FINAL FILM - Vimeo

32. Remello Daley, Javayl Primus, Emadul Rahman, Umar Sheikh from 283goswell on Vimeo.

Evaluation - Question 1

Conventions of film openings:

• Most film openings are about 2 minuets long however, major blockbusters may be longer
• Introduces main characters[s]
• Scenes that introduces plot/beginning of the film giving subtle clues/hints about the narrative. They act as teasers to keep the audience engaged.
• Non diegetic sound - usually atmospheric, mysterious and eerie to build up tension and suspense. Sounds may also simply music from the movie sound track. We may also hear some narration which could give us an insight into the narrative or a character. There may also be some special effects too.
• Titles

Conventions of a title sequence:

• Production ident 
• Distribution ident 
• Actor 1
• Actor 2
• Film title
• All other actors
• Crew - Casting, Costume design, Music by, Co-executive producers, production designer, director of photography 
• Executive producer
• Producer 

*In major blockbusters, the conventions may be challenged. The 2 main actors, who will usually be huge names, would appear before the title of the film. This is because they are acting as a marketing tool to attract a larger, greater audience.*

INTERTEXTUALITY

We used intertexuality from the urban, London based movie 'Adulthood'. Both scenes end the same with a character being follwed from behind and then attacked. Here's an example of how we used the intertexuality from Adulthood. However, the only difference is, is that our scene is from an extreme close up of the torso area whereas theirs is from the head area.

Evaluation - Question 2

This gif. shows some examples of stereotypical representations used in our film in comparison to actual TV shows and films. I have used examples from spooks - where the asian characters are the villains, and the godfather and the sopranos to show the typically look of a gangster

Representation - The description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way or as being of a certain nature

In our film we had a stereotypical negative representation of ethnic minorities in western society; The mob boss and hit man were black, and the character who was supposed to get killed but killed instead, was asian. This is stereotypical because ethnic minorities are usually portrayed as 'the bad guy' in many films and TV shows and are usually always involved in criminal activities. 

Gender - We had an all male cast and they were all showed signs of masculinity as they were all involved in crime and violence.

We also had a stereotypical 'gangster': The hit man was dressed smartly/formally and the mob boss was dressed in a suit - black tie and white shirt.

Social Class - All the characters are from a working class background. They are usually represented as criminals, being immoral, having some form of poverty, unreasonable workers etc. This is evident as the working class character is being paid a huge sum of money illegally to commit a crime.

Evaluation - Question 3

Evaluation - Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

My media product is a crime thriller movie. By being a 'crime' thriller it is a sub genre of 'Thriller' movies. The wider audience for thrillers are usually males around the ages of 16-35. This is for many reasons. One reason is due to the content in thrillers. In thrillers, there are always some sort of violent and graphic scenes. Violence mainly appeals to males as it is a masculine attraction. Also, as thrillers contain violence, it could be disturbing for younger people to watch hence why it has an older audience.

The audience for crime thrillers are fairly similar. The main age range would probably be around 18-35. It would also have a male dominated audience as well due to the content. Crime thrillers inevitably contain violence, and also more explicit stuff like drug use, swearing etc.

The target audience for my own movie is 16-25 males who live in an urban city. This is because of where the movie is set - It's set in gritty parts of london involving council estates, dark alley ways etc. An older audience wouldn't really relate to those types of settings whereas a lot of youths and young adults would. Also, the target audience will be males because the 3 leading actors are all males as well. Also, there are violent scenes such as a shooting and that will appeal more to males than females.

This is an official Facebook profile page for my film. This Facebook page is just one way of promoting my product to my audience. However, this Facebook page will mainly be targeted at the younger side of my audience - the 16-21 age range. This is becuase that's the age range of most of the day to day users on social networking sites and the ones who will most likely see it.

Evaluation - Question 6

These are the technologies we have used during our making of our film


FINAL CUT PRO x SOUNDTRACK PRO
We combined these two technologies to add sound to our film. We had
to export our film from final cut pro into sound track pro, adding foley
sounds, special effects and also a backing track to create a tense, edgy atmosphere.

JVC GY HMI 100E CAMERA x LED LIGHT
We combined these two technologies to record scenes with extremely low lighting. We done this by
the LED light onto the top of the JVC GY HMI 100E camera.

