Shoot Day

In my opinion the reason our shoot day went so smoothly and according to plan was because we were so organised with the time and planning during the pre-production. It was only possible for us to prepare and make sure our set was looking good and the way we wanted it the afternoon before our shoot day, therefore without all the planning before the shoot day would have turned into a huge mess, even though our set was simplistic. The day before we had decided that we would have a white wall behind the DJ because the lights reflected well off it the set also included a large rack of fast flashing lights above the DJ and two moving lights on either side of the DJ and his decks.



On the day we shot all the DJ shots in the studio in the morning from 9:00 am until 13:00, before the actually filming we played the song a few times so that the DJ practice his performance and we could see which camera angles would be there best to shoot from. Once the filming had started we shot him from a number of different angles and also used a number of different movements including tracking left to right and track in and out. We used JVC 500 HD cameras, with tripod and tracking but did not use blondes or redhead on set or on location. Everyone in the group was directing giving there ideas and opinions of how all the characters should be represented, for example we came to agreement that it was best that we could see at little of the DJ face to make him more anonymous, therefore he wore a hat shadowing parts of his face so the viewers would concentrate more on what he was doing on the decks and what music he was producing.



I was directing and controlling the set saying “Rolling camera, playback and action”, and was making sure all the lights were good and rave like, whilst another member of my group was in charge of playback and the other two members were on camera at the time. I was also encouraging the DJ and clapped with him behind the camera so he could imitate me and did the very important pointing scene with him, making sure he did it correctly and boosted his confidence so he could give an even better performance. Then the group swapped around slightly and it was my turn on camera (see picture above to the right, me on camera) mainly doing the tracking shots in and out, left to right and right to left, whilst someone held the wire so it could not ruin the shot, I also filmed from a couple of different angles such as hero shots showing his the DJ’s importance. In the second half of the shoot I filmed a lot outside, which was all hand held. On location we found that the natural light was better from the effect we wanted, we filmed from 2:00pm till around 6:00pm. The directing outside was simpler than the directing in the studio because we did not have to worry about lights and wire and things like that it all became a lot more natural. The cast was very easy to direct all we had to do was point at something tell me to go crazy and smash it, which they did giving us great footage making it not looked staged and practiced which was the look we were going for.


Before the actually shoot day the main problem was to find a location where we would film all the gang shots. We were not aloud to film in our first two locations which we found because we simply did not have the money to rent it out and the health and safety precautions were just too extreme such as having an ambulance and fire truck which were really unnecessary and would put to much pressure on our actors. We also would not be aloud to make noise, break lots of things and burn a car which in our visions just did not work because that is exactly what we wanted to do. For example, the burning car was the “wow” factor to our video which we were not prepared to give that up without a fight.
However, on the shoot day the only real problem was the weather after waiting a good hour for the rain to settle, we final went off to our location at 2:00pm (behind schedule) and were able to manage the rain with two umbrellas, one of which I had luckily remember before leaving that morning. It was difficult trying to keep the camera from getting wet when we were following and running after our cast members. This therefore ruined a few of our shots. Finally the rain completely stopped and filming became much easier.


We then came across some other difficulties, such as not white balancing correctly and choosing an appropriate shutter speed on location. This did force us to lose some shots which would have been very good but we corrected the problem once we realised what was happening and the rest of our shots turned out the way we wanted them too. A few other problems happened which was the way we were holding the camera, because it was handheld, the slightest touch would put it out of focus and with the rain we did not really realise because the screen was blurry with the rain drops, however that problem was solved when the weather became good again. We had a minor issue in the studio when the CD with our track on it didn’t work but that was easily solved when a member of my group went to get his laptop which he connected to the sound system.I was especially pleased with various shots that I did .These included close ups with kanted angles on the main characters. I shot these from a low angle which gave me an impression of power and authority and potential violence in the characters.

I was especially pleased with various shots that I did .These included close ups with kanted angles on the main characters. I shot these from a low angle which gave me an impression of power and authority and potential violence in the characters.

I also liked the close ups of the characters smoking. We tried to de focus the smoke and then the face but it did not work to well as I kept getting the timing wrong. I also liked the low angle shot of the smashing of the fridge which I thought we could use in rapid cutting and slow motion. I did not do the burning car shot but the close up and the wide shot were very effective as they filled the screen.

I thought the shots of the DJ from a low angle with him clapping gave a good brand image to him. Since a lot of the shots were handeld several were wobbly alough this gave the film impact I thought several of them were without any real meaning, such as two shots of trees panning to a face had no real message.


