Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I feel that my film challenges typical thriller film conventions because when you see the mysterious hooded man the audience assume that he is the villain in the film which would fit in with other thriller films but in mine that man gets killed in the opening scene which confuses the audience from the start of the film and adds interest because they start to wonder why certain things are happening.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The character in the opening scene represents a 16-17 year old teenager. This is shown from his jeans, trainers and hooded jacket, which are all typical stereotypes for what a teenager would wear at that age. The character that comes into the house is wearing his hood up and the audience don't see much of his face which makes you think that he is a villain because that fits in with the stereotype young thug appearance.  

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

I feel that the most suitable media institution for distributing my film would be Warp Films because of the low budget my film would have. I feel that the best place to start would be with an independent British film company, and I feel that Warp films would be the perfect company for that. Warp films deals with independent, edgy and artistic British films such as ‘This is England’, ‘Submarine’ and ‘Bunny and the Bull’. Therefore I feel that my film would fit in with the style of films that Warp distributes. The scene from my film that i feel fits in with the edgy style that warp have had in all the films they have distributed and been apart of is the shed scene when i use a over head shot looking down on the persons face and i have changed the lighting in the clip which i think makes it edgy compared to a lot of other films.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
The age rating that i would put on the film would be 15+ but i feel that because the distributor of my film would be the company Warp i think that the majority of the audience would be teens and young adults that like edgy, different and unique films. Even though my target audience is teenagers and young adults I feel that my film could also be enjoyed by an older  audience.

How did you attract/address your audience?
I feel that because my budget would be low I would not advertise my film on TV. I would have it advertised on the Warp website and would also have the trailer on youtube because I feel that  enough people are on youtube everyday to make up for the fact that I'm not able to advertise on the TV. I would also have adverts at the start of other youtube videos advertising my film.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?  
I feel that I already had some skills that I would need for editing this film. I also feel that the process had given me a lot more editing skills and has improved the skills I already had. I learnt how to use adobe premiere pro to a more professional standard, for example i used it to edit the colour balance in my film which gave it a much darker effect. When it came to filming i used my canon eos 1100d which has HD quality video, this made it perfect for trying to create a professional looking low budget film. Mobile phones played a big part in my film because they are what the film revolves around and we had to try different methods to get the persons voice over the phone sound just right for what I wanted.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I feel that i have learnt that you have to make sure you have all props and location and the story and script ready for the day of filming because otherwise it will take longer because no one would be prepared. The final film is a major improve meant on the preliminary task for many reasons, such as the final film has been edited and cut a lot cleaner then the preliminary task which helps to make it look a lot more professional.     

Final 2 minute film

This is my final 2 Minute opening scene for my film End Call.

Draft for 2 minute sequence

This is the draft video for the opening 2 minutes of my film End Call. I fell short by about 17 seconds off the 2 minute target, which is something that will be improved for the final clip.

Research- the thriller genre and planning

The thriller genres main elements are suspense, tension and excitement. Thriller films tend to be fast-paced .The Objective for most thriller films is to deliver a story with sustained tension and surprise.

Planning 

Costume 
when it came to the costume i decided that it would be best to go for simple clothing because i feel that the style of thriller that i was making fits well with basic every day clothing. All characters in the movie are wearing hooded jackets which doesn't just and some mystery to them because you cant fully see their face but it also fits in with the stereotype hood wearing  teenager. I decided that it would be a good idea for the main character in this opening sequence to not have his hood up because then when you see the people coming into his house with their hoods up they seem very mysteries in comparison and the audience would start to think about who these people are and why cant we see a shot of their faces.

Location
I wanted the film to be as true to real life as possible so decided to film the opening scene in an average British family home. the first film location is at the dining table in the house, this scene is used to show a normal everyday person just sitting at a table in the house and reading. I chose to do this for the first scene because I feel that it would be better to lead up to the action rather than start with action straight from the get go. I have decided that a lot of the opening scene to my film would be shot in a shed because I feel that the dark closed in space with add tension to the scene in my film.

Props
The props in the film consist of a book which is simply in the scene to show that the person in shot is actually doing something and not just sitting around at a table which would look really unnatural. The main prop in the film is a mobile phone and the film its self revolves around this phone. The character sitting at the table in the opening scene will get a call on his phone and will begin to panic and that's when the action in the film will start to begin. Another prop that's used is a spade when the main character from the opening scene is scared and hides in his shed he picks up a spade which helps to show to the Audience that the situation he is in is becoming really serious now.

Risk Assessment

There is not much risk involved with the making of my film. Most shots are in wide open space and make it near impossible for actors to fall and trip in scene where they have to run. There is a small amount of risk that the camera could get damaged for example in the scene of the main character running i am going to use a point of view shot so there is the slight risk that he could drop the camera when running but i will attach a strap to the camera to try and avoid this possible risk.

 

Title Sequence

The titles are edited together very well in this title sequence. For example the ‘Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ clip at the start of the title sequence is used for the actual starting point of the film’s title sequence. This is done by using the road that is used in the ‘Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ clip for the road at the start of the titles. The road then becomes a stop watch which shows the viewer the two things that the films story revolves around, which is time (speed) and cars (road). The camera then moves around looking at such things as photos which have people working on cars in them or just standing in front of cars. It also shows close ups of parts of cars and motorbikes. The camera then pans across a table of tools.  At the end of the title sequence a photo of a Porsche is shown which then fades into a real Porsche in a display window. which is a great way of getting into the start of the film.       

