TEMPORARY BLISS

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. It is very rare that they're 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 a stop 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.

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 wheelchair.

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.

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.

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’.

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,

youtube, netflix, imdb etc.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.’

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.

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.

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.

BLACK OUT

WHITE OUT

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.

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.

-I believe Ive come a long way from where I

began. I think it was mostly due to

continuous hours of practice and

determination.