Media Evaulation Question 7

When we look at the continuity task we did before beginning our filming real film, I can see how many of the aspects of it helped up to get ready for real filming and editing and how it helped us avoid problems that may have arisen. For the continuity task I soon found out how difficult it was to get the shots right, especially ones that involved a lot of editing, such as match-on-action. Getting all cameras on the right angles and to all film at the same time was definitely a struggle at points and overcoming the problems was a huge step forward, allowing us to prepare for our real filming task. It turned out that in our real filming exercise we didn’t need to use match on action since we believed there was no suitable shot for it and we strongly believed that we didn’t want to overcook our film by putting too many intricate shots in it. Also our film opening is more about creating atmosphere and suspense and less about full on action. Therefore a match on action wasn’t necessary in it. However, leaning how to edit and use them was very beneficial for future filming.



Another problem we came across when filming our continuity was breaking the 180 degree rule. We noticed soon into editing that one shot of Dan’s face outside the office was completely on the wrong side on the 180 degree rule and therefore had to be fixed. To resolve the problem we managed to completely reverse/flip the shot, making it seem like it was on the right side of 180 degrees. From this we learnt to always check the camera shots are always within the 180 degree rule
Even though we didn’t use iMovie in the final editing of our real film, it helped us get to grips with editing and allowed us to understand how easy or hard some of our camera techniques we want to use are going to be. 

Another bit of knowledge we took away from the continuity task was the importance and effect that filters can have on a film. For example, in our continuity we tried out what effect a black and white filter would have on our overall film. It turned out to work very well and add a significant suspense to it, which is exactly what we wanted. This knowledge of the effect filters has meant that we went on to use various colour corrections and filters on our final film. For example, we used a dark blue filter on all shots throughout the film apart from our flashbacks. This added a dark and cold feel to the film which was great for our dark thriller. Also from this we learnt about how to successfully film a shot reverse shot scene. This involves setting up the cameras and filming the scene twice, each in a different angle. We found that this shot was very beneficial despite taking a lot time to film and decided to use it in two of our flashback scenes for our film opening.

Media Evaulation Question 6

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



1. Camcorder

Using a camcorder was the most important part of the filming process and being able to use it effectively was crucial to avoid time wasting or any other technical problems. We soon learnt to make sure we had more than one battery with us just in case on ran out. Also, we learnt about how important having multiple cameras in order produce effective shot reverse shot scenes. Learning to adjust the exposure and light settings on the camcorder were also very important to make sure we got the exact kind of shot we needed.





2. Tripod

This ties in very closely to the importance of a camcorder to get effective footage. Without a tripod, it makes it very hard to get perfectly still shots. This is very important in order to get a coherent and effective scene without the shakiness of the human hand. The times we didn't use a tripod were in the POV shot of the gunman, and a steadicam for Tyler's walking shots and scenery. A tripod allowed us to get our shot angles absolutely perfect for what we need, however it does take a considerable amount of time to set them up to perfection.





3. Steadicam

This handled cradle for the camcorder was used to obtain smooth movement of a panning shot whilst still being held in the hand. This was used for all the opening shots of the forest before Tyler's eye. This was very beneficial in filming Tyler's leg too since is allowed us to get closer to the floor than a tripod would allow, also allowing us to follow the feet without shakiness.




4. iMovie

We originally used iMovie to edit our preliminary continuity task. This included learning how to upload all the footage and then cut into the shots we wanted as well as using camera techniques such as match on action. However we found iMovie quite hard to use due to our limited knowledge of it as well as it's incapability to cut in milliseconds. We also had trouble trying to fix a continuity error in our preliminary task, that broke the 180 degree rule. We had a black and white filter on our footage and iMovie would not allow us to then flip the image to fix the 180 degree error. We decided to look at other ways of editing our final film that were more effective.




5. Lightworks

Since members of our group have had some previous experience of it, we decided to use Lightworks to do all our editing of our final film opening and also to fix our continuity error on our preliminary task. Tyler, a member of our team, had Lightworks on his computer at home and therefore we went to his various times after our filing had been done to edit our scenes together. Although confusing and complex, Lightworks gave us more precise control over how we wanted our final product to look.

