As a group we decided that our film “Glove Man” would be based on the American, Hollywood superhero films. We therefore had to keep our film as close as possible to what you would expect from a stereotypical Hollywood or even just superhero film but with what we had. We chose to use a variety of different camera shots which are commonly used in a superhero film. In a way we were probably challenging the traditional superhero film though that was not really our intentions. We tried to keep a lot of the props or styles that you would expect but at the same time having a purposely budget costume to emphasise the fact that our character is a schoolboy and not an actual superhero, it was therefore also easier for us as a group to get the things that were required. We achieved this by giving our character really basic clothing items such as a hoodie and of course gloves, which the ones we used are the sort commonly used in paintball. Our focus, or inspiration, for our characters costume was things such as Red Hood from the upcoming Batman Arkham Knight video game, Green Arrow from the CW TV Series Arrow and also Kick-Ass from both the film and the graphic novels This was due to the fact that it has the same form of narrative and that the main characters costume from Kick-Ass is also not specifically designed and has just been adapted. We also tried to make sure that the fonts and positioning of the credits that we chose worked both with the film and with the genre. We therefore did research into the fonts used in various superhero films from both the Marvel and DC franchises. We watched various title sequences from the films and also ended up choosing a font that is very similar to the font used in the Thor films. We however edited it so that most people would not make the connection between the two fonts and think that we have just copied it. In terms of our main focus for what our film would be based on it would be The Dark Knight trilogy in terms of the slightly dark mysterious setting and colours and music but also combining this with Kick-Ass due to the fact that our character is pretending to be a superhero. We did however try to add an element of humour to our film which strongly goes against most DC films, especially The Dark Knight, but very often conforms to a lot of Marvel films and also Kick-Ass. The element of humour was also based on the film Kingsman: The Secret Service which is not a superhero film but does however have the element of comedy that we wanted to achieve.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our film doesn’t really represent our social group as it does more of a slightly younger audience as that is often the main focus for the majority of superhero films released. The main plot of our film is that a kid at school is a big fan of both superhero movies and comics and tries to become one in order to bring “justice” to his school. This idea came about as we needed to film somewhere near to the school and that would not require us travelling. The dream of being a superhero felt by our main character is generally felt by a younger child say about 10 or so. Our character however is not actually given an age but the viewer could easily assume that he is still older than 10. We therefore chose to back up this story with our character being an avid superhero fan and that he has been a fan for more or less his entire life. The idea of the film therefore worked well as all three of the people in our group are into superhero films and two of us, including the actor playing Gloveman, are comic book fans. The character of Gloveman is basically trying to replicate what he sees in comics or in films and become his own superhero. Also as he is never actually shown with or really near anyone his admiration for superheroes could represent someone who is a sort of outcast and does not really fit in which is a very common situation in school, though the main reason was because it would have been difficult to get a good number of people to take part in the filming and play extras. Upon further reflection however we decided that he being the only person on screen would help to support the point that he is an outcast. By being Glove Man he is therefore showing that that does not really bother him that he is different which therefore shows that you should express your feelings and support for what you are interested in, however the fact that he is hiding his identity could suggest that he is not comfortable with people knowing that he is Glove Man. However since we never show anyone else our film does not really have a wide representation of how people are in groups or other different social groups. The appeal of superhero films and comics are starting to become more popular with teenagers as it provides a sort of escapism from reality.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The group collectively decided that our film would need to be distributed by a company that is well known for distributing superhero movies, as it would mean that our film would not seem out of place with the company. Therefore companies that could be considered would be Warner Bros as they distributed the Dark Knight trilogy, Universal due to it distributing Kick-Ass (which was really the main inspiration for Glove Man) or Universal as they have also been behind a range of films similar to ours as well as being the parent company of Working Title which have been responsible for backing a range of both British and American films that have become very popular. Also since our film technically is a British film we need to be with a company that does support and of course distribute British film as well as American. Also as our film is meant to be a Marvel Entertainment production we would also need to consider Walt Disney as they took over ownership of Marvel and are responsible for distributing up oncoming Marvel film productions such as Ant-Man and recently released The Avengers: Age of Ultron. In the end we decided to go with Marv as our distribution company as it was the one that released Kingsman: The Secret Service which as previously stated is not a superhero film at all but follows a very similar style to what we wanted to achieve. It is also a stereotypically British film which means that our film would be likely to fit in with it. It has also been a big part in the distribution of Kick-Ass as well as the also upcoming Marvel film Fantastic Four. However all of the films I have mentioned have been based on one or a series of graphic novels meaning that they would already have a strong fan base and going into making the film the people behind it would know that it will be successful. Our film however is not based on a comic and was simply invented to just be an experiment with camerawork. Though with Marv took on Kingsman: The Secret Service, which had a graphic novel that was brought out at the same time but was only really made popular by the film being released. This would therefore mean that our film, not being based on anything, would have a chance with becoming popular.
