This work has now been marked. Please ignore any posts made after this date.
Thank you!
Monday, 2 April 2012
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Evaluation- 7
Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
(adam)Since creating our preliminary task we have both learned an awful lot about both camera work and editing.
The main thing which we have both learned about editing after creating our final piece was the importance of making the sequence flow. This took some time to learn and many failed attempts but once we learnt how to do it correctly, we found that our media product benefited greatly from it. The way in which we made the sequence flow better was by cutting down each scene in a specific way to make it compliment the beat of the music and making each scene short and to the point.
(jake)In our final product, we had a much wider range of camera shots compared to our preliminary task which made our film opening look more professional and also show the progress we have made since the beginning of the year. Below are some example of different camera shots used in our final media product:
For the first scene in our opening sequence we used a Medium close up as shown on the left of your screen. This was a very basic camera shot but it served a good purpose for what we wanted from this scene.
This scene in our opening sequence uses a range of camera shots where the character "Mick" is fighting someone. This particular shot of him on the left of the screen shows an extreme close up of the character. This shot gives the scene variation and works well for the type of film we are creating.
This particular camera shot is called a Cut-in where the camera is focused on a different part of the subject in more detail, for example in this scene, the camera is focused on "Billy Rich" doing his tie.
(adam)Since creating our preliminary task we have both learned an awful lot about both camera work and editing.
The main thing which we have both learned about editing after creating our final piece was the importance of making the sequence flow. This took some time to learn and many failed attempts but once we learnt how to do it correctly, we found that our media product benefited greatly from it. The way in which we made the sequence flow better was by cutting down each scene in a specific way to make it compliment the beat of the music and making each scene short and to the point.
(jake)In our final product, we had a much wider range of camera shots compared to our preliminary task which made our film opening look more professional and also show the progress we have made since the beginning of the year. Below are some example of different camera shots used in our final media product:
For the first scene in our opening sequence we used a Medium close up as shown on the left of your screen. This was a very basic camera shot but it served a good purpose for what we wanted from this scene.
This scene in our opening sequence uses a range of camera shots where the character "Mick" is fighting someone. This particular shot of him on the left of the screen shows an extreme close up of the character. This shot gives the scene variation and works well for the type of film we are creating.
This particular camera shot is called a Cut-in where the camera is focused on a different part of the subject in more detail, for example in this scene, the camera is focused on "Billy Rich" doing his tie.
Evaluation 6
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
(jake)In constructing our product the main pieces of technology used were the camera and the Mac.
Camera:
We used a HD ready panasonic camcorder to record our opening sequence. The camera was small which helped in the creation of the film because it could be transported and carried around with ease. The picture quality was good enough for what we wanted to create, however the lighting was a problem at some points, for example, in the first scene we had to experiment with a few different lightings before getting it right. The camera itself was very efficient at recording and playing back footage which aided greatly in the final filming of the sequence.
Software:
The software we used for editing the film opening was "Final Cut Pro" which helped greatly because it was quite easy to use. Since the beginning of the course we have both learned a lot about Final Cut Pro. Such as how to add music to the opening sequence and how to edit the sequence to make it look smoother and flow better.
Photoshop:
We used photoshop for a range of things, but most of all we used it to create our freeze frames. These freeze frames were made by taking a screenshot of the part of the opening which we wanted the freeze frame to apear. Once this was decided, we put the picture into photoshop and cycled through the different tools which give different effects. Once we found one we liked, we saved that picture with the characters names above. Then we added those picture into Final Cut Pro in the appropriate place.
Youtube: We used youtube to upload our final piece into so that we could share it with our friends and families to give us feedback.
(jake)In constructing our product the main pieces of technology used were the camera and the Mac.
Camera:
We used a HD ready panasonic camcorder to record our opening sequence. The camera was small which helped in the creation of the film because it could be transported and carried around with ease. The picture quality was good enough for what we wanted to create, however the lighting was a problem at some points, for example, in the first scene we had to experiment with a few different lightings before getting it right. The camera itself was very efficient at recording and playing back footage which aided greatly in the final filming of the sequence.
Software:
The software we used for editing the film opening was "Final Cut Pro" which helped greatly because it was quite easy to use. Since the beginning of the course we have both learned a lot about Final Cut Pro. Such as how to add music to the opening sequence and how to edit the sequence to make it look smoother and flow better.
Photoshop:
Youtube: We used youtube to upload our final piece into so that we could share it with our friends and families to give us feedback.
Evaluation 4
Who would be the audience for your media product?
