3/30 - Final Film Intro

 Below is our final film introduction: 

2/18 - Finalizing Our Film

    For our final film, we decided to keep most of what we already have from our draft film. We are keeping the same plot possibly even the same film. We decided to tweak some of the editing and make the film flow more, like the audio of the film combining with the audio of the music. 

   We think that the film is executed well. We have interesting angles, the scenes are clear, the audio is clear. Our story is clear, as it is about a girl getting ready to go to a heist. We watched the film over and we both believe that the story executes what we learned in this class well as the elements of film which are is sound, misc en scene, editing, and camera angles, which we tested and preformed (what we believe is) efficiently. 

2/2 - Review of Case Study Discussion

   To end our Case Study period, we did a discussion. This was the prompt:

• What is a case study?
• Why is it important in media? 
• Name some companies you researched for this assisgnment and why you chose them.
• What was your case study on?
• Briefly define convergence and synergy, horizontal and vertical integration, cross-media, globalization. 
• Do you feel you learned anything new about media and how it works? Elaborate. 

My response:

A case study is an observing of how a motion picture is produced, created, and the business behind it. Case studies are important in media because they analyze the motion of films in the industry and their influence with audiences, businesses, and the industry itself. Some companies I researched was Warners Bros., which was the main production company for the Harry Potter series, which is what me and my partner did our case study on. Convergence is the blending of media platforms. Synergy is the interaction between two different productions within media. Horizontal integration is where a company acquires or merges with competitors at the same level of the supply chain. Vertical integration is where a company owns or controls multiple stages of the supply chain, such as production, distribution, and exhibition. Cross-media is distributing content across multiple channels. Globalization is which media content, technologies, and corporations cross national boundaries, creating an interconnected global media landscape. Yes, I learned the business behind the making of Harry Potter, which was interesting to learn how much of everything went into making these films. 

1/30 - Case Study Presentation Final

    These past few weeks, me and my partner worked on our case study presentation. We did a mock presentation and ours was about The Marketing and Branding of Harry Potter. 

Slide 1: What is Harry Potter? We talked about the fantasy series following young Harry Potter and how it got adapted from the books. We mentioned that this series turned into and franchise worth $25 billion globally

Slide 2: The Production of Harry Potter. We talked about how the series produced by Warner Bros Pictures, filmed in the U.K., had a large budget, and the involvement of the actors to keep up the hype of the series

Slide 3: The Issues Raised By Media Ownership and Funding in Contemporary Media Practice. We talked about how Warner Bros is a major company that had high funding to promote the series globally and have a high production quality. We talked about the difference between Warner Bros and other companies

Slide 4: The Importance of Cross-Media Convergence and Synergy in Production, Distribution, and Marketing. We talked about how this story became a franchise that ranked from not only the book and movies, but also games, theme parks, toys, etc. This is called synergy because the Harry Potter brand is working together with other businesses to promote their series

Slide 5: The Technologies That Have Been Introduced in Recent Years at the Levels of Production, Distribution, Marketing, and at the Point of Consumption. The production of Harry Potter was high budget because of the CGI, digital effects, and the motion capture. The distribution of the films went from books (physical) to DVD’s, blue-ray, and streaming (HBO MAX). Because of this more people are able to consume the series as the audience can watch it from TV’s to laptops to phones. 

Slide 6: The Significance of the Spread of Such Technologies for Institutions and Audiences. We talked about how this series became something that people globally can enjoy and engage with, and that because of this worldwide love for the series, the expectations are high. 

Slide 7: The Importance of Technological Convergence for Institutions and Audiences. Audiences can easily get access to the films, which increases engagement and loyalty with the series 

Slide 8: The Issues Raised in the Targeting of National and Local Audiences by International or Global Institutions. We talked about how the films have subtitles and dubbing. The films encouraged foreign interaction and influence, but feared Western cultural dominance

Slide 9: The Ways in Which the Candidates’ Own Experiences of Media Consumption Illustrate Wider Patterns and Trends in Audience Behavior. For this final slide, we talked about the fact that because this series became something popular, it had such a big influence on the audience. This was highlighted by the fandom, the fan pages, the edits, memes, basically create an an entire online world, further building this already huge world, turning it into one of the biggest series in the world

  Overall, I learned so much about my favorite movies series. I never put much thought into the marketing and branding of the Harry Potter films. I truly think Warner Bros did such a good job of adapting this series and turning it into a franchise that will live forever. 

