Additional filming- Harry

Sound editing- Harry

Editing talk- Harry

Harry gives a mid-way update on the editing progress

Airport refilming- Harry

Harry talks about how the refilming went

Dolphin Filming- Tom and Harry

Refilming- Harry

A vlog on refilming at a previous location

Tom Corbett's Evaluation

1.  In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
- In most thriller films, there is a main character- a protagonist.



 This can be seen in Inception- where Leonardo DiCaprio is washed up on the beach. Due to the number of shots centered on him, we can tell he is the main character.

This is also apparent in Silence of the Lambs, where we can see the character of Sally Sparrow, due to the number if shots on her.

However, our film takes the example of Zodiac, where an enigma is created, only showing the antagonist. We know he is the antagonist because he has attacked an innocent couple and his identity is a mystery due to the lighting.








Our film follows a similar pattern; but there is no clear singular person who fits the bill. True, we do have one character drowning another:

But in the monologue, all the characters are linked together, as the voice over explains.

- Due to our use of a voice over (shown as a voice mail message), we have used it as a sound bridge in order to link the characters and raise questions about the nature of their aims.

You can see that they are both  receiving it, linking them together as possible partners. This creates the restricted narration








Due to this, there is no binary opposition, which only furthers the enigma, working to the advantage of the film.


2. How does your media product represent certain media groups?
- Our film shows the different characters in different ways. For example:

This character is well-dressed, and in an aircraft. He also has an expensive phone. We can tell by this that he is wealthy, and has aeronautical access, as he is seen walking into a hangar.

We know from the voice-over  that he is part of the scheme. His age suggests that he has experience and status over the others. This is a positive stereotype, as it is insinuated that he would have power over the others.

This character is younger than the other, and is seen in a urban area. His coat is done up, and he wears jeans- it looks like he might be on hard times, due to the area that he is in, as it looks old and dirty.  This is a negative stereotype as it could be seen as he is in need of money.

 The final character that we see is seen drowning another character. This shows him in a negative light as he is murdering someone. He is seen as strong and ruthless, repeatedly drowning his victim. In stereotypes, he might be considered the muscle of the operation.

The Voice is most likely the brains behind the operation; he has large amounts of money, and orders around the others to various locations, as well as having plans for the next stages in the operation. Due to the fact he is not seen creates an enigma.

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

-Due to Democratisation of the media, it is far easier to film an edit using mobile devices
- Because of this, institutions are also changing to adapt to the new surge of amateur filmmakers
- Distribution of films is far easier and cheaper, due to 4K digital projection
- As our film is small, we would use companies that would be willing to distribute- such as:

Lovefilm is perfect for an indie thriller film, as it can be seen across TV, tablets, phones and even games consoles. This expands our target market, allowing us to reach more people, especially our age target (see question 4)








4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
Seeing as we were planning to make a thriller film, it is sensible that we researched the categories for film classification. upon viewing them, I narrowed down the options, but upon further decision, it was decided upon being a '15' rating. I think that this is good as it aims for the target audience that most filmmakers aim for- the male 11-17 market.

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

In order to get an audience for the thriller, I posted the final version as a link on Facebook, asking if my friends could watch it and leave feedback.

The characters introduced are male, and of an age where they are interesting for our target audience to see. The characters appear to fit the generic stereotypes (see above). Due to the lack of female leads, this film would only really appeal to men. It is also violent from the outset, which generally does not appeal to women.

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

Throughout the construction of the task, I have learnt more about the equipment used to film and edit it.
- To begin with, I only had a rudimentary understanding of cameras- only how to record and zoom etc.. I had no idea what the 'white balance' was- but when it was explained to me that it made footage look realistic- instead of the orange filter effect, I quickly caught on, and used this in later filming.

- When we first started using the cameras, we used the tripods to film. Whilst this was useful, if we wanted to follow a character, we would have to pick the tripod up- which affected the quality of the film to a point where we discarded the footage. We were then introduced to a new shoulder-held mount that was far more stable and maneuverable.