(adam)We are in a situation with our media product in which it is very apparent as to who our target audience is. We are ideally trying to tap into the young males demographic, this is the ideal demographic for our film as it is one that has a reputation for being the main audience for all action, thriller and gangster movies.
When choosing our genre and audience we wanted to pick one which both of us knew quite a lot about. This helped a lot in the long run because we both had a firm understanding of what Ganster/thriller films look like. The way in which to make our film opening apeal to our audience was by adding conventions of the ganster genre into our opening sequence. Some of these conventions include: Guns, Money and violence which seem to apeal to that age range of males.
(adam)We are in a situation with our media product in which it is very apparent as to who our target audience is. We are ideally trying to tap into the young males demographic, this is the ideal demographic for our film as it is one that has a reputation for being the main audience for all action, thriller and gangster movies.
When choosing our genre and audience we wanted to pick one which both of us knew quite a lot about. This helped a lot in the long run because we both had a firm understanding of what Ganster/thriller films look like. The way in which to make our film opening apeal to our audience was by adding conventions of the ganster genre into our opening sequence. Some of these conventions include: Guns, Money and violence which seem to apeal to that age range of males.
evaluation-3
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
(jake)
When deciding which institution to distribute our film, we had to consider which would be the most effective in distributing our film we had to take into account the history of the company. After some research into many film institutions we decided that the best institution to distribute our film would be LionsGate.
We saw LionsGate as the best choice because of the films they have distributed in the past. They have been a very effective company in the distribution of films similar to ours both in genre and target audience.
(adam)
With the crime/gangster genre being a genre that is typically very male orientated we looked to a company which has marketed films to this audience before, with young male crowd pleasers such as "The Expendables", "The Mechanic" and "Conan The Barbarian". Films that were all a success in finding their target audience. More specifically Lionsgate have distributed crime/gangster films in the past such as "The Bank Job", "Harry Brown" and the currently in development adaptation of video game franchise "Kane and Lynch", another example of creating interest from this demographic (the young male demographic being the main audience for the video game media segment). By being able to target their audience so well Lionsgate have produced many box-office successes over the years which is what we would ideally want for our film.
(jake)
When deciding which institution to distribute our film, we had to consider which would be the most effective in distributing our film we had to take into account the history of the company. After some research into many film institutions we decided that the best institution to distribute our film would be LionsGate.
We saw LionsGate as the best choice because of the films they have distributed in the past. They have been a very effective company in the distribution of films similar to ours both in genre and target audience.
(adam)
With the crime/gangster genre being a genre that is typically very male orientated we looked to a company which has marketed films to this audience before, with young male crowd pleasers such as "The Expendables", "The Mechanic" and "Conan The Barbarian". Films that were all a success in finding their target audience. More specifically Lionsgate have distributed crime/gangster films in the past such as "The Bank Job", "Harry Brown" and the currently in development adaptation of video game franchise "Kane and Lynch", another example of creating interest from this demographic (the young male demographic being the main audience for the video game media segment). By being able to target their audience so well Lionsgate have produced many box-office successes over the years which is what we would ideally want for our film.
Evaluation-2
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
(adam)One example of our media product representing particular social groups is, in particular, the character of "Billy Rich" who we represented as obviously Rich by name and Rich by nature. We aimed to represent him as a richer member of society first by using mise en scene in terms of costume choices, the suit is a common way of representing a certain degree of social status, it brings a feeling of class and style to the character. Another character from popular media that is represented in such a way is James Bond who arguably popularised the trend of the suave suited character in films and other media. We ,as many film-makers have in the past, took example from this character and used the same mise en scene conventions as them to create a representation that audiences would be able to identify instantly as that of a rich and stylish gentleman.
(jake)The most obvious social group our film represents is the criminals that surround the genre. There really isn't much that defines a gang member in terms of costume choices unless it is an Italian mafia gang, in which the members would wear suits, for example. Instead it was the on screen appearance of the gang members personalities that was most important in the representation of the social group. We made a point of showing our characters to be aggressive in the case of Ray, Mick and Don Galanakis and others to show greed, in the case of Andre.
(adam)One example of our media product representing particular social groups is, in particular, the character of "Billy Rich" who we represented as obviously Rich by name and Rich by nature. We aimed to represent him as a richer member of society first by using mise en scene in terms of costume choices, the suit is a common way of representing a certain degree of social status, it brings a feeling of class and style to the character. Another character from popular media that is represented in such a way is James Bond who arguably popularised the trend of the suave suited character in films and other media. We ,as many film-makers have in the past, took example from this character and used the same mise en scene conventions as them to create a representation that audiences would be able to identify instantly as that of a rich and stylish gentleman.
