Introduction

This is blog for my media coursework. In this blog you will find the following;

• Film opening analysis
• Swede's
• Vodcasts and podcasts
• Genre research
• Audience feedback
• Pre production work
• Production work
• Post production work
• Evaluation questions

I also have a YouTube Channel that works in tandem with this blog. This is where I put all my rough cuts, vodcasts, podcasts and film analysis's.

This is the link to my YouTube channel- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwjwvrtE3JBgnGDT_f2Smjw

For my film opening I'm working in a group of four these people are Alex Hey, Tom Cross and William Laing. If you Click on their name you can see their blogs. We are working together to make a film opening called The Brief. The Brief is an action/thriller based in an urban location in England, where the protagonist fulfils missions given by his sidekick. In a attempt to stop the villain achieving the upper hand.
If you need to find any particular blog post use the link lists on the right or just click on any labels to find blogs that are associated with the what you are trying to find.

Watt Films

Final Cut For The Brief

Below is the embedded video of the final cut of our coursework film opening The Brief. The Brief is an action thriller that is based around a MI5 agent much like that of the James Bond sequel. It is based in Leeds in the UK. The plot includes a agent who trains for his work in his spare time and has to exercise his skills from the get go when he gets chased by a representative of the criminal underworld that is seen to be ran on a medium of technology. Seen in the use of the memory stick.

Evaluation Question 7 (Vodcast) Looking back at your prelimanary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product

This is my answer to the 7th evaluation question. Also these are the prelim videos I refer to.











And here is the vodcast answer.

Evaluation Question 6 (Blog Post) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I used the following technologies in the process of this year;

1. Final Cut Pro
2. Adobe Premiere Pro
3. Blogger
4. YouTube
5. IMDB
6. Facebook
7. Mac OS
8. Camera Equipment
   
   

Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro is a video editing suite which allow you to create multi media project. Via importing video clips and music to then create a project. We used this to create our film opening The Brief and also I used it to do my preliminary task nearer the start of the year. I had never used more advanced video editing software up until Final Cut. This meant it was a steep learning curve, but I felt I quickly got efficient with the software because of its simple layout. I used tools like the blade tool which allows you to cut up the clip you are using to create smooth and quick cut. I also used keyboard shortcuts thorough the year, which significantly increased my productivity. Some examples of this would be B for blade, A for the default selection tool. Furthermore I have developed a knowledge and understanding for making titles in the program making vodcasts much quicker and more aesthetically pleasing. So now I feel like I'm well accustomed to Final Cut.

Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Render settings

I also learned how to use Adobe Premiere Pro which is a more complicated video editing software than Final Cut Pro. I used it to edit the test for the POV Go-Pro Shots in our film opening and my Vodacasts for some of the evaluation questions. I feel I have progressed in my skill at using Premiere ,but as it is such a vast programme it could be a while before I become the same level of skill as I am at Final Cut. Because there are several colour correction tools which I find to complicated to use although I do have a vague understanding of them. However I do no the keyboard shortcuts which are slightly different to those of final cut pro X as to cut you use the letter C which I find makes more sense. I have also learnt how all the different transitions work however my knowledge of the music transitions is less extensive. During my time using Premiere Pro I have also leant what are the best render settings for the cameras I use. and here is a screen shot of those that is displayed on the right

Blogger

I had never used Blogger before I started the course, but now I find it a useful tool to show work. As I have used it to display my research and coursework. I have also used it to do research as I have look on other media blogs which have helped me throughout the course. It has been a great tool as I am able to get audience feedback from fellow students and teachers. Also it has allowed for good group communication as we can see what other people have been doing and so on.

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, which allows you to share and view shared videos. It has been a good website to use as it has meant that I have been able to upload YouTube videos to embed them in our blog. Also it has meant we have been able to gather audience feedback so we have been able to improve our work.. Finally it has also meant that I have been able to access old media which has helped with coursework.

IMDb

The Internet Movie Database (abbreviated as the IMDb) is an online database of information related to films, television programs and video games, including cast, production crew, fictional characters, biographies, plot summaries, trivia and reviews. I have used it many times to gather box office info and budgets. It has helped to access old media. There is also Box Office Mojo which is helpful and is similar to IMDB.

Facebook

Facebook is an online social networking service. I already new how to use Facebook. but it was helpful for group organization as we were able to meet deadlines. Furthermore we were able to gather feedback.  

