Final Project:
Evaluations:
Blog posts are in chronological order; the most recent ones appear first. All planning took place prior to the posting of the evaluations.
Friday, 8 March 2013
Jack's Evaluation
1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
3) What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
This question was a group task, and the answer in full can be found at our film's Wikispaces entry: http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/gatekeeper
4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
Owing to its distinct sci-fi stylings, our thriller would probably be suited to a more nerdy, scientifically-minded audience member, though still has more than enough mystery and broad “action” appeal to cover enough bases as a mainstream thriller. Our ideal audience member would have to be of at least moderate intelligence to understand the complexities and more scientific parts of the plot, and would likely be male, as the majority of sci-fi fans and “nerds” generally are (though I long for the day when women are just as equally represented in nerd circles as men are). Social class, disability and race are factors that I’d suggest don’t really matter, as they’re not represented differently or discriminated against in our film - though we would like them to have enough money to actually buy (a ticket to or retail release of) the movie, and enough of the “nerd” factor to want to purchase some merchandise.
In addition to that, they’d ideally be young; somewhere in their 20s, and either a university student or working professional. It’s not worth over-specialising beyond that, and the film will likely appeal to those in their late teens or early 30s, too. Their beliefs would ideally include a strong moral stance against human experimentation, and a distrust for governmental authority; although we’re not asking for a conspiracy theorist, someone with a suspicious, cynical and inquiring mind would fit the bill nicely. They should have a strong stance against discrimination of any kind, and libertarian attitudes towards social freedoms and a disdain for arbitrary governmental control.
5) How did you attract/ address your audience?
This was another group task, and for the full answer to this question, please read all of the annotations on the final version of the YouTube upload of our thriller opening (embedded below):
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Mac OS X: I have learned, from using Mac OS X in this project extensively, that it has absolutely no benefits whatsoever over a more open and non-exclusive operating system such as Windows, yet despite this, media industry professionals still cling to Macs like a baby clings to its mother. Its interface is clunky, imprecise, overly reliant on the mouse, and the whole OS is simply just a very slow, poorly designed and poorly optimised experience to chug through. Speaking completely literally, I have learned a variety of Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts, as well as getting to grips with the insane user interface and navigating through Finder. Christopher Columbus probably had an easier and more enjoyable time traversing the Atlantic than I did wading through Finder’s idiosyncrasies.
Final Cut Express: I have learned how to use the timeline to splice and cut footage, add copious effects and filters to said footage, insert text, music and generally make a very nice-looking video. I was quite impressed with Final Cut Express, actually; I found that its timeline worked in a similar way to that of Logic Pro, which I’m accustomed to in Music Technology. I guess that Mac-exclusive pieces of software like Logic Pro and Final Cut are the reasons behind the media industry relying on them so much - although, Adobe Premiere (and not Final Cut) is generally used professionally, and it’s also available on Windows (and often comes out first on Windows, with more features, optimisations and a better interface). It is, in fact, worth noting that I composed the entire soundtrack for the thriller entirely in a Windows-exclusive digital audio workstation named FL Studio - thus proving further that Macs haven’t been necessary (or even particularly relevant) since the ‘90s. I’d perhaps like to suggest that they’re running almost entirely on their former reputation.
YouTube: Confessedly, I’ve not learned anything new about YouTube in the duration of this course. I’m actually a YouTuber myself, and have a channel onto which I upload music - so annotations, tagging, uploading, and privacy settings I already had expertise in prior to the start of the course. I have, however, learned optimal settings for exporting videos in Final Cut so that they don’t lose too much quality when converted to YouTube format, and so that the upload process doesn’t take too long. I didn’t learn anything else about YouTube itself, though.
Blogger: Blogger was a completely new technology as far as I was concerned; having never blogged before, I was surprised as to how much HTML code was needed to fix mistakes and problems in the default Blogger script. Things such as <center> tags often broke, resulting in misplaced pictures, broken formatting on objects such as video embeds and dishevelled text. In addition, I learned about how to tag different posts correctly, and use the default Blogger post editor (bearing in mind its poor browser compatibility) effectively. As well as that, I also learned of the shocking disconnect between Google’s Docs system and their Blogger system, as well as the differences between “Blogger” and “Blogspot” and the unimportance of the URL’s suffix (e.g. “.co.uk” or “.com”). I personally prefer the ease, reliability and simplicity of tumblr.
Canon Legria Camcorder: Having never operated a camcorder before, (not for any kind of serious filming, at least) all of the filming techniques used in the production were almost completely alien to me - though I didn’t need to be shown more than once how to transfer footage from the camera to the Mac. What I found difficult about this particular model of camera was that it filmed in interlaced 50fps, making down-scaling to YouTube’s 30fps a real chore for the Macs to convert - and de-interlacing the footage took more than enough time in itself. As well as that, the camera shot video in MPEG-2 format, which then had to be converted to H.264 for the final render (and because the camera’s native 1080i tends to scale well into the more standard 720p format, we converted to the latter resolution for said final render). Aside from the formatting issues, it was a relatively easy camera to use, and remained stable even when zoomed, with very little motion blur or shakiness on hand-filmed and close-up sequences. I also learned how to attach and set up a tripod, and that the piece of plastic that locks the camera into said tripod is essential if you want to actually use it.
