Friday 7 May 2010
Monday 26 April 2010
Evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media product uses, develops and also challenges the different forms and conventions of real media products.
Our media product uses the forms and conventions of real media product as it has actions in a secluded area which is away from society. Anything can happen there, the two are away from safety . The victims and villain are clearly established in the first two minuets of the film. Another common convention is that horror films usually have a male villain and a female victim. People on their own tend to be more likely to be attacked or killed. In ‘Scream’ the young girl is on her own in a big house where she answers the phone in the opening few minuets. Similarly, in our piece the teacher is on her own as she stops ‘Edward’. In our film opening we used colours and different lighting. We used different coloured clothing on characters to differentiate them from one another. For example the character Muyombo played was dressed in a dark hooded jacket where you were unable to see his face. In ‘Scream’ the killer is dressed in black with a mask. The colour black represents danger, the unknown and mysteriousness. In our film this was all shown as he was a threat to Edward because he changed him. This links in with the unknown and mysteriousness because the audience do not know how or why he initially became like this. We did this on purpose to create an enigma the audience would have to watch the rest of the film which would change from past to present and looking at different point of views. To help keep the audience on the edge of their seats, we used stingers which are also used in a lot of horror films. We found that using stingers can help create, sustain or build tension. We needed to go along with most of the forms and conventions to let the audience know that it is a horror.
Our media product develops forms and conventions that are quite different from the real media product as portrayed by some of our characters. We have the character ‘Edward’ playing different roles, firstly he is an innocent victim, then later he becomes the villain. This is good as the audience would not anticipate this happening. It would also make the audience wonder if the character will change back or stay the same role. Developing more and different ideas to capture the attention of the audience can hopefully generate a bigger audience.
Our media product challenges the forms and conventions of real media products by having the setting done in the daytime which is different to many big Hollywood horror movies or teen horrors which our film is. We felt this was necessary because the audience would not expect it and it would give it a different effect than if it was at night, using low key lighting. In our opening two minuets of our film we also do not have any blood or any clear weapons used. The reason we developed it this way was because we had a tight budget and also we found that if we could put it in, it would not fit into our film well, so we left it out. We felt that making small changes could be for the best.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our target audience for our film is mainly teens and also males and we present them in different ways. In our film one can see two boys taking an alternative route to school which shows naivety as instead of taking a safer route they chose to go this way. The character Edward is labelled a ‘freak’ by the bullies. This side of teenagers shows that a lot of the time they are misunderstood because these bullies are unaware what has happened to Edward prior to the confrontation. In our film the bullies represent the delinquent side of teenagers. Today, this is how the majority of teenagers are stereotyped especially as most of them tend to use slang or ‘street talk’ wearing hoodies, staying out late drinking and causing havoc. In our film therefore the bullies use slang, one is wearing a hooded jacket, and are clearly seen beating up Edward. Males generally are seen as strong and powerful. In our film Edward is tackled by a male, stereotypically, most men do not have a ‘soft side’ to them unlike women. When conducting our research and planning we thought that it would best to target males instead of females as males are more likely to enjoy violence as this was what we found out from our questionnaire. Also all the actors in the film are below 18 because we thought it would be appropriate to specifically target teenagers. The reason for this is because we feel teenagers will enjoy it more, as they would have a better understanding of what teenagers go through and they can also relate to some of the issues raised. Even though our film is not a real media product we thought it will be best to limit some of the gruesome scenes so as to target this younger audience. By doing this it will enable more young people to access it. However, because it’s not aimed at adults if they were to see it their reactions may be that they don’t like it as they cannot relate to it. This may therefore mean that the film opening could receive negative reviews and as a result of this fewer people might in the end see it.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our film is a purely British film as it was written, produced and distributed by people in Britain. This will make the category for this film category A.