6. Blogger

Using Blogger as our main body to document all our processes throughout this coursework was reasonably easy and straight forward to use. Being able to place images was my biggest issue with the site since it is very hard to get them in the place you want them. Apart from that, Blogger has been very useful to present our ideas/filming/editing processes throughout the coursework.

7. YouTube

YouTube was useful to upload our various videos that we have made during our time making this film. We have our audience feedback, continuity task, filming from our forest day and the final product all on there. This has allowed us to easily put the links into our blog without having to upload the whole thing into Blogger itself. We found that doing this terribly lowered the quality of the image.

Media Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

http://prezi.com/s3fk64sr-dpe/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Media Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

When looking at our audience for our film, there were various attributes that finally led to the overall age and personality of them. From our questionnaires we were able to mould a target audience that would fit effectively and draw in a type of personality. When looking at the questionnaires we found that our target audience (15+ film students/fans) seemed to enjoy the idea of restricted narration. They also seemed to like Alfred Hitchcock the most out of a selection of well known thriller directors. This shows how many of our audience seemed to have a good and in depth knowledge of film history. Over all we can see from this that our target audience is most likely to be a big film fan, who is interested in less commercial films and has appreciation for various directors traits and film conventions.

This is most likely what they would be like:

They would want to watch our film since it includes classic conventions of what a thriller is meant to be, including acting styles, camera shots, narration and editing. This includes our heavy use of colour corrections to create dark and mysterious lighting in some scenes, which is what this film fan would be very interested in. Our film also includes deep symbolism, hidden in the mise en scene such as the clothing. For example, Ewan is wearing a pristine white shirt, showing innocence as well as hinting to already being dead. Tyler is wearing a red hoodie, symbolising danger and possible illusiveness about his relation to Ewan’s death. Our film is heavily orientated around influences from gritty indie films, in which they would enjoy due to their interest in Dead Man’s Shoes.

Media Evaulation Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

As part of the evaluation for our media coursework to create a 2 minute film, we have been asked to think about how we would go out directing, producing and distributing the film in real life. For this we have to look at suitable directors, distribution and production companies that would be effective in producing a successful film.

First looking at Directors, we need to think about who would be best for the genre, who would be good at camera work, casting and whether to market it as an indie or mainstream film. Since we have gone for an evidently indie feel to our film, we have decided to use Shane Meadows as our source of inspiration as a director. Meadows tends to use a very unknown cast of small time actors and usually has to work on a small budget. Because of this, we think his directing style would be perfect for our small budget, small actor indie thriller. Also, Meadows has worked on similar, gritty thriller styled films such as Dead Man’s Shoes, which we are studying media and that we have a lot of research knowledge in the film too.

One of Meadows strengths is that he is very good at creating a realistic scene by using camera angles which are very similar to those of real life as well as letting actors improvise around the script. We have tried our best to emulate this in our film by using over shoulder and shot – reverse – shot techniques. We also only used a rough outline script, allowing us to flow through the scenes as if it was a real conversation. Shane Meadows has got a big name in indie films and these are the main reasons to why we’d like to use him as a director.

Our second point we need to discuss is which production company are we going to use to help produce our film and really help make the film exactly how we image in our heads and storyboards. For this, we have decided to stick with the Dead Man’s Shoes theme and go for Warp Productions. This production company have worked tightly with Shane Meadows in the past and means the tight unit will hopefully be able to produce the gritty and obviously British production. Warp are also a very small company and mean that the small budget will help us create our idea effectively without overblowing the film with extraneous amounts of high budget production tools and CGI etc.

Another plus of using Warp is that they are directly related to Warp Records, a small independent record label. This means a lot of the music in the film can be used from artists on the Warp label at a small cost. Also this is relative to the situation my group is in since I have offered to write some of the music for the film and even use some of my own published music if it is appropriate for the mood of the scene. This is useful since it saves us time of trying to find the right sound where I can just write it instead.

