Tuesday 10 May 2011
Monday 9 May 2011
INDIVIDUAL EVALUATION
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Whether its classic film noirs or contemporary noirs, all contain similar characteristics and conventions. In the film noirs that I have researched ( brick, double indemnity, sin city) I have discovered that the same characteristics have to occur in order to create a noir feel to the film. In our film we have included an anti hero character and a femme fatale type character, because these character components are a necessary characteristic to create the dark, sinister narrative just like that of brick and also sin city.
As well as this our film noir opening shows the introduction of a non linear film noir narrative, including flashbacks like those from double indemnity and also brick. This is also a strong noir characteristic as the non linear narrative is the main source of mystery, leading to the main enigma of the story. We created a non linear narrative in our noir opening as we thought, as well as having the correct characters, that creating the correct mood and enigma within the storyline is an important part, and is the main drawing point for the audience.
Even though we used these certain noir characteristics in order to create a contemporary noir piece, we didn’t keep it to the classic stylistics, as we thought it was best to challenge the norm for noir characteristics in order to keep the narrative modern and interesting to the audience.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The main characters in the opening are British white teenagers around the age of 18. The storyline of the film focuses on violence, drugs and deceit. As the characters are of this age, we agreed that the issues faced in the narrative are issues that are faced by real people of a similar age in Britain. This backs up the stereotype people base around the British youth, and so it creates a believable film narrative, this added with the noir characteristics, creates a film that 16-24 year olds ( the main cinema going audience) may find interesting and may also find they can relate to, increasing the bond between the storyline and the audience.
What kind of media institutions might distribute your film noir?
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The main audience we would focus on is the 16-24 year old age range, we have chosen this age range and statistics show that these ages are the highest cinema going population within Britain, and so by aiming our film at that age range we are immediately increasing our film audience.
According the BBFC ( British board of classification) we would have to edit the content in order to be able to be viewed by this age range, to do this we would have to moderate the violence, language and drug use in order to create a “safer” film to be watched by a wider variety of ages.
The technologies we used
Preproduction
For our preproduction we used technologies such as youtube, google, Flickr in order to collect visual media to use on our blogs, we also used communicative technologies such as MSN, emails, face book and mobile phones in order to keep in contact and to also decide on filming and coursework group dates.
Production:
In production we used:
A canon HV30 tape camera -to record our footage
a velbon tri-pod to aid the steadiness of the shots we took
YOGA supercardiod shotgun microphone- to record the sound we needed, eg diegetic dialogue sound effects etc
300W laniro lights with sliders- in order to create a good lighting effect.
Post production:
Final cut pro- to edit the shots together, also to add music, sound and effects onto shots
Motion- a software in which we created our opening production titles
Logic sound booth- to record our voiceover for our final opening piece
The differences between the preliminary task and the opening piece
From filming the preliminary sequence to filming the final opening sequence I have come across many differences. The first preliminary exercise we filmed was very basic, using basic shots, basic dialogue and again very basic editing, it was mostly just a way to get used to the equipment and a way of also taking part in working as a group, to help us understand what is involved with working as a group. In contrast the final opening sequence was a complex process, not only did we hone our filming skills, but we also increased our skills in the editing field, in title creation and also in artistic insight in order to create a good opening sequence.
My main role within the shoot was the art director/ actress and under this title I completed the film storyboard, wrote out the group script in correct format, and also acted, along with these large parts I also helped with camera work, lighting and preparation which included location searching, props, and dialogue.
Whether its classic film noirs or contemporary noirs, all contain similar characteristics and conventions. In the film noirs that I have researched ( brick, double indemnity, sin city) I have discovered that the same characteristics have to occur in order to create a noir feel to the film. In our film we have included an anti hero character and a femme fatale type character, because these character components are a necessary characteristic to create the dark, sinister narrative just like that of brick and also sin city.
As well as this our film noir opening shows the introduction of a non linear film noir narrative, including flashbacks like those from double indemnity and also brick. This is also a strong noir characteristic as the non linear narrative is the main source of mystery, leading to the main enigma of the story. We created a non linear narrative in our noir opening as we thought, as well as having the correct characters, that creating the correct mood and enigma within the storyline is an important part, and is the main drawing point for the audience.
