After making some changes to the audio, adding some credits and cutting some shots, I have finalised and re-uploaded the video to YouTube. I think these alterations will make the piece more refined due to the attention to detail.
Tuesday 14 April 2015
Evaluation Commentary
I have made a video featuring our opening sequence, a storyboard walk-through, photos from the location shots photo shoot and filming day photo shoot, our promotional poster and images of our inspiration, with our evaluation in the form of a director's commentary over the visuals. I have used the same music as featured in the opening sequence in the background of the evaluation video, with an additional track in the middle (written and recorded by myself) with the vocals removed, supporting our idea to use the film to promote unsigned musicians. I found it interesting to use my editing skills to create an analytical video rather than a fictitious piece, challenge myself for a final time within the project.
As you can see from the storyboard walk-through, many of the shots that we had planned changed when we began filming as we were inspired by the natural lighting and general atmosphere of the location. I believe that these changes improved the piece as it seems to flow more naturally.
I included Milly's photography in the video as many of the images had not been featured on the blog before now, creating effectively a 'special features' section for viewers. The shots fit perfectly with the tone of the film: artistic, grungy, urban, with a sense of danger. Many of the photos also draw attention to the bag which encourages the audience to wonder why this item is so important. I also included the promotional poster that I created using more of Milly's photography, mainly because we are so pleased with how it looks.
I added promotional posters of the films/TV shows that have inspired us throughout the creation of the film in many different areas from plot to poster design, following on from our own promotional poster. I used this as a visually pleasing way to credit them, as well as featuring them on the blog previously.
I repeated the opening sequence at the end of the video so that the audience can watch it for a final time with a new insight. I thought it would be interesting for them to see it after listening to the commentary and seeing the 'behind the scenes' images as they may have a better understanding of our intentions when creating it.
Credits for the evaluation commentary
Commentary: Sophie Hodgson
Editing: Sophie Hodgson
Photography: Milly Cope
Model: Burt Cope
Storyboard: Sophie Hodgson
Music: Burt Cope (Track 1) and Sophie Hodgson (Track 2)
As you can see from the storyboard walk-through, many of the shots that we had planned changed when we began filming as we were inspired by the natural lighting and general atmosphere of the location. I believe that these changes improved the piece as it seems to flow more naturally.
 |
| I got the idea to do a storyboard walk-through within the video from the special features of many of the old Disney films. For example, this still is from a storyboard walk-through for The Lion King. I have always enjoyed comparing the original sketches to the finished product as it gives you an insight into how the film is produced. This was the reason I wanted to include this feature in the video. |
I included Milly's photography in the video as many of the images had not been featured on the blog before now, creating effectively a 'special features' section for viewers. The shots fit perfectly with the tone of the film: artistic, grungy, urban, with a sense of danger. Many of the photos also draw attention to the bag which encourages the audience to wonder why this item is so important. I also included the promotional poster that I created using more of Milly's photography, mainly because we are so pleased with how it looks.
I added promotional posters of the films/TV shows that have inspired us throughout the creation of the film in many different areas from plot to poster design, following on from our own promotional poster. I used this as a visually pleasing way to credit them, as well as featuring them on the blog previously.
I repeated the opening sequence at the end of the video so that the audience can watch it for a final time with a new insight. I thought it would be interesting for them to see it after listening to the commentary and seeing the 'behind the scenes' images as they may have a better understanding of our intentions when creating it.
Credits for the evaluation commentary
Commentary: Sophie Hodgson
Editing: Sophie Hodgson
Photography: Milly Cope
Model: Burt Cope
Storyboard: Sophie Hodgson
Music: Burt Cope (Track 1) and Sophie Hodgson (Track 2)
CAGED
C - Class
The only characters featured in the opening sequence are both working class. Working class/lower class encompasses so many different groups and situations that there is not really a stereotype for working class in general. However, in the past the lower class has been stereotyped within the media as rough, violent, not very well spoken, uneducated, with a low income etc. As the representations of the characters are limited in the opening sequence due to a mysterious portrayal and very short amount of time, it is hard to comment on whether they fit with this stereotype. However, with what we have devised of the characters I can say that Dex definitely fits with the the roughness and violence, and he is not very well educated. Challenging this, he has a fairly high income due to working for the secret organisation that Jesse is unknowingly challenging, as a general errand runner and bodyguard-like figure. He has been selected by the organisation due to his very normal appearance, as this enables him to blend in and go unnoticed. Jesse's parents are of a higher social status, whilst still within the working class category, mainly due to their income from secretly working for the organisation also. This has put Jesse in a comfortable position as a student provided for by his parents. Although Jesse seems relatively rough, this is simply because he is rebelling against what he thinks is a very normal family.