When looking at distribution companies we have decided to use one that has background work with Shane Meadows and Warp Productions since they have made successful films in the past. We also need to choose one that has an effective way of advertising and creating hype and interest in our film. This is very important so that we actually make sales and reach success. British film has a known weakness in the distribution of films compared to the big multi million American mainstream companies and is something we need to take into consideration when promoting our film. To tick as many boxes as we can, we are going to use Optimum Releasing Company to promote our film. This seems like the most effective choice since they worked on distributing Dead Man’s Shoes and therefore has knowledge of the best way to distribute this kind of film.

Media Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?


Our film opening focusses on lives of teenagers aged 16-19 due to our teenage dominated cast. Within this, it focusses on white, middle class males, shown through the accents, clothing and overall image. We chose these characters personalities carefully to help portray a certain image and perception of their social group.




This is our comparison of our protagonist, Tyler, with Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter:

Similarities:

• Pushy and domineering
• Sly
• Unclear of his intentions
• Blonde (ish) hair
• Inconsiderate
• Intimidating
• Wants to get his own way
• Become less prickly as the film goes on (Tyler in the present day)
• Represent a sense of malevolence

Differences:

• Malfoy uses group pressure and status
• Tyler's clothes are quite difference to those of Malfoy's
• Malfoy is of extreme upper class, Tyler is much more Middle Class
• Tyler is a protagonist, Malfoy is an antagonist

We decided to use this character since it worked very well as a suspicious character, making the view feel unsure if Tyler was really Ewan's friend of if he was just bluffing. This also creates tensions between the two very different personalities of each character, increasing the suspense of the opening, not only through the story line but also through the relationship between the two characters. This fits well with the genre conventions since in many thrillers consistof two characters, usually with different personalities. This is seen in films such as Seven, Dead Man's Shoes etc.


This is our comparison of Ewan with Anthony from Dead Man's Shoes:

Similarities:

• Both are shown as the weaker character out of the two main protagonists
• Their clothes both represent death - Ewan's pristine white shirt symbolises that he is already dead, seen as an angel. Anthony is shown in all black, showing death as well.
• Prevalent innocence
• Both show the naiveties of the young
• Follow the orders of their friend
• Both overshadowed by the other character
• Vulnerable/weak
• Neither seen as having a high status or class

Differences:

• Weaknesses presented in different ways, Anthony is disabled and Ewan is just very uneasy of where they are.
• Ewan's clothing presents a more middle class identity. Anthony's clothing is more working class
• Ewan becomes increasingly annoyed with Tyler, Anthony is obedient to Richard
• Ewan's killer is illusive, we know who killed Anthony

We decided to use this character since it portrayed a different kind of personality to Tyler. Ewan's concern about going to the abandoned building sets us up for the action that will take place there. It also adds more suspicion to Tyler since we are unsure of why he is so desperate to go there, and why he gets angry when Ewan wants to leave. Ewan promotes a more innocent and favoured character as he dies innocently, as far as we know. This leads the viewer to wonder about Tyler's connection to the death.

Media Evaluation Question 1

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

 



When looking at our introduction shot, in includes many conventions of the thriller genre, including setting, titles and name etc. For example:

• Our opening title is typical of the genre, either slow or fast, in this case slow. The opening shots set the scene for the action that will take place in the present moment. This is also seen in the very first shots of Batman: The Dark Knight. The establishing shot is quiet and still, setting the scene for the action that is about to take place.

• Also, the Mise en Scene of the intro of both films is very similar. For example, the lighting in both introductions are very high key, expressing lots of light into the shots. This is not true for all of the Dark Knight but is relevant in the beginning.
• The setting and location is different from the dark knight but is still typical of a thriller because of the Revenant and it's outdoor forest setting.           

2. Film Title

When looking at the actual title, we've gone for a quite simple and basic one to make it stand out and give a bold message.  There is a comparison between Drive's low angle and our low angle shot at the beginning, giving the viewer a sense of being small compared to the big action about to take place. This shows how we have used typical conventions of some big thrillers and how they've influenced our final outcome.

Also looking at our film title, you can see how we have taken influence from the single word title of Drive or Seven. The idea of using a single word title is very effective in setting topic and premise of the film, without giving too much away. For example, Drive infers that a lot of the film is going to be about cars and fast chases etc, however the main story plot is kept covered.