Thriller Research Task

Inception

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VXkUzf1et4

 I think that the opening sequence for inception does a great job of creating mystery and confusion about the film and what’s going on in the scene right from the start of the film. For example the first part of the scene creates questions about the film such as why has a man washed up onto a beach and why are there kids on the beach one minute and the next minute there not there. When the clip cuts to an old man sitting in a large dining room and the guard comes in and shows him what the man that washed up on the beach had with him he first showed him the gun which didn’t get a reaction from the old man but when he showed him the spinning top he stopped reaching for his drink and said that he knew what it was which could imply that the spinning top is in some way more powerful than the gun.

 

Sound

The first sound that you hear when the film starts is a deep and loud sound that adds tension and excitement to the film straight from the get go. The next sound is the sound of waves crashing against rock which could help the viewer gets the idea that this first scene is set on some sort of beach. There is also a quiet ominous soundtrack playing constantly throughout the 2 minute clip which helps to give the scene a sense of mystery.

Editing

The first 50 seconds of the clip have been slowed down a little bit to enhance the fact that the man that has washed up on the beach is a little disorientated and delirious. I also think that the clip was slowed down so that the waves had a better impact when crashing into the rocks.  When the guard said “and this” referring to the spinning top, the shot quickly changes to a close up of the spinning top which gives the viewer the idea that the spinning top may have an important role in the story of the film. This fast cut also has a big impact because all of the scenes and cuts beforehand where very slow compared to this one. 

Mise en scene 

The man that has washed up on the beach is wearing scruffy clothing which could be used to show the audience that he has actually washed up on a beach and that maybe something has happened to him beforehand. The man that walks over to him on the beach is wearing a military style outfit and is carrying a gun which shows that he is a guard or soldier of some kind. When the scene cuts to the huge dining hall with guards at the door and hundreds of lights above shows the audience that the elderly man sitting at the table is powerful in some way.  

Pulp Fiction

At the beginning of the scene it goes straight in to the middle of two peoples conversations. The man in the scene is talking about never doing something again but he does mention what he will never do again to start with which creates mystery and has the audience wondering what he will never do again. This gets the audience’s attention straight from the start of the film.

Mise en scene

The scene is set in a stereotypical American restaurant/ diner. When the man takes a gun out of his pocket the scene suddenly becomes more serious, whereas before it seemed like a jokey conversation and the way that the two people are dressed don’t make it look as if they are dangerous but as soon as you see the gun you know that he is not messing around and that he is serious.

Camera

The most commonly used camera angle in the scene is just a simple mid shot that gets the two characters having a conversation in it. The camera only changes angles when the waitress comes over and offers coffee to the two characters, this clip uses a close up shot of the waitresses face.

Gone in Sixty Seconds

 

This scene starts the action in the film straight from the first scene. It also does a good job of showing what the film is going to be about straight from the get go, which is stealing very expensive cars. The scene involves three men in a car planning to steal a car from a show room. They use a very aggressive plan for stealing the car instead of using a stealth plan.

Sound

The clip also includes a comedic effect, for example when the two men are talking and say “I gotta get my tool” and then the other man says “that’s not a tool that’s a dam brick “. This creates a funny moment but at the same time they are talking about stealing a car which brings you back to the fact that this film is a crime/thriller. The sound of the glass smashing when the man throws the brick through it is made to be louder than it actually would be. This heightens the excitement in the scene. As they are reversing the stolen car the sound of the tires screeching is also heightened to add more excitement. This also helps to add to the fast pace of the clip.

Mise en scene

The first scene is set on a busy street with lights on lighting up the car that they are planning on stealing. The setting shows how difficult it is going to be to steal this car without attracting too much attention. The three guys are just wearing normal clothing that is plain and dark which is probably worn so that they don’t attract too much attention to themselves. When he opens the boot you see a variety of different tools to show that he steals cars on regular bases.

Camera

The first shot you see is a close up of a Porsche, which is the car that is stolen in the first scene. Then an establishing shot is used to show where the Porsche is and what it is surrounded by.   A close up is used to show what the boot of the car has in it.

Editing

When the two men are walking towards the Porsche there are a lot of fast cuts used to show the two men at different angles which adds some fast pace to the scene. The scene is slowed down a little bit when the brick is thrown at the window. When the man sitting in the car outside waiting for the other two men starts trying to start up his car the camera keeps cutting from the two men driving the Porsche and him trying to start up the car so that he doesn’t get hit by them when they smash the Porsche through the window. This helps to add tension to the scene.

Starter Task

PLANNING

On the first day of working on this project we started by coming up with the story line for the short film. we also came up with the draft script.

PRODUCTION

We started by finding a suitable location to film in and then while I filmed the scenes, Adam B and Adam C did the acting for the scenes. We filmed each scene a few times from different angles so that when editing the clips together we could get a lot of fast cuts of one scene at different angles to make it look more professional.  When filming the scenes I used my Canon EOS 1100D DSLR which was a good choice for filming because it has a HD filming mode on it. when setting up the set for are film we had to make it look as much like an Interrogation room as possible.

POST PRODUCTION

During the editing stage we decided that the lighting in the film was too bright so I used Adobe premiere pro to make the lighting in the scenes much darker. This helped to give a better atmosphere to the film. when editing the clips together I used a lot of fast cuts to add surspence to the scene.

this is a group of screen shots for the 30 sec film.

This is the draft video for the final 30 second clip because we had some trouble with the speech in the clip.