Thursday 31 March 2011

8. Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the product ?


CAMERA


These two shots are from my prelim film, Both shots are terrible.  In the first shot, it is a low angle however you couldn't see the feet of the person walking. Also the lighting was dark so it made the scene look pix-elated. The second shot it not as bad however i feel if it was a wider shot it would have been much better. Also if there was better lighting. This is because you would be able to see the board and all the pictures that were clipped onto it. We had no other choice but to take another shot from a different angle of just the pictures on the board. Using final cut pro we tried to match cut it however it was 'jumpy'.




These two shots are taken from our Final film. These shots are much better and do fit the content more. They show that i have learnt skills and my progression has been clearly stated. The first shot is the low angle shot of the car tire. evidently you c over the shoulder shot and it is clear as to who is the victim. It is very close and it feels as if we are direcan see the car tire and the surface below it which makes it a fantastic shot. You also get to see the background. The second shot is of me in the kitchen having a light breakfast. In this scene it looks much clearer as the lighting was nice and bright. Also the Mis en Scene of the butter, bread and cup of tea in the shot makes it beautiful as it instantly shows im having a breakfast.  The second shot is a medium close up. However we also managed to film a close up of me eating the toast which eventually turned into successful match cut. 






SOUND

The sound we used in the preliminary task was very dull compared to the sound used in the Final Thriller sequence. When i first started using soundtrack pro, i wasn't very aware of how many sounds where already installed in the program. however, after getting used to all the features of the program we managed to create a beautiful soundtrack for our final film.

We had a sound effect of a radio to begin the scene, then we immediatly played 'Drive by the cars' to make it seem like it was on radio. This technique was very helpfull. 


EXPERIENCE

I learnt that you had to be very careful with the equipment as they were very expensive and needed allot of care when handling. JVC camera, still cameras, memory cards, Tripod and flip cameras were the basics that i used throughout my filming process.
Overall my experience was great and i would do it all over again, i have some really nice memories and have learnt so much about technology and how to use Apple Mac computers.
There were a lot of differences between the two sequences, and in watching them, we could really see the differences and development in our editing and production techniques over time.My skills with editing have improved massively since the beginning of the course: initially, there were just lots of jump cuts and a various range of shots that didn't particularly flow together. Now i have learnt to use different techniques such as over layering shots and merging shots to create am overall effect that is more suspenseful for a physchological thriller.

7. What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product ?

Throughout the working progress of planning and filming , i have learnt to many things for me to even remember. 

As an actor i have always wanted to be involved in the media industry and maybe one day make my own short film and carry on from there in maybe producing a feature film. I was lucky enough to be involved in such a fun course and being able to work with big programs such as Livetype , soundtrack & Final cut really made me feel professional. 

Also being introduced to the JVC cameras which are very expensive was a privilege. Also getting to understand how the cameras work and being able to handle the camera, turn it on/ff , zoom in and out was really interesting. 


 HOWEVER FOR ME, SEEING YOUR FOOTAGE BEING CONSTRUCTED FROM NOTHING TO SOMETHING HAS TO BE THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE COURSE.

6. Audience feedback and comment ?



As a media department, we travelled to the Screen on the green on the 5th April to watch our Thriller movies. As I was the only actor in a film , i seemed to get most feedback which was mostly positive. Unfortunately I couldn't gather any filmed feedback however students had told me and my group how much they liked our opening sequence. 


Personally i believe our final product was amazing however with a little more time and effort it would have been even better ! 

4&5 What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? How will you attract/address your audience ?



Picnic was made by students from Newcastle college and has 7000+ hits on YouTube. The internet has helped them a huge amount as without it they would not have no were else to promote there film. Website like YouTube give people from all over the world not specific countries to upload any video clip to show the world, it also allows viewers to comment giving feedback on what they feel about the clip. The Other Side is a  low budget film made by college students it can be found on blogger and also YouTube. The production is independent made by my group and it will get cinematic viewing by class peers and maybe family members. The film will get DVD of only 200 copies. They have also been getting great feedback from viewers all over the world for example one viewer said 'This was awesome. It had great idea and has inspired me for my next film project!'

