Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

This shot is found in the first scene of the film. We have placed our main character in a dark room tied to a chair.  This is a conventional scene in an action thriller film. By placing this as our first scene we have opened our film with sudden tension and excitement. This differs from other action thrillers where the tension builds up in the opening and does not begin with a high impact opening. There is very little information about what is happening in this scene leaving the audience puzzled, questioning and intrigued about what is going to happen next. Leaving the audience uncertain of the reality is a conventional form of a real action thriller film. The main character is also introduced in this scene, however the audience may not be aware of this as no evidence is given in the shot to lead the audience to believe that he is the main character. This is very unconventional of any film as normally the main character is introduced very early on in the film and with detail and information that the audience can associate with the character.

This shot follows on from the previous one and although it begins to set the scene, it still leaves the audience questioning what is happening in the movie. In this scene we looked at raising the pace of our opening as the first scene was rather slow. In this shot the main character is made to look secretive and shifty as he enters a room and begins to unlock a cabinet. We achieved this feeling through our shot angles as well as our chosen location. Firstly with regard to the filming, instead of placing the camera in a stationary position we decided to use it to track our main character as he moved into the room, giving the impression to the audience that he was being followed. Acting also a played a key role as Fergal (the actor) made his character to look shifty by the way he kept looking behind his shoulder as if he was making sure he was on his own. Finally we chose this location as it best suited the scene that was going to be filmed, since the room looked elegant,  it was well lit and it contained a lockable cabinet.                  

This is an example of one of our many screen titles in our opening. We found it difficult when deciding what tiles to use as although we wanted to use something that would be perceived as conventional in an action thriller film we also did not want to use anything that would make our film look tacky or cheap. This resulted in us choosing to use a rather basic, sleek font design placed on top of a graduated blue and black background. Although this may not be the  most action thriller oriented title,  it simplifies our opening allowing the audience to focus on the story rather than be distracted with large flashy titles.

The scene which depicts the opening of the briefcase again represents something similar to the expectations of an action thriller. A briefcase is unlocked and opened to reveal large amounts of used banknotes. It is common to see large amounts of money in an action thriller, however it is often represented in different ways. Large amounts of money are more likely to be associated with the villain, the villain has normally obtained this money illegally possibly through robbery or business to do with drugs. So although we have used large amounts of money which is represented as a key element in an action thriller film, we have also challenged the forms of the genre by giving the main character (who isn't a villain) a large amount of money instead. As this is in the opening 2 minute sequence the audience are unaware of where the money has come from, again this is aimed to keep them puzzled and confused.  Clearly the reality will become clearer later  in the film.  

Games of poker are often found in the action thriller genre of films so again this is very conventional. Card games depict tension and gambling.   However we have again attempted to challenge the conventions of our genre, this time through our editing. When looking through our filmed footage of this scene we felt that it was rather slow and not as exciting as it could be. Instead of re filming the scene we decided to use editing to make this scene more lively. Through editing we made two large changes; the first of these was to place slow motion on to a shot of Fergal flicking a poker chip in to the air. Although this did slow down the piece even more, it added a much greater effect to the scene by focusing on certain points. Secondly, we also used editing to fast forward and then rewind Fergal throwing his cards on to the table. This was effective as it added contrast to the slow motion shot before, it also flowed better with the music we added to the piece making it look more like a flash back/ dream rather then something that was happening at present.  

Similar to the scene with the briefcase this shot again includes large sums of money. We attempted to develop this usual convention through our filming and camera angles. We started with the basic scene of Fergal throwing a large amount of money in to the air.We made adaptions to the camera angle by using a low camera angle, thus increasing his status making him look more superior and mighty as well as exaggerating the amount of money being thrown into the air. Editing also allowed us to slow the speed down adding greater effect as the money slowly floated to the ground.

The shot at the desk was again taken to represent our main characters wealth.  He is filmed buying shares on the stock market whilst looking at a magazine advertising a new Porsche 911. When deciding this scene we looked at how other action thriller films represented a characters wealth.  Although we had not seen anything exactly similar to the scene we filmed, we were aware of films where characters demonstrated their wealth by buying expensive items like cars. Instead of copying exact scenes from other  action thriller films we decided to be creative and plan our own. We took inspiration from other action thriller films and so  this does use some conventions of the action thriller, however by developing this in to a way we could easily film whilst keeping the shot looking proffesional alowed us to slightly develop and change the conventions of the genre.

