Trace Decay final film

peer assessment of our opening sequence

Assessment of Evaluation posts for Q. 1 and 6 (SJA Feb 14th)

WWW:

• Looking over your blog, I am pleased that you have made a really good start on all Evaluation questions Chris
• There are some good attempts to make posts visual in some way, and your written comments show a generally good grasp of what each question requires of you

EBI:

• To improve, and move that standard of your work towards a B grade, you should come back to your posts and continue to develop them Chris.
• I checked Q. 1 and 6 carefully, as these were the 2 that we agreed on in last Monday's lesson. There are some developments that I'd like you to do to improve each...
• Q. 1 is currently Very Good, I think you have made an effective use of Prezi to explore the conventions of thriller films. You should at moving this to 'Excellent' through the inclusion of screen grabs from your own film sequence compared to similar films to really show HOW you have incorporated key conventions in your own work (location / props / cast...etc...) - make what you are saying in this Q relate more to your own opening sequence, and the decsions you and your group made.
• Q. 6. - This is your chance to really show off every element of technology you use on a daily basis in Media Studies Chris. Currently, with just the 18 second clip from your film, you are not showing all of the technical skills you have developed. I think to do this particular Q justice, you really need to use JING (or similar screen casting software) to show and 'talk through' how you make use of a range of technologies in every lesson (opening up Blogger, iMovie to edit, Live Type, importing, etc, etc.....) Use technology to SHOW OFF how you use technology...
• Overall, always think about how you can be as creative as possible in your posts Chris - to achieve the level 4's you will need to gain your B target.

Overall effort for Q. 1 and 6: GD  - I hope you will come back and make improvments

Teacher assessment (06-02-2012)

This is our teacher assessment of our opening sequence.

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

I think from the preliminary task to the full product I have developed my skills in several different aspects. These include, my confidence, media skills, including better use of the camera and tripod as well as importing footage, editing etc. Furthermore, i have also learnt to use a number of different websites. Although I play a part in our opening sequence, I feel as if my confidence has improved so much that I would feel comfortable playing a larger leading role in the future. I have also gained more knowledge and skill in using the camera and tripod. I have done this through practice, as I was usually in charge of filming in most cases where we had to film something. For example the 10-shot story. This resulted in me being very knowledgeable in this area, more so than other people in my group.

Finally I have vastly improved  my ability to import, optimise and edit footage. I have been able to do this by gradually picking little things up, crucial to each process from watching people. I can now do this by myself, therefore I wont need to rely on anyone to help me in the future. I have also improved my knowledge on editing techniques, for example, cutting footage on the moment of action. I have also improved my creativity by using different editing effects. One example, we have used in our opening sequence is a blur, which creates the effect of dizziness and uncertainty.

Secondly, throughout the course of the year I have learnt to use a number of websites to help me make my blog. These websites include 'Photosnack', 'Prezi', 'Gifsoup', 'Jing' and further developing my knowledge in 'Youtube' functions.



Throughout media studies I will further develop my knowledge and skills in not only these areas but also in new ones, like media terminology and new technologies, such as new websites and recording equipment.

This is my preliminary task.

This is our final product.

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

conventions of a thriller that could be included into our final product. on Prezi

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

We are going to use 'Paramount Vantage' to distribute our film. We made our decision by narrowing down the possible options by eliminating other companies that weren't relevant and suitable to our film. For example, 'Universal' wouldn't be appropriate for our film as they are a big budget American company. We also considered Paramount to distribute our film. However, again this is another big budget American company. From this we saw Paramount Vantage. 'Paramount Vantage' is a much smaller budget company and although it's American it would be a much more suitable choice as the distribution company for our film.


GIFSoup

GIFSoup














'Paramount Vantage' is a low budget, American distribution company. They came about in 2007 and focuses more on the art and production of a film as opposed to making money. They would distribute our film as it's similar to other films they have done. For example, 'No Country for Old Men', this is similar to our film as it's a low budget film that focusses on the art produtction as opposed to making money.


GIFSoup

Assessment 23/1/12 MCU

WWW

- You have attempted all four posts so far and you have also started to include some supervisual material.
- Good use of clips to back up your points, but I think you could do more of this and make sure you are really explicit as to why they link.
- Mostly good SPAG, but see below.

