Wednesday, 30 March 2016
Friday, 25 March 2016
Evaluation Question 7 (Blog Post)
Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
The Prelims:
Firstly research. When filming the Prelims I did NO research, in contrast to this, I researched into the genre of film I was going to produce, finding examples and producing a pitch based on my idea, proving there is an audience. Looking back, research is very important. It allows you to follow general conventions/ or not, in relation to titles, the mise-en-scene, locations, characters along with how scenarios are handled (e.g action film = chase and violence). Along with research, planning was also very important. Setting out our story board, planning what days to film on a judgment on the weather to achieve continuity, call sheets etc. In the prelim task I created a brief story board before filming, whereas as progression from this, in our film opening production we spent a few lessons on the story board, designing a call sheet and which camera to use as to whether it would be a DSLR or the GoPro. So both of these have improved dramatically.
Thirdly, time management. When shooting the prelim, I got the shots then edited them, there was very little time management or structure to it. In contrast to this, with our production, time management was vital! This was especially the case as when I started filming as it was nearing the end of the calendar year, so days were getting shorter and light was so important for our shots. I was also set deadlines to hand in work so we had to make sure I met these! Therefore there was a significant difference between time management with the prelim tasks and with the overall film opening production and I have learn't a lot!
As I previously stated, I had to pitch the idea I came up with to the class. This required a lot of preparation and planning in order to come up with the idea and present it to the rest of the class. I did this by creating a video and played it in the background on the projector and pitched in front of it, timing what I was to say to the pitch. In terms of the prelim, no one pitched, whereas with the film opening it was the first step and was a major part of production.
When it comes to casting in my production we as a group didn't cast anyone, and nor did we for the prelim, we just filmed each other. The main reason for this is that we could cover this with who we already had in the group. I was nominated to play the protagonist by my group and was happy to do so, and Will was happy to ply the protagonist, we both are athletic and physically able to do the shots required and it worked out well. So there was no progression from the prelim to the production when it comes to casting.
There was however a significant change in relation to props, costume, set-dressing and general miss-en-scene. With the prelim, there was no thought about the props, costume, set dressing or the mise en scene, whereas with the production I really paid a lot of attention on these areas. We used a bag, memory stick and a phone as the props, the costume was dark/ black shoes grey joggers and light grey hoodie with the black bag for the protagonist and blue shoes black joggers and black hoodie for the antagonist. The general mise-en-scene was also focused on, I made sure to film on days with the same weather to achieve continuity, and also worked on framing shots to make it look like something it isn't, for example when the protagonist was cornered it wasn't infact a corner as I explained previously in my blog.
Next, location scouting. In the prelim there was no focus or though towards this, we simply filmed in school where the teacher said. In contrast to this we had to decide where to film for our production. We first wrote the story board and then decided on where this would work well. In our film opening we have made it look as though its one long route in the chase scene, however these shots were taken in various places al over Ilkley, edited to look like they are in the same location.
Moving on from this, sample shots. We didn't use these with the prelim, I quickly shot and edited all within 2 hours. With the production however I always did a test shot to see how it would come out and to judge whether it would work, and if not, what I could do instead. In relation to rough cuts we didn't have any with the prelim, it was a one take shoot, whereas with the production we went out and filmed, then edited what we had, then decided which parts needed re shooting, I have in total gathered 7 rough cuts. So in these areas is a dramatic change and learning point from the prelim to production. I used these rough cuts to get audience feed back and tips via posting them on YouTube, this way I could show my friends and carry out primary market research on what needs to be improved. We also uploaded the prelims to YouTube as you can see however I didn't go around trying to get audience feedback, so again this was another point I learned a lot.
Sound/editing was overlooked in all honesty with the prelim tasks, whereas in production the was vital. As I said in my previous blog (evaluation question 6) we attempted to make our own music but as it didn't work we found copyright free music online. The music in my production completely changes the quality of it and improves it massively, so again, here was a big learning curve.
With company idents, each person in my group made their own in their own time, we then put these all together at the beginning of our film opening. With the prelim tasks I didn't have an ident and overlooked it. During the process of making one I learn't a lot about different platforms and editing styles.
We used a lot of shots and tried to vary them as much as possible. This contrasts greatly with that of the prelim whereby there were 4-5 shots max, whereas with the production we couldn't take enough, we took as many as possible and edited the best ones having selected our favourite as a group.
At the beginning of the production I signed roles to the group trying to organise things, we then all completed our roles and came back next lesson with it all done. From here we could crack on. In terms of the prelim there were no roles, we all did it all and got it done, however with little organisation. Organisation is a key point I learn't, it can improve the efficiency and quality of the outcome massively!
In terms of working in a group it went well. Its always going to be difficult working with in a large group as you have four opinions to balance. However everyone pulled their weight and I feel the outcome shows that. There was teamwork involved in the prelim as we filmed in groups so there was little change but the size of the task was different. There was little questioning of shots in the prelim, however more so during production.