7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
This question was another group task, and to answer it, we expanded the number and depth of annotations on the YouTube upload of our preliminary task; all of the possible improvements that we thought we could make to it are all present in the annotations, and we took all of these factors into account when filming and editing our final product. Here's the video embed:
Used: Our thriller opening uses themes of the main protagonist’s life being in some kind of jeopardy; this is shown in the suspense-filled chase scene, in which the audience is lead to believe - via the tense hand-cam styled shots and the jerky POV shots - that the character being chased is essentially running for his life (coupled with the fact that the commander simply tells the agent to “take it down”). This theme is also used in the opening of The Da Vinci Code, in which an old man is being chased through a museum by an unseen threat (who keeps his face well-hidden by a hood) - and once again, the audience is left to presume that he will be killed if caught. The primary difference between this use of the theme and ours is the type of shots used; even when in POV, The Da Vinci Code does not use a hand-cam approach, keeping shots smooth and steady - and it also uses considerably more high-angle shots than our thriller does.
Developed: An often-used convention of thriller films is the prevalence of POV shots to create tension in the scene; we have developed this by adding camera filters to some point-of-view shots. The escapee’s POV is layered with colour enhancement, blur effects, distortion and extreme glow effects; this is to illustrate and imply possible themes of human experimentation or augmentation (for the purposes of foreshadowing). Usually, POV shots are only used for setting the pace of the scene as opposed to giving any serious hints or details as to the character’s circumstances. One example of this the shower scene in Psycho, in which a POV shot is used to give the audience a view of the killer, and to make them appear imposing - whereas, our thriller’s POV shots reveal and imply so much more than that.
Challenged: A trope that our thriller challenged is the ordinary running order of film credits; we had our title at the end of the credits, and did this to enhance the title’s staying power as well as to provide a more potent and impactful ending to our opening sequence. The fact that it is at the end of the opening gives us the opportunity to emphasise it with louder sound effects, more exciting visual effects and a larger size; we wanted the title to leave a long-lasting impression on the audience, and make it memorable. Compare this to Panic Room, in which the title is dropped part-way through the opening credits. By comparison, Panic Room’s title isn’t quite so distinct from the other items in the credits as ours is (and adding to that is its lack of extra effects).
Used: Another standard thriller feature that our opening replicated is the convention of the protagonist being isolated in some way. In our thriller, this is represented by the character literally being in a lone struggle for his life against the staff of a government facility. You see worm’s-eye view shots of multiple people dressed in black suits running through a corridor, probably reacting to some kind of emergency alert - and the alarm itself was triggered by another worker in the facility. In short, this implies that there is an abundance of people who are trying to capture and eliminate the escapee, whereas (until the end, at least, where the “isolation” trope undergoes a surprise subversion when the government agent allows him to escape) the escapee is simply one man against all of them. This is similar to the Manchurian Candidate, in which nobody believes the protagonist’s theories about corporate brainwashing - and a similar kind of isolation occurs (with multiple antagonists against a single protagonist).
Developed: We developed the typical convention of good versus evil in our thriller by having the character who appears to be the primary antagonist of the scene turn into a good guy at the last possible moment; the two characters are out of sight of the government facility, and instead of capturing and/or killing the escapee as we expect (as a result of the voice commanding him to “take it down”), he releases the prisoner. This creates a sort of ambiguity about the ethical codes and morals of the characters involved in the scene; we don’t at all know at the start of the opening that the agent will turn out to be a good guy, and turning him into one at the 11th hour springs a surprise on the audience, and challenges them to think about who the real villains are in this film - or even if there are any. Consider it a thickening of the plot. Compare this to, for example, Batman: The Dark Knight (as rudimentary as its thriller elements are), in which The Joker is clearly the bad guy the whole way through the film, and doesn’t show any inkling of changing sides at any point in its duration.
Challenged: This is a somewhat difficult trope to explain, but I noticed when writing an earlier post that I made (on music in thriller films) that they all included some form of “natural”, non-synthesised instrumentation to balance out any electronic sounds. I opted for a completely synthesised soundtrack, in order the give the sound a distinctly mechanical, quantized feel; I thought that it alienated and unsettled the audience to a somewhat uncomfortable degree, accentuating the eerie and un-human aspects of the scene - which in turn relates back, once again, to the themes of possible human experimentation and loss of humanity that run throughout the piece. Compare this to all three soundtracks that I cited in the aforementioned post on music in thriller films, in which even the music from the techno thrillers featured natural, human instruments mixed in with any synthesised elements; none of them were 100% electronic, which mine was.
I’ll take this opportunity to reiterate that this thriller’s soundtrack was written, produced and mixed with the footage entirely by myself; it’s a completely original composition.
2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?
At this point, I'll refer you to the answer in the form of an embedded Prezi presentation. Simply click "Start Prezi" to start it.
3) What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?
This question was a group task, and the answer in full can be found at our film's Wikispaces entry: http://nfgsmedia.wikispaces.com/gatekeeper
4) Who would be the audience for your media product?