EBI

- You need to include more detail in all your posts. As we contunie to go through lessons we will give you more ideas to be able to do this, but we do expect a higher level of effort.
- You should include more detail when writing about your target audience, consider also the interests of your audience. Create a profile of your 'ideal' audience member. What do they like to do? What do they buy? How often do they go to the cinema and who with?
- When writing about technologies, think about what blogger and other web sites have allowed you to do that you would not have been able to do before. What have you learned about technology because of this? Think about the recent protests about SOPA and PIPA and link in. If you don't know what they are, look them up :)
- You could improve your supervisual material by using edited clips from your film, rather than rushes (rough ones).
- Some typos, e.g. 'donyt' in Q4.

Remember you will need all your posts to be supervisual, think about how you can do this. I would like you to go beyond more simple methods like prezi and images, I would like you to create a voice over commentary or a mini-documentary to reach level 4.

EFFORT GD (for now as we are in early stages, but more effort and detail will be required)

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

From our audience research we found that our target audience would be men aged between 15 and 20 who prefer thriller opening sequences giving clues as to what the rest of the film's about. This meant that throughout the production of our opening sequence we had to consider how we would appeal to our target audience, therefore we decided as we were planning to include certain features within our opening sequence. Our opening sequence appeals to it's target audience through typical features of a thriller. For example, quick cut editing, fast paced music and suspense are all features of a thriller and attract our audience. We also realised that men tend to watch thrillers more than women. This is shown from our questionnaire results. The results also show that thrillers appeal to men more due to their mystery, suspense and exciting story lines, where as women tend to like comedies and romantic films more. This means that men are the bigger target audience for our film rather than women. Therefore we have tried to make our film more appealing towards men by including typical features of a thriller.







Once we had finished our film, we uploaded it to YouTube and asked various people to comment on it. These are a few examples of what some people said.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfhZjrty0vM&lc=NTk4cbdqwisrM8_cQCmkNid2IW09tRNMNkxXkRy-uIE

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

I have learnt to use a lot of new technology during the making of our product. These include, blogger, Imovie, Wordle, importing, downloading and saving work on the macs, the cameras, tripods and fig-rig.

3 technologies that are essential in the production of our product are video FX in Imovie. Firstly, blur. We have used this in the car park, panning across car park. This creates the effect of Grace being dazed and unsure of what's happened. 

By adding the blur effect to this clip it will create the desired effect on the audience.

Secondly, contrasting and adjusting the brightness at the house to try and darken and emphasise the darkness of the shot. This will give the impression that it's still dark and therefore create a scary and tense atmosphere.

Finally, a fade in can also be used at the beginning of the very first shot when grace wakes up. This will give the impression that Grace is opening her eyes, making the audience think that she's been dumped there, ultimately creating a more tense atmosphere.

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

We have considered who our audience would be for this film. We have decided the ideal target audience would be mainly men aged between 15 and 25 who like thriller/action films. They often buy thriller, horror and action films and go to the cinema roughly 2-3 times a week with friends to ensure they don't miss any new film releases, however the target audience for our product would be both men and women of all ages who like thriller/action films. Furthermore, our audience for this will be people who like mystery and suspense themed films. Our target audience will know that this is a thriller film from our distribution companies.

One distribution company we are considering using is 'Paramount Vantage'. This distribution company specialises in distributing thriller/horror films. They have helped advertise 'No Country For Old Men', 'There Will Be Blood' and 'The Duchess' and are popularly known for this. This will also make people think that the outcome of the product is of a good quality and are more interested in the production of the film rather than making money. However, if the company is widely known for its help in certain films and the audience don't like them they might dismiss other Paramount Vantage films.

As you can see both 'No Country for Old Men' and There Will be Blood' are two films by Paramount Vantage both look as if they have horror elements to them, this could result in the audience dismissing other films by Paramount Vantage if they don't like horror themed films.

