Dead Ringer Evaluation Lewis Moran

Lewis MoranMedia Project EvaluationDEAD RINGER

Monday, 16 April 2012

Comparison with real media products


Costumes The costumes used in our sequence, are perfect for the date, locations and professionalism of the entire series. I did some research before using any of the costumes, for example - i watched some 1960’s news interviews, and looked at a few TV series and the costumes are ideally, the same. Costumes play a big role in giving the entire opening sequence a date, location and the genre. For example the laboratory over coat gives away that it has some scientific involvement. And the large long coats worn by the photographers in the the picture below indicate the season, and the job occupations they have.


CharactersWe attempted to keep the characters shown in the introduction to a minimum, we figured keeping the character count low to start with meant we could add and remove characters to the series without an issue, for example the opening title for Dexter only shows the main character, which means they can flexibly vary the series with ease.

As you can see the bottom key frame shows the evil master mind in action of the title sequence. I believe showing him tells the viewer there will be some hostile drama in the series, be it action, or mystery.


PropsLike the costumes, props play a big role in giving the sequence a genre, and certainly a sense of authenticity. The props we used are very suitable for our story, and they gave it a boost in terms of setting the objectives made in the introduction. Although our sequence is set in the 1960’s, its very surreal because its like a futuristic version of the 60’s, say this series was made in the 1920’s, this is what they would think the 60’s would be like. As we today think of the 2100’s. Our laboratory props are similar to something you’d see on a old science fiction drama. Some of our props resemble similar things to an old series of Doctor Who, it was simple contraptions that looked as though they could of done anything, for example; all the buttons and levers in the tardis.


Narration

Me and my partner figured, if there was more than one narrator, it would give the drama a sense of extensiveness, showing the events portrayed in the series are global, making them monumental outbreaks of scientific practise. There are three different narrators, and they all different, varying the possible awareness the cloning has brought to different places.


LocationI based my location on a typical inner city thriller locations, for example, the set of the film ‘Watchmen’ is New York City. Its dark, rainy, and eery - together i believe they form the perfect setting for mystery. The footage in my sequence, used together, clearly state the location is a build up city, but the statue of Liberty is a slight giveaway.


Effects

Audio filtersWhen we needed a narrative voice over for our sequence, we figured having our regular voices wouldn’t be very authentic, so we manipulated Connors voice by adding distortion filters. This made him sound older and fit into the sequence.

Visual filtersThe main reason we added visual effects, was to set the date of the series. Having standard footage meant the colour was inaccurate and it would have ruined the entire introduction. Adding a black and white filter, combined with a anti-alias filter, gave the footage a genuine 60’s look.


CreditsFor our TV series title, it seemed most professional to give the font some relativity to the scientific genre, as you can see we added two finger prints either side the title, this symbolises identity, crime, and science, which are all associated to our series. The finger prints could also represent clones if you knew the series had some involvement in clones.

The font used looks slightly faded in some parts, i thought the faded could represent error, which in relation to the story, is correct, as the clones are all incorrectly programmed and this leads to their extermination.

The font used for the credits intended to be mysterious and eery, setting some uncertainty up before the series had even started.


Action ShownThe type of action shown in our series is suspense, the entire title sequence is a build up to the when the programme begins. There is no give away of clips from the actual series. For example the laboratory scene wont be shown in the series, its just in the title sequence to tell create a foundation in which the series will stand on.

The photographing men in the title sequence are the closest thing to action the introduction has, and they, combined with the audio overlap show some suspense, to what they are actually taking pictures of, the clones are portrayed with sec recy, and th i s bu i lds suspense as they aren’t in the opening title.


Framing of charactersFor the evil mastermind, he has been framed so his eyes are hidden, and his location is unknown. This will certainly up the mystery side of the series and the viewer will not be able to identify him in the series, unless he was dressed the same.

For the laboratory worker, he will remain anonymous throughout the opening sequence unless he stars in the series. I purposely filmed the back and side of him, his face was not captured and therefore he has no genuine character role.


How did you find the construction process?


Which aspect did you find the most enjoyable?

I found the initial processes of the project most enjoyable, for example writing up the actual story itself proved fun for myself and my partner. When i planned the time of my production process, i made sure i didn’t spend too much or too little time on some tasks. When researching and planning the title sequence, the story always altered when me and my partner thought up new ideas, and things we could add, replace and remove to improve the overall outcome.


Which aspect did you find the hardest work?

The most challenging process of my Dead ringer project was the camera work and Final Cut editing. Recording footage meant going out to fitting locations, and its hard to decide where to film when you don’t have much time, plus playing around with camera angles and shot types can prove testing with a small handheld camera. Me and my partner left some of the Final Cut editing to the last minute, and this proved stressful, although it is the final process of the production of a film, I now know i must give myself more time to edit footage. Because Final Cut has so many possibilities, its hard to find a decision you can stand by when there are so many other tricks and features you can use to help your project advance.


What problems did you face - how did you resolve them?

One of the main problems we faced, was putting together the footage on Final Cut and actually finishing the entire title sequence. One of the ways we resolved this was transferring the final cut project file onto another laptop, and from there me or my partner would play around with ideas that might work, and if they did, we simply used them on the main laptop. With the two of us on separate laptops, editing in our own way, once we reflected from each others final piece we forged together the best parts of each others project into one. Another problem in which me and my partner had to resolve was filming some of our desired shots, there were a few shots that we had a real problem being able to film, for example; the clips in centre New York city, the only way we could realistically resolve this was by using clips from the internet, that were free for anyone to use. We filled in the gaps of our project and also added some audio files to it.


How did you find working in a team? How did it help, or not?

Working with a partner was very productive, together we were able to get more done in the time given, not only that when it came to practical things like filming it would of been more of a challenge if i had no partner. There were times when working with a partner proved slightly frustrating, when I had ideas for editing and camera angles, and instead of doing my own thing, I had to come to agreements with my partner in deciding what we both wanted. Me and my partner are similar in terms of ideas, when one of us would suggest something we almost always agreed that each others ideas were to a sufficient standard. Also when writing up the story of the TV series, we contributed equally towards the final piece because we think so similarly.


Legal and ethical consideration


Using legal filesCreative Commons plays a big role in assisting authors and creators who want to freely share their work, by providing free copyright licences and tools, so that others may take full and legal advantage of the Internet. There were some files i used in our title sequence downloaded straight from the internet, when i checked for creative commons, i made sure they were non-commercial, which meant i could use them, provided i did not use them for commercial use.


ContentWhen planning what footage to put into the title sequence, i decided to give Dead Ringer a completely neutral clips, that way it would appeal to the viewer without glorifying the illegal activity within the sequence.Although there is no bad language in the title sequence, this doesn’t mean the actual TV series couldn’t. Violence will definitely play a big role in giving the TV series a backbone, but we did not add any to the title sequence because it wasn't necessary at this stage of the story. The target audience we aimed at are very similar to BBC3, young adults to middle aged adults, I believe the way we’ve made the title sequence suits that kind of audience, but varies.


Skills development


Producing this project has refreshed my skills in media technologies. When creating a film, be it short or long, you have to use many tools and techniques.

The most obvious techniques are ones used when filming with a camera, there are many different camera shot types, for example; Extreme close up, close up, establishing shot, overhead shot, over shoulder shot, etc. We used these techniques when filming, they are vital when giving a films a professional appearance. Camera movement also gives a film some authenticity, making it look realistic.

When it comes down to producing a successful film, editing is the most important production stage, it helps turn raw camera footage into wonderful cinematic action. Final Cut is the program we used to finish our title sequences, within it we used a vast variety of features and tools to shape our film. Continuity of the sequences audio and visual relies on transitions, for example, fading, action match, crosscutting, any many other visual effects.

Techniques


Using filters proved to be extremely important. The more filters i played around with the more of final cut i found out about, and there was more stuff I could use to enhance my sequence if i downloaded them from the internet, for example a video filter which made any imagery look old. Before this project, I didn’t know the potential of final cut, but after this project my ability to take advantage of final cut is better than ever.

Key framing is a simple tool which allows you to move around an image on final cut whilst its recorded, so for example you can zoom into an house then add a transition to make it look like you’ve entered the house. Adding sounds to my final cut meant the sequence looked naturally genuine.


Quality of final product


Final ProductI believe the final product has come close to my initial perception of the idea. Although it’s very difficult to create professional looking title sequence, me and my partner gave it our best and its so a standard that I’m with.

I think the target audience i initially imagined would best fit the idea is still the same. The final product is suitable for my desired target audience, but it could even apply to an older target audience, depending on how its distributed on television.

The final product has some strengths and weakness’, for example i believe more footage should of been added to the sequence, and also more narration in what the actual story holds. Only because i know the story can i watch the title sequence and understand every bit of its relation.

I personally think the audio side of the sequence is the strength of it, the narration and music combine nicely to give it a cinematic aspect, which also make it look realistic and slightly tense.


The original idea of Dead Ringer, my partner and I developed in our research stage, was very exciting, the potential of the story was incredible, but being able to portray your ideas into a short title sequence is extremely challenging. I believe that our sequence strayed off task and the outcome of the story altered as we ran out of time. But in general our final product has been successful, in that it has kept as much of its originality as possible.


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Dead Ringer Evaluation Lewis Moran