Final Evaluation

This is the final evaluation for my re-submitted media course
however, sometimes the prezi doesn’t work properly so i’m uploading all the videos as well

https://prezi.com/secure/7530f4cc3cb88b42479159597d841161c8d52e29/

Discuss the ways in which your
thriller incorporates generic conventions.
Identify specific scenes.

How does your thriller develop
or challenge these conventions?

Does your use of conventions
indicate what other thrillers have influenced your work?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Who would be the audience
for your media product?

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

How did you attract/address
your audience?

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

Looking back to your preliminary task,
what do you feel that you have learnt in progression
from it to the final product.

Re-submitting coursework

So after my exam and getting all my grades back, it turns out i was 4/5 marks of the next grade up.
So I decided to re-submit my coursework after evaluating it and changed a few things, hopefully for the better.

This involved editing the final video slightly and re-doing my final evaluation.

Re-editing the video included changing the title sequences, which we felt needed a bit more work. After looking at some other thriller openings, the main influence being those for the filom Seven, I chose on a simple white, slightly creepy text, and then made them jump around the page whilst a static noise played over the top. This was to parrallel the radio jumping and cutting out during the thriller.

I also editing the bit when you see the doll, giving a motion blur and cutting it shorter in order to give more of an effect.

At the end, i also cut down the amount of time we see the antagonist in the mirror, as i thought it was too long and lost some of the dramatic affect. However, it was now too short, so i decided to go with a freeze frame of it in order to get the perfect length for the audience to see him, but as it was a freeze frame, the obviously wouldn’t then see the reaction of the protagnoist or what happens next, leaving them on a cliffhanger.

A2 Generic conventions of a music video presentation

This is my presentation analysing the use of generic conventions in the music video for the song ‘Sic Transit Gloria Fades’ by Brand New.

Sic Transit

A letter requestion permission to use an artists song…

Dear [Insert Artist's name here]

My name is Rachel Haywood-Percival and I am currently studying media at The Cooper’s Company and Coborn School.
I am in my final year of my A-levels and the current coursework to be completed is to create a music video.
I am writing to you now to ask your permission to allow me to use your song, [Insert song name here] for my media project.
After a long and arduous task of finding a song that inspires me to think of an interesting video, I found that [Insert Song name here] created the most amount of excitement within me when storyboarding and coming up with initial ideas. I believe that, with your permission of course, I can create a video that would certainly make me and hopefully even yourself proud.

Thank-you very much for giving up your time to read this letter and I look forward to your reply.

Your’s Sincerely

Rachel Haywood-Percival

Mystery Jets storyboard video

George and I did a voiceover to show out storyboard for two doors down by the Mystery Jets!

Final presentation on the thriller opening.

final presentation

Huzzaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Final cut of our thriller

So here is the final cut for our thriller opening. As you can see some time was spent on chaning the opening credits to make them more interetsing and attention grabbing, and all the original sounds were completely taken out and replaced with artifical ones. I think, although it’s not as relistic as i would have liked, it sounds a lot better as there is no background noise and it doesn’t keep on lapsing from silence ot background noise to silence. Everything flows better.

The main difficulty in the editing process was trying to change it from day time to night, like we had originally planned. Unfortunalte the programmes seemed to not be compatable, so we ended up having to leave it.

Overall i’m pleased with the opening and i think out group has done a really good job with it, depsite some difficulties such as not being able to change the lighting.

Rough cut of our Thriller

After filming, we finally had to start editing it together and here is the rough cut of our thriller opening.

Unfortunately, we only got a 28/60 for our rough cut. Obviously we had some more work to do.

Some of the feedback we got from our rogh cut was that the visual conintuity was adequate, but the sound continuity was completely letting us down. It was difficult to keep the sounds we needed, such as the car starting, whilst trying to get rid of the background noises which would have made the film unbearable to listen to.

After talking it over, we decided to scrap all the original sounds, and focus on using sounds taken artificially. Although this would provide to be quite tiresome, overall we feel that it would make the opening better, as we wouldn’t have any of the dreadful background noises mixed in with silence.