A - Age
When devising Jesse's character we used the stereotype of teenagers used in the media as a reference. For example, teenagers are often presented as rude, rebellious, withdrawn from society etc. - all identifiers that Jesse clearly into.
"Four in five teens felt they were unfairly represented in the media and, of these a vast majority -85%- said this was affecting their chances of getting a job" - BBC, 2014
We wanted to challenge this stereotype by originally conforming, then surprising the audience by making Jesse attempt to bring down an organisation that has taken over; saving everyone from a country where every thought is controlled and planned.
"Four in five teens felt they were unfairly represented in the media and, of these a vast majority -85%- said this was affecting their chances of getting a job" - BBC, 2014
We wanted to challenge this stereotype by originally conforming, then surprising the audience by making Jesse attempt to bring down an organisation that has taken over; saving everyone from a country where every thought is controlled and planned.
G - Gender
We only represent men in our opening sequence as the scene simply doesn't involve any of the female characters yet. As a feminist I believe in gender equality and regret that we are not promoting this at the first opportunity possible. However the female lead does end up to be highly involved in the organisation showing that she is in a high power job - higher than both Jesse and Dex.
E - Ethnicity
The two men in our opening sequence are both white as we wanted to challenge the stereotype of violent black/asian etc male gang members that has been created by the media. We could include different ethnicities later on in the film by hiring extras of various ethnicities. We could also cast an asian actress to play Alexa as this group is often under-represented in the media, rarely being cast in lead roles.
The two men in our opening sequence are both white as we wanted to challenge the stereotype of violent black/asian etc male gang members that has been created by the media. We could include different ethnicities later on in the film by hiring extras of various ethnicities. We could also cast an asian actress to play Alexa as this group is often under-represented in the media, rarely being cast in lead roles.
D - Disability
We have not obviously represented any disabilities within the opening sequence or the full film. However, we have focused on disabilities that go unseen; for example, dyslexia, depression, ADHD and more. We have included this by subtly altering each character's traits to fit with these mental disabilities.
We have not obviously represented any disabilities within the opening sequence or the full film. However, we have focused on disabilities that go unseen; for example, dyslexia, depression, ADHD and more. We have included this by subtly altering each character's traits to fit with these mental disabilities.
Thursday 26 March 2015
Group Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
We took inspiration from the film Drive, directed by Nicholas Winding Refn for our opening credits, mirroring the order in which the credits appear as well as the ambiguity of the opening scene. For example, Ryan Gosling is seen driving whilst the audience is unaware of where to and why. There is also no significant introduction to the character. In our film, the audience is unsure as to why Jesse is being told to take the bag to the lift as more of the storyline will be revealed later on in the film.
We also took inspiration from the TV series American Horror Story, dressing Jesse in a similar way to the character Tate in season 1. The two characters are juxtaposed due to Tate's role as an evil killer and Jesse's role as the protagonist. Tate has an almost military style, with large boots and a dark coat using an earthy colour palette. Both characters present a disturbed persona of a young white male.
When watching the 2001 Sci-Fi K-Pax we noticed how prominent the use of lighting is throughout the film, due to Kevin Spacey's character, Prot, claiming to have travelled to Earth through a beam of light. At many points in K-PAX the lighting technique Bokeh can be seen. We decided to use this technique when creating our film because of the word and its connections to our plot: Bokeh comes from the Japanese term Boke meaning a sense of mental haze, relating to the instability of Jesse's mental world.
For the shots where Jesse is running up the stairs, we looked into some action sequences online and found a scene from The Bourne Ultimatum. The scene shows the main protagonist running through hallways and jumping out of windows etc. with fast cutting. In order to achieve a similar effect we filmed lots of short clips from different angles, cutting them all together using match on action.
