Monday, 10 May 2010
Friday, 7 May 2010
evaluation
1.In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media product is based as an action thriller which is typically set in foreign or strange areas create a feeling of unfamiliarity that keeps the viewer feeling unsafe and on edge however as we couldn�t go to an area like this we found an area that we could make a chase scene which could course into lots of different directions, the area that we started out at was quite a built up place as it is near a supermarket with people about which we chose to give a feel of openness and what should be safety in a large group but the main person is uneasy and scared which gives the viewer an insight into the power of the villains but then as the chase goes on it comes away from this area and goes into a more and more quiet area away from other people and then eventually into an area that has a dead end where the good guy is killed this abrupt end was done on person as it creates a sense of mystery as to why this has happened and what was the importance of the memory stick that the villains took at the end is, we did this to remain in keeping with the typical idea of a thriller as they are meant to have mysteries that can be unravelled throughout the film.
The costumes of the villains were smart and suited to create a feel of high status and power which contrasts with the good guy who is wearing relatively normal clothing that can allow the viewer to relate with putting them in the same situation, the suited look is also linked with gangsters and more sophisticated organised crime which is the thing we wanted to get across to the viewer.
The editing of the movie is quick and fairly cut up in order to create a frantic feel that goes with the fast pace of the chase. There are a range of shots that are used in order to keep the attention of the viewer scattered and make sure that you don�t see the same shot for too long.
The movie�s title is 72 hours which is a key part in the synopsis and plays an important role within the film but it�s not clear what happens within this time frame as you get a scene from the end at the start which keeps you unsure of the events leading up to the end which is an idea that is used a lot in thrillers.
The characters aren�t introduced by name and are kept anonymous as the viewers are made to guess what is going on as it starts straight away in the action, of course later in the film it would all become obvious and the scenario will be explained as is typical with a thriller. It also starts quick which is a feature of an action film that immediately gets the audience involved.
2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our movie represents young people as the main good guy in it is a normal young person dressed in normal modern clothes and is of a normal build which means he is in no way a huge hero that is apparent in some other types of movies, this helps the audience to relate to the person more easily and so get the audience more involved in the action. It also helps to make the character more helpless against the villains and makes the viewer feel more on edge when the villain is near the good guy as he is more frantic and fearful. The villains in our movie are dressed in smart clothing that is stereotypically seen as an outfit worn by gangsters and organised criminals like the mafia, this helps as the viewer has already got an idea of what this sort of character represents and gives them an idea of the violent nature of the villains. It also shows power and a position of higher status over the good guy which makes them a stronger force against the good guy.
3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The type of media institutor that would distribute our media product would be a small British one like film four. This institution would be in charge of putting the movie in the cinema or onto DVDs that people could then purchase. This is an important job but couldn�t be done by a larger institution because of an obvious lack of funds it is also a movie that has a relatively small audience who would be people looking for a more in depth storyline and not so interested in the large special effects or big known actors that are common in the big movies.
The money from investors would probably have to come from a number of sources as the film would be able to be more independently run by the director and is too small an operation to have all of the money and extra effort of a major producer and so we would use a number of small producers.
4.Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for our movie would be young people from a range of class backgrounds as the characters in the film are young especially the main character which means it would be easier to relate to from the audiences point of view also the way that the character acts would appeal more to a younger audience as they see the violence and gangster mentality more entertaining. We proved this by doing a questionnaire that asked a range of people what genres and movies were there favourite which showed that the people most likely to enjoy our type of movie was people aged 15-30 however as the movie is quite violent in nature and has reference to drugs and gang crime the movie may be rated as a 18 certificate which would rule out anyone below 18 as a real audience which means that the target audience for our movie would be people aged from 18-30.
Our movie was also showed to be preferred by males which was what we estimated as it contains a more male perspective with the violence and drugs and also the characters are all mostly male which creates a more male atmosphere in the movie. The movie is also quite stereotypically masculine and contains reference to gangsters which are in similar movies that were popular with young males which gives us an insight through similar experiences.
5.How did you attract/address your audience?
We attracted our audience by incorporating similar characters that were in other popular movies like the gangsters who have been seen as wearing suits and smart dress and carrying guns which can automatically generate an audience who already like this sort of venture and who will want to watch it because of what they think it will be like by experience of other similar films. It is clear that the film is very similar to other types of movie that involve gangsters and criminals, but the clip shows the good guy dying in the first two minutes which are set 72 hours before prior to the start of the movie which gives a higher meaning to the title and makes the viewer guess as to why the person is killed in the 72 hours which immediately grabs the viewer and makes them want to see the rest of the movie and should keep them interested throughout as it is explained in the story.
