Film Opening - Final

This is the final edit of our film opening.

Q7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

During the progression from the premliminary task to the full product, there were clear differences in the amount of effort and work we put in for the preliminary task compared to the full product. These we hadn't considered, in terms of preparation, planning, time management etc.

We didn't think about managing time as effectively during the preliminary task because we felt we didn't need to do as much as we could have. This was because we felt pretty confident in our ability to produce a successful preliminary task without thinking to much about it. Admittedly, our preliminary task consisted of the three of us picking up our camera and filming on the day. For the full product however we did think about the time we had available to us which meant that we had planned out what wew were going to do and when we wanted a certain task done by. However, it didn't all go to plan due to room errors which meant that we fell behind schedule but besides that I feel that we have learnt the importance of time management and keeping on target as it can have serious consequences.

Similarly, during the preliminary task there was a lack of communication as we felt we didnt need to do much communication throughout the project. We raised our game during the full product however and created a group chat amongst ourselves so we could discuss anything related to the work ahead of us.

A lot of preparation and planning was undertaken for the full product. We researched everything that was relevant to our work - camera shots and angles, how we could edit and how we could stick to the conventions of our film opening's genre. This was a far greater amount of effort put into the planning and preparation of our preliminary task, where we put a miniscule amount of effort into the work ahead of us. Organisation too had drastically improved from the preliminary task to the full product. This was because we had realised a tremendous amount of effort was needed for the project to run smoothly.

Q6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

We have learnt that there is a vast range of technology available to us. We had used several different types of technology in synergy to create our film as effectively as we could.

To communicate amongst one another we used an Android messaging service called Google Hangouts  and this was effective as we could see if members of our group have seen the messages, ensuring that all members of our group knew what to do and when to do it. We also were able to send pictures of work or notes amongst one another also further ensuring our group knew what was going on at any particular point during the project’s duration.

Desktop version of Google hangouts



 The tripod and camera combination allowed to us to film the media product as stable as possible, removing any unnecessary shaking from our film. This made the media product much better than it would have been if it was filmed handheld; however this removed the realness it would have had if it was filmed by hand.

We used an Apple iMac to do all our research through the Google search engine, and we used iMovie for the actual development of our media product by storing and editing our footage on it. We have learnt that there is a vast range of products available to us in order to edit footage to a standard we would like. Software such as Sony Vegas Pro or Windows Movie Maker could also perform the editing task but we stuck.



Sites such as Blogger and YouTube were also used in tasks such as putting up new posts or videos with regards to the project. What we’ve learnt with these is that a great deal can be done on Blogger for example to post up our work and customise it all to look how we would like it to look. YouTube enabled us to search for other media projects to see what others have done, giving us the opportunity to see media products from the past and how we could produce something of similar quality. YouTube was also there for us to search for similar films to what we had hoped to create for our project.

Our youtube video on youtube

Our blogger account

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

After researching we asked twenty students to complete a questionnaire in order to determine what kind of audience we were looking at for our film opening. The students were aged 17-19. After they answered a few questions we collected the data to review the results. What we got back was that the two favorite genres of film were horror and thriller so we decided to stick with our original thriller story as that was what we had originally thought about creating. As our plan was to create a film where the story is based on crime then it made sense that our media product would be of the crime thriller genre. The hybrid between crime and thriller creates suspense successfully and also a crime thriller is known to keep the focus on the criminals which suited our film as the two main characters are a crime duo, showing their actions from the start of the film - the poker game - right to the end - where the victim is dragged into his flat - and the moments after - where the driver and the killer meet. We felt this would be sufficient enough to attract and address an audience effectively as we had researched what they would like to watch and then conducting further research into what we should do to ensure the audience is addressed.

Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our Primary target audience would be males aged 18-24. With our secondary audience being males aged 30-70.

Primary audience

• Enjoys horror/thriller/action/crime films, probably watches films on a regular basis with a group of friends perhaps.
• Still in school/college/university.
• Most likely single.
• He would more typically enjoy a movie for its action and characters rather than the narrative.
• Would enjoy mainstream music such as rap and hip-hop.
• Enjoy typical high calorie foods and snacks such as Mars chocolate, Coca Cola and pizza.
• May have seen movies such as 21 or Taken.

Typical young teenage adult with branded Nike hoody and earphones. Our primary audience would look like this.


Would be interested in our product due to it containing thriller and action scenes, enjoying the film criminal genre itself rather than the over all plot.

Secondary audience

• Enjoys mystery/action/thriller/noir films, probably watches on a regular basis either alone or with friends.
• Has a interest in poker or other card games or forms of gambling.
• In a stable job - an office worker - or potentially retired.
• Has family, wife, kids and potentially grandchildren.
• Would enjoy films for its narratives, story and characters.
• Enjoys music such as jazz, blues and orchestral.
• Would eat Steak - medium rare - and other red meat foods.
• May have seen movies such as The Cincinnati Kid, Rounders and Clockwork Orange.