The JVCGYHM100E camera was extremely useful especially because of the size. It was small, light, which made it easy to pack and carry around when filming on locations out of college. Also, because the camera was HD, it made our footage seem extremely professional and high in quality.

Final Cut was useful when editing all our footage because it was very easy to use and understand especially as we had a lot of footage to play about with. Also, it was good because we could do our titles within FCP.

Using Blogger was one of the best and easiest ways saving my work. For example, if it was saved on a usb there's a high chance it could get damaged whereas blogger is 100% secure. Blogger was also useful for doing work with member of my group. for example, if one of us had an idea we could simply just post it onto blogger, saving a lot of time and effort trying to contact someone.

Evaluation - Question 7

Evaluation - Question 1

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

A conventional film opening will start with the production companys ident then the distribution ident, if there are any famous actors in the film then they will come up before the film title as the film producers use this as an additional marketing strategy, the film title will come up next after this all the other actors taking part in the film will show next, then after this the rest of the crews tites will show for example, casting, costume design and music. the last people to show are the executive producer and the producer.

The titles in films are usually plain in either black or white in a plain font that is easy to read. The conventions of a film opening can change depending on the type of film opening it is, for example a narrative film opening will differ from a discrete opening because a narrative opening will give the audience insight to the caharacters whereas a discrete opening will keep as much as it can from the audience. Mainly, film openings consist of special effects, titles, music and a narrative that introduces the main characters to the audience.

This GIF shows the conventions we followed when adding our titles to our opening sequence. Our font size is quite small in relation to the whole frame, the font is white and a relatively plain type. I have also used our production companys ident.






This GIF is from a film that has already been made andit shows how i have followed the conventons of film openings as you compare the two.

Evaluation - Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Representation refers to the construction of a social groups in media, stereotypes are used to help represent characters in films to help the audience connect with and understand the characters more clearly. In our opening we represented middle aged men that are gang members, we portrayed this stereotype negatively because we showed them as aggressive and violent and involved in organised crime. This follows the conventions of normal media because the media in the real world will present middle aged gang members in a similar way.

This is a mood board for the stereotypes of gang members

This is me dressed up as a mob leader, this goes with the stereotypes because i am
dressed smart with a shirt and tie.

This is also stereotypical because he is using a gun.

Evaluation - Question 3

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

Evaluation - Question 4

Who would be the Audience of your media product?

Thriller films are usually aimed at young men  in particular, our thriller has gone with the usual conventions of thriller films and has two main characters in our film and they are both male. Our thriller is a crime thriller and the main target audience for this type of thriller is also male. Our audience is males from ages 16 to 26, as social media is used by people in that age range I have decided to make a Facebook page seeing that the people that our film is aimed at will be the people that will be most likely to see the page. I think our thriller is aimed mostly aimed mostly at this age range because of the setting of our film 

Evaluation - Question 5

How did you attract/address your target audience?

Evaluation - Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies fro the process of constructing the product

Here is a wordle of all the different technology that we used in making our thriller opening

Evaluation - Question 7

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

Question 7 is asking me to look at how i have improved my skills throughout 
this whole process. 

Importance of planning and research 

Planning is very time - consuming and for our prelim we didnt have that much time to plan or planning for our prelim consisted of a storyboard but it wasn't as detailed as it could have been because of the time limit, on the other hand our planning for our opening title sequence was much longer with around one to two weeks to plan we had more than enough time to plan our title sequence, our storyboard was much more detailed than our prelim, we brainstormed ideas and threw ideas back and forth while coming up with the main concept of our opening, whereas when planning our prelim we just had an idea and went and filmed it in one lesson. When planning our prelim we didnt worry about costume and/or mise en scene , we just got the filming equipment and filmed. But for filming our opening sequence we spent time thinking and planning our costume choices, we also went to our main filming location before hand to do a risk assesment as to what could go wrong while filming. This wasnt necessary when filming our prelim because it was all done inside the building. Lighting for our prelim was just a LED light but in our opening we didnt have to worry about lighting because it was outside.

How much better was your camerawork/framing

For our prelim and our film we used the CandI ident

Looking at our prelim our shots weren't up to scratch but we were in the process of learning the 180° and the rule of thirds. My skills have improved since the prelim because i have learnt about the focus in the camera and the 180°  and not breaking it.

