Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Q7
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
At the beginning of the course, I alongside others had to film for our preliminary task. Before we began filming we was given a list of essentials the task had to include such as match on match action, A person walking into a room, sitting down and exchange small dialogues with someone and to include the 180 degree rule a reverse shot. This task was given to us as a little warm up for my final media product as this will give us a concept of the steps we will need to overcome to make a successful final production. This helps as I can see the mistakes I have made in the preliminary task and then I can make sure I don’t make them during the filming of my “The Snitch”.
Throughout the filming of my preliminary task I have learnt how to keep the camera steady whilst recording this was very useful in the final recording. Furthermore, I learnt how to zoom in and out in a precise technique for with good timing for it to fit perfectly within the scene. In addition to this I learnt how to edit the production to a good standard. This also gave me more experience on the Macbook which saved time on the editing side of the production.
At the beginning of the course, I alongside others had to film for our preliminary task. Before we began filming we was given a list of essentials the task had to include such as match on match action, A person walking into a room, sitting down and exchange small dialogues with someone and to include the 180 degree rule a reverse shot. This task was given to us as a little warm up for my final media product as this will give us a concept of the steps we will need to overcome to make a successful final production. This helps as I can see the mistakes I have made in the preliminary task and then I can make sure I don’t make them during the filming of my “The Snitch”.
Throughout the filming of my preliminary task I have learnt how to keep the camera steady whilst recording this was very useful in the final recording. Furthermore, I learnt how to zoom in and out in a precise technique for with good timing for it to fit perfectly within the scene. In addition to this I learnt how to edit the production to a good standard. This also gave me more experience on the Macbook which saved time on the editing side of the production.
Q6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the process of making the opening scene of our media product I have learnt many things about new technologies. For instance, I learnt how to work with Macbook’s, Photoshop and online websites such as the “blogger” which is our personal AS blog. Before we began the course I quite unfamiliar with these technologies, however as I used it more often, i was able to grasp the concept and techniques which were needed to be successful in this task. To start with we had to create a blogger account to store our media work. Prior to this, I had made similar accounts on websites such as “twitter” and “Facebook” however there where many things I did not know about “blogger”. Things such as inputting YouTube videos onto the website, this was helpful when it came for me to embed videos which I had to analyse and when I had to embed my final AS production. As well as embedding videos I learnt how to embed image which makes the blog less dull to look at as well as letting the public picture what im trying to say in my Also you could choose your own backgrounds which appeals to the genre of the film. In this case I decided to make the background dark and bold as it contrasts the rough and ruggedness towards the genre of the film.
Throughout the filming of our film, we recorded using a digital Sony camera. However, even though the camera was very easy to use I didn’t have much past experiences handling a digital camera. Therefore I had to learn how to keep the camera steady whilst recording. With the digital camera came a tripod which could be adjusted in height that would suit standard. This applies throughout our film as there are many over the shoulder, point of view and bird’s eye view shots. This all needed the adjustment on the tripod.
Throughout the process of making the opening scene of our media product I have learnt many things about new technologies. For instance, I learnt how to work with Macbook’s, Photoshop and online websites such as the “blogger” which is our personal AS blog. Before we began the course I quite unfamiliar with these technologies, however as I used it more often, i was able to grasp the concept and techniques which were needed to be successful in this task. To start with we had to create a blogger account to store our media work. Prior to this, I had made similar accounts on websites such as “twitter” and “Facebook” however there where many things I did not know about “blogger”. Things such as inputting YouTube videos onto the website, this was helpful when it came for me to embed videos which I had to analyse and when I had to embed my final AS production. As well as embedding videos I learnt how to embed image which makes the blog less dull to look at as well as letting the public picture what im trying to say in my Also you could choose your own backgrounds which appeals to the genre of the film. In this case I decided to make the background dark and bold as it contrasts the rough and ruggedness towards the genre of the film.