Who was the audience for your media product & how did you attract/address your audience?
The audience for our media product would be pretty much teenagers that are a similar age to the members of the group. As this was our intended audience it made it a lot easier to make the film as we pretty much just had to make it how we would want it to be or what we would like to see if we went to see a superhero film as of course they are the same age and would therefore, hopefully anyway, have the same interests and would like to see the same sort of thing that we do. On top of that the age of the character was the sort of age we wanted our target audience to be. As well as that our setting was a school which can be related to by pretty much everyone but particularly children and teenagers However in order to make sure that we were actually doing what the audience wanted we chose to ask them through the use of questionnaires that more or less asked them what they would like to see or would expect to get from a superhero film. When we were aware of what people wanted to see, after we got back the results of the questionnaire, were able to add the requested things to our film, if they were possible with our budget or rather lack of. With the inclusion of the requested features we therefore had more confidence that the film would appeal to our target audience. To show our film to our audience we shared both the finished edit of Glove Man as well as a trailer for it that we had made for fun on YouTube. This means that it is both accessible to our target audience and what would be considered as a secondary target audience which could consist of both adults and children therefore giving a wider audience and consequently wider appeal. After the full film was finished we posted the full film on YouTube. This would also benefit us as we would be able to look at the film without having to log onto different accounts to get screenshots and could just do it anywhere with internet. We allowed people to like or dislike and also leave comments about the film and trailer which would then mean that we would get feedback on what was good and what was bad about our film in the eyes of our audience. After we had posted the video we didn’t get any comments but got a few likes. Also another you tuber made a sort of parody/alternative version of Gloveman without us knowing and having no input on it. This therefore showed that our film had been a fairly good success.
Link to our
film-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMUGDKJFO0w
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the process of creating our film we had to use a range of different technologies. Though we did use a lot they all more or less involved to use of a computer. The first thing we needed to do was be able to put our recorded clips together to construct our film. To do this we used Movie Premier which is basically a far more superior version of Windows Movie Maker. With Movie Premier we were able to add a range of effects as well as background noise, of wish we could change the volume and pitch, which really made the final product better. In order to record the clips we used a Lumix JH4 camera which had very good quality and allowed us to get some really very nice looking shots, which we used during the opening. To record the sound we used a simple microphone that was connected to a computer. My job was then to edit the sound that we had recorded by using the sound editing program Audacity. This was going to be for the dialogue (or rather narration) during the opening however we decided not to use it as it did not really fit in very well with the visuals. Though Audacity was there I chose to use the sound editor that comes with Movie Premier as it was far better and provided a lot more options in which to edit the sound. It was also better to do it using Movie Premier as I was able to edit the sound whilst still being able to see the recorded clip and therefore being able to time or dub correctly. To create the title for our film we used a version of the font used in the Thor films. We got the font from a website called Dafont which provides a range of different themed or just invented fonts made by people. It is also free to use and to download the chosen fonts. To ensure that they did not look the same we used Photoshop to add effects and take parts away from the text giving it a unique look that really was quite unlike the original base font. Once that was done we were able to add it into the film in a way that would look natural and also like an actual superhero film. The use of Premier allowed us to more or less do everything we needed to at once. We could put the visual clips in and then I could add in the sound and cut it or move it so that the timing was correct. Before doing this I had never used Premier or really filmed anything as editing was more my thing. I had however used Photoshop and Audacity before but was not really that good with them. By using them during the filming process I was able to learn more about them and how to use them. I will then be able to apply my knowledge to future film projects that I will do.
The
title of our film was inspired by the font that is used in the Thor films. We
also incorporated the Batman logo from The Dark Knight rises as we liked to
eroded and destroyed look. It also made the logo look more unique and therefore
not an exact copy of another films font.
This
was the Marv Production credit that we used during our opening. With this way
of using it we did not conform to the traditional method of showing it with the
coloured circles that form the name. We instead chose to ass it to one of the
close up shots that we got of the location. We decided to do this as we thought
that it looked quite natural and the font in a way almost seemed to add to the
beauty of the shot and gave it a professional sort of look. Though with the
opening we did think that it did not necessarily fit in with the genre however
we really liked the shots and it also showed what we were capable of doing with
a camera and with editing.