Conclusion:
-I now understand Final cut and editing
-Understand the importance of organisation, research and time management
-I better understand the significance of a variety of shots and sample shots
(These three areas are the things I have taken away from the whole production most!)
The Prelims:
Firstly research. When filming the Prelims I did NO research, in contrast to this, I researched into the genre of film I was going to produce, finding examples and producing a pitch based on my idea, proving there is an audience. Looking back, research is very important. It allows you to follow general conventions/ or not, in relation to titles, the mise-en-scene, locations, characters along with how scenarios are handled (e.g action film = chase and violence). Along with research, planning was also very important. Setting out our story board, planning what days to film on a judgment on the weather to achieve continuity, call sheets etc. In the prelim task I created a brief story board before filming, whereas as progression from this, in our film opening production we spent a few lessons on the story board, designing a call sheet and which camera to use as to whether it would be a DSLR or the GoPro. So both of these have improved dramatically.
Thirdly, time management. When shooting the prelim, I got the shots then edited them, there was very little time management or structure to it. In contrast to this, with our production, time management was vital! This was especially the case as when I started filming as it was nearing the end of the calendar year, so days were getting shorter and light was so important for our shots. I was also set deadlines to hand in work so we had to make sure I met these! Therefore there was a significant difference between time management with the prelim tasks and with the overall film opening production and I have learn't a lot!
As I previously stated, I had to pitch the idea I came up with to the class. This required a lot of preparation and planning in order to come up with the idea and present it to the rest of the class. I did this by creating a video and played it in the background on the projector and pitched in front of it, timing what I was to say to the pitch. In terms of the prelim, no one pitched, whereas with the film opening it was the first step and was a major part of production.
When it comes to casting in my production we as a group didn't cast anyone, and nor did we for the prelim, we just filmed each other. The main reason for this is that we could cover this with who we already had in the group. I was nominated to play the protagonist by my group and was happy to do so, and Will was happy to ply the protagonist, we both are athletic and physically able to do the shots required and it worked out well. So there was no progression from the prelim to the production when it comes to casting.
There was however a significant change in relation to props, costume, set-dressing and general miss-en-scene. With the prelim, there was no thought about the props, costume, set dressing or the mise en scene, whereas with the production I really paid a lot of attention on these areas. We used a bag, memory stick and a phone as the props, the costume was dark/ black shoes grey joggers and light grey hoodie with the black bag for the protagonist and blue shoes black joggers and black hoodie for the antagonist. The general mise-en-scene was also focused on, I made sure to film on days with the same weather to achieve continuity, and also worked on framing shots to make it look like something it isn't, for example when the protagonist was cornered it wasn't infact a corner as I explained previously in my blog.
Next, location scouting. In the prelim there was no focus or though towards this, we simply filmed in school where the teacher said. In contrast to this we had to decide where to film for our production. We first wrote the story board and then decided on where this would work well. In our film opening we have made it look as though its one long route in the chase scene, however these shots were taken in various places al over Ilkley, edited to look like they are in the same location.
Moving on from this, sample shots. We didn't use these with the prelim, I quickly shot and edited all within 2 hours. With the production however I always did a test shot to see how it would come out and to judge whether it would work, and if not, what I could do instead. In relation to rough cuts we didn't have any with the prelim, it was a one take shoot, whereas with the production we went out and filmed, then edited what we had, then decided which parts needed re shooting, I have in total gathered 7 rough cuts. So in these areas is a dramatic change and learning point from the prelim to production. I used these rough cuts to get audience feed back and tips via posting them on YouTube, this way I could show my friends and carry out primary market research on what needs to be improved. We also uploaded the prelims to YouTube as you can see however I didn't go around trying to get audience feedback, so again this was another point I learned a lot.
Sound/editing was overlooked in all honesty with the prelim tasks, whereas in production the was vital. As I said in my previous blog (evaluation question 6) we attempted to make our own music but as it didn't work we found copyright free music online. The music in my production completely changes the quality of it and improves it massively, so again, here was a big learning curve.
With company idents, each person in my group made their own in their own time, we then put these all together at the beginning of our film opening. With the prelim tasks I didn't have an ident and overlooked it. During the process of making one I learn't a lot about different platforms and editing styles.
We used a lot of shots and tried to vary them as much as possible. This contrasts greatly with that of the prelim whereby there were 4-5 shots max, whereas with the production we couldn't take enough, we took as many as possible and edited the best ones having selected our favourite as a group.
At the beginning of the production I signed roles to the group trying to organise things, we then all completed our roles and came back next lesson with it all done. From here we could crack on. In terms of the prelim there were no roles, we all did it all and got it done, however with little organisation. Organisation is a key point I learn't, it can improve the efficiency and quality of the outcome massively!