Throughout the filming of our film, we recorded using a digital Sony camera. However, even though the camera was very easy to use I didn’t have much past experiences handling a digital camera. Therefore I had to learn how to keep the camera steady whilst recording. With the digital camera came a tripod which could be adjusted in height that would suit standard. This applies throughout our film as there are many over the shoulder, point of view and bird’s eye view shots. This all needed the adjustment on the tripod.
Thursday, 7 April 2011
Q5
How did you attract/address your audience?
As our media product is a gangster/crime movie we knew exactly to what to include that’ll attract and address our audience. We also wanted our film to relate with the audience and want to make the opening similar to their own lives. Our main objective was to send out a message from this film. By this meaning our media product is trying to emphasize that the gangster life is good for a moment as you will get money and power but will always end in tragedy. Hopefully this motto will influence young teenagers to change their lives as they do not want to be in them circumstances. Therefore we included many things that are familiar with this audience. To do this we included things that teenagers will have in their day to day lives. For example at the beginning of the film the character “Breasy” is playing Xbox 360 which makes teenage boys familiar with the scene as the majority of this age group and gender play this particular game console.
Furthermore, we had to include certain camera shots and lightings to interest our audience. When we first recorded our film, we recorded it in the morning and when we came to analyze the film, we came to a conclusion that it wouldn’t give a sense of crime and anger towards the audience as it is a our film is a very dark topic. The change in timing of our recording was a big adjustment as it changed the whole atmosphere. Also we included the bird’s eye view shot. This shot shows all the action and increases the intensity within the scene.
To achieve the highest we decided to do surveyed and questionnaires. The surveys and questionnaires were targeted towards our set audience to find what appeals to them best, however we also surveys other student from the ages of 15-19 to find out what will satisfy them. After letting the audience view the film we handed out surveys towards 10 of the viewers. Below are some of the questions we asked them:
What genre did you think the film was?
What age group do you think it’s targeted towards?
Did the characters play the role of a black stereotype well?
Would you like to watch the ending? If so why?
The feedback that we received was very positive as most of our objectives we had achieved. However, the majority people didn’t seem to sure with the genre. They didn’t know if it was action, crime or gangster. Therefore we received a mixture of results, but most people said the genre of the film was crime.
As our media product is a gangster/crime movie we knew exactly to what to include that’ll attract and address our audience. We also wanted our film to relate with the audience and want to make the opening similar to their own lives. Our main objective was to send out a message from this film. By this meaning our media product is trying to emphasize that the gangster life is good for a moment as you will get money and power but will always end in tragedy. Hopefully this motto will influence young teenagers to change their lives as they do not want to be in them circumstances. Therefore we included many things that are familiar with this audience. To do this we included things that teenagers will have in their day to day lives. For example at the beginning of the film the character “Breasy” is playing Xbox 360 which makes teenage boys familiar with the scene as the majority of this age group and gender play this particular game console.
Furthermore, we had to include certain camera shots and lightings to interest our audience. When we first recorded our film, we recorded it in the morning and when we came to analyze the film, we came to a conclusion that it wouldn’t give a sense of crime and anger towards the audience as it is a our film is a very dark topic. The change in timing of our recording was a big adjustment as it changed the whole atmosphere. Also we included the bird’s eye view shot. This shot shows all the action and increases the intensity within the scene.
To achieve the highest we decided to do surveyed and questionnaires. The surveys and questionnaires were targeted towards our set audience to find what appeals to them best, however we also surveys other student from the ages of 15-19 to find out what will satisfy them. After letting the audience view the film we handed out surveys towards 10 of the viewers. Below are some of the questions we asked them:
What genre did you think the film was?
What age group do you think it’s targeted towards?
Did the characters play the role of a black stereotype well?
Would you like to watch the ending? If so why?
The feedback that we received was very positive as most of our objectives we had achieved. However, the majority people didn’t seem to sure with the genre. They didn’t know if it was action, crime or gangster. Therefore we received a mixture of results, but most people said the genre of the film was crime.
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Q4
Who would be the audience for your media product?
My media product is targeting people who are 15-25 years old students and low class workers mainly from an African or black race. It is targeted towards both genders as the film contains both genders participating within the film. Also both genders around this age are interested in gangster or crime films as it what they see around them. From my research and several questionnaires I have came to find out that women enjoy watching gangster/crime movies. We decided to choose this age group as it appeals a lot to the youth of today’s generation or maybe some of the youth have participates in similar crimes. Even though we target it at a particular group, I think it will attract a wider audience as it contains many essentials of other genres throughout our play. My media product will classified as a 15. This is because the characters within the film are around that age and it attracts that particular age group. Also when we looked at the “British board of film classification” our film fitted perfectly with the certificate we have set.
The people I think this will attract most are the people similar to the characters that are portrayed within the film. This means people a careless about their living, rough, aggressive and have experienced some sort of tragedy or darkness throughout their lives. In addition to this it’s targeted to people who are generally attracted to gangster or crime movies. As I am a fan of gangster movies, I know what gangster movies should include and what essential they should have in order to engage the audience immediately. I strongly believe that the people we have targeted our film to will be satisfied with my media production. Furthermore, the soundtracks and street imagery keep the audience engaged to the opening of the film as it music that they relate to, In this case hip hop.
When I and my group were surveying people this is the information that we found. We asked approximately 100 people and the pie chart shows the results. After finding out these results we tried to apply this when coming to think about what we should include in our film. Although our film is mainly a crime based film we added plenty of thrilling scenes for it to be targeted to a wider audience, as thriller was voted the favoured genre by the majority of the public.
My media product is targeting people who are 15-25 years old students and low class workers mainly from an African or black race. It is targeted towards both genders as the film contains both genders participating within the film. Also both genders around this age are interested in gangster or crime films as it what they see around them. From my research and several questionnaires I have came to find out that women enjoy watching gangster/crime movies. We decided to choose this age group as it appeals a lot to the youth of today’s generation or maybe some of the youth have participates in similar crimes. Even though we target it at a particular group, I think it will attract a wider audience as it contains many essentials of other genres throughout our play. My media product will classified as a 15. This is because the characters within the film are around that age and it attracts that particular age group. Also when we looked at the “British board of film classification” our film fitted perfectly with the certificate we have set.
The people I think this will attract most are the people similar to the characters that are portrayed within the film. This means people a careless about their living, rough, aggressive and have experienced some sort of tragedy or darkness throughout their lives. In addition to this it’s targeted to people who are generally attracted to gangster or crime movies. As I am a fan of gangster movies, I know what gangster movies should include and what essential they should have in order to engage the audience immediately. I strongly believe that the people we have targeted our film to will be satisfied with my media production. Furthermore, the soundtracks and street imagery keep the audience engaged to the opening of the film as it music that they relate to, In this case hip hop.
When I and my group were surveying people this is the information that we found. We asked approximately 100 people and the pie chart shows the results. After finding out these results we tried to apply this when coming to think about what we should include in our film. Although our film is mainly a crime based film we added plenty of thrilling scenes for it to be targeted to a wider audience, as thriller was voted the favoured genre by the majority of the public.
Q3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Due to the low budgeting we have very few choices. However many movies were made with a low budget and have ended up in cinemas or have been sold in stores globally. For example “Menace II Society” is a low budget film but is now known globally. Due to the circumstances, self promotion will be the best idea. However an institution which may distribute my media product will be “New Line Cinema”. “New Line Cinema” have distributed many low budget movies such as “Menace II Society” and “House Party” which went on to produce three sequels. However, if this theory proves not to be successful I will spread this media production on the internet and on social networking sites in particular for it to reach a wider audience so a variety of people can watch it. Our company “Galaxy Production” will put it on websites such as 'www.hotnewhihop.com' and other hip hop sites as they promote many low budget films on their websites, this is also the types of website our target audience will go on. In addition, I will put my movie on YouTube so that it can be viewed internationally and I will also make DVD copies and promote and distribute it myself.
