1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In order to explore conventions and forms of real media products we needed to research various film openings. We looked at various film openings from "Donnie Darko", "Cold Mountain", "Dexter", "Six Feet Under" and "City of God".
In the "City of God", The beginning of the sequence starts off silent, this creates tension and mystery, we then get the loud foregrounded impact sound of somebody sharpening a knife, ready to use, this shocks the audience as you don't expect that sound after the long silence previous to it. We was impressed with this convention due to the impact it had on the audience. Therefore, we decided to use silence in the beginning of our film opening as we thought this would catch the audiences attention, as it is a unique technique to use, and by using this technique the audience want to know why it is being used and what is going to happen after the silence so focus is instantly gained.
In "Cold Mountain",Text on screen is used at the beginning of the sequence, this makes the audience aware of the setting of the film and also the dates in which the film was set. We decided to use text on screen but not to establish setting, we used unvoiced over text on screen for the audience to be aware of the narrative and to establish mood. Another way in which "Cold Mountain" establish narrative and setting is through a voice over at the beginning of the film. The voice over is a woman's voice reading a letter saying: "Dear Mr Innman, I began by counting the days then the months, I dont count on anything anymore except the hope that you will return, and the silent fear that in the years that we saw each other, this war, this awful war would have changed us both beyond our reckoning", this makes the audience aware that the film is taking place in a war and the connection this woman has with a character called "Mr Innman". Therefore, we as the audience presume that one of the main characters is going to be that of "Mr Innman" and that he could be a soldier due to the content of the voice over. We liked this idea of a voice over as we felt it gave the audience an insight into information later established.
Therefore, we thught it would be good to use a voice over in our opening title sequence to portray the idea that the greving girl has been up in her bedroom looking at the book of memories of her and her dead boyfriend, and her mother calls her down for her dinner to get her away from the book and to show that the opening title sequence carries on. However, we felt this did not serve its purpose because it still seemed like it would end there. Another issue we faced was our opening title sequence seemed more like a trailer. To get around this problem and to show the convention and form of narrative and information later established, we decided to include a dialogue sequence because we felt this would get the message across better of the film carrying on and making it less of a trailer as it established the parents concerns of the grieving girl helping to establish relationships and this could suggest to the audience that the continuation of the film will be that of the girl coming to terms with her grief.
In "Six Feet Under", Animation was used in this title sequence, on two occasions, this made the titles more interesting for the audiences viewing. These were, the credits chiseled onto the grave stone, and the name above and below the line on the embalming fluid. Also at the end of the title sequence the animation of the tree suggested to the audience the cycle of life and it also related to the name of the TV show Six Feet Under. We liked this as we thought it was a quirky, interesting type of animation to use as it brought to the audiences attention main titles such as starring and the producers, creators in a way which related to the theme of the programme - death. With this research in mind, we animated our starring titles by the animation effect of a foggy style and then disappeared via an evaporation effect. We felt this was the appropriate animation to use as we felt it expressed to the audience the idea of "Jamie's" (the boyfriend character) death as it was a ghost-like transition.
We also decided to get our actress to write the "Produced and Directed By" title as just before this the text on screen says "We are going to put the words on them ourselves" as we felt this showed a good relationship between titles and image and is not a normal way to display a title.
AAA - our film.
Early establishment of relationships is key in film openings to set an early indicator of audience expectation. Early establishment of relationships is shown pretty much straight away in our film opening when Jess the grieving girlfriend opens the scrap book to turn to a photo of her and her boyfiend Jamie. This instantly enables the audience to establish that they are/was in a relationship, i believe this then gives the audience a sense of mystery because they wonder why is she looking through a scrap book of photos of her and her boyfriend? Have they split up? Through a shot of a newspaper clipping stuck in the scrap book the audience then establish that Jamie has died in a car accident giving the sense that their relationship is now shattered, this death is later amplified when the audience see Jamie laid on the floor.
From my research of film openings I think that the film Donnie Darko shows early establishment of characters relationships effectively. At the beginning of the film we the audience are presented with a scene of Donnie and his family sat around the dinner table, the conversation which is taking place round the table suggest to the audience that the Darko family are disfunctional due to swearing and argumentative behaviour.
