Evaluation

The way that my media product use, develop and challenge forms and conventions of media products by is that in our film we incorporate generic conventions such as close ups of peoples faces or the main thing in the scene that is happening. For example in our film there is a close up of side of someone head whilst that person is getting strangled. This is quite common in films and TV shows such as crime scene investigation where the attack is normally the main thing in the opening scene and is normally full of close ups, points of view shot, over the shoulder shots and at an angle.
We've also filmed it in widescreen as its the most common format in Films and TV today. The way that our film challenges the standard conventions is to apply it and also experiment with other things such as establishing point of view shot. The use of the conventions does indicate which sub-genre the film is in as the technique used is generally used in most crime dramas to depicted how the crime committed before going to the main storyline. In Se7en, the opening sequence depicts the work done by a detective when they are trying to find clues. Although we don't have that in our film, we do have some suspense that the opening sequence that Se7en creates.





The way that that our media product represents particular social groups is that it does have most social groups in it. We do have different races, ages and gender included. For example Carl Price is a white middle aged male but the victim is a mixed raced young adult male which is quite unique for a film as its normally a female who would be in that position. Gender is represented in a stereotypical way. The person who finds the body is a woman and when she finds it she acts in a stereotypical way by being hysterical. On the other hand the detective and the killer is male and acts in a very masculine way by being rough and assertive. This does link well to the target audience as the males are a dominate feature and also is very stereotypical which also suits our target audience. The stereotypical nature of this does link well to the film Dirty Harry as the detective in that film is a white middle aged male. This is quite common in crime dramas as the audiences have this viewpoint that most good detectives are male as they are strong and tough.

The kind of media institution which could distribute out media product would be a low budget corporation as we are aiming at a more direct audience then a high budget film who would try to aim for everyone to get as much money as they can get. We would be more accurate on what happens in this kind of situation. Hollywood studios would have less factual stuff such as the way that they would work at a crime scene and more pleasing to the eye with big explosions in every scene. This film is quite similar to TV programs such as CSI as the detail levels and the way that the killing is depicted at the start is the same as our film. This film could be a TV movie or an internet only release to save money producing it for cinemas and then for other media afterwards. We would have more people watching it if it was on TV then if it was shown in a cinema. Our film does offer opportunities for merchandising as the main characters can be depicted in dolls, the clothing wore by the characters can be used by clothing shops to get people entering their shops to get them and the phone used in the opening sequence to can advertised with the film.



The target audience for our film would be based around a male audience whose ages are around the mid-20s as the style of this film as a lot of detail to take in as well as some amount of violence which might scare away younger people and women who normally like other films such as horrors and animated films. This is shown in our research that males are more likely to watch theses films. Other films which are similar to ours are Se7en and Dirty Harry which both target males around the mid-20s age. The classification I think would be suitable for our film would be 15 as there is a lot of gore or violence in our film. Also there isn't any sexual scenes or a lot of swearing in our film.

The way that we attracted and addressed our audience was to have the main character as a male who the target audience can compare themselves with. Also the age of the main character can also attract the target audience in as they expect an older experience looking person would suit that role then a youngish looking one. There is a few points in the film would appeal to certain people such as the way the detective works. This would be portrayed in more detail then in normal shows to bring in the audience who like to see thing which are like what they normally do in real life. The audience is also in with the action when see the attack as they see the viewpoint of the killer before they attack the victim. Also they allowed to witness everything of the attack so they can try to become detectives in the film as well.

I have learnt a lot about the technology from the process of contructing the product such as the camera equipment and the editing software. The camera equipment we used was okay for handheld point of view shots and shots where you might have to place the camera in an awkward like in some brickwork or up in a tree. I would have prefer a larger camera which could film in high definition so we could get the best quality out of our film and we could zoom in more without it being spoilt by it being blurry. There were minor problems with the camera as someone set it on auto before we got it so we had to mess around with the camera to find the button which would make it work manually so we could white balance it properly. Other than that issue there wasn't any other problem with filming it. We didn't get to use any new equipment that could have enhanced our film as there was none on offer. I have learnt a lot about editing. Before doing this film I had a little knowledge about editing but after creating this film and editing it down to a suitable length I found it the most enjoyable part of making the film but also the most stressful. There wasn't any particular effects that I found to improve the look of the film. We got our soundtrack from a pre-recorded non copyright CD we were given to use.





