Video evaluation - question 4:

Video evaluation - question 2:

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Video evaluation - question 1:

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

Audience feedback - questionnaire and feedback:

Media audiecne feedback final edit OS
Above is the questionnaire that I handed out to a group of 5 boys and 5 girls, in order to gain some honest, opinionated feedback. 

Audience feedback - final edit of opening sequence:

Today was the day that I have been looking forward to for a number of weeks now - I finally finished my opening sequence! Although the hard task has been completed, I still need to compose a set of questions, in order to gain some feedback on my finished production. I will select a small group of people to take part in this questionnaire, which will hopefully obtain some positive, complimentary results. Below is my finished opening sequence - enjoy!

Audience feedback - questionnaire:

I have now composed a set if questions that I am going to give to a few acquaintances, in order to receive some truthful feedback. Giving my questionnaire to people who I do not share a close relationship with is a great way to gain some feedback, as my friends would simply tell me how good it is, rather than being honest.


I chose 10 questions that I feel will be beneficial to me in terms of criticism, so hopefully I can gain some effective feedback from my questionnaire. Below is the set of questions that I will be handing out.
Media – Audience feedback questionnaire

Audience feedback - first edit of opening sequence:

In order to gain some feedback from my target audience, I am going to compose a set of questions in the form of a questionnaire. Hopefully my participants will give me some honest, constructive criticism, which will enable me to improve my opening sequence even further.


Below is the first edit of my opening sequence that I will be presenting to a small group of people. Obviously there are areas that may look slightly messy, and unfinished, but these will be adjusted once I receive my audience feedback.

Third lesson of editing:

On the (), I began editing for the third lesson in a row. In this lesson, my aim was to insert all of my new footage into final cut express, and then edit these clips to my desired length with any added adjustments (lighting, transitions, etc). As I mentioned in my previous post, I had to wait quite a while to get my hands on a camera, which is why it has taken so long to get the footage of my third actress, Stephie; however, I managed to film this footage prior to my third editing lesson, which enabled me to crack on with my final bits of editing.

One of my titles, created using makeup

This lesson was very simple, as my clips needed hardly any adjustments at all! Stephie and I filmed the footage quite early on in the day, therefore the lighting was perfect for the setting of my opening sequence. Plus, it was quite a sunny day, so the lighting was very kind to us. Admittedly, it did take longer to choose the clips that I wanted, but this was due to the fact that Stephie took a while to perfect each shot. I had to look through each shot very carefully, and pick the one which I was the most fond of. The frame shown to the right is one of my favourites from the day of filming with my sister. I created this title using paint, in order to make it look like spilt makeup.


Overall, my third editing lesson was a complete success. As I have become very used to the editing process, I didn't face any particular difficulties. The most difficult part of this session was selecting the correct clips, but once I had done this, the rest of the lesson flew by.

Second lesson of editing:

Yesterday was our first lesson of the new year, and our second lesson of editing. As I still have a small amount to film, there wasn't much that I could really do in this lesson. I arranged my clips in final cut express before we broke up for the christmas break, so in our second lesson of editing, and made a few minor adjustments to things such as lighting and sound.

As my footage was filmed at different times, the lighting in all the clips isn't exactly the same. Therefore, I fixed this using the 'brightness and contrast' effect on final cut express, which is listed under 'image control'. This effect really helped, as it made my clips look more as though they'd been filmed in the early morning, which is exactly when my opening sequence is set. Using this effect was very simple, and it was a huge improvement. Below is an example of one adjustment I made to the lighting. I didn't want my shot to look too edited, which is why I only edited it slightly.

Before adjusting the lighting

After adjusting the lighting

Adjusting the sound was also quite a straight-forward task, as there wasn't really a lot for me to do. All i had to fix was the levels of the sound, as I want my audio track to be heard. I wanted to keep the sound that accompanied the clips, but have them quite quiet; however, Mr Gower suggested that I just delete all of the natural sound. I am still undecided, as there are moments where the sound is crucial (for example, the microwave beeping, the door closing, etc). I'm sure I will come to a conclusion very soon, with the help of other people.


Overall, my second editing session was a success, as I completed the small tasks that I needed to focus on. This weekend I am going to film my final clips with my last actress, Stephie, therefore next lesson, I plan to add these clips to my opening sequence, and follow the same procedures as I have with my other clips.

First lesson of editing:

Today was our first lesson of editing, which I had been looking forward to for quite a while! Everyone had filmed their footage, and loaded it onto the computers prior to the lesson, so now that this process had been completed, we could finally crack on with the next process - editing!

Footage bin on the left hand side
of Final Cut Express

I spent the start of this lesson transferring my clips from iMovie to Final Cut Express, which only took about 10 minutes of my time. Once I had dragged every single clip into the bin on the left hand side, I began to drag these clips into my timeline in the order that I desired. I used my animatic to help me with this task, which was very useful. It helped me to adjust my clips to the exact timing that I needed, in order to stay within the time limit of 2 minutes. It also helped me to remember the order in which my clips had to be dragged into the timeline, which was another useful aspect. Dragging the clips into my timeline was quite a time consuming process, as firstly, I had to actually select the clips I wanted. During the filming process, I filmed each frame approximately 3 times, in order to give me more footage to choose from. Incase of an emergency (clips being deleted), I could always use one of my other clips, which made me feel a lot safer.


Overall,  I am pleased with how my first editing lesson went. I managed to drag all my chosen clips into my Final Cut Express timeline, which enabled me to go ahead and plan what I would do in the next editing lesson. I still have some more clips that I need to film, so I will book a camera for as soon as possible. I am using my sister, Stephie, for the remaining clips, so filming shouldn't be a problem considering we live together! Next lesson, my aim is to adjust the lighting and sound on all of my clips.

Third day of filming:

On the 9th of January (the sunday just gone), I finally filmed my last few shots! Admittedly, it has been quite a while since I last filmed, but this is only because the cameras were being used by the year 13 media students over the christmas holidays. Luckily, the weather was nice on the day of filming, which was appropriate as it was a great addition to the lighting. My sister, Stephie, and I started filming at about midday, and finished at approximately 1 o'clock. It didn't take us long, as Stephie and I live together, so there was no embarrassment on her behalf - we just got straight on with it. Yes, there were a few moments where Stephie refused to do certain things in front of the camera, but she soon got over it.


As Stephie and I live together, there wasn't an arranged time to meet. I prepared all of my props as soon as I woke up that morning, and was finally ready to begin a few hours later. Unlike my other filming days, I was quite organised in terms of the props! I had them ready very quickly, and I didn't need any help from Stephie, which is how it should've been from the start of my filming. In future, I will prepare my props a lot earlier.

The only minor problem that Stephie and I faced was an issue with the lighting. In the snapshot shown to the right, you can see that the lighting on Stephie's face was very bright whilst filming that particular segment, but I don't think it was a huge problem. I filmed the shot about 4 times, and in the clip I chose, the bright lighting wasn't too noticeable. I may even make the lighting a bit darker using the effects on final cut express, as my other shots aren't as bright (obviously, as tit was filmed on a different day; therefore, the weather was different).


Overall, my final day of filming was a success. We got it done very quickly, and although my sister refused  to co-operate with me at times, her acting skills were very good. Next - editing!

Another new idea - fisheye effect:

Whilst watching hit TV show, Misfits, I noticed a shot type that could fit really nicely into my opening sequence. One of the characters, Nathan, is shown looking into a mirror, brushing his teeth and generally grooming his appearance; however, he looks into the camera as if it's the mirror - almost like the effect of a fish eye lens. This technique would look in shot (), as it would add some variety to my list of shots. I've never used this shot type before, so hopefully it's a success!


(picture soon)