In terms of working in a group it went well. Its always going to be difficult working with in a large group as you have four opinions to balance. However everyone pulled their weight and I feel the outcome shows that. There was teamwork involved in the prelim as we filmed in groups so there was little change but the size of the task was different. There was little questioning of shots in the prelim, however more so during production.
Conclusion:
-I now understand Final cut and editing
-Understand the importance of organisation, research and time management
-I better understand the significance of a variety of shots and sample shots
(These three areas are the things I have taken away from the whole production most!)
Thursday, 24 March 2016
Wednesday, 23 March 2016
Evaluation Question 3 (Blog Post)
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Film distribution is the process of making a movie available to view for an audience. A distributer is an individual, or organisation who will represent your film at at festivals and markets around the world, they will also attempt to sell it to television, airlines and other companies who show short films. There are six major distributors that are directly affiliated to the Hollywood Studios. More independent distributors tend to promote films outside of the major film studios, typically indie films. The top six distributors with the largest market share between 1995 and 2016 are Warner Bros, Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Universal.
A distributer simply sends your film out to the market. They decide when and where the film will be screened. Firstly they have to chose how many copies of the film to make. The film, then is previewed to prospective buyers, e.g cinema owners. The film is sent to cinemas and they can then be screened. Once the film has been viewed, the cinema sends the film back and a price is agreed with the representatives from the cinema, in smaller budget films however more steps may have to be taken.
How distributors market films
Distribution companies use posters, trailers, websites and social networking to market their film.
Firstly, trailers. All distribution companies will use a trailer in particular as a marketing tool. Trailers allow a foresight into the film and what it may hold, they can build suspense and desire to see the film on release date. Films made in Hollywood or a by a small budget indie company all use trailers to promote their film.
Secondly, posters. Distributors may also use posters to market the film. Posters are effective ways of spreading awareness. They are cheap to make, and can be re-created on a large scale, for example a billboard. A distributor may make more than one poster. An example of a poster advertising a film would be:
Thirdly, websites. Some distributors will also create a website advertising the film. This is normally a further step from the trailer and posters and is a resource to find out further information about the film, what it may be based on, for example whether it is fact or fiction.
Example: http://pointbreakmovie.com
Not all distributors take this step as it is an added cost and less effective. Therefore you wouldn't find many small-budget indie films making a website for their film.
And finally, social media. Social media, with platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have been very effective to market a film and is a key tool used by distributors. It is inexpensive and reaches a large amount of people. Whether it is a small budget indie or a large scale HollyWood film, marketing through social media is almost a necessity.
Our Budget
Film distribution is the process of making a movie available to view for an audience. A distributer is an individual, or organisation who will represent your film at at festivals and markets around the world, they will also attempt to sell it to television, airlines and other companies who show short films. There are six major distributors that are directly affiliated to the Hollywood Studios. More independent distributors tend to promote films outside of the major film studios, typically indie films. The top six distributors with the largest market share between 1995 and 2016 are Warner Bros, Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Universal.
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| Warner Bros |
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| Walt Disney |
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| Sony Pictures |
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| 20th Century Fox |
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| Paramount Pictures |
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| Universal |
Digitisation is the process of converting information into a digital format. Digitisation improves a distributors efficiency, quality and consistency. Along with this there is a massive deduction in costs, film prints cost thousands of pounds each, whereas hard drives cost near to nothing, which taken with the capacity to use social media, potentially opens up distribution opportunities to indies and self-distribution.
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| Box office performance for Action Movies in 2015 |
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| Market share for the top 10 disributors between 1995-2016 |
(I found this information on The Numbers.)
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| Top 10 films, performance at box office and there distributors in the UK. |
How distributors market films
Distribution companies use posters, trailers, websites and social networking to market their film.
Firstly, trailers. All distribution companies will use a trailer in particular as a marketing tool. Trailers allow a foresight into the film and what it may hold, they can build suspense and desire to see the film on release date. Films made in Hollywood or a by a small budget indie company all use trailers to promote their film.
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| The poster has the title, a screenshot from the film itself and its release date. |
Example: http://pointbreakmovie.com
Not all distributors take this step as it is an added cost and less effective. Therefore you wouldn't find many small-budget indie films making a website for their film.
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| A screen shot I took from the website which can be found on the link above. |
And finally, social media. Social media, with platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have been very effective to market a film and is a key tool used by distributors. It is inexpensive and reaches a large amount of people. Whether it is a small budget indie or a large scale HollyWood film, marketing through social media is almost a necessity.
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| Add caption |
Our Budget
If I was to estimate what our budget would be, I would say around £650,000. The reason for this would be that our film is situated in the 'low budget indie' category and another film in this region had a budget of £695,393, Dead Mans Shoes. Along with this, if we were to carry out the whole production, we would need to invest on props, clothing, equipment, actors, promotion and possibly large scale destructive stunts, which are a common convention of other films in the action genre, this isn't essential, however would improve the overall quality of the film significantly if it worked.
Which distributor we would use and why...