1/16 - Vocabulary For Case Studies

This week we began to focus on case studies. We had to choose our partners and what case study we are going to “study”. Me and my partner chose Harry Potter to focus on. Below is an assignment that we had to do, in which we were given vocab words to find and write definitions for. 

 Vertical Integration:

- When a company owns multiple chains in order to distribute content. They are higher up the ladder by taking ownership and having greater control. For example, Disney owns companies that produce their own movies and shows, also Hulu and other platforms. 

Horizontal Integration: 

- When a company purchases and merges with competitors in the same industry, getting at the same level. For example, Disney owning Marvel and Hulu, creating Disney+ and deals with the platforms. 

Convergence:

- Merging different companies, technologies, and platforms to allow for the production of content to be distributed in interconnected ways. For example, Star Wars making movies, shows, games, and toys. 

Synergy:

- Where different companies work together to promote a single product or franchise, so the efforts are greater. For example, Wonder Woman partnering with Dr Pepper to make drink sales and promote the film. 

Cross Media:

- When the same or similar media is produced and shared across different platforms. For example, Marvel releasing their movies at movie theaters, promoting on social media, and making games and toys. 

Globalisation:

- Media shared and consumed all over the world. For example, Netflix show like Squid Games, being a Korean show, yet watched and love over many countries. 

Representing the World:

- Being shown media that shows parts of real life, yet these can be inaccurate, edited, or false. For example, news channels being biased towards a specific political party, therefore, produces the types of content that caters to their audience. 

Audiences in the Digital Age:

- The people who the media caters towards, which they can respond to, share, and further create. For example, people watching a TV series, sharing them on social media, making fan pages, producing constant engagement.

Genre - Audiences and Producers:

- Genres are used by producers, writers, and directors to target audiences and go in with already knowing that people would watch that media. For example, people who love horror movies, would watch the newest one to come out, already knowing what to expect - jump scares and such. 

Representation (Masculinity):

- How the media portrays a group of people, in this case men and male behavior. For example, action films represent men as brave, strong, and powerful, like Superman. 

Editing Our Film Intro Draft Part 1 - 12/3

   Recently, we started to edit the draft of our film intro. As a group, we are still getting used to editing, especially on Adobe Premiere. We ran into a bit of an issue because we filmed the scenes on a phone. So, we had to download them onto a google drive, and afterwards make a file, and then upload them onto Adobe Premiere. It was a long process that took us two class periods to do because we weren’t able to open the files. 

  However, we were able to figure it out. We sent the videos to an email and then downloaded them. We were able to upload them to the editing software. But, another issue appeared. The size of the film was based off the first scene, which messed up the framing for the rest of the scenes. Eventually, we figured out that we needed to change the order of the scenes and then put them back. 

  We have still not finished editing yet, but hopefully this week we will be. 

Shooting Our Film - 11/20

 Today me and my partners filmed our project. We had to film in schools, which was not our original plan, but we were able to figure it out while making it good. We were able to finish shooting the entire intro in one class period. Everything went smoothly. In our rubric we were required to have minimum 16 shots, and we were able to make it! 

  We were also required to have unique camera angles. One camera angle/movement that we tried and became my favorite was when I (cameraman) followed the lead from behind as she was walking towards the bathroom. 

  Another camera movement that I thought was unique and interesting was the final scene, where the lead comes out of the bathroom in her “heist outfit”. She reads a piece of paper, and we learn that it’s the address of the place she is going to make money off of, as the camera zooms in on the paper after she drops it on the floor. 

  Overall, I think we worked well together and we were able to incorporate all of our ideas and find a compromise. We believe that the scenes turned out well and we are excited to edit the film intro and see the final product!