This blog has been marked. SJA 08/05/11

preliminary task

This blog has been marked. SJA 10/05/11

Final film- you can't run forever

EVALUATION

what have you learnt about technologies through the process of constructing this product ?

when creating our blogs we had to use a large admount of diffrent technologies. we needed to upload diffrent types of content to make our posts visual in order to follow the marking criteria. this helped make my work look alot more intresting and easier to understand so when someone read it they would have a better idea in there head as to what exactly we where talking about.

During the filming of the opening sequence we used the obvious pieces of equipment like the camera and the tri-pod. I found that using the tri-pod involved carful setting up because if everything was too loose the camera wouldnt be rigid enough to capture the shots without wobble but if it was too tight it made our panning shots look sharp and jerky rather than smooth and professional like it should be.

for music I started to use websites of the internet or in this case www.freeplaymusic.com
where I developed my skills in choosing appropriate music that matched the tempo of the opening sequence and helped accuratly portray it as a thriller opening sequence rather than an american cop show as our original music choice showed.

during the editing sequence of our film I learnt most in the form of new technlogies through livetype. livetype I never used before so it was a great challange for me to try and overcome. I managed to use livetype creatively and effectively by the halfway point of the editing stage for example I started using pillars and car windscreens in which to place my titles for greater cinematic effect compared to the boring title straight across the screen as I had done in my preliminary task. when it came to the evaluation stage we followed the usual formula with our blogs by uploading as much visual material as possible to stress our points.

EVALUATION

Looking back at your preliminary task, what did you feel you have learnt in the progression from that to the full?

looking at my preliminary I feel that I have progressed massively with my overall knowledge of shot-types (use more than the basic close ups and long shots) my knowledge of media terms and awareness to the universal rules of filming and framing a shot.

During the preliminary the cracks in my knowledge inadvaribly showed through the lack of a professional look to my work, major things such as camera shaking, continuity errors and lack of variation in my shot types aswell as ignoring the rules of filming like the 180 degree rule however my current task is a vast step up there is much more creative use of the camera such as the shot we can see of alex that is panned across the bonnet. The general shot quality is also vastly improved there is less camera shake making the film look more professional and slick. continuity problems are less noticeable and non exsistent. My useage of the editing programs on the current task is much better compared to my prelminiary task where for example a title would just be placed on screen my current task would have titles placed on things like pillars and across car windscreens through the use of livetype.

EVALUATION

how did you attract/address the audience

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS-pRk1PE1Y

EVALUATION

who would be the audience for your media product?

I think the target audience for our media product is going to be young teenagers up to adults or somewhere in the age range of between 17 and 28 as I feel this is likely to be the biggest audience who will be attracted to our film.
I think they will be middle class people from the areas of sutton and wimbeldon.

EVALUATION

looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the final product ?

looking back at my preliminary task I feel that i have progressed extremely well. I have effectively furthered my knowledge in order to be able to make a film of better quality such as my framing of shots, my knowledge of shot types and terminology and my awareness of the basic rules that make up a well framed and well made film.

During my preliminary task my quality of shot framing and my lack of ablity in using the camera effectively was easily noticeable to my auidence. my shot quality as vastly improved looking at my current work there is a much wider and more varied use of shot types and the way I set the camera up to film my shots. such as the moving across the camera to suggest violence rather than actually portray it something that is commonly used in many gangster movies. compared to my original task where my shots where sometimes poorly framed or issues of continuity arose that would end up spoiling the polished piece of work which we where striving to have.

EVALUATION question 3

how does your media
product represent particular social groups

the social groups represented in our film where the higher class and lower class members in society. our lower class member was represented with very co

mmon clothing consisting of a hoodie and jeans

and the PI with a smart suit and jacket. these two characters represent sterotypes with suits being seen as a sign of higher status with the character wearing the hoodie of a lower status.
this is a common sight in films as sterotypes are easy features to understand in films.

EVALUATION question 2

what kind of media institution might

distribute your media product and why

When thinking about what sorts of media institutions will distribute our film its important ot remember that it would not likely be distributed by hollywood big names such as fox warnerbrothers 20th century etc etc. our film would more likely be distrubuted by smaller companies such as Miramax,Focus Pictures, Lionsgate and so on as the audiences that are be appealed to are diffrent the bigger companies seek to appeal to a much more wider audience and altough they promote thrillers aswell smaller thriller films are often promoted more by the smaller companies. our film is aimed directly at one type of audience specifcally teenagers to young adults.