Due to the low budgeting we have very few choices. However many movies were made with a low budget and have ended up in cinemas or have been sold in stores globally. For example “Menace II Society” is a low budget film but is now known globally. Due to the circumstances, self promotion will be the best idea. However an institution which may distribute my media product will be “New Line Cinema”. “New Line Cinema” have distributed many low budget movies such as “Menace II Society” and “House Party” which went on to produce three sequels. However, if this theory proves not to be successful I will spread this media production on the internet and on social networking sites in particular for it to reach a wider audience so a variety of people can watch it. Our company “Galaxy Production” will put it on websites such as 'www.hotnewhihop.com' and other hip hop sites as they promote many low budget films on their websites, this is also the types of website our target audience will go on. In addition, I will put my movie on YouTube so that it can be viewed internationally and I will also make DVD copies and promote and distribute it myself.
Q2
Q2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The representation of “The Snitch” is based vividly on the lives of several teenage boys whom live in deprived areas located in southern England. This is shown in the film where you can see the environment that the kids are brought up in and some of the temptations that surround them. In this case, during the opening scene you can see that the character “Breasy” has trouble with are characterised as violent trouble minded youth. Our media product revolves around the rough and rugged lives of black teenage boys. The reason we chose this ethnic group because this ethnicity is stereotypically blamed for most of crime committed in our present day. From the beginning of the film, we apply the image of a thuggish, crooked looking character. By including this we have stereotyped many factors such as gender, ethnicity and age. On the other hand, we understand by including these stereotypical views there is a possibility of it offending particular people. Nevertheless we had to remember that this could attract the film to a wider audience. Throughout the making of this product we kept in our minds that we would avoid using many stereotypes to avoid any hurtful gestures and that it could make the story lose its real meaning. As shown below the actors that star in the film are all black teenage boys which show the lack of diversity in ethnicity.
In my media product i include the stereotypical thoughts of how a young black boy is treated growing up with violence around him. In the opening scene we see the main character “Breasy”. He is shown at the beginning were he’s located in a messy living room playing Xbox like a normal teenage boy. The messy room suggests that teenage boys are untidy and unclean. I and the rest of the group included this as the mis-en-scene may be very recognizable for teenage boys. Soon after this, “Breasy” hears a knock on the door and gets up in frustration as they have interrupted his game. This is where the violence comes into play and creates tension and anxiety within the scene.
Age:
The age group of the characters within the film are young teenagers roughly 16 or 17 years old. This age group is usually seen as rude, ignorant and arrogant people, which other civilians try to avoid when seen on the streets as they give a sense of danger when seen. In addition to this, the costumes we chose in our media product represent this social group as this is what the stereotype indicates, by this meaning the baggy jeans, black hoodies and baseball caps, portraying the obvious hoodlum imagery.
Language:
Due to the lack of dialogue in the opening scene it is hard to get familiar with the type of language which is used, however from the little dialogues which you hear when the characters are knocking on the door one of them says “blud, where this breh at”. This informal language is otherwise known as “slang” or “street language”. This will give the audience an idea on today’s modern slang which hugely characterises the youth of today.
The representation of “The Snitch” is based vividly on the lives of several teenage boys whom live in deprived areas located in southern England. This is shown in the film where you can see the environment that the kids are brought up in and some of the temptations that surround them. In this case, during the opening scene you can see that the character “Breasy” has trouble with are characterised as violent trouble minded youth. Our media product revolves around the rough and rugged lives of black teenage boys. The reason we chose this ethnic group because this ethnicity is stereotypically blamed for most of crime committed in our present day. From the beginning of the film, we apply the image of a thuggish, crooked looking character. By including this we have stereotyped many factors such as gender, ethnicity and age. On the other hand, we understand by including these stereotypical views there is a possibility of it offending particular people. Nevertheless we had to remember that this could attract the film to a wider audience. Throughout the making of this product we kept in our minds that we would avoid using many stereotypes to avoid any hurtful gestures and that it could make the story lose its real meaning. As shown below the actors that star in the film are all black teenage boys which show the lack of diversity in ethnicity.