Owing to its distinct sci-fi stylings, our thriller would probably be suited to a more nerdy, scientifically-minded audience member, though still has more than enough mystery and broad “action” appeal to cover enough bases as a mainstream thriller. Our ideal audience member would have to be of at least moderate intelligence to understand the complexities and more scientific parts of the plot, and would likely be male, as the majority of sci-fi fans and “nerds” generally are (though I long for the day when women are just as equally represented in nerd circles as men are). Social class, disability and race are factors that I’d suggest don’t really matter, as they’re not represented differently or discriminated against in our film - though we would like them to have enough money to actually buy (a ticket to or retail release of) the movie, and enough of the “nerd” factor to want to purchase some merchandise.
In addition to that, they’d ideally be young; somewhere in their 20s, and either a university student or working professional. It’s not worth over-specialising beyond that, and the film will likely appeal to those in their late teens or early 30s, too. Their beliefs would ideally include a strong moral stance against human experimentation, and a distrust for governmental authority; although we’re not asking for a conspiracy theorist, someone with a suspicious, cynical and inquiring mind would fit the bill nicely. They should have a strong stance against discrimination of any kind, and libertarian attitudes towards social freedoms and a disdain for arbitrary governmental control.
5) How did you attract/ address your audience?
This was another group task, and for the full answer to this question, please read all of the annotations on the final version of the YouTube upload of our thriller opening (embedded below):
6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Mac OS X: I have learned, from using Mac OS X in this project extensively, that it has absolutely no benefits whatsoever over a more open and non-exclusive operating system such as Windows, yet despite this, media industry professionals still cling to Macs like a baby clings to its mother. Its interface is clunky, imprecise, overly reliant on the mouse, and the whole OS is simply just a very slow, poorly designed and poorly optimised experience to chug through. Speaking completely literally, I have learned a variety of Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts, as well as getting to grips with the insane user interface and navigating through Finder. Christopher Columbus probably had an easier and more enjoyable time traversing the Atlantic than I did wading through Finder’s idiosyncrasies.
Final Cut Express: I have learned how to use the timeline to splice and cut footage, add copious effects and filters to said footage, insert text, music and generally make a very nice-looking video. I was quite impressed with Final Cut Express, actually; I found that its timeline worked in a similar way to that of Logic Pro, which I’m accustomed to in Music Technology. I guess that Mac-exclusive pieces of software like Logic Pro and Final Cut are the reasons behind the media industry relying on them so much - although, Adobe Premiere (and not Final Cut) is generally used professionally, and it’s also available on Windows (and often comes out first on Windows, with more features, optimisations and a better interface). It is, in fact, worth noting that I composed the entire soundtrack for the thriller entirely in a Windows-exclusive digital audio workstation named FL Studio - thus proving further that Macs haven’t been necessary (or even particularly relevant) since the ‘90s. I’d perhaps like to suggest that they’re running almost entirely on their former reputation.
YouTube: Confessedly, I’ve not learned anything new about YouTube in the duration of this course. I’m actually a YouTuber myself, and have a channel onto which I upload music - so annotations, tagging, uploading, and privacy settings I already had expertise in prior to the start of the course. I have, however, learned optimal settings for exporting videos in Final Cut so that they don’t lose too much quality when converted to YouTube format, and so that the upload process doesn’t take too long. I didn’t learn anything else about YouTube itself, though.
Blogger: Blogger was a completely new technology as far as I was concerned; having never blogged before, I was surprised as to how much HTML code was needed to fix mistakes and problems in the default Blogger script. Things such as <center> tags often broke, resulting in misplaced pictures, broken formatting on objects such as video embeds and dishevelled text. In addition, I learned about how to tag different posts correctly, and use the default Blogger post editor (bearing in mind its poor browser compatibility) effectively. As well as that, I also learned of the shocking disconnect between Google’s Docs system and their Blogger system, as well as the differences between “Blogger” and “Blogspot” and the unimportance of the URL’s suffix (e.g. “.co.uk” or “.com”). I personally prefer the ease, reliability and simplicity of tumblr.
Canon Legria Camcorder: Having never operated a camcorder before, (not for any kind of serious filming, at least) all of the filming techniques used in the production were almost completely alien to me - though I didn’t need to be shown more than once how to transfer footage from the camera to the Mac. What I found difficult about this particular model of camera was that it filmed in interlaced 50fps, making down-scaling to YouTube’s 30fps a real chore for the Macs to convert - and de-interlacing the footage took more than enough time in itself. As well as that, the camera shot video in MPEG-2 format, which then had to be converted to H.264 for the final render (and because the camera’s native 1080i tends to scale well into the more standard 720p format, we converted to the latter resolution for said final render). Aside from the formatting issues, it was a relatively easy camera to use, and remained stable even when zoomed, with very little motion blur or shakiness on hand-filmed and close-up sequences. I also learned how to attach and set up a tripod, and that the piece of plastic that locks the camera into said tripod is essential if you want to actually use it.
