Prelim Project

This is my prelim project which contains the following media rules:

180 degree rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other.

Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they're looking at each other.

A match on action is when some occurring before the temporally questionable cut is picked up where the cut left it by a shot immediately following.  For example, a shot of someone  tossing a ball can be edited to show two different views, while maintaining temporal continuity by being sure that the second shot shows the arm of the subject in the same stage of its motion as it was left when cutting from the first shot.

Audience's Feedback

Feedback question analysis:

1. Did you like this two minute film?

21 out of 22 people liked my two minute film. I'm very happy that I managed to make a film that majority of my respondents like.

2. Out of ten, rate how good you think the film was?

In overall respondents rated my film as 9 out of 10.

3. Do you think it follows the conventions of a thriller?

22 out of 22 respondents answered that my film follows the conventions of a thriller.

4. Did you understand the storyline/plot of this film?

100% of my respondents answered that they understood the storyline of my film.

5. What do you think about the sound and cinematography? Was it suitable for a thriller film?

Absolutely every respondent answered that they think that the sound and cinematography was suitable for a thriller film.

6. Do you think this film is suitable for my target audience (15+)?

22 out of 22 respondents said that my film is suitable for my target audience (15+).

7. Did these opening two minutes made you want to see more?

20 out of 22 respondents answered that they would want to see more after the opening two minutes

8. In your opinion, what should I improve in my film to make it better?

The majority of my audience answered that the acting could be more conventional in this opening scene.

Evaluation Questions

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

The opening sequence to my film uses and challenges many conventions of real media products. I have researched the opening sequences of three different films which are based on drama. The films I chose to analyse were ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘The lives of others’. Each opening scene had different micro-elements which I wanted to use in my own opening scene. Also, my film uses dramatic and tense elements in appropriate scenes which will create the right atmosphere that is also used in existing media products.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups? ( gender, age, ethnicity etc.)

My film represents a particular social group of young people (15-18 years old) which have the ethnicity of Asian people. In my film I have used both genders because my movie is about the long lost brother who comes to meet his brother because he needs a memory stick with an important information but the brother who has the important memory stick only wants one thing - get back his brother . In my opinion, this film will be quite interesting for all social groups because it doesn't matter what is your gender or ethnicity the film is about the life's situation which will encourage anyone who is into crime/thriller genre films. I decided to include in my opening scene two type of characters - one who's calm and friendly and second who's aggressive so audience cam feel the sympathy for the 'good' character . As I said, characters from my film are of the age range 15-18. This is the same as are target audience which the audience would be able to relate to him in some way.

3. What kind of media institution would distribute my product?

Actually, there a lot of different media institutions which would describe my media product. But I cannot think of a special media institution so I will put a list with media companies which are distributing films similar to my one.

'Saving Private Ryan' distributors:

Paramount pictures (1998) (non-USA)
United International Pictures (1998) (Argentina)
United International Pictures (1998) (Germany)
United International Pictures (1998) (UK)
United International Pictures (1998) (Netherlands)
DreamWorks Distribution (1998) (USA)
Argentina Video Home (1999) (Argentina)
Dreamworks Home Entertainment (1999) (USA)
Image Entertainment (1999) (USA)
Paramount Home Entertainment (1999) (Japan)
Argentina Video Home (2001) (Argentina)


'The Shawshanks Redemption' distributors:

PolyGram Film International (1994) (Worldwide)
Columbia Pictures (1994) (USA)
Rank Film Organization (1995) (UK)
Columbia TriStar Films AB (1995) (Sweden)
Asmik (1995) (Japan)
Warner Bros (1995) (Finland)
Columbia TriStar home Video (1995) (USA)
Columbia TriStar Home Video (1995) (USA)
Sandrew Film & Teater (1995) (Sweden)
Transeurape Video Entertainment (1995) (Argentina)


'The lives of others' distributors:

Buena Vista International (2006) (Germany)
Sony Pictures Classics (2007) (USA)
ABC Distribution (2007) (Belgium)
Albatros Film (2007) (Japan)
Alfa Films (2007) (Argentina)
Beta Cinema (2006) (Worldwide)
Bontonfilm (2007) (Czech Republic) 
Buena Vista International (2006) (Switzerland)

4. Who would be the audience for your media product? (BBFC and target audience)

I decided to mainly target at teenagers of the age range 15-18. Also in my target it will appeal to both males and females, as there are elements which both sides will find appealing. My two minutes opening scene is about the criminal side of the world where're we living that’s the main element which both sides will find appealing. My two minutes opening scene is not including any kind of violence or sex references also it's not including strong, offensive language so it’s very suitable for teenagers of the age range 15-18.