Our filming wasnt as clear as it was in the film

How much better is your editing

Throughout this process my skills in final cut and editing footage have vastly improved, learning how to make titles on final cut and adding transitions to my film and titles, I also improved my skills on using Soundtrack Pro and choosing the correct sounds to go with my film, putting them on a timeine and the moving them back to final cut. In my prelim sound wasnt very important so i just chose the firstgood sound that i heard on soundtrack rather than scanning through the sounds and chosing them according to the theme 

Establishing shot where we filmed outside for our title sequence

How has your teamwork improved?

Teamwork has improved since the prelim because we learnt how to communicate with eachother, getting eachother to do work, making group posts on the blog and dividing our workload making the process of making our film easier on all of us.

Filming ouside the barbican a busy area and framing is much clearer

We used titles in both our prelim and our opening

Our meetingscene in our prelim is different to our meeting scene in our title sequence

EVALUATION - QUESTION 1

CONVENTIONS of a film opening.

- Duration - approx 2minutes

- The use of sound and music which is often used to build tension.
- The production company's ident The titles: these include the production company, main cast, the film's name, other cast members and the directors. The order in which these appear varies between films.

SOUND - a good thriller has loads of sounds that give it the mood and attraction for the audience.

 

TITLE SEQUENCES

 A Normal film opening begins with: production company ident and distribution company.
Followed by the actors that are starring in the film (if the writer is more famous or well known, their name will appear first)
 The placing of the film title changes but it usually at the beginning to middle of the title sequence - most commonly around the timing that the actors name's appear. 
Then the crew: the director of photography, editor, product designer, music supervisor and costume designer. The very titles are the producer and director.

 

Titles should not interfere with the actual film so most titles are in the corner of the screen in small font and not to big that will cover up the action being shown to the audience. Some titles are bigger due to importance.

 

 

EXAMPLES OF HOW WE STUCK CLOSELY TO THE TITLE SEQUENCE STRUCTURE:

 - intertextuality

We based one of the last scenes with the ending of Adulthood (British Drama 2008 - Sequel to Kidulthood) however we filmed ours at a closer shot of the action because at the same time we have to consider are plot and the conventions of a thriller: not to let the audience see everything that will happen, we create suspense by not showing the identity of the 2 main characters - only briefly in some scenes: Creating the sense Mystery part of a "CRIME" thriller. 

The interview has been used in loads of movies but the idea was taken from are own preliminary film that we did as a training for are final filming for are crime thriller opening. 

EVALUATION - QUESTION 2

Certain stereotypes and representations serve the interests of dominant groups in society is basic to the concept of ideology. Ideology is basically the idea that social groups do not have the same amount of power in society - because of the lack of power over resources. KARL MARX was the first to discover this concept: ideas in society are used to maintain social relationships based on inequalities. So the ruling ideas are the ideas of people in power and serve to keep them in power. Common ideas in society that we assume to be 'normal' are for example: Gangs of youths in hoodies are always up to no good.

STERYOTYPES are often related to power imbalances in society. Sterotype in the media can often be negative and serve a perpetuate stereotype within our society.
*IMPORTANT* : The Media often say that sterotypes are used in TV and Newspapers because they are instantly understood by the audience.

Age - The age of actors we decided was to have them at aged 20 or above this is because men at this age are observant and active before an old age. The plot is about a MOB gang that has been running the area for a long time so we wanted to reflect that in the characters and members. We couldn't have young teens in it because it would make the MOB idea more of a amateur gang.

The Social Class - the characters are workers (middle class) not too poor. They are able to work with the MOB and gain money. We represent the characters like the MOB leader to wearing a tie and shirt often worn by business men - white & black colours: simple and formal. On average men around their 20 should atleast have a job in the UK.

Sexuality is not really considered in a male dominated film that include hard hitting action and fast pace drama/thriller. So we didn't consider this but there was none shown its just all straight men.

Ethnicity - the MOB boss was black and so was the hitman assigned to kill an asian man and his family. This is represented to the audience as not about race but more about the motives of the individuals. The hitmans motivation was money. The MOB bosses motivation was to show authority and power and the asian man's motivation was revenge. The fact it was two black males against an asian was just done purely by chance of are group. We decided to only limit our selves to having reliable characters within the group to be the characters for the film.