Film 4 showcase a wide range of titles. Which include the best of British film-making, US independent films, Hollywood blockbusters, mainstream drama and comedy, guilty pleasures, foreign films and cult cinema. You'll also find special features, in-depth interviews and exclusive programming. Film4 Productions is the feature film commissioning department of Channel 4. They develop and co-finance a slate of smart and distinctive feature films like the Academy Award winning Slumdog Millionaire, Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky and Shane Meadows' This Is England. In relation to our film, Film 4 have co-distributed ‘Resident Evil’ which is a 2002 American sci-fi horror film. There are similarities between my film and this one. They are both survival horrors and both use isolated areas as locations. However it is based on a video game and uses women as heroines which challenges the forms and conventions of horror films.
Source : www.film4.com/features/article/about-film4
A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 sci-fi which is based on the novel. The film is distributed by Warner Bros. Entertain, Inc. They produce and distribute films. The company stands at the forefront of every aspect of the entertainment industry from feature film, TV and home entertainment production and worldwide distribution to DVD, digital distribution, animation, comic books, licensing, international cinemas and broadcasting. They make money from other company films. They are known for other great horror films such as ‘Nightmare on elm street’, ‘The Final Destination’ trilogy and ‘The Exorcist’
www.warnerbros.com/#/page=company-info/
From looking at both of these distribution companies it is more likely that my film will be distributed by film 4 than Warner Bros. This is because my film is British and has no big name actors or big name directors. Added to this there is not much British content in the film so they may be reluctant to distribute it. Similarly an American distributer such as Warner Bros will not distribute the film because it may not sell well over there. Ironically the fact that there is no typical British content involved makes the film more global and also the fact that there are more teens over in America than in Britain, would probably mean a higher chance of success over there.
My film is not for an active audience, so it is easy for a passive audience to understand and identify with some of the themes being that not much thought is required when watching the film. This hopefully will therefore increase the audience size. I also still believe that because Warner Bros are such a big company they may not want to take a chance with this film however Film 4 who are a non profitable company could help with both the production and the distribution.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
As I previously said my target audience is teens and young adolescent men. With regards to race my film uses both whites and blacks and as such shows the element of multiculturalism in the film. This also emphasises that no matter who or what you are, you can still be attacked. This racial mix I believe will broaden the audience than if there were just only white or black people. There is no culture at all to the film so it is more global. This film however would not appeal to the upper class citizens mainly because they may not be able to relate to it unlike the lower classes who can see it, and relate to their situation being that Britain can also be a miserable place where times can be hard for the lower class people.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
The actors we used for our film helped attract our target audience because having young actors automatically addresses a younger audience. Using an older actor to play a younger role would not give the same effect and we will lose interest from our target audience, although the acting quality may be better.
We used different sound effects to change the mood of the piece. From experience using the sound in the right way is vital to keep audience interest. The right sounds used at the right time can help generate the desired response from the audience. The effect we wanted to get from using the different sounds was to scare the audience and make them physically uncomfortable. As such the sound we used, help create the atmosphere.
We felt that our setting also helped address the audience as we used a secluded area. This allows the attack to take place with a build up of tension and fear for the two boys.
The costumes we used helped give the audience clues about what the characters might be like. For example muyombo’s character was wearing a dark hooded jacket and you were unable to see his face. This makes the audience think who he is.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt how to use titles correctly. Some fonts we used were not right for this particular genre and I found it to be either too bubbly or too playful. This was important as the effect of the opening shot was to make it seem like an investigation. We had the titles help establish who the characters were. We only used the titles for the main characters as we felt they were most important. The title at the end of the film was to let the audience know the name of the piece.
I personally learned how to put sound in from garage band to imovie. The opening sound that is there is to create awkwardness and unsettle the audience. No one likes to be interviewed in this way, so we put the audience in the character’s position. It is also intimidating as Jonathan is facing the audience.