EVALUATION

Question 1
in what ways does your media product use devlop or challange forms
and conventions of real media products:our very first scene followed many of the traditional conventions that you see in thriller films. from our establishing shot we gradually reveal the plot slowly through the first few scenes. we revealed our plotline slowly so the audience could understand it. we also choose to put the majority of the credits within the first few scenes, which where shown on screen on neat but bold text so as to portray it rightly as a film and not as a T.V show.

our effective use of sound came down to our choices of music and the postioning of it within the film. at the very start of the film we can see alexwalking through the carpark on his own accompanyed by music that helped set a pace for the first part. then it moved to a much faster paced piece of music so as to appropriatly reflect the pace of the scene and because the tension that the music before was setting has risen.

to help make the film look slick and intresting we tried toincorparate some intresting varietys of shots for example where the camera looked across the bonnet of the car and when alexwalked over the camera and looked like he was stepping over it. In the start we tried to give the viewer the impression that alex was being watched by this PI.

titles

Font

what does a title sequence look like

what does a title sequence look like

a title sequence is used for a film to prsent the key cast and lower cast members aswell as production and any other people involved in the films creation or preparation.

COSTUMES

shooting schedule

WHAT IS A SHOOTING SCHEDULE

A shooting schedule is a table that is used as a project plan for each day of filming
and the overall production process.

Brief

brief

our task for this unit of work will be to produce a short two minuite opening sequence for a genre based on our choice. we will be working in a group for this task. my group is

freddie gleeson
alex richardson
and myself

script

we have decided not to use a script as we feel that diologue would ruin the tension of the chase sequence and plus the silence of the film helps to add dramatic effect the film.

Casting

Casting

storyboards

location research

I decieded to choose these two locations as potential places for our film for a couple of diffrent reasons. the reason i chose the picture on the left is because i like the darkness and sense of mystery that the surronding darkness has that is often seen in films such as "the dark knight". I also admire the fact that it is reminsicent to many 1950s films that use dark surrondings with a small admount of lighting to encapsulate and attract the audience attention to the trench coat wearing P.I.

I liked the location on the right because it was a perfect setting for us to potentially use for a more modern day looking thriller film. the setting leaves enough space for a chase sequence in our film if we wanted to include one in it. the space has more lighting to it but a much grayer coloured background to it implying a sense of unknown for the audience.

character description

character description

PI:

Gender: male

Age: 30

Personality: he is a very stern man, but love to help people in their time of need. he is not afeard

occupation: he has been working as a PI work 6 years and has picked up a lot of experience a long the way.

looks: he is 6" 2', brown hair, 5 o'clock shadow, medium billed and has no defining marks or tattoos.



Danny:

Gender: male

age: 20

Personality: Danny is a good man, but he can be persuaded to do bad things; if the need is there. because he lives alone, he works just to keep him-self afloat, is means that he is not a people person and likes to keep to himself.

occupation: he works a engineer, but as he is not getting a lot of money from this; he has had to join a criminal group to make some more money.

looks: short brown hair, small build

shot list

genre analysis 2

psycho

CAMERA SHOTS

the thing that I like

best about the film physco is the clever use of

certain camera angles and shots that are used in the film itself. although not in the opening sequence the shower murder scene is a good use of camera shots to imply murder in the scene rather than actually try to show a convincing murder through the use of limited special effects that where around at the time.

EDITING

the opening of psycho hits the viewer instantly with many fast cuts espcially in the opening of the film. the credits move in and out very fast but won't appear instantly instead they often slide into the screen in two parts before you see the whole title.
the films inclusion of two shots of vegtables being cut with a knife and a birthday cake being iced with red icing and good examples of what look like innocent things that help imply the themes of murder and suggest that an important murder is going to be the central theme of the movie.