Middle old aged man, wearing smart shirt and tie with a top hat. Our secondary audience would look like this.

Would enjoy the film for its mystery and noir like style. would be attracted to our films pokerand would enjoy to understand the characters overall reasoning for their actions of murder and so on.

Q3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our media product might be distributed by an independent distributor. Several factors contribute to this. Our film, although being inspired by films such as Rounders and the Cincinnati Kid, has an edgy look to it which is dissimilar to the mainstream films that are pumped out by big Hollywood companies. Reasons for our film taking the independent approach is because if it did attempt to become a Hollywood blockbuster it most likely wouldn’t fare too well due to heavy media saturation and the same mainstream films being pumped out by companies such as Warner Bros. Films such as Shifty, set in urban areas have turned over a profit in the independent market due to extensive audience research and planning to enable the largest audience to be reeled in. This is why I think our film could be distributed in the independent market because of its gritty storyline, edgy look and feel and its similarities with films such as Shifty.

Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

During the creation of our media product we had researched the most common stereotypes associated with specific social groups. A well-known stereotype with black individuals is that they are exotic and criminal. This is why as a group we decided the killer/thief should be myself (Sharmarke) as I’m the only black person in our group. This would hopefully show that we do possess the knowledge and understanding of the most of obvious stereotypes.

We also used our media product to represent another social group. A known stereotype of white people is that they are rich individuals. This was supported by our film as the people participating in the underground poker game were rich which meant having a white character to feature would be a smart thing to do. This is how our decision to ask our friend Luke to be the victim came about as we thought that conforming to another stereotype will further show our understanding of how particular social groups are represented.

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our media product uses several conventions of a thriller/action/mystery from many real media products, such as the extremely low key lighting, camera angle and overall themes. Our media product however takes heqavy inspiration from the movie Rounders and how they used poker. Rounder focuses on the overall idea of poker and the actual mechanics and techniques of the game, and as such would focus a lot more scenes of the games and what cards each player holds. Our project on the other hand takes a lot more focus on the mystery involed after the game, and rather use poker as the catalyst for our overall plot, and as such we have far more less scenes on poker. With this we enhance the Mystery aspect of our film, making the audience ask what the purpose of the poker game was and how it all relates to the plot.

Rounders uses several high angle close ups on the and close ups on the cards in order to give focus to the game to the audience

We on the other hand use minimal amount of shots on the cardgame, with more focus on the result, and money instead, showing that the match is 'high risk high reward'. although we agree a high angle close up like those used in rounders is the best choice overall for the shot

Rounders has a very causal clothing and a rundown styled area with moody lighting, however we decided to use professional suites for our project, with complete pitch black background. We rather used this technique to make isolation and build a more serious mood, to fulfill the conventions of a thriller and mystery which can be seen in many real media project. While Rounders indeed filled the conventions of a thriller, with the unprofessional look reading into a more unnoficial gamble, the suites would creat a much more serious and mysterious tone. Although the medium close up shot of characters we decided to use as it brings clear focus to the characters

The medium close up brings out the focus onto the characters expression, however the background and lighting gives a more casual feeling

The shirt and tie sugest professionalism, in the unlikliests of places to bring out mystery and the several straight lines on his shirt further connotes his proffesionalism, and his neatness., again attributes not seen in thrillers or underground poker games. The completely black background further spurs on tension and connoting death or misfortune to the scene

Feedback for final film opening

After putting our completed product up on Facebook seeking potential feedback from our target audience, I received feedback shortly after. This is what was said:

- Sharmarke.

Feedback

After showing our first copy of the film opening to our teacher Mr. McManus, he made a couple of suggestions to our group with regards to how it could be improved. He suggested we take out a few extra shots that were not particularly necessary. Also, our film opening featured a point-of-view shot from the gambler's perspective however that wasn't needed as the gambler wasn't the most important character. We decided to take his advice to go back and do the changes suggested to us. Also, we still needed to do something about the sound.

Film Opening - First Upload

This is what our film opening will look like. At the moment it is without sound additions or alterations.

Sound choices

Our decision for sound on our project was a tough one. Instead of playing a whole soundtrack above the project we decided to just add some sound here and there. We chose to do this because
we felt that our film would seem real to the audience if we kept the majority of the film strictly diegetic and soundless, in terms of sound we could have potentially add in. This was in the hopes that it would have built up tension in the audience as it would be a very thought provoking thing, which is a very strong convention for thrillers.