Music is very important when creating a film, it helps to create/set a mood. In our film opening we decided to use the music "Morning of the Storm" because we felt the soft piano keys created a sad, reflective mood which helps to amplify the sad nature of the boyfriend's death and the reflective aspect in which the grieving girlfriend is looking back through the scrap book of memories. I believe this results in the audience responding to the narrative in a sympathetic, saddened way making them engaged in the piece to see the outcome of the grieving girlfriend.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The social group i believe our film opening is aimed at is Teenagers. Our film opening is placed in the genre of romance, so therefore i believe our piece is particularly aimed at females as it is a female looking back at a scrap book of memories of her and boyfriend as she is grieving because of his death, if the film was to carry on, the girl would later find someone else and start the cycle of love again but this would take a long time.Therefore, a young, teenage couple are portrayed through our film opening and this relates to our social group as they can relate to, sympathise them. We wanted to express the idea that with love comes tragedy, we did this through the form of the boyfriends death and the girlfriend grieving, i think the shot that showed this grief best is of the girlfriend crying over the scrap book and the shots which i believe suggests the boyfriends death is that of him laid on the floor with his eyes shut, this is subtle but works effectively because a big car crash for example would have not been appropriate for the flowing, reflective mood we was trying to create.
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Many mainstream films are distributed with help from big film distribution comapnies such as: Pathe, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Icon Movies, Warner Bros etc. These main distribution companies in this country come under the umbrella of the Film Distributors' Assocation the FDA. The FDA's job is "the highly competitive business of launching and sustaining films in the market place" without films in the market place the film industry will fade and die which would be a great loss to entertainment, therefore a distributors job such as the FDA is to ensure films remain distributed, made aware of and continue to be known because "the film business is product-driven" (both quotes from the FDA guide), without products the film industry will fade and die as mentioned before. Ways in which distribution companies ensure success in the film industry is as follows:
- Arrange all publicity for the film.
- Arrange to place the stars in chat prior to the opening of the film.
- Arrange the print distribution to all cinemas which ensures a simultaneous (blanket release) opening weekend.
- Arrange the collection of income made from the film from all sources and distribute it as per contracts, this ensures that everyone who contributed to the film in any way gets paid and paid the correct amount.
- Arrange all other distributions of the film, these might include: rental, DVD/BluRay, video stream, free-to-air, airline, hotel etc. As technologies continue to develop other distributions of film will become wider.
- Arrange the film premiere, presence of the stars from the film creates a lot of awareness.
Amateur film makers such as students with a highly limited budget might decide to distribute their media product on a web 2.0 site such as YouTube. YouTube would be a good place for a student to make their work known because with around 42 million users there would be a large audience and because the audience is so large a media product can be made aware of very quickly, not just in the UK but worldwide. Another advantage of YouTube is that people who are not registered to the site can still watch videos uploaded to the site and people who are registered may upload an unlimited number of videos highlighting the idea of "user generated content". User-generated content is the content that is created, contributed and distributed by regular web users. This oppertunity created by web 2.0 sites such as YouTube means anyone can create and view a wide range of content made by similar people.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
All cinema released films, DVD/BluRay discs and video games released in the UK must be classified by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). The work done by the BBFC ensures that the correct audiences see the correct films etc under the correct laws. As any organisations has to the BBFC has to obey certain laws, the BBFC has to operate under certain Acts of Parliament. These include the 1984 Video Recordings Act which gave the BBFC the duty to regulate video and disc content. As the BBFC state on their website:
"Video works (including films, TV programmes and video games) which are supplied on a disc, tape or any other device capable of storing data electronically must be classified by the BBFC unless they fall within the definition of an exempted work."
The act requires the BBFC to consider factors when the work being classified is viewed in the home and the effect this may have on potential audiences, not only children but on possible other vulnerable people. When classifying the BBFC must consider any harm that may be caused to the viewer of the material or the effect the behaviour shown in the work may have on the viewer or society. The aspects the BBFC consider is the manner in which the work deals with:
- criminal behaviour
- illegal drugs
- violent behaviour or incidents
- horrific behaviour or incidents
- human sexual activity.