SOUND

the sound in the music is a mix of suspenseful violin lines with the hyperbolic sound of a knife hitting a chopping board and many more.

it has subtle layers of complexity. in certain scenes in the film

such as the shower murder camera shots are used to imply

violence rather than show them outright (see picture). this is a technique that we plan to use in the ending of our film.

the use of camera to show the perspective of the viewr helps a deeper and more intimate look into the unknown of the film.

genre analysis 1

the dark knight

I like the dark knights thriller elemeants. the reasons is because it has a verydark setting to it. this gives a consant feeling of suspense. the suspensuful music

helps to add to the tension of certain scenes. the movie is a tradtional pl

ay on the origins of thriller films with themes dealing with reprisal and dark deeds.

CAMERA SHOTSthe opening sequence of the film starts with a long shot that helps set the scene and reveal the location to the viewer. from this point the camera than gradually moves in

before cutting quickly to a shot that introduces the viewer to the opening char

acters aswell as revealing the themes of bertrayl that will be seen in the rest of the movie.

SETTING
the master shot at the beginning of the film shows straight away that it

is set in the city which allows the reader to start making connection

s as to what the plot will involve who will be the heros and who will be the villian. the setting leads the auidence to believe the characters involved within the film will be high profile and powerful.

COSTUMES
through the opening sequence we can clearly see that the costumes show the power balance very clearly. we notice that within the group of men the less powerful characters are dressed in the crude

casual clothing whereas the man wearing a suit is obvisously the most important character

in the scene. the camera reinforces his status by making him center of the shot more and more as the opening sequence goes on.

SOUND

the music within the opening sequence reflects in the pace of the scene and whats happening. at the start the music is dramatic but quiet as to reflect the fact that something big is going to happen. the music then builds and builds before it cresencdoes near to the end to show the shock of the characters who realised they have been bertrayed.

sound and music

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=25456

http://www.freesound.org/samplesview single.php?id=25456

heavy breathing sound that could be used towards the end of the chase sequence in the film

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=85599

a puddle splash sound that could be used for dannys walk through the carpark

http://freeplaymusic.com/search/category_search.php?t=v&i=903

track cinematic electronic six: could be used for the chase sequence

http://freeplaymusic.com/search/advanced_search_ext.php

track night prowler: could be used for the build up to the chase sequence

thriller questionairre

Props, costumes and locations

Props:

a 1 pound coin to use for the scene with the pay and display in it

a car for danny

Location:

car park in sutton

costume:

P.I: black suit trousers

white shirt

black tie

black/brown trench coat

fedora hat

possibly sunglasses

danny: grey trousers

white polo shirt

trainers

police officer: black stab vest

blue shirt

blue trousers

black shoes

blue police hat

film synopsis

the opening starts with the camera following the car owned by gang member danny. he believes that he"s meeting with a high profile drug dealer. however as he makes his way into the car park and steps out to make his way towards the meeting point for the drug deal he spots to him what looks like a P.I he was suspicious that something wasn"t right as soon as he entered the car park. he knows hes been lured into a trap so he attempts to make a run for it however the P.I chases after him and after a long and intense chase they reach the top of the car park. danny makes his way over to the edge with the P.I watching him trying to figure out how best to get him away from the edge. however danny rather than be caught by the police decides to jump of the edge.

later on in the film you find out that this P.I was hired by a special crimes and tactics devision to monitor and bring down the high profile gangs within the area. and this is how danny comes into the story, we find out that danny was part of a gang that where connected to a number of crimes and robberys in the area so the P.I starts to look into some leads into finding out more about dannys life. the P.I discovers that danny wasnt always the criminal that he thought him to be but a former engineer that after finding he could no longer pay his bills started to help a man move some things around town. the man brings him into a gang that he is part of. danny moves higher and higher up the ranks and as such is tasked with worse and worse jobs. he receives a job where must go and burn down a house which he does although after he finds out that unknowingly hes burned it down while there was still a whole family in there. he sprials into a downward depression from there which takes the story background to the point of where it starts in the car park.

wallander

CAMERA SHOTS

wallander's opening consists of a slow establishing shot that pans gradually over some small hills to a lone taxi that is sitting in the middle of no where which leads the audience to first ask whats so important about this lone taxi. the fast paced editing cutting from shot to shot helps to highlight the fact that this is a murder that has been committed by two girls.

the striaght professional layout of the text show the fact that this is an adaptation of a book. the text could also be used to suggesst the police involevmeant in the opening sequence.