In my media product i include the stereotypical thoughts of how a young black boy is treated growing up with violence around him. In the opening scene we see the main character “Breasy”. He is shown at the beginning were he’s located in a messy living room playing Xbox like a normal teenage boy. The messy room suggests that teenage boys are untidy and unclean. I and the rest of the group included this as the mis-en-scene may be very recognizable for teenage boys. Soon after this, “Breasy” hears a knock on the door and gets up in frustration as they have interrupted his game. This is where the violence comes into play and creates tension and anxiety within the scene.
Age:
The age group of the characters within the film are young teenagers roughly 16 or 17 years old. This age group is usually seen as rude, ignorant and arrogant people, which other civilians try to avoid when seen on the streets as they give a sense of danger when seen. In addition to this, the costumes we chose in our media product represent this social group as this is what the stereotype indicates, by this meaning the baggy jeans, black hoodies and baseball caps, portraying the obvious hoodlum imagery.
Language:
Due to the lack of dialogue in the opening scene it is hard to get familiar with the type of language which is used, however from the little dialogues which you hear when the characters are knocking on the door one of them says “blud, where this breh at”. This informal language is otherwise known as “slang” or “street language”. This will give the audience an idea on today’s modern slang which hugely characterises the youth of today.
Q1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
There were many names for the production that we thought off but we ultimately came up with the title “Snitch”. This title shows a clear indication of the films genre which is crime/gangster. The opening sequences show the conventions of a gangster film in a very clearly from the way the music kicks in to the way the characters actions are portrayed. For example the small dialogues which were used within the scenes are said in a very aggressive tone, this gives the gangster “bad boy” image. Films such as “Kidulthood” and “Menace II Society” both portray these types of characters; they also use violence as the convention within the gangster genre. Furthermore, many gangster movies use dark lighting which links to my final production. This is because darkness implies hatred, evilness and violence and this is what gangster films generally include. The title “Snitch” shows the closeness to the genre used in these films as it contains much violence and actions scenes. Whilst planning, we took ideas from these films and developed on them making it our own. Me and my group were influenced by the techniques used in the sequences from both of the films and took some ideas we could possibly develop in our film.
The conventions of real media products helped me and my group hugely to achieve our targets. http://cheneymediabasilha.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-should-we-achieve-in-opening.html
The forms and elements of gangster movies we looked at http://cheneymediabasilha.blogspot.com/2010/11/elements-of-gangster-films.html
Existing media products which helped us in the process
1st link - List of gangster movies
2nd link - Menace II Society
3rd link - Training Day
http://cheneymediabasilha.blogspot.com/2010/11/list-of-gangstercrime-films.html http://cheneymediabasilha.blogspot.com/2010/10/rush-hour-3-opening-scene.htmlhttp://cheneymediabasilha.blogspot.com/2010/10/training-day-opening-scene.html
We've had a chance to look at many gangster films which influenced us in making our opening sequence. In the case of violence, the opening sequence from 'Good Fellas' was much inspired which also enabled us to wider thoughts in process of making our own opening sequence. Other factors such as lighting, costumes and locations were fairly easy to choose and forms were made easy by the existing products.
Throughout the process of making this production we looked at many films which have influenced us and helped us whilst making our movie. Whilst relating to violence, “goodfellas” helped us the largely as it contained the most violence in the opening sequence than the other films. When looking at lighting, costumes and the whole mis en scene in general “kidulthood was probably the most inspiring as it is the movie that relates most with the characters within our film, by this meaning the baggy clothing, the aggressive British tone, the slang accent and essentially the rude approach the youth give towards people.
