Q1) in what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Start off video with inspirations from other indie bands like Arctic Monkeys, Bombay Bicycle Club etc. show how you utilised their dress code in music video and ancillary.

•     Use screen shots of other bands
•     Compare with own media product

 Show how my music video and ancillary relate to the general conventions as well as just the genre.

•         Use screen shots and clips of a wide range of media products.
•      Compare with own clips and screenshots
•       Do the same with media products specific to our genre. 

Our Finished Opening Sequence

Assessment Evaluation Posts Q 3 & 6 (SJA Feb 10th)

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• Good attempts at making these two posts visual and some creativity in your ideas George
• Good to see moving gifs for Q. 3

EBI

• Q.3 Check your spelling in this post. I think you need to develop this by including images of movie posters, or screen grabs from 'like' films that have (films that are very similar to your) that have also been distributed by this company - include these and use these to explain WHY your film is also suited to the ethos of this company - annotate the movie posters / screen grabs to point out the similarities these have with your own
• Q. 6 - I REALLY think this post needs to be JING, or a similar screen cast George - you want to use 'technology' to show how you 'use technology' ... if you know what I mean. JING lends itself beautifully to this. There is other screen cast software that you can also use to 'talk through' what you do on the computer as you work. I want to see you using final cut in action, and talking through blogger / live type... and all the things that media involves. I really think this post in your evaluation needs development in order to reach higher ends of Level 4 (which is what you need to get your 'A' target)

Overall effort for Q.s 3 & 6: GD

Assessment 06/02/12

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

I think I have improved greatly from my preliminary task to my actual media product, I believe after studying a evaluating other media products I have gained more knowledge and creativity to apply to my own work.




I believe I have become a better team worker, my team gets along and we all seem to work together fluidly. Furthermore I believe my use of technologies becomes better everyday, I'm not afraid to try out different things to enhance the product and believe my editing skills are thus becoming more efficient. I also believe that by studying and evaluating other media products of the same genre I have gained a greater understanding or media terminology and applying it. I believe I can now use cinematography, editing, mise en scene and sound to effectively create the right mood and atmosphere for my product.

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

Conventions of an Opening Sequence


-Slow Paced Editing
In an opening sequence the editing tends to be quite slow paced in order to maintain an equilibrium. The fact that it is slow means it shows a relaxed normal state.
-Establishment of Setting/Mood
Opening Sequences often include big establishing shots of the setting so the audience can get a feel for the mood and location of the film.

This is the opening sequence to 'The Shining' it includes long establishing shots of an almost empty but serene area. The camera tracks along with a car indicating its importance, suggesting to the audience the driver could be an important character. The opening sequence also contains slow paced editing to maintain equilibrium.

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This is an establishing shot from our opening sequence, it represents the grey dismal setting but maintains equilibrium. However it does not track along, but a character is centered suggesting to the audience his importance in the film.
-Logos and Titles
Opening Sequences always include titles and logos of the distributing/production companies, the cast and the crew. They always tend to follow the order:
-Distributing Company
-Production Company
-Cast (Most Important to Least Important)
-Crew (Least Important to Most Important)
-Main Title

The order of titles for 'The Sixth Sense' opening sequence.

Order of titles for my own opening sequence following the conventions of an opening sequence.

Conventions of a Thriller Film
My media product generally develops the conventions of thriller films rather than challenging them. The mise en scene is very typical of a thriller film. The setting is quite urban and grey, you can imagine crimes being committed there. The lighting is very low-key, it may be set during the day, but the lack of bright colours brings out the darkness of the scene.

Comparison between our film and another similar thriller 'Taken', Both actors are similar in the way they dress in dark clothes and they both have similar stances, furthermore both settings seem to be quite dull and dark. 

However the first scene is set in a middle class house, which doesn't really follow the conventions apart from the fact that it is a crime scene. The cinematography of our media product follows the general conventions of a thriller, we use a lot of extreme close ups to reveal clues and we have framed a lot of our shots in such a way that it appears someone is actually there, watching what is going on.


