Q1: Conventions of real media products

Below is a link to my website on conventions of our movie.
http://jiidguy.wixsite.com/conventions

Props

Props/Costumes

• iPhone 6-Character uses it to look at time
• Stabalizer- Used during filming
• Carrier bag- Object character is holding
• Knife rack/Knives- Weapon character may use
• Sweet wrapper- Evidence left behind by Stalker
• Gloves- Adds to the anonymity of the Stalker

The main character(protagonist) will wear a normal hoodie and jeans. This is average everyday wear and will show the audience that the character is normal. The other character(antagonist) will wear darker clothes. This will give off the impression of evil or darkness which is what the villain will represent. These dark clothes will add to the dark and grit of the sequence allowing the audience to differentiate who the bad guy of this sequence is. Throughout the sequence the antagonist will not show his face which will also add to this effect.

Learning Comment

I learned that props are very important to the mise en scene you are trying to portray in the film. Props have as much effect on the mood as anything else and can also help indicate what's going to happen next. This would make the audience more intrigued and put more thought into the movie, forcing them to pay attention.

Typography Task 18

While looking for typography these were our best choices when choosing from the horror category. We decided that none of these would fit our movie properly as it is a psychological thriller and would require more grit/edge in order for it to really stand out. These fonts would be more suitable for true horror movie which our movie will not be.

 After searching the fonts we came to a conclusion that one of these two would be used as our title font. These fonts show more "roughness" than the others and we think the title name looks good in them. Another thing which made us choose this font is how much it would stand out. The title is supposed to catch the audiences eye and these two capture how the title should look to a major extent.

These fonts were other fonts we liked and we have decided to use them as our fonts for the rest of the typography that appears on screen. One will be used for the directors names and actors and the other will be used for the "less important" typography we will include in our opening sequence. We decided the more bold of the two should be used for the directors and actors names because in most movies this is what the producer does in order to help them stand out and keep the audience interested. These fonts will be good as they are in bold letters and will help the audience be able to read them better as it will stand out from the background of the movie. If the font didn't stand out the audience might miss the opening credits and not know what type of movie it was going to be.

Learning Comments

From this task I have learned that the style of font is very important as it should reflect the genre of the movie helping the audience partially know what type of film it will be. We found that more serious story lines have more "normal" typography but as our movie has a hint of horror we chose a slightly different font for the title typography.

Task 19 Sound Planning

This soundtrack will be perfect for scenes of the sequence which involve someone being followed. It has a very ambient feel to it which will compliment the scene; it would also let the audience know that something isn't quite right. This soundtrack is copyright free therefore it shouldn't cause any problems using it in our sequence. This music was provided by Bensound.

When browsing the sound website we came across this soundtrack, which we think suits the scene well after the protagonist picks up the fallen note on the floor, then suddenly realises what happens next. This is when his 'instinct' kicks in as he gets prepared for what he must do. The loud drums and short periods of silence in-between them provide a satisfying sound which compliments the ongoings on screen.

Other sounds - We are thinking of including general background sounds which may add to the ambience that we are eager to portray in our sequence. An example of this is crickets chirping at the beginning where there is equilibrium - this, along with the darkness, gives the audience the impression that it is set quite late at night. 

**UPDATE**
We decided to change the soundtrack instinct for another one called Stalker.

Learning Comments

Sound in our sequence is very important as it adds so much to the atmosphere and the overall feel of the movie, for example it immerses the audience into feeling as if they are actually there in the film itself. Sounds are key to letting the audience know that something is about to happen, for example in our sequence the protagonist is being followed, and as the person approaches him faster the music picks up both pace and volume. Lastly it was important for us to use copyright-free music in our film, as if we did we'd be potentially be putting ourselves into trouble (e.g. a copyright strike).