The scene filmed in the main characters flat is placed in to our film opening after the sequence of flashbacks and the title sayinvg '3 weeks previously'. This is when our character begins to be properly introduced to the audience. The scene begins with an alarm clock going off. Our main character moans to show he does not want to get out of bed. His room is intentionally made in to a tip as well as him sleeping on a basic mattress. This was intended to show the audience that this character is living a very poor and chaotic lifestyle with no routine.  Location and scene setting was very important in this shot as it is in this part of the opening that the story begins to be told properly, it needed to be clear to the audience what lifestyle this character was living in.

Finally this freeze frame represents the last scene of our opening, the main title of the film. When we were deciding on where we were going to place the title and where our opening sequence was going to end we made a few decisions early on. What was important to us was that the main character was outside and was positioned in a place which clearly set the location for the rest of our film. The shot you can see on the freeze frame is of Guildford, the town we all live in. This is the view from Fergal's house which is on a steep hill giving a great panoramic view of the town. After deciding we would film the ending there we realised we could quite easily fit the title in to the sky as our main character walks down the hill in to town. This was very effective as it looked natural due to the font we used and the transition of fading it in to the shot. The name of our film 'Tainted Money' sounds like an action thriller film so the audience should know what to expect. I feel this title is very unconventional of an action thriller film due to the fact that it is very basic and simple. Most titles in our genre are large, bold and colourful. I feel this title really questions the conventions of our genre due to the fact that it gives such an impact yet it is very basic and simple.   

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our main character is a white male aged 19. We chose this as it best relates to our target audience for our film. We chose to use a white character as it is often a conventional stereotype that white brittish teenagers are lazy and dont do anything productive. We decided rather than questioning this stereotype that we would instead use it as a key element of our film. We chose a 19 year old as we believe this was a suitable age to represent a character who may receive a large amount of money unexpectedly and instead of question the situation, spend the money, again a characteristic you would expect a 19 year old to do.

We did some research looking for comparisons with our main character and other main characters in films with the action thriller genre.

A character we found very similar to ours was that of Eddie Morra (played by Bradley Cooper) in the film 'Limitless'.    Edward "Eddie" Morra is a writer who lives in New York City. He has recently been dumped by his girlfriend Lindy in addition to failing to meet the deadline to turn in his new book, which he hasn't started yet. Eddie lives in a run down flat on his own, with no income and little prospects. 

Our main character is very similar to Eddie at the beginning and end of the two films. For example at the openings of both films we see these characters down on their luck,  living on the brink of poverty, badly dressed and without a real job. They are at the bottom of the social ladder living in very basic accommodation, in these cases a small flat on their own.

Their roles in the film are very similar, although the story lines diferentiate slightly. The opening and endings contain similar comparisons. Because of this in the openings of both films they are found to be living in difficult situations making it obvious in both cases that they are short of money ad are struggling at this point of their life.

When comparing between them towards the end of the film their life is seen to have turned around. Through luck they are now able to live a life of luxury with endless amounts of money which they spend on excessive things such as fancy suits, fast cars and investments in the stock market.


Finally, again in comparison both lifestyles come crashing down when they are both similarly caught by gangsters demanding what is rightfully theirs.

Q3. What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?

The obvious answer to this question would be a small scale film festival, or even possibly an independent cinema. If we were to continue making this film on the budget and the resources we used to make the opening, then it would be fair to say that this film would never be able to become a large motion picture. However it would still be possible (as shown in our opening) to make an interesting and appealing production which people would want to watch with the budget and resources we had available to us.

The London Film Festival or Sundance Film Festival are two of the many popular film festivals who show many of the hundred films created by amateur directors and movie makers. Film festivals attract thousands of people to their events and although it is impossible to view every film showing, often the attendees are fanatic film fans who look to watch as many of these films as possible. As an Action Thriller film one of the most popular genres of the movie market we would be likely to have a rather high demand for viewings of our film.

