Evaluation

Question 1 In which ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?



Through the use of things such as characters, common stereotypes and location our two minute opening was able to develop typical codes and conventions which other media products, specifically thriller movies have been able to do.

Through research into thriller movies the idea of a remote location arose, our production of the opening sequence was filmed in a car mechanics workshop. The idea of using a car garage came from the 1978 movie 'Blackout’, a little known B-movie thriller with similar themes to our own production. It features a sequence in a garage, which is a significant part of the narrative. This location also addressed the common mythology of the association of the auto-industry and the criminal underworld. Through researching thrillers, and coming across this clip and similar ones it has enabled the group to make a good location choice.

Click here to veiw 'Blackout' garage scene

Vulnerable female characters have been known to play victims in previous thriller movies. We also found this out through audience research that female characters, especially vulnerable females are liked/expected to play the victim. Having this knowledge helped us to decide that our victim would be a young 'vulnerable girl'. As a group, we decided to portray the main female character 'Rose' to be vulnerable at the beginning of the film, but not throughout the whole film. This enables us to develop on the idea of female characters being vulnerable as she over runs the antagonists within the opening. We decided to introduce the main female character 'Rose' at the very beginning on the opening sequence. Within the first 10 seconds on the film, 'Rose' is seen rising from a boot of a car, her hands and feet are tied up by rope, this reinstates that she must be a vulnerable female as it is obvious she has been kidnapped. Our main antagonist in our opening sequence is first introduced by a worms view shot of his feet being shown, this sets an enigma to the audience of who this person is and if he is the villain.

An example of a thriller film which had the main victim a vulnerable female is the 2000 production 'The Ring'. There were two main female victims, which followed similar character conventions to ours. Naomi Watts who played the haunted boy's relative was a victim, at times she was seen as vulnerable, but at other times she is seen as strong and courageous.

The costume decisions were made as a team. Colin the main villain who abducts Rose is an elderly man obsessed with her, as a character he looks very dark and angry. For this reason, we chose to have the actor Ben Kitto to dress up in dark colors; a long dark leather jacket was used. The costume of Colin created suspicion and curiosity.

Question 2 How does your media product represent particular social groups?

These are two screen of shots of central villains within thriller movies. The above pictures are of 'Ben Kitto' who plays the villain in out media production, the bellow picture is of  'Clive Owen' from the 2005 Action thriller 'Sin City'.

The social group which these characters are relating to is 'male adults'.  These two characters have various similarities including role in the film and costume.  Both the roles of the characters are villains which intimidate people, also they both have intensions of killing people

The costume of the characters are very similar, they both have long dark hair which creates suspicion for the audience, giving the impression that they are trying to hide something. The long leather jacket which was an essential part of our costume list also helps to give this impression. The leather jacket makes the audience think that the characters are criminals. This is a general stereotype for clothing trends within men’s fashion, as trying to look like a 'gangster'. This is shown to be a good costume choice as it is used in several films.

The body positioning reinstates the stereotype of men as being dangerous. Both the men are hunching their shoulders forward; this represents the males as being aggressive. Both men are big on the upper body which represents forcefulness.

These aspects of the characters represent the social group of 'male adults' as being vicious; this is shown through different media aspects.

Question 3 What kind of media institutions might distribute your product and why?

This is our production logo which the will be the face of all out distributed films.

A film producer works behind the scenes of a production to get the film produced. The producer overlooks almost every stage of the film from pre-production to distribution.  As part of their role, they are responsible for financial and organizational aspects. 

Companies outside the Hollywood studies (unaffiliated with Hollywood) may be companies which could distribute our film. As they mainly deal with films in their own country, not having our film produced in Hollywood will not affect us from competing for films with available rights in such media categories as theatrical, television and satellite.

As these film producers work within specific countries, this will also give us a chance to use a 'completely British' production as one of our unique selling points.

Other institutions such as The film distribution Association (FDIA) may be helpful in the process of distributing our film as they represent UK theatrical film makers.

http://www.launchingfilms.com/



Afterlife, a 2009 horror with similar conventions to our film. The premier for this was held at a film festival in LA. It was distributed by a division of Overtune Films. Although this film had some negative reviews, with our film having differences in genre and storyline, we hope to receive better. A reason for wanting this institution for distributing our film is because it distributes films similar to ours, and by developing the previous ideas, we will succeed.

WHY SHOULD THEY WANT TO TAKE ON OUR PRODUCTION?

Because we as a team have strong knowledge of the film industry, a good storyline to expand on and a film which can connect with a variety of audiences. From male to female, young to old.