Mac OS

Before this media course I had never used Mac OS and now I feel that I have developed a good understanding of the software. I used it to run my browser and my editing software. It was also helpful as it meant I could easily take screenshots. Which has resulted in a better blog. Finally it has meant I could run Facebook so communication had become much easier.

 Camera Equipment

I had some knowledge previously to this course but this knowledge was mainly photography based.

So this has meant I have gone forward in leaps and bounds. For example I am now more accustomed to changing the aperture and white balance to improve the look of the shot depending on the lighting you have at the time. This very much helps with continuity as it allows you to film at separate times in the day. Also I learnt to convert and use different media formats as I was using the Go-pro and the Sony DSLR. Which of course came with different formats. Furthermore having the used the Go-Pro I have learned to use different frame because of course Go-Pro's have better FPS capability's to the regular DSLR's. For example I used it when we were using shots that included a parkour element so we were able to slo-mo the shot and still keep it running smooth. So I feel my use of different cameras has developed a lot.

Overall I feel that I my knowledge developed

Evaluation Question 5 (YouTube video annotation) How did you attract/address your audience?

Here is the answer to the question given above done via YouTube video annotation.





Below there are some of my points repeated and developed upon in text form.


We had the ability to attract and address the audience in many different ways such as?

• Facebook
• YouTube
• Twitter
• Vimeo
• Tumbler
• Interview non-media studies students
• Interviewing media studies students
• Interviewing our secondary target audience
• Interviewing our core target audience

Attract

Facebook

Facebook Is a very useful way to attract your audience as the people who use Facebook are generally our target audience of 15-25 meaning if they hear about the film then they are more likely to be interested in actually watch it. Also it allows us to post rough cuts and tasters which will increase interest. Also often you can receive feedback on rough cuts which is helpful when making a micro budget indie like ours.



YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States. The service was created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005. In November 2006, it was bought by Google for US$1.65 billion. YouTube now operates as one of Google's subsidiaries. The site allows users to upload, view, rate, share and comment on videos. Also YouTube has over a billion users which is almost a third of all people on the Internet, and every day, people watch hundreds of millions of hours of YouTube videos and generate billions of views. This means a site such as this would be great to attract people to watching our film. 

If we were to talk to our core and secondary target audience it would allow us to reflect on what type of film they can relate to. Which would mean we could tailor our film using the feedback we receive in interviews to make sure we get a positive reply when we present it to an audience. For example  we would ask them questions about their opinion on the narrative, the cinematography and weather we represent them. 

We could then interview media and then non media students. This would then mean that we could gather two different sets of feedback.  As media students will have a different outlook on a film then a non media student. As media students will give us better analysis on camera shots, editing and semiotics. As this is what media students tend to focus on as they are in the same position as me. Whereas non media students will talk about the tone of the and whether the music fits the scene. So this would mean we would have two different opinions on our film. One from an people who are experienced in making films and others who would be watching the film. When we had received feedback we could then again tailor the film to make sure we have correctly and effectively address them. 

Address

Narrative

We did not directly address are audience with our narrative as we have little narrative in the film opening, however when we did it of course was spoken by actors of their age and also in the style they may do themselves. we also made sure it made sense by adding the full gym scene as it was important for our audience to know what's going on. We can see that the audience understands the narrative as they gave it a average of 8 out of 10 for whether the narrative was clear or not. We also use one shot of the phone on the bench when agent Cross gets a text about his mission this also helps with the context of the whole film. Narrative enigma is also used here as it keeps the audience attracted and interested. It also makes the audience ask itself questions. Also

Mis-en-scene

We used an urban Mise-en-scene which many of our audience would be used to as urban places are highly populated with the younger generation which of course is our target audience. Because it was it we shot it in overcast weather many of are target audience would understand this. As of course we would be looking for a UK release. In one of our shots we used a sign that says police on it. This represented the criminal side of the story. This was great as it addressed the audience, also connoting what was to come.

Music

We addressed them by using fast paced music which had an electronic and bass element. Which is similar to the pop music or rap/grime music which is popular with younger generations. We also matched the editing to the music which of course was fast paced do addressed our audience of (15-24).

Actors

The protagonist very much addressed the audience as he is of their age and their gender. Meaning we gave the audience somebody to directly relate to which I feel will create a clearer image of the character in the audiences head. Furthermore at the start of the chase scene agent Cross gets a call from somebody with a southern accent. As a general convention action films have a side kick who has a southern accent like the ones in the James Bond sequels.

Location
We addressed said the gym was in Leeds, this means we were addressing a higher proportion of the audience than if we just said the actual location Ilkley. For example 13% of the people wh watched Edge of Tomorrow were from Yorkshire.