If we were to be more creative and use our initiative there is a strong possibility that an independent cinema may be interested in showing our movie (with the selling point of being filmed in the surrounding area by amateur film makers). We would offer the cinema to distribute our film for free so even if it was to be shown only once or twice in the cinema they would still be likely to make a small cash return. From research I have found a fairly local independent cinema located in the rural village of Alton in Hampshire called the  Palace Cinema. It is a small family run cinema with 3 screens which have been showing films 7 days a week since 1932. This is very unusual for an independent cinema to still be surviving with all the competition from the large cinema company's such as odeon. This shows that there must be a high demand by the local cohabitants to experience and view new film releases, possibly ours! I think if the cinema charged a few pounds for customers to view our film, local people may be interested in viewing something a little different.

Thinking creatively again;Virgin Media, the television and broadband Internet supplier have for the last 2 years hosted independent films by amateur directors on their movie on demand service. Customers of Virgin Media are able to pay a small fee to view these films. Although the quality of the movies shown are rather high, I still believe that our finished product (i.e the whole film) would have a good chance of being offered on their service.

Finally You Tube would offer a large audience with no cost or hassle. Although this does seem like the easy option, we could find this to be very beneficial! Youtube has an audience of millions, being one of the most popular sites on the web. By taking advantage of this free service to promote our film we could offer our film to a global audience, not underestimating the powers of word of mouth (especially in the age we live in with social networks such as facebook!) We could see our film being viewed all across the world. This would then hopefully lead to potential offers to distribute our movie in mainstream cinemas and DVD's.

   



Q4. Who would be your audience for your media product?

This is Tom. Tom is 17 year's old and is currently at college studying for his A Levels. Tom is a hard and conscientious worker and although he spends most of his week studying for his exams he loves spending his weekends going out with his friends, partying and having a good time. When a party isn't on the weekend agenda Tom enjoys viewing the newest film releases at his local cinema complex either with his mates or when hes out on a date with his girlfriend. Tom best enjoys the action thriller genre of movies, which are similar to his fast paced adventurous lifestyle. However to Tom these films must be more than just cheesy fighting and explosions. It is important to him for the movie to have a detailed and interesting story line, the bigger the twist the better! His favourite action thriller films include; 'Inception', 'No Country for Old Men' and 'Die Hard'. Tom is extremely fashionable, it is very important to him that he keeps up to date with all the latest trends. His favourite shops are Top Man and River Island. Tom is also a keen footballer where he is the captain for his local team. Toms music preferences are very varied as they depend on what is popular on the charts at the time.

Tom is an example of our target audience for 'Tainted Money'. Before we had even created the story line for our film we knew we wanted to aim our movie at this segment of the large film production market. Because of this we knew that we would have to work hard on producing a detailed and exciting story line which would interest the 16- 25 male market. After we had the story line agreed we had to look at where we would place the fighting and the tension most commonly represented with action thrillers.

We made the decision to target this segment of the market for a number of reasons. The main reason came from our secondary research where we found that this market was the most lucrative in terms of cinema sales as well as Action Thriller being one of the most popular genres of film. This is important as it would give our film the best chance of being succesful at the box office. Secondly as all three of us fit in to the market segment we felt this would be of a huge advantage as we know first hand what would appeal to the market and what would be good to put in to our film.    

Q5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

The first scene of our film involves the main character tied to a chair struggling in a dark room. This is intended to grab the viewer from the start leaving suspicion in their heads about what is happening in the film.
This is a conventional action thriller scene, we did not attempt to change the viewers preconceptions of an action thriller. To add this is also the only scene in our opening where any type of violence is shown when the villain punches our main character.

This scene shows our main character looking shifty and suspicious as he walks in to a room a long with this we have in the background a fast paced drum and base style soundtrack. This is aimed to begin setting the scene for the audience, the plan being that this small 2 minute introduction  allows the audience to settle in to their seats focusing on what is in front of them and forgetting about thoughts outside of the movie.

The scene with our main character opening a briefcase of money and then later goes on to throw the money up in to the air. This has to be one of our most interesting shots of our opening. What we hoped to do with this was to really open the audiences eyes making them think where did all of this money come from? Money is something that is often seen in action thriller films, however I believe that we adapted an iconic image of a hot shot character with bags of money due to the way we filmed him throwing money over his head. This made it very obvious to the          audience that our character was not used to handling large amounts of money!