(jake)The most obvious social group our film represents is the criminals that surround the genre. There really isn't much that defines a gang member in terms of costume choices unless it is an Italian mafia gang, in which the members would wear suits, for example. Instead it was the on screen appearance of the gang members personalities that was most important in the representation of the social group. We made a point of showing our characters to be aggressive in the case of Ray, Mick and Don Galanakis and others to show greed, in the case of Andre.
Evaluation-1
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
(adam)
When considering the conventions of the gangster film genre we were to include in our film, mis en scene was our primary concern. By paying close attention to mis en scene we were able to include many of the typical conventions necessary to establish our film into its genre. We included typical prop conventions such as: guns, money and drugs to do this. One film we can credit a great amount of influence to is "Snatch", from which we got our idea of using the updated western style freeze frames. Our opening remained fairly conventional of the gangster genre because of our mis en scene. Another convention we used was the choice of music. To identify our audience and to give the intended impression of this being a British gangster movie we used music from Brit-pop band "Oasis", a popular music choice among our intended audience of young males.
Freeze Frame
(jake)The first screen grab shows one of our freeze frames (Mick) in comparison to a freeze frame from the film snatch, this film was a major influence in the creation of our film. Me and Adam both felt that the use of freeze frames would give our film opening a sense of style that many gangster films utilise to mould the personality of the characters.
When using these freeze frames, the worry was that the film opening would look very similar to the film opening of snatch. Although this was the case, once our film had been edited and completed, its appearance was very different, but had similar themes.
(adam)
When considering the conventions of the gangster film genre we were to include in our film, mis en scene was our primary concern. By paying close attention to mis en scene we were able to include many of the typical conventions necessary to establish our film into its genre. We included typical prop conventions such as: guns, money and drugs to do this. One film we can credit a great amount of influence to is "Snatch", from which we got our idea of using the updated western style freeze frames. Our opening remained fairly conventional of the gangster genre because of our mis en scene. Another convention we used was the choice of music. To identify our audience and to give the intended impression of this being a British gangster movie we used music from Brit-pop band "Oasis", a popular music choice among our intended audience of young males.
Freeze Frame
(jake)The first screen grab shows one of our freeze frames (Mick) in comparison to a freeze frame from the film snatch, this film was a major influence in the creation of our film. Me and Adam both felt that the use of freeze frames would give our film opening a sense of style that many gangster films utilise to mould the personality of the characters.
When using these freeze frames, the worry was that the film opening would look very similar to the film opening of snatch. Although this was the case, once our film had been edited and completed, its appearance was very different, but had similar themes.
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Construction Final
The embedded video shows the result of all our work in filming, editing and planning. It is the final construction post-editing and is the basis for our evaluation.
Friday, 30 March 2012
Continuity sequence
(Adam)
The embedded video displays the continuity task we were required to do to display basic filming techniques. We were instructed to show on person walk through a door and film the come out the other side, this was to show that we could edit a segment on both sides of the door but still keep the footage flowing seamlessly. we were then required to do a shot reverse shot of myself and Jake exchanging a few lines of dialogue.
Thursday, 29 March 2012
E-mail asking Permission to use a song
(Jake)
As shown in this screenshot, we were required to e-mail Columbia records to get permission for the use of the song "F**king in the bushes" by Oasis in our media product.
As shown in this screenshot, we were required to e-mail Columbia records to get permission for the use of the song "F**king in the bushes" by Oasis in our media product.
Storyboard planning
Adam
1) This frame shows the character of Don Galanakis yelling at the other members of the gang behind a table.
2) This frame shows the freeze-frame of Don Galanakis yelling in a close up shot.
3) This frame shows a number of the objects that will be seen on the table where Andre is seated, they include: cocaine, a gun, a stack of money and then the full shot of of Andre at the table.
4) This frame show the freeze-frame of Andre lighting a cigarette from a flaming £50 note.
5) This frame displays the point of view shot of Mick fighting the character behind the camera.
6) This frame shows another freeze-frame of Mick standing over the point of view character.
7) This frame shows Billy Rich in his suit being brushed by Rent.
8) This frame shows the freeze-frame of Billy Rich.
9) This frame shows a full shot of Rent brushing off Billy Rich.
10) This frame shows the freeze-frame of Rent being pushed away by Billy Rich.
11) This frame shows Ray loading a gun and preparing for a raid of some kind.
12) This frame shows the freeze-frame of Rays aiming his gun and shouting a threat or demand.
13) This frame shows the freeze-frame of Red looking over files on another gang member with the intention of blowing their cover as the source.
14) This frame shows Red pushing the enter button of the laptop to secure the evidence of the gangs infiltrator.