Other films Paramount Vantage have distributed:

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

Our media product represnts particular social groups by following typical stereotypes. This is done by the use of characters and costume. For example, a white man in a suit is a typical stereotype. This is because people dont typically think of women or black people in a suit. We have done this only because of the lack of ethnicity in our group. However, instead of a man being in a suit we could've had a woman in a suit to conflict against this typical stereotype. Furthermore, the man is dead. This isn't a typical stereotype of men being the triumphant hero. We have done this to add mystery to our opening sequence.

Another example of a particular social group we have presented is women. We have presented women as being hysterical and weak in our media product. We have done this by Grace playing the lead role of a girl who finds a dead body when she wakes up in a car park with no memory of how she got there or what happened. Once she discovers the dead body she panics and doesn't know what to do. This is a typical stereotype of how people see women in stressful and confusing situations.

This short clip shows how we've presented each gender.

Assessment - Planning SJA 18/12/11

  

This is the assessment sheet for planning.

Shooting schedule

This is our shooting schedule to film our opening sequence. We will be filming during media lessons and also in our free time. This is to efficiently manage our time to ensure we get all of our filming completed so we have time to edit our footage.

Teacher assessment of research draft 2

This is the assessment sheet of my research blogs draft 2. 

Peer Assessment of Planning

Peer assessment of research

This is the assessment of my research blog posts.

Possible Fonts For Titles

Using Dafont, i began searching for title fonts that would look suitable for our opening sequence.
The majority of fonts i collected look quite distorted, which relates to the idea of the main characters
memory failing. I decided while looking through that i would collect a numeber of fonts from the typewriter
section in Dafont, i did this because i wanted the fonts to have a professional look, and some of the fonts
under other sections look somewhat unprofessional, with the titles matching each genre in the typical fashion, which i thought was too much of a cliche, e.g. a blood dripping font used for a horror film.





As a group we have decided that we will show our titles over actual footage rather than
showing them over a black background, as the sequence is only two minutes long, meaning
the sequence would be incredibly dull using this method. Although this method is interesting
as it creates the atmosphere for a film, through the use of the soundtrack, and the colour anf font
of the titles. However we will extract certain crew member responsibilities and mention them in
our sequence.




We feel as if this method is more appropriate, as it is alot more interesting for the audience
and gives the audience an idea and a feel for the film. This will allow us to create a sense of mystery
while introducing certain characters from our film. Some of the titles previously selected could be used here
while the titles showing the cast and crew and appearing in different shots. The positioning if the titles are also something to be considered. Personally i think we should have the cast and crew members appearing in the
corner of the screen in a simple typewriter font.

Animato - Storyboard

character description

Character Description on Prezi

Casting and job roles

Dead man in suit

We have chosen to use me as the dead man in a suit. We have decided this as we all think I look the oldest and therefore would be appropriate as a business man. I will also be the costume designer and help with the music for the production. 

Alice

We have chosen Grace to be the main character. This is because not only is she good at acting as she is very involved in drama but also because she can dress to look like she's older than she is. She is also the only girl in the group and we decided she would be the most suitable for the role because of this. Grace will also be heavily involved with the editing of the production. 

list of props, costumes and locations

Props:


Here are a few ideas of some of the props we could use in our opening sequence. They include an old beaten up mobile phone, an old Bible and fake blood. These props would be suitable to use for a thriller as they could all relate to our story and emphasise an atmosphere of mystery to the audience.


Costume:
The dead man on the floor is wearing a black suit with blood on his shirt. This will help convey mystery to the sequence as the audience will question why the man's wearing a suit.

The girl will be wearing ripped blue jeans with blood smeared on them. She will also be wearing a white shirt with small tears in them. The audience will now think why the girls clothes are ripped and have blood on them.

Locations:
We are going to film in the St Nicholas car park in Sutton. We think this will be a good location to film in as it would be effective at creating a mysterious atmosphere for the audience. The audience will then question the significance of this setting.