In order to develop conventions of other psychological thrillers we decided to use a realistic urban environment as the location for our opening sequence with only a low budget. This meant that we had to rely on natural lighting and focus on continuity between shots. For example ensuring that the lighting was not drastically different. We also had to film in the order that the light would change naturally in the scene, getting darker as the sequence progresses.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our opening sequence we represent white males only. If we were to create the rest of the film we would attempt to subtlety represent as many other social groups as possible.
For example we would like to use a variety of extras who represent different groups. This would include different genders, couples of varying sexualities, people with disabilities, people with different body images, different ethnicities and different ages. We used a white male to play Dex so as not to use the negative stereotypes of gangsters that have been formed by films of similar genres. Due to films such as Adulthood (2008), teenagers have been labelled with a negative stereotype; we wanted to subtly conform to this stereotype by involving the protagonist in what he thinks is illegal activity. Contrary to this, we are challenging the stereotype of women as weak and vulnerable by initially making the audience believe that Alexa has taken by a group of men and needs to be saved by Jesse, when in fact she was involved in the organisation from the beginning.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our film could be shown in local cinemas as well as film festivals. To reach young adult audiences it could be shown at small independent cinemas with a low ticket price whilst encouraging them to use social media to advertise our film. It could also be available for downloading as this is a popular way for young audiences to purchase films. In order to advertise our film to this audience, we will attempt to promote online using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We would also like to promote through film magazines such as Empire and Total film, we would also take this further by trying to get interest from art based magazines such as I-D and Dazed & Confused which represent an underground and alternative style - similar to the style we want our film to convey. Through our film we would like to promote new emerging unsigned talent, this can be seen within the opening sequence through the actors and the music used.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The age of the protagonist might mean that an audience of a similar age would be attracted to our film because they feel they can personally relate to the experience of adolescence. However, we would aim to create interest in a audience of a universal age range. The grungy and underground feel of our film would also change who would have interest in our film. The genre of our film would mean that we could attract an audience that are psychological thriller enthusiasts. It may also attract people who are involved in the art scene because of the artistic elements within our film. although we cant generalise and expect all young people to enjoy this film; due to a massive variety of interests that they could have. For example two people of the same ethnicity, gender and age group may have completely differing interests in film. We should have a premiere with a specially selected audience consisting of different social groups, followed by a question and answer session at the end of the premiere. We would do this to gather feedback on what other social groups we could include and continue to target through new marketing schemes.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We used various ways to attract and address our audience. We wanted to capture the audiences attention through both subtle and the more obvious elements to our film. One example of something we used was the music which created tension for the audience and made them want to continue watching. We also used point of view shots to include the audience within the action of the film, this allowed them to see through the eyes of the protagonist and therefore would enable them to feel as if they are at one with the motion and the narrative. We didn't use any birds eye or worms eye perspective shots because we felt that this would make the audience feel distant from the action. Most of the shots we used are at a 'human' level and therefore mean that the audience can picture themselves being apart of the film.
The use of realism induced by the location and film style has allowed us to possibly attract an audience who are drawn to films with a lower budget with a focus on artistic shots/lighting etc as well as a sense of authenticity; as apposed to multimillion pound hits.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
As mentioned previously, we used natural lighting when filming our opening sequence. However, looking back it would have been less of a challenge to ensure continuity had we used professional lighting equipment. Although, this may have sacrificed the realism that is now one of the vital aspects of our film. In order to create a slightly surreal and grungy atmosphere we altered the exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation and white point of each shot. We put the techniques learned in media theory into practice when editing, ensuring our match on action was as seamless as possible, adding pleonastic non-diegetic music (made especially for the film), recording and editing voice overs, also adding the diegetic click of the boot lock over the visuals (ensuring the sound was synchronous with the visuals).