7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
This question was another group task, and to answer it, we expanded the number and depth of annotations on the YouTube upload of our preliminary task; all of the possible improvements that we thought we could make to it are all present in the annotations, and we took all of these factors into account when filming and editing our final product. Here's the video embed:
- ~ -
- END OF EVALUATION -
Monday, 4 March 2013
Aimee's Evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Used
The first convention we used in our opening was the theme of voyeurism. Thrillers use the theme of voyeurism to create tension leading up to a dramatic scene. It also gives an eerie feel to the scene, as it is like someone with a dark motive is observing. In our piece, a shot of the escapee running is seen, but the camera is tracking the character as if he is being chased by it. This creates a sense of panic and opens the idea to the audience that it is a point of view shot with another character chasing close behind, although the character following the escapee is not as close as the camera is, it still suggests that he is being followed. I feel this also supports the sense of urgency that the short scenes create in between credits. Other scenes, such as the CCTV shot, supports our use of voyeurism, as it is known that someone is watching at all times around the setting. We wanted to use the theme of voyeurism as it is a very common convention used it thriller films.
This is very similar the the opening scene of 'Silence of the Lambs', in which the main character is tracked by the camera whilst running. It also appears as if this is a point of view shot and is being chased. Much like our piece, it creates the same sense of panic and urgency. However, in the scene from 'Silence of the Lambs', the characters appears not to be in any danger and is not being chased, whereas, n our piece, the character is under threat. We do not find out that the character in 'Silence of the Lambs' (Clarice) isn't in any danger until approximately 10 seconds in, making the viewer question what she's actually doing.
Another convention we have used in our final production is mise-en-scene which echoes/ mirrors the protagonist’s plight. This is used to relate to the character's emotions and the atmosphere will change according to what mental state the character is in. This is used in our opening specifically when the escapee winces in pain. The scene is edited so that the character's surrounding reflects his mental state and makes the audience aware he is in pain. Low angle shots are also used later on from the point of view of the escapee when the government agent approaches to show the vulnerability of the escapee. This scene also supports the portrayal that something is wrong with the escapee, as his vision in the point of view shot is slightly blurred.The sound is also quite loud, which can suggest that the character is in pain.
This is subtly shown in 'Minority Report' when the protagonist is going through images of a 'pre-crime' the lights are dimmed, and classical music is played. Even though this may be the usual for such process in the film, it implies that the character is calm, even though he is watching a murder being committed. He is clearly used to watching such footage. He also appears quite powerful, this is supported when talking to a colleague, a high angle shot over his shoulder is shown, suggesting he is an important worker, and is dominant over this certain colleague.
Developed
Another convention we have developed in our opening is a crime at the core of the narrative. This is usually murder, but not always. The perpetrator may not be revealed until the end to fuel the narrative. Thrillers use a crime in the middle of the narrative to base the storyline around and to create questions based around the plot. Even though the main crime is not shown in the opening, it is hinted that a larger crime has been or will be committed through the fact that the character is attempting to escape. In the last scene, the government agent is seen to let the escapee go, which, again, can be seen as a crime. The shot that has been edited to look like CCTV also suggests that someone has broken in or out of the facility.
This is much like the beginning of 'The Da Vinci Code', where a character is being chased for information and then murdered. Even though this is not the main crime of the storyline, it hints that other crimes are to be committed. It gives the viewer an insight on what is to come in the film without giving too much away. At first you cannot see who is chasing the character in the scene from 'The Da Vinci Code', but is revealed later. We use a similar technique, and proves effective, creating suspense, as it is unclear what is happening.
Another convention we developed in our opening scene is having a protagonist with a flaw. This is used to show the protagonist's weakness and can be used against them in order to manipulate them. Hints of this is shown in our opening from the escapee, from his vision and head pain mentioned before. These both suggest a major flaw later on in the film and leaves the audience questioning what is wrong with the character. Usually, at first, the viewers are unaware of the protagonist's flaw and may become apparent when the antagonist wants to show them at their worse. We deliberately showed hints towards the character's flaw to get the audience to question and want to know more about why he was having these episodes.
This is seen in 'The Machinist', where the protagonist suffers from chronic insomnia and a wide range of other mental illnesses. The audience are briefly aware of why he has all of these conditions, but not to the full extent. It is clear that these flaws are there, just by looking at the character's appearance. A dark filter has been used throughout the film (apart from flashbacks) to show that the character sees the world differently to others.
Challenged
A convention that we challenged was having the film title at the end. Most films in general have the film title placed after the main actor's names. We decided against this as we wanted the title to be the last thing the audience remembers while watching the film and wanted it to stand out. The music also fades out with the title, and reflects the animation of it. We wanted to build tension leading up to the title as well, to keep the audience entertained.
In 'Skyfall', the order of the credits are what is usually expected. However, in this case, I do not think it was as effective, as the credits went on for a long time, the important information had already been and felt as if they were dragging on. There was no actual part of the film taking place while the credits were on screen, which could lose the audience's interest easily.
Another convention we challenged was that the role of the protagonist was not clear in our opening scene. We did this to create a sense of confusion so that the audience were curious about what the storyline involved and to not give everything away in the first two minutes of the film. We did this by having roughly the same amount of shots with each character in. Even though we made the government agent the more dominant character, by using high angle shots, it is the escapee who is the protagonist in this film, which would be unexpected.
