Finished film(s) Preliminary task

I have a long version and a short version. The short version is one that fits the exact criteria for the task, the long version has an extra shots at the start demonstrating further match on action and framing techniques. The longer version also makes better use of black and white lighting effects.

Short version 

Long version 

However i am unsure if i have broken the 180 degree rule in the longer version.

Improvements for the Main Task: 

• Better framing, some shots it seemed off and was not always in continuity
• Voice over from original actors, my ridiculous impression of Jonny didn't work for the film.
• Perhaps a better technique for shot/reverse shot, at times it seemed obvious that from one position the shot had changed from the previous
• Better matching to the film with the Foley 
• Further use of the close-up
• Introduce the establishing shot

Evaluation of Preliminary task

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

My film clip uses some conventional basics in film; which includes the use of the 180 degree rule, this however is sometimes changing in my film as it is longer than requested and the setting changes which differs from most other projects. However in the shorter version of my film i conform to this rule far better.

I have also utilized the use of shot/reverse shot and match on action in my film, as requested by the task and have demonstrated this (I think) competently and matching with the basic concepts of "Classical editing"

I have also demonstrated numerous types of shot, more commonly the long shot and the mid shot so that the audience can see what is happening within the featured action and demonstrating match on action where needