preliminary task, not much thought went into the music which would accompany it but with my opening I had to find music that would fit the tone of the piece and appeal to my target audience. Also with the final piece we were not allowed to use copyrighted music whereas with the preliminary we just chose something off of our iPods that would fit with the footage. 

   Another contrasting aspect was the editing. With the preliminary task we spent a maximum of one lesson editing it, 1 hour. But with my opening I spent at least one lesson on trying to place the subtitles in the correct places, it took at least 5 or 6 lessons worth of editing to finish my opening with each sound clip, video clip and subtitle in its right place.

Therefore I feel that the main thing I've learnt throughout the whole process is timekeeping and how much time should be put into and allocated to each aspect of my final opening.

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

The main technologies I used throughout the filming and editing process were iMovie and a Canon HD camera. As I'd never used a Mac before I started doing media in September, it was initially quite difficult to get used to, but because we have been editing other things for practice before our coursework, I did have some experience by the time it was needed. The most difficult part I felt was the overlaying of the music and the speech. Trying to cut the sound clips to fade in and out with the subtitles and the music to soften when a character was speaking was challenging, but I feel that my skills with it had improved throughout the editing process.

As all my filming was done on a Canon HD camera I was fine getting used to it as in my family I've always been the one filming family events so I've had a lot of experience actually recording which worked in my favour when being placed with a camera I'd never used, luckily I was able to learn my way around it fairly quickly and get used to how i could go in and out of focus for shots. 

How did you attract/address your audience?

In my audience research I discovered that it was mainly people aged over 30 who enjoyed watching foreign language films, this made me realise that it would have to be a film that would appeal to older people and not a childish movie. Therefore I thought that having a documentary on a serious subject would help draw in that audience. I used plain fonts for my titles so as not to make it appear childish and I kept the colours throughout the film fairly dull and plain so as not to be exaggerating real life. The music I used throughout the piece also would attract an older audience I feel as it was gentle mellow piano music, which generally most ages enjoy, but it wasn't something that would deter my 35+ target audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My target audience age would be 35+ as I do not feel that many young people would be interested in what my film has to offer. It would also be limited to those who enjoy foreign films and arthouse work. As I doubt my film would make it into your typical Odeon or Vue, I believe that it would again be restricted by being shown at select cinemas such as Cinema City in Norwich.

      I feel this age range would appreciate the film more as they would be at the age of being a parent and would be able to relate a lot more the the mother in the film. 

  My audience would enjoy films that show the 'nitty gritty' side of life and don't try to sweeten how things are, the realism of the piece would be its main selling point as by feedback I have received there is confusion as to whether the piece is real or not which was the effect I was going for. This means again that the audience would want to be stimulated by what they are watching, having to question the film and not just watching it to escape and watch some explosions. I feel my audience would be similar to those watching the film 'Catfish' as it has the similar aspect of making the audience question as to whether it is a true story or fiction.

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

A production company is in charge of finding funding for the films they produce.

I think that the most likely production companies that would take on my film would either be small independent foreign companies such as 'Esperanto Films' who produced the very popular spanish 'Pan's Labyrinth'.

Or 'Focus Features' which is a branch off of 'Universal Pictures' who often distribute foreign films. They also own 'Momentum Pictures' who realised the popular Swedish horror 'Let The Right One In'

Therefore I would either try and have it produced by 'Momentum' who would be able to get the film out there giving it more popularity or by finding a small independent company that would be able to keep it from becoming too mainstream and being recreated without subtitles like the spanish film 'Rec' which was Americanised and turned into 'Quarantine'.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My opening represents the idea of childhood innocence in the two young actors. Both are wearing matching uniforms, signifying that they are the same and a unit, although Violet suffers from a brain tumour, she is still the same as she has always been.

   Throughout my opening Violet and Alex are shown playing just like most children, for example on the swings when they are both having fun and being carefree, this suggests the childhood mentality where there never seem to be any problems, its all about having fun and playing. 

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Title of the film

The title of my film is shown on the third frame after my production and studio companies. My title is on just a plain black background to fit with the idea of my film being about an ordinary family, and how what happens in my film could happen to any family. 

   The title itself is 'Vie Avec Violet', this means life with Violet, which pretty much is a brief summary of what is to happen in my film. This is common amongst films, giving away part of the stroy in the title, such as;

As my opening is filmed in the documentary style, the serious titles reflect this type of genre, as you don't see documentaries with huge bubble fonts.

