This blog has been marked. SJA 08/05/11

Preliminary Exercise

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

Question 6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product

Research and Planning Blog- In my research and planning blogs I used many techniques to illustrate what I was researching and planning. Initial ideas for the film were taken from youtube which helped viewers understand what sort of concept my film was going to be about, also giving myself ideas of what to base my film upon. I also used to internet to view websites such as www.watchthetitles.com to view opening titles of films to give me ideas on how an opening sequence works. Furthermore I used 'DaFont', a website where you can download different styles of fonts which you can use on your film and in iMovie. This gave me a few ideas of fonts and we finally as a group decided what font to use.

Opening sequence- In my opening sequence I learnt about all different types of technologies used. Using the internet to research clips which are similar to what i want to create helped me get ideas for my final piece. I used mainly youtube and websites such as http://www.watchthetitles.com/ which shows many fabulous title sequences from all different genres and directors.

Music for my opening sequence- For the music for my opening sequence i used a variety of methods to search for the perfect sounds. I used a website called http://www.freesounds.com/ which gave loads of sounds and styles of music and genre. I also used iMovie sounds from garageband to use for ideas for my movie. Clips of other fims also helped me find the music for my film as it gave me ideas about what my music should be like.

Titles for my opening sequence-For my title sequence ,I looked thoroughly for titles of films of the same genre to see what colour and styles suit best. I used"watchthetitles" to help me get ideas of what a real film title will look like. Once i found a good title i then used livetype to put them over my film.









Audience feedback- For my audience feedback I uploaded my film onto Facebook and on Youtube to see what feedback could get and what i need to impove on and what people enjoyed about it. This will help me throughout my filming as this will help me for next time where i will improve on these issues and make my film even better.

Question 5

Question 4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Name: Arnold Smith

Gender: Male

Age- 17

Lives- England

Watches what tv programmes- Silent murder, Eastenders, Coronation street, Spooks, midsummer murders, match of the day, Skins, The inbetweeners.

Visits what websites- BBC iplayer, itv player, 40d, facebook, youtube.

Does what when they go out- Go to the cinema, out with friends, plays football

Listens to what music- Hip,hop R'n'B , Garage, grime, pop, Chris Brown, Rhianna etc

Wears what clothes- Designer clothes, Nike, Adidas, Ralph Lauren, Jack Wills, All Saints, Superdry, Topman

Reads what magazines- Heat, Ok, Zoo, Nuts, Tv guide

Likes/is involved with which subscultures- Sports, Artistic, inventive

Shops where- Topman, Jack wills, All saints, Bentalls, Lakeside, BlueWater, Jd sports.

Aspires to be- Well off, plenty of money, maybe an actor or footballer.

Has how much spare money- Enough to go out on the weekend for meals, cinema, or something with friends.

Likes this particular genre because: Enjoys a good plot, storyline, a film lover, enjoys getting into the film and wanting the next one to come out.

Anything else about your 'character'- He enjoys watchin films with his friends

Question 3. What kind of Media institution might distribute your media product and why ?

I think my media product would be a good film for a small film making business which helps broadcast films to small groups of people and which is also used to help people with ideas of low budget filming, and the creativity you can have with a very low budget. I believe my film wil attract certain people who enjoy creative, independant films which show thought and good planning throughout. Also people who enjoy thriller movies with a twist, and as our idea as based on the film 'Taken' it should hopefully attract people who also enjoy that film or films like that. I would say my film is more of an 'Independant film' as it isnt in a major studio and is on a very low budget and i aimed for smaller audiences. Some examples of independant films are Donnie Darko, Reservoir dogs, The Terminator and Mean Street.

Question 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I believe that this film challenges stereotype as well as going against the usual stereotype. Firstly, our film is about the kidnapping of a mans daughter. In a film where there is a kidnapp it is usually a daughter who is kidnapped therefore we match the stereotype of women beingmore vulnerable and more of a target than men. We showed this in the film by the character speaking to his daughter on the phone whilst being watched by the kidnapper, although the kidnapping isnt shown, i believe we give enough evidence and storyline in our film to explain to the audience that the daughter is going to be kidnapped.