3. Who would be the audience for your media product ?


Charlie is a 24 year old man from North London. Charlie works in the city. Every morning he wakes up at 7 to go for a jog around Clissold Park the cycles to work in his illuminated cycling jacket. 


Charlie likes to go gym at least 4 times a week then after a hard session he loves to relax in the sauna while he listens to some Pop music.
Charlie lives with his girlfriend Sue who complains about the amount of money Charlie spends on DVD's.
Every night Charlie will fall asleep to a film he has bought. He says he has never watched a film more than twice. With the exception of Shutter Island. 

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



In our opening, our character is presented in a very formal fashion wearing a suit whilst wheeling his suitcase into his car bonnet. However the initial character who kidnaps the child is dressed in all black which is stereotypical as most crimes are committed in an 'all black dress code'. Another stereotype I often pick up on movies i trying to make the Villian look like a normal member of society by dressing him in a normal fashion. In the Stepfather for example we see Dylan Walsh preparing a light breakfast in a suit and jacket with a clean shave making him look genuinely good looking. However we later find out he is a murderer. Exactly the same in our story, we see our character preparing a breakfast in a suit looking quite good looking then we find out that the character who kidnaps the child in the beginning is driving the same car as the ' innocent good looking man'.  


NORMAL ?
NOT NORMAL. 


1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or change forms and conventions of real media products ?

Our opening sequence begins with an immediate sound of a young child screaming ' dad please stop '. We then a see a moment when a young child is being picked up and placed in a car bonnet. We don't get to see the kidnappers face however we see the the number plate of the car.
We move onto the kitchen scene with sounds of radio playing in the background and a sense of normality as we see breakfast being prepared and myself getting ready.

In the opening sequence of THE STEPFATHER, we see Dylan Walsh, who starred as The Stepfather just about to leave his house after murdering his family on Christmas Day. However before seeing the dead bodies and the bloody knives, we see The Stepfather getting ready , having a shower, a clean shave and a change in contact lenses. In addition, we see him prepare a light breakfast whilst the song ' silent night' is playing in the background.

Our opening sequence is similar to THE STEPFATHER as both sequences begin with a sense of normality  however later during the opening we start to notice there is something dodgy about both characters.

Evaluation

  1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media productions?

    • My thriller video challenges forms of real media products by not putting the titles in order, like how normal media products would put their titles. The thriller opening scene on http://www.artofthetitle.com/ have used the conventional way of listing their titles unlike ours.
    • The thriller opening on http://www.artofthetitle.com/ has used a black background for the start of their thriller opening scene; this is similar to our opening scene as we have done the same.   
    • Moreover, we have established the setting with our first visual shot of the place and area. This is what real media products do in their clip, so we have shown one of the conventional ways of opening a scene.
    • In the first two visual shot our media product has introduced the two main characters as what a real media product will do.
    • Moreover, in a real media product the viewer is given enough information about the film for the viewer to keep their interest in the film. We have also done this as we have given enough information on what has happened and who is involved to the viewer.
    • In addition, we have used intertextuality in our media product from ‘the Stepfather’, the scene of the actor in the kitchen eating his breakfast is the same as the stepfather of him being in the kitchen making his breakfast.

Friday 25 March 2011

Thriller planning

THRILLER PLANNING (BRIEF)




Openings that have Inspired you and why
Taking of Pelham 123-Narrative Opening and the upbeat pace of the scenes, music and the credits
Stepfather-Sense of Normality, then something tragic happens

What Sub Genre will be produced
Psychological thriller

Intertexual references
The scene were we see the same routine (Stepfather)

Fonts and Font effects to be used
Sans Serif as it looks serious and formal and that is the message we are trying to convey. Black fonts, capital letters.