For the scene where Edward gets attacked I thought it would be good to use a pulse. I did this by having fades between shots, changing the colour on the Macs, speeding the pace of the action and finally adding the sound of a heartbeat. I decided it would be good when Edward is having a seizure that the colour should change. I changed it to blue to give a calming effect as if nothing was wrong and everything was fine. This juxtaposition hopefully confused the audience and unsettle them.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Getting back to my preliminary task I have learnt that time management is very important. The more time you give yourself the better it should be otherwise, if you rush it you will see the end result and it will be poor. The amount of effort you put into the main task is important. If you work hard from starting with you initial ideas all the way through to editing it, you should be getting good results. In my preliminary not a lot of thought went into it as I spent one lesson filming it and editing it.
I have also learned without a storyboard and script it will not work. You need to be following something. I used a calendar to help me with time management. I found it was very useful as I had something to go by.
With filming I have learnt that you should always film a bit extra just in case something happens. It is important that you have a fully charged camera when you are not inside a building, so you do not have to rush all of your filming.
Editing wise I found that it is vital you leave a lot of time for this. This is because it is the most complex and time consuming. If editing is rushed there will be glaring mistakes everywhere. When you take your time with filming you will be able to play something back if it does not look right. When you have finished editing you will be able to play around with the special effects which could make your final product a lot better.
Our media product uses, develops and also challenges the different forms and conventions of real media products.
Our media product uses the forms and conventions of real media product as it has actions in a secluded area which is away from society. Anything can happen there, the two are away from safety . The victims and villain are clearly established in the first two minuets of the film. Another common convention is that horror films usually have a male villain and a female victim. People on their own tend to be more likely to be attacked or killed. In ‘Scream’ the young girl is on her own in a big house where she answers the phone in the opening few minuets. Similarly, in our piece the teacher is on her own as she stops ‘Edward’. In our film opening we used colours and different lighting. We used different coloured clothing on characters to differentiate them from one another. For example the character Muyombo played was dressed in a dark hooded jacket where you were unable to see his face. In ‘Scream’ the killer is dressed in black with a mask. The colour black represents danger, the unknown and mysteriousness. In our film this was all shown as he was a threat to Edward because he changed him. This links in with the unknown and mysteriousness because the audience do not know how or why he initially became like this. We did this on purpose to create an enigma the audience would have to watch the rest of the film which would change from past to present and looking at different point of views. To help keep the audience on the edge of their seats, we used stingers which are also used in a lot of horror films. We found that using stingers can help create, sustain or build tension. We needed to go along with most of the forms and conventions to let the audience know that it is a horror.
Our media product develops forms and conventions that are quite different from the real media product as portrayed by some of our characters. We have the character ‘Edward’ playing different roles, firstly he is an innocent victim, then later he becomes the villain. This is good as the audience would not anticipate this happening. It would also make the audience wonder if the character will change back or stay the same role. Developing more and different ideas to capture the attention of the audience can hopefully generate a bigger audience.
Our media product challenges the forms and conventions of real media products by having the setting done in the daytime which is different to many big Hollywood horror movies or teen horrors which our film is. We felt this was necessary because the audience would not expect it and it would give it a different effect than if it was at night, using low key lighting. In our opening two minuets of our film we also do not have any blood or any clear weapons used. The reason we developed it this way was because we had a tight budget and also we found that if we could put it in, it would not fit into our film well, so we left it out. We felt that making small changes could be for the best.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our target audience for our film is mainly teens and also males and we present them in different ways. In our film one can see two boys taking an alternative route to school which shows naivety as instead of taking a safer route they chose to go this way. The character Edward is labelled a ‘freak’ by the bullies. This side of teenagers shows that a lot of the time they are misunderstood because these bullies are unaware what has happened to Edward prior to the confrontation. In our film the bullies represent the delinquent side of teenagers. Today, this is how the majority of teenagers are stereotyped especially as most of them tend to use slang or ‘street talk’ wearing hoodies, staying out late drinking and causing havoc. In our film therefore the bullies use slang, one is wearing a hooded jacket, and are clearly seen beating up Edward. Males generally are seen as strong and powerful. In our film Edward is tackled by a male, stereotypically, most men do not have a ‘soft side’ to them unlike women. When conducting our research and planning we thought that it would best to target males instead of females as males are more likely to enjoy violence as this was what we found out from our questionnaire. Also all the actors in the film are below 18 because we thought it would be appropriate to specifically target teenagers. The reason for this is because we feel teenagers will enjoy it more, as they would have a better understanding of what teenagers go through and they can also relate to some of the issues raised. Even though our film is not a real media product we thought it will be best to limit some of the gruesome scenes so as to target this younger audience. By doing this it will enable more young people to access it. However, because it’s not aimed at adults if they were to see it their reactions may be that they don’t like it as they cannot relate to it. This may therefore mean that the film opening could receive negative reviews and as a result of this fewer people might in the end see it.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our film is a purely British film as it was written, produced and distributed by people in Britain. This will make the category for this film category A.