In my opinion in shoot day went extremely well, all according to plan and we tackled all the problems that were thrown at us and came up with good effective solutions. Even with all our careful planning in pre-production we still improvised all the gang shots on the day, which we had planned to do only a bit, and we hoped they would turn out the way they did. A lot of the good shots were not even scripted we just did them on the spur of the moment because it felt at the time a good idea to do them, I am pleased we did not follow the script exactly because we now have a wider variations of shots. It really sends a message to our audience members, in a naturalistic way, and shows how not everything has to be superficial and perfect to create a good and meaningful music video. Even though our final production does not follow our storyboards exactly it looks even better than we had versioned it to be in the first place. We managed to get the shot of the burning car, even if it was run down and half of it was missing, which I was extremely pleased about. We even got another “wow” factor which was the final scene when the two gangs meet and one of the gangs threatens the other with flares, the shots are fantastic. These are the shots that made our video what it is today.

The Pop Music Industry

The Pop Music Industry-A Background and The Position Of My Pop Video In It


Musical taste can be a controversial topic, almost to the point of Tribalism. It is contentious because it defines and often signifies personality and lifestyle. Musical taste is about the way you dress, speak and sometimes act. A stereotypical example of this would be people who listen to the genre death metal would tend to wear black, have a few piercing etc. However, all commentators agree that music and its trends- sit at the epicentre of popular culture.

Some critics believe that music and the industry are in many ways incompatible terms. It is this ‘dynamic tension’ between the organic and synthetic that exists between the artistic and commercial forces of underpins the success of this vast media business. Our artist is organic, the music comes first, it is a DJ not something a media company has put together and the artist does what he wants, with his music and the way he presents himself, its not a “show or an act”. In our music video we really show this by not have a lot of flashy mise en scene but a very simple set up with just the DJ, some lights and his decks to show what the really importance of making a music video is, the music. We show a topic which, in life is very much discussed, the corruption of the younger generation. In our video we tried to keep the DJ’s face hidden so that kept his identity. Another feature to consider is the music industry ‘synergetic connections’ with other media forms, this codependence with other media means that a ‘mutual reliance’ can be productive but also risky.

The place of the Pop Video is only one strand of an often multimedia campaign. The music industry is dominated by 3 trans-national corporations (conglomerates) which are Universal, Sony/BMG and EMI, know was the Majors. Most Majors also own, or license, a string of smaller subsidiary companies in order to reach different kinds of audiences in different kinds of genre; these companies are known as ‘major independents. Finally, there are a huge number of small companies with little or no financial connections to the majors. This is one of our companies, meaning that we are not run by anyone allowing us to be less synthetic and more organic.

Music video serves a number of different functions, it promotes a specific single and, normally, an album. Promotes a specific artist or band whilst its creates, adapts or feeds into a ‘star image’. However, our music video does not quite follow all these conventions, it less promotes the artist but more the music which the artist generates, the artist represented as unidentifiable and hidden, which in a way could create a mysterious star image, like the Gorrilaz how all there music video’s are cartoons and when they perform live its there cartoons and you cant see them. The music video entertains as a product in its own right, it reinforces, adapts or undermines the ‘meanings’ of a song.

However, there are current ‘threats’ to the music video, in many respects the pop video is becoming defunct and irrelevant. There is illegal internet downloading with sites such a limewire costing the music industry millions. There are manufactured programmes with live feeds, the vidvet or ivideo and music television becomes more mainstreams with television channels such a MTV.

Permissions Letter

HURTWOOD HOUSE
HEADED PAPER


Dim Mak Records
Po Box 348
Hollywood
CA 90078 Date 08.10.10


Dear Sir or Madam

We are a group of A Level students working on an A Level project for a qualification in Media Studies. We are writing to request permission to use the following track as part of this project:

We Are From Venice
- The Bloody Beetroots

With your permission the track would be used as the accompaniment to a short form video that is made purely for assessment purposes and will have no commercial usage. The video will be viewed only by members of the school community and the assessor of the examination board.

The artist and the copyright holder will of course be fully recognised in the pre-production and evaluation material that accompanies the project. We can also include a full copyright notice if required both in the planning material and on the video itself.

Yours sincerely,


Tamara Middleton
Hurtwood House School

Call Sheet

WE ARE FROM VENICE

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH 2010

TAMARA
MILLIE
JJ
LEO
CONTENTS

1. PRODUCTION TEAM

2. CAST LIST

3. STUDIO SET PLAN

4. LIGHTING PLAN

5. EQUIPMENT LIST

6. PROPS AND WARDROBE

7. SCHEDULE

8. STORYBOARD

9. SHOOTING ORDER




PRODUCTION TEAM

JJ BENZIMRA
(DIRECTOR)

TAMARA MIDDLETON
(PRODUCER)

MILLIE FREEMAN
(EDITOR)

LEO FAULKS
(CAMERA/LIGHTING)

CAST LIST

GLEN PEGADO
(DJ)

(GANG MEMBERS)
NIALL GREEN
JAKE CECIEL
TUNDE OGUNDARE
PATCH WADSWORTH
SULEIMAN SHITTU
RICHARD OXLEY
SEYI OLASUNKANMI




STUDIO SET PLAN


LIGHTING PLAN
(view blog post)

PROPS AND WARDROBE

DJ SET
LIT BATONS
CIGARETTES
FAKE DRUGS
EMPTY BOTTLES

BLACK/WHITE MAKE-UP
BLACK/WHITE HAIR ACCESSORIES
BLACK/WHITE JEANS
BLACK/WHITE HOODIES/SLEEVELESS T-SHIRTS
BANDANAS
HATS
BOOTS
JACKETS
DJ OUTFIT



SCHEDULE

9-12.30
STUDIO

12.30-1.15
LUNCH

1.15-3.30
BEATRICE WEBB

3.30-4
BREAK

4-6
BEATRICE WEBB




STORYBOARD
(View bellow, storyboard post)



SHOT LIST

STUDIO
Camera position: 1, 15, 19, 25, 27
Wide shot, mid shot, close-up from front
Wide shot, mid shot, close-up from side
Wide shot, mid shot, close-up over shoulder

Tracking Shots:
Left to right, in and out
Cherry Picker

LOCATIONS
Incidents:
Bonfire
Graffiti
Breaking stuff
Drinking
Smoking
Drugs
Stolen Handbag/Wallet

Camera Test

We spent an afternoon carrying out a camera test to see if various people would fit for our group. We tested 7 people, asking each of them to stand in certain positions and act out various situations with and without music.

We were looking to see if they had screen prescense and also if they would be easy to work with and take direction. Harrison Ford is famous forbeing a cartpenter in the backgroud in someone else's camera test when the director noticed that he had screen prescence and the rest is film history. I do not think any of my cast will be that good but we have been professional in the way that we have picked them.

Storyboards

Before i began storyboarding I researched how to do it. I looked at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR2Gew1eN2M which proved a very useful first lesson.


Storyboarding is a real art as shown by this illustration of a hollywood storyboarder at work.



We carried out a long process of storyboarding, which involved working out where we would place our cast in the frame and how we would film them. We worked out size of shot, camera angle, camera movements and colours so that we would be ready to edit what we shot and know that it would work as we wanted it to.

Storyboarding is abit like an architect's plan for a building. We storyboarded and then shot what we had planned just like a builder uses a architect's plan.

Timeline

Our TimeLines (above)


We create a Timeline to display what we are going to do in each shot, for example what shot we will use, major close up, close up, mid shot, over the shoulder, long shot and wide shot in that particular moment of the song. It is a ruff outline of the actions that will happen in the shots and gives us an indication of the length each shot needs to be to complete the length of the song. A timeline is also used to match the lyrics with the timings however for our music video the time line is slightly different seeing as the song we are doing “We are from Venice” by The Bloody Beetroots has no lyrics. Our Timeline is even more precise on the timings of the shots and the narrative within the shots allowing us to synchronize the music wit our imagery. We have planned each action with such precise detail so that it fits perfectly with the length of the song.

Composition Rules

There are over 100 composition rules for film making. As film makers it all starts from what we are trying to say, our hypothesi and our meaning, which we will convey threw our pop videos to the audience where we will try and use at least 10 of these compostition rules.

1) Different Types Of Shot Size:

Shots are the vocabulary of film and television, having an undestanding of shot sizes and what they communicate is essential to every professional and amateur video producer.

• Establishing Shot:
  

These are that set the scene, in television the establishing shot is usually the first thing the director shoots, so that the director and everyone else involved knows what is going on. The rest of the shots evolve out of the information given in the establishing shot.

• Extreme Long Shot:
  
  
  
  
  

The extreme long shot shows scale, distance and geography. It is great at creating an overall atmosphere, although people will be extremely small. It works best when there is action: e.g. a train coming towards camera.

• Long Shot:

The Long Shot intro duces people at full length and creates a sense of place, time and atmosphere; showing an interior or exterior, day or night. It shows any components of the mise en scene. This shot is oerfect for the picture i have chosen because it really capture that iconice moment in the Titanic.