Another act the BBFC must work under is the 2003 Licensing Act which gave local authorities the responsibility to license cinemas. This means that children (under the age of 18) can be restricted to which film they go to see at the cinema in accordance with the recommendations of the BBFC or the licensing authority.
The objectives of the Licensing Act are:
- the prevention of crime and disorder
- public safety
- the prevention of public nuisance
- the protection of children from harm.
The BBFC's guidelines are created with research and experience over a long period of time and under consultation with the public because after all the public are the ones the classifications will effect. Under this consultation the public are asked about certain aspects of classification such as: violence, language, sex and drugs in films, DVDs and video games, parental concerns about younger viewers, any topics which the BBFC think may cause harm to potential audiences. When producing the guidelines the BBFC take in to consideration the various UK laws they must obey and apply when making classification decisions. The guidelines are updated every four years and the current version was published in June 2009.Here are the guidelines stated on the BBFC website:
"U" - Universal - Suitable for all.
It is impossible to predict what might upset any particular child. But a ‘U’ film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. ‘U’ films should be set within a positive moral framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror.
If a work is particularly suitable for a pre-school child to view alone, this will be indicated in the Consumer Advice.
"PG" - Parental Guidance.
General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children
Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A ‘PG’ film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children."12A/12" - Suitable for 12 years and older.
Exactly the same criteria are used to classify works at ‘12A’ and ‘12’. These categories are awarded where the material is suitable, in general, only for those aged 12 and over. Works classified at these categories may upset children under 12 or contain material which many parents will find unsuitable for them.
The ‘12A’ category exists only for cinema films. No one younger than 12 may see a ‘12A’ film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult, and films classified ‘12A’ are not recommended for a child below 12. An adult may take a younger child if, in their judgement, the film is suitable for that particular child. In such circumstances, responsibility for allowing a child under 12 to view lies with the accompanying adult.
The ‘12’ category exists only for video works. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video work.
"15" - Suitable for only 15 years and over.
No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.
"18" - Suitable only for adults.
No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema.
No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video.
In line with the consistent findings of the BBFC’s public consultations and The Human Rights Act 1998, at ‘18’ the BBFC’s guideline concerns will not normally override the principle that adults should be free to choose their own entertainment.
"R18" - To be shown only in specially licensed cinemas, or supplied only in licensed sex shops, and to adults of not less than 18 years.
The ‘R18’ category is a special and legally restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults. Films may only be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas, and video works may be supplied to adults only in licensed sex shops.
Certificate for Our Film.
We have decided that we would like our film to have a classification of "12A". BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) guidelines state that "Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail." in a "12A" film. We would like this classification for our film opening as we believe it is suitable because we want to imply a death but not show it.
Target Audience Member
5. How did you attract/ address your audience?
The first way myself and my partner decided to attract/address our audience was through the creation of a questionnaire.
This questionnaire included questions such as:
We felt these were appropriate questions for our research questionnaire as we felt they would help us in the construction of our film and make us aware of who our target audience might be. Music, Text on Screen, Dialogue and Titles were aspects of our film which were included due to the advice given on the questionnaire from our target audience and as they were the people we wanted to target and please we thought it was sensible to follow their advice in order for our film to be successful and fulfill our target audience's expectations.
Below is a photograph of our questionnaire.
Another way in which we attracted/addressed our audience was by inviting them to a premiere of our film opening. In order to make our target audience aware that the premiere was taking place we needed to create invitations. Below is the invitation we created.
We wanted the invitation to look official but fun., we decided to make it look like the pages of a book to relate to the title of our film opening "Chapters" highlighting the important information in a bold text.
We organised a premiere so we could get feedback from our target audience and to see if our film was a success - if we had met our target audience's expectations. In order to receive this feedback we made another questionnaire for our audience to fill out once they had watched our film opening.
From our research questionnaire previously we discovered that music was the most important aspect in a film opening to our target audience. Therefore, to see if we had addressed this expectation we asked the question "How effective do you think the music was in the film opening you have just viewed?" and "Why?". The graph below shows the results for this question.