Titles

We used animated titles that swooped in an out when cars hit them id this because It provided good information and effect. Animated titles were also seen in Captain America winter soldier showing animated titles to be a convention within action films. So this means we are addressing our action genre as the fans of this genre will realise that it is an action film. As of course like I said animated tiles signify the action genre.

Overall I feel that our film does a better job at attraction of audiences then addressing them as we have little narrative and characters.

Evaluation Q4 (Blog) Who would be the audience for your media product

Core Audience

Our core target audience would be a male of any ethnicity or social class aged between 15-30. As we exist within the action/thriller genre which as a convention aims for these criterion. An example of a person of this age is below in picture form.  

Secondary Audience  

Our secondary audience would be parents who have taken there children to go see the film. So this would mean the audience would be parents male/female between the ages of 35-60. Also we would apply a 12A certificate for our film so we could have an audience younger than 12 meaning we would have access to wider viewing figures. Also if males aged between 15-30 are watching the film then it may mean they will bring their girlfriends, which would widen the audience further to 15-30 females. Below there is some examples of what our secondary target audience would look like.

BBFC Rating

I would like our film to have a BBFC rating of 12A as I feel this will give us the widest audience. Our film fits this category as it has the same overall tone as other movies in the 12A category much like James Bond Spectre (2015). Tone is seen as important in the BBFC specification as seen in this quote taken from their website, "The overall tone of a film or video, and the way it makes the audience feel may affect the classification." Also we would have infrequent strong language in our film which would keep it in the 12A specification. This is their terms to keep the film in a 12A and I feel our full 90 minute film would be within the boundaries of the specification. "The BBFC's Guidelines state that strong language (e.g. 'f***') may be passed at 12 or 12A, depending on the manner in which it is used, who is using the language, its frequency and any special contextual justification. Aggressive uses of strong language may result in a film or DVD being placed at the 15 category. There is some allowance for puns on strong language at this category.
There may be moderate language (e.g. uses of terms such as ‘bitch’ and ‘twat’ at 12 or 12A)."  Furthermore we have no discrimination in the film which enables us yet again to stay in the 12A category. This quote is again from their website which specifies discrimination rules.  "Any discriminatory language or behaviour will not be endorsed by the work as a whole." Finally we would include moderate violence which is allowed by BBFC for a 12A, furthermore no horror would be used as this is not our genre anyway.

Changes made to fit audience

So far we are yet to make changes to the film in order for it to fit our audience. This is because are initial film idea already fit the audience we were aiming for. Apart from when we carried out audience feedback and we were told to include a female which we ended up following up in the character "Niamh" who plays a role similar to M from James Bond. We did this in order to attract more of a female audience. Because of this change we have increased the size of our secondary audience.

Proof of audience

Evidence for the fact action thrillers have an audience would be firstly, San Andreas (2015) when they received a worldwide box office of $473,790,832. Also Fast & Furious 7 (2015) received  a worldwide box office of  $1,516,045,911. Furthermore an example of a British action film that was successful would be Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows 2011 which received a worldwide box office of $545,400,000.

Choices made to create a Working Title esc film

Films created by the UK's biggest film producer (Working title) are marketed at audiences in the US in certain ways. For example they will not use regional accents as this means US audiences may find it harder to understand so they will not watch it. Whereas when the top indie film producer (Warp films) creates a film they will use regional accents because they know they will not be aiming for a US release. Also no top actors will be used in indie films much like ours, but we did not use regional accents as we purposely chose are actors as they had southern accents which is what Working Title tends to do. As we would be aiming for a small US release which I explain in the evaluation question 3.

Evaluation Q3 Distribution (Prezi) What type of media institution might distribute your media product and why

This is a prezi I produced for evaluation question 3. Click the link to view it.

http://prezi.com/bwvhplglmybj/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Evaluation Question 2 Video Podcast) How does your media product represent particular social groups

Something I would like to add would be the fact that we also represent the  authority and state as of course the protagonist is an agent of sorts who may have links with governmental organisations like MI5. Furthermore we also have an antagonist who represents the criminal underground in our country. So is representing the general sense of corruption which takes place inside and outside of government.


This is my answer to evaluation question 2.

Evaluation Question 1 (Video Podcast) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products

Here is a video podcast of my answer to evaluation question 1.

March Production Diary Vodcast

How are group comunicated

We used Facebook messenger to communicate with each other to make sure we were filming on schedule and also making sure we are coordinating our blogs and YouTube channel's.