Costumes and Props

In my opening, the props I've used are just those that were about in the house I filmed in. As I was using young actors, Ithought it would be best if I just let them act as natural as possible using their own toys, the toys show the children's youth and innocence. The placement of the baby photo of the main character, Violet, shows how young the girl is and adds to the emotion the audience feels towards her.
   The costumes used fit the convention of children, the school unifrom suggests a unity amongst the siblings, which is shown by the way they interact with each other. The uniform also suggests that Violet is the same as the other children she attends school with, but really she is different due to her brain tumor. The coats that the children wear outside also reflects the vunerability of these young children from more than just the weather, for Violet she is vunerable as her tumour grows, and for her little brother Alex, he is vunerable as he will soon be facing the loss of a loved one.

Setting and Location

My opening is set in the house of the family, this is due to it being filmed in a documentary style, so it would be odd to film a families life somewhere else. By using a family house, I have tried to imply just how normal this family would appear to be on the outside and how the tragedy that has fallen upon their household could happen to any other.

    The location I have used is the house of the actors in my film. I decided that their house would be best as I was using young actors, I wanted them to feel as comfortable and natural in my film as possible. Also having them use their own house gave me the advantage of just asking them to go about their daily routine and me just filming them, like in ordinary documentaries.

Camerawork and Editing

As I went for the documentary style, my filming was fairly simple to do as it was similar to that of making a home movie. I didn't need to worry about any of the actors looking at the camera and in parts of the opening it works well when this is done, such as at the end with the mother. 

  The main part of the editing was over laying the sound and putting in the subtitles. I feel that the sound of the interviewer isn't very realistic and sounds a bit fake now looking at it. Also with the subtitles I think that the red used when the mum is speaking isn't very clear and is difficult to read.

Feedback

My teacher showed my final piece to the year 13 media class and I was given their feedback of it.
Most of the comments said how the subtitles over the mum at the end of the piece was difficult to read. Most pointed out how they felt that the tone of the music fits in well with the piece and that they liked the crossover of genres documentary/french/drama.

Final opening 2 minutes

Breaking the fourth wall

The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in aproscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play. The idea of the fourth wall was made explicit by Denis Diderot and spread in nineteenth-century theatre with the advent of theatrical realism, which extended the idea to the imaginary boundary between any fictional work and its audience.
The presence of the fourth wall is an established convention of modern realistic theatre, which has led some artists to draw direct attention to it for dramatic or comedic effect when this boundary is "broken", for example by an actor onstage speaking to the audience directly.
The acceptance of the transparency of the fourth wall is part of the suspension of disbelief between a fictional work and an audience, allowing them to enjoy the fiction as if they were observing real events. Although the critic Vincent Canby described it in 1987 as "that invisible screen that forever separates the audience from the stage," postmodern art forms frequently either do away with it entirely, or make use of various framing devices to manipulate it in order to emphasize or de-emphasize certain aspects of the production, according to the artistic desires of the work's creator.
Speaking directly to the audience through the camera, in a film, play or television program, is referred to as "breaking the fourth wall."

Some examples of "breaking the wall":

 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
 - Wayne's World.
 - Pantomimes.

Production Company

As I was away for the lesson where we learnt about after effects, I'm not going to be able to do something too technological for my production logo, I've decided I'm just going to play around with fonts I like and have them appear on screen in different manners.

I have chosen my studio to be called, 'Radiation Studios' and my production company to be 'Underwood Productions' as its my surname.

Soundtrack

For the music for my piece I am going to use the free and legal music download site www.jamendo.com

from here I chose Maya Filipic's song entitled 'I Don't Know Anymore' as I felt that it fitted with the tone of my media.

Narrative of the video.

Narrative usually possess two components. The story and the process of its telling. Certain film directors and producers alter the regular narative of a film to create a puzzle like effect, like that in Memento. I have decided that I am going to do my narrative in a chronological order as it is going to be filmed in a documentary style, and would make more sense in that way, letting the audience know what is happening in the lives of these people as it does.

Audience Research

Audience Research from Jessica Baker on Vimeo.

Moodboard

Actors

Luckily for me my mum is close friends with a Swiss family in my village. I often babysit for them and Lily, aged 8 is a keen actress, she goes to stagecoach in Norwich and likes performing, they are also all fluent in french and english. The mum, Isabelle is happy to help out and get the kids involved so I have found my actors suited to each character.