• Medium Long Shot:
  
  
  
  The medium long shot is good for showing character and location. If someone is on the move or going through a door this can be very useful shot. In the picture i have chosen the shot is useful to capture the action of the actors beeing chased down the hallway.
  


• The Mid Shot:

The mid shot is close enough to see facial expressions but far enough away to capture bodily gestures, like in this shot of the actors walking but showing awkward facial expressions.

• The Close up:
  

The close up delivers emotion from people and impact from objects. It gives a great detail of expression like in this picture it shows the intensity of his gaze.

• The Extreme Close Up:

The Extreme cloe up is an unusual shot. especially as you don't often get this close to someone in reall life. It is used to shock the viewer. ECU of objects can bring a new perspective to the story.

2) Camera Position and Angles:

The angles are about how you want your subject to be seen by the viewer. When Oliver Twist asks Mr Bumble for "More" the scene is enhanced by the camera being at a high angle above Oliver, and at a low angle below Mr Bumble.

Size of characters and backgrounds are important in emphasising the significance of a shot. A good camera position is the difference between seeing and not seeing.

3) Camera Movements:

The Tracking Shot: keeps the lens at a fixed angle but moves the camera towards or away from the action and so keeps the same perspectives. The tracking shot can be done on foot (but its wobbly), with tripod wheels, in car etc…

The Panning shot: because the television screen is fixed format the panning shot (left to right or right to left) allows for things that are too wide for a static shot, e.g. landscapes, to be conversed.

Titlting: the classic example of tilting is in the wedding video. The shot starts on the spire of the church and tilts down to find our newly weds, still young and in love.

4) Lighting:

The best way of lighting is to position the light as high as possible without losing the eyes in shadows from the eyebrows. The lighting must never cast an ugly nose shadow across the subject’s cheek. Avoiding nose shadows is key. When lighting a scene you must also beware of nasty shadows across the eyes from spectacle frames. Try to pinpoint light reflected in the eye pupils from a filler light. Another thing to remember is to use as little extra light as possible.

5) Rule of Thirds:

The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography, design and film. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections.

6)Leading the Eye:

Within film making, almost one of most essential elements is to encourage the viewer to follow the main character or subject. This can be done in two ways; rule of thirds or converging lines

7) Colours:

Colours within films are always used to create moods, biases or opinions. Colors also have positive and negative qualities, for example if we take the color pink, which represents loving, nurturing, emotional, the positive qualities are understanding, sympathetic where as the negative qualities are immature, needy, unstable.


8) Shapes and Lines:

The “line” of a picture is determined by outlining the subjects and/or the objects in the picture which would give its line content. For instance a picture of a sunset usually has a horizon that communicates peace and harmony. Its principal line is a horizontal.
An example of this is in the film, Strangers on a Train (1951), the first minute tells us who is good and who is bad, one enters from the left (bad) and the other enters from the right (good). The good guy walks straight and it fades out to the train tracks which turn right (with a few bumps) this is a perfect example of how lines and shapes can give u a idea of what will happen in the rest of the film.
An example of this could be the colours used in the film Wild Bunch, there is very little colour, brown, pasty, flat, grainy, dirty effect and it also goes to black.

The First Pitch

There are certain key conventions in a Pop Video:

• The explicit and unashamed promotion of the artist’s “image” (aesthetic/generic/ideological) as a specific product with a brand identity, ready for mass consumption

• The featuring of the artist (almost without exception)

• A wide and extensive use of shot types, camera angles and movement

• Many Short Shots: High Ratio

• Repetition of reoccuring thematic elements and generically specific iconography (one key element often being dominant and providing the skeletal structure for the promo)

• A possible narrative structure

• A possible performance element

• The flexibility to disregard Realism!

• Shots cut tightly to the beat of the track

• Use of special effects (lighting, annimation, CGIs, in-camera effects)

• A carefully constructed Mise en Scene appropriate to the content and tone of the track

• High impact instantly! (Don’t forget that competition for airplay on the main music channel outlets is intense)

• Discontinuity Editing


Our Pitch, 2 Main Ideas, How they did/didn’t work:

Idea 1:



Artist: Goose
Song Name: Black Glove (The Bloody Beetroots Remix)
http://www.goosemusic.com/

Idea: There are very few lyrics in this song because it is a Bloody Beetroots remix however as a group we have chosen this song to be our main idea that we pitch, this is because we would like the to subvert the stereotype of music videos just being all about the pop star or rock star showing how glamorous, amazing and cool they are. Instead we would like to show how disrupted life has become showing this in an out of control rebellious rave with cuts of videos clips of war or poverty (eg: Soldiers and then at the end a nuclear explosion). Our video is not portraying our artist in the same way as others he is more like an unknown hidden artist but with meaning in his videos and songs. This idea is quite like the way Bob Sinclair is never in his music videos but gets chilled to perform in them, another example would be the Gorillaz using cartoons. To keep the audience watching we will following people running, causing problems in the process, to this rave I also envisioned starting of filing the road in a car to make the video look more fast placed and racy.



