Evaluation

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fia6_s-8big

How did you attract/address you audience? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAA4V7Tw42M

what kind of media institutions might distribute your product?

Some examples of media institutions that would distribute my media product are Warner Brothers, Lionsgate and Miramax. all of these institutions produce and distribute films within the thriller genre for example Miramax released Pulp Fiction on the 21st of October, 1994 which is within the thriller genre.

who would be the audience for your media product?

From the research I conducted into suitable age groups me and my project partner decided to go with a 15 certificate film, as this does not include overly explicit content. Not only this but the thriller genre can easily be aimed at people from 15 years through to 60+ years of age so we decided to go with a 15 certificate reducing the amount of complications that could be encountered, such as weapons, to much explicit language and potentially delve into overly dark themes.
 
what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

from completing this media product, I have learnt how to make use of the programme Adobe Pro Plus and other adobe software. I learnt how to cut, edit, build effects, layer video files and make use of double tracking audio files within this software. I have also learnt how to edit pictures and insert them into my media product on Adobe Pro Plus.

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

In our media product we made use of synchronizing the music with the video shots to build the intensity of scenes and to add again to the atmosphere, this is commonly used in all films but thrillers make use of them the majority of the time. We also made use of a particular shot where in the foreground of the shot there is a blurred object and the victim is in focus but the focus changes revealing the object to be a knife, this again is used often in thrillers used to create mystery and tension throughout. we made use of mse en scene where we used a hat to represent a certain group of people, this isn't always used within thrillers but has been used in some thriller films.

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

from the preliminary product I can see how the use of purpose built materials such as professional cameras, tripods and professional editing software. Also I have been able to identify how a more diverse use of camera shots can increase the professional quality of the product. Not only this but it gives the product a more indulging feel for the audience meaning they can really follow the story, not to mention it increases the overall effect of the different camera shots helping to emphasis certain aspects of the scene. I have also learnt how the use of audio recordings or music can increase the effect of the atmosphere and increases the indulging effect and increasing the connection between the audience and the product.

Product

Final product

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8FLr-J18IQ

Planning

Planning
Main story draft #1

Me and my project partner, George Walker, had a group meeting where we discussed lots of key points and came up with some ideas that we like:

• tense
• cars
• suits
• punch
• blood
• gamble
• fire
• fedora's
• special effects
• past and present

from these key points we have started to make a base story for our project. new chose these and found that they all fit into the thriller genre.

As we thought about these points we eradicated some as they where simply too high risk or to ambitious for our product:

-Punch: We know we are held back with the amount of things we can do, due to time, we realised that it wasn't necessarily essential or vital to show any physical punches or violence, we wanted to show our skills through a detailed establishing shot, allowing the audience to create the story in their minds, as apposed to giving away a climactic scene with no build up  

-Cars: We realised this had to be cut from our ideas, as we obviously cannot do great, big, huge car chases, and neither of us have a licence, or know anyone willing to take serious filming time out to help with their car
-Fire: We now understand that we definitely cannot have fire in the piece, as it would be highly dangerous, and long lasting damage would be left to the environment to where we have chosen to film. We don't have enough knowledge and equipment to perform in any way with fire safely.

-Special Effects: This is not necessarily a cut idea, as we need to use it to some extent, for credits and what not, but we haven't had any real experience in strong special effects.

Hand written story notes: #1

"The main man is a decent gambler, makes good profit from it, and comes across many different players, this results in the unfortunate outcome of being beaten up by people who owe him money, and left for dead in a derelict up house."

This will be developed and most likely changed, hopefully for the better. 

Location: Run down, Derelict area 

On our third meeting on 4/11/14, we started with the set agenda of Locations, for the scenes with the Derelict area, me and my project partner went to scout out different locations, after much discussion we decided on a abandoned coal yard, its an outside, vegetation covered, run down, beaten up area, that links to our objective place, and helps bring a grotty sense to our thriller.
 
We asked the owner of the property for permission to film on his grounds, he agreed.








Here is the derelict location that we chose to use
for our project. The location was previously a coal yard but has been shut down and abandoned for a considerable amount of time.

This is the area we are aiming to use for the scene with the beaten up man. this could work very well as there is lots of great potential for great camera angles.










This shot shows how run down this are actually is highlighting the potential risks of using this place for filming. Not only does it demonstrate the risks it also shows the potential for great shots.















These are potential establishing shots for the abandoned scene.