Even though we used these certain noir characteristics in order to create a contemporary noir piece, we didn’t keep it to the classic stylistics, as we thought it was best to challenge the norm for noir characteristics in order to keep the narrative modern and interesting to the audience.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The main characters in the opening are British white teenagers around the age of 18. The storyline of the film focuses on violence, drugs and deceit. As the characters are of this age, we agreed that the issues faced in the narrative are issues that are faced by real people of a similar age in Britain. This backs up the stereotype people base around the British youth, and so it creates a believable film narrative, this added with the noir characteristics, creates a film that 16-24 year olds ( the main cinema going audience) may find interesting and may also find they can relate to, increasing the bond between the storyline and the audience.
What kind of media institutions might distribute your film noir?
Film institution's -role play script
hey you know our film noir production? what kind of film company do you think would distribute our contemporary noir?
well i have been thinking about this. i think we need to focus on british based film companies for example film four.
ok i see but why british companies and why film four?
well because our film looks at british culture, it would be more popular with film four as it is a company which broadcasts a lot of low budget british films just like our film "billl"
ok that makes sense? but where would our film get a cinema audience?
well because our film is low budget it is unlikely to get aired at a large cinema chain such as cinieworld. because of this, i think our film would be shown at smaller, independant cinemas, such as ipswich film theatre , at a lower cost.
ahh i get you but how would you get it aired at independent cinemas?
well i would show our film at film festivals such as Edinburgh film festival and rain dance film festival which focus on independent british films. we would also put our film into film competitions in order to get the sponsorship to air it at cinemas.
ok im starting to understand. but hang on what about film classifications.
well now you mention it our production would follow the rules of the british board of film classification, and so with the content included would be classified at a 15 or 18 rating.
oohh i get it now so to summarise you would start by showing your independent british films at film festivals in order to gain acknowledgement and financial support. then with that sponsorship you would take your film to small cinemas around britain, as the british independent market would be the best fit for your film.
yes ! precisely.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The main audience we would focus on is the 16-24 year old age range, we have chosen this age range and statistics show that these ages are the highest cinema going population within Britain, and so by aiming our film at that age range we are immediately increasing our film audience.
According the BBFC ( British board of classification) we would have to edit the content in order to be able to be viewed by this age range, to do this we would have to moderate the violence, language and drug use in order to create a “safer” film to be watched by a wider variety of ages.
The technologies we used
Preproduction
For our preproduction we used technologies such as youtube, google, Flickr in order to collect visual media to use on our blogs, we also used communicative technologies such as MSN, emails, face book and mobile phones in order to keep in contact and to also decide on filming and coursework group dates.
Production:
In production we used:
A canon HV30 tape camera -to record our footage
a velbon tri-pod to aid the steadiness of the shots we took
YOGA supercardiod shotgun microphone- to record the sound we needed, eg diegetic dialogue sound effects etc
300W laniro lights with sliders- in order to create a good lighting effect.
Post production:
Final cut pro- to edit the shots together, also to add music, sound and effects onto shots
Motion- a software in which we created our opening production titles
Logic sound booth- to record our voiceover for our final opening piece
The differences between the preliminary task and the opening piece
From filming the preliminary sequence to filming the final opening sequence I have come across many differences. The first preliminary exercise we filmed was very basic, using basic shots, basic dialogue and again very basic editing, it was mostly just a way to get used to the equipment and a way of also taking part in working as a group, to help us understand what is involved with working as a group. In contrast the final opening sequence was a complex process, not only did we hone our filming skills, but we also increased our skills in the editing field, in title creation and also in artistic insight in order to create a good opening sequence.
My main role within the shoot was the art director/ actress and under this title I completed the film storyboard, wrote out the group script in correct format, and also acted, along with these large parts I also helped with camera work, lighting and preparation which included location searching, props, and dialogue.
Wednesday 4 May 2011
Monday 2 May 2011
GROUP EVALUATION
WHAT KIND OF FILM INSTITUTIONS WOULD DISTRIBUTE YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT?