In 'Law Abiding Citizen', although it is clear on who the main character is, it is difficult to distinguish whether he fits the protagonist or the antagonist character. We see protagonist traits of this character in rarely in the film, as most of the time, he is violent, manipulative and cold hearted, many traits you would see in an antagonist. He disobeys the legal system and is a criminal. This is shown mainly from when he is held in prison, he has been forced to wear high security devices, which suggests he is extremely violent and difficult to control.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The answer to this question can be found on our wikispaces page below
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
Name: Thomas Howard
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Class: Middle
Location: Cambridge
Hobbies: Studying special effects on films and video games.
Pastimes: Gaming marathons with his friends, watching DVDs with friends, most likely to be a sci-fi or sci-fi based film. Most likely to see a film down to genre, special effects and quality of footage. He runs a blog on YouTube reviewing the latest games and films.
What they spend their money on: Tom would most likely spend his money on the latest video games, or going to see the latest sci-fi film with his gaming friends.
Beliefs: Tom does not see himself as religious, but was christened as a child by his parents.
Values: Believes in equality.
Our film is aimed towards mainly the male population aged mid 20s, fairly intelligent to be able to understand complex storylines in films. It is also aimed at video game players, as the film has a 'gaming' theme to it. The film has many special effect and is in high quality to interest 'technical' audiences.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
We have added a number of annotations to our thriller opening 'Gatekeeper' to answer this question.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
In the process of constructing this product, various technologies were used to help us achieve the final product, both online and offline. From exploring these technologies, I have learnt a variety of new skills and features from them.
Blogger
To blog and keep up to date with our progress, I used the website Blogger, which is very simple to use. I quickly got the hang of using Blogger. I had not had any experience with Blogger before, but I have used other networking sites before, such as Tumblr, which I feel helped to develop my use of Blogger. I was also able to access Blogger through an app available on iTunes' App Store, on my phone, which proved useful when wanting to upload photos and blogging when a computer/internet was not available.
YouTube
YouTube was used to not only upload our projects and videos, but to also research other pieces of media. I have had a lot of experience with YouTube before, but throughout the project, I learned how to use other features that I had not come across before, such as annotating our videos. Using YouTube was incredibly useful to share our videos to others and get feedback on how to improve, specifically on our preliminary task. YouTube was also easy to access on my phone and could easily sign in and watch our projects.
Prezi
Prezi is an online presentation software that I used to present our ideas and information. I found this a creative way to do so, and found it easy to refer back to as I could access the account from anywhere. Before, I had not had any experience using Prezi, some features of this website were easy to pick up and use. However, at the beginning, I found it difficult to edit the template to what I wanted. As time went on, and with practice, I was able to use Prezi to it's full extent, managing to use most of the features and being able to edit the presentation to how I wanted.
Photoshop
I used Photoshop in the course of editing our logo and ident. I have used Photoshop for a long time and know how to use most of it's features. This turned out to be useful as I would have found it difficult making our logo and ident due to the complexity in the process of making them.
Final Cut Express
I had no previous experience using Final Cut Express, and found it incredibly difficult to use this software at first. As time went on, I still found it difficult to use, but was slightly familiar with the features. I think that this was software I was the least able to use as I have had not had any experience with any video editing software beforehand.
Camera
The camera we used was very simple and easy to film with. It was a Canon Legria Digital Camcorder, which I have never used before, but was easy enough to film with. The fact that it was a handheld camera was incredibly helpful, which meant we could easily film handheld shots and move the camera to different locations without complications. Even though we used this camera as it was the best one freely available to us, it was a great use to us, and produced high quality footage for our project.
Tripod
To frame shots and steady the camera, we used a tripod to film. The tripod was quite easy to assemble and place at the angle we wanted. This was a useful piece of equipment as it was difficult to steady the camera without the tripod. It was fairly easy to frame shots with some practice.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We have annotated our preliminary task (below) to show what we learnt from it.
From the preliminary task, I learnt a lot about where and how easily we could go wrong. It also showed me how much editing was needed to be done in our final project, as I was unaware that a lot of going editing to be needed to improve the raw recordings we were filming.
UsedThe first convention we used in our opening was the theme of voyeurism. Thrillers use the theme of voyeurism to create tension leading up to a dramatic scene. It also gives an eerie feel to the scene, as it is like someone with a dark motive is observing. In our piece, a shot of the escapee running is seen, but the camera is tracking the character as if he is being chased by it. This creates a sense of panic and opens the idea to the audience that it is a point of view shot with another character chasing close behind, although the character following the escapee is not as close as the camera is, it still suggests that he is being followed. I feel this also supports the sense of urgency that the short scenes create in between credits. Other scenes, such as the CCTV shot, supports our use of voyeurism, as it is known that someone is watching at all times around the setting. We wanted to use the theme of voyeurism as it is a very common convention used it thriller films.