These are the locations we will be using in our opening sequence. The first scene is the ST Nicholas car park in Sutton. We have chosen this location as not only does it fit in with the theme of our sequence but also because of the lighting and atmosphere it give the audience. The next location is my house. The front door will be shown in one of the shots with Alice trying to open it. The next shots re of my bathroom. Once Alice goes into the house she then goes into the bathroom to try and wash the blood off her hands.

story board

shot list

These are the main shots we're going to use in our opening sequence. A lot of them are mid shots and close ups. They are typical to a thriller. Also a lot of the editing will be fast paced editing as it helps to convey an atmosphere of panic and tension for the audience. We're also going to include different camera movements to make the sequence more effective as a thriller.

sound and music

we have decided as a group to include different sound effects and samples from a number of sources. This will make our opening sequence effective. Here are some of the sounds we could use within our sequence.

http://www.freesound.org/people/yewbic/sounds/33796/ - This sound would be good to use as a background noise for when the girl has just woken up and is trying to workout what happened and where she is.

http://www.freesound.org/people/nickrave/sounds/112557/ - This sound could be used either when she starts to panic or when she's running home.

http://www.freesound.org/people/Sea%20Fury/sounds/48662/ - This sound could be used when the girl's looking in the mirror or when the main title of the film comes up.

http://www.freesound.org/people/Benboncan/sounds/108841/ - This sound could be played before the girl wakes up, letting the audience know that she's alive. It could also be played when she finds the dead body.

However, instead of using samples from different websites we could compose our own sounds and music. We could also record some music that we think would be effective playing in the opening sequence.

Audience research 2

I asked 10 people aged 15 - 20 to complete a questionnaire on thriller opening sequences. One question was what type of thriller do you like best out of horror, crime, action, slapstick and Sci-fi. I created a pie chart to show the results.

The results show that the majority of people I asked proffered a horror thriller opening sequence. This is what we're going to base our opening sequence on. Furthermore, the results from the questionnaire also show that most people want to see titles and clues towards what the rest of the film will be about. In addition, a lot of the people I asked would also like the sequence to convey an atmosphere of either, suspense, mystery, action or excitement.

This pie chart shows what people would prefer in an opening sequence. The majority of people said they want an opening sequence to have clues as to what the film's about. A lot of the people I asked also said that they would like to see titles, a variety of different camera shot and angles and music relevant to the genre of film.

This pie chart shows that majority of the people I asked said that they like watching the opening sequence. However, 4 people in total said either that they don't like watching it or they sometimes do. We can base some of our ideas for our opening sequence on this data.

film synopsis

The story
A girl wakes up in the middle of a car park, stands up and stumbles around trying to find out where she is. She tries to remember what happened, she treads on something. She looks down and sees some rosary beads. She realises that there's blood on her hands. The girl tries to wipe it off, turns and sees a dead man in a suit. He's covered in blood. She looks around for anyone. Hearing sirens and realising that she's the only person at the scene with blood on her and no memory of what has happened she knows that she's a prime suspect and flees from the scene. The girl is now scared and runs home, she rushes into her bathroom, washes her hands and looks in the mirror.

initial ideas

We chose to film a thriller film sequence as we thought it would be the most effective genre to do. We decided to base our sequence on a stalking scene. We then based our locations around this idea, therefore they are isolated and enclosed locations. These locations are mainly dark, scary scenes, such as car parks and cemeteries.

This is an example of one of the locations we could use for our sequence.
We are also going to use props and use of costume to further create a tense and scary atmosphere. The costumes will conceal a lot of the stalkers identity. The props we will use will mainly consist of weapons.
we came up with these ideas by watching thriller films to gain inspiration and ideas.

location research

location research on Prezi

Audience research 1

This is a blank example of the questionnaire I'm going to use to gather my information for my research. The questionnaire includes 8 questions concerning information about thriller films. I will ask ten people in total to answer my survey, this will give me enough data to present my results.

conventions of a thriller

The conventions of a thriller include titles, music, fast paced editing, a variety of visual effects and effective location. It also includes a lot of close ups to view people in a mysterious way. For example, in a lot of close ups the characters face is hidden as the camera only shows half of their face, this presents an atmosphere of mystery towards that character. 

Titles state who's done what role within the production of the film. The titles will usually appear in an interesting way, typical to a thriller genre. 'Quantum of Solace' is a great example of this.