Here are some quotes in response to the question "Why?" they thought the music was effective in our film opening:
- "Had an impact and in a way showed the genre"
- "It showed sadness"
- " It emphasised the mood"
- "It built up a sad narrative/atmosphere"
- "Set the tone for the film, helped us to understand the characters feelings"
- " It reflects the context and mood of the scene"
- "Creates the mood"
Another question we decided to ask in our premiere questionnaire was for our audience to give our film a rating out of 5 stars. We decide to ask this question to see if our audience enjoyed our film opening. The graph below shows the results.
In terms of the BBFC and guidelines we aimed to stick to the classification of 12A. As we imply that the boyfriend has died but we do not show how he died. This can be seen in the clip below.
AAA - our film.
We believe by giving our film this rating we have stuck to the guidelines of the BBFC as they state: "Moderate violence is allowed but should not dwell on detail." in a "12A" film.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
In order to research, plan, construct and evaluate our film opening we used a variety of technologies.
Research
We researched existing texts and opening title sequences to gain ideas and inspiration for our own film opening. To do this we used http://www.youtube.com/ a lot to look at clips of films, and viewed work which past students had created listing the advantages and disadvantages of them so we could learn from this and hopefully not make the mistakes they had and see successful work. We also watched many DVDs so we could study them and establish apsects which are present in film openings such as:
- titling e.g. production/distribution companies, directors, actors etc
- early establishment of relationships
- music to create mood
- introduction of key characters
- Where? When? Who?
Taking these aspects of film openings in to consideration we then thought about how we could include them in our own film opening.
After doing research on the above films we felt that yes we knew the conventions and forms of films but it was felt we needed to do more research in order to gain more inspiration for our disired genre of Romance. Therefore, we discussed films that we think portray romance and did further research on YouTube. Below are some examples of what we found and gained inspiration from. We got the idea of the absence of the boyfriend (his death) and the girlfriend missing him, grieving and trying to come to terms with his absence from these films.
Time Traveler's Wife
Dear John
Life & Death of Charlie St Cloud
The above are trailers as we discussed films that we had already seen and the romantic concepts of them, these trailers show the romantic concept of the films which we liked and gained inspiration from.
In the research process we needed to look at locations for filming. In this process we used Google and Google Streetview to look at various locations. Here are some locations that we found and considered:
Location 1 -
Mill Lane, Normanby - by - Spital, LN8 2HE (this was the location we used for our outside filming)
Location 2 -
Front Street, Normanby - by - Spital LN8 2HE
Location 3 -
Wragby Road, Lincolnshire LN8 3QL
Most of the filming was done in my Partner`s house, her kitchen and living room. The only outside filming we did was down Mill Lane for the walking the dog scene. We used this location for the scene as it is an isolated country lane, popular with dog walkers due to this it was ideal for creating a realistic feel for this particular scene.
Here are the photographs we took when we was doing our filming at Mill Lane
Blogger is a website which enables its users to create a blog and post there desired subject to it. In terms of our coursework we used blogger to record all our research, planning, construction and evaluation activity. This was very easy to use and useful for posting text, videos and pictures.
Planning
Technologies used in the planning process were as follows:
Mobile Phone
I used my mobile phone to communicate with my partner and the actors who starred in our film opening. This was to plan when we was going to film and how they would get there.
As I have an account on the social networking site Facebook I used the site to communicate with my partner and actors when i had access to a computer and couldn't get hold of them via phone.
Camera
We used my Canon E0S 300D to take stills of our location and actors.
Construction
In order to film our piece we had to use a Panasonic NV GS500 mini-DV video camera. In order to keep the camera stable we used a Sony RCTR 640 tripod., this meant we produced stable shots because we had more control over the camera than if we had just used the camera hand held.
Panasonic NV GS500 mini-DV video camera
Sony VCT-R640 tripod
To edit our film we used an Apple Imac computer, these computers are used within the media department at school as they have a wider range of technologies available than other computers around the school. They are loaded with Adobe CS3 and we used the programme Premiere Pro to edit and construct our film opening. When we went in to the post production room we used Adobe After Effects to add the finishing touches to our film opening such as making the titles look more appealing and access effects that we could not access on Premiere Pro.