Script Plan: English and French

VIOLET: Is it on?
CAMERA WOMAN: Yes. Go ahead Violet.
VIOLET: Hello. My name is Violet. I am seven years old. I live with my mummy and my little brother Alex. I like to sing and dance and act. I used to go to a stage class but I've had to stop.
CAMERA WOMAN: Why have you had to stop?
VIOLET: Because I got really bad headaches. The lights were so bright. Mum took me to the doctors and he told me to go to hospital for a scan.
CAMERA WOMAN: What did the scan tell you?
VIOLET: They told me I have a lump growing in my head. 


CAMERA WOMAN: When did you realise that something was wrong with Violet?
MUM: It was about three weeks ago at her play rehearsal. So I took her to the doctor, and then to hospital. That's when we got the news.


MUM: She has six months left. 









VIOLET: Est-ce sur?

FEMME Appareil photo: Oui. Allez-y Violet.

VIOLET: Bonjour. Mon nom est Violet. Je suis âgé de sept ans. Je vis avec ma maman et mon petit frère Alex. J'aime chanter et danser et d'agir. J'ai l'habitude d'aller à une classe stade, mais j'ai dû arrêter.

CAMERA FEMME: Pourquoi avez-vous dû arrêter?

VIOLET: Parce que j'ai eu des maux de tête très mauvais. Les lumières étaient si brillants. Maman m'a emmené chez le médecin et il m'a dit d'aller à l'hôpital pour un scanner.

CAMERA FEMME: Qu'est-ce que l'analyse que vous dites?

VIOLET: Ils m'ont dit que j'avais une bosse de plus en plus dans ma tête.




CAMERA FEMME: Quand avez-vous réalisé que quelque chose n'allait pas avec Violet?

MUM: C'était il ya trois semaines à sa répétition jouer. Alors je l'ai emmené chez le médecin, puis à l'hôpital. C'est quand nous sommes arrivés les nouvelles.


MUM: Elle dispose de six mois à gauche

Genre

'Genre is usually a set of conventions - recognisable, usually through iconography, familiar narrative, mise-en-scene, actors and style of representation.'




After having a whistle-stop tour of genre in my media lesson today, and a lengthy chat with Mrs Brogan, I've decided that I'm going to be filming mine in the documentary genre. Originally I wanted to mix this up a bit by trying to make the audience question whether or not what they are viewing, has actually happened and whether or not it is fiction. But after realising that this would be rather complex and I don't necessarily have a reason for trying to film like this, that I'm just going to do it in a documentary style. Mrs Brogan suggested possibly showing how a lot of documentary film-makers exploit the people they are filming by invading on personal moments to make the audience react in certain ways to what the film-maker wants.






And now for some words from James Monaco


'Increasingly we are all going to see the same ten movies' 


After reading this quote, it has inspired me to change and add some originality to this genre instead of necessarily doing the typical close up shot of someone crying, and asking probing questions when my subject is seeming to be most vulnerable. 

Cinéma vérité

'Cinéma vérité can involve stylized set-ups and the interaction between the filmmaker and the subject, even to the point of provocation. Some argue that the obvious presence of the filmmaker and camera was seen by most cinéma vérité filmmakers as the best way to reveal the truth in cinema. The camera is always acknowledged, for it performs the raw act of filming real objects, people, and events in a confrontational way. The filmmaker's intention was to represent the truth in what he or she was seeing as objectively as possible, freeing people from any deceptions in how those aspects of life were formerly presented to them. From this perspective, the filmmaker should be the catalyst of a situation. Few agree on the meanings of these terms, even the filmmakers whose films are being described.'

Medulloblastoma - The facts

What is a medulloblastoma?

A medulloblastoma is one of several different types of brain tumour that may affect children. Brain tumours are caused by cells growing and multiplying in an uncontrolled way to form an abnormal lump. This happens because the DNA, which programmes how cells behave, changes.

A medulloblastoma is an infratentorial tumour, which means it is found below the tentorium, which separates the cerebrum from the lower part of the brain. This area is called the posterior fossa. Medulloblastoma tumours are found in the cerebellum and/or fourth ventricles. Please see the diagram in Childhood brain and spinal tumours. It develops from immature (primitive) cells in the cerebellum. It is a form of primitive neuroectodermal tumour (PNET). A medullobastoma is sometimes referred to as a posterior fossa PNET. For information about other types of PNET, please see the separate information sheet.