Here are some screen shots of the chat we created to organise our group.

  These screenshots are only a small proportion of the communication that took place. Furthermore Tom (Shot Type studios) was the team coordinator. I felt this was one of his strengths as we were only ever held by the weather when filming.

Why Did We Pick These Costumes

These are the costume we made a protagonist Agent Cross wear,  and a brief description of why we chose this look

The picture above is the costume used in the gym training scene. As you can see he is wearing a plain white round neck t-shirt which is reasonable tight. We did this to attract a female audience as it encourages the female gaze. We chose the white colour because it signifies peace/surrender. Which of course reflects the action of the character, e.g. working for peace and of course surrendering the bag. Secondly we chose the black shorts for the simple element. Also it provides the idea of ying and yang which of course is the thought that two entities can exist in harmony. This again links to the actions he takes to create peace. Finally the blue shoes had now really significance apart from showing that he was sporty and athletic.

Also for a small part of the gym training scene Tom was wearing this costume (above) which is all black as it is showing him outside of his peace making job. The black colour and casual style represents the urban setting of the film and portrays that there is more about him than his work life.

Above we see the main outfit for the chase scene which is mostly grey. We chose the grey colour as in a business environment you would most likely wear a grey suit. So I thought it would be appropriate to have him dressed an urban street way with the hoodie, but still have is signify to the viewers that he is a professional at work. Finally the shades of grey used are fairly light which signifies good.

Above is the antagonist who is dressed in all black. We did this because the colour black signifies darkness and evil. So this means that we are emphasising the role he plays as the villain.

Role allocation In the Production of the Brief and my input

This is a blog post on what roles each person played in our group.

Director-

• Me - Deputy director
• Alex- Director
• Tom- N/A
• William- N/A

Cinematography-

• Me- Co cinematographer for the chase scene and main cinematographer for the gym scene.
• Alex- Main cinematographer for the chase scene and co cinematographer for the gym scene.
• Tom- N/A
• William- N/A

Editor-

• Me - Main co editor for the Gym Scene
• Alex- Main Editor for whole production + input into the Gym scene
• Tom- Main co editor for the Gym Scene
• William-N/A

Music-

• Me - N/A
• Alex- Found music from other sources
• Tom- Found music from other sources
• William- N/A

Actor-

• Me- N/A
• Alex- N/A
• Tom- Protagonist
• William- Antagonist

Pre Production work-

• Me- Location scouting,
• Alex- Shot list
• Tom- Story Board, Call sheet , Team manager
• William- Screen Play

What Roles did I play and what did they involve?

I did the following roles:

• Deputy director
• Main co editor for the Gym Scene
• Location scouting, diary for shooting
• Co cinematographer for the chase scene and main cinematographer for the gym scene

The deputy Director, involved commenting and suggesting changes during shooting while the actual director Alex made all of the primary decisions. Also while Alex was not there I did of course take the role as director during the majority of the gym scene.

The role as the main co editor of the gym scene, involved editing the vast majority of clips with the other main co editor Tom. While Alex came along to make changes at the end putting in good input.

During the pre production I took on the roles of locations scouting and doing a diary for when we were meant to shoot and when we had shot. 

Finally I took the role of co cinematographer for the chase scene and main cinematographer for the gym scene. This involved putting some input into the chase scene. And for the gym scene the role was a primary cinematographer who shot most of the scene with input from Alex.

Overall I feel I have put my fair share of effort into the production process, as I only didn't put input into the acting and music.

Case Study Infomation

Case studies

Macro Budget

Star Wars VII the Force Awakens (2015)

Director- JJ Abrams

Stars- Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac

Certificate- 12a

Production company- Lucasfilm, Bad Robot, Truenorth

Budget- $200,000,000 (Estimate)

 Box Office- $2.008 billion USD (Estimate)

 Distributor- Disney

EXTRA NOTES

They had a huge Ad campaign beforehand spanning across social media, TV, trailers in cinema, posters, billboards, games, apps, YouTube

Everest (2015)

Director- Baltasar Kormákur

Stars- Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa, Thomas M. Wright

Certificate- 12a

Production company- Working Title

Budget- $55,000,000

Box Office- $202,394,678 (worldwide)

Distributor- Universal Pictures

EXTRA NOTES

There were not that many different ways they distributed, however there TV ads which showed a trailer and of course they had a social media page and website however that normally comes as standard.