What Doesn’t Work: The main problem with our video is the rave because it would be extremely difficult to get that many people and with the style of the music it is quite obvious at the end there will be a rave.


Idea 2:

Artist: RoomService
Song Name: Queen Of The Radio

Idea: RoomService is unknown French band, who have done some recording but have never made a music video before therefore this would be there first music video. Out of the 4 band member 3 of them are French so there clothes and look would be a very cool indie French style. Unlike the other idea we are imitating the conventions of the music video. The clothes of the band will represent them as slightly rock n roll therefore giving them the “cool” factor. The idea is very simple it will just be the band singing in an all white and then an all black backround and we will be coping Jamiroquai’s idea in his Virtual Insanity music video.

What Doesn’t Work: This is the best, simplest and most affective idea because they are a real band and we would not have the get lots of cast members in this video. However, seeing as 2 of the band members are in Switzerland and they are all in boarding school getting them all there on the shoot day would be tricky.

Research and Development-First Ideas

My group will work through the five stage of production. We began by researching pop videos and there conventions and how the industry works. We look at many music videos of different genres and artist and the development of artist threw there carers. In class we did a case study on Kylie Minogue watching her first music video to her most recent and watching the way she was represented and the way she has changed they way the viewers look at her. Her first music video she was represent as a “girl next door” type character and in her last she is represented a superstar with lots of low angle shots and close ups of her lips and body giving her sexual magnetism.
To come up with the RoomService music video I look at many music videos mainly ones by the Artic Monkeys and the King of Leon. The 2 music videos which generated my idea was Jamiroquai- Virtual Insanity http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REfDCPhPQQ4&ob=av2e and Kings of Leon- On Call http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DK_8VZm_Dg&ob=av2n I found that by mixing those two ideas together I could come up with one genius idea. As for my Goose idea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-IaNAw4G8s I did some music video researching on Mike Snow and Bob Sinclair http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7re_u5m4wMk and the prodigy. However all the ideas in that one was not taken from any music videos. As for my third Idea, The Pretty Reckless- Make Me Wanna Die I watched a few of there other songs, some old videos by Metalica, Pink Floyd to come up with there perfect and most suited look and was of representing them in there video.

I pitched my 3 ideas to my group and 2 of my ideas we pitched to everyone else as our First Pitch. I have written out my other two ideas in Blog Entry 3 so that I could show the comments and what works and what doesn’t. My idea for the Pretty Reckless http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYeGw-bo430 consists of giving them that rebellious, Rock n Roll and cool factors. In this rock band there is a female lead singer so I could also have some “sexual magnetism”, as Richard Dyer says, in my music video which these days is the best way to sell anything and make it big. The band will have values of music stardom such as rebellion, anger and disregard for any social values. In there music video there will be a lip singing element on stage making them look like a new band with a large audience. The rest of the music video will take place in a broken down house with alcohol bottles showing that the band had a heavy night last night.

The Five Stages Of Production

The 5 stages of production consist of:

• Research and Development: We must research our target audience, whether it is a niche or a mainstream, we must know the age, gender, social class and interests of this audience. For the development side we must produce a time line, a treatment, pitch, practicalities, storyboards and cast which have all been camera tested to make it certain they will look good on screen.




• Pre-Production: Pre-Production is getting everything ready for the actual shoot day. The most important part of this is producing a Call sheet, the “bible of the day”, which caries all the information which is vital for the day of the shoot. During this stage we prepare the storyboards, the casting, the costumes, the makeup, the locations, the props, anything in the Mise en Scene. For pop videos in particular it will include the shooting order and lyrics of the song chosen.

.
• Production: This is the day of the shoot. This is when everything is filmed although there may be pickups later if they are needed. Without the careful and specific planning of the pre-production there would be no production because nothing would be organised and ready for the day. Things may go wrong on the day of the shoot, like a member of the cast not being able to turn up however we must be prepared to improvise and must have a back up plan which should be on the Call sheet


• Post-Production: This consists of the editing and after effects of the production or any pickups needed. This part may take up to a year for big movies. It is also one of the most important parts because if the post-production goes wrong somehow all the work done in the stages before will not be seen as well as it should.