When filming we focused strongly on shot composition as this is a vital technique for making the shots aesthetically pleasing for the audience. For example, throughout the film we used asymmetric composition with Jesse on one side of the shot and empty space on the other, suggesting that he is about to move into that empty space. This is a subtle technique that makes the audience believe they know what is about to happen, when the narrative holds surprises.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We have learnt that the planning stages of filmmaking are key to creating a quality piece. When creating the preliminary task we did not focus on creating a plot or script which meant that we lacked in content. By correcting these mistakes with the final film we were able to achieve a more smoothly run filming process. Also, the audio was really bad quality in the preliminary task, with quiet dialogue and lots of background noise. This was something that has drastically improved with the final task due to more skill and more time spent checking the audio. Using a high quality microphone to record audio to be overlaid later ensured that the audio was clearer.
Due to the film being devised by us, we felt more inclined to make it a high quality piece of work. The potential possibilities of what we could achieve with the film motivated us to create something unique and something that we would be proud of; we crafted a piece which we felt demonstrated our artistic perspective. Improved technical skills during the filming and editing process helped us to achieve this finished product.
We took inspiration from the film Drive, directed by Nicholas Winding Refn for our opening credits, mirroring the order in which the credits appear as well as the ambiguity of the opening scene. For example, Ryan Gosling is seen driving whilst the audience is unaware of where to and why. There is also no significant introduction to the character. In our film, the audience is unsure as to why Jesse is being told to take the bag to the lift as more of the storyline will be revealed later on in the film.
We also took inspiration from the TV series American Horror Story, dressing Jesse in a similar way to the character Tate in season 1. The two characters are juxtaposed due to Tate's role as an evil killer and Jesse's role as the protagonist. Tate has an almost military style, with large boots and a dark coat using an earthy colour palette. Both characters present a disturbed persona of a young white male.
When watching the 2001 Sci-Fi K-Pax we noticed how prominent the use of lighting is throughout the film, due to Kevin Spacey's character, Prot, claiming to have travelled to Earth through a beam of light. At many points in K-PAX the lighting technique Bokeh can be seen. We decided to use this technique when creating our film because of the word and its connections to our plot: Bokeh comes from the Japanese term Boke meaning a sense of mental haze, relating to the instability of Jesse's mental world.
For the shots where Jesse is running up the stairs, we looked into some action sequences online and found a scene from The Bourne Ultimatum. The scene shows the main protagonist running through hallways and jumping out of windows etc. with fast cutting. In order to achieve a similar effect we filmed lots of short clips from different angles, cutting them all together using match on action.
In order to develop conventions of other psychological thrillers we decided to use a realistic urban environment as the location for our opening sequence with only a low budget. This meant that we had to rely on natural lighting and focus on continuity between shots. For example ensuring that the lighting was not drastically different. We also had to film in the order that the light would change naturally in the scene, getting darker as the sequence progresses.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
In our opening sequence we represent white males only. If we were to create the rest of the film we would attempt to subtlety represent as many other social groups as possible.
For example we would like to use a variety of extras who represent different groups. This would include different genders, couples of varying sexualities, people with disabilities, people with different body images, different ethnicities and different ages. We used a white male to play Dex so as not to use the negative stereotypes of gangsters that have been formed by films of similar genres. Due to films such as Adulthood (2008), teenagers have been labelled with a negative stereotype; we wanted to subtly conform to this stereotype by involving the protagonist in what he thinks is illegal activity. Contrary to this, we are challenging the stereotype of women as weak and vulnerable by initially making the audience believe that Alexa has taken by a group of men and needs to be saved by Jesse, when in fact she was involved in the organisation from the beginning.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our film could be shown in local cinemas as well as film festivals. To reach young adult audiences it could be shown at small independent cinemas with a low ticket price whilst encouraging them to use social media to advertise our film. It could also be available for downloading as this is a popular way for young audiences to purchase films. In order to advertise our film to this audience, we will attempt to promote online using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We would also like to promote through film magazines such as Empire and Total film, we would also take this further by trying to get interest from art based magazines such as I-D and Dazed & Confused which represent an underground and alternative style - similar to the style we want our film to convey. Through our film we would like to promote new emerging unsigned talent, this can be seen within the opening sequence through the actors and the music used.