We also decided to change the opening credits, as they had no relevence to our opening thriller what-so-ever. They were quite plain and didn’t grab the audiences attention, something which would be quite important. Therefore we will be spending some time on changing these and making them much more exciting to watch.

GTA 4 development presentation.

gta

Rockstar games with Amazon and Microsoft.

In a first-of-it’s-kind deal, players of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV video game from Rockstar Games will be able to shop for mp3′s as they play.

Radios have been a part of the grand theft auto series that has always entertained, cause, really, who doesn’t
like to commit crimes to a soundtrack? According to Yahoo Games, this time, as you drive around Liberty City, if you hear a song you like, you simply will get out your cell phone and dial ZIT-555-0100 to mark the song, as well as receive a text message with the name of the song and artist. Additionally, if you’re registered with the upcoming Rockstar Games Social Club, you’ll receive an email with a link to purchase the song on Amazon’s MP3 store.

Ronn Werre, EVP, EMI Music’s Sales, Licensing and Synchronization unit. “We think giving players the ability to identify and buy their favorite tracks from Grand Theft Auto IV’s popular radio stations is a great new music discovery tool for fans and an innovative new revenue stream for artists.” The game is going to feature over 150 tracks, with some of them being original tracks made specifically for the game by artists such as the Greenskeepers and Nas, as well as rare tracks from performers like Elton John. Since none of the songs from the game are playable outside of actual game play, this should make it far easier for you to enjoy your favorite song to kill by any time you want.

Grand Theft Auto IV, the latest installment of that popular video game series, is not scheduled to hit stores until the fall, but Take-Two Interactive Software, which owns the franchise, is set to collect $50 million from Microsoft for subsequently producing two downloadable episodes exclusively for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

When it comes out in October, Grand Theft Auto IV will be available for both Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation 3. The two companies have been caught up in a heated console war for popularity. By locking up the two downloadable add-ons as exclusives for its Xbox Live Internet service, Microsoft is hoping to establish dominance over PlayStation among hard-core gamers. A third console, Nintendo’s Wii, seems to have captured the casual and mass-market gaming audience.

Take-Two executives explained the payment in a conference call with financial analysts last week. The $50 million will come in two $25 million installments as the episodes are released, starting in March 2008.

A Take-Two spokesman declined to elaborate on the conference call. Despite the success of Grand Theft Auto, Take-Two has struggled financially and recently faced a shareholder revolt that ended with Strauss Zelnick, a longtime media executive, taking over as chairman.

Microsoft refused to discuss its financial relationship with Take-Two. In a statement, Microsoft said, “The quality, depth and breadth of our Xbox 360 portfolio is a testament to the great relationships we’ve established over the years with our third-party partners.”

Typically, Microsoft and third-party publishers split the revenue generated when players download games from Xbox Live. Games usually cost $10 or less, but Microsoft could charge $20 or more for the additional Grand Theft Auto IV episodes, depending on how many hours of playing time they offer. So the $50 million for Take-Two appears to be a sort of advance on royalties.

The deal reflects Microsoft’s strengths and some of the recent troubles in Sony’s PlayStation operation. Grand Theft Auto III, released in 2001, was originally available exclusively for Sony’s PlayStation 2 and was perhaps the main driver of that system’s popularity. But in recent years Sony has largely lost its grip on the third-party publishers it once counted on (or paid) to develop top games exclusively for Sony devices. That the core Grand Theft Auto IV will be available for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 is already a small victory for Microsoft.

“Microsoft, smartly, has been working to multiply exclusive content for the 360 and eliminate exclusive content for the PS3,” said Evan Wilson, a game company analyst at Pacific Crest Securities. “Exclusive episodic content for Grand Theft Auto is another win for Microsoft and because of the $50 million dollar payment, a win for Take-Two as well.”

Less promisingly for Take-Two, the British Board of Film Classification yesterday effectively banned another game developed by its Rockstar Games unit, which is also responsible for Grand Theft Auto. The board refused to issue a rating for Manhunt 2, citing its extreme violence. The denial of a rating makes it illegal to sell the game in Britain.

“Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing,” said David Cooke, the board’s director. “There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.”