Locations to be used
Resturent, establishing shotof London, Bedrooms, Busstop and on the bus (Turnpike lane)
Key Props to be used
Car, kitchen, suit, suitcase. 



Evaluation of Prelim Film

Prelimery planning

Thriller audiences.

This is an image showing which film genres appeal to certain genders


There are different types of thrillers, from psychological to supernatural thrillers which appeal to different people. 
Action thrillers - MALE 
Supernatural thrillers - FEMALES
Political thrillers - MALE
Detective thrillers - BOTH however they appeal slightly more to FEMALES

1. How many suspense films were released in 2009? How many films were released altogether last year?
Only 31 suspense films were released in 2009, altogether 503 films were released in 2009. 

2. Action, animation and comedy account for 52% of Box Office in the UK in 2009. Why do you think these genres are so popular?
I think these genres are more popular because, not a lot of technology is required compared to something such as horror which is not found a lot in UK films. Furthermore cinema goers tend to be young people and these genres appeal to them.

3.Why do you think Thrillers account for quite a low proprotion of UK Box Office takings (4% in 2009)?
Thrillers tend to have a higher age certificate so some young people and children cannot view it, which has a big effect because they are the main people who go the cinema


4.Looking at the 'genre by gender' diagram above, what information can be derived about Thriller audiences and gender?
Thriller that is to do with action, or has elements of sci-fi are favoured more by men because it is more tense and requires a lot of pace. Females on the other hand prefer romance and although there are not much 'romantic thrillers' they tend to prefer suspense, psychological and passionate murders because, they tend to have an element of lust or romance. 

5.Look at the age certificate for 10 of the films featured on the teaching blog. What does this tell you about Thriller audiences?

This tells us that thriller films are only suitable for people aged 15 and over. This may have an impact on the genre gross in the UK because, most people who go to the cinemas are also under 15. An example of how the age certificate has an impact on the genre gross is the gross in 2009 which was £42, 578, 104 compared to comedy which was £219, 228, 278

Response to watching documentary.

1) The seduction is used to tempt audiences and keep their attention. It could either slowly introduce drama and keep the suspense rising or could have continuous drama. If it were to be full of action and drama, it would need to begin from the start of the movie. Also, there needs to be an instant impact, with lots of drama so people watch the whole movie and not keep them bored.


Thomas Sutcliffe: "Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible."


2) The film needs to instantly get the audiences attention at the start of the film with probably a dramatic opening.  There are many ways to hook the audience,  either with lots of action or to slowly 'seduce' your audience. Also this could be compared to going on a date ,where you gradually wine and dine your partner, bringing your date many unsuspectingly surprises along the way. However... 


Director Jean Jacques Beineix's risks of 'instant arousal'.
- If the start of a movie has straight action and thrill , what happens to the rest of the movie? What else can you do to keep the audience thrilled? You could be stuck for the rest of the movie if all the action is at the beginning.



3) ''a good beginning must make the audience feel that is doesn't know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn't know too little''
- So that the audience remain interested throughout the whole of the film, if too much is given away right at the start, the audience will have too much to take in and eventually give up with watching the film. The balance of what the audience knows should balance what they don't know



4) What does critic Stanley Kauffmann describe as the classic opening? Why does this work?
- The classic opening according to Stanley Kauffman is something that starts with an established shot -of the city/area,followed by a tilt shot - showing a building from top to bottom and then a close up - of a window from the building.



5)Why is Kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film Se7en so effective?
- It goes with the style of the film and it foreshadows the things that are going to happen







6)What did Orson Welles want to achieve with his opening to the flim A Touch of Evil? What did Universal Studios do to it? Why?
- Welles did not want to have any music in his opening scene but Universal Studios did and in the end the studio won. He did not want any music in the beginning because he thought it would have more of an effect without it.


7) What is meant by ''a favourite trick of Flim Noir" ? What is the trick?
-The trick is where the ending of the film is actually the beginning. Telling the story backwards.