There were many names for the production that we thought off but we ultimately came up with the title “Snitch”. This title shows a clear indication of the films genre which is crime/gangster. The opening sequences show the conventions of a gangster film in a very clearly from the way the music kicks in to the way the characters actions are portrayed. For example the small dialogues which were used within the scenes are said in a very aggressive tone, this gives the gangster “bad boy” image. Films such as “Kidulthood” and “Menace II Society” both portray these types of characters; they also use violence as the convention within the gangster genre. Furthermore, many gangster movies use dark lighting which links to my final production. This is because darkness implies hatred, evilness and violence and this is what gangster films generally include. The title “Snitch” shows the closeness to the genre used in these films as it contains much violence and actions scenes. Whilst planning, we took ideas from these films and developed on them making it our own. Me and my group were influenced by the techniques used in the sequences from both of the films and took some ideas we could possibly develop in our film.
The conventions of real media products helped me and my group hugely to achieve our targets. http://cheneymediabasilha.blogspot.com/2011/02/what-should-we-achieve-in-opening.html
The forms and elements of gangster movies we looked at http://cheneymediabasilha.blogspot.com/2010/11/elements-of-gangster-films.html
Existing media products which helped us in the process
1st link - List of gangster movies
2nd link - Menace II Society
3rd link - Training Day
http://cheneymediabasilha.blogspot.com/2010/11/list-of-gangstercrime-films.html http://cheneymediabasilha.blogspot.com/2010/10/rush-hour-3-opening-scene.htmlhttp://cheneymediabasilha.blogspot.com/2010/10/training-day-opening-scene.html
We've had a chance to look at many gangster films which influenced us in making our opening sequence. In the case of violence, the opening sequence from 'Good Fellas' was much inspired which also enabled us to wider thoughts in process of making our own opening sequence. Other factors such as lighting, costumes and locations were fairly easy to choose and forms were made easy by the existing products.
Throughout the process of making this production we looked at many films which have influenced us and helped us whilst making our movie. Whilst relating to violence, “goodfellas” helped us the largely as it contained the most violence in the opening sequence than the other films. When looking at lighting, costumes and the whole mis en scene in general “kidulthood was probably the most inspiring as it is the movie that relates most with the characters within our film, by this meaning the baggy clothing, the aggressive British tone, the slang accent and essentially the rude approach the youth give towards people.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Our opening sequence
From the initial script, we made some changes but still stuck with the same genre. After the production title is shown, the first scene will contain three characters in a homely atmosphere, creating a safe mood along with a sound track which would blend in with the situation. The film concentrates on a single character (Basil), from a black ethnic background. By the use of a 'zoom shot', we tried to convey the vision of the character which takes the audience to a different location, in a different atmosphere. By doing we are trying to play with the audiences' mood and feeling and get them engaged. The scene contains 3 people coming to Basil's house. The feel up to the moment were Basil's about to open the door is relaxed, giving the audience a sense of safeness. But as Basil is about to open the door, music stop which contrastingly sets up a tensed/danger atmosphere. It is kind of like a roller coaster rider- plays with the creation of mood, from safe to tense and now it requires a sense of urgency. Basil gets chased by the people, where he runs through his back garden and eventually gets caught. To get the rush feeling, it was important to set the cameras in the right places and ankles. We even caused little shakes on the camera as we thought it would add in to the overall rush feel. After some verbal exchange and physical contact, the vision ends as Basil is interrupted by one of his mates. However, we were worried that it would give the idea of an ending to the audience, so we decided to insert a voice- over- dialogged by Basil- "I thought this was the end of the vision but now it is just the beginning!"
Friday, 1 April 2011
Character profile
This is the group of teenage boys that are most likely to be stereotyped by the public and in the film “The Snitch” that is the role they precisely play. They are characterised as teenage boys with a bad boy image, by this meaning walking around the town not caring about the future; Also having a rude attitude reasonably because they have a rough background.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)