Task 16 Character Profiles

Learning Comments

When building my character profiles I realised how vitally important it is to provide lots of information about the character(s) in the narrative. It is much easier to create a narrative if you know the characters you are using inside and out, as it provides an opportunity for many more unique and original events. By adding lots of detail it makes the character much more interesting and provides a new level of personalisation, rather than a generic teenager for example. A character with a specified and unique background is much more appealing to the audience as they will want something new from each and every movie, rather than an unoriginal & generic person.The more the audience knows about the character, the more engaged in the film they will most likely be.

Task 15 Final Storyboard and Shot List

This is the storyboard that we created for our movie opening sequence. On the piece of paper there are 18 boxes each side that equate to 36 overall. However after filling in several boxes, we realised that we didn't include spaces for the producers, distributors and film certification codes at the beginning. 

When creating the storyboard we tried as hard as we could to make each and every shot unique, however we found out that this wasn't essential because after watching several film openings amidst the process of creating it was apparent that film makers often re-use the same camera angle/shot, so we replicated this instead.

After adding the finishing touches on the storyboard we then produced a shot list for each individual frame. This time we remembered to include the producers and distributors as shots on the list. Within the shot list we added multiple categories such as:

• Shot number
• Shot type/Camera angle
• Location of shot
• Minor description of shot

We also added an extra spare column at the end of these in case we thought of something to add whilst we were writing, which would save us having to create another template. Initially we were going to add a 'shot duration' column, however we didn't add it in the end because we though that we would probably adapt or change this during filming if we werent too pleased.

Learning Comment

From doing this task I have learned that draft storyboards shouldn't be too neat as they are not final (however in this case it was our final in the end). This was a mistake I made as I spent too much time doing some of the drawings on the sheet rather than thinking of any ideas for the upcoming shots. As a result of this our time to think about possible shots was shortened, which could harm the authenticity and quality of our film. On shot lists too  there must be room for improvement, so everything initially must be written in pencil before pen.

Task 12 Thinking of a Concept

This is our final mind-map that we produced for our opening film sequence. Although we had several different ideas prior to this, we decided to not write them down unless we came up with a solid idea we both agreed on. Within our mindmap we included several categories that would construct our sequence, these included:

• Narrative
• Location(s)
• Props
• Characters
• Shot Ideas/Possibilities

Another small category we included was the title. We both wanted the title to reflect heavily on the film's narrative, so we came up with several ideas each in our pair. One title I really liked was called 'Yesterday's Tomorrow' because the film revolves around a teenage boy's premonitions, whilst sounding quite vague at the same time. Together however we ultimately decided on 'Stalker' because it sounds simple, yet is very effective as it is easily linked with the narrative.

Learning Comments

When creating our mind-map we realised how important verbal communication is with your partner(s) as you must share ideas with each other, before finally deciding together what you will choose. If one member has a great idea in their head but decide not to share it then the idea is wasted, which could potentially lead to a better film sequence. I also learned that initial ideas should be written down somewhere on a different, possibly scrap, piece of paper so that they can be revisited if they are wanted/needed.

Draft Script Task 14

Audience Profile Task 13

The target age for our audience will be 16+, this is because it is a thriller which may include slightly violent scenes which would not be suitable for younger viewers. This sequence will feature a teen as the star which would also make this age group feel more relatable to the character in the film.

Audience Theories 

The Uses and Gratifications Model:

This is a theory where the audience are active when viewing a text, film, or T.V program.
The audience usually use the media for their own entertainment

Because the audience is in control of what they view, for e.g the genre of the movie, they are able to use it as a range of different emotional stimuli like relaxation, emotional satisfaction or help with issues of social identity

Reception Theory:

This theory considers how texts include with deeper moral meanings, and how they are understood by the audience. Audiences will either understand the deeper meaning/message, or on the other hand they will misunderstand or reject the idea. The audiences view is described as either:
Dominant - this is where an audience understands the meaning and generally agrees with it
Negotiated - this is where an audience neither agrees, nor disagrees with meaning, or holds no interest
Oppositional - this is where an audience understands the meaning, but rejects it, maybe because of cultural, political or ideological views they hold.