Question 4 Who would be the audience for your media production?

The target audience for our film is 15-26 year olds; the younger and older members of this group would both be able to relate to some of the characters in our film. We decided to rate it as a 15, as it contains some violent scenes, which would not be suitable for audiences under that age.  Our film is aimed at males and females, the males would want to see our film, as there is a lot of action and some violence.  Thriller/horror movies are generally classed as a 'date movie' so the audience is likely come as a couple.   Females would also like to watch our film as they could empathize with the main female character. The socio-economic groups we are aiming to attract are C1-E.

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This is Pricilla King from Bexley Heath, she is 18 and in studying at college. She is a typical example of our target interest. Her interests include shopping, socializing with friends and going to the cinema.

Question 5 How did you attract/address your audience?

Question 6 What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

 

Question 7 Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

For my preliminary task I had to come up with a short sequence of a girl walking, sitting down having a short conversation with another girl and then walking off again. This was to help us grasp the concepts of using the camera and camera equipment, editing and editing techniques and adding sound if needed.

My preliminary task allowed me to explore with technology available to our media group. I learnt how to set a tripod, which helps to hold the camera straight and allows the shot to be level. You can also position the height of the tripod for different camera shots. The cameras that we used had different buttons which standard cameras do not have. Some of them were being able to watch back the footage, as well as rewinding and fast forwarding footage. Learning these techniques helped me in my production.

When filming my task, I also learnt that when filming a conversation, or a short-reverse-shot, you have to film the same sequence from three or four different angles.

The process of editing were one of the main techniques I learnt through my preliminary task, this knowledge really helped me in my production. The first thing i learnt was how to log and capture footage, this process gets all the footage onto the system and saves it, this takes sometime even when the footage is a small amount. Next I learnt how to cut footage, get rid of the footage I did not wont in my preliminary task and then put the good footage into an order that is playable. I also learnt how to use transitions and different effects, this knowledge was useful in the editing stage of my production. My previous knowledge of effects helped me to make the right transition choices.

All the information I learnt in the process of my preliminary task has helped Catherine and I get through the editing process without needing major help from anyone and make precise decisions.

Personal Responsibilities (plus dates completed by)

Preliminary task & evaluation   14/11/110
Preliminary task shot list- 14/11/10
Script - 16/11/10
Pitch - 06/02/11
Narrative Codes - 7/11/02
Features film synopsis (Patsy&Katherine) - 10/02/11
Opening Sequence - 18/11/10
Thriller Codes & Conventions - 21/02/11
Audience research - 23/02/11
Sunb Genres of thillers - 28/02/11

Opening Sequence Analysis 2 -Kill Bill

Opening sequence analysis 2

The second opening sequence I will be analysing is ‘Kill Bill’ the crime thriller directed by Quentin Tarantino.

Through the use of cinematography, the director has conveyed certain things to the audience. A close up of an unknown female characters face is shown, evident fear and terror is shown in this shot, and the close up helps to show this clearly. Within this shot you can see the character shaking out of fear as well; this creates a tense atmosphere for the audience. A worm’s view shot has been chosen by the director, it shows a man shoe and trouser leg walking, and this establishes another character in the movie.

The aspects of mise-en-scene that have been used in this one and a half minute clip helps to build enigma and information regarding the characters. The unknown female character is positioned lying on her back, make-up has been used to show her face almost completely covered in blood, this shows to the audience that this character is a typical venerable female.
This plays along with the audiences expectations of females playing roles within thriller movies. Clothing props have been used to show the unknown male characters feet walking, his shoes are very smart and his trousers seem to be ones you would wear with a suit. The smartness of his clothing compared to the females show a difference in authority in this scene. Another prop has been used to establish more of the plot, a handkerchief is used by the male character to wipe blood of her face, while this is happening the female does not move, this may be because of the pain she is in. This allows the audience to see the clear antagonist and protagonist of the film. The handkerchief has the name ‘Bill’ sewn on to it, this also shows that the main character is one of the two in the clip.

A juxta-position of shots is put together in this clip to help create tensions and establish the character roles. A part of the ‘Classic Hollywood Style’ editing technique used has been used here, eye line match. A shot of the female character is shown of her looking at something, this then jumps to a clip of the male character walking and then a shot is shown of the female again. By using this technique it reinstates to the audience the vulnerability of the female. Once she sees the man foot the look of fear in her expression is increased rapidly but she does not move, this shows to the audience again that she must be in great pain as she is obviously scared but does not move.