Second location-Poker set:

After me and my project partner had discussed possible locations for the derelict scene we decided to come together and have a meeting on a possible location for the poker scene. We did this on the 7/11/14 with the agenda of a dramatic underground scene. so the area gave the feeling that the games where illegal bookings in a slightly run down but still frequently used scene. after much discussion we settled on the idea of using the school drama facilities as these gave professional quality lighting and sufficient props (table, chairs etc.) using this facilities ensures that we can use the lighting to create a dramatic atmosphere to the scenes shot there.


For me and my project partner, George Walker, to use these facilities we put together a facilities booking timetable: 


Iconography

 In our product we decided that we would include a logo to deispaly our company Red Chaos. the word 'Red' was used because it brought to mind the curtains of a theatre and t is also i short and sharp word. The Word 'Chaos' was linked to the genre of thriller, with how there can be a lot of anarchy and chaos within the plot of some films in this particular genre.






Story board

 This story board was done using the initial basis of ideas we had.

Research

Chosen Genre: Thriller

Prior to the planning of my product I have decided to research deeper into the thriller genre...

Thriller- A genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as its main elements. Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror. Films of this genre tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced.

Examples of Thrillers-
 

Die hard Series-1990 onwards, Directed by Renny Harlin


Drop Zone-1994, Directed by John Badham




Die hard

Die Hard is a 1988 American action film directed by John McTiernan and written by Steven E. de Souza and Jeb Stuart, based on the 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. Die Hard follows off-duty New York City Police Department officer John McClane (Bruce Willis) as he takes on a group of highly organized criminals led by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who perform a heist in a Los Angeles skyscraper under the guise of a terrorist attack using hostages, including McClane's wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), to keep the police at bay.



Introduction

Die Hard is not a discrete, self-contained movement (McTiernan wastes no time before jumping into the meat of the story); so instead we might treat this 'sequences' entry as an example of McTiernan's deft handling of exposition and lean, no frills storytelling. This is very similar to how predator was shot in the introduction. McTiernan favours two shots for much of the film's opening section, mirroring his handling of the group dynamic visible in Predator.






Drop Zone

A team of skydiving crooks led by DEA-agent-turned-bad Busey specialize in landing on police roofs and breaking in so their evil computer nerd can steal undercover agents' files and sell them to drug lords. Federal Marshal Snipes lost a brother to this crew and learns skydiving with the help of tough-but-lovable instructor Butler so he can track them down. Die Hard meets Passenger 57 meets Cliff hanger.


Continuity

Right before the DC qualifying jump begins, a camera operator can be seen filming the crowd underneath the canopy. Although one could argue that he might just be filming for a news crew or making a documentary about the jump, the Panavision film camera he's clearly using is not suited for that sort of work.

In his first jump with his team, one of the characters is mostly shown with an orange cutaway handle. However, immediately after landing, on the same jump, the character is shown with a yellow cutaway handle.

Snatch

Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookmakers, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewellers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.


The film snatch keeps the audience enthralled and interested by swapping between characters.

                                                                                                                                                                 

Audience

There are usualy warnings on the back of DVD cases explaining why something is rated what it is. This way people can know exactly what they are getting into and it also narrows down to a more specific target audience.

The audience which we are aiming to atract with our product is 15+ years of age with no specific sex, although it would be prodominantly males.

The opening of our film will be rated with a 15 certificate due to the aspects of gangs, violence, crime and gambling represented in the film. Despite this it will not be rated with an 18 certificate as it doesnt contain overly expilcit conent.


As a group we agreed that we would stick by this certificate so we organised a meeting on 21/11/2014 at 5.00 pm with the agenda of:

1. What makes a feature fifteen films?

Our findings:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

     2.  Can we keep within these guidelines?

Our findings:

• The areas can easily be kept within the guidelines as most of these areas wont be involved the only issue that arose was a use of violence within the product. although we can make use of camera shots and effects to give the feeling of a violent seen rather than using actual violence.

                                                                                                                                                                 


Consumers

For the past 50-60 years there have been many different forms of methods for finding out information about consumers and what they would like. an example of how they segmented people for this is Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Maslow wanted to understand what motivates people. He believed that people possess a set of motivation systems unrelated to rewards or unconscious desires.

Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfil the next one, and so on. A problem with this system was that it is only applied to a certain group of people of certain class.

Currently there are some more updated and in depth look at consumers. Such as the mosaic family tree.