Location

The two main locations we will be shooting are the street(near a local shop) and inside a house. This is where the first half of our sequence is set. This sets the dark tone of our movie as the time of day is set  in the evening. The second part of our sequence is set in the character's house. This sets the coming of age genre as it shows the teenager doing things you associate with ordinary people.

Risk Assesment

Weather

We have decided to shoot our practice filming on Saturday the 19th of November as during this day the weather would be at its best. This day is perfect as we will be free all day to film so if there are any mistakes made there will be time to reshoot. Another thing we took into account was the visibility. Our filming will include longshots, and that day visibility looks like it will be good. Is visibility was poor.

Sound

Another thing which can effect the filming is the sound. The wind is a major factor and can make it hard to film because it can't be controlled. We can fix this by recording our sound separately from the filming in order to minimise any problems. This will ensure our sound is good quality. The problem with this is it increases the risk of a flaw in continuity.

Filming

A problem that can effect our filming is the lighting. Because this is a little to no budget project the lighting may become a problem as we will film some scenes at night. We have tried to fix this by filming in an area that has street lights. this will make it much easier to see; although in area where the light isn't shining it may be too dark to see, luckily this will add to the horror theme of our movie.

Creative Task 5: Create a continuity sequence of at least 20 different shots

Creative task 2- Match on Action

Overview of Our Work

Analyse previous students work

Representation in film

Task 9 from Jii Hol

Narrative Structure

Propp:
Movie: I Am Legend
Hero(Protagonist): Robert Neville(Will Smith)
Sidekick: Sam(German shepherd)
This scene shows the two main characters in the movie. The opening scene shows a man and his dog who act as the protagonist and sidekick of Prop's theory
Other Propp characters in the story come later on in the movie as this movie is mostly about the isolation of a man with his dog.

Movie: Deadpool

Todorov-Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure where they begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored

This scene shows the protagonist hunting with his companion, which is soon disturbed by a pack of lions stealing his "prey". This suggests that the movie will be about Man vs Nature. The equilibrium of this part is where the man and the dog are in the car together. The dog has her head out the window showing how peaceful it is.

The disruption that soon takes place is a group of deer running out in front of the car. The man now becomes more serious with intent as they start hunting. This equilibrium is soon disrupted  by a pack of lions stealing his prey.
 There seems like it is going to be conflict but it is soon resolved as the hero hears his watch go off indicating it was time to leave


Levi-Strauss- Binary Opposites(Good vs Evil)
In the I am Legend Opening scenes the Binary opposites are made very clear using lighting. There was a normal and somewhat warm vibe coming from the parts of the scene where there was light but as it became darker the mood changed. There was also fear in the protagonists eyes as he looked into the darkness as if he shouldn't be there.

Barthes:
Barthes said that texts were either open or closed and had a theory that films all followed the same codes. there are many different codes he said that films followed for example The Hermeneutic Code, The Enigma Code, The Symbolic Code, The Cultural Code and The Semantic Code

Learning Comment

From completing this task I have become aware of multiple narrative theories, and why it is important to have a structure to your film. I have also learned how important it is to give the audience some information within the opening sequence in order for them to get hooked into the plot of the movie using structures that are commonly seen in movies . I could use a dress code to help differentiate the binary opposites of good and evil. This would make it easier for the audience to keep up.

Title Research

Task 7 from Jii Hol


Learning Comments

From doing this task I've realised how important it is that the style or font is important and should either directly link or relate to the movie. I think that the typography helps you try to guess what type of movie it is. This is important as the audience will then immediately be drawn into the movie. If there was just a boring font you might lose the attention of the audience too quickly. I also think that the background behind the typography is important.

Creative Task 4: Create a Title Credit Sequence

Remake
This is the remake of the opening scene credits of the film Drive. I chose this because I like the typography as it is an eye-catching font type. It may not be an 80's film but the font type has an 80s look. We couldn't replicate the original the original font as iMovie dint have the exact font type so we chose a font type which was similar to the original(Brush Script MT Italic). During this task we focused on typography so the remaking of the scene was not important.