Examples of the bid six distributors such as Warner Bros and Universal may not be interested in distributing our film. This is down to it being a low budget indie production. These distributors tend to market high budget HollyWood films featuring major stars, because of this it makes them a lot easier to market, as you can market the characters. As a general rule, the higher the film making budget, the more it makes at box office, so for us these distributors would be unrealistic as our budget would be estimated around £650,000. Examples include, Mad Max Fury Road had a budget of $150,000,000, and made $377,636,354 (worldwide) at the box office. A small budget film such as Submarine made $864,959 (Worldwide) at box office.
When it come for us to decide which distributor we personally we would want to go with Optimum Releasing would be a good option. This is because they are a large independent distributor for micro budget indies like our own. If they don't manage to get the film into cinemas, they will still use their Optimum Home Entertainment service for new DvD and Blu-Ray releases along with their Optimum Classic Service for DvD re releases of back catalogue films. Furthermore, it would also be very beneficial to use Alamo Draft House Cinema to distribute our film in the house. This is very rare to have a low budget indie film distributed in the US and with Alamo Draft House Cinema having 22 screens around the USA it would be rewarding and improve our performance at the box office. Four Lions is an example of a film distributed in the USA by Alamo Draft House Cinema.
Risk of not finding a distributor...
There is an obvious risk when it comes to trying to find a distributor to market our film as we are first time film makers with no experience. If our film was unable to find a distributor, we would look to do this ourselves. Here are a few examples of self distribution: Tiger Tail in Blue, The Final Member and Crazy and Thief are just a few examples of hundreds. If our self distribution fails, we will resort to uploading to Youtube and various other streaming services such as Vimeo. This is the case for many low budget indie films who can't find a distributor, for example The Silent Force (2001).
Which distributor we would use and why...
Examples of the bid six distributors such as Warner Bros and Universal may not be interested in distributing our film. This is down to it being a low budget indie production. These distributors tend to market high budget HollyWood films featuring major stars, because of this it makes them a lot easier to market, as you can market the characters. As a general rule, the higher the film making budget, the more it makes at box office, so for us these distributors would be unrealistic as our budget would be estimated around £650,000. Examples include, Mad Max Fury Road had a budget of $150,000,000, and made $377,636,354 (worldwide) at the box office. A small budget film such as Submarine made $864,959 (Worldwide) at box office.
When it come for us to decide which distributor we personally we would want to go with Optimum Releasing would be a good option. This is because they are a large independent distributor for micro budget indies like our own. If they don't manage to get the film into cinemas, they will still use their Optimum Home Entertainment service for new DvD and Blu-Ray releases along with their Optimum Classic Service for DvD re releases of back catalogue films. Furthermore, it would also be very beneficial to use Alamo Draft House Cinema to distribute our film in the house. This is very rare to have a low budget indie film distributed in the US and with Alamo Draft House Cinema having 22 screens around the USA it would be rewarding and improve our performance at the box office. Four Lions is an example of a film distributed in the USA by Alamo Draft House Cinema.
Risk of not finding a distributor...
There is an obvious risk when it comes to trying to find a distributor to market our film as we are first time film makers with no experience. If our film was unable to find a distributor, we would look to do this ourselves. Here are a few examples of self distribution: Tiger Tail in Blue, The Final Member and Crazy and Thief are just a few examples of hundreds. If our self distribution fails, we will resort to uploading to Youtube and various other streaming services such as Vimeo. This is the case for many low budget indie films who can't find a distributor, for example The Silent Force (2001).
Tuesday, 22 March 2016
Evaluation Question 2 (Essay)
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
There are 7 different areas of representation, these include gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality, class and status, physical ability/disability and regional identity.
Firstly, we had 3 characters in our film opening; Agent Cross (protagonist), the antagonist and Niamh. Agent Cross's role in the film was to transport a package which was located at HQ. The antagonist was to try to intercept Agent Cross and act as a 'baddie', hence the use of light clothing on the protagonist (good guy) and dark clothing on the antagonist (bad guy). Niamh was to a-sign missions for Agent Cross, acting as an 'Em' like character from James Bond.
We focused on our target audience, the type of characters we used was to reflect who we targeted. Using a teenage protagonist and antagonist signifies that our target audience was 16-25, typically male. This is a general convention of action film openings, as the activity portrayed in the films generally appeals to this category of people more. The protagonist represented that of a stereotypical British actor in this genre. The antagonist, is a counter-type for an English thriller. There are very few examples if any of a long dark haired antagonist. The protagonist represented that of a stereotypical British citizen.
The gender of our characters are predominantly male, with 2 out of 3 being male, and one being female. The only characters on screen in the film opening are male. This is not representative of this particular social class, which is why if we were to carry on this film in terms of the whole production, we would incorporate more women, and maybe romance to attract more of the female audience. We did have stereotypes of gender in our opening, as the girl was allocating the missions, whereas the male actor was physically doing the missions.
