images relating to evaluation

Contributions

Throughout the task i've contributed the idea of the actual unicorn, along with jess having the idea of different backgrounds etc. I've helped out in class with the creation, filming and moving the character's/props around on set. I've also helped colour in many of the backgrounds and had the idea of adding a soundtrack that would fit the imovie production quite well, unfortunately we weren't allowed to use it, so recently i've started to create the soundtrack on garageband and it's coming along quite nicely. I had the idea of putting some sounds that would be good for certain parts of the movie into a garageband saved format, and then cutting the audio up when in the editing section.

Target Audience

Whilst preparing and gathering our ideas for our childrens film project we decided on our imovie production to be aimed at 3-8 year olds, making the short film a (U). Seeing as the mini story is about a unicorn called charlie who travels around the world to find his partner, we gathered this would be good for young children to view. Also seeing as there's very little writing and when there is, it's very simple and able for young children to understand. All our backgrounds are very simple and colourful, making it easier for the child to make out the story in their own minds, Charlie the unicorn and his owner are also drawn and coloured, therefore simple but exciting for children. The imovie producion we created is aimed at female children as usually a boy wouldn't find the whole idea of a unicorn very appealing. The production wouldn't appeal to adults as it's very child-like and a cartoon idea but drawn. It contains no adult humour, or anything that's beyond the (U) guidance, making it more suitable for the young children to view. We'd like to think it's aimed at female children but there would be the odd boy that'd watch it, it's got quite an upbeat exciting soundtrack to it, making it interesting for them, which we created ourselves, meaning there isn't a song that contains explicit content or anything not suitable.

Last lesson filming

We are in a dilemma... we still cant film the reunion as Simone thinks she has thrown the farmer away. A way around this is to draw it again but we know it will not be exactly the same as the original. We still need to edit our clips together and create a soundtrack so now i am getting worried. today we are going to delicate jobs so we can get through these jobs as quickly as possible because we know we dont have a lot of time left.

in todays lesson...

In todays lesson we are going to finish filming and start editing depending on how much time we have left. As we are doing i-stop-motion we get extra time filming so this is our last lesson to finish.  All we have left to do is the re-union of charlie and his owner and then we can proceed onto the editing process.

Individual imput

Everyone contributed equally in the filming and planning process, Maddie wanted to use a unicorn for definite and it was me that put that into context. It was my idea to have the unicorn travel around the world to find its owner simple and suitable for children. I strongly wanted to use I-stop-motion to make the film as I thought that was what would look best and work best for our idea so that is what we ended up doing. During the filming process I was responsible for all of the backgrounds; I took some home and draw/painted on them to make them look the best they could as well as moving the objects whilst shooting. It was my idea to have Charlie (the unicorn) to be galloping and have the background slowly move across the screen as he gallops so it looks like he gallops from one onto the other so it flows rather than cutting from background to background. It was also my idea to have little features of each background moving to make it more interesting to watch and more than just two objects moving to make it more complex.

Marking criteria for production

Holding a shot steady where appropriate
We used stop motion so the flow of each shot is continuous as we had the camera held securely in a tripod.
Framing a shot including or excluding elements where appropriate
The tripod held the camera in place so we didn't require much handling or movement of the camera. In filming time there was a lead in the way of a few of our shots but as it is as dark as the background, we may crop that part out

Using a variety of shot distances where appropriate
This is something we didn't do because of stop motion. If we had extra time, perhaps the credits would have been shot as medium close ups so they were easier to read for our target audience.

Shooting material appropriate to the task set
We have achieved this. Our task was to create a childrens film, either PG or U. There is no foul language, violence or offensive images, you probably wouldn't find a Unicorn travelling the world to find its owner in a gory 18 film!

Selecting mise-en-scene
I think this we partly achieved this, the lighting was efficient, we drew all of our backgrounds of different settings (pyramids, a forest, a cloudy sky) and I drew the characters to fit the storyboard using colours that were bright and would be appealing to the target audience.

Editing so meaning is apparent to the viewer
We haven't started editing yet, but we will use our own knowledge of this and watch some more children's film clips (possibly stop motion) to gather ideas to make it apparent to children.

Using varied shot transitions and effects selectively and appropriately
We haven't done this either, but I don't think we will use a lot of transitions as they can be distracting and unnecessary. We will use transitions for the opening title and credits by looking up some on youtube for inspiration.

Using sound with images and editing appropriately
We have done no editing of our film, but we have allocated Maddie the narrative role for it. She will tell the story so the audience knows what is going on and will introduce the characters.
We have not thought about music for our film but children's films are often very lively and this is an adventure, there will be some element of sadness so this will be reflected in our soundtrack. We will do this by using Garage Band.

Using titles appropriately
The title will be at the beginning of the film and we may use some for the different backgrounds so the target audience gets a better sense of place. We will do this using Final Cut.

Contributions to the production process.
In our first filming lesson I looked up a unicorn outline on google images, drew it and then based the rest of our unicorns on that image.
I drew the background of the pyramids and brought in colouring pencils so the colour would be consistent and in case the pencils in the classroom were all being used.

During my spare time, I drew and coloured the characters, some of which can be seen in a previous post.
I drew:
Three unicorns
Four thought bubbles, including one of Charlie and his owner
The world
The owner himself
The words 'Where are you Charlie?' in bubble type writing.

I also was in control of taking the pictures for the stop motion, my pressing the space bar to take them and deleting any shots that had hands in.