Film 4 showcase a wide range of titles. Which include the best of British film-making, US independent films, Hollywood blockbusters, mainstream drama and comedy, guilty pleasures, foreign films and cult cinema. You'll also find special features, in-depth interviews and exclusive programming. Film4 Productions is the feature film commissioning department of Channel 4. They develop and co-finance a slate of smart and distinctive feature films like the Academy Award winning Slumdog Millionaire, Mike Leigh's Happy Go Lucky and Shane Meadows' This Is England. In relation to our film, Film 4 have co-distributed ‘Resident Evil’ which is a 2002 American sci-fi horror film. There are similarities between my film and this one. They are both survival horrors and both use isolated areas as locations. However it is based on a video game and uses women as heroines which challenges the forms and conventions of horror films.
Source : www.film4.com/features/article/about-film4
A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 sci-fi which is based on the novel. The film is distributed by Warner Bros. Entertain, Inc. They produce and distribute films. The company stands at the forefront of every aspect of the entertainment industry from feature film, TV and home entertainment production and worldwide distribution to DVD, digital distribution, animation, comic books, licensing, international cinemas and broadcasting. They make money from other company films. They are known for other great horror films such as ‘Nightmare on elm street’, ‘The Final Destination’ trilogy and ‘The Exorcist’
www.warnerbros.com/#/page=company-info/
From looking at both of these distribution companies it is more likely that my film will be distributed by film 4 than Warner Bros. This is because my film is British and has no big name actors or big name directors. Added to this there is not much British content in the film so they may be reluctant to distribute it. Similarly an American distributer such as Warner Bros will not distribute the film because it may not sell well over there. Ironically the fact that there is no typical British content involved makes the film more global and also the fact that there are more teens over in America than in Britain, would probably mean a higher chance of success over there.
My film is not for an active audience, so it is easy for a passive audience to understand and identify with some of the themes being that not much thought is required when watching the film. This hopefully will therefore increase the audience size. I also still believe that because Warner Bros are such a big company they may not want to take a chance with this film however Film 4 who are a non profitable company could help with both the production and the distribution.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
As I previously said my target audience is teens and young adolescent men. With regards to race my film uses both whites and blacks and as such shows the element of multiculturalism in the film. This also emphasises that no matter who or what you are, you can still be attacked. This racial mix I believe will broaden the audience than if there were just only white or black people. There is no culture at all to the film so it is more global. This film however would not appeal to the upper class citizens mainly because they may not be able to relate to it unlike the lower classes who can see it, and relate to their situation being that Britain can also be a miserable place where times can be hard for the lower class people.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
The actors we used for our film helped attract our target audience because having young actors automatically addresses a younger audience. Using an older actor to play a younger role would not give the same effect and we will lose interest from our target audience, although the acting quality may be better.
We used different sound effects to change the mood of the piece. From experience using the sound in the right way is vital to keep audience interest. The right sounds used at the right time can help generate the desired response from the audience. The effect we wanted to get from using the different sounds was to scare the audience and make them physically uncomfortable. As such the sound we used, help create the atmosphere.
We felt that our setting also helped address the audience as we used a secluded area. This allows the attack to take place with a build up of tension and fear for the two boys.