• Distribution and Exhibition: This is the stage when movies are soled to television or are placed in cinemas with either a blanket or platform release. For our pop videos we would distribute and exhibit through television outlets, CD, DVD, Internet and social spaces, marketing sites, mobile phone, posters and lots more publicity.

Pop Video And Marketing Campaign Our Brief

THE BRIEF

You have to create:
- THREE MULTI MEDIA PRODUCTS
- TO ESTABLISH THE IMAGE AND BRAND OF YOUR SINGER AND GROUP and
- HELP SELL THE SONG FROM THEIR FIRST ALBUM.

The group or singer must be a NEW GROUP (even if they are doing a copy of an existing song).

The song is a SINGLE from their FIRST ALBUM.

The actual products to be produced are:
- THE POP VIDEO
- A DIGIPAK for the ALBUM
- A MAGAZINE ADVERT for the ALBUM.

Evaluation Of Post Production

In our preliminary task we used basic shots such as over the shoulder, wide and close up however when shooting our thriller we used more complex shot such as panning which are much harder to shoot espeacialy with panning because you need to get the timing exactly right.

The editing in the preliminary task was relitively simple because all we had to do was follow the storyboards so it was not difficult to figure out the order all the shot had to go in and there was a scrit which made editing also much easier, however in our thriller we did not have a script and the storyboards were simply a guidance. In the preliminary we just had to cut directly into another shot which is not hard to do and we did not have to use titles. In our main task the editing was more complex because we had to use fades, lots of sound effects, not to mention adding in the sound that we had recorded on the day of your shoot like the table falling over and glass smashing. In the thriller you had to cut in a certain way to build tension to keep the audience at the edge of there seats where as in the preliminary the cutting did not have to be in a scecific way because you were not trying to build tension.

Sound are important in our thriller because we do not have a script. We used sound FX to double up sounds to make some sounds sound like real objects, for example when our main protagonist falls into the other room the shoot is pitch black and the only reason the audience knows what is going on is because you can hear a table fall over and pins and glasss smashing on the floor this sound is diegetic.

Our group decided not to put the titles during the sequence of our thriller but to put them at the beggining and at the end because during our film we want there to be a build of suspense and tension and we felt that the titles would ruin that. Our opening sequence titles were slow however when the naem of our thriller comes up at the end the cut from to the shot because to that is fast making the audience want to know what happens next.

All of our choices have been chosen to appeal to our audience. The whole point of our thriller is draw in thrill seekers, so hopefully we have rewarded with our opening sequence, the sound and editing reflects our target audience directly as it is for horror junkies, and we edited the sound and edited the whole sequence with this in mind. We want this to appeal to the fans of Saw and Hostel, therefore with having a series of close-ups, POV shots and keeping it in a claustrophobic setting we were able to mkaintain the tension and drama which are a prerequisite for the horror genre.

Task 7- Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

The sophistication of the planning and preparation for the Preliminary task was much simpler than the main task. In the preliminary we were already given storyboards with the script on them, there were only a few shots we had to do, close up, wide shot and over the shoulder. In the preliminary task everything was very specific it just gave us the chance to get acquainted with the camera and how to film. However, when planning and preparing the main task we were not handed anything and had to do everything ourselves, we had to figure out what worked, what didn’t, how we would film things, if everything made sense, would our target audience like our thriller etc… We had to make sure that our thriller would be appealing to our target audience, for example we had to make sure that we were casting people who would appeal to a larger audience. We were creating our own film therefore every group member need an equal amount of task that needed to be done. Storyboarding was a long process because we had to be as specific as possible so that we film everything needed so that one editing comes we will not be stuck. In our main task we didn’t not stick to a few shots we did many and experimented which took us all out of our comfort zone, the hardest were the pan shot and the over head. Editing the preliminary task was relatively simple we just had to follow the story boards exactly however the main task was more difficult for example we didn’t not have a script and all sounds came in during the editing process.
For making a successful thriller storyboarding is a key element however it is not the only element, casts lists, prop lists, set design, costume lists, lighting requirements etc.. Firstly we needed to figure out exactly what we needed, who we needed, when we needed it and how we needed it. Then we needed to find where to get everything and how much it will all cost. In our preliminary tasks we did not need to worry about any of this because it was a very simple set and there were no props. Then we needed to think about were we would be filming our thriller, we decided on the studio because it would be easier to manipulate sound and lighting. The main task took a lot of preparation because the more we planned and the more specific and organised we were the easier are shoot day will be and then we would not have to change lots of things and we would not have to worry about anything else apart from making sure our filming was good and that all our camera shots were good.
There was a major improvement in the use of camera from the preliminary to the main task. In our preliminary we were still learning how the camera works how we need to film where as in the main task we already knew how to use the camera and how to film however we push past our boundaries and experimented with shots like panning, major close-ups and handhelds. Since our preliminary task we have been able to be more confident in our filming and we have also been able to apply the rule of thirds to a lot of our shots. In the beginning of our thriller our shots do not give away the narrative to much so intended to builds tension and make the audience want to know what happens next to keep them at the edge of there seats. It was more difficult to make sure that everything made sense in our thriller because the audience does not have any help from a script because there is no dialogue only sounds effects. The main task is better in showing off our skills in filming because every single shot has a meaning behind it, every close up was picked for a specific reason. We kept to the 180degree rule so that our audience would not be confused.
The use of sound from the preliminary to the main task has improved greatly, in our preliminary we did not have to add any other sound apart from the recorded dialogue however in our main task we did keep the heavy breathing of our main protagonist but we added in sounds by using the soundtrack pro. The soundtrack of our thriller, much like the thriller in general, was to build tense atmosphere. We also added in the sound of bricks clanging together to attract the audience’s attention towards the window to make them believe that our thriller would be based around what it outside that window. Our main protagonist then falls threw a door into a room of pitch blackness by using the sound effects of smashing class and a table falling, which we had recorded on the day of out shot, we made the audience believe that when our main protagonist had fallen threw the door he had smashed into things on the way making them fall of and break.