Following Maslow's hierarchy our product is in the sections of love/belonging and esteem because people go to the cinema to watch films with there





                                                                                                                                                                 

Prelim

 

 

PRELIM

 

 

 

Research:

 

                 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe2PqbUk0bU

    

This is an example of the mid shot which allows the audience to understand more about the character. this is because the audience can now see the facial expressions and there body language.

 

 

 

 

 This is an example of a long shot or establishing shot. This is used to show the location and to show the time of day. this also may have characters just visible to the audience.

 

 

         








This is an example of a long shot showing the entire body of a character establishing the relationship between both the character and the immediate environment.












Camera Movement-
                               
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z68dMBAAn-k

Directors use camera movements to add atmosphere and a sense of realism to the production.

For example...






A side ways track shot (crab shot) can be used to follow the movement of a character or an object, keeping the audience in with the action.














An Arc shot is where the camera moves around a point in a circular motion. this enables the audience to see the expressions of the characters and helps increase the intensity of the narrative.














A crane shot allows the director to follow the action in a vertical direction.

-Screenshots have been provided by OCR so that we can use the most relevant footage.

 

 

PLANNING

 

Step Outline:

 

Our short video will take place in a school. The video will involve two people, the first of whom has broken the rules and is trouble. The second will play the role of the deputy head, telling the student off. The student, who has broken the rules, will give the impression of anger. Also he shows the impression that he doesn't care he has done something wrong not only that but he views the whole dressing down as a total waste of time. The teacher will be giving the air of distress, this will be the third time in one month the two of them have had to meet and therefor the student is fiven his final warning.

 

Script:

 

Participants:

Oliver Missin: Student

Will Thomson: Teacher

Gavin Penrose: Cameraman

Mr Flanagan: Deputy Head

_____________________________________________________________________________

[Will]: You alright Ollie?

 

[Ollie]: Yeah yeah what do you want?

 

[Will]: Deputy Head wants to see you.

 

[Ollie]: Bloody Hell

 

They both walk down the hallway. Scene cuts to when they are about to go down the stairs.

 

Ollie knocks on door 3 times.

 

[Mr Flanagan]: Come in.

 

Ollie opens the door slowly then walks in. Scene fades out to black.

 

 _______________________________________________________________________________

Shot List:

The camera pans from left to right an outside long shot of East Building. The camera is then in a point of view position and approaches Ollie, leaning against a wall. The shot then sees Ollie and Will who have a conversation. The camera is then following the pair down a set of stairs and then they approach a door. The camera is from the perspective of the other side of the room. The Deputy Head looks up then tells Ollie to come in. OIlie then opens the door slowly and walks in. The scene fades out to black.

 

Storyboard:

Contract Letter:

Dear Sir,

                       I am writing to request your permission to feature you in the opening of our new film. You will be featured in the film prominently for about one minute. Please contact us to ask more about your position in the film and we will be happy to oblige.

I thank you in advance, but should you say no we understand completely and would look forward to future endeavours.

Please sign your opinion below:

I do/not want to be featured in this Production. (Delete as appropriate)

 

_______________________________________

 

Yours Sincerely,

The Production Team.

 

 

Product:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vk4sKJTAkwI&feature=youtu.be

 

 

 

 

Evaluation:

 

Overall the product was successful but if I was to redo this I would change a few things.

To begin with things that went well, the video included many different camera shots giving the product a more professional feel and helping add to the emersion of the audience. Also during the editing process we put in place good transitions between the scenes for example using the fade in and fade out transition. The majority of shots that where used such as the over shoulder shot or the zoom shots also the establishing shot. all of which helped keep the audiences attention over a long period of time. Another thing that was good in our product is the quality of continuity, because all the way through the video nothing moved between shots and everything stayed exactly the same throughout each scene making it very consistent.

One of the problems we found in editing the video was the static in the background of the audio  and when ever there was a problem in the audio that needed cutting a big gap of silence  was left between the audio from removing the issue giving it a very un-professional feel. To fix this I would use a better audio recorder meaning that static will not be present therefore editing will be much cleaner and efficient, leaving seamless audio in the finished product. Also I would be much more smooth with camera movements and positioning of shots, because in the first scene of the product the camera is knocked slightly, also some of the shots the position of the camera either showed to much or showed to little giving the video a very un-professional finish again. when doping our prelim video we had a tripod and my phone to film and because my phone couldn't be fitted to the tripod it had to be sellotaped so I would use a good quality camera that can be attached to the tripod if I was to do this again.