The costumes we used helped give the audience clues about what the characters might be like. For example muyombo’s character was wearing a dark hooded jacket and you were unable to see his face. This makes the audience think who he is.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt how to use titles correctly. Some fonts we used were not right for this particular genre and I found it to be either too bubbly or too playful. This was important as the effect of the opening shot was to make it seem like an investigation. We had the titles help establish who the characters were. We only used the titles for the main characters as we felt they were most important. The title at the end of the film was to let the audience know the name of the piece.
I personally learned how to put sound in from garage band to imovie. The opening sound that is there is to create awkwardness and unsettle the audience. No one likes to be interviewed in this way, so we put the audience in the character’s position. It is also intimidating as Jonathan is facing the audience.
For the scene where Edward gets attacked I thought it would be good to use a pulse. I did this by having fades between shots, changing the colour on the Macs, speeding the pace of the action and finally adding the sound of a heartbeat. I decided it would be good when Edward is having a seizure that the colour should change. I changed it to blue to give a calming effect as if nothing was wrong and everything was fine. This juxtaposition hopefully confused the audience and unsettle them.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Getting back to my preliminary task I have learnt that time management is very important. The more time you give yourself the better it should be otherwise, if you rush it you will see the end result and it will be poor. The amount of effort you put into the main task is important. If you work hard from starting with you initial ideas all the way through to editing it, you should be getting good results. In my preliminary not a lot of thought went into it as I spent one lesson filming it and editing it.
I have also learned without a storyboard and script it will not work. You need to be following something. I used a calendar to help me with time management. I found it was very useful as I had something to go by.
With filming I have learnt that you should always film a bit extra just in case something happens. It is important that you have a fully charged camera when you are not inside a building, so you do not have to rush all of your filming.
Editing wise I found that it is vital you leave a lot of time for this. This is because it is the most complex and time consuming. If editing is rushed there will be glaring mistakes everywhere. When you take your time with filming you will be able to play something back if it does not look right. When you have finished editing you will be able to play around with the special effects which could make your final product a lot better.
Friday 5 March 2010
Calendar For Time Management
I have upload a calendar to make it easier for myself to keep up to dates with my deadlines.
11 Calender
All cast and crew will be there on all filming days to film. We will take more than an hour to film this is so we can film more than enough just in case something goes wrong. If for some reason we need to film a different day, everything (editing and filming days ) will be moved to the next day or following week.
Actors will not be required on the editing days as this will only be for the crew only. All editing will take place in the school.
11 Calender
All cast and crew will be there on all filming days to film. We will take more than an hour to film this is so we can film more than enough just in case something goes wrong. If for some reason we need to film a different day, everything (editing and filming days ) will be moved to the next day or following week.
Actors will not be required on the editing days as this will only be for the crew only. All editing will take place in the school.
Monday 22 February 2010
The Visitor final script
The Visitor final script
Written by:
Jonathan Addai, Muyombo Chiwela, Emeka Ibeji
Cast in order of appearance:
Matthew Carlyle as Investigator
Jonathan Addai as himself
Sean Brady as Edward
Muyombo chiwela UNNAMED
Kudzanai Masvimbo as bully 1
Jake Martin as bully 2
Michael graham as bully 3
Katie Neligan as teacher
1. mid shot of Jonathan: investigator: could you explain what happened
2. Over shoulder shot showing Jonathan and Edward walking to school
3. Two shot of the boys
4. Mid shot of Jonathan being interviewed
5. Edward is grabbed
6. High angle shot of Edward being talked
7. Jonathan goes back to help
8. Close up of Edward having a seizure
9. Establishing shot of the school
10. Mid shot of Edward is confronted by bullies
11. Mid shot of Edward being beaten up
12. Long shot of bullies walking away
13. Long shot of Edward going crazy
14. Low angle shot of Edward as anger is building inside him
15. Point of view shot as Edward makes one of the bullies fall to the fall scaring the rest of them off BULLIES: you freak !