The use of music is fact and quite popular with young people, it is however relatively unknown but is in keeping with the usual youth culture which could attract people who like the music and who think that the movie will appeal to them through as much as the music does. It is also quite fast and upbeat which gives the opening clip a lot of energy that shows that the movie will have a similar pace and would appeal to people who want t watch something action filled and fast paced and will show the audience immediately what they can expect from the film in terms of action.
6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
We have learnt a range of filming techniques that are useful in different situations and what is the best shot type for different scenes. We have also learnt how to operate and position correctly the camera and when it was appropriate to use the other equipment for example when the need to use the tripod was and the appropriate height at which to set it in order to get the whole shot in how we wanted it to look which was important as the film wouldn�t look right if the scene kept cutting to different heights, we also put the tripod at slanted angles in order to have a steady shot at an angle.
Another part of the technology was the editing software where we needed to put the whole story together and needed thought throughout the shooting of the movie because we needed to have an idea of what was going into the main move and how we were going to edit it together. We then had to actually edit it together on the computer which created problems as the format of the clips off of the camera were not compatible with the software and so we needed to change the format every time we wanted to edit the clips, there was also a problem when we wanted to insert a few extra clips into the main project as the sound overlapped the music that we had and also the music wouldn�t play in certain areas which we had to fix. Another problem was the exporting of the movie because whenever it exported to a file that was easily copied and watchable off of the editing software as the clips would be too small or of a poor quality and wouldn�t have sound.
7.Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
We have learnt the importance of planning since the preliminary as in the preliminary we quickly made a brief story just so that we could film a scene that contained the key elements and also had some form of physical action so that we could practice editing it together and make it look as smooth as possible so that when it came to our main project that had action in it we would have more experience in putting the clips together.
We also decided to have the movie only with non-diegetic sound because the sound equipment wasn�t very good when we shot the preliminary and when we shot the main task we realised that it would be hard to make the sound good especially as we were in a crowded area and were outdoors were the wind would distort the characters voices which would ruin the whole project, we also wanted to create a feeling of pace and action as the running scene goes on as we saw with the preliminary if the scene is quiet for too long the scene becomes boring or awkward. It also became a problem for editing as the sound of the background would change slightly and make the transition obvious and less smooth and make the project broken up.
We also learnt the types of shots that would be important when filming the main project like the 180 degree rule and match on action that helped us to incorporate a larger range of shots in the main project
Our media product is based as an action thriller which is typically set in foreign or strange areas create a feeling of unfamiliarity that keeps the viewer feeling unsafe and on edge however as we couldn�t go to an area like this we found an area that we could make a chase scene which could course into lots of different directions, the area that we started out at was quite a built up place as it is near a supermarket with people about which we chose to give a feel of openness and what should be safety in a large group but the main person is uneasy and scared which gives the viewer an insight into the power of the villains but then as the chase goes on it comes away from this area and goes into a more and more quiet area away from other people and then eventually into an area that has a dead end where the good guy is killed this abrupt end was done on person as it creates a sense of mystery as to why this has happened and what was the importance of the memory stick that the villains took at the end is, we did this to remain in keeping with the typical idea of a thriller as they are meant to have mysteries that can be unravelled throughout the film.
The costumes of the villains were smart and suited to create a feel of high status and power which contrasts with the good guy who is wearing relatively normal clothing that can allow the viewer to relate with putting them in the same situation, the suited look is also linked with gangsters and more sophisticated organised crime which is the thing we wanted to get across to the viewer.
The editing of the movie is quick and fairly cut up in order to create a frantic feel that goes with the fast pace of the chase. There are a range of shots that are used in order to keep the attention of the viewer scattered and make sure that you don�t see the same shot for too long.
The movie�s title is 72 hours which is a key part in the synopsis and plays an important role within the film but it�s not clear what happens within this time frame as you get a scene from the end at the start which keeps you unsure of the events leading up to the end which is an idea that is used a lot in thrillers.
The characters aren�t introduced by name and are kept anonymous as the viewers are made to guess what is going on as it starts straight away in the action, of course later in the film it would all become obvious and the scenario will be explained as is typical with a thriller. It also starts quick which is a feature of an action film that immediately gets the audience involved.