Learning comments
The first thing I noticed about remaking this title sequence is the timing is important. If the words appear too quickly after each other or disappear too quickly this makes it too hard to read. The style/font of the typography is also important as it reflects the style and mood of the movie. Another thing which is important is consistency. If a word was up for too long then this may make it lose its importance. I think that some breaks in the title sequence were too long and some words may have been missed by the audience as they were focusing on the background of the movie.

Creative Task 3- Opening Scene Remake

This is the remake of Step Brothers (2008) scene where the two main characters meet for the first time. This is also the scene where the title appears which adds to the dramatic mood which is set between the two. This scene is important because it shows immediate tension between the two setting a serious mood to the film even though its a comedy.
Learning Comments

From making this I learned the importance of control of things like background noises and the wind. This can be solved my fitting microphones on our shirts. We got around this by lowering the sound of the surroundings. Another thing that is important is consistency. I had to mark out different foot spots so I remembered where I stood to ensure that it was consistent.

Audience Research

Audience Research

Audience Research from Jii Hol

Task 5

Greg Mottola Director Case Study- Oojii Hollis from Jii Hol

Learning Comments
From this I learned that director's try and use personal experiences or other peoples experiences to base a movie around. This helps viewers to associate with the things that happen with in the film and relate them to their own lives. This not only engages the viewers but may also help them feel nostalgia about stuff, for e.g their awkward teenage years(which Mottola usually focuses on).

Task 4 - Producers and Distributors

What is a film producer?

Producers, whether they're employed as part of a wider production company or independently, are responsible for filling a large variety of roles to do with the film. They plan and coordinate many aspects of the film's production, for example script writing, directors, editors and main cast. During production, they are the first point of contact for all production partners, investors and distributors. Producers must approve every change made to the film. During post-production, they deal with financing and distribution companies to plan how the film will be marketed.

What is a film distributor?

A film distributor is responsible for the marketing of a film, and has become a key part in film production financing. The distributors are usually a different company than the production company. A distributors job may involve setting a release date for the particular film, and distributing the film to various viewing platforms such as cinemas or even straight to Bluray/DVD. The primary distributor will then most-likely receive a notable mention in the film's credits sequence. 

Warner Bros. Entertainment

Where are they based/ who owns them?

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (often referred to as Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. or WB) is an American entertainment company owned by Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank, California. Warner Bros. has subsidiaries including DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Interactive, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock Entertainment and Turner Entertainment, as well as half of The CW network.

What they produce

Warner Bros. Pictures produces and distributes a wide-ranging slate of some 18-22 films each year, employing a business paradigm that mitigates risk while maximizing productivity and capital. Warner Bros. Pictures either fully finances or co-finances the films it produces and maintains worldwide distribution rights. It also monetizes its distribution and marketing operations by distributing films that are totally financed and produced by third parties. Among the films on Warner Bros. Pictures’ 2016 slate are Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Conjuring 2 (from New Line Cinema), Suicide Squad, Sully, Storks, The Accountant and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Famous Films

The Dark Knight-2008 ($534,967,647)

The Dark Knight Rises-2012($448,768,456)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2-2011 ($381,011,219)

American Sniper-2014 ($350,126,372)

Common Film certificate

A very common certificate which is being used recently is DC comics. Warner Bros. are the producers of any DC films or cartoons.

Fox Entertainment Group (20th Century Fox)

Where are they based/who owns them?

The Fox Entertainment Group is an American entertainment company . The company is wholly owned and controlled by the American media conglomerate 21st Century Fox, which is owned and chaired by Rupert Murdoch, since the company acquired all the stock of Fox.

What they produce

Fox entertainment group produce mainly four segments, mainly filmed entertainment, television stations, television broadcast networks, and cable network programming.