COSTUMES

the costumes worn by the actors help to clearly distinguish there roles in the opening sequence for example the main police officer is easily identified by the fact he is not wearing the normal uniform of standard officers. his use of what could be considered a luxary car help define him as both a powerful character and a important player for the rest of the film.

EDITING

the opening text is cleverly edited to give away some of the plot. some of the little things given away could be used to imply that they are important momeants within the film that may appear in eith the opening sequence or later in the film.
there are many use's of cuts particurley in the scenes of the interview which help to enuciate the emotion of the characters.

SPECIAL EFFECTS

There are little to no special effects in the movie with frame number 9 in the grid being one of the only example.

kiss me deadly

kiss me deadly is an excellent opening sequence that prompts many question but also leads to many assumptions from the audience.

it starts with a shot of a womens feet as shes running barefooted down a highway road breathing heavily. this leads the audience to assume that she must be in trouble, the quick cuts between the feet and the womens faces help communicate the sense of desperation

that shes feeling. her simple trench coat being her real piece of clothing helps give the feeling that shes someone whos trying to escape from somewhere which is reienforced by her reaction to a police blockade that we see later on in the opening sequence.

the music is also an important elemeant as it dosent start of and then gradually build as most thrillers do but opens on an immediate high giving instant tension to the scene. the way the titles roll across the screen is an unusual feature not commonly found in films. it could possibly be this way as they might have some reference later in the film.

double indemnity

double indemnitys opening sequence is an effective but also intresting one.

in the start of the film when the opening credits roll we see a man with two crutches slowly making his way to the forefront of the scene. this makes sure that the first questions the audience asks is who is this man and why cant you see his face. this may have been a deliberate choice of the directors as the character must have some importance later on in the film.

brick (2005, johnson, US)

the movies sound effect is effective at creating a mood of suspense

the slow almost child like sound music starts quiter but gradually

builds into an increased speed which could perhaps represent the characters

heartbeat in response to the situation of the dead girl lying before him.

the shots used in the opening consist mainly of close up shots

to help show the emotions of the characters in a ore indepth way

the costumes help in prompting questions from the audience watching

such as why is a simple guy wearing the stereotypical american high

school teen costume sitting in a dank and dark sewer entrance with a dead girl in front of him

the darkness of the opening helps add to the sense of mystery and makes the audience ask the most important question how did they get to this point. the editing of the shots helps to

add to the questions the audience are asking. the long drawn out shots of the car park with the high school cheerleaders and the sewer entrance help the audience in questioning the type of characters these people are and what there roles are to what theyve just seen in the opening.

intial film ideas

for our film opening we have chosen to go with the genre of thriller.
our intial idea is to base our story around the life of a convict whos committed
a serious crime from which he becomes paranoid and fears the police are consistently
watching him.

for our setting we wanted to use a carpark or a style of a similer setting.
our characters are a private investigator and the criminal.
the private investigator will be wearing a costume consisting of a
suit minus a jacket with a trench coat and hat

the criminal's costume will be jeans and possibly a leather jacket

conventions of an opening sequence

an opening sequence has a number of jobs to do in
connection with the film.

things such as:

• creating intrest within the audience
• making the audience ask questions constantly
• giving away some of the plot to entice the viewer
  to watch the rest of the film
• to show the cast and crew and to introduce the actors
  

a good opening sequences would be the often refrenced se7en

conventions of thrillers

the conventions of thrillers must include:

• quick cutting during the editing
• quick camera angle changes
• music that creates instant tension or more commanly a growing tension
• the use of shadows and darkened places not portraying horrors or action but the thriller aspect

in thriller films the story will often be shown through the points of views of two characters
for example the main protaginist or possibly the villain

the sixth sense (1999, shamylan, US)

the sixth sense is a good example of a very effective thriller opening. the reason for this is because the opening shows all the classic examples seen in many diffrent thriller films. it has a dark setting that is often used. the slow playing music which builds ever so slightly during the opening helps to create a small level of suspense before the audience is introduced to the characters.

CAMERA SHOTS

the camera shot

EDITING

the editing of the film is slow and gradually moves from shot to shot to give a small feeling of tension that lingers throughout the opening sequence.