We did not include the final clips of the film showing Ray to be the source because the decision to use those shots came at a much later date than storyboarding the film.
1) This frame shows the character of Don Galanakis yelling at the other members of the gang behind a table.
2) This frame shows the freeze-frame of Don Galanakis yelling in a close up shot.
3) This frame shows a number of the objects that will be seen on the table where Andre is seated, they include: cocaine, a gun, a stack of money and then the full shot of of Andre at the table.
4) This frame show the freeze-frame of Andre lighting a cigarette from a flaming £50 note.
5) This frame displays the point of view shot of Mick fighting the character behind the camera.
6) This frame shows another freeze-frame of Mick standing over the point of view character.
7) This frame shows Billy Rich in his suit being brushed by Rent.
8) This frame shows the freeze-frame of Billy Rich.
9) This frame shows a full shot of Rent brushing off Billy Rich.
10) This frame shows the freeze-frame of Rent being pushed away by Billy Rich.
11) This frame shows Ray loading a gun and preparing for a raid of some kind.
12) This frame shows the freeze-frame of Rays aiming his gun and shouting a threat or demand.
13) This frame shows the freeze-frame of Red looking over files on another gang member with the intention of blowing their cover as the source.
14) This frame shows Red pushing the enter button of the laptop to secure the evidence of the gangs infiltrator.
We did not include the final clips of the film showing Ray to be the source because the decision to use those shots came at a much later date than storyboarding the film.
Sound editing diary entry
(Adam)
When deciding what music to use in our film opening we had to take into account the genre and audience for our film. Once we did this we narrowed the choice down to a few different songs. In the end we decided to use "f###ing in the bushes" by Oasis. This was an obvioius choice in the end because it fitted so well into our opening sequence and also our target audience.
When first creating our opening sequence we had a good idea on how we wanted the music to influence our opening. When it came to adding the music to our opening sequence we wanted the shouting at the start of the song to apear as the opening credits are on screen and then the guitar to cut in as soon as the moving images began. This worked really well and it gave our work a more proffesional feel.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Shot List
(Jake)
1) Idents
2) Titles
3) Medium shot of "Don Galanakis" shouting towards the camera.
4) Close up shot of hands cutting lines of coke.
5) £20 notes falling from the sky.
6) Medium shot of "Andre" wiping face clean with £20 notes.
7) Close up of "Andre" lighting a cigarette with a £20 note.
8) Point of view shot, the character "Mick" fighting someone (The camera)
9) Extreme close up of character "Billy Rich" pulling suit cuffs tight.
10) Another extreme close up of "Billy Rich" this time pulling his tie tight.
11) Medium shot of "Billy Rich" posing in a stance whilst his suit is being dusted off.
12) Over the shoulder shot of "Billy Rich" getting his suit dusted off by "Rent". Then "Rent" gets hit onto the bed by "Billy Rich"
13) Close up of "Rent" looking scared after being hit onto the bed by "Billy Rich"
14) Close up of a gun being loaded by "Ray"
15) Another close up of "Ray" putting the loaded gun into the back of his jeans.
16) Wide shot of "Ray" walking onto the shot and pointed the gun at someone.
17) Medium shot of "Red" typing something on a laptop.
18) Extreme close up of "Red" clicking the enter button. (Meant to imply something important)
19) Quick flash of "Billy Rich" Slapping "Ray"
20) Then another flash of "Billy Rich" shooting "Ray" in the kneecap.
21) Finally, the last shot in the opening is of "Billy Rich" pointing a gun to "Ray"'s head, the screen then goes black and a gun is fired, the words "The Source" then apear (Title of film).
1) Idents
2) Titles
3) Medium shot of "Don Galanakis" shouting towards the camera.
4) Close up shot of hands cutting lines of coke.
5) £20 notes falling from the sky.
6) Medium shot of "Andre" wiping face clean with £20 notes.
7) Close up of "Andre" lighting a cigarette with a £20 note.
8) Point of view shot, the character "Mick" fighting someone (The camera)
9) Extreme close up of character "Billy Rich" pulling suit cuffs tight.
10) Another extreme close up of "Billy Rich" this time pulling his tie tight.
11) Medium shot of "Billy Rich" posing in a stance whilst his suit is being dusted off.
12) Over the shoulder shot of "Billy Rich" getting his suit dusted off by "Rent". Then "Rent" gets hit onto the bed by "Billy Rich"
13) Close up of "Rent" looking scared after being hit onto the bed by "Billy Rich"
14) Close up of a gun being loaded by "Ray"
15) Another close up of "Ray" putting the loaded gun into the back of his jeans.
