Introduction

Hi,

My name is Justin Bissett. I am a Junior FMA major at Temple University. This blog is here to showcase my work in BTMM 1701 – Intro to Media Tech

Project 1 – Written Assignment

Justin Bissett
2/12/09
BTMM 1701

Website Analysis

For the website analysis the site I chose to write about was the official website for the feature film Primer, http://primermovie.com/. The film was shot independently for just $7000, but was purchased and distributed here in the US by Think Film. Since it was originally made independently the official website for the film was also done independently and it shows.

The site is overall very plain. Every page contains the same white background, the same navigation bar, and the title of the film at the very top of the page. The simplicity of the site works as a benefit to the information on the site. It is very easy to find what you need as there is absolutely no clutter in sight. This makes for very easy navigation for someone new to the site, trying to read up a little on the film. This simplicity is both the website’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness.

Because the site is so plain, it is less enticing to the browser. If one were to stumble upon this website they would probably be immediately turned off by the plainness of the site. Unless that person had an interest to the material on the website prior to visiting it they would probably become bored and leave the site. Overall the site seems to work best for those people that already have an interest in the film and works worst as an enticing website to attract new viewers.

The website tries to accomplish a fair deal in the few contained pages. First it presents both the awards the film has won as well as where it can be purchased. This shows the viewer that the film is more important than another film. It’s not simply another movie, its an award winning movie. It also shows the legitimacy of the film, which is something people wonder about on such a low budget film. With having multiple awards as well as a link to purchase the DVD on Amazon.com, one of the biggest retailers in the world, it shows that this film is special.

In addition to those features the website also clearly presents the story to the film, a gallery of pictures, and best of all a theatrical trailer for the film.

As I stated before the layout and design of the site is very simple. When you arrive at the home page the title of the film is in large font at the top of the page. This title stays on all pages of the website and if clicked brings you back to the home page. Below that is a standard navigation bar with five options. The first option is a tab labeled Story/Production which brings you to a page dedicated to the Story and Production of the film as well as the cast and crew, a short Q&A with the director, and also some samples of the films score. This page is the most confusing page of the site as it feels like it should be split up as four or five different pages, but is instead all on one page. They make up for this a little bit by having links at the top of the page that when clicked bring you to the corresponding section of the page.
The next option on the navigation bar is to the trailer page. Once you arrive on that page you are presented with a still image from the film and three options to play the trailer. They are separated by file size so that you can pick the one that will play best with your internet connection. This is a nice feature for those with a slower connection who can not watch larger files.

The third tab on the navigation bar links to a gallery page. This page has a few stills from the film and also a link to some behind the scene photos. What is nice about this gallery is that when you click on a photo it brings you to a new page which allows you to sort through the photos with a next, and previous button. This makes it significantly easier to browse the photos.

The fourth tab brings you to a page titled acclaim. This page has a list of all the awards the film has won in order by date. Additionally it features some short blurbs by critics who liked the film and finally features a section which lists all of the festivals that the film has been shown at.

The last tab on the navigation bar is a link to a discussion board which allows fans of the film to ask questions both to each other and to those who worked on the film. This is great for those with questions of what exactly happened in the film.

Overall the website does a pretty good job at selling the film to the viewer. It offers pretty much anything you would need to know about the film to make the decision on whether or not to check it out. I think if you can get past the somewhat boring template for the website and look into the content you would find yourself intrigued.

Below is the site map I made for the written assignment.

Project 2 – WWW.JENNYWILSON.COM

For this website I wanted to see if I could make the website not seem depressing, considering that most of her pictures looked that way. I tried a little bit of a fun font, and then took the one picture of her smiling and made it large and put a colored pencil filter on it. Additionally I added a pink gradient to the background which also helped to make things more fun. In the right corner I put a picture of her with a guitar so that I could go with the music theme. Finally I made a set of three poloriods which let you see different sides of her character, while also being somewhat playful with the polaroids.

Project 3 – Avid Project – Sing along!

Don’t know if we need a description for this one like we did with the last, but just in case. For my Avid still project I wanted to make something fun and entertaining, but given the limitation in stills and music I couldn’t think of a way of pulling that off. And then it hit me. What’s the most fun thing in the world? That’s right! A Sing along!. Enjoy!

Project 4 – Video Editing Project

For my video editing project I tried to take everything that the guy said in the video and make some kind of story out of it. Watching the clips I noticed that he would start talking about one thing and then would drift off into to something completely different. I tried to take the pieces that I thought worked together and basically just have him explain who he is, what the Bill Pickett Riding Academy is, and why he is involved. In addition to the story side of things I tried to improve the technicals as much as I could. I did some color correction, messed with the contrast, cropped the image, and added some vignetting around the image. Overall I think it makes the video look a lot better.