The things that I have learnt for the progression of it to the full product is the planning, filming and editing our film. The planning at first was a bit vague to work on but we improved it to the point where we knew what we had to do in every scene. The research into the genre also helped use to realise what we needed in our film for us to produce something which can represent that genre. Although we only had 2 people in our group which made everything a lot harder then it would have been if we had more people on board. This is shown up on how late we actually filmed it as we were waiting for extra people to help us film it which did delay us filming it. If we could do it again we would have filmed it with people we knew we could trust to come along and film so we could never have this happen again. We would also have an extra person in our group to get rid of this problem. The use of specific shot types such as match on action have improved after experimenting with this in our prior project so we could know which is suitable in each situation. I feel more confident with all the equipment we used as we did practised it a lot before and we did used it a lot in filming and editing. I think our end product is quite successful at fulfilling the task although I would change some stuff like the type of camera used and the amount of speech in our film next time.

Evaluation

Evaluation

In what way does your media product use, develop, or challenge forms and convections of media products ?

Through our media project and the film itself we tried to create a film that matches the generic convections of a film from the thriller genre. For example the main character Carl Price is typical of characters from the thriller genre .
In the film I have studied (Dirty Harry  )the main character Harry Callahan, has a resemblance to Carl price in our film.  Other examples of such characters include Max Payne, Shaft, Frank Bullitt, Jack Carter from the film get Carter, Edward Foxe in The Day of the Jackal, The Untouchables, Blade Runner and Liam Neeson in Taken.
 The music used in our film is similar to music that is used in films such as Dirty Harry, and Bullitt .Normally jazz type music that sets the scene ,as one that is quite  sleazy. This leads  to my next point , the area that the film is set in , sleazy and seedy. Typical of a film from the thriller genre. Both films contain a long shot, establishing the scene ,as well as match on, action, and point of view, and many close up shots. These are also typical of films from the thriller genre. In Dirty Harry the action takes place quite early into the opening sequence,  this is  similar to our film. Other similarities ,are the titles which start quite early in the film, and the most obvious similarity ,the resemblance to the main characters. Both are smartly dressed and  wear dark glasses. The weather at the time of  filming is similar  in both films being bright and sunny, the sort of weather which is often attributed to  the general feeling of a pleasant day ,and not murder. The villains in both films also show a resemblance ,with both of their faces not seen by the audience, a typical trait of  this type of thriller.

Both of theses two scenes show the camera panning ,while the character is walking past.


How does your media product represent particular social group’s?

There are a number of significant social groups used in our film. First gender is used mainly in a stereotypical way in the film, with the male character appearing to be the dominant figure of authority . Much like the film I have studied,. The female does not play a dominating figure in the film, she is seen as been hysterical when she finds the body.
 However our film does challenge the conventions associated with gender to some degree. The character that is killed ( Mike Bates) is not a female character ,much unlike Dirty Harry where the character shot in the opening sequence is female. Age also plays a part in the film.  The character that is killed at the start of the opening sequence is quite young in comparison to the detective who is in his 40s. This is also a similar to Dirty Harry , the main character played by Clint Eastwood is much older than the female who is killed. This use of age shows the older character as a dominating figure ,a contrast to the younger character who is seen as passive and vulnerable against an unseen and unknown attacker.

(Both the characters appear dominating and of authority in the opening scenes.)

(This in in contrast to the victims, who seem exposed and vulnerable following the attack.)

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

The main contrast between our film and the film I have studied is that Dirty Harry was a major production, produced by Warner bros. Our film however is more likely to be produced by companies such as Momentum Pictures ,and other small independent production companies. The production may also be better as a TV movie, or series. It may also be seen though limited distribution ,and could be an internet only film ,to save costs. However this is not to say that the film could  not be produced by a major production company such as Warner bros.
 As we have seen ,the film has many similarity’s to a major film production ,such as Dirty Harry or more recently Max Payne .It is possible that a large audience for the film ,would be there. Dirty Harry is seen as one of Clint Eastwood’s greatest films ,and is a cult classic .
This shows that there would be an audience who would be interested, even now, in this sort of film .Recently there have  not been many British films of the  genre we have produced. This may mean that there is further  local and national interest for this type of film.

(The logos of both production companies)

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The main audience for the film is 15 to 40 year olds ,though we thought it would appeal mainly to a male  audience,it could just as likely be female. There is a large element of mystery to the film, but also action ,this allows the film to cross gender boundaries ,attracting both male and female. There are fast paced sequences throughout the film, but some slow sequences filled with suspense, attracting both audience types. We thought that the age rating of the Film would probably be set at 15 years  for younger viewers. Movies such as Dirty Harry and Bullitt are enjoyed by a wide spectrum of people from their teens to people in there 70s. They have a large appeal to everybody, but are not really suitable for children and teens below 15.
The film also contains limited violence, and relies on fast paced action for affect if graphic violence and swearing were  included in the film, it would of course be given an 18 certificate.

How did you attract/address your audience.