16) Wide shot of "Ray" walking onto the shot and pointed the gun at someone.
17) Medium shot of "Red" typing something on a laptop.
18) Extreme close up of "Red" clicking the enter button. (Meant to imply something important)
19) Quick flash of "Billy Rich" Slapping "Ray"
20) Then another flash of "Billy Rich" shooting "Ray" in the kneecap.
21) Finally, the last shot in the opening is of "Billy Rich" pointing a gun to "Ray"'s head, the screen then goes black and a gun is fired, the words "The Source" then apear (Title of film).
Monday, 26 March 2012
Editing diary entry
(Adam)
When editing our construction it was a simple process of just choosing which pieces of each characters intro we wanted to include, when we filmed our opening we made sure that we filmed continuously for each characters part. By doing this we were able to give ourselves a choice when it came to using only the best pieces of footage.
(Jake)
The editing itself didn't was reasonably easy due to the software we used "final cut pro" which aided greatly in the editing of of our film opening. The "cut tool" was the tool which we used most of all as it allowed us to easily cut and trim parts of our opening. After showing our friends the rough cut of the film opening it was evident that some parts of our film needed to be edited. The reason for this was due to some scenes dragging on which made the overall opening too long. After this feedback we began to cut the parts of the film which needed trimming down which gave our film a more fluent feel.
Using our practice piece in the final cut - diary entry
(Adam)
When we got to the end of editing our final cut we saw that it may be a good idea to utilise some footage from our practise coursework piece to improve our final cut. Our intention was always to have a proposed storyline in which the character of Ray turns out to be an informant for the police, this was, however, not made obvious by the initial final cut ( a close example of this can be seen in our rough cut ). So then that caused us to consider ways we could improve the construction and it just so happened that our practise piece was very similar in terms of characters to our final piece at the time. We then chose to use a series of clips showing what was an earlier version of the Billy Rich and Ray characters, the clips show Billy torturing Ray and are meant to show a glimpse of the film's later stages, with a complete film aiming to workup to that point.
When we got to the end of editing our final cut we saw that it may be a good idea to utilise some footage from our practise coursework piece to improve our final cut. Our intention was always to have a proposed storyline in which the character of Ray turns out to be an informant for the police, this was, however, not made obvious by the initial final cut ( a close example of this can be seen in our rough cut ). So then that caused us to consider ways we could improve the construction and it just so happened that our practise piece was very similar in terms of characters to our final piece at the time. We then chose to use a series of clips showing what was an earlier version of the Billy Rich and Ray characters, the clips show Billy torturing Ray and are meant to show a glimpse of the film's later stages, with a complete film aiming to workup to that point.
Film title choice - diary entry
(Adam)
The name of our film, after much discussion, was decided to be "The Source". It took us a long time to decide the title for our film, in fact it was the last thing we did after editing the rest of our opening, the main reason it took us a long time was because we found it hard to come up with what would have ideally been a short punchy title that avoids cliches. We chose "The Source" because it reflected what the film would be about had it been a full length feature (see film ideas diary entry post).
The name of our film, after much discussion, was decided to be "The Source". It took us a long time to decide the title for our film, in fact it was the last thing we did after editing the rest of our opening, the main reason it took us a long time was because we found it hard to come up with what would have ideally been a short punchy title that avoids cliches. We chose "The Source" because it reflected what the film would be about had it been a full length feature (see film ideas diary entry post).
film ideas diary entry
(Adam & Jake)
When creating our film opening it was important for us to consider how the rest of our film would take shape. For us it was more of a case of thinking up a whole movie concept and working back from there. We had a good idea of what we were aiming for when we were coming up with a concept mostly through experience of watching films in the crime thriller/gangster genre. We were particularly drawn to the idea of an informant based storyline, whereby the gang is infiltrated by an outside source perhaps linked to the police or a rival gang. The aim of our opening was to introduce the gang members individually as members of the gang in question, the flashes of film at the end are intended to give the audience an idea of who the informant is and a look into a later part of the film. Our film's storyline or rather chain of events is set to show the story of how "the source" became involved in the gang and the series of events that happen for the source to be found out and then how the source escapes the involvement of the gang.
When creating our film opening it was important for us to consider how the rest of our film would take shape. For us it was more of a case of thinking up a whole movie concept and working back from there. We had a good idea of what we were aiming for when we were coming up with a concept mostly through experience of watching films in the crime thriller/gangster genre. We were particularly drawn to the idea of an informant based storyline, whereby the gang is infiltrated by an outside source perhaps linked to the police or a rival gang. The aim of our opening was to introduce the gang members individually as members of the gang in question, the flashes of film at the end are intended to give the audience an idea of who the informant is and a look into a later part of the film. Our film's storyline or rather chain of events is set to show the story of how "the source" became involved in the gang and the series of events that happen for the source to be found out and then how the source escapes the involvement of the gang.