Addition of Dialouge

Dialogue was something that was suggested that we keep to a minimum due to the lack of professional skill. However, as our film was to be a thriller and we needed a few bits of speech here and there to help the audience understand what is happening in our film opening as, without it, the plot would have been harder to follow. Phrases such as "place your final bets" and "all in" were used to create a dramatic effect among the audience, perhaps suggesting that they are keeping talking to a minimal due to professionalism. Also, whilst Sharmarke is in the mask we considered the option of putting a voice-over suggesting to the audience that his voice has been disguised however we struck that out because it sounded unnatural and it would have been confusing as to why there was a vocal disguise when the mask is a basic and rubbery mask.

- Kausar.

Editing Software - iMovie Vs Sony Vegas Pro

We used iMovie for the editing of our film. The reason for this was that Sony's Vegas Pro (our other choice of editing software) was a bit too complicated for our liking. It had many features we were unsure of and we thought learning to use it during the post-production process wasn't a smart thing to do. This is why we had chosen to use iMovie; it had a simpler, cleaner look to it that made things clear and we have in fact already used iMovie in the past which meant we were very familiar with it. Ultimately, it meant we could creative our film as effective as we could.

An example of the Sony Vegas Pro interface.

Our film opening being edited on iMovie.

- Sharmarke.

Completion of shoot

The filming by the end of it all, took us just under 2 weeks to film, including the days we were unable to film. Now we had to start the editing process. The car scene took no longer than 3 hours for us to film with everything we could have needed. The flat scene took 4 days for us to film because we went back to re-shoot some footage. The poker scene in the school took the remaining days for us to film.

Unavailbility of rooms

During production, we faced many issues of gaining access to the drama studio, a key area for our project. As the drama studio became unavailable it meant we had to postpone our shoot for a week. In order to make use of our time during these four days, we decided to focus our energy towards the other scenes first. As we had unlimited access to the flat and near unlimited access to the car, it seemed as the most secure decision to continue filming later scenes and do the remaining drama studio scene during a later date when the room becomes available. This change in schedule helped us keep on track.

Weather issues

The car scene was the only scene that was actually shot outside. As such it was the only scene we had to worry about weather conditions for. We would prefer a typical cloudy and dry weather conditions. This is due to give the scene a mundane feel to further enchance our thriller. The bright sunny weather would indeed look 'nice' however it would not suit the tone of the project as we intend to make a dark undertone to suit the scene rather a sunny, happy feeling. We decided not to film during rain either - rain tends to be the most unpredictable factor of typical British weather and would potentially damage our equipment. Indeed it would suit the conventions of thriller if it rained by setting a 'mood' however the conditions for us to use that type of weather seemed to unreliable. We decided to film the car scene all in one day, in order to ensure we kept the right weather conditions. This meant we had to get what we needed without much reshooting.

Rain which we did not want. Rain came a week later from our shot.

Our ideal weather condition. Murky and dark, with small rays of diluted light.

- Sharmarke.

Production schedule

• Filming period - 1 week
• Editing period - 1.5-2 weeks

Actors and their roles, choices we made and the replacement of characters

The actors for our five characters were chosen. They comprised of the three of us and two other individuals from outside our group. These were:

• myself
• Sharmarke
• Aram
• Ali
• and Luke

Sharmarke.

Aram.

Luke (left) and Ali (right).

Our actor decision were based on a number of different factors. We considered availability, possible stereotypes and suitability of each actor. The reason for choosing ourselves to take part was the fact that we were always available to take part, along with the stereotypes associated with black people for Sharmarke. Our choice in choosing Luke was similarly because of the stereotypes associated with white people and how they are rich individuals. Aram was chosen to be the driver/mastermind of the plot due his ethnicity. A very extreme stereotype of an Arab is their ability to plot which is why we decided to fit this stereotype into our film opening in the form of Aram. This again enable the film opening to be carefully planned out with suitable characters playing each role.

Previously, we had two other characters replacing myself and Luke. These were Shadia and Charlie. We had replaced the two due to Charlie being permanently unavailable and Shadia not being able to help out anymore.

- Kausar.

Character Issues

We had encountered some issues with regards to who would be playing our main character in our project. As the three of us had undertaken other roles, we had to find someone else to fill in the role as the main character. We already had two characters for the remaining roles (the other poker player and the dealer), so all we needed was to find a main character. After a little searching, this was going to be played by a student called Charlie. However, we hadn't anticipated that he would be leaving our sixth form. As we were unable to get him back to help us, it meant we had to restart the filming process with a new main character, leading to the disappointing loss of twenty or so minutes of shooting. This set back had led to the loss of a lot of valuable time where we could have been filming. We found a reliable student called Luke, who would be available for us whenever we need to film. Now all we needed to do was fix some aspects of our previous footage and reintroduce it into our project during the new shoot.

- Sharmarke.