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 The editing of our thriller starts of slow and gradually gets faster as it reaches a climatic point, where something is revealed. This is a common technique used in thriller films to build tension. The sound of our thriller opening sequence is also typical of a thriller, it features long ominous tones and swoosh noises, the audience should be wondering whether sounds are diegetic or not.

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

What kind of media institution might distribute my

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Assessment 23/1/12 LFE

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• George you have attempted all of the posts that we have asked you to do so this is good.
• You have made a good discussion about your target audience using the visual aid of Prezi, you may be able to develop these ideas a little bit further
• You have an extensive list of media technologies that you have used

EBI

• Think about how you challenge the steroetypes of gender, it is not enough to just say that you do. What have you done or shown that challenges them?
• Whilst you have a very good list of media technologies you have used, you now need to turn that list of bullet points into a more visual and interesting post. You could create a Jing presentation showing how you have used these media technologies. Also remember the use of Blogger in your list. Think about how the use of these technologies have helped you.
• You now need to build on your posts and add more detail as well as making them more visual.

Grade: IN (these are drafts and with some work they can become good posts)

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

As our opening sequence is part of a thriller film, we have assumed that most of the audience members will be male, from teenagers to middle aged. Because of this we have made the cast mostly male. The main character is male and the audience will aspire to be like him. The male lead will be capable of violence and action, these attributes will attract the male audience, especially the younger teenagers who will see the character as a role model. The older male audience members will be enticed by the complex story line, with twists and turns. We have catered for most social classes in this film, we have included both middle and working classes and have both challenged and reinforced the stereotypes. For middle class, we have challenged the stereotypes of middle class families being perfect, by giving the family a dark history. We have also challenged the stereotype that the working class are criminals. Other than this we have mainly reinforced their stereotypes, such as their houses and areas.

We based our main character on other successful main characters from other thrillers such as Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson in Taken) and Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper in Limitless). We made Mark a strong, intelligent and efficient man, who is capable of violence. This will help address the majority of the male audience by having a main character they aspire to be like. 

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

Technologies Used

Effects we have used

• Fast/Slow/Reverse
• Transitions
• Equaliser
• Rerverberation
• Adjust colours
• Ghost Trail

Colour Adjustment
We used colour adjustment in the majority of our clips to create a darker and gloomier setting. Furthermore the obvious contrast between dark and light really represents the factions of our product.


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Equaliser
We equalised the sound by adding a high pass filter to make the dialogue sound as though it was playing on an answer machine. By doing this it represent some of the distorted story.

Here is an example of voices on a telephone, the way we acheived this was by adding a high pass filiter, boosting the higher frequencies and cancelling out the lower bass frequencies. This gives the audio a high pitch telephone like feel.

Ghost Trail 
We used gjost trail to create a disorientated first person perspective. This make the audience feel uncertain about the setting.


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

Who would be the audience to our media product? on Prezi

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

Annotations video to show how our media product represents social groups.

assessment - Planning SJA 18/12/11

Shooting Schedule

We are planing on doing most of the filming during the Christmas Holiday and during some of the media lessons. We hope the whole team can turn up to each session which shouldn't be too bad as we all live relatively close to each other. 

Peer Assessment for Planning Blogs

Working on our Storyboards

Here are some videos of us as a group working on our storyboards. We all took seperate roles into the fast and precise completion of the task. I took the role of drawing and labeling the shots; Rosie took the role of working out how long any shots would last; Emma coloured in the drawings and listed the sound and Ellie described what was happening in each shot with the type of camera shot.

Costume, Props and Location

Casting

When deciding on the cast of our film we took into consideration the type of characters but also we thought about how accessible different people would be especially when filming needed to be done.


The first character we decided on was the main character, Mark Wilson. He needs to be someone who looks quite tough and strong. Also he needs to be fearless and knowledgeable.
We have chosen to cast me (as a member of our group) to be Mark as I have a preferable build which suits this role quite well with Mark Wilson being a veteran. As I am in the group it also makes a lot of the filming a whole lot easier. I  will be reliable and will attend all the shooting sessions anyway as part of the responsibility of the group. 