We represented the BINARY OPPOSITION as a strong distinguished position of a Killer & Victim. If the film was actually to be created then a classic Hero & Villain.

We have decided to represent 20 year old men as being thugs or in actual terms a Mobster - still at an old age or the 'peak' age for a man.

EVALUATION - QUESTION 3

PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION

This is the Distribution Title we used because we were looking for a official RooksNest. Distribution motion image however due to the lack of time we were unable to remember to put it in. BUT as a plan we initially said we was going to use RooksNest. as a distribution company.



RooksNest.

QUOTE: " Rooks Nest Entertainment is a London based production company and financier, dedicated to collaborating with the best international filmmakers on high quality feature films and documentaries. Rooks Nest develops, produces and finances with a focus on cutting edge, auteur-driven films that strive for both critical acclaim and commercial viability."

We chose this company because they provide small film makers a chance to show their talent and see what they can do. RooksNest was the distributor to MY BROTHER THE DEVIL. previously we done research and we see that a small company like this can have a major impact on a film. By watching MY BROTHER THE DEVIL we believe that RooksNest would support us because of the urban london based style we used - not to flashy like an american film. Our location is local to london and a hotspot for events. The plot is related to crime-thrillers that may interest RooksNest due to the plot has action and drama like MY BROTHER THE DEVIL has and that film went big and even won some awards.

EVALUATION - Question 1

All films that are produced start of with film openings, which follow conventions of film openings. As an audience, we are able to see title sequences and usually hear sound, whilst some sort of movement appear on the screen. These are aspects of the conventions that the audience is able to realise easily. However, there are more conventions that the openings follow that create effect but also to give the audience a brief idea of a location, character or plot. This is also known as the teaser to the story which is used to keep the opening continuous. Further effects can also be added to this to make the opening appealing.
The opening of a thriller film in particular also follows these conventions but the atmosphere created differ to other types of film genres. Most thriller films usually create a tense feeling, unlike a comedy film that would create a relaxed atmosphere. The scene itself may feel long in terms of what is happening, but in terms of duration compared to the rest of the film, it is very sort.

Main conventions of film openings :

• Teaser to the story - The teaser to the story is what makes the audience want to watch the film. It does not tell you what happens in the entire film, but it gives a them a preview that allows them to make guesses and decisions on what will happen next in the film. The teaser to the story can be created through the types of openings. There are two type of openings that are very good at giving teasers to the story.

Narrative openings

It tells a part of the story, not giving away the entire plot but giving a preview. This should engage the audience, putting them in the actual atmosphere that is show on the screen from the start of he film, preparing them for what is upcoming. This is one of the best type of openings that gives a teaser to the story.

Discreet openings

This type of opening has a little relation to the film itself, but is a very effective way of giving a teaser to the story. Effects are used, but locations, characters and narrative are not given away to the story until after the opening. Sound may be used to replace the visual moving images. This is very effective because it puts the audience in an unaware position.

• Special effects - Atmosphere created through mis en scene. the mis en scene from effects are not the original video, but effects added on top of the original video to create a better visual scene. Even little effects, such as fades still help to create an understanding of what is happening but in an entertaining and skilful manner.

• Sound - The sound in a thriller film would be tense, taunting or have a sense of adrenaline. the sound would always have a relation to the scene. for example, a R&B song would unlikely be used in a horror thriller because it wouldn't match the sub genre. Special sounds can be used as well as special effects, such as heartbeat sounds, natural sounds etc.

• Title sequence - A title sequence would tend to follow an order according to the status of individuals in the hierarchy of the film. the sequence of titles will be briefly explained in the video beneath.

EVALUATION - QUESTION 3

EVALUATION - Question 2

Representation is the portrayal or description of someone. people can be represented through stereotypes, just by simple things such as: Clothing, Ethnicity, Gender, social groups and much more.

The thriller that we chose was based around an action/crime sub genre. Therefore, the main social groups represented consist around a stereotypical male dominated group. There are three characters in the opening  of the thriller, all from ethnic backgrounds. Ethnicity wasn't a stereotype that we used in the making of our film.