I believe that we didnt match the usual stereotype in the way that the characters are portayed. Our victim ( father ) is a tall man and the kidnapper is smaller. I believe that a kidnapper would tend to me more taller and broader as it will make the kidnapper look the part better, and if the father was more of a smaller guy, maybe representing the stereotype of smaller people being more targeted.

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

In this question I will comment on how my film uses media products through the use of conventions and other real media products. Throughout my film i used a lot of conventions and media products to produce a good media product. I tried to keep my film as simple and as thriller-like as possible, giving it the convention of the dark old effect of black and white and also the non-linear effect of seeing the ending before the beginning. In our film we have a thriller like flashback where you see the outcome of the plot leaving the viewer confused of what is happening and then it has the flashback, in our case '24 Hours before' and then the beginning is revealed for the audience to unravell. We tried to keep our titles quite simple as well as the title itself, making it a neutral blue colour and keep the style throughout the whole title sequence. The music was quite an important convention in our film as we had to make the music realistic and match what is happening. We searched music and sounds to do withs suspense, tension, violenceand thriller and tried finding out the best type to fit our film. They had to be upbeat, quick and create tension which they did.

Shot Schedule

Our shooting schedule is divided into 4 days of work. We have clearly wrote the dates and times of the filming and what props and equipment we need. Also i have put in some notes at the end to show some keys points in which we must keep or make sure we do. for example keeping continuity and using long shots and extreme long shots.

Script

(phone rings)

Scott: "Hello..... Hello..... Who is this?"

Lauren: (noise of struggle or pain)

Scott: "Lauren is that you?"

Kidnapper: "If you want to see your daughter alive then bring me one million pounds at (location) in exactly 24 hours"

(phone call ends)

Storyboard

As you can see by our storyboard, a lot of our shots are close ups or extreme close ups, these help the audience to understand the scene a lot more and also tells them a lot of what is happening. We wrote what type of shot it would be in each one and what sounds or dialogue would be used in that shot if needed. There are a lot of facial shots in our storyboard. These show a lot of emotion and tension which really plays on the audiences mind.

Brief

I have been asked to create an opening sequence of a film using ideas from other films to help convey this. I have been put into a group with Daniel Purvey and Luke Nolan. During the past few weeks we have planned out what genre we will be doing, How and where the film will be shot and who plays what character. We have also made a storyboard of all the shots in the opening sequence.

My genre 2 (Inception)

Plot/Storyline- Dom Cobb (Leonardo diCaprio) and his partner Arthur ( Joseph Gordon-Levitt) perform illegal corporate espionage by entering the subconscious minds of their targets, using two-level "Dream within a dream" strategies to extract valuable information.


Title of the film- The title inception suggests that there is some sort of unusual activity being used by a person. This leaves the audience wanting to know what sort of institution is about to happen.


Location/Setting- The location of this film is set in 6 different countries but mainly los angelas America. Japan, Morocco, France, England and canada are other countries in which the film was filmed in. This helped to get a lot of different scenes and shots to produce a great film. Computer generated special effects were than added to create the majof parts of the film.

My genre 1 ( Taken)

Title of the film - 'Taken', This indicates that the film has something to do with someone being taken, and by the looks of the picture, he must be the person who is trying to solve the kidnapping.

Setting/Location - The character who was kidnapped is at home, she lives with her mum and step dad, it is her birthday and her father comes round to give her a present. It is located in America.

Storyline and plot- The daughter persuades her dad to go on holiday with her friend and stay with a cousin, after a lot of persuading her dad finally lets her go even though he doesnt want her to. When they reach their location a young man starts speaking to them and tells them about a party which is happening. He takes their details and find out where they live. The cousin who they were meant to stay with isnt actually there, they just said that so they would be allowed to go. The Daughter is on the phone to her dad telling him she got there okay and through the bedroom window she see's to men in the house kidnapping her friend. The daughter than gets kidnapped and the father (Neeson) uses his skills from his job to find out where his daughter is before its too late.