3. Eye shot

When looking at our first introduction of our main character, Tyler, we have used a close up of his eye, very similar to Under The Skin. This beginning shot is used to reinforce our thriller aspect and the use of sudden and unexpected plot twists or shots, like the ending of Seven. The very quick introduction of Tyler's eye send the viewer straight into the action, with the uncertainty is Tyler is actually alive. This is much like the beginning of Fight Club and how we are so rapidly introduced to Tyler Durden's character and life. This shows our close usage of typical thriller conventions, to stay as true to the genre as possible.




4. Tracking up Tyler's bloody leg

This shot is actually one of the most important ones in the opening scenes since it sets the atmosphere of danger or violence in the film. This works as a perfect contrast between the quiet and serene shots of the open forest moments before. This is a tracking shot is slow and adds suspense as we realise the gory situation Tyler is in. Also, this adds an interest to the viewer as they have no idea how he got there.  The fake blood prop is also first seen here, having a typical relation to thrillers and their bloody, verging on gory tendencies. This is another point of how our film is a typical thriller.



5. First Flashback

In this scene we have the introduction of our first flashback and reveals the main plot to the audience. This has been done in a typical thriller style with a scene of action/shock/dilemma before with the plot then being revealed in the one after that. This also contrasts the gore and shock from the scene prior to the quieter, more peaceful scene of dialogue. Also, this scene shows our first use of special effects, used at the beginning and ending of the scene. We have used a white fade that drops into the scene to signify the transition between the past and present. This isn't necessarily typical of thrillers but is used a lot in many types of films. There is also a contrast in the clothing. This scene introduces Ewan wearing a pristine white shirt, showing innocence. This switching of time in scenes is very similar to flashbacks used in films like Inception, The Dark Knight and the reverse order in Pulp Fiction.



6.  Track Back to Ewan's corpse

In this scene we use one of our longest shots to add suspense and shock. The camera slowly tracks back from Tyler's face to reveal the dead corpse of Ewan (white shirt now ripped and covered in blood) and the forest scene in front of him. This again adds another contrast from the dialogue scene, going straight back into the intense present day. This then adds more to the plot, revealing that whatever Tyler and Ewan went to do ended up with Ewan being killed. This flicking back and fourth between violence and plot thickening scenes is very common in thrillers such as Seven when they spend time investigating between crime scenes.




7. Flashback 2 (abandoned building)

This scene is where the main suspense takes place, with the viewers understanding that Ewan feels uneasy in the abandoned building, with the viewer inferring that somehow, Ewan meets his death here. This impending suspense and threat is found in a lot of critical points in thrillers such as scenes in Seven in the scene they explore the flat of the serial killer. This is where camerawork techniques like shot-reverse-shot takes place in the heated discussion between Tyler and Ewan. There is also a dissolve that is prevalent at the end of the scene, showing the gradual glide back to the present day. These small parcels of information that are drip fed to the viewer are found in many thrillers like Dead Man's Shoes and Seven.





8. Tyler dragging himself away

After re-entering the modern day, we see Tyler limping through the mud. This shot begins level with his foot as it scrapes through the mud, the dark lighting make it look cold and making him seem vulnerable. This shot signifies the danger that Tyler is in but also arises the question of why he has left so quickly? This is to make the viewer question Tyler's role in Ewan's death and if he may have actually been involved. This possible plot twist is a very big part of Thrillers and is found in films such as The Usual Suspects, Seven and Dead Man's Shoes. This shot is also characteristic of The Revenant, as DeCaprio limps through the forest in many scenes.  





9. The final shot (gun barrel)

This final shot is found in the 3rd and final flashback, bringing the opening to our film to a close. This scene introduces a third unknown character who is following Tyler and Ewan through the building. This ending with the 3rd character adds more suspense and interest, keeping the viewer interested in what the rest of the film is going to unveil. This is typical of most thrillers such as the introduction of The Dark Knight, Point Break and Pulp Fiction. The point of view of the gun barrel and shrouded gunman is a very personal shot, adding suspense and fear. The fact the shot ends on a completely black scene adds a cliff hanger ending and acts as a full circle, as the viewer already knows who's going to be shot. This is similar to the structure found in Pulp Fiction.