• Crime boss/mob leader - between the ages of 25-35

The crime boss is shown to be the most powerful in the opening. He is equipped with a shirt and tie, not showing any parts of his body apart from the chin below. The mis en scene creates his status, as his limited appearance proves that he is worthy of holding a high status. When compared to the rest of the characters, We can see that his dress code is according to a middle class male, implying wealth and power. This is generally how a mob boss would tend to be seen, following the stereotypes of a working class male who has been associated in the crime life, making it from rock bottom to the highest peak.

He also gives a strong appearance not only through mis en scene, but also through sound. his voice is deeply toned, using simple vocabulary, to give away the crime sense. sophisticated language may have resulted in a softer disguise which would have taken away the hard on character that is being implied. We can hear the crime boss talk about taking away lives by giving his hit-man large sums of money, following the idea of contract killers and crime boss ideology. it also results in a violent lifestyle, surrounded by knife crime, gun crime and murder.

Although his screen time is the shortest, as an audience we are able to identify the social group that he represents as an individual. he represents a high status criminal, who would tend to have associates, people taking care of his finance, hit-men and more aspects a crime lord would have. 

Looking at previous mob hit-men in the 1900's (Sicilian hit-men in America) such as Carlo Gambino, Tommy Luchesse etc, They all had similar things in common. Their dress code would be sophisticated but also strengthening their appearance as a Mafia boss. Money would usually be the main subject, revolving only around people who have wealth or access to wealth. Associates would be either family or close friends, keeping their social life restricted to only the people they can make a living out of. Settling down with a wife and kids are aims of some mob bosses, but not keeping them away from casino's, clubs and other similar forms of activities. women may be seen as the sensitive side of the person, someone that can help repair emotions and feelings. All of these aspects can be implied through less than a minute of screen time, due to previous stereotypes gathered from real life figures.

The mob leader is represented in a negative way as all the aspects of the stereotypical lifestyle contribute to this. However, in the crime world, mob bosses may be seen as role models, relating to the lifestyle that is lived. it generalises anti social behaviour.

• The hitman - between the ages of 20-27

The hitman is seen as a servant or slave to the crime boss. He is one who follows strict orders from higher ranks. The type of people he represents are unemployed men who do not have a source of income, resorting to crime and violence. however, a person like the hitman would show a person who proves that he is worthy of being payed for, by doing chores or jobs for members of one particular group. His ranks in the mob leadership is very low, meaning the lifestyle he lives is far more restricted than the lifestyle of the crimeboss, due to set boundaries. His wealth would not be very large, but enough to buy clothes, pay rent, eat and feed a family. therefore, his costume was urban based, containing a hoodedjacket, jeans and trainers. He represents a small scaled, discreet social group, as the things he would do for a living would be between himself, avoiding the law and sticking to the rules of the crime family he is involved in. In the past, this type of ranking structure was common, in America, England, Italy and Russia. mafia bosses were those who were capable of handling business. Most leaders started from the lowest ranks to the highest, and the ambition that the hitman shows are similar but in the modern day.

The outlaw occupation that he involves himself in represents a negative social group. the type of social group that is being formed are those that the media resent, such as gangs. Drugs, violence and money craving are things that people in similar social groups would feel the necessity to do and have. The aim of his role was to expose what people do or are forced to do. Negativity was not trying to be shown but was, due to the reality that surrounds us within society today.

• The victim - also between the ages of 25-35

The victim is the most important person when defining the social group he represents. he represents a group of victims, who suffer from abuse and violence. he portrays a strong person from a working class background who is a victim of criminals, with a past that could be almost traumatising. His character can represent various social groups within different ages.

He could represent a type of kid or teenager that does not have a happy social life, keeping their social life between social workers and family. although the character is shown to be an elderly male, his role in the film may imply that he may have had suffered a form of bullying in his younger years. 

As he is shown to be elderly, he also represents elderly males in an urban area who suffer from poverty, engaging in criminal activities that backfire on them within the criminal society. the social group that he shows overall are negative but in a sympathetic sense. As a working class male, he may not have access to jobs in the urban area he lives in. Some victims of crime in real life are victims of criminals themselves because they engage in criminal activities that they cannot handle, just so that they can survive with food, shelter etc. 

the final social group he could represent are former gang members (dropouts). this can be viewed upon positively, as his attraction to crime is now repelling towards a legit life, although he has to carry out crimes to to clear obstructions to live a peaceful life.