Some tumours are classified as benign if they grow but do not spread elsewhere. Others are classified as being malignant or cancerous if they can spread to other parts of the body. A medulloblastoma is a malignant tumour. It is fast growing and can spread (metastasise) to elsewhere in the brain and spinal cord. 

What are the symptoms associated with a medulloblastoma?

The effects of a medulloblastoma are due to the abnormal lump growing and putting pressure on the rest of the brain as it grows. Symptoms can also be caused by the medulloblastoma cells spreading to the spinal cord. Often it blocks the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain, which causes hydrocephalus. More information about hydrocephalus is contained within Childhood brain and spinal tumours.

Children are likely to develop problems with balance (ataxia) because the cerebellum, which is the balance centre of the brain, is affected. Some of the nerves controlling eye, facial and mouth movements may be affected by pressure from the tumour, causing squint, double vision, facial weakness and swallowing difficulties.

If a medulloblastoma starts in or spreads to the spinal cord, the child may experience back pain. Often there will be weakness, sometimes in both legs and a reduced ability to feel pain and other sensations normally. Difficulties in controlling the bladder and bowels may happen.

Without treatment, a medulloblastoma will quickly grow in size. The symptoms that it produces will become more severe within a short space of time. Eventually, these will be life threatening.

What causes a medulloblastoma?

We do not know what makes a medulloblastoma start to grow nor do we understand what makes the immature (primitive) cells turn in to tumour cells. Researchers think that both inherited and genetic factors might be involved and that environment may play a part. A medulloblastoma is not caused by diet, lifestyle or upbringing differences, medicines given to parents or children or difficulties with pregnancy and birth.

How common is medulloblastoma?

Overall, brain tumours are the second most common tumour after leukaemia. They affect one in every 30,000 children each year. This is a lot less frequent than many other childhood illnesses. Brain tumours affect a child’s long-term health and well being more than any other type of tumour. Between 15 and 20 per cent of brain tumours in children are medulloblastoma tumours. They are the most common form of malignant tumour in childhood.

What treatments are available?

There are three main types of treatment for children with brain tumours: surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. For more information about these treatment options and any risks or side effects associated with them, please see information sheets about surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Will the tumour come back and what can be done if it does?

A medulloblastoma tumour can come back (recur), especially in the first two years after treatment. It comes back less often more than five years after treatment. Most come back in the same place as the original tumour but some may develop in a new area of the brain or spread to the spinal cord (metastasise). In many cases, it is possible to operate again to remove the tumour, followed by further treatment with radiotherapy (If not given previously) and/or chemotherapy. New treatment protocols for children with recurrent medulloblastoma are continually being investigated and developed.

Exceedingly brief synopsis

 VIOLET RELAIS (7) has a Medulloblastoma, a high grade tumour that has developed on her cerebellum. She doesn't realise that it is extremely life threatening and that she will probably die soon. Her mum MONIQUE RELAIS (42) decides that she wants to document the last few months of her only daughters life so she will always have some small part of her with her. Monique knows that the chances of Violet making it to her 8th birthday in 8 months time is very unlikely, but is still discussing plans with Violet for a party. Monique's other son ALEX RELAIS (5) is completely unaware of what is going on around him, all he knows is that there's now a camera around all the time, but he doesn't mind, he likes being the centre of attention. Violet and Alex's dad is no longer with them, he died just two years after Alex's death in 2007 in a tragic car accident on his way home from work one evening. It took several years for Monique to pull her life back together and try and explain to her children why dad wasn't coming home again.
    My movie follows the last months in Violet's life, capturing moments of unconditional love between a family that will soon be torn apart for the second time. And they say lightning doesn't strike twice. 

INSPIRATION

So I've drawn a lot of inspiration from a film I saw recently called catfish. My brother bought it and I'd heard about it briefly from a friend recommending it, but I hadn't a clue what it was about. When I sat down and watched it, it took me by suprise, not at all what I was expecting from this film, but a pleasant suprise nonetheless. I really liked how the film left me asking myself, is this true? It's difficult still to decide whether I believe it or not, the directors of the film are still insistent on the belief that it is 100% true. No my story will not be true, but I'd like the audience to second guess that.