- As part of a scene where a character is drowned, myself and another group member needed to film some scenes underwater. Obviously we could not use a standard camera, and so were introduced to the underwater cameras- which were a massive help, allowing us to move above and below water with ease.

- I have also been introduced to the mysteries of Final Cut Pro- an editing tool used to create films. Before I would have had no idea how to work it, but now I am proficient at working the timeline, adding effects, introducing titles and cutting footage together- I have taken lead in editing the video, and worked with my group to ensure that a worthy final product was created.















-Along with Final Cut Pro, I have worked on garage band to help edit/ add sound to the product, in order to cover up unwanted noises in the footage used, and to make noises more prominent.

- I have also used my Webcam on my laptop to create 'Vlogs' which have been uploaded to the blog as alternatives to writing. It is quick and easy to do, and allows for easy reviewing of filming or quick updates of editing

- Another new technology I have been introduced to it the Apple Mac- hardware which took some time getting used to. The keyboard was strange to use, as I am used to Microsoft ones, and the 'command +...' usage was difficult to understand at first



I have also had to use the Mac mouse, which was disconcerting to use as the 'single button looks' were more of an annoyance than a help. The tiny 'scroll' pad was also difficult to master.

- As we used garageband to introduce and edit sounds, we have had to use downloaded sounds in the film. We downloaded audio from sites such as http://www.freesfx.co.uk/. We then downloaded the sound and put it into garageband, and were able to use is appropriately.

- Additionally, I have been introduced to Blogger, allowing me to create a blog which is used to upload photos and videos on progress, and to upload the final product. I am now able to create blogs easily, and it had been extremely useful.
















7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the
full product?
I feel that I have progressed massively from the preliminary task in several respects

The first thing that you notice is that titling has been used in the introduction of the thriller, unlike the preliminary

This allows the film to appear more like it should, instead of delving straight into the action.

Another point is that we have learnt to expand our scope. We have added more characters and locations. For example:

In the prelim, we used three locations- A staircase, a room and a corridor.  They were all in the same building.

We also only had two characters in it.




In the Prelim, however:

We used the locations of: the inside of an aeroplane. The exterior/ runway on which it was on, and nearby hangar. We also used a location on a street, a swimming pool's pool and exterior.

 In total, we used five characters in the thriller opening.






We also used editing techniques such as fades, and were more ambitious with our camerawork, using Extreme long shots- which we were unable to use before due to the size of the room.  We also used more ambitious shots- using the shoulder mount (see above), such as this:

A low-angle shot which makes it look like the camera is stealthily looking in at the character.

And this one, which shows the character's feet as he walks off.









As mentioned in question 6, we have used sound effects and garageband to create a stronger piece of film.

We have also created more of a story than a simple shakedown- we have introduced a mystery party, getting people to kill two targets, them move onto a third. This is far more interesting to watch than two people talking.

As part of our editing, we have made the cuts between shots faster, as in the prelim, the pace dragged whilst one character walked slowly towards a door, then engaged in a long speech to the other character.

In conclusion, I have learnt far more about how to film and how to edit than I did at the start. I have also learnt to be more ambitious with our locations and scope of ideas.

Thomas Herd's Evaluation

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

Conventions of a thriller

Enigma - It creates a mystery for the audience and makes them ask questions, for example 'Who are they?' or 'Why are they there?'

Protagonist - The main character in the thriller, most likely to be a women or on occasions a man or children.  They would be expected to mainly be the victim, therefore the audience feel sympathy for the character.

Antagonist – Generally the villain and almost always is a male or a group of males.

Binary opposition - This is where two characters have opposites between each other, for example whether one is a protagonist and one is an antagonist or it could be the difference in age or gender.

Low key lighting – This is mainly used in thrillers to create suspense and enigma (mentioned above) because of the dark lighting.