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I decided to mainly attract on teenagers of the age range 15-18. To attract this audience I have used relative group of characters about the same age group. Also I have used lot of good camera shots and angles to make my film more realistic  and exciting for the audience. Shooting my film I was trying to create transitions which would be similar to 'Hollywood' films which people are watching every day. The content viewing will fit into the '15' age rating classification. In general I think that the main element which will encourage the audience and make my film interesting for the people - camera angles and shots. I used lot of different shots in my final piece so I think that that will be the main thing which will attract the audience.

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

During the making of the film I recorded couple of scenes again and again to make them look more realistic and interesting for the audience. As it was my first time when I was shooting a film it wasn't easy but still I created quite interesting shots. I was trying to make my shots look similar as in a 'Hollywood' films to make them more familiar for the audience. The point of this decision was that the audience are watching 'Hollywood' films every day and I thought that it will encourage the audience to watch my film. I learned to use simple camera shots and angle also I learned how to edit my film. For the editing I was using 'Sony Vegas' and 'Windows movie maker' it was quite hard to use this programs because it was the first time when I was editing something. So I was checking some 'Final Cut' guides on a 'Youtube' which were very helpful.

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

In the preliminary task I had to use three different shooting techniques – match on action, shot reverse shot and 180 degree rule. All these techniques were useful and helpful. It help me to understand how to create a mood with camera angles and shots also it gave the se basics about how I can make my final film more realistic, more professional. I have used match on action shooting scene from one angle and then change the angle to present that scene continues. Also I learned some new editing techniques which helped me to make my film more realistic and interesting for the audience. It were a good experience and knowledge for me. My prelim project was a good start point which gave me a lot of knowledge which helped me to make my final piece.

Final Product

Location Shots

I thought that this area ( located in my local park) would be a perfect place for a chase scene as it's surrounded by woods and it would make our chase scene more conventional.

In this shot you can scene the path where main action was going. I decided that this wood be a good location for my extract as it's public and conventional.

The bench where the brother will be sitting and waiting for the long lost brother.

The path where long lost brother's meeting his brother.

The path where long lost brother's meeting his brother.

The path where long lost brother's meeting his brother.

Equipment/resources

Actors:

Azeem Allha ( Long lost brother)

Adheel Shafiq (Brother)

Props:

Memory stick

Locations:

Local park

Costumes/clothing:

Azeem Allha - casual clothing ( blazer, trousers, trainers)

Adheel Shafiq - casual clothing ( hoodie, trousers, trainers)

Equipment:

Camera ( I will use it to shoot a film)

Tripod ( I will use to make my camera shots and angles better)

Camera bag ( I will use to carry a camera)

Tape ( I will use it record my film on it)

Camera charger ( Will be used to charge my camera)

USB cable ( Will be used to import my film to the computer)

Hardware:
USB cable ( Will be used to import my final film to the computer)
SD card ( I will use to record my film pieces)
Hard drive ( Will be used for storing and retrieving digital information)
Apple Mac ( At my media lessons I'm using 'Apple Mac' to do all work which I need to do)
Card reader ( Will be used to read data from a card)
HD Camcorder ( Will be used to shoot my film with 'HD' effect which will improve film quality)

Software:
iDvd ( Will be used to create and burn my final film)
Sony Vegas Pro11 (Will be used to edit my film)
Windows movie maker ( Will be used to edit my film)
Internet Explorer ( I will use to create my blog and update it)
Google Chrome ( I will use to find information for my secondary research)

Shot List

Script

Storyboard

Secondary research

The Shawshank Redemption

Film: The Shawshank Redemption

Genre: Crime

Release Year: 1994

Length of Clip: 10:01 minutes

Director: Frank Darabont

Writers: Stephan King

Link for the opening scenes:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5SsbCknaPc&feature=relaz

In this movie titles appeared at the first seconds of the film also at this time was playing quite classic diegetic soundtrack which gave us the first introduction about what kind of film this will be. When titles disappeared we can see a wide shot this shot was used to pay audiences attention on the location where main action is going. The main action is going near village where male character is siting in his car and listening the music and at this moment when shot is moving from the village to the car we can see a pan which is going from the right side to the left one. 