We then needed a teenage girl who would start out as a vulnerable character but develop into a strong willed woman. As a group we then decided to cast Rosie Winton (another member of our group). We believe she will suit the role quite well as she is of a similar age and can act quite well. Furthermore she is a member of a group again making filming a whole lot easer even though she doesn't really appear in the opening sequence.

Only close ups or obscured extreme long shots will show Wendy Thornton is dead. The hair colour will need to stand out amongst the pool of blood it will lay in. So we cast Emma Chapman (a member of our group) because of her fair hair. 

Locations

Our location is mainly on a dark busy road near the station. The area needs to seem grey and and urban. The station he gets off at is Cashalton Beeches station. In the morning and evening the area is quite busy, but during the day it is usually very quiet. We would have to film during the day so we can achieve an isolated feel for our thriller film. The idea is to make the area look inhabited but quiet at the same time. This way will be able to make the crime thats about to unfold, believable.

Props

Our props are relatively simple, the mobile phone is the key part of the actors role. We need it to make the phone call and he spends a good part of the opening sequence using it. The door bell as well had to black and simple and shouldn't suggest too much. We need it to make the situation seem normal so when we drop the bomb, the viewer will truly feel the excitement. The blood will be the major hint to the plot turning. The blood's dark red colour will immediately be recognized amongst the audience and it will definitely highlight the danger and panic of the situation. Also the muddy converse will be another key part that will initially cause the unintentional framing of the main character by contaminating the crime scene. The shoes will foreshadow this problem.

Costumes

For costumes we have decided to choose relativiely dark clothes with a rather casual feel. This way we can show the audience that the film is a thriller yet it is happening to an ordinary person. I hope that by doing this we will achieve a succesful synopsis that makes sense. If the character was wearing suitable cargo clothes that would be good for running around in it would loose the whole mystery of the thriller.



We have decided to include a dark thick coat and a scarf that would indicate the cold weather of the time in the setting. By showing that it is a cold it will reflect the cold feel of the film giving the audience more reason to watch the film. The rest of the clothes will be quite casual, chinos and a shirt. The character will look smart, as though he is prepared to go to dinner with the family he is supposedly meant to have dinner with.

Font for our Thriller Opening Sequence Title

This title font caught my eye because of eerie handwriting style. The handwriting suggests a criminal and a ransom message. However I decided not to choose this font as it implies the criminal is unprofessional 

This font signifies an Eastern European setting for our thriller. The font is bold and stands out. Because of the European look of the font, it suggests a large grey urban area that would be a perfect setting for our thriller. 

The title immediately signifies a large city like area thanks to the skyline imagery used at the bottom of the font.  Also the font seems to have like a dirt effect that could convey the idea of grit or blood to the audience, possibly highlighting the violence of the film. Also the type of letters suggests a danger like sign warning. maybe foreshadowing the danger for the main character. 

The label like title suggests professional criminals which is a main theme for our thriller. Furthermore it also suggests a police case which also a theme for our thriller. However the title seems old fashioned and our film it set in the present so I have decided not to choose this font. But this font could work for subtitles e.g. crew, cast etc.

I have decided to choose this font for our thriller film title. It stands out bright and bold, there isn't too much going on. The dirt like effect on the font will signify a gritty urban setting, or it will imply blood and violence. This will attract audience members who are fond of action and violence. The title 'danger sign' like font will also highlight the idea of violence and danger. The title in this font will suggest the main themes of the film thus making it a perfect for our film.

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We will have our titles flashing on and off as though as you are not meant to see the title. However unlike Seven (1995, Fincher), the title's will be played over the moving image of the film and not a title a sequence.

Script

How do you make gifs


How do you make gifs

The script is quite basic, it features our main character and an answerphone. The main character basically explains that he is on his way to his friends house after the answerphone message.

Thriller Opening Sequence Storyboard Animation

Here is an Animation of our storyboard with some of the sounds we are going to use in the film. The storyboard shows our main character Mark Wilson leaving the station to go to his friend's house. Also included is the jump cuts to the friends house were the friends are coincidentally dead.