This is very similar the the opening scene of 'Silence of the Lambs', in which the main character is tracked by the camera whilst running. It also appears as if this is a point of view shot and is being chased. Much like our piece, it creates the same sense of panic and urgency. However, in the scene from 'Silence of the Lambs', the characters appears not to be in any danger and is not being chased, whereas, n our piece, the character is under threat. We do not find out that the character in 'Silence of the Lambs' (Clarice) isn't in any danger until approximately 10 seconds in, making the viewer question what she's actually doing.
Another convention we have used in our final production is mise-en-scene which echoes/ mirrors the protagonist’s plight. This is used to relate to the character's emotions and the atmosphere will change according to what mental state the character is in. This is used in our opening specifically when the escapee winces in pain. The scene is edited so that the character's surrounding reflects his mental state and makes the audience aware he is in pain. Low angle shots are also used later on from the point of view of the escapee when the government agent approaches to show the vulnerability of the escapee. This scene also supports the portrayal that something is wrong with the escapee, as his vision in the point of view shot is slightly blurred.The sound is also quite loud, which can suggest that the character is in pain. 
This is subtly shown in 'Minority Report' when the protagonist is going through images of a 'pre-crime' the lights are dimmed, and classical music is played. Even though this may be the usual for such process in the film, it implies that the character is calm, even though he is watching a murder being committed. He is clearly used to watching such footage. He also appears quite powerful, this is supported when talking to a colleague, a high angle shot over his shoulder is shown, suggesting he is an important worker, and is dominant over this certain colleague.Developed
Another convention we have developed in our opening is a crime at the core of the narrative. This is usually murder, but not always. The perpetrator may not be revealed until the end to fuel the narrative. Thrillers use a crime in the middle of the narrative to base the storyline around and to create questions based around the plot. Even though the main crime is not shown in the opening, it is hinted that a larger crime has been or will be committed through the fact that the character is attempting to escape. In the last scene, the government agent is seen to let the escapee go, which, again, can be seen as a crime. The shot that has been edited to look like CCTV also suggests that someone has broken in or out of the facility. 
This is much like the beginning of 'The Da Vinci Code', where a character is being chased for information and then murdered. Even though this is not the main crime of the storyline, it hints that other crimes are to be committed. It gives the viewer an insight on what is to come in the film without giving too much away. At first you cannot see who is chasing the character in the scene from 'The Da Vinci Code', but is revealed later. We use a similar technique, and proves effective, creating suspense, as it is unclear what is happening.
Another convention we developed in our opening scene is having a protagonist with a flaw. This is used to show the protagonist's weakness and can be used against them in order to manipulate them. Hints of this is shown in our opening from the escapee, from his vision and head pain mentioned before. These both suggest a major flaw later on in the film and leaves the audience questioning what is wrong with the character. Usually, at first, the viewers are unaware of the protagonist's flaw and may become apparent when the antagonist wants to show them at their worse. We deliberately showed hints towards the character's flaw to get the audience to question and want to know more about why he was having these episodes.
This is seen in 'The Machinist', where the protagonist suffers from chronic insomnia and a wide range of other mental illnesses. The audience are briefly aware of why he has all of these conditions, but not to the full extent. It is clear that these flaws are there, just by looking at the character's appearance. A dark filter has been used throughout the film (apart from flashbacks) to show that the character sees the world differently to others.
Challenged
A convention that we challenged was having the film title at the end. Most films in general have the film title placed after the main actor's names. We decided against this as we wanted the title to be the last thing the audience remembers while watching the film and wanted it to stand out. The music also fades out with the title, and reflects the animation of it. We wanted to build tension leading up to the title as well, to keep the audience entertained.
In 'Skyfall', the order of the credits are what is usually expected. However, in this case, I do not think it was as effective, as the credits went on for a long time, the important information had already been and felt as if they were dragging on. There was no actual part of the film taking place while the credits were on screen, which could lose the audience's interest easily.
Another convention we challenged was that the role of the protagonist was not clear in our opening scene. We did this to create a sense of confusion so that the audience were curious about what the storyline involved and to not give everything away in the first two minutes of the film. We did this by having roughly the same amount of shots with each character in. Even though we made the government agent the more dominant character, by using high angle shots, it is the escapee who is the protagonist in this film, which would be unexpected.
In 'Law Abiding Citizen', although it is clear on who the main character is, it is difficult to distinguish whether he fits the protagonist or the antagonist character. We see protagonist traits of this character in rarely in the film, as most of the time, he is violent, manipulative and cold hearted, many traits you would see in an antagonist. He disobeys the legal system and is a criminal. This is shown mainly from when he is held in prison, he has been forced to wear high security devices, which suggests he is extremely violent and difficult to control.3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The answer to this question can be found on our wikispaces page below
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
Name: Thomas Howard
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Class: Middle
Location: Cambridge
Hobbies: Studying special effects on films and video games.
Pastimes: Gaming marathons with his friends, watching DVDs with friends, most likely to be a sci-fi or sci-fi based film. Most likely to see a film down to genre, special effects and quality of footage. He runs a blog on YouTube reviewing the latest games and films.
What they spend their money on: Tom would most likely spend his money on the latest video games, or going to see the latest sci-fi film with his gaming friends.