My Pitch Evaluation

I feel my pitch went averagely but could have done with some more preparation on my part. I think it
would have been more appealing to the panel of professionals if I had included some kind of multimedia aspect to my pitch such as a presentation, or a short clip of my audience research. The feedback I got from the people in the pitch were:

• Good idea to go foreign language - different- stand out
• Subtitles and language gives a more professional finish
• Good expression of creativity

• Pitch really needed some sort of visuals eg - powerpoint to really 'sell' the idea
• Need to suggest some sort of audience research. Prove people would be willing to see such a film
• Research into the success of foreign films in the UK
• Research into Art HOuse cinema (Cinema City etc)

TOOT-DE-LA-FROOT

Preliminary Task

We decided to do our preliminary task with a twist of horror to it. We made the acting tense and the music fast paced to follow this theme.
  Our film follows character A seen running, then approaching a door, character B opening the door, then character A checking the room, then turning to character B and saying 'It's just us.'

My Movie Opening

We've been set the task for our coursework to come up with an original 2 minute opening sequence for a movie. This means we'll have to come up with an idea of what this film will be about, write a script, find locations and actors and then eventually shoot it. All before February.

      So far I've had several ideas of storylines for my movie opening. I've decided that I don't want to use teenagers in my piece, so I'm going to try and get my hands on some adult actors who may be interested in helping me out. Many thoughts have swirled about in my head,but none have yet fully caught my attention, some of the ideas include, loneliness, suicide, mental illness and thug life. But I'm not certain on any of these yet. Another idea that came to my mind was if I want it to be in english or not, I'm quite fascinated by language, so the thought of maybe doing it in french is quite appealing. 

I've also been thinking about possible locations to shoot in, I live in a fairly large village which could be of some use, but other intersting places I'd possibly like to film are the beach, the city, random fields, rivers or if I could find a decent lake that would be useful.

I think one of the biggest hurdles is that we have to use our own music, which as I cannot play an instrument I'm going to have to ask several friends for help on that front, unless I fancy a beautiful recorder score. 

I've started drafting out some company logos for the beginning credits, and I've come across one I quite like the looks of.

Time Warner Inc and NME

‘Time Warner’s takeover of British publisher IPC Media has given the N.M.E brand a new lease of life. Discuss.’

In 2001 Time Warner Inc took over the British company IPC Group Limited. IPC is the United Kingdom’s leading consumer magazine producer, IPC publishes over 100 different brand across the UK and one of these is the NME. NME was launched in 1952 and is believed to be one of the most respected music magazines in the world and helped to champion and publicise some of the greatest names in British rock history.

          

Since Time Warner’s take over of IPC and NME there have been many dramatic changes to the magazine, making it branch out into unknown territory and for it to evolve into something that the company had never seen before.

In 2006, NME finally spread its wings and hit America by storm, NME was already known in America because of its website, NME.COM which was launched in 1996, it was already America’s third most popular music site. This shows that even before Time Warner acquired NME it was big in America, but leading on from that, NME has transformed into a multimedia company. When it first began it was just a magazine, this then led on to becoming a website, radio show and TV channel. But with our new technological advances, NME needed someway to keep up with its modern rivals. So, with the help of Time Warner, NME has managed to go from not just the page but into a physical entity of clubs around the globe. The newest club to be set up is a permanent fixture in New York City in the Gramercy Park Hotel, a building which already has a lot of rock and roll history attached to it, which will host fortnightly events broadcasting the freshest talent on the new music scene.

Due to the company owning the NME brand being taken over by Times Warner it has led the magazine to take leaps of faith knowing that they have some security by being part of such a huge conglomeration. Also being part of this gives the magazine a much wider audience and database of knowledge meaning that it can widen its readership and popularity by advertising in other Time Warner publishing’s. This has helped NME to expand and break free of the restraints of just being with IPC Media who were not necessarily financially stable enough to allow NME to take risks that they might not recover from.

Furthering themselves again in keeping up with the newest technologies is the NME app. NME was the first music magazine to get an app in the iStore which was helped from its backing of global oligopoly, Time Warner Inc. With this new app, NME has been revived from a dying magazine that in hardback form wasn’t selling as well as it used to, into a new modern popular source for the latest music news from any available point. NME’s target market is able to access NME news in a variety of ways which makes NME one of the most easily accessible reliable music news sources. Readers are able to get their information from the internet, from the tv, from the radio, from the magazine or from an app, which can all be accessed from many of today’s Smartphones which means that NME has been given a new lease of life in that they are now able, with financial security and stability, to tread out into the unknown to keep up with our ever evolving technological world.