Editing diary entry (photoshop)
(Adam)
An important part of our editing is the use of photoshop to create or freeze-frames. The frames were something we wanted to include because they were a clear cut way to introduce the personalities and character roles of the characters. We took influence in using this idea from old western films and more directly from the film "Snatch". To create the effect on the pictures we exported them into photoshop individually and used the "cutout" filter. For some of the pictures this was all that was needed but for most of them we also needed to alter the brightness and sharpness of the edges to produce a clear enough picture, this was due to the quality of the frames depending on the background they were taken in front of.
This screenshot shows how we created the screenshot of Ray, this frame in particular was a good example of how the characters backgrounds were vital in creating a good freeze-frame with the red canvases behind Adam creating a red effect on the whole picture.
After the transformation using the filters was complete we put the text over the pictures to show the characters name along with that of the actor portraying them. For this we chose to download a font called Urban Jungle due to the lack of originality that could be found with any of the pre-loaded fonts on the mac.
An important part of our editing is the use of photoshop to create or freeze-frames. The frames were something we wanted to include because they were a clear cut way to introduce the personalities and character roles of the characters. We took influence in using this idea from old western films and more directly from the film "Snatch". To create the effect on the pictures we exported them into photoshop individually and used the "cutout" filter. For some of the pictures this was all that was needed but for most of them we also needed to alter the brightness and sharpness of the edges to produce a clear enough picture, this was due to the quality of the frames depending on the background they were taken in front of.
After the transformation using the filters was complete we put the text over the pictures to show the characters name along with that of the actor portraying them. For this we chose to download a font called Urban Jungle due to the lack of originality that could be found with any of the pre-loaded fonts on the mac.
Initial Ideas Diary Entry
(Adam&Jake)
To make our media product its most effective we think it would be a good idea if we were to make a construction that we are part of the target audience for. We first considered the types of movies that our demographic (young males)typically enjoy, upon researching and through our own personal experience we saw that the most popular genres among young males were action movies, comedies, thrillers and gangster films. We are currently most strongly considering the gangster genre of film. We feel that this is a genre we will be able to pull off easily due to our own tastes of film and also because of the opportunities it gives us to experiment with elements of mise en scene and other conventions, of which the genre has many.
To make our media product its most effective we think it would be a good idea if we were to make a construction that we are part of the target audience for. We first considered the types of movies that our demographic (young males)typically enjoy, upon researching and through our own personal experience we saw that the most popular genres among young males were action movies, comedies, thrillers and gangster films. We are currently most strongly considering the gangster genre of film. We feel that this is a genre we will be able to pull off easily due to our own tastes of film and also because of the opportunities it gives us to experiment with elements of mise en scene and other conventions, of which the genre has many.
Weekend of filming diary entry
(Adam)
Initially we had planned for all cast members to be filmed on the saturday, however due to our film recruiting so many cast members not directly associated with the project reliability was an issue. We were able to film Red, Ray and Andre on the saturday but due to cast members pulling out we were unable to film anymore on that day. On the monday we were able to film all the remaining parts (Don, Rent, Billy and Mick). Due to our own time constraints with filming clashing with those of originally intended cast members we had to re-cast the characters of Rent and Mick. This was not too much of a hassle as we were able to reach the desired effect with these re-castings as the new actors were very similar to the ones originally intended.
Initially we had planned for all cast members to be filmed on the saturday, however due to our film recruiting so many cast members not directly associated with the project reliability was an issue. We were able to film Red, Ray and Andre on the saturday but due to cast members pulling out we were unable to film anymore on that day. On the monday we were able to film all the remaining parts (Don, Rent, Billy and Mick). Due to our own time constraints with filming clashing with those of originally intended cast members we had to re-cast the characters of Rent and Mick. This was not too much of a hassle as we were able to reach the desired effect with these re-castings as the new actors were very similar to the ones originally intended.
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Shooting schedule
(Adam)Friday 24th Feb:
Saturday 25th Feb: film the parts of Ray, Red and Andre.
Sunday 26th Feb:
Monday 27th Feb: Film the parts for Don Galanakis, Billy Rich, Rent and Mick.