The sound which has been added to this opening sequence gives the most away to the audience, in my opinion. Heavy breathing and whimpering is heard coming from the female character, which again shows that she is in pain. The digetic sounds of footsteps are also heard, these are in line with the heavy breathing, and this shows the audience that the female character is scared of the person who is walking. The sound of creaking floor boards could show that they are in an old house or building, nothing further is added to uncovering the setting. The first line of digetic dialogue comes from the male character ‘do you find me sadistic’? This sentence along with the way it is spoken shows that is it a rhetorical question, it shows that he is the person who hurt the female. The question is rhetorical as the female character would believe that the man is indeed a sadist. He continues the one- way conversation with ‘I hope you are aware enough to know that there is nothing sadistic in my actions’. This sentence shows that what he has done to the women, he either doesn’t believe he done nothing wrong or did not enjoy it. The antagonist is clearly establishes within this opening sequence. The sequence ends with a sound of a gun reloading in pace with the females breathing, it is then pulled and the women is shot in the head.

Opening Sequence Analysis (1)

Opening Sequence Analysis 1

For a part of my research and pre production I will be analysing two opening sequences of the same genre as my film, which is thriller. I will be using the four main technical aspects in analysing a clip; mise-en-scene, editing, sound and cinematography to show how they convey enigma, genre, setting, character, mood and the plot of the story.

The first opening sequence I will be exploring is the mystery thriller ‘Seven’. Mise-en-scene is used in the opening sequence to establish the genre and to give the audience a little insight to one of the central characters successfully. Enigma is established through the use of props, throughout the two minute clip different pictures are shown of unknown people’s faces, this leaves the audience wondering who they are, also rows of books and pages of books are shown more than several times. This leaves the audience also wondering what the unknown character is researching; this gives a little insight into the character as it shows he is very interested in something he is researching.               

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Certain aspects of editing are used in the opening sequence to particularly convey enigma, the characters, mood and story plot of the film. A montage editing technique is used to show loads of different clips placed together. This allows the audience to see what the character is looking at, a range of different texts, pictures of people and different things, also the characters hands are shown using different appliances, and these clips together create an uneasy atmosphere. The pace of the editing starts of slow then gets faster and faster, a connotation for this could be that the character is eager to get something completed. A red dissolve is used to show one clip changing to another, the clip which the editor has chosen to place this other is a picture of a young boy who previously had his eyes and then whole faces scribbled out. As red symbolises death this could mean that the young boy is now dead.

The unstableness of the character is established through the use of cinematography, several extreme close-ups are used to show the character cutting slices of skin off his fingers and pushing needles into his fingers. This shows the audience that the character is most likely to not be mentally healthy as he is repeatedly hurting himself. A POV shot of the character picking up a book is shown, his fingers are wrapped in bandages, this creates a gloomy atmosphere as it is evident the character is making himself bleed, this also helps to establish the thriller genre. A close up on a tea bag entering a cup of hot water is shown, this is put next to a picture of what looks like a daemon, these two shots together show to the audience that the things the character is looking at and the things he is doing is an everyday occurrence for him.

The sound the director chose to use over the opening sequence is unknown digetic score music. The start of the track starts of slow paced with a slow beat, which matches the action of the clip, through the beginning there is a constant ticking, which may symbolize a time restrain or lack of time to complete something. Some of the sounds over the top of the music sound like electrical appliances which set an enigma for the audience as what those sounds are. As the clips get faster so does the beat of the music and also the strange noises become more frequent. The music altogether creates a gloomy atmosphere; a big factor of this is the screeching noise in the background.



Preliminary Task Evalutation- Patsy Jones & Catherine Seiersen

Our Preliminary task involved us filming an unknown character walking through a hallway and sitting down opposite another unknown character. The characters exchange three lines of dialogue each and then the first character gets up and walks away into another corridor. We mainly used over the shoulder shots, long shots and medium shots to record the action but we did involve other shots such as close ups to add a better effect to the task. All shots were planned beforehand as well as the dialogue spoken.

We decided to film at Havering College in the Creative Arts Block as it's layout connected well for our shots, making it easier to keep to the 180 degree rule and keep a continuity to the shots. The only problems we came across was getting the right height of the camera so it lined up with the characters height but we soon got used to how to change the height on the tripod.

Doing this task taught us how to use the camera and the tripod correctly as well as loading the tape into the camera. We learnt how to film and edit a short sequence which gave us better knowledge for our opening sequence task. This gave us a good introduction and practice on being a director, camera person and editor. Having this understanding has given us the knowledge and confidence to film action for our opening sequence well.

Preliminary Shot List

Premliminary shot list

Preliminary Task- Patsy Jones & Catherine Seiersen