 |
| For example, the Ultimate Picture Palace in Oxford |
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The age of the protagonist might mean that an audience of a similar age would be attracted to our film because they feel they can personally relate to the experience of adolescence. However, we would aim to create interest in a audience of a universal age range. The grungy and underground feel of our film would also change who would have interest in our film. The genre of our film would mean that we could attract an audience that are psychological thriller enthusiasts. It may also attract people who are involved in the art scene because of the artistic elements within our film. although we cant generalise and expect all young people to enjoy this film; due to a massive variety of interests that they could have. For example two people of the same ethnicity, gender and age group may have completely differing interests in film. We should have a premiere with a specially selected audience consisting of different social groups, followed by a question and answer session at the end of the premiere. We would do this to gather feedback on what other social groups we could include and continue to target through new marketing schemes.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We used various ways to attract and address our audience. We wanted to capture the audiences attention through both subtle and the more obvious elements to our film. One example of something we used was the music which created tension for the audience and made them want to continue watching. We also used point of view shots to include the audience within the action of the film, this allowed them to see through the eyes of the protagonist and therefore would enable them to feel as if they are at one with the motion and the narrative. We didn't use any birds eye or worms eye perspective shots because we felt that this would make the audience feel distant from the action. Most of the shots we used are at a 'human' level and therefore mean that the audience can picture themselves being apart of the film.
The use of realism induced by the location and film style has allowed us to possibly attract an audience who are drawn to films with a lower budget with a focus on artistic shots/lighting etc as well as a sense of authenticity; as apposed to multimillion pound hits.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
As mentioned previously, we used natural lighting when filming our opening sequence. However, looking back it would have been less of a challenge to ensure continuity had we used professional lighting equipment. Although, this may have sacrificed the realism that is now one of the vital aspects of our film. In order to create a slightly surreal and grungy atmosphere we altered the exposure, brightness, contrast, saturation and white point of each shot. We put the techniques learned in media theory into practice when editing, ensuring our match on action was as seamless as possible, adding pleonastic non-diegetic music (made especially for the film), recording and editing voice overs, also adding the diegetic click of the boot lock over the visuals (ensuring the sound was synchronous with the visuals).
When filming we focused strongly on shot composition as this is a vital technique for making the shots aesthetically pleasing for the audience. For example, throughout the film we used asymmetric composition with Jesse on one side of the shot and empty space on the other, suggesting that he is about to move into that empty space. This is a subtle technique that makes the audience believe they know what is about to happen, when the narrative holds surprises.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
 |
| The mic used to record audio |
Due to the film being devised by us, we felt more inclined to make it a high quality piece of work. The potential possibilities of what we could achieve with the film motivated us to create something unique and something that we would be proud of; we crafted a piece which we felt demonstrated our artistic perspective. Improved technical skills during the filming and editing process helped us to achieve this finished product.
Sunday 8 March 2015
Self Evaluation
My contribution to the opening sequence project consisted of first writing the plot and script, followed by drawing up the storyboard. During the filming process I co-directed the shoot with Milly Cope, planning which shots we would film and in what order. It was important to keep a check on time, especially during the last shoot as we had to finish filming before we lost our natural lighting (therefore losing continuity between shots) and before the car park closed. When all filming was completed, I began the editing process, combining our footage to create drama and tension. I also brought in recording equipment to record the overlaid audio of the phone call featured in the piece and altered the tracks to make it sound as if we are hearing the voices through a low quality public phone. After finalising the video and uploading it to YouTube, I went on to create advertising for the film using an image from a selection that Milly took during the filming.
Thursday 5 March 2015
Film Poster
After researching the modern film posters of similar genres and more, I have created a poster to advertise our film using Milly Cope's photography. I have used the same font as used for the credits of our film for visual continuity.
Monday 16 February 2015
Final Film
Below is the first draft of our opening sequence. After watching it back I have noticed that the audio still needs some work, possibly involving another recording session.
Also we decided not to use Adobe After Effects to create the appearance of CCTV footage for a particular shot (idea posted on Tuesday 16th December 2014) as it was possible that it would have taken away from the dark and mysterious mood that we had created with the rest of the opening sequence.
Also we decided not to use Adobe After Effects to create the appearance of CCTV footage for a particular shot (idea posted on Tuesday 16th December 2014) as it was possible that it would have taken away from the dark and mysterious mood that we had created with the rest of the opening sequence.
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