We have tried to include as many as these as possible:

The antagonist is shown at the very start, which is made clear by location, characterisation and clothing. As he is the first character shown it creates enigma and tension. Also, you don’t immediately see face, so the audience will start to ask questions.

The protagonist is clearly shown when he is being drowned. We used a number of shots to show it being very frantic as the character was fighting for his life. Again, this helps create enigma and tension through the panic and the audience wanting him to survive.

The sound bridge of the soundtrack shows that everything is happening at the same time, and creates an eerie atmosphere as to who these characters are.

We used a couple of establishing shots in the airport and swimming to let the audience can ask questions on not only the characters but about the locations. For example, why kill him in a swimming pool? 

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

Due to the fact we have an all-male cast, I feel represent certain social groups, especially as the ‘crew’ are shown as different ages. The first character we see on the screen is the oldest member of the group. We chose him as the first character shown, to show his power and authority amongst the other two members. Also, he has just come off his private plane, again, showing his experience in the job.

 

The two other characters in the group are dressed in a more casual way as they are completing the job. The character on the phone is shown as the ‘link’. We tried to portray him as the middle man and ask the audience questions as to who he actually was in the operation. Later on in the film we would find exactly who he was.

The final character, who is being drowned, is clearly portrayed negatively. His costume is designed to show what kind of people they are out to get. As the protagonist is usually a female character, we thought it we would show it from a different angle and go against the stereotypical character.

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

Through research I have discovered that times are changing. People are less likely to actually go and watch films at a multiplex but watch them on tablets, phones, game consoles or just on their TVs. As a low budget film it would be impossible to get our film on at a multiplex anywhere anyway. Therefore, we have to look at independent distributors because they are more likely to take it.

I think it would be a good idea to put our film on LoveFILM. The first reason behind this is that you can watch LoveFILM on so many different devices for example, PS3/4, XBOX one and tablets. The target audience for these products matches our target audience (males 15+) therefore we are likely to get more views on the film.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Due to our research I decided that our film should be aimed at males aged 15+. The reason why I selected this audience because of research on the BBFC website: http://www.bbfc.co.uk. This tells  us why films are put into separate categories and how they decide on which category it should be in. Most thriller films are aimed around that the male teenage age group, which is why we chose this set.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

 

I think to key to targeting the male 15+ group is to try and make it exciting and fascinating. If it isn’t, they get bored. If we ask the audience questions then they focus and concentrate on the film. For this to happen, we needed to create tension and interesting shots along with good editing.

Mise-en-scene

A real advantage for us is our locations we chose. The plane in the airport and the swimming pool give the audience something to think about and ask questions about why they are then and who are they. The location really suits the audience as it’s a little bit different and it isn’t relatable so they can use their imaginations.

Editing

Again, to make it that little bit more interesting, we decided early on that we should have a series of quick cuts mixed in with some medium and long cuts to make it exciting to watch. Also, the cut between different scenes, for example the airport to the swimming pool creates confusion and therefore, makes the audience watch and think about who these characters actually are.

Sound

The non-diegetic sound we put in at the post production stage creates tension in the atmosphere and an eerie effect. We were undecided how loud it should be over the diegetic sound. I think that we got it just right because the audience wants to hear the sounds that the characters can’t because it makes them more involved. However, making it too loud would overpower the diegetic sound and that would lose its effect.

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

Throughout both the preliminary and our final film I have learnt a lot about the technologies available to make our film the best it can be. Some were tougher than others and I needed to spend a lot more time to be able to use some of these technologies.

Camera - White Balance, camera shoulder holder 

The cameras were fairly easy to use but there were still some important information to know. White balance is so imperative to get right, if you don’t then your shots may go off colour and will not look good in the final cut as shown below. I had an issue where I didn’t set the white balance which I will explain below. We didn’t use a tripod as much as the camera holder mounts. Both were easy to use and set up but I felt more in control with the holder and I felt we could make more attention-grabbing shots with it than the tripod. The tripod uses up more space and in some of our locations like Gatwick Airport inside the plane, there wasn’t a lot of space to move.