Apple Imac
Premiere Pro
After Effects
Evaluation
In order to get feedback from our target audience we had to invite them to a premiere to show them our completed work, this was done through the creation of a DVD which was then projected through a data projector. For our target audience to know the premiere was taking place we had to make an invitation inviting them to come and view our film opening, this invitation was created through the use of Photoshop. Once our target audience had viewed our film opening we got them to fill out a questionnaire asking them what they thought about our work. To create this evaluation questionnaire and the research questionnaire previously we used Microsoft Word and to create the graphs to analyse the results from the questionnaires we used Microsoft Excel.
Photoshop
Without these technologies we would of not been able to produce our work to the standard we have, it would have also been very difficult to produce our work without these technologies . If we did not have these technologies it would have probably been impossible to create the product itself as we would not be able to film without a camera, construct and edit our shots without the necessary software etc.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Research
In our preliminary task very little research was done. There was an input from our teacher more than personal research. He taught us the "Dos" and "Don`ts" of filming and creating a film piece such as action match, making sure we don't look in to the camera and the rule about not crossing the line. Our teacher then showed us work from past students to give us an idea of what we would be doing and what would be expected of us.
In our main task we had to do a lot more research, we had to look in to various different opening title sequences through watching many DVDs and gaining access of film openings through YouTube. We did this to gain inspiration for our film opening and to study the professional aspects which form an opening title sequence. Similarly to the prelim task we looked at past students work in the main task but we had list the advantages and disadvantages of their work so we could learn from them where as in the prelim we just viewed the work to see what was expected of us.
Planning
In terms of planning for our preliminary task a storyboard was created but this was done more so to familiarise us with the processes needed in order to create a film product where as in the main task we had to produce many storyboards planning our shots, we then followed this in the filming process but there were changes made as opportunities can arise in the filming process creating a better product than originally planned on the storyboard. In the prelim task a script was created for us which was easy to follow consisting of a few lines which meant we did not have much to learn and remember where as in the main task we had to create a script ourselves and make sure our actors knew the script so it worked effectively. Our prelim task was a basic dialogue sequence this was so we could get use to the equipment and the process of making a film product so the storyline was basically already there but in the main task we had to create our own storyline and make sure we do not re-create the storyline of any existing films. In our prelim task we worked in a group of three, taking it in turns to act for each other and we did not need to communicate outside of lesson time because the task was very brief and short and was done in one lesson. Our main task was a big contrast to this, I had to communicate with my partner and actors to arrange when we was going to film and make sure transport was arranged to get there and back. We had to research and plan the location for our filming and make sure it was suitable for what we wanted to achieve where as in the prelim task our location was already arranged for us. The planning for the prelim task was very brief as it was rather simple as we was just getting to grips with the equipment and concepts where as in the main task planning was lengthy as we wanted to create a product that would show our development in skill and what we had learnt , in order to do this a lot of planning had to be done so we achieved the result we wanted.
Construction
In the construction of our preliminary task the shots which we filmed were very simple as it was our first task so we needed to get use to the equipment and filming concepts where as in the main task we was more comfortable with the equipment and concepts so our shots were more complex. Editing was very simple as well because it was our first introduction to the software so we simply stitched the shots together to create a shot reverse shot sequence. We did not use music in the preliminary task where as in the main task we did, we got this music from freeplaymusic.com. This meant in the editing process we had to make sure the music fitted our piece and ensure it ran smoothly. In the main task we had got to grips with the software so this meant we could do more complex things with our piece such as animating the titles, flow of the sequence, making sure our work was to the standard we wanted showing improvement in skills.
Evaluation
In the premliminary task there wasn't much evaluation done it was more a case of noticing what we had done wrong and learning from it so we didn't make the same mistakes again. In the main task there was a lot more evaluation, we evaluated the conventions and forms of the film openings we researched in the research process and evaluated what we liked amd disliked about them. Secondly, we premiered our work to our target audience in which we handed out evaluation questionnaires from the results of this questionnaire we evaluated our responses and whether our audience enjoyed our film opening from this we could see if we had achieved what we set out to do - creating a piece of work which would show our improvement in skill and portray the correct mood and reflect the concepts we had learnt in terms of film openings.