Task 6- What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Task 5-How did you attrack/ address your audience?

Task 5- How did you attract/address your audience?

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Task 4-Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my thriller would be teenagers and thriller lovers. The teenagers would be students or slightly older aged from 18 to 25; this is because of the age certificate. Teenagers are my target audience because I use a teenager as my main protagonists and the rest of the cast are also teenagers. Using a good looking boy as my main protagonist would make my niche audience slightly more mainstream gaining a larger number of viewers because audience are always attracted to good looking characters. This would also attract girls where as the thriller genre is stereotypically a male genre, making more people come and watch seeing as the girls are going to see the good looking main protagonist and boys would be going for two reason firstly the girls are going and secondly they like action and thrillers.

Task 3- What kind of media institutions might distribute your media product and why?

The idea for our thriller was very much inspired by films like Saw and Hostel. Our Thriller is very much like these films because our film has lots of blood and gore. In Saw 1 the two main protagonist wake up in an unknown place, a abandoned and grotty bathroom, much like our main protagonist wakes up in a strange unknown room this creates suspense.
Next I looked at the production company Lionsgate. Lionsgate is the studio with a key presence in the production of films and television programs. With films such as“tyler perrys madea goes to jail” which made $41 million in the opening making it their largest ever opening weekend grossing film other films include Rambo, and the Bank Job these are all respected films that have grossed well, with more to them then only sex and gore, although are not centralized around character and story which is what I want as I think a horror would have little success if It focused on the plot and characterization rather than creating a dramatic suspense and basically scaring the audience as this appeals to a much larger audience.
Eventually I came across horror films made by Lionsgate including My Bloody valentine 3D, and Saw franchise this showed me that the firm had links to the horror industry and was experienced in producing them. I found more specific aspects of Lionsgate such as information on their sister company 20th television. 20th television has control over many American channels mostly appealing to a male audience (which is my target audience). English channels that they owned which I was familiar with included FX this is a channel marketed especially towards men and shows programs such as the infamous “true blood” a horror that focus on appealing to the mass audience by including copies amount of gore an of course. This would be a brilliant opportunity for my film advertising on this channel as viewers enjoy this genre and relations with the channel mean lower marketing costs. Not only do Lionsgate have continent relations but I found on their website that they also own TV guide network, a huge cable network which again would make the distribution of “mute” and would give us the opportunity to release “Mute” directly onto Cable TV as research has showed me that the purchase of individual films on cable TV is becoming one of the most profitable aspects of the film industry especially for lower budget films like mine is. I was very optimistic about using Lionsgate and then I found information on a popular website that they have started called FEARnet. This website is specific to horror films and has reviewing and trailers this is a hub for horror genre fans and marketing on this would be very effective and again low cost. I was convinced this was the appropriate production company for my thriller “Mute”.

Task 2- How does your product represent particular social groups?

How does your product represent particular social groups?