Beliefs: Tom does not see himself as religious, but was christened as a child by his parents.
Values: Believes in equality.
Our film is aimed towards mainly the male population aged mid 20s, fairly intelligent to be able to understand complex storylines in films. It is also aimed at video game players, as the film has a 'gaming' theme to it. The film has many special effect and is in high quality to interest 'technical' audiences.
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
We have added a number of annotations to our thriller opening 'Gatekeeper' to answer this question.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Blogger
YouTube
YouTube was used to not only upload our projects and videos, but to also research other pieces of media. I have had a lot of experience with YouTube before, but throughout the project, I learned how to use other features that I had not come across before, such as annotating our videos. Using YouTube was incredibly useful to share our videos to others and get feedback on how to improve, specifically on our preliminary task. YouTube was also easy to access on my phone and could easily sign in and watch our projects.
Prezi
Prezi is an online presentation software that I used to present our ideas and information. I found this a creative way to do so, and found it easy to refer back to as I could access the account from anywhere. Before, I had not had any experience using Prezi, some features of this website were easy to pick up and use. However, at the beginning, I found it difficult to edit the template to what I wanted. As time went on, and with practice, I was able to use Prezi to it's full extent, managing to use most of the features and being able to edit the presentation to how I wanted.
Photoshop
I used Photoshop in the course of editing our logo and ident. I have used Photoshop for a long time and know how to use most of it's features. This turned out to be useful as I would have found it difficult making our logo and ident due to the complexity in the process of making them.
Final Cut Express
I had no previous experience using Final Cut Express, and found it incredibly difficult to use this software at first. As time went on, I still found it difficult to use, but was slightly familiar with the features. I think that this was software I was the least able to use as I have had not had any experience with any video editing software beforehand.
CameraThe camera we used was very simple and easy to film with. It was a Canon Legria Digital Camcorder, which I have never used before, but was easy enough to film with. The fact that it was a handheld camera was incredibly helpful, which meant we could easily film handheld shots and move the camera to different locations without complications. Even though we used this camera as it was the best one freely available to us, it was a great use to us, and produced high quality footage for our project.
Tripod To frame shots and steady the camera, we used a tripod to film. The tripod was quite easy to assemble and place at the angle we wanted. This was a useful piece of equipment as it was difficult to steady the camera without the tripod. It was fairly easy to frame shots with some practice.
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
We have annotated our preliminary task (below) to show what we learnt from it.
From the preliminary task, I learnt a lot about where and how easily we could go wrong. It also showed me how much editing was needed to be done in our final project, as I was unaware that a lot of going editing to be needed to improve the raw recordings we were filming.
Rojan's Evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Used
Framing of the shots and Camera Angles
In the opening of our thriller film , we have involved a lot of close shots . Giving the audience a lot of close shots builds the tension and it builds the suspense.For example the close shots of the Alarm and the close up of the escapee's footstep is what makes the opening strong . Another convention we used was the Camera Angle , The camera angle really helpful for example in the shot where the Government Agent walks closer to the escapee that shot is recorded in high angle meaning that The Government Agent would look more powerful.
Developed
One of The convention we developed in the opening two minutes of the the film was the Mise En Scene .In the opening you can see that the Government Agent was wearing a suit and looked very proffesional , we need to make sure that we get the right mise en scene because it is very important to focus on every detail and it also helps the audience think about the story line . The Prisoner escapee is wearing all white clothes giving the audience the clue about what he might be . Using the right mise en scene means that the storyline would be much clearer , it makes the opening very proffesional and the audience can really get involed with the film .
Framing of the shots and Camera Angles
In the opening of our thriller film , we have involved a lot of close shots . Giving the audience a lot of close shots builds the tension and it builds the suspense.For example the close shots of the Alarm and the close up of the escapee's footstep is what makes the opening strong . Another convention we used was the Camera Angle , The camera angle really helpful for example in the shot where the Government Agent walks closer to the escapee that shot is recorded in high angle meaning that The Government Agent would look more powerful.
Developed
One of The convention we developed in the opening two minutes of the the film was the Mise En Scene .In the opening you can see that the Government Agent was wearing a suit and looked very proffesional , we need to make sure that we get the right mise en scene because it is very important to focus on every detail and it also helps the audience think about the story line . The Prisoner escapee is wearing all white clothes giving the audience the clue about what he might be . Using the right mise en scene means that the storyline would be much clearer , it makes the opening very proffesional and the audience can really get involed with the film .
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups ?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute you media product and why ?
4. Who would be the audience for your media product ?
AgeNot many young teenagers likes to watch techno thriller films so i think the our film will be suitable for people aged 25 and over. Teenagers don't really find techno films interesting and most teenagers are into films that has a lot of Star power and violence and our thriller film doesn't include these factors .
Class
The ideal audience would be middle/upper classed . I think the audience to our thriller film will be people that are really clever, intelligent and really has an interest on machines and how technology works .
Appearance
The audience wouldn't really care about their appearance that much and they wouldn't be very fashionable .
Money
The ideal audience would spend their money on buying new gadgets and getting in touch with the latest technologies. They would also spend their money on books and things that would help them increase their knowledge .