In the opening sequence for the film ,when the first character is almost immediately attacked, and killed on a secluded track. The incident may most likely appeal to a female audience. We felt that they may empathise with the character, and place themselves in their mind, in a similar position. Feeling vulnerable , fearing attack ,or assault, when walking alone in  a situation similar to the scene that is shown.  The isolation of this character is seen by a long shot of the area showing his vulnerability to attack. Other scenes in the opening titles may also terrify a certain age group below the age of 15. The scene that  demonstrates this is the attack ,when the killer, wearing a balaclava and glasses kills Mick Bates. This may scare very young children. We also showed the film to members of the target audience they reviewed the film and gave us positive feedback on are production. This gave us evidence that the film would attract and appeal to the audience targeted.      


This close up shot also gives a violent view of the action used.

      










What have you learnt about technology from the process of constructing the product?

Much has been learnt in the way of technology since we started our project ,most notably the use of camera equipment ,and that of shots , shot types, that are required to make a movie. However ,there have been some weaknesses with the equipment provided to complete the filming. The quality of the cameras  was not always adequate for many of the shots we wanted to achieve, and did not always give good quality film and frame rate.
Cameras were not always available for use when we required them  which created problems with our filming schedule. Many of the cameras had not been maintained properly, and were smeared with finger prints .So much so it was hard to film.
Doing a white balance manually before filming was also difficulty , if we had no white paper available. The filming process also had many issues, most notably that we could not always rely on  our actors being able to change their schedules to fit in with ours .
This resulted in us having to film the opening scene in a relatively short period.
This combined with time constants, as well as the looming deadline caused us a number of difficulties. We also faced many problems when trying to find the correct music for the film, as many of the CDs we needed for none copyrighted music where not available. We did have a clear idea of the music that we wanted, but as it was copyrighted we could not use it .
 E.g.  we considered the theme to Get Carter or music by Brain Eno.

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

The detailed planning at he start of the project ,seemed to be helpful at the time ,allowing us to think though what we need to put into our film and storyboard.
However  on reflection this took a great deal of time ,and considering the limited time  that we had  available to make the film  we perhaps spent to long on this area.
We were also given a time constraint of 2 minutes in total for the film ,this was difficult to achieve . Many of our ideas once filmed were much longer than expected, and the total opening sequence length was 5 minutes. Designing the storyboards took me 5 weeks to complete, as well as doing the shooting script at the same time.
The number of people in our group was also  proved  to be an unhelpful factor within the completion of the project.
 Our group had only two members throughout  the project ,while some groups contained  five.
This meant that me and my partner had to share all the tasks between us ,overall we had a greater workload than the other groups ,who were able to divide tasks up between more members. The shooting script, though set out to help us was more a hindrance.
Unexpected events occurred, and people who were supposed to be helping the group, dropped out . I then had to get people I know at the last minute, to help us complete the project. It was very frustrating as all our plans at this point seemed to be failing us.
Another point to make is that there is no substitute for doing some rough filming beforehand. Even though we had done the shooting script ,and story board .Once we stared filming we soon realised that some of our ideas were not workable in practice  and we realised that we would have to go back to the drawing board for a rethink.

The shot types used in the filming sequence has improved  and when I personally do filming of family and friends I now try to include different shots such as close ups and long shots to make it seem more professional.

In the end although we faced many difficulties with the project, I feel confident that the final product is satisfactory.
The project as a whole has been a great leaning experience ,and has shown me just what I can achieve with planning ,and only limited resources to work with, and also the value of teamwork in completing the task set.

(Shots from the Preliminary Task)

Karma Police

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Individual task - Se7en

The opening sequence I have picked to analysis is the film called Se7en. Se7en is a 1995 American crime film directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. A financial and critical success, the movie's story follows a retiring detective (Morgan Freeman) and his replacement (Brad Pitt), jointly investigating a series of ritualistic murders inspired by the seven deadly sins.

At the beginning of the opening sequence there is a close up of a spine of a book with a hand on top of the book which could symbolise that the person is searching though the book to look for some answer. After cutting to a blank screen with some text on it, it cuts to a picture of two hands on top of a graph paper book and then a extreme close up to a screwdriver type thing with a finger on it. Then there is is an extreme close up of a finger getting cut with a shaving blade. Next shot there is a extreme close up of a tea bag in a cup of water. After there is a couple of fingers picking up a file/book besides a box full of books/files. Then there is a close up of a book getting opened. After that we return to a close up of a spine of a book where the pages are being turned. Next shot there is a close up of a person writing things down in a book. Afterwards there is a close up of a page with words on it. Then it changed to red with a blur out image in around the middle of the screen. Next there is a close up of someone cutting some film up. After there is a close up of someone cutting a picture and taking it away. Next there is an extreme close up of someone ripping off sellotape.