16. Extreme close up of his face as their is still anger built up inside him
17. Mid shot of Edward slowly walking in the corridor
18. One shot of the teacher marking books as she sees Edward walking in the corridor
19. Over shoulder shot of teacher stopping Edward TEACHER: why were you late to my lesson
20. Extreme close up of his face once again as their is still anger built up inside him
and then fade out
End
Written by:
Jonathan Addai, Muyombo Chiwela, Emeka Ibeji
Cast in order of appearance:
Matthew Carlyle as Investigator
Jonathan Addai as himself
Sean Brady as Edward
Muyombo chiwela UNNAMED
Kudzanai Masvimbo as bully 1
Jake Martin as bully 2
Michael graham as bully 3
Katie Neligan as teacher
1. mid shot of Jonathan: investigator: could you explain what happened
2. Over shoulder shot showing Jonathan and Edward walking to school
3. Two shot of the boys
4. Mid shot of Jonathan being interviewed
5. Edward is grabbed
6. High angle shot of Edward being talked
7. Jonathan goes back to help
8. Close up of Edward having a seizure
9. Establishing shot of the school
10. Mid shot of Edward is confronted by bullies
11. Mid shot of Edward being beaten up
12. Long shot of bullies walking away
13. Long shot of Edward going crazy
14. Low angle shot of Edward as anger is building inside him
15. Point of view shot as Edward makes one of the bullies fall to the fall scaring the rest of them off BULLIES: you freak !
16. Extreme close up of his face as their is still anger built up inside him
17. Mid shot of Edward slowly walking in the corridor
18. One shot of the teacher marking books as she sees Edward walking in the corridor
19. Over shoulder shot of teacher stopping Edward TEACHER: why were you late to my lesson
20. Extreme close up of his face once again as their is still anger built up inside him
and then fade out
End
Monday 15 February 2010
Sunday 14 February 2010
Location Recee
For our two minute film opening we will be using two different locations. For our first location we initially decided to use a cemetery during the late afternoon getting into the evening but decided against it. The reason for deciding against it was that we felt it didn’t fit properly into the story, so we decided to change location and opt for a more secluded area. We settled for using the Saint Albans pathway that leads to Hatfield.
Lighting
Having good Lighting is important so the audience can see the actors faces. In this location we will go and film during the morning as we feel that there will be no passers by seen in our film. As we will be filming during the morning there should be no problem with light, as we have checked the forecast and it will be clear skies with good visibility. However if there is a problem with light or visibility we can either change the contrast on the Macs when editing or we could use external lighting.
Sound
We will cut out most dialogue in this location because its near a road and you will be able to hear the sound of cars passing by even with the microphone. Birds will also be heard as we are enclosed by trees and having these sounds in the background will break the tension.
Health and safety
For this location the danger is that it has an uneven surface – this could be dangerous for the camera (if its unsteady and unattended) it could fall), actors and crew (if they are not looking where they are going they could fall). We will not be charging the camera in when we are there as there is nowhere to charge it so we will charge it before which will eliminate any tripping hazards.
We will also be using Nicholas Breakspear school for our second location. For this location the scenes will take place inside a classroom, in the school car park and in a corridor. When filming inside a school we will be sure to close off any areas if we feel its necessary to do so. We will also put signs up to create awareness that we are filming so we will not be getting any unwanted people in our scenes.
Lighting
There should be no problems with lighting inside a school as we can simply switch the inside lights on or off to create tension.
Sound
The sound for the inside of the school we be used with a microphone as we do not want any other sounds.
Health and Safety
Microphone and camera cable can cause people to trip over. Will we stick gaffer tape down to make it easier for actors and crew to walk around. Other than this there are no real dangers of filming as we are in a more controlled environment, this will also make it easier to film here.
General Health and Safety
With regards to filming in general we will be sure to keep all equipment within our possession at all times, we will make it our responsibility to take care and have respect for the equipment.
In the unlikely event of having to reshoot any of the shots, there should no trouble in getting to these locations as they are accessible to us because we live close by to them.
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