Coventions of a thriller

• A thriller normally has a main character who has a certain skill or very high paid job

• A thriller normally involves a kidnapping, a murder or some sort of violence leading to the main character trying to solve it and stop what is happening.

• A thriller normally has less gruesome scenes than in a horror, yet has more of a storyline and plot to it.

• A thriller normally has an unusual plot and is normally not unravelled till later on into the film.

Opening script for 24 Hours

(phone rings)

Scott: "Hello..... Hello..... Who is this?"

Lauren: (noise of struggle or pain)

Scott: "Lauren is that you?"

Kidnapper: "If you want to see your daughter alive then bring me one million pounds at (location) in exactly 24 hours"

(phone call ends)

Titles for the film

I have come up with 3 different title fonts for the film. Each one explains in its appearance about our film for example-

first one- It is bold and loud almost portraying an 'on edge' film with a lot of tempo and noises.

second one- This one is more relaxed and more unusual giving very little away, yet it almost looks like it can be a title for any type of genre film, therefore leaving the viewer with something to think about.

third one- the third one is probably the best as it is very rough looking and gritty almost suggesting that it is a film about something scary or creepy. the title also sets the mood for the film by the appearance.

Location

This is a good location to shoot some scenes in our film as it is a tunnel and a lot can be shown and revealed in a tunnel. The tunnel will be used for the shots of the kidnap and maybe also a place to hide for the kidnapper. We will be filming when it is dark therefore the tunnel will be a great place to shoot some scenes.

This is another good shot of Morden Station. A normal busy urban area where people are doing their daily thing. This is a good place to film as there are a lot of people around the area and also places such as the station and the civic centre are great places to get some inside scenes. There are also a lot of side roads and alleys around Morden which will be good to use for scenes.

Character Description and casting

Dan.P- He will be the camera man for most of the film, however he may also play the role as an extra in the background or an extra person used if needed. He will probably were casual clothes or smart clothes depending on which role he will play. We chose Dan.p to be the cameraman because he has very good ideas of shots and scenes, also he is very good with the camera and will make our filming and shots very good and professional.

Dan.D(Me)- I will be playing the role of a wealthy businessman called Scott. I will be dressed in smart clothing, possibly a long jacket shirt and a briefcase. I will be trying to find out every bit of information about who the kidnapper is and use all my will to find him and rescue my daughter. We chose me to be Scott because I'm not afraid of acting and thought it would be enjoyable to act in our film.

Luke- He is playing the role as the kidnapper. He has captured a very wealthy business mans daughter, he is holding her for ransom and is asking for the sum of £1,000,000 in order for his daughter to be freed. Now the businessman might we wealthy but even £1,000,000 will leave him pocket less. The kidnapper will be in black clothing, possibly with a face mask so no identity is shown, He will also carry a watch on him as well as a ruck sack and phone. We chose Luke to play the kidnapper because he looks like he can play a good kidnapper ( picture) also he isnt afraid of acting and he liked the idea of being able to play a part in his film.

Props needed

Shot list

The shots that will be in our film are mainly close ups and extreme close ups. These can give away a lot of emotions if it is to the face and can tell a lot about the story. However we will use an establishing shot to open the scene and show the location. This is an effective shot as it asks the audience why it is set here, and almost indicates that this area sown is a bit part in the film.

More close ups can include close up of eyes to show emotion and tension building as time is almost up. His eyes will move to one side to another to show a sense of paranoia. This shot is also extended as the camera begins to back out into a close up of his face showing his facial expression. There Will then be a black out screen and slowly the titles will be revealed.

Potential Soundtracks for our thriller film

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=33796

This First clip is an affective and appropriate sound fir our film. It is sinister and creates a large tension building atmosphere. This would be used to open the film up as the chase is happening. Whilst this is happening the credits will appear in the film. this clip is suitable because it is quite on edge and chilling and is very mysterious.

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=112072

This sound is a very interesting piece. There is high tempo and suspense in this clip and the music almost suits some sort of chase in the film, almost as if something is going to happen real soon. It is up beat and keeps the viewers interested as it is hard hitting and tells a lot about what is happening.