Character Profiles

Mark Wilson - Main Charatcer

Ex Soldier - Appeals to audience members who like action movies.
Middle Aged - This way he will appeal more audience members of a wider age group.
Single - the fact that he is single suggests that might be a love interest in the film, potentially appealing to a female audience.

Megan Thornton

17 years old - Appeals to younger female audience members, they would like the idea a girl their age has a main role in the film.
Studying at college - Shows the viewers that this film is about a bad situation happening to ordinary people.

Wendy Thornton

Mother - the fact she is a mother, been married for ten years, and has been killed, will manipulate the audience into disliking the bad guys.

research - Section Completion Check SJA 5/12

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Some really thoughtful use of a range of visual ideas to present your information
Good use of a variety of technologies for Research - Posts using Prezzi and YouTube director's commentary show very good understanding and are particularly effective
You show a genuine interest in your work George - this makes your blog interesting to read through


ebi:
Post 6 - Wallander - is this done?
P0st 10 - What titles - is this done?
Avoid just dumping in whole YouTube clips that are without any tagging / annotation - take screen grabs of specific shots
Post 2 - Trailer VS. Title Sequence - needs development

Overall - some really great posts George. Potential for Level 4 if you come back to improve on the EBI's I have suggested.
Current: Lev 3

SJA

Sounds for our Thriller Opening Sequence

For sound we have to use non copyrighted material from, copyright free websites our from stuff we have recorded personally. Four our thriller we are going to write and record some of the music on Cubase and possibly record other sound effects. However we will borrow copyright free sounds from copyright free websites.



A thriller would probably have eerie ambient music, so we would need something that would build some tension without giving it away. We just want the audience to feel that something is wrong.


We also want some traffic noises as well for when our character walks to his mate's house. The noise has to be realistic, I can't sound too busy however, otherwise we would loose the isolated feel we want to maintain.


A few good swoosh and swish noises would suggest something that shouldn't be there.




For musical score it would be right if we went for a more modern approach and had some music similar to films like the Matrix and the Bourne Identity with a slow drum beat, ambient noises and distorted synth noises to suggest the problems about to occur in the film.

Shot Types and Ideas for our Thriller Opening

The first shot will be a mid/close up of the protagonist from behind, so again the audience will not be able to see his face. The camera will track with the actor as he walks forwards and gets out his phone. 

                                                                                                                             

The next shot will be another mid/close up of the phone he is calling to at his mate's house. The camera will track back very slowly.     

The fourth shot will then cut back  to the protagonist at a mid close up level as he leaves a message on the answer-phone.

It then cuts back to the shot of the protagonist from the front and he is putting his phone away after saying the words 'see you in a bit.'

The next shots will be long shots of the protagonists walking to his friends house down the road, in the corner titles will appear whilst music begins to play.

Peer Review

Synopsis of our Thriller

A man goes to visit his friend at his house. He rings his friend as he walks there to make use everything is still good. There is no answer. The man assumes everything is okay and carries on his journey to his friends house. When he arrives the door is open, he still knocks but there is no answer. He opens the door to see if everything and shouts out his mates name. Still no answer, so he goes inside only to find his mate and his wife dead. He immediately goes into shock and panics desperately trying to bring his mate back to life without realising that he is contaminating the crime scene with his fingerprints. He eventually notices that their daughter is not there and then starts to look for her. He finds her upstairs under the bed, alive.

The man and the daughter then take part in a journey to avoid the people trying to kill her family and the police who believe that he was the one who killed the family and kidnapped their daughter.

Initial Ideas

Initial Ideas for our Thriller Opening Sequence on Prezi

Audience Research - Thriller Questionnaire on Opening Sequences

Locations Research

Carshalton Park Grotto (Carshalton)
Carshalton Parks grotto will provide us with a creepy setting for the opening of our film. The old but graffiti'd building will suggest abandoned and the park's high trees tower over the area creating a vulnerable location for a victim. However this is a public place and there will be people walking their dogs. It is by a main road so it may be noisy and it night it will be hard to film with the trees blocking most light.