Underwater Camera

Every piece of equipment is important but without the underwater cameras, our film would not be the same. As we learnt quickly they were very similar to the normal cameras but it still took time to get used to them. They were obviously a massive help getting interesting shots from below the water which would not have been possible without it. Tom Corbett and I were the two members of the group who used the two cameras. I thought we did a good job considering we hadn’t done anything like this before. However, one of the camera’s white balance was not set which was my mistake and therefore, we had to colour correct most of my shots in post-production. This created a little bit of panic at the time but we did well to get through it.

Lighting 

The most important thing I learnt about lighting is that you must always use it. Due to our issues in the preliminary task, where we couldn’t actually see a character in a shot, we knew it was important to get the lighting right in the final product. We only needed to use small lights because most of our scenes were outside, so we didn’t need as much lighting. The small lights were easy to use as were merely required to screw the lights onto stands and put them where we wanted. We did have to careful we were using two cameras. Not to get the lights in the shots, which we successfully did.

Macs – Final Cut Pro and Garage Band

First of all, I had very limited experience of using Macs. At times they got frustrating to work on as the mouse and keyboard is different but as you went on, they were ok to use.

I had never used Final Cut Pro before this project so it took time learning how to use it and all the shortcuts you could press to make it easier and quicker for yourself. We I learnt the basics for example, cutting each shot, it became easier to use and I thought we used it effectively. Also, I learnt how to use text to create our title. Again, when you knew the basic buttons and where everything was, it was easy to use.

Another programme I used on the Mac was Garage Band. We used this to put on soundtracks and sound effects to create the right atmosphere and tension in our final piece. It was fairly simple to use as all the effects we could use were displayed on the right hand side. There was one difficulty which was because it was an American programme. This meant that some words were not recognised when you typed them in. Overall, I love our soundtrack we used and the effects worked well with the action on screen.

Blogger

Like most of the other technology, Blogger was another aspect of which I hadn’t used before. The key thing with Blogger is you have to remember to use hyperlinks and images to get your grade as high as it can be. I struggled to get to grips with it at first but due to the fact that you could get it on your phone, it was more accessible to use. I found it easier to write on Word and then transfer it onto Blogger because it was less difficult to change fonts and sizes of texts. Also, getting images where you want them can get annoying but it is worth taking time over it. I feel I could have used Blogger better by putting more images and hyperlinks and less text to use it at its full potential.

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

From watching it back, I felt in our preliminary task that we could have used a wider variety of shots and angles throughout the minute. Also, the shots were a similar length in terms of distance, because of that, the shots we ended up using were too long so the pace was extremely slow and consequently made the piece uninteresting to watch for the audience. From this we learnt that we needed to spend an extended period of time to plan a broader range of attention-grabbing shots that would help create plot and establish characters along with other features.

An example of this is in the first part of our preliminary where we have one character walking for a long period of time - the shots were all long and extreme long shots. To compare this to our final film, at the beginning there many different types of shots, for example, the plane taking off at the very start and also, a mix of lengths while inside the plane with a close up of the older male character taking his belt off (all shown below).

The improvement in the camera work links in with the development within the editing side of the production – sound and visual. In the final film, the sound is much cleaner and precise as we decided early on that we would take most of the sound off in ‘Final Cut Pro’ so it was easier to add in afterwards. Therefore, we would have the exact sound that we wanted throughout our piece by using our own sound effects and foleys. In our preliminary, our sound wasn’t as good as it could have been due to the fact we kept the original sound on the visual cut because there was dialogue. Additionally, it was just one soundtrack throughout the whole one minute which went over the dialogue; this can get boring for the audience to listen to. Therefore, we tried to put as many sound effects and parts of soundtracks in as possible, if they were needed to create an increase of tension and enigma.

In conclusion, I felt that our final film was much better than our preliminary because of lots of different aspects. Especially, camera work, lighting and sound. I think this was due to us taking more time and care over what we were doing and therefore, it ended up an improved piece.