The Theory of everything (2014)

Director- James Marsh

Stars- Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior

Certificate- 12a

Production company- Working title

Budget- $15,000,000

Box office- $121,201,940 (worldwide)

Distributor- Universal pictures and Focus pictures

EXTRA NOTES

There was a large advertising campaign on TV and in cinema multiplexes. However there was no cross media convergence with this film. Also there was no technological convergence.

The Worlds End (2013)

Director- Edgar Wright

Stars- Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman

Certificate- 15

Production company- Working Title

Budget- $28,000,000

Box office- $46,089,287 (Worldwide)

Distributor- Universal pictures and Focus pictures

EXTRA NOTES

There were TV ads and trailers in cinemas around the world. They have social media pages on twitter and Facebook, however they did not have a website or app. This may be because of the genre.

Low Budget Indie

Four Lions (2010)

Director- Christopher Morris

Stars- Will Adamsdale, Riz Ahmed, Adeel Akhtar

Certificate- 15

Production company- Film 4, Warp Films and Wild bunch

Budget- £2.5 Million

Box Office- $4.6 million

Distributor- Optimum releasing and Drafthouse

EXTRA NOTES

There was a website for the film and there are social media pages. However there was no apps. They had not had an ad campaign on TV however there were ads in cinema multiplexes.

Withnail & I (1987)

Director- Bruce Robinson

Stars- Richard E. Grant, Paul McGann, Richard Griffiths

Certificate- 15

Production Company- Cineplex-Odeon Films, Hand Made Films

Budget- $1,100,000

Box office- $1,544,889 (worldwide)

Distributor- Cineplex-Odeon

EXTRA NOTES

There were no ads at all just showed at cinemas, started off slow and turned into a cult film. Went onto DVD. NO social media or website.

This Is England

Director- Shane Meadows

Stars- Thomas Turgoose, Stephan Graham, Jo Hartley

Certificate- 18

Production company- Warp Films

Budget- £1.5 million

Box office- $8,176,544 (worldwide)

Distributor- Optimum release

EXTRA NOTES

No apps or anything of that kind. There were no TV or cinema ads due to the nature and budget of the film. Also there is no website.

Watt Films Ident

This is my final ident for my production company Watt Films. Overall im very happy with the way it has come out. I feel the font gives out the profesional feel I was looking for. Also my ability to use Adobe After effects aided me as it meant that I culd get the light of the bulb to only show the text when it was directly over it. Furthermore the shoot of the bulb its self went very well with the result I wished for.
Also I have recived positive feedback from several people.

About a boy analysis

About a Boy (2007)

Producing - Working Title Distribution - Universal

Budget - $30m

Box Office - $130m (World) $41m (USA)

Cinematic release in 51 separate countries

• Co-Directed by Chris and Paul Weitz

Production Companies

20 seconds

10 seconds

10 seconds

Idents

• 3 company idents in the centre of the shot
• Universal Studios, Studio Canal and Working Title

Titles

• 2 production company's titles, centre shot, white on black - connotes a professional film
• Font connotes that the film is a comedy

•  The producers of the film
• Does not obey rule of thirds, names are in the right third of the shot
• Audio bridge with diegetic sound

Opening Shot

•  Diegetic sound from the TV
•  Chris Tarrant Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - achieving verisimilitude
• medium shot

•  Large book denotes that the character reads books, this is stereotypically middle class
• The book juxtaposes with the opened can of RedBull and signifies the film will not be stereotypically middle class

• The title of the film does not have any upper-case lettering, this connotes that the film is targeted at youth. 

• Tracking shot

• The opening is using narrative enigma by not showing the face of the protagonist
• However, the opening is also showing a lot of the house giving the audience an idea of the class of the protagonist

• Each take ranges from 4-25 seconds in length
• No regularity in editing

•  Non-diagetic voice over
• Voice of the character on screen

• 34 total names used in the title sequence
• 8 scene set-ups in the title sequence

•  Establishing shot is a two shot with the protagonist and another character
• This denotes that these two characters will be connected later on in the film

• Ninth scene set-up of the opening
• Shot reverse shot

•  Breaks shot reverse shot pattern
• The house is a stereotypical middle class british house
• In contrast, the house is cluttered, which signifies and gives anchoragethat the film will not be the stereotypical middle class british film

• Master shot of the room
• Long shot

1st Shot

• Long shot 
• Cross fade transition from opening sequence to main body of the film

Running time of opening - 5:41

Length of idents - 40 seconds

Time between idents and opening shot - 5:01

Source: http://westgatefilms.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/about-boy-opening.html