At the next scene we can see a 'flashback' where we see why this man is siting in his car. In my opinion, this cinematic element is very good as an element of surprise because it's encourage an audience to think about what happened with him and why he's siting in a middle of nowhere and listening classic music.

In this opening scene director is no using lots of non-diegetic soundtracks to make this film more realistic. 

Saving Private Ryan

Film: Saving private Ryan
Genre: Action
Release Year: 1998
Length of Clip: 01:06 minutes
Director: Steven Spealberg
Writers: Robert Rodat

Titles appeared at the firsts seconds of this film also director put a dramatic, non-diegetic soundtrack which gives the firsts impression about the film. At the moment when titles disappeared we can see a wide shot this shot is used to introduce an audience with location where main action is going. In this scene director decided to not put bright or colourful colours to show to create a mood of drama when old man came to the graveyard to visit his friends who died in a war.Also in this scene we can see a lots of close ups on characters faces.In my opinion, director used a lot of close ups in this scene to show to the audience pain which old man is feeling. Also it's a good way to manipulate with audiences feelings because nobody knows what happened with him we can see a bad faces but we can't see why this old man is crying.In my opinion, this scene was used to intrigue the audience and encourage them to think what happened with him.

The lives of others

Film: The lives of others

Genre: Drama

Release Year: 2006

Length of Clip: 5:29 minutes

Director: Florian Henckel

Writers: Donnersmarck

Titles appeared at the first seconds of the film. But at the moment when titles disappear we can see first wide shot which is used to pay audiences attention on place/location where main action is going. Also in this moment director is using grey and dark colours to create powerful sense of drama. 

In this opening scene director uses lot of diegetic sounds, for example we can hear steps were man is going through the corridor, when he's knocking the door all these nuances makes this scene more realistic.

Also in this scene director used quite a lot dialogue between characters and director chose to pay audiences attention using shot reverse shot.

Primary research ( Questionnaire analysis)

The majority of my respondents were males. It's not a surprise as the majority of my school friends are males.

The majority of my respondents were people from the age range 16- 18.  It's not surprising as I'm in the sixth form and the biggest part of my schoolmates are from the age range 16-18. 20% of respondents were from the age range 13-15, and only 10% of my respondents were from the age range 19-21 and 21+.

30% of respondents answered that they're into thriller genre films. I was happy with an outcome of this pool as the film that I'm making is going to be a thriller.

80% of respondents answered that they watch thrillers once a week/ once a month. From this we can tell that my target audience are into the crime/thriller genre films.

The majority of my respondents - 80% answered that they would expect to see titles at the beginning. In my opinion, it's because most of the 'Hollywood' films are using the same technique.

60% of my respondents answered that they would like to hear a non-diagetic soundtrack in a thriller genre film.

The majority of my respondents answered that they wouldn't expect to see any Sci-Fi effects in a thriller genre film as it's not so common.

80% of my respondents answered that they would expect to see dark colours in a thriller film as it's very common for a thriller films.














Audience opinions split to half - half of my respondents answered that they would like to see fast cut editing in a thriller genre film an 50% answered that they would like to see slow cut editing.














The majority of my respondents - 70% answered that they would like to see transitions in a thriller genre film as it is common for this type of films.

Primary Research (Questionnaire)

Media Termins

The 180 degree rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other.

Shot reverse shot  is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

A match on action is when some action occurring before the temporally questionable cut is picked up where the cut left it by the shot immediately following. For example, a shot of someone tossing a ball can be edited to show two different views, while maintaining temporal continuity by being sure that the second shot shows the arm of the subject in the same stage of its motion as it was left when cutting from the first shot.

Main idea

Genre:  Crime/Thriller.

Aims & Content : Create a 2 - minute film from opening scene, 'Suspicion' at 15-18 year olds. With an atmosphere of intrigue and suspense. Crime/thriller genre film which plays with the audience's expectations and stereotyped ideas.

Target audience: For our film we decided to mainly target at the teenagers of the age range 15-18 and also at the people who're into crime/thriller films.

Story: The long lost brother contacts his brother and asks him to bring the data stick and bring it to the local park, by the bench. When both brothers meet up in the park they start arguing as the long lost brother wants the data stick as it's got a valuable information but other brother don't want to loose his relative again. They can't negotiate and the brother is running away from the long lost brother, he slips and at that time brother escapes.

Characters:
The long lost brother - more powerful than his brother, angry.
The brother - vulnerable, good-natured.

Production Schedule