Then there is a close up of someone cutting the edges off a picture and then a close up of the fingers sliding the picture on a paper. Next shot there is a close up of some fingers sealing up a picture and then a close up of some paper with writing on it with news clipping all around it. Afterwards there is a close up of a picture of a guy which is sellotaped to a book. Next there is a page turning over with a shadow of an hand behind it writing. Afterwards there is a close up of a pen and the page which has been highlighted with that pen. There is also a sort of flash of the some scissors cutting some film up. Then there is a close up of some one highlighting over someone face. Afterwards there is a close up of someone writing things down. Then a close up of the person covering up some sheet of work up in plastic film. Next there is a close up shot of a persons fingers lowering down a clip.

Then there is a shot of some paper upside down. Afterwards there is a shot of a person opening up a book that shows a picture of someone with something in the back of their head. Next shot there is a close up of the spine of the book again. Then an extreme close some holding some sort of needle. Next there is a shot of some flicking though something whilst showing us some sellotaped pictures and then we return to see the person with the needle again. Afterwards there is a sort of someone put string though makeshift holes in a paper. Afterwards there is close up pictures of books and files. Also is a picture of a young girl sellotaped to a book.

All of the shots in the opening sequence were at an high angle although some were level to show enough information on the screen without going into a lot of detail. A jump cut was used for to create discontinuity for artistic effect. This was done to make it stand out from other films. All of the opening sequence was all non-diegetic sound as we only saw a brief look at the what was in the film. There was a song used which wasspliced sample of an uncredited remix of the Nine Inch Nails song "Closer" which was used as it fitted with what was happening on the screen. There was alot of mise-en-secne is this opening sequence. There was alot of props in it such as files and picture. The lighting was quite bright on the part that they wanted us to see so we could paint a picture of what this film was all about.

Individual Task : Dirty Harry

The film that I will be analysing for my individual task is Dirty Harry, starring Clint Eastwood ,and being a crime thriller is the same genre as the film we are making.

At the start of the film there is an extreme close up shot of the gun used by the assassin ,with the assassins face blanked out. In the following scene this changes to a point of view shot from behind the gun itself ,showing us what the killer is looking at. This then changes again to a zoomed out shot of the area that the assassin was looking at ,prior to the first two shots. Giving us an overall establishing shot of the surrounding area, but still not giving us a view of the assassin. The scene then repeats the same sequence, however this time he shoots the weapon killing a female character. This firing of the gun is done from a match on action shot, showing the assassin firing the weapon and then the consequences of this action.

The next scene now shows the main character Clint Eastwood entering the scene. This is done through many shots. First there is a shot from the top of the stairs that introduces us to the main character .This appears to show him as a figure of authority, and more important than the other characters in the scene. We can also assess his importance in relation to the scene, as there is a long close up shot of the characters face.

This shot then pans around to shown not only the scenery and other extras ,but then finally to the female character ,that has been killed. A low angle shot is then used showing the main character bent down and the victim. Also from this angle the audience and the main character(Clint Eastwood) presume that the killer made the hit from the building as it is at the centre of the shot and given most attention by the camera also Clint Eastwood as looks up at the building showing it to be of some importance. Throughout this scene the opening titles role and Non-diegetic sound starts.

This then leads into the next scene ,this is a long shot from a street in San Francisco. The scene contains many extras, however in the scene the main character stands out above them all ,appearing the centre of attention. When Eastwood gets closer to the camera we then pan to the right, and then using a low angle and a tilt the camera moves up to see the large building emphasising the size of the building and that this is where character is moving towards.

The next scene is introduced through cross cutting ,showing a shaft (presumably where the assassin made his escape) this then cross cuts again to Clint Eastwood ,who was standing at the top of the shaft staring down .We then pan round to him walking to the ladders. He then stops ,and from his point of view we see the air conditioning unit start to work with sound effects. The camera then tilts to him climbing up the ladders. low angle shot is now used of the character walking across the top of the air-conditioning unit and this then continues tracking the character across a metal walkway. The next scene is introduced though a jump cut, this scene is an establishing shot from the roof of the building , panning around and then tracking Eastwood to show the view from the rooftop and where the assassin was at the start of the opening titles. Eastwood then stops and we see a zoomed in shot , then an over the shoulder shot at this moment.

This then changes to point of view shot ,and eye-line match of what Eastwood was looking at, which is a shot of the swimming pool where the woman was killed. This shot pans across showing the woman been taken away on a stretcher presumably dead or badly injured. This then cross cuts to a close up of Eastwood turning ,and then bending down to see a gun cartridge on the floor seen though a tilt by the camera. An extreme close up is now used of what he has been looking at as well match of action is also used when he picks the cartridge up.

A low angle is then used to give the best shot when Eastwood puts the envelope containing the cartridge in his pocket ,but also when the camera pans to the note left by the killer . We now see a close up shot of the note and Eastwood to give us the best view of what he has been looking at. Also at the start of the shot cross cutting is shown for transition from the last shot to this one making the shot seem smooth and seamless.

Individual Task Film : Dirty Harry