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When beginning Media this year I was introduced to many pieces of technology some of which I had never heard of, let alone had any knowledge of using. Although this was a daunting experience being expected to use all these programs with no prior knowledge, I decided to throw myself in to the deep end and start learning. I took advantage of our preliminary exercise attempting all roles from camera angles with the video camera to editing the piece on Imovie with the 'Mac'. I learnt many things from this and although the video camera was fairly easy to grasp my step change in learning came from the Macs. Throughout this movie making process I have learnt that apple macs  can work wonders and fulfil your every wish as long as you learn to treat it well and push the right buttons! After our preliminary task I began to feel more confident as although I was no editing genius, I felt I had sufficient knowledge to successfully make an opening for a movie.

Blogger is a key tool needed by every media student. Although I had never had a blog or ever used blogger before Media A level I felt that we got off to a good start from the beginning compared to other members of my class. I believe my ease of use came down to my perseverance in my first blog post as although I struggled I was eventually able to publish to my blog, where as other members gave up. This helped me as when it came to posting important information (such as these evaluation questions) I was able to do this with ease. I have thoroughly enjoyed using blogger and the many talents it has in producing appealing articles with fancy fonts and colourful backgrounds, It has made my media coursework a lot easier and considerably more presentable then if I was to have written it by hand. My blogging experience has been so successful I would even go as fart as to say I may even contemplate starting my own blog (after this ones finished of course!) It is very easy to see as you scroll through the articles I have posted over the last 4 months that my understanding of what should and shouldn't be in a blog has vastly improved. My articles are now much more appealing to read with the pictures and fonts I have used!

As with any work containing technology there were bound to be some trouble shooting issues, however I am proud to say we overcame every difficulty (even if it did take a few days). One trouble shooting problem we faced came about when we were stuck one weekend planning to film but with no camera. We had been used to filming with the school cameras and uploading to the Macs through fire wires, however due to a misunderstanding no one had taken the camera on the Friday afternoon. We were running short of time to finish our filming and because of this we were left with no choice but to use my own camera which although was a slightly newer model we had no fire wire for. Over the weekend I had managed to upload the footage to my pc through an sd card and transfer this to a memory stick. When we attempted to upload this on to Imovie we found that the footage was in the wrong file format.  We did not know what format this needed to be in or even how to change it. I took it upon myself to work this out as I knew how important this footage was. I spent the best part of 3 hours of my Monday evening 'googling' "how to's" in order to find the right format. Eventually I found out that the format we needed was 'quicktime-mov'. I then spent a few minutes looking on the Internet for a software to download which would convert these files. I used movavi video converter which easily transferred these files and placed it back on my memory stick to use on Tuesday. This gave me a chance to really put my trouble shooting abilities and perseverance to the test as I could have quite easily given up and spent time which we did not have to film the shots again. I also used technology which no one else in the class used when having to work with movavi video converter.


I have used other small amounts of technology through our group blog, through websites such as 'glogster' and 'teacher time line'. These were suggested by my teachers in order for me to use lots of different types of technology. I developed a strategy when approaching these new forms of technology where  instead of attempting my work straight away, I would spend my time reading instructions or tutorials to make sure I used the full capability of these technologies in order to produce the best work possible.

With reference to the question, you can see from above that I have learnt a lot about new technologies. However if there is one important rule I have taken from constructing this product, it is that it is sometimes better to take a step back from what you are doing and to make sure you fully understand it, whether it be a new technology for editing your movie or making the most of the presentation features on blogger. This is a lesson that can be applied to all aspects of life and not just new technologies.  It is not always optimal to rush into things! This is a lesson I will keep with and apply throughout my life.

Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

2 months ago I produced my preliminary task which I am proud to say was the first film I had ever created. If im being honest it was a very daunting experience but knowing that this was the practice for what would be my real As level film coursework made me realise the importance of going through the process mithogically and taking detailed notes of anything that went wrong or that I would like to change when doing it again for the real thing. I feel the biggest diference between the way we set out to produce our preliminary compared to our opening sequence was the confidence that we showed and brought to filming and editing. 2 out of 3 of my group had never made a film before, it can be quite scary at first to be given a camera and expected to just get on with it. However as the process developed we realised that with media and filming there is no one right answer and infact the more creative you can be with your scene selection and your shot types the better your film can be. By the time we started our opening movie sequence ideas flew on to our paper during planning as we had these amazing thoughts. I would say the first thing we learnt is that there is no one way of doing things in media and that having the confidence to try something new and be creative  eg; using strange camera angles can add to the effect to your film.