 Music will help convey the atmosphere the director wants. Fast paced editing will also convey an atmosphere the director will want depending on the genre of film. Visual effects and effective location will also help to do this. For example, to create a thriller and a tense atmosphere a scary location could be used, such as a cemetery at night.An effective title/opening thriller sequence must have most if not all of these conventions to appeal to the audience and to give them a clue as to what genre of film it is and what the film's about, by seeing a title/opening sequence the audience will be able to distinguish what genre of film it is.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels title/opening sequence analysis

The opening starts with the distribution company, 'Summit entertainment' appearing on screen. It then cuts to the first shot of a man selling things with a crowd around him. It then cuts to another title, 'the steve tisch company'. Throughout the sequence it cuts from the characters to a black screen with the titles on it in white writing, this combines both a title sequence and opening sequence together. The audience does not yet know what genre of film this is as it hasn't given many clues. However, the majority of the shots have been close ups, a clue to say it's a thriller. The title 'ska films' appears. As each title appears the audience can still hear the main character speaking, this is done to ensure the audience don't lose track of what's going on and to also keep them interested. Music begins to play in the background as another title comes on screen. The music is fast with a heavy rhythm, this is another clue as to what genre of film it is. The next shot is of them running from the police, the audience know from this that the things they're selling are stolen and know the film is a thriller. The music begins to become more dominant as they are running, emphasising the exciting and tense atmosphere, this is typical to a thriller. In the next shot they are running down a set of stairs, it slows down and a voice over begins to play, this is to give some background information about the character. The main title of the film then gradually appears on screen letter by letter.

analysis of quantum of solace title/opening sequence

The title/opening sequence  to quantum of solace starts with the distribution companies appearing on screen. This is a typical feature of a title sequence and happens in every sequence. The distribution company fades out and the the first shot is presented. Loud, exciting music begins to play, giving the audience a clue as to what genre the film is. The audience now know that this film is a thriller and that it's another James Bond film. More companies names appear, they are presenting the film. The lead actors name is shown and the character they are playing. The title of the film is then shown. A list of actors names are shown in order of importance to the film, each one appears on the screen in white writing in a typical military style font. Throughout the title sequence, the audience can see Daniel Craig as James Bond walking around an artificial setting of a dessert. The audience can clearly see that the scene isn't real and that there have been a lot of special effects to create this image. The audeince now know that this sequence is a thriller as there a lot of clues towards it. for example, the music and the use of costume and also props. As actors names stop appearing, job roles within the production of the film are being presented, again the order that they are presented is from least important to most important. However, roles of importance differ from film to film, therefore the order of roles wont be the same for many films. This is because in some films the music is more important than costume or set design, this means the composer will appear before them. These roles include the producer, costume design, set design, executive producer and director. The audience will also notice that as there a lot of jobs within the production, the film is quite a long film with a lot of care and attention added to it. The name of the song playing and who wrote and performed it is shown on screen near the end. A few more titles are presented and then the sequence ends and cuts to the first scene.

conventions of a title sequence

what titles?

Title Sequences

During a title sequence a lot of things are included. these include, different job roles, actors names and logos of companies that support the film. There are many job roles within the production of a film. For example a producer. The producer makes sure that everything is up to a good standard and that they are happy with the outcome of the film to ensure the film makes a profit. Another example of one of the jobs included in film making is the casting agent, this person decides what actors play what roles within the film. Costume design designs the costumes and makes them for every actor, through the use of costumes the audience could will get a lot of clues about each character and the film, just by what they're wearing. The composer for the film creates all the music for the film, this is important as it helps to further emphasise a message or representation of a character or scene. An editor edits all the footage that's been filmed and decides what order the footage is going to go into to make the film run smoothly and effectively. The production designer makes the set for each scene, this could further give clues as to what the film's about and also when the film is supposed to be set. The most important job role is the director. The director decides what everyone has to do in the scene and make sure the filming runs smoothly. Furthermore, the roles are presented on screen in order from least important to most important, this is why the director often comes last. however, not every film has the same ranking of importance for job roles, for example in one film the composer could be one of the most important job roles, where as in other films it could be one of the least.