Mt product represents teenagers and young people as a social group. In my thriller the main protagonist is a male of 18 years of age and all the other characters in my thriller are teenagers from the ages of 16-17. The story of my product is quite like the saw, our main protagonist wakes up in this dark room not knowing where he is or how he got there, he has been kidnapped. He walks around the room bewildered and looks around. All of a sudden a light turns on and he is blinded by the brightness. He then falls threw a door into the next room in here he finds a torch which he shines around the room only to discover a pile of dead bodies or what he thought was dead bodies. He stares at the bodies and finds that they all have tape on there mouths so he moves closer and takes off the tap from one of the “dead bodies”. A story which has a pretty similar story is Saw 1, two men wake up at opposite sides of a dirty, disused bathroom, chained by their ankles to pipes. Between them lies a dead man loosely clutching a hand-held tape player and a handgun. Each finds a tape the perfect fit for the player in their back pocket. Hostel is another film which is similar to my thriller the concept is very much like saw, 3 young boys are traveling and they meet these two beautiful Slovakian girls who lure the boys one by one to there deaths in the factory however one of them survives. I chose to represent teenagers in this way because they are often vilified in the press therefore I chose to subvert the stereotypical notion presented by the media to show teenagers as scared, frightened and anxious. These feeling are common amongst this group at this time in their life and I felt that horror would be the right genre to reflect this.



Look at how social groups are represented in media products and compare these to your own film- how do they differ?

Example of the way teenagers are represented in the news, there is an article about another teenager committing suicide, he is the 19th in a year in this town called Bridgend. The Sun represents the teenagers in this town shocking because there were never any symptoms of depression, nothing suspicious however the hangings are still going on. The Guardian however described Bridgend as dark and depressing: A year ago, Bridgend in south Wales was the centre of a media frenzy as the home of a supposed youth suicide cult. Bridgend was portrayed as dark and depressing - and as the coverage intensified, so did the deaths. Carole Cadwalladr, who barely recognised the description of the place she grew up in, returned to ask friends and family of those who died what role the media played in the tragedy. I chose to represent teenagers as victims because they are never portrayed in this is way.

Task 1-In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Redrum Productions is not a real production company but during the course of our thriller process we have decided it would a good name for a thriller promoting production company seeing as it spells murder backwards we got the idea of the name from the Shinning. We faded in the titles and we animated them so that the colours separated to create a sense of mystery, we got this idea from Lost. The Titles do not have any capitals giving them a different approach.



This Major Close Up of our main protagonist’s eye gives our film a mystery there is a restricted narrative meaning that neither the audience or the character knows what is going to happen next giving our thriller tension. However the only thing the audience does know is that the main protagonist is not is somewhere good this is shown threw the dark lighting, the eye is distress and the makeup we used made this character look like he has been punched.



This shot is good at showing the distress our main protagonist is in. The makeup shows that our main protagonist has been badly beaten up making him look like a victim. The ripped clothing also shows how he was abducted. Our film is more saw like in the way that we only focus on gore, however, we never show our victims actually being tortured only by using makeup we let our target audience imagine what could of happened, this builds tension.



During the course of our thriller we build tension with our restricted narrative however in this particular shot we lead our audience to the window with a sound we put in (we got the idea of the sound from the Blair Witch Project). By making the main protagonist go to the window we make the audience believe that there is something outside which obviously scares our character because he backs away. However it was a trick to distract the audience from what will actually happen.



In the sequence of our other shots we were leading the audience to believe that our thriller was going to be centred on what was outside of the window, up until this shot the suspense was growing and the thriller was going slowly however suddenly this shot shocks the audience. By using sound effects and white balance and exposure on the shot we make the target audience believe that the light bulb has suddenly exploded however it does not.



After the light exploding our main protagonist falls threw a door and lands into a pitch black room. This shot is when our protagonist finds the torch and shines it on his face to see if it still works. This shot makes our audience sympathetic towards our main protagonist who has a look of horror, terror and confusion on his face. We used the rule of thirds for this shot.



This shot is when our main protagonist shines a torch across a blood covered wall. With this shot we follow the thriller stereotype by showing lots of blood and hand prints on the wall. This wall really shows how people have been tortured and killed. We used fake blood and splattered it around to make it look more realistic and the fake hand was an extra touch



This shot is very important to our thriller because this is the victim who wakes up. The tape on his mouth is very representative for our thriller because our title is called Mute and the point of this is that the victims are mute because out the tape around their mouths. The light shinning on the victims face is the light on the torch which gives a good effect making the rest of the victims face dark and in shadows.



This is the name of our Thriller making this shot important and it follows up from the shot before with the tape making this shot representative. This shot is actually overlaid on top of another shot which is just blackness. The simple title builds more tension making the audience want to know what happens after the titles.