The age of our characters does represent the target audience. With our protagonist and antagonist being in the age range between 16-25, this reflects and represents our target audience, therefore this particular media product represents this social group. I did a previous blog post on our taggert audience which you can see here. By using characters within the range of our target audience, it makes it more relatable therefore more effective, and also representative.
The ethnicity is White British, which is stereotypical of that of a British thriller due to it having a direct influence over how it performs at the box office. White southern and male characters are those who act in big budget films. We followed this general convention of using 'White British'. However this is not multicultural. This is mainly because we didn't have access to a further cast to chose from, nor did we have the time. If we were to have access to a bigger cast we would incorporate a further range of ethnicities and backgrounds to make it more multicultural and representative. In our production we did not incorporate any non-caucasian characters, so we may not appeal to a multi-ethnic audience, but as I said this was down to not having access to a further cast.
Sexuality is not expressed in our film opening as no romance occurs. If we were to carry out the rest of the production, we would incorporate romance to represent this more. Both of our characters were straight. This reflects the stereotypical action thriller genre therefore representative of this social class. Finding a protagonist and antagonist happy to express their homosexuality in our film opening would also be difficult and its easier to follow the general convention which has proven effective.
In relation to class and status. We used British White, southern accents, to represent a middle class, stereotypical English citizen. In our production, we filmed in a middle class area. In the film opening it states where the location of the chase takes place, Ilkley. This is a West Yorkshire Middle-upper class area, gaining representing class and status. The clothing of our protagonist and antagonist is tracksuit, this isn't a representation of middle class, but more so lower class. We chose Niamh in particular to do play the 'Em' like character as she has a southern accent, this was also the case with the protagonist.
Physical ability and disability is represented in our film opening as it is contains a high speed action chase and a training scene, proving the physical ability of our characters. This represents this particular social group well. In terms of the disability, there is no representation of this, so if we were to fulfil the production of the whole film we would look to incorporate perhaps a disabled character, something in relation to a wheel chair, as proven effective by X-Men.
Regional identity is represented in our film opening is represented through the use of titles, as shown in the pictures below. We use Leeds and Ilkley for our locations. Ilkley is a posh, middle class area. Leeds is a large region in Yorkshire. By locating our film opening in these areas, we relate to higher proportion of our audience who may be from these areas, making the film opening more effective and appealing.
There are 7 different areas of representation, these include gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality, class and status, physical ability/disability and regional identity.
Firstly, we had 3 characters in our film opening; Agent Cross (protagonist), the antagonist and Niamh. Agent Cross's role in the film was to transport a package which was located at HQ. The antagonist was to try to intercept Agent Cross and act as a 'baddie', hence the use of light clothing on the protagonist (good guy) and dark clothing on the antagonist (bad guy). Niamh was to a-sign missions for Agent Cross, acting as an 'Em' like character from James Bond.
We focused on our target audience, the type of characters we used was to reflect who we targeted. Using a teenage protagonist and antagonist signifies that our target audience was 16-25, typically male. This is a general convention of action film openings, as the activity portrayed in the films generally appeals to this category of people more. The protagonist represented that of a stereotypical British actor in this genre. The antagonist, is a counter-type for an English thriller. There are very few examples if any of a long dark haired antagonist. The protagonist represented that of a stereotypical British citizen.
The gender of our characters are predominantly male, with 2 out of 3 being male, and one being female. The only characters on screen in the film opening are male. This is not representative of this particular social class, which is why if we were to carry on this film in terms of the whole production, we would incorporate more women, and maybe romance to attract more of the female audience. We did have stereotypes of gender in our opening, as the girl was allocating the missions, whereas the male actor was physically doing the missions.
The age of our characters does represent the target audience. With our protagonist and antagonist being in the age range between 16-25, this reflects and represents our target audience, therefore this particular media product represents this social group. I did a previous blog post on our taggert audience which you can see here. By using characters within the range of our target audience, it makes it more relatable therefore more effective, and also representative.
The ethnicity is White British, which is stereotypical of that of a British thriller due to it having a direct influence over how it performs at the box office. White southern and male characters are those who act in big budget films. We followed this general convention of using 'White British'. However this is not multicultural. This is mainly because we didn't have access to a further cast to chose from, nor did we have the time. If we were to have access to a bigger cast we would incorporate a further range of ethnicities and backgrounds to make it more multicultural and representative. In our production we did not incorporate any non-caucasian characters, so we may not appeal to a multi-ethnic audience, but as I said this was down to not having access to a further cast.
Sexuality is not expressed in our film opening as no romance occurs. If we were to carry out the rest of the production, we would incorporate romance to represent this more. Both of our characters were straight. This reflects the stereotypical action thriller genre therefore representative of this social class. Finding a protagonist and antagonist happy to express their homosexuality in our film opening would also be difficult and its easier to follow the general convention which has proven effective.