Film Synopsis- '24 Hours'

Our film is called '24 Hours'. our film is about a wealthy businessman who's daughter is kidnapped and will only be released if he pays the money. Although he is a businessman, the kidnapper is asking for a substantial amount of money which will even leave him with and empty pocket. He decides to take this crime into his own hands and with pure Witt, skill, and knowledge he Will track down the kidnapper and rescue his daughter. However, he only has 24 Hours ! Before he can reach his daughter he runs out of time and is kidnapped himself, tortured, beaten and ripped of dignity he uses his last few moments of life to save himself and his daughter, eventually eliminating the kidnappers, but is that it ?

We decided to use a lot of close ups and extreme close ups to reveal minimal mise-en-scene information. We will also focus on over the shoulder shots, panning shots and also tracking shots.

The costumes are very important to the film. The business man is dressed stereotypically in a long coat trousers maybe a shirt and tie and of course a brief case. the kidnapper in the normal black clothing and mask, possibly a weapon and of course giving very little away.

Audience research 1

In this survey I asked a handful of people what there favourite movie genre was. As you can see by the pie chart, action films seem more popular but is closely followed up by thriller and romance. Horror films prove to be less popular with the people I have surveyed. This inspired me to make a good thriller as people seem to enjoy thrilers more therefore I want to make mine just as good and for people to enojy my film.


In this survey, I asked people what colour would they most associate with a thriler movie. As you can see by this survey, The colours blue and red are most popular for both males and females for a horror movie. Grey seems to be the least and yellow also seems to be a colour which wouldnt be associated with a thriller. In my film I wil be looking to use colours such as red and blue for titles as this seems to be a popular colour for thrillers therfore to make mine look more like a thiller i must add the conventions in which a thriller has.

Audience Research 1- Questionairre

Initial ideas

My film is a thriller involving a murder and kidnapping. One suspect, One victim, One crime. An innocent businessman who became very successful due to hard work all his life had his daughter kidnapped and a ransom was held. through pure skill of technology and contacts all over, he must try to catch the kidnapper through clues, instinct and facts to get his daughter before its too late.

As a group we decided to do a thriller involving a kidnapping because the thought of an attack immediately keeps the viewer intrigued and wanting to watch more. We thought of camera shots carefully and decided that extreme close ups and close ups will be the main type of shot as they give little away but they give huge amounts of clues to the audience. We are locating it in Morden Station near the library and some dark alleys and possibly a high street.

As a business man, his costume must be smart and modern, i.e a long jacket, trousers shirt and possibly a briefcase. Also a watch will be involved as that is linked to the name of the film '24 Hours'. The murder will be wearing mainly black, giving very little identity away, possibly a mask and leather gloves to emphasise the kidnapping.

Double imdemnity (1944)

The opening sequence starts of with a man driving his car. He is quite reckless and is driving all over the place. An establishing shot is used to shwo where it is set ( Los Angelas) and you can see the underground on the left of the shot, but centred is the car coming towards the camera almost knocking it over due to the reckless driving. The man pulls up to a builiding and goes in. It appeares to be quite late at night so this may ask the viewers why he is going to work so late. Good shots are used to show suspense and mystery, because when he leaves the car his face isnt shown and it gives little away to who he is.

Wallander

The opening sequence of Wallander shows two girls walking away from a brutal crime. The credits come across in a yellow writing and could evoke a sense of caution and suspense. Very little emotions are shown and hardly know words are spoken in the first few minutes. This gives little away to the audience and as it is a brutal murder it makes the audience want to know what has happened and why. The shots are very interesting in this sequence and use a range of shots from long shots to mid shots to close ups of the weapon used.

Brick (2005)

The opening sequence of Brick is a very interesting scene. Each shot is very unearthly and gives very little detail away. Most of the shots in the opening seqence have no more then 2 objects in the shot. This gives little detail away and asks the viewers the question "What has this got to do with the film"?. This proves a good opening sequence as it leaves ther audience want to find out more and want to know what happens in the film and what each object seen in the opening means.