Typical Audience
Debra MacMillan
Age 19
Boyfriend
White
Middle classed
Lives with her mum, step dad, younger brother and 2 younger sisters in a council house in the outskirts of a big town
Studies beauty therapy and works part time at the cinema distributing popcorn
Debra enjoys going out drinking with her mates on the weekend, either to a friend’s house or out clubbing. Aims to become a hair dresser and one day open her own salonTyrelle
Age 21
Black
Single
Upper middle class
Lives at home with mum and dad in a nice house in the suburbs
Studies sports at university and a part time bartender
Tyrelle enjoys playing sports such as football and cricket. He also plays alot of video games in his spare time. Aims to become a P.E teacher or personal trainer.
Our target audience is aged from 15-late 20s. Lower to upper middle class males and females. Although predominately more males. We have aimed the film at this type of audience as they are the main cinema customers. Our target audience would mainly be from the working class as and at a wide variety of classes to optimise viewers. We’ve tried to achieve this by creating character that the tagert audience would be interested in. By making them roughly the same age and of the same class we hope the audience would be attracted to Bill. We have kept the violence, swearing and sexual content to a minimum of BBFC guidelines to make Bill no more restricted than a 15 so we don’t lose any of our audience and opening it to the wider public. We took our questionnaire results into consideration as this was from our target audience that we needed to cater to, so tried to make a contemporary film, with added noir aspects and stylistics.
Attract/address the audience
We tried to make a story line that the audience would buy into. And make it based in a place that our target audience may have grown up or are currently occupant. We also made it so the audience could relate to on so many level; Abusive relations ships, Making hard decisions, Taking the wrong path in life, Growing up in a rough area, all things that our target audience may personally have encountered or know people that have.
The characters were based on people that actually exist in real life, we all know a ‘jack the lad’ and a mysterious girl. The ordinary type of people caught up in sticky situations to get out of hand, and try to make the audience feel interacted as this could happen to someone they know or themselves and can relate. And the costumes reflected the commonness of the characters of the casual clothing, to how they act.
We tried to incorporate the titles in with the shots and editing so that the audience could digest the text whilst consuming the footage but also to keep the audience interested and reframe them from getting bored of solid text. We also tried to keep the pace of the piece quite fast to keep the audience attention and interested. But not too fast that you can’t see the emotions and the ideology behind some shots eg blood on the hands and sitting all alone, feeling alone in the world. We used a piece of music that we thought would give an effect of uneasiness and that something had done wrong. Music that gave an edge on the whole piece further more leaving the audience questioning.
We hope the attraction came from the setting of your average place in England that everyone has seen, been to, lives in. And that the characters are easily related to and that people know or are just like these character. Also that the storyline can be interpreted to so many things that people also can touch into; violence, relationships, love. And that the enigma of what happened and the questions keep them hooked and really involved in the story and the characters.
How does our film represent social groups ( powerpoint)
How does our film represent social groups ( powerpoint)
COMPLETE OWN ROLE
Throughout the whole media yea I have taken part in 3 main media filming projects. The first project was the preliminary exercise, which was a basic learning exercise where we worked in twos. The second project was an exchange exercise where we got into our final filming groups and we filmed a slightly more demanding project where we used a variety of film shots in order to create a scene where an exchange took place. The final project was the film noir opening project and the main filming project out of the three I have done. In this filming exercise we had to make a film noir opening using various scenes, effects and titles in order to create a professional looking opening in the film noir style.
What I did in the first project:
In the first film noir project I helped write the actors lines , I also helped with character positioning within shooting in order to keep continuity. Also during filming I helped with the scene by helping shoot with the camera and also I helped record sound with the audio recording equipment (microphone).
After filming I helped transfer the footage from the tape to the editing software using a fire wire lead. I also helped edit the footage together in order to create a scene.
What I did in the second project:
In the second project I created the storyboard which showed a shot by shot guide to the scene, including shot size, shot length and shot direction.
In the second project (the exchange) I also helped shoot the shots and I used my artistic influence whilst shooting in order to think of some more shots whilst on set.