In addition, the distribution companies appear with the titles on screen, there logo appears as well. They appear at the beginning of the title sequence. A lot of the time there is also music playing in the background, the music used could be written by the composer or be music from one of the distribution companies. An example of a title sequence that includes all of these features is 'Catch me if you can'. This makes this particular title sequence very effective as all the features give clues as to what the films about but it also tells them the key information about the production of the film.

Bridget Jones analysis

Bridget Jones analysis

This mid-shot shows Bridget. The audience are questioning where Bridget is and what's she doing? 

The room looks as if she's at her parents house. The people around her also suggests that shes at her parents house as they are older than her and is probably her parents friends. A voice over then confirms this as she describes herself as being at her parents house eating turkey curry.

This close up suggests that it's around christmas time. The audience know this by the jumper the man is wearing in the background. The shot then fades out as the voice over continues to describe how she wants to see the man in the background again.

The next shot fades in as the camera pans up. The long shot is of the building where Bridget lives.  Music begins to play as the shot is on screen, it's sad music. This could represent the feelings towards Bridget's character. The voice over confirms this as she further describes wanting to be with the man in the christmas jumper from the last scene.

The next shot fades out as the last fades in. Yellow titles appear on the screen, showing the distribution companies. The yellow colour suggests to the audience that it's a romantic comedy and a happy film. As the music continues the audience recognise the song and realise that perhaps Bridget is alone.

This shot also fades in and the camera pans up to view Bridget's window. Another title appears to show who was involved in the production company.

A master shot is established. it shows Bridget lying on her sofa, smoking, drinking and watching T.V. As these things are stimulants, the audience knows that she's slightly depressed. Also, as this shot comes on screen, the music comes to the chorus, the most dramatic part of the song.

This mid-shot shows Bridget checking her phone for messages. This could suggest that shes expecting a call.

As the scene continues, she starts singing along with the song. The audience could represent his as her being historical. The audience can see that she looks as if she's about to cry.

The main titles appear on the screen. The colour is a pale pink, suggesting it's a girly film.

The spiderwick chronicles analysis

wallander opening sequence analysis

wallander opening sequence analysis

The beginning opens with a fade in to the sea. the camera pans across it then tilts up.

As the camera tilts up, the audience is presented with an isolated country scene. The audience can see scattered houses and trees in the background with a faint white blur on one of the tracks.

As the camera continues to pan over the scene, it becomes clear that the faint white blur is actually a car. The audience can now see two black figures walking away from the car. They're briskly walking  away and the audience can tell that the car door is open. The car is also not on a road, it's only on a track, this emphasizes the isolation of the scene.

The camera then cuts to a close up of two girls, both wearing black with their hair tied up. The one on the left, has brown hair, tied up and wearing a black jacket. where as the one on the right, has red streaks in her hair and is wearing a black leather jacket. The audience now thinks that the girl on the right is a more suspicious and the girl on the left is more sensible.

The camera then cuts to a shot where there's blood on the windscreen of the car with someone or something lying in the front seat. A drivers license is also shown, suggesting that this is a taxi and that the figure in the front seat is the driver. The two girls are also shown in the background. The audience does still not know who they are or what's happened.

The camera then cuts to a side view of the girls. The girl in the foreground looks stern and serious, where as the girl in the background looks agitated and scared. 

A close up is then shown of a man that's been beaten up. However, the audience does not yet know for certain that this is the man on the driving license. His eye twitches suggesting he's still alive.

a mid shot of the two girls is then shown to not only show all of their face but also to show that they both have blood on the faces. The audience could interoperate this that he two girls beat the man up. The audience might also think this because of the razor blade the girl on the left has around her neck suggesting she's violent. 

An extreme close up of the mans hand is then shown, it twitches for a moment then stops, another sign the man is still alive.

This photo suggests to the audience that the taxi driver was family orientated. The audience now thinks that the taxi driver wouldn't have done anything to provoke the girls behavior.

A close up is now shown of one of the girls holding a knife with blood  on it. She continues to hold the knife then drops it. The audience can know this is the girl with red streaks in her hair as she had a black leather jacket, red streaks in her hair and a razor blade worn around her neck, all signs of her being violent and aggressive.