Evaluation Of Film Opening

HandcuffsBy: Alice Nunn

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of how did your study of film

openings help you to make your own?)

• When it came to planning and filming our film opening, we knew that there were typical conventions used when it comes to mystery/physiological films. We knew that we wanted to follow some of these guidelines, to make it clear to the audience which genre it was, however we also wanted to challenge some of them, by adapting the stereotypes.

• Some of the typical features that you see in physiological films, include dark themes, spooky music, voice over, flash backs. Even though we did use some of these techniques we also challenged them. We wanted to keep the audience in suspense and keep them guessing who is the one in the hand cuffs. Therefore we decided to dress the characters very similarly. In films, the person being questions is normally in prison clothes and looks rough. Therefore by portraying both the characters in a similar way makes it harder for the audience. This is a frequent technique used by producers, to try and trick the audience.

• We have followed the norm in physiological films, by adding dramatic music. We sourced our music online and wanted to make sure it fitted into the genre well. We checked that there were no copyright rules before. By having tense music helps build the suspense and keeps the audience waiting. When researching other films , such as Sherlock Holmes, this was a technique they used to help keep the audience hooked. Below is a extract of the music used in Sherlock Holmes and in our opening.

To see the similarities just click on the icons.

How does your media product represent particular social groups? (i.e. how did you show people according to stereotypes, creating believable characters and so on?)

• In our clip we have represented several different social groups, for example gender, age, disability/ability, religion and ethnicity. In our clip the most obvious categories are gender and age. We have included to males, one older and younger. In a real police interview the stereotype would portray the younger male as the guilty person, and have the older male questioning him. This implies that the older man is working, sensible and mature. From the media young men can be seen as trouble makers, rebellious and linked to crime. In our film we wanted to challenge the stereotype by swapping the two around. In our clip we have the younger male questioning the older male. However this is not revealed to the audience until the end of opening, when we see who is in handcuffs. By having the two character dressed in similar clothes helps to keep the audience guessing about the plot. We also tried to confuse the audience more when it came to the mise-en scene. We gave the police man a cardboard cup, whereas the person in handcuffs a china mug. All of this hidden messages are examples of the hypodermic syringe model. We use are own views to decode the hidden messages.

• See next slide for detailed analysis:

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? (i.e. what film company will make your film

and why?)

Even though, as a group we are very happy with our film opening we know that it is not going to become a film! However if it was, I feel that Columbia Pictures would be a good distributor. It had worked with many other films of the same genre, such as the Girl with the Dragon tattoo, Anonymous, Sky fall and many more

Since the massive increase of technological convergence, it is becoming easier for people to access films without going to the cinema. With new mobile phone devices, audience can watch films on the go whenever they want. Therefore by sharing our video on Vimeo or Youtube, would make our film much more accessible. It would also be available on a worldwide platform. This would be an example of synergy as we are benefitting by getting more views, however Youtube for example will be getting more customers.

As I mentioned previously, we are not expecting our film to be a massive hit. Therefore one option of distributing it could be a smaller more local company. For example the BBC, own a scheme called ”Film Network”. This enables you to find a very local distributor who will help get your film out there, so I can be seen. To see the guidelines click on the link below: http://www.bbc.co.uk/filmnetwork/filmmaking/guide/distribution/distribution

Who would be the audience for your media product? (i.e. who would watch this?)

• When deciding who our target audience would be, we came to the conclusion that it would be suitable for anyone over the age of 15.

• We knew that in our film there could possibly be scenes of violence (showing the murder of his wife as a flashback) and crime. We also thought that there may be some scenes which include strong language.

• To verify our decision we looked at the British Board of Film Classification. When looking at the website, I found out some facts which I didn't know before:

• They can include all of the following• Discriminorty and offensive terms• Nudity• Violence• Horror works• Drugs • Of course all of these come at different levels, to read the

exact guidelines click on the link below:http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/15

How did you attract/address your audience? (i.e. how did you make sure you’d want them to watch it?)

• In order to keep the audience interested in our film opening, we tried to build up as much suspense through the clip. We had many different techniques to do this. For example by having tense music makes the audience intrigued as to what the plot twist is. We also used a series of close p shots, this helps to focus on the characters facial expressions, which suggests something exciting is going to happen.

• To keep the tension, we tried to make sure the actors didn't make direct eye contact with the audience. This helps to make it more realistic and professional looking. If the character were to start looking into the camera then it wouldn't look very realistic.

• From the start our genre has been a physiological/mystery, and I feel that we have achieved that. In our opening we really didn’t want to give too much information away, as we wanted to build up the tension, so the audience were left in suspense wanting to watch the rest. We chose this genre because nobody else in our class was doing it. Therefore it was something unique and would make ours stand out form the others.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product? (i.e. how did making this film

opening help you to learn about computers, cameras and the Internet?)

• During the whole process from the preliminary task right thorough to the final film, we were still learning. Before this project, personally I had never edited of filmed anything to this scale. In terms of the filming, I learned how import the camera angle is and how it can make a character seem. For example a low angle can make a person seem taller, therefore this connotates them as more important. One of the things that I have finally got to grips with is the 180 degree rule. At first this was very confusing, however with practise I am now confident with the rule and how it can be used.

• During this project I have used a whole range of new equipment, such as a dolly. As I have already mentioned this really helped the camera move smoothly across the floor.

• In terms of editing, I had never used I-Movie before so we a complete beginner. However with assistance form other group members and Google, I now feel confident with using it in the future. One useful skill I learnt was the “Ken Burns Effect”. In order to use this I relied on the internet and found a very useful tutorial which helped me.

Technology/Equipment we used

DOLLYTRIPODNIKON D3100

I- MOVIE

Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product? (i.e. the preliminary task shows you that film

making is hard- how did you develop from there?)• This whole process has been a great learning experience, I feel that we worked well as a team

and developed all of our skills. As none of us had studied media before, it was completely new to us. However as the process went on, we discovered each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and used them to our advantage. When it came to the filming, I feel that by carrying out the preliminary task, really helped me to realise how much work is involved in the filming side of things. As you can see from my blog posts, we had some technical difficulties. However if it wasn’t for these, then we could have encountered them again and not have known how to deal with them.

• The preliminary task also highlighted how complicated it is to film a scene, especially if you are including multiple angles. One of the things that I initially struggled to get my head around was the 180 degree rule. However by practising it, I am now confident and managed to achieve it in our final clip. When editing our preliminary task, the transitions were not very smooth, and I feel that having smooth transitions between clips make it much more professional. The preliminary task also highlighted how import the equipment is. For example in our preliminary task we used multiple phones to record scenes. This left us with clips of varying sound quality and video quality. Therefore in our final clip, I made sure we used the same camera through to maintain the same standard. We also used a tripod which helped me to achieve the high and low angles, avoiding any camera shake. Another feature which really helped to enhance our clip was the dolly. This meant the tripod moved smoothly and steadily across the scene.