Gender- Male
Location- Wimbish
Hobbies- Wathing films , spending time on their gadgets.
Interests-
Pastimes- Reading Books , Role playing Games , Watching TV
What they spend their money on- Latest gadgets, New Video Games
Beliefs- Christian
Values- Honesty , Educations , Saying no to drugs. .
5. How did you attract/address your audience ?
To answer this question we have put a lot of annotation on our final opening of the thriller film.
6. What have you learn about technologies from the process of constructing the product ?
I have used a lot of programs, applications and technology while producing the opening Two minutes of our film . A lot of programs i used were very new to me and I had to learn about them and adapt to using them . This post will show you the different technology I used and how I dealt with them .
Blogger
I learned how to change the font and change the size of the fonts , I also learned how to upload pictures and videos on the blog .
Youtube
I had used YouTube before to brows videos and listen to music but i had never actually upload videos on it . I learned how to upload videos on YouTube , add annotations to to the videos, make the video shorter and embed it . I also used YouTube for looking at opening of other thriller films to help me find ideas for our thriller opening.
HD Camera
To shoot out videos we used HD Cannon , I had never used the camera before and no previous experience with it but it was very easy to get hang of it and it was very easy to learn how to use the technology . I was quickly able to adapt to using it , i knew where the zoom, record and captor button were so it was very convenient . This Camera was very professional because it would record everything in High definition meaning that the outcome would be very clear and look very sharp and slick .
Final Cut Express
Final Cut Express was probably the most difficult piece of software I had to use during the process of making the opening of the thriller film . I found using this software very challenging at the start but after being taught the simple and basic steps i was able to work my way around it and learn to use it . I also looked at some tutorials videos on how to use the software on YouTube and that helped me quite a lot . I now know how to trim and make clips shorter , adjust the volume in the clip etc .
Tripod
I didn't have any difficulties on using the Tripod as it was very easy to use . We used a tripod for capturing most of the scenes because we wanted the Camera to be stable which meant that the shot would be much steadier and that would make the clip look very professional.On the right thers a picture of me recording a clip with the camera on a tripod .7. Looking back at your preliminary task , what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product ?
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
Solar Productions Ident (Revised)
This is our new ident. A step up from our previous ident, this one uses higher-resolution images, more advanced and professional-looking effects and sports a more artistically imaginative logo; the "C" in "Productions" is now an eclipse-style crescent around the exploding sun. We think that it's vastly better than our original ident, which, for comparison purposes, can be found here: http://nfgssolarflare.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/solar-productions-ident.html
NOTE: The audio will be present in the final piece. It too will be a marked improvement over the previous ident.
NOTE: The audio will be present in the final piece. It too will be a marked improvement over the previous ident.
Monday, 11 February 2013
Opening Credits List
CREDITS LIST:
- Solar Flare presents
- A Red Sun production
- In association with White Dwarf Studios
- Written, Directed and Produced by Rojan Gurung
- Jack Craig
- Aimee D. Stone
- Starring Jack Craig
- Rojan Gurung
- Sian Mapp
- Editing and effects by Neutron Star Visions
- Sound by Alpha Centauri Audio
- [Title]
NOTE: This is only a draft credits list, and is subject to change in the final piece. To avoid name repetition, we will likely put some made-up names into the list along with improving the order and wording of the credits.
Monday, 28 January 2013
Storyboard
1. Company ident/logo.
2. Close-up foot shot of the escapee running.
3. Close-up shot of a man's hand hitting a button or alarm.
4. Medium hand-cam shot of the prisoner running away from the compound. She looks over her shoulder while she's running away.
5. Foot shots of a group of people running through a corridor, obviously in disarray.
6. A short close-up of an open gate.
7. The screen blacks out, and a muffled voice over a radio says "another one; take it down".
8. Series of close-ups of a government agent's torso and gun, followed by an extreme close-up of his eyes.
9. Long shot of escapee running across a field.
10. The government agent gives chase, the camera following him at a medium distance as he runs out of the gate, looks around, and then follows the trail that the prisoner has just escaped through.
11. Medium close-up shot of the prisoner up against a wall; she grabs her head and winces in pain, the camera snapping to random levels of zoom as she does so.
12. The camera cuts to an over-the-shoulder shot of the government agent looking for the prisoner. He sees her in the distance, and she notices that he is closing in.
13. The scene then cuts to a medium long shot at a slightly later moment; the government agent has almost caught up to the prisoner, as she cowers behind a tree to catch her breath.
14. She notices that the agent is only metres away, and turns to run - but comes face to face with a fence.
15. The agent raises his gun, as if to shoot - but then lowers his weapon and says; "Go. I never saw you". She pauses for a moment, unsure of whether or not he's serious, and he shouts "GO!" - and she runs out of the shot.
16. The government agent then puts his hand to his headset, and the camera blacks out.
17. The title of the film appears in plain white military-style text on screen, and he says "No sign of the target. Returning to base."
NOTE: The text portion of this post is entirely identical to an earlier version of the shot list, which can be found here: http://nfgssolarflare.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/shot-list-for-updated-plan.html
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