We were given very little time to plan, film and edit our preliminary task, however we made the most of what was given to us. Planning our preliminary was an important lesson in film making as none of us had ever drawn a story board or properly planned a film. Although we spent time planning our preliminary and drawing our storyboards, we found they still led to some confusion when we were filming the scenes. Although we knew what we needed to film we found that we had not included enough detail leaving us having to put the pieces together off the top of our heads whilst filming, this did lead to a few continuity errors as not everything had been planned. However because of this when it came to planning for our opening film sequence we ensured all was done efficiently from research to developments of ideas to story boarding even including the dialouge we would use in the film. The extra time spent on research and planning paid off when it came to filming and we had a perfect plan of everything we wanted to film, what angle we were going to film from and what dialouge was going to be exchanged.

When I look back at what was expected of us from the preliminary task and all of the basic shot types that needed to be in our film. It was important for us that we learnt to film these shots effectively as when it later came on to our opening film sequence it was vital that we used these film shots in order to make the film more aesthetically pleasing as well as receiving marks for good use of varied shot types. Film shots such as the 180 degree rule, match on action and shot/ reverse shot aloowed us to add variance to our opening sequence. Another vital lesson I had learnt in our preliminary task was to ensure scenes were filmed repeatedly at different angles. When creating our preliminary some scenes were filmed once at one angle, when this was later used in editing we were given very little creative freedom to adapt the film. Again this lesson was noted and when it came to producing our film opening we made the effort to redo scenes 3 or 4 times despite this being quite tedious and boring!

When it came to editing our preliminary piece no major mistakes were made and so it is dificuilt to say any lessons were made. However editing the preliminary gave us a foundation of imovie allowing us to understand the very basics of the software, which could later be developed on when fancy titles and effects were needed for our opening sequence. My knowledge of Imovie has progressed emensely over the past couple of months especially in the last couple of weeks where i have been relied upon to use it more and more. I went from being a novice to someone who could quite confidently edit another movie, if given the chance.

Ultimately, I now look back at the preliminary task and compare the diferences (the planning and filming as well as the end product) to our opening film sequence. There are vast amounts of changes I was not even aware of, most of which I have detailed above. The preliminary task taught our group to learn from our mistakes, working out how to do things better as well as teaching us a valuable lesson in the importance of continuity. As a group we realised how important continuity was to a film when we were shown scenes with and without proper contnuity, the diferences were astonishing. I think the preliminary task was worth the time and the effort solely because of the key skills and understanding we learnt from our first movie making process.     

Glogster

http://jmurray11.edu.glogster.com/

Evaluation Of My Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task we were asked to shoot a short 30 second sequence involving two characters exchanging dialogue across the table. Along with this we were asked to show the character entering and exiting the room as well as using a variety of shot types, such as shot-reverse-shot, match on action, and the 180 degrees rule. As with any film we were expected to edit the piece to the best of our ability whilst adding opening and closing titles.

To prepare for this task we designed a story board. I was given the role to draw the story board although both Fergal and Jack contributed with ideas on the setting and the plot. As we did this we decided on where our task would be shot, we decided to shoot on the sixth form balcony as we felt it tied in with the plot and we could guarantee that it would be free to use when filming commenced.