Prop list:
- Prop gun, appears multiple times in the film
- Poker visor, worn by Andre in the money scene
- Fake money computer prints, also used in the Andre scene
- Table salt false cocaine, used in Andre scene
- Suit, used by Billy Rich
- Fluff collector, used on Billy by Rent
- Cane, used by Billy Rich
- Folder, used By Red
- Laptop, used by Red
(Jake)
Costumes: The only character that required an organised costume was Billy Rich as he needed to be wearing a suit for the purposes of mise en scene, all other characters just wore their own clothes as we wanted the characters to appear more real.
Locations:
All parts of the film were done in Adams house excluding the torture scenes at the end which were using Jakes garage. The scene where Mick is introduced was filmed in the road outside Adam's house, more or less counting as the same location.
Saturday 25th Feb: film the parts of Ray, Red and Andre.
Sunday 26th Feb:
Monday 27th Feb: Film the parts for Don Galanakis, Billy Rich, Rent and Mick.
Prop list:
- Prop gun, appears multiple times in the film
- Poker visor, worn by Andre in the money scene
- Fake money computer prints, also used in the Andre scene
- Table salt false cocaine, used in Andre scene
- Suit, used by Billy Rich
- Fluff collector, used on Billy by Rent
- Cane, used by Billy Rich
- Folder, used By Red
- Laptop, used by Red
(Jake)
Costumes: The only character that required an organised costume was Billy Rich as he needed to be wearing a suit for the purposes of mise en scene, all other characters just wore their own clothes as we wanted the characters to appear more real.
Locations:
All parts of the film were done in Adams house excluding the torture scenes at the end which were using Jakes garage. The scene where Mick is introduced was filmed in the road outside Adam's house, more or less counting as the same location.
Monday, 6 February 2012
Distribution company choice.
(Adam)
Based upon our films genre it was right that we were to choose a distribution company which has successfully represented our genre in the past, after some research into active distributors in the UK we made the decision that Lionsgate would be the best candidate for our film. With the crime/gangster genre being a genre that is typically very male orientated we looked to a company which has marketed films to this audience before, with young male crowd pleasers such as "The Expendables", "The Mechanic" and "Conan The Barbarian". Films that were all a success in finding their target audience. More specifically Lionsgate have distributed crime/gangster films in the past such as "The Bank Job", "Harry Brown" and the currently in development adaptation of video game franchise "Kane and Lynch". By being able to target their audience so well Lionsgate have produced many box-office successes over the years which is what we would ideally want for our film.
Monday, 30 January 2012
Iconography Collage
(Adam)This collage shows a selection of photos that tie in with our research, essentially this displays what gangster films mean to us. Many of the images contain money or related items, this shows that we believe the main focus of this genre of film is, indeed, that of money and trying to make it by any means neccessary. Another theme displayed is that of violence, another important convention of the genre, violence is often seen as the defining factor in gangster films because of the iconic scenes of violence films of the genre have shown in the past.
Monday, 23 January 2012
Research into iconic directors
(Jake)Throughout the gangster and crime thriller genre there are few names that are as iconic and instantly associated with the genre as Quentin Tarantino. Quentin first shot to fame with Reservoir dogs in 1992 an independent film that has since become one of the genres most iconic films, making particularly good use of the "men in suits" convention seen in plenty of other gangster movies. Tarantino also went on to make other critically acclaimed gangster/crime thriller movies such as Jackie Brown and the now legendary Pulp Fiction.
(Adam)He often leaves a very recognisable personal touch to all of his movies, his constant use of popular culture references always works in his favour when appealing to fans. He has also become legendary for the level of violence often introduced into his films, typical of the gangster/crime genre, famous scenes include the interrogation by Mr Blonde of a police officer in Reservoir dogs and the battle between The Bride and the Crazy 88 in Kill Bill. and finally the most obvious of his personal conventions is the"Mexican standoff" which features in all but one of Tarantino's movies.
Like many other directors he tends to use the same actors for a lot of his films, these actors include: Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Uma Thurman, Michael Madsen and Samuel L Jackson.
Audience profile
(Adam & Jake)
Being a gangster film our film is likely to attract a certain target audience, after analysing data for the audiences of films in the same genre we can very easily see that our target demographic will be young males. The gangster genre is usually associated with drugs, money and guns which are not aimed at the younger audiences. However, these conventions of gangster films are often admired by the younger audience.
The action aspect of these types of films is also what often attracts this audience as that tends to be the theme that the younger male is engaged in most thoroughly, effectively, if it has guns and stereotypical male characters then they will watch it.
Due to the violence and bad language and various other content within, these films will almost all the time be a 15 certificate or above. Our film will be specifically aimed at this demographic because that is how it will be the most effective, however it is also important that we try to add at least some degree of mass appeal.