After filming I helped transfer the footage onto the editing software, I also helped edit the scene in order to keep continuity. I also helped look for royalty free music to use as a song to add mood and intensity over the finished edit.
What I did in the third project:
Art director
I thought about location for shooting, and also location dressing.
I contributed my house as a location and therefore added the majority of props used at the main location.
I also organised collecting equipment such as camera, lighting, tripod and also microphone.
As well as in college preparation I also searched and bought coloured plastic to use for lighting filters for filming.
Other roles
For the preproduction paperwork I completed the hand drawn storyboard along with shot directions and timing. I also typed out the script complete with voice-over and stage directions correctly formatted using a program called “celtx” . I wrote out the shot list for the shoot we completed and I typed up some prewritten editing notes for the group that I received from another member of the group. As well as this I also acted within our final production and Chantelle and myself recorded and co wrote the voiceover script and added it to the opening edit.
I also added in my artistic input during the filming and editing stages and I think the final outcome is very effective.
What I did in the first project:
In the first film noir project I helped write the actors lines , I also helped with character positioning within shooting in order to keep continuity. Also during filming I helped with the scene by helping shoot with the camera and also I helped record sound with the audio recording equipment (microphone).
After filming I helped transfer the footage from the tape to the editing software using a fire wire lead. I also helped edit the footage together in order to create a scene.
What I did in the second project:
In the second project I created the storyboard which showed a shot by shot guide to the scene, including shot size, shot length and shot direction.
In the second project (the exchange) I also helped shoot the shots and I used my artistic influence whilst shooting in order to think of some more shots whilst on set.
After filming I helped transfer the footage onto the editing software, I also helped edit the scene in order to keep continuity. I also helped look for royalty free music to use as a song to add mood and intensity over the finished edit.
What I did in the third project:
Art director
I thought about location for shooting, and also location dressing.
I contributed my house as a location and therefore added the majority of props used at the main location.
I also organised collecting equipment such as camera, lighting, tripod and also microphone.
As well as in college preparation I also searched and bought coloured plastic to use for lighting filters for filming.
Other roles
For the preproduction paperwork I completed the hand drawn storyboard along with shot directions and timing. I also typed out the script complete with voice-over and stage directions correctly formatted using a program called “celtx” . I wrote out the shot list for the shoot we completed and I typed up some prewritten editing notes for the group that I received from another member of the group. As well as this I also acted within our final production and Chantelle and myself recorded and co wrote the voiceover script and added it to the opening edit.
I also added in my artistic input during the filming and editing stages and I think the final outcome is very effective.
GROUP NOTES-SHOOTING
During shooting we decided to make a few changes:
When we shot the street scene we decided to take more shots than we had planned, we planned to take a total of 4 shots, however we decided to take a wider variety of shots in order to have a greater choice, in total we took about 8 or 9 different shots for that scene.
Because of this when we started editing we had a wide choice of shots and so we could keep continuity and interest in that scene as the shots weren’t too long.
When we shot the main part of the opening we kept to the main storyboard of ideas, however we used different shot types again in order to create a better, more interesting clip.
We also tested different coloured light filters in order to create a better lighting appearance but decided that the natural colour of the light appeared the best.
Also during the first long shot we filmed, we used a piece of card with strips cut out in order to create a Venetian blind effect. We did this in order to keep to the stylistics of classic film noir apparent in our contemporary noir opening.
When we shot the street scene we decided to take more shots than we had planned, we planned to take a total of 4 shots, however we decided to take a wider variety of shots in order to have a greater choice, in total we took about 8 or 9 different shots for that scene.
Because of this when we started editing we had a wide choice of shots and so we could keep continuity and interest in that scene as the shots weren’t too long.
When we shot the main part of the opening we kept to the main storyboard of ideas, however we used different shot types again in order to create a better, more interesting clip.
We also tested different coloured light filters in order to create a better lighting appearance but decided that the natural colour of the light appeared the best.
Also during the first long shot we filmed, we used a piece of card with strips cut out in order to create a Venetian blind effect. We did this in order to keep to the stylistics of classic film noir apparent in our contemporary noir opening.
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