When filming comenced we assigned eachother various roles in the production. As we needed two people acting in our sequence Fergal and myself volunteered to do this, whilst Jack took on the role of filming. We all contributed to the directing of the piece however Jack was able to see what looked good through the camera and so we listened to many of his sugestions. I believe this was a good choice as when it eventually came to editing we had a vast amount of good shots to play around with. Although we had not planned when to use our different shot types on our story board ( something I would probably do, if we were asked to do this task again) we ensured all were used and added to effectiveness of our piece. Our match on action was especially effective due to the fact we were working with a glass door which allowed you to view the person entering the balcony (Fergal) from both perspectives. Whilst Jack was on the camera he ensured our piece followed the 180 degree rule although was still able to film at various angles and positions within the 180 degrees to give our sequence a slight edge. When it came to the conversation between Fergal and myself Jack used over the shoulder shots in acordance to the 180 degree rule, this also gave him the oportunity to place shot reverse shot to our growing list of shots used. A variety of close ups were used throughouth the piece specifically focussing on Fergals hand when opening the door and of my mouth when conversation was initiated. The positioning of the 2 characters was central when focussing on the speech apart from when over the shoulder angles were used. Something we did effectively is that when filming not all locations were imediately available. Instead of waiting a long period to film in the right order we filmed difeerent scenes depending on what was available and by using a paper clacker board to help when edditing. One problem we had when doing this is that on one of the takes of Fergal opening the door their was a foot on the other side, however in the next take it has disapeared. We were not happy with putting this mistake in our piece and so made the decision to film this particular scene again.

Once filming was done we then moved on to editing our piece on Imovie. Jack has extensive knowledge of Imovie and film editing due to previous experience outside of the media class. It is because of this that we decided to put Jack in charge of the computer when editing, but this by no means Fergal and myself left him to do it. Together we gave numerous contributions and suggestions for improvements. Edditing was a quick process as when a suggestion was made Jack was able to implement this imediately, where as if Fergal or myself were in charge this may have taken a fair bit longer. I found editing was when we worked best as a group as we were all able to contribute ideas to the piece and all ideas were listened to and discussed. I am very excited to be working in this group and look forward to starting our next filming task. It has been a great learning experience and has prepared me for future pieces we will perform together.

Comparisons on opening sequences between 28 Days Later and American Werewolf

28 Days Later
The opening sequence of 28 days later is fast and action packed. The opening sequence involves animal activists breaking in to a monkey testing centre. This invokes fear and violence to the audience from the very beggining, common signifiers in a horror film. The lighting of the scene is dark and gloomy and the music is loud and fast paced. This allows the audience to experience the horror element of the film from the very beggining of the film. The scene of the opening sequence is what would come expected from a Horror Film with an empty dark laboratory with rabid monkeys.

American Werewolf
In comparrison to the film 28 days later, American Werewolf involves a very different and unorthodox opening for a Horror film. The opening scene involves a farm cart driving along vast amounts of green hills and dales with an upbeat love song as diagetic sound. In the opening you are introduced to the two main characters who are hikers from america who have hitch hiked in this cart to get to this vast amount of mountains. Although this does not follow the usual conventions of a horror film, there are signifiers such as isolation, empty space, foggyness and howling wind.

The intentions of Christopher Nolan in the making of Insomnia and Momento.

The film 'Momento' began production in the year 2000 under the control of director Christopher Nolan. Momento was Nolan's first full production movie, after the previous success of 'following' in 1998 New Market films optioned for Nolans next proposed film 'Momento'. The movie is based on the short story Memento Mori, written by Christopher's brother, Jonathan Nolan. It follows widower Leonard Shelby (played by Guy Pearce) who suffers a head injury and is unable to form new memories. In keeping with this inability to know what has just happened before, the film's narrative structure runs in reverse (with an interlude between each pair of major "flashback" sequences).

Psycho Freeze Frames

 In this shot the character is silouheted. This causes greater tension and fear for the audience as they can not know for certain who this is. The shot clearly shows that the character has a weapon in their hand and that they are in a position to attack. The shot used is medium close up, this focusses all the attention on the character. The image is slightly blurred to show the water from the shower passing inbetween.

 This shot expresses the characters reaction to seeing this silouheted murderer. The close up focuses on the characters facial expressions to show the full extent of her fear. The shot is also taken as if it was from the view point of the murderer. The fact this scene has been filmed in the shower adds a sense of insecurity for the women as she has no clothes on.

In this shot we see the character struggling to survive after the savage attack of the unknown murderer. This is when the sense of vulnerability is most strongly shown as she slowly bleeds to death in the shower. The wide medium close-up helps represent the scene. The character is lifting her hand up to represent her struggle and attempt to get up. however the body position and expression of her face show that she is in pain and is unable to move.