Being a gangster film our film is likely to attract a certain target audience, after analysing data for the audiences of films in the same genre we can very easily see that our target demographic will be young males. The gangster genre is usually associated with drugs, money and guns which are not aimed at the younger audiences. However, these conventions of gangster films are often admired by the younger audience.
The action aspect of these types of films is also what often attracts this audience as that tends to be the theme that the younger male is engaged in most thoroughly, effectively, if it has guns and stereotypical male characters then they will watch it.
Due to the violence and bad language and various other content within, these films will almost all the time be a 15 certificate or above. Our film will be specifically aimed at this demographic because that is how it will be the most effective, however it is also important that we try to add at least some degree of mass appeal.
Monday, 16 January 2012
analysis for a gangster film opening
The title sequence reflects the genre very effectively as it shows many of the conventions of gangster films, the most notable being money, we frequently see money and jewellery change hand through what we can expect is illegal methods. We see a scene of murder at the hands of the gang boss Brick Top, the typical "don" character, we also see the psychopath character Bullet Tooth Tony played by Vinnie Jones (who many see as the prototypical gangster film psychopath), the idiot Tommy and the "good guy" Turkish. The titles also reflect the genre by being very typical of the style of director Guy Ritchie, i.e. the freeze frame style that is almost reminiscent of western films from which many gangster film conventions originated, many of Guy Ritchie's gangster films (the genre he is most well known for) use this same style of introducing characters.
The use of the text/font design in the opening sequence is very significant as it uses large, capital text with stars either side of the font which are reminiscent of old boxing posters, boxing being a theme in the film.
Monday, 9 January 2012
conventions of gangster films.
Conventions of gangster films include:
As shown above there are many recurring themes and conventions in the gangster genre in relation to story and mise en scene. The conventions of the gangster genre can also be seen in the movie posters of films of the genre, these most frequently include a black and white image of one of the main characters, often wearing a suit and holding a gun (both conventions of the genre), examples of this include the posters for Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" and Brian DePalma's "Scarface".
In many gangster films the central characters are of a particular origin, the most common tend to be Italian Americans (see Godfather, Goodfellas etc.) and people from the East End Of London (see Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch etc.), this is likely due to stereotypical views of these types of people. There also tends to be a consistent format to the characters personalities and role within the gang, the typically include the leader (or Don depending on whether it is a mafia movie), the sensitive one (often the good guy at heart), the psychopath and the unintelligent one.
The stories are normally based around a mishap in the system of organised crime, whether it be a drug deal, bank robbery or anything that organised crime deals with. A good example of this would be Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" in which the robbery of a jewellers goes wrong and leaves the remaining members of the heist left to determine who the rat is.
Because of their visual conventions, classic gangster films such as scarface were accused of glamourising violence and thus presenting the criminal as the hero. Although on the face of it this appears to be the case as i said before the main protagonist always tends to be the good guy at heart even if their actions do not reflect it.
The history of gangster films
Gangster film date back to near the beginning of cinema during the silent era, one of the earliest examples of a film in this genre is "The musketeers of Pig Alley", made in 1912 it is a film based on the organised crime which is a convention of the genre. Earlier films of the genre had been produced as early as 1904, however these films were single reel and had not survived. Probably the most significant moment in history for the gangster film genre was the 1920's prohibition era in which alcohol was outlawed, along with an influx of immigrants into the United states organised crime flourished and led to the significance of real life figures such as Al Capone being publicise to a great degree. Since the prohibition era there have been many film adaptations of the events surrounding that time period, many of them including the roles of historical figures like Al Capone.
Fast forward to the 1970's and 80's and the crime/gangster genre is at its peak releasing such classic films as The Godfather, The French Connection and Scarface. These years saw classic directors of the genre brought to the top of the filmmaking industry such as Martin Scorcese and Francis Ford Coppola.
The 1990's also had their fair share of memorable gangster films, this was the decade that saw Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie rise to the top of the gangster film genre with films like Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Snatch. In terms of critical acclaim the gangster genre remains one of the most successful genres there is with films like The Godfather and Goodfellas, among many others, achieving academy recognition earning them oscars.
Fast forward to the 1970's and 80's and the crime/gangster genre is at its peak releasing such classic films as The Godfather, The French Connection and Scarface. These years saw classic directors of the genre brought to the top of the filmmaking industry such as Martin Scorcese and Francis Ford Coppola.
The 1990's also had their fair share of memorable gangster films, this was the decade that saw Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie rise to the top of the gangster film genre with films like Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Snatch. In terms of critical acclaim the gangster genre remains one of the most successful genres there is with films like The Godfather and Goodfellas, among many others, achieving academy recognition earning them oscars.
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