Radcliffe Gardens (Carshalton Beeches)

The tall towers and trees will create vulnerability for a victim in this area. The area is usually quiet near no main roads and contains a small woods next to it. This means we could make a film were someone goes out of their flat and something happens to them in the woods just outside. At night can be spooky. However people do live here and might be upset if we film around this area.



                                                                                                  Shanklin Estate (Sutton)
Can be quite creepy at night dark atmosphere. Brickwork could suggest an old run down area. However can be quite a dangerous area to be, especially at night. People live here too and might be offended if we film around here.

Questionnaire Answers and Analysis

• Most of the people I gave the questionnaire to were males (60%) which meant that the answers I would recieve would be generally masculine.
• All of the people I interviewed were 16-20 which means the answers I got about films would be similar due to films being based on age groups.

• Most of the people wanted to meet the main character in the first 2 minutes of the film. The reasons were because they want to know who the film is about, to see if they recognize the actor and then determine whether the film is going to be good or not, or to judge the character, seeing if he/she is interesting or boring. The few who said they didn't want to see the main character, said that it kept the mystery of a thriller.
• When it came down to what people would want to see in the main character people mainly said male. Other popular attributes were a bitter personality, violent, determined, clever, strong and the ability to do the impossible. The unpopular attributes were a female main character with a more humane way of dealing with things. I expected these results because the conventions for main characters in thrillers are similar to the popular outcomes. 
• The most popular actor for thrillers was Liam Neeson with 40% putting down his name. I expected this because of his appearances in two huge thrillers 'taken' and 'uknown'. This suggests that the main character in our film should be middle aged, quite strong and tough, very intelligent and capable of violence. Other actors included Matt Damon from Bourne Identity who has a similar likeness to Liam Neeson. 

• Most people seem to prefer the titles to appear over the moving image. This could possibly be suggesting that they probably wouldn't want to see the titles at all and would want to go straight into viewing the film. 
• Most people said that the less they learn about the film in the first two minutes the better. This way the typical mysterious atmosphere held by a thriller would be upheld. Many mentioned that they would prefer to see the opening of a thriller to be a prologue were something bad is foreshadowed. 
• The results to what they want to see and hear in the opening of a thriller film were all pretty similar. Many mentioned an abandoned building as an appropriate setting or a run down area. This suggests low-key lighting and smoke. Also they mentioned that the music should be orchestral and follow the score, no one said they wanted to hear a popular song. 

Opening Sequence Conventions for a Thriller

Conventions of a Thriller Opening Sequence on Prezi

28 Days Later - Thriller opening analysis

Analysis of thriller – 28 days later

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Se7en Thriller opening anaylsis

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Distributing Company, logo appears first reminds audience who made the film, promotes them.


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Fades in straight to the film, with no other titles yet. A mid shot of a man, can't quite make out who he is. The audience will be asking who is he? is he the main character? The ambient noise suggests he lives in a city, the viewers will be wondering where?


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Cuts to the man getting ready for work, audience will see his face for the first time. They will also notice the items shown in the close up and will be wondering what they are for? What is his job?


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Cuts to a crime scene, the camera tilts up so you can see all of it. As the man walks down the corridor it becomes apparent that he is a detective.


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The shot starts off as a long shot at the other detective but tilts upwards when a new character walks up the stairs becoming a mid shot.The fact that only these two characters have been shown up relatively close suggests that they are both the main characters.


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The two characters in the frame together signify that they are the main characters of the film, detective and partner. They are probably going to have to spend the most of the film together solving this crime.


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The camera tracks forward on the guy in bed. This gives the idea that he is pondering deeply, possibly about the crime or his new partner. The ticking metronome that the camera focuses on with close ups, signifies this as well, as though he uses it to help him think. The audience will be wondering why he has a metronome ticking.


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Title sequence then begins. Shows disturbing instruments with eerie music. The random shots imply the work of the killer. The titles are in hand written or typewriter like font that again suggests a serial killer. The titles seem to flash on screen as though you shouldn't have seen them.