2.How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our movie represents young people as the main good guy in it is a normal young person dressed in normal modern clothes and is of a normal build which means he is in no way a huge hero that is apparent in some other types of movies, this helps the audience to relate to the person more easily and so get the audience more involved in the action. It also helps to make the character more helpless against the villains and makes the viewer feel more on edge when the villain is near the good guy as he is more frantic and fearful. The villains in our movie are dressed in smart clothing that is stereotypically seen as an outfit worn by gangsters and organised criminals like the mafia, this helps as the viewer has already got an idea of what this sort of character represents and gives them an idea of the violent nature of the villains. It also shows power and a position of higher status over the good guy which makes them a stronger force against the good guy.
3.What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The type of media institutor that would distribute our media product would be a small British one like film four. This institution would be in charge of putting the movie in the cinema or onto DVDs that people could then purchase. This is an important job but couldn�t be done by a larger institution because of an obvious lack of funds it is also a movie that has a relatively small audience who would be people looking for a more in depth storyline and not so interested in the large special effects or big known actors that are common in the big movies.
The money from investors would probably have to come from a number of sources as the film would be able to be more independently run by the director and is too small an operation to have all of the money and extra effort of a major producer and so we would use a number of small producers.
4.Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for our movie would be young people from a range of class backgrounds as the characters in the film are young especially the main character which means it would be easier to relate to from the audiences point of view also the way that the character acts would appeal more to a younger audience as they see the violence and gangster mentality more entertaining. We proved this by doing a questionnaire that asked a range of people what genres and movies were there favourite which showed that the people most likely to enjoy our type of movie was people aged 15-30 however as the movie is quite violent in nature and has reference to drugs and gang crime the movie may be rated as a 18 certificate which would rule out anyone below 18 as a real audience which means that the target audience for our movie would be people aged from 18-30.
Our movie was also showed to be preferred by males which was what we estimated as it contains a more male perspective with the violence and drugs and also the characters are all mostly male which creates a more male atmosphere in the movie. The movie is also quite stereotypically masculine and contains reference to gangsters which are in similar movies that were popular with young males which gives us an insight through similar experiences.
5.How did you attract/address your audience?
We attracted our audience by incorporating similar characters that were in other popular movies like the gangsters who have been seen as wearing suits and smart dress and carrying guns which can automatically generate an audience who already like this sort of venture and who will want to watch it because of what they think it will be like by experience of other similar films. It is clear that the film is very similar to other types of movie that involve gangsters and criminals, but the clip shows the good guy dying in the first two minutes which are set 72 hours before prior to the start of the movie which gives a higher meaning to the title and makes the viewer guess as to why the person is killed in the 72 hours which immediately grabs the viewer and makes them want to see the rest of the movie and should keep them interested throughout as it is explained in the story.
The use of music is fact and quite popular with young people, it is however relatively unknown but is in keeping with the usual youth culture which could attract people who like the music and who think that the movie will appeal to them through as much as the music does. It is also quite fast and upbeat which gives the opening clip a lot of energy that shows that the movie will have a similar pace and would appeal to people who want t watch something action filled and fast paced and will show the audience immediately what they can expect from the film in terms of action.
6.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
We have learnt a range of filming techniques that are useful in different situations and what is the best shot type for different scenes. We have also learnt how to operate and position correctly the camera and when it was appropriate to use the other equipment for example when the need to use the tripod was and the appropriate height at which to set it in order to get the whole shot in how we wanted it to look which was important as the film wouldn�t look right if the scene kept cutting to different heights, we also put the tripod at slanted angles in order to have a steady shot at an angle.
Another part of the technology was the editing software where we needed to put the whole story together and needed thought throughout the shooting of the movie because we needed to have an idea of what was going into the main move and how we were going to edit it together. We then had to actually edit it together on the computer which created problems as the format of the clips off of the camera were not compatible with the software and so we needed to change the format every time we wanted to edit the clips, there was also a problem when we wanted to insert a few extra clips into the main project as the sound overlapped the music that we had and also the music wouldn�t play in certain areas which we had to fix. Another problem was the exporting of the movie because whenever it exported to a file that was easily copied and watchable off of the editing software as the clips would be too small or of a poor quality and wouldn�t have sound.
7.Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?
We have learnt the importance of planning since the preliminary as in the preliminary we quickly made a brief story just so that we could film a scene that contained the key elements and also had some form of physical action so that we could practice editing it together and make it look as smooth as possible so that when it came to our main project that had action in it we would have more experience in putting the clips together.
We also decided to have the movie only with non-diegetic sound because the sound equipment wasn�t very good when we shot the preliminary and when we shot the main task we realised that it would be hard to make the sound good especially as we were in a crowded area and were outdoors were the wind would distort the characters voices which would ruin the whole project, we also wanted to create a feeling of pace and action as the running scene goes on as we saw with the preliminary if the scene is quiet for too long the scene becomes boring or awkward. It also became a problem for editing as the sound of the background would change slightly and make the transition obvious and less smooth and make the project broken up.