8) How does the opening to the flim The Shining create suspense?
- The type of music used and the fact that it was shot from a helicopter makes the car look so small it''follows them like a predator''






Font Analysis: RESEARCH

We looked at two different film covers in class. 
In the Cover of the film 'Pearl Harbour', Bold capital letters with the sans serif font make the title stand out the most out of everything. The serif is quite traditional therefore it has age to it, correspondently the film is quite old aswell therefore the font used emphasis to the audience that this is quite an old film or it is based on a historical event. We are also given a sense of army and unity as the main characters are put together and the man is wearing a uniform which symbolises a team which symbolises unity, mean while the woman is also saluting which signafies something to do with the army. There is also a fighter plane on the cover of this film therefore straight away the text and image give us the sense that the film is somehow related to war. 


On the other hand Rocky uses a specific font called Franklin Gothic Heavy, which is a sans serif font. The words Rocky Big, Black, and strong in order to portay what kind of character Rocky is. The sans serif font is less formal therefore giving a sly sense of welcoming as sans serif is usually a more friendly font. If you focus on the title itself the big word rocky is very simple and doesn't fully fit into the full screen. This again is trying to show that Rocky is a very simple character but you could also say that where the name doesn't fully fit, he is 'punching his way through the poster'.

BASIC FONTS


Fonts

In class we learned about the 2 different types of fonts:

Serif - on fonts such as times and courier. Serif fonts are used more traditionally and using the serif font is seen as more formal.

Sans Serif - on fonts such as Ariel and Comic sans. This use of font is highly encountered between friends as it is seen as less formal than the Serif font.







 

Livetye and Sound: SKILLS

LiveType is a key software we used to create our title sequences for our video introductions. LiveType includes fonts,objects,templates and effects. It can also import all different types of media files which can be converted. The letters that you input can be changed in size,font and boldness, all features of the text can be framed, outlined, opacity and given a glow. LiveType also consist of LiveFont which is the key feature to the programme which gives the font a more professional touch which can make your text animated, smoke writing and put your text into a whirlwind ect.

Livetype


Simultaneously, we was introduced to the programme called Soundtrack which is an audio editing and composing application made to improve sounds and create your own with the click of a few buttons. This application consist of over 5000 professional sound effects and instrument loops from all different types of genre such as jazz,r&b,soul and instruments such as drums,violins and trumpets.

Soundtrack 
 

 

Introduction to editing: SKILLS

As a class we were introduced to the programme which lets us edit our clips called 'Final Cut Pro'. By using this programme we were able to import shots which were recently taken with our camera. we learn things such as putting the clips in chronological order, we also learnt that the green tab is for the sound and the light blue tab is the actual image. We learnt that we could also mute the sound claps if we wanted to just see the image. We made 12 shots for the bagswap scene, some fails, but Final cut pro helped us horten it down and edit it just the way we wanted it. 


During this lesson we also learnt how to add sound, music, to our bagswap scene to make it more dramatic.
Main safety factors when using the Camera’s


Firstly, We were introduced to the safety hazards of working a Film Camera that will
eventually use to shoot our opening sequence of our Thriller films. We was shown the basics
of using the camera such as turning the device on and off. We was also introduced to placing
both 'A & B' memory cards in the right slot. Later during the program we was introduced to
 setting the brightness and contrast of our shot etc...







CAMERA/FILMING RULES  
  • Don’t go out filming in bad weather conditions e.g. Rain and Snow
  • Don’t film in dangerous locations e.g. Railways and Train tracks.
  • Return on time: There are only 15 cameras in the Media Department. In turn there is excess demand for cameras; therefore if one person doesn’t bring their camera back on time they are taking up someone else’s valuable recording time. It is vitally important that we plan when we need them and book them before-hand, and return them when they are due.The lens of a camera is its most expensive feature and we must make sure it is closed at all times. This is because if the lenses are open we are increasing the chances of any damage to them.