Famous Films

Avatar-2009 ($760,507,625)

Titanic-1997 ($658,672,302)

Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace ($474,544,677)

Deadpool-2016 ($363,070,709)

Paramount Pictures

Where are they based/who owns them?

Paramount Pictures corporation is an American film studio, television production company and motion picture distributor, consistently ranked as one of the "Big Six" film studios of Hollywood. It was founded on May 8, 1912 by W. W. Hodkinson Adolph Zukor Jesse L. Lasky. Their Headquarters is currently located in Hollywood, California. their current revenue is $2.885 billion. Their current owner is Viacom. Paramount pictures have produced classics such as Titanic starring Lionardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet.

What they produce

Feature film production and distribution, video and DVD worldwide distribution, and production of programs for television broadcast and syndication.

Famous Films

Forrest Gump-1994 ($330,252,182)
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen-2009 ($402,111,870)
Shrek the Third-2007 ($322,719,944)
Iron Man-2008 ($318,412,101)

Minor Film Companies



Where are they based/ who owns them?
United Artists (UA) is an American film and television entertainment studio. The studio was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, with the intention of controlling their own interests rather than depending upon the powerful commercial studios.

What they produce

United artists produce tv, movies and music. This minor company is owned by the bigger and more known company MGM.

Famous Films

• Gone With The Wind (1939, $189,000,000)
• Rain Man (1988, $172,000,000)
• Die Another Day (2002, $160,000,000)
• Other films include: the Rocky series, many of the older James Bond films, and Hannibal.
• They have also distributed films such as Spectre and Hot Tub Time Machine

Learning Comments

Most big name companies are located in America. America is known for being a well known location in the entertainment business. Most actors travel here in order to get a "shot at fame. These studios are usually based in Hollywood. This is where the most money is involved or can be made. 

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task






During the opening few shots I feel like the transitioning between shots has been edited to look very smooth, giving the illusion to the viewer that the sequences happen seamlessly. There is little-to-no jump-cutting, which is a significant improvement over our first creative task. We used the camera techniques to great effect, especially when picking up the bag nearing the end, where 3 different shots have been edited to flow neatly together. However, there were also a few continuity issues during our video. For example, when the shot-reverse-shot sequence of the conversation takes place, there are a couple of moments where my head is at a different angle to the previous shot. There was also a shot where the lighting significantly changes to gloomy, whereas the rest of the shots were quite bright.
Lastly, the sound needs to be improved, as sometimes the characters alter their volume by accident when speaking, which also isn't helped by issues such as wind and poor sound recording in general by the iPhone. This can be solved by using mics.

Learner comments

In this task I have learned the importance of continuity between numerous shots. The match on action shots make films more interesting than only a single shot, however are harder to pull off and edit it to transition seamlessly. I have also realised the need to talk clearly during a video to avoid confusion as to what's being said. Finally, next time editing I must play the 'finished' film several times with loud volume, to be completely sure that I have cut every individual mistake.

Conventions of an Opening Sequence

Task 3 from Jii Hol

Learning Comments
This task helped me realise how directors try and set the mood of movies early on in the movie.

Time Toast

Time Toast


http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/1346645

Creative Task 1- Reverse shot, 180 Rule

This is our first attempt of the 180 degree rule. In this video we used a shot reverse shot method. We tried to create a normal conversation.

Pros 
We used the shot reverse shot technique very well and we timed our cuts to the scene well. The editing was accurate and we were able to crop out the cameraman shouting go. The camera angle was good and mostly consistent and we used the 180 degree rule to full extent.

Cons
There was wind which can be heard on video. We didn't speak loud enough at times. The continuity of the reverse shots towards the end had problems.

Learning Comments
After completing this task I've learnt the importance of the 180 degree rule and the confusion it causes if the rule was broken. I've also learnt that when filming scenes like this, you should use a landscape view rather than a portrait view when filming with an IPhone 6. This is because on a computer the portrait view does not convert properly.