We also learnt the types of shots that would be important when filming the main project like the 180 degree rule and match on action that helped us to incorporate a larger range of shots in the main project
Thursday, 6 May 2010
newer rough cut
we amde a rough cut of the new synopsis with the new story board which has the chase that was used in the main project, this has since been changed and added with more clips that keep up the pace and a better range of shots for a better quality scene and a more explained story. it doesn't have any sound at the moment as there was a problem with the formatting of the clip into a clip that can be used on the blog this was a problem with the editing software as it was difficult to get the clip to have sound. we did however add the music and sound effects that we intended to use in the final product. this simpler version helped us to see where we needed to improve and gave us an idea of what worked when it came to the editing of the movie, we aslo got some audience feedback that helped us when it came to refilming certain parts and adding more clip.
genre research
our main movie is quite a fast paced action thriller which is about gangsters and the pursuit of someone who is in posession of something that they want which has been represented by a memory stick in our movie this hasn't been fully explained in the clip as this adds to the mystery which is the main point in a thriller all you know is that the item is of importance which is why we got a close up of the people retrieving it at the end of the movie project. the bad people in our movie are dressed smartly and represent an organised criminal group which is typical of a classic tghriller as the villains are easily distinguishable from the neutral or good characters, it also gives a sense of class and status which is above that of the good characters. also typically in a thriller there are frequent violent confrontations and having the good person in a state of jeopardy which is an idea that we included in our project, another way in which we have kept to the typical story is that we had the good guy as the weaker source who will eventually beat the bad guys in the end it is also quite often seen in film noir that the hero will die or have a sacrifice in the end in oreder to defeat the bad guy.
we also made the location a quite quiet area but with houses and people nearby which creates a feel of lonelyness in a crowd and creating a fearful view of the bad guys who have the upper hand throughout
we also made the location a quite quiet area but with houses and people nearby which creates a feel of lonelyness in a crowd and creating a fearful view of the bad guys who have the upper hand throughout
Friday, 30 April 2010
problems
we had a few problems throughout the filming of our movie. the first problem was that we couldn't find an appropriate location for our first plot and ideas and so we had to adapt the synopsis a few times because of the actors and scenery that was available this meant that the synopsis was based around the place. we also had to film and edit the film twice because the first one was too clunky and needed sharpening up and so we filmed and edited it again to make it better, however we realised we needed a few more shots and had to film them on a seperate day and so needed to inform the actor that he had to wear the same clothes to keep some continuity another problem was that the weather had to be the same or roughly the same as when we filmed it the first time so that the weather didn't change suddenly between scenes, this was a problem because we couldn't film on any day. another problem was that there was a skip where we filmed the last scene and so we had to film around it so it wasn't in shot. we also generally had to make sure that we kept the people in the same positions and acting style as the first time which required thought
Thursday, 29 April 2010
film research
Snatch is fairly similar to our movie and we wanted to make our movie alike in the fact that it was fast paced and based around people involved in crime and gangs; we also wanted to have some twists and turns in our movie like the ones that were in snatch. We also quite liked the idea of having the movie’s story reliant on a number of different characters that we see in different scenes and yet are interlinked and all come together as the story unfolds. This movie is one that we have taken some influence from. This means that as we want to create the same feel of this movie we will have a similar target audience as the genre and type of story is the same.
shots for filming
In film, a shot is a continuous strip of motion picture film, created of a series of frames that runs for an uninterrupted period of time. Shots are generally filmed with a single camera and can be of any duration. A shot in production, defined by the beginning and end of a capturing process, is equivalent to a clip in editing, defined as the continuous footage between two edits. Frames, shots, clips, scenes, and sequences form a hierarchy of units fundamental to many tasks in the creation of moving-image works.
The size of shot and what is in it is important
The use of different shot sizes can influence the meaning which an audience will interpret.
The size of the subject in frame depends on two things: the distance the camera is away from the subject and the focal length of the camera lens.
Common shot sizes:
• Extreme close-up: Focuses on a single facial feature, such as lips and eyes.
• Close-up: May be used to show tension.
• Medium shot: Often used, but considered bad practice by many directors, as it often denies setting establishment and is generally less effective than the Close-up.
• Long shot
• Establishing shot: Mainly used at a new location to give the audience a sense of locality.
Choice of shot size is also directly related to the size of the final display screen the audience will see. A Long shot has much more dramatic power on a large theater screen, whereas the same shot would be powerless on a small TV or computer screen.
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