In relation to class and status. We used British White, southern accents, to represent a middle class, stereotypical English citizen. In our production, we filmed in a middle class area. In the film opening it states where the location of the chase takes place, Ilkley. This is a West Yorkshire Middle-upper class area, gaining representing class and status. The clothing of our protagonist and antagonist is tracksuit, this isn't a representation of middle class, but more so lower class. We chose Niamh in particular to do play the 'Em' like character as she has a southern accent, this was also the case with the protagonist.
Physical ability and disability is represented in our film opening as it is contains a high speed action chase and a training scene, proving the physical ability of our characters. This represents this particular social group well. In terms of the disability, there is no representation of this, so if we were to fulfil the production of the whole film we would look to incorporate perhaps a disabled character, something in relation to a wheel chair, as proven effective by X-Men.
Regional identity is represented in our film opening is represented through the use of titles, as shown in the pictures below. We use Leeds and Ilkley for our locations. Ilkley is a posh, middle class area. Leeds is a large region in Yorkshire. By locating our film opening in these areas, we relate to higher proportion of our audience who may be from these areas, making the film opening more effective and appealing.
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| Stereotypical white British fair haired. |
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| Daniel Craig, James Bond... Stereotype. |
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| Example of Regional Identity |
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| Example of Regional Identity |
Evaluation Question 2 NOTES
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
- List the characters shown in your opening, and provide a brief summary of their role/character
- List the 'Factors Which Influenced Our Representations' (see notes on Audience in cwk pack; make sure to cite genre conventions too!)
- Tackle each character separately (if you have a group at a party, treat them as one unless they have very particular roles)
- Add a subheading of the character's name + add, in CAPS, either COUNTERTYPE or STEREOTYPE in brackets after their name
- Provide a still image of the character + a 2nd still image of a comparable example from existing media texts (use blogger's caption tool to add basic info) [see point 7]
- [please read note after this list for more tips on how to analyse representations] Break down, using 1 or more of the 7 suggested areas of representation, what makes your representation counter- (if challenging the convention) or stereotypical (following convention). Consider: costume, make-up, shot selection + editing, use of sound/music, accent and dialogue (in/formal? slang? broad/refined accent etc), perhaps name (intertextual reference?). You could do this as a Word doc (or using Photoshop) with the image centred and lines/arrows from details (signifiers) with symbolic significance (connotations). If you want to extend your analysis, you could apply Stuart Hall's concept of 3 levels of reading; the 'meaning' of a text is not simply down to what the creator/s have attempted to encode, but rather also depends on the knowledge/values of the person consuming the text. Could your representations be read in different ways? Might a teen aud react differently to a stereotypical pensioner aud for example?
- Where appropriate, provide an image of an archetype (eg Psycho's Marion Crane as 'scream queen', Halloween's Laurie Strode as 'final girl') - if you haven't already, make sure you clearly link your choices into genre conventions. Don't be shy about including material (possibly best to simply provide hyperlinks) from earlier in your blog.
- Summarize: on the whole, have you used stereo- or countertypes ... or a balanced mix of both? Are you happy with your choices here? Would you have liked to change any aspects of this if you'd access to a wider possible cast?
Sunday, 20 March 2016
Evaluation Question 1 Answer (Blog Post)
In what ways does your media product use or challenge forms of conventions of real media products?
Our production was based on an 'agent' transporting a package to a certain location. We wanted to provide specific emphasis on this particular package, this itself is an example of the MacGuffin affect. (I have previously blogged on this -hyperlink here).We started with a training scene, this was because, we wanted to use match cuts during our chase, and to help and improve the narrative we decided during our production to incorporate a whole training scene. This proved affective, helped our narrative and allowed us to work with music more closely and use more variation in camera shots and techniques.
In our production we used a protagonist and antagonist in our film. This was a key convention we found, and made it materialistic, so they both wanted the same thing. We used the bag to focus the viewer on that particular 'prop', however this lead to a plot twist, which was noticed when by the reaction of the antagonist, and that the bag was used as a 'decoy' and was empty all along. The protagonist (good guy) then gets away with the memory stick, and his mission was a success.
- Mad Max
- Casino Royale
- Captain America Winter Soldier
- Arrow (season 1, 2, 3)
Along with these, I look at various other films including:
- Bridget Jones' Diary
- Pretty in Pink
- About a Boy
- Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee
(I looked at films outside of the genre we chose, so I could later compare the conventions on film openings in general, and action film openings.)
So what is a CONVENTION?
Conventions are commonly used; frequently occurring elements which when combined help to determine the genre of film to the audience.
When watching the film openings I looked at the following:
-Company idents
-Titles
-Opening shot
-Final shot of the opening sequence
-Shot types and variation
-Continuity editing
-Focus on main character (protagonist)
-Mise en scene and verisimilitude
-Sound, diegetic and non diegetic
-Editing
-Narrative
(Common conventions of general film openings)
Company Idents
These are four examples of company idents; Universal, Miramax, Working Title, Studio Canal.
Universal // 20 seconds
Miramax // 15 seconds
Working Title // 10 seconds
Studio Canal // 15 seconds
At least three of the films I researched had 2-4 company idents at the beginning of their film, including Bridget Jones's Diary, About a Boy and Ali G Indahouse. They individually lasted between 10 and 20 seconds, and in total no more than 1 minute.
Bridget Jones' Diary is as follows...
-Universal Studios // 20 seconds
-Studio Canal // 16 seconds
-Miramax Films // 14 seconds
-Miramax Films // 14 seconds
-Working Title // 10 seconds
Altogether 60 seconds
Altogether 60 seconds
About a Boy is as follows...
-Universal Studios // 20 seconds
-Studio Canal // 15 seconds
-Working Title // 10 seconds
Altogether 45 seconds
Ali G Indahouse is as follows...
-Universal // 20 seconds
-Studio Canal // 15 seconds
-Working title // 10 seconds
Altogether 45 seconds
In our production we have a total of 4 production company idents...
The Brief (our production) is as follows...
Watt Films // 9 seconds
Shot Type Studios // 16 seconds
Westgate Studios // 7 seconds
All together 45 seconds
As we were set to produce a 2-3 minute film, we as a group decided that we didn't want to use up up to a third of the time on our idents, and instead, allowed ourselves more time on the film itself. The dents weren't significantly shorter than that of the convention but 2 out of 4 were shorter than the minimum time on average. In total however our dents were 45 seconds, this was the same as 2 of the 3 films I researched, therefore it is common, however not a common convention. So in conclusion, we didn't follow this particular convention so that we could allow more screen time for the main body of the films
Titles
The titles I found were before the main body of the film. In Captain America Winter Soldier a non-serif title is used in the bottom right corner, displaying the location of where they are. We replicated this in our film.
As we were set to produce a 2-3 minute film, we as a group decided that we didn't want to use up up to a third of the time on our idents, and instead, allowed ourselves more time on the film itself. The idents weren't significantly shorter than that of the convention but 2 out of 4 were shorter than the minimum time on average. In total however our idents were 45 seconds, this was the same as 2 of the 3 films I researched, therefore it is common, however not a common convention. So in conclusion, we didn't follow this particular convention so that we could allow more screen time for the main body of the film.
The titles I found were before the main body of the film. In Captain America Winter Soldier a non-serif title is used in the bottom right corner, displaying the location of where they are. We replicated this in our film.
Mad Max
Mad Max
Captain America Winter Soldier
The Brief (Our production). As you can see I took a similar approach to that of Captain America Winter Soldier. I used animated titles in the bottom corner of the screen. I also found this in Fast and Furious 7 which was one of the most successful action films in 2015. It works really and helps address the audience.
Opening Shot
Mad Max
Casino Royale
Captain America Winter Soldier
Arrow Season 1
Arrow season 3
Typically the identity of the protagonist is hidden in action films. All these films follow that. Although the protagonist is visible, in Mad Max, Casino Royale and all 3 seasons of Arrow, the facial features are all NOT visible in the opening shot. We followed this convention, as the first shot was an extreme close up in focus shot of our protagonists head and shoulders, as seen below. Throughout our training scene although you can see the protagonist, there is no direct focus on his identity, but more the exercises he is doing. This follows the common convention of action film opening shots.
Final Shot of the opening scene
Mad Max
Captain America Winter Soldier
Arrow Season 1
Arrow Season 2
Arrow Season 3
There was no real common convention for the final shot of the opening scene. In general, a short high impact, fast paced scene takes place, and ends on some sort of cliff hanger with the protagonist getting away. All these films follow this, however the final shot before the main title varies. As you see in Arrow, they always end on a front shot of the protagonist, this also occurs in Mad Max. In Casino Royale however, shortly after a close up of 'James Bond' a large explosion occurs and he gets away, leaving the final shot of the mise on scene to show the destruction left behind. In our production we didn't follow a convention for our final shot. Instead we focused on the narrative. We used voice dialogue through a phone call, to somewhat briefly explain to the viewer what has happened, but not why, allowing us to leave it as a 'cliff hanger' and feed into the main title which is what commonly arose in many action films we looked at.
Our final shot in our film opening. The Brief.
Shot Types and Variation
When looking through these 3 films and the various seasons of arrow, I noticed that there were many of the same type of shot. I think this comes down to the fact they all involved a high speed chase by foot, or some sort of impact or activity. Some shots are better at displaying this than others, which is a possibility for as to why many of the same shot types occurred, for example a tracking shot.
Here is a list of shot types I found throughout 3 or more of the films I researched in the action genre:
-Long shot
- Over the shoulder shot
-Close up
-Tracking/Moving shot
-Establishing shot
-Various panning shots
In our production, we tried to follow as many conventions as possible, along with making the cinematography as best as possible and keeping the narrative clear throughout. Example of shots in relation to conventions include:
Over the shoulder
Establishing shot
Focus on main character (Protagonist)
In our production we focused on having two characters, the protagonist and antagonist. We wanted to entice the audience to be on the side of the protagonist, to do this we focused on the protagonist (good guy). We incorporated a gym scene focus on movements that would be used in the chase, so we could use match cuts. The film opening starts and ends with the protagonist. In the films I researched, Casino Royale, Mad Max and Arrow all focus on the protagonist, but use an antagonist. Therefore we DID follow this convention.
Mise en Scene and verisimilitude
We used regular pedestrian areas in our film opening to provide a sense of verisimilitude, we also didn't have any large destruction stunts which was a common convention we didn't follow. This is to achieve a sense of verisimilitude (realism). When shooting, we made sure to go out when the weather was similar to that of the last shoot. This is to help the narrative and help it flow successfully. Along with this, the shot below for example, was framed to make it look as though I was cornered. However we intact framed the shot and focused on the mise-en-scene to make it look like it was.
 |
| We framed the shot and made the mise en scene show that the protagonist was cornered |
 |
| You can see just over the wall where we shot (the white wall) and that it isn't infact a corner. The wall only goes half way back, and there was space beyond. The shot provided good effect and proved successful. |
Sound
When researching common conventions of film openings in the action genre, I noticed each and every film had both diegetic and non diegetic sound. We also followed this convention. We predominately used non-diegetic sound as we wanted to focus on the chase, and specifically use that as our introduction to feed into the main body of the film. But were also used diegetic sound with dialogue, we did this to improve the narrative and to follow this convention.
Editing
The common convention in relation to editing is fast paced, quick and sharp editing. It also likes with sound, and the music fits the scene and speed of the shots. This happened in all 4 films I researched. Along with this cinematography proved very important in the various films I saw. We tried to follow this also, by using a range of shots, out of focus to in focus shots (pull shot), tracking shots etc. The route we used in the chase was actually in various different parts around Ilkley, where we filmed. We used editing to link these together and make it seem as though it is one continuous route, allowing us to maintain a clear story and continuity. The editing was vital in doing this.
Narrative
We finished our final cut, and watched it back through, and noticed that it didn't quite make sense. We took it back to the story board and made some adjustments. We added a whole training scene almost doubling screen time, changed all the music to fit the scene better, and worked on match cuts. Along with this we added dialogue and altered the storyline slightly. Once we completed this, I personally noticed that it didn't quite make sense that the protagnoist would be transporting a package, get caught and for nothing to be in the bag and to get away, it wasn't a convention of action film openings. So I put forward the idea of the use of a memory stick. Something small, which can be perceived powerful and realistic, reaching a sense of verisimilitude, which could easily have been in the protagonists pocket the whole time. We re-shot the final clip with a close up of the protagonist walking away with the memory stick, using slow motion to prove importance, and using dialogue to say 'decoy complete'. Overall the adjustments on the narrative proved a success and we are much happier with the outcome. While doing so we managed to follow some key conventions.
There are many types of successful action films, including:
-Robin Hood
-Star Wars
-The Three Musketeers
-District 13
-James Bond... Casino Royal
Common Conventions:
Most action films adopt a fast pace and continuous high energy to maintain the speed and flow of the film. Stunts and activity is used to emphasise the genre of film. They include chase scenes, rescues, battles etc... they use these to increase the adrenaline of the audience so they are 100% focused on the film, and stunt scenes for example come to full effect. When the two main characters meet (antagonist and protagonist) fights and martial arts for example are used, at this point, tense music is used with sharp editing to get the audience to feel the speed and pace of the fight, and keep them engaged. And finally, huge plot twists are common, usually from the use of a huge disaster which remove one of the vulnerable yet well liked characters, to change the emotion of the audience, and again keep them engaged. All of these are used in many many action related films including the samples above.
The History of Action Films:
-The '40s and '50s saw many 'Cowboy and Indian' and 'warfare' related films.
-The '60s introduced 'spy' films, for example James Bond. These films normally include high speed car chases to really engage the viewer, and soon became an icon of James Bond, with the Aston Martin.
-The '70s brought 'urban crime dramas' and martial arts.
-Hollywood then took over the film industry in the '80s with big time actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone who was in 'Rocky', arguably the greatest boxing film ever produced.
-And the '90s saw sequels of many films. The success of many film sequels proved successful as a franchise. It also proved how marketable films had become, with toys and video games spiralling of for the film itself, opening a new gap in the market.
Having done this research, as a group we felt confident this was a good genre to go with, it allows us to have fun with music, camera shots, editing and a great storyline, it also eliminates the use of too much dialogue so that what we have is emphasised.
Having done this research, as a group we felt confident this was a good genre to go with, it allows us to have fun with music, camera shots, editing and a great storyline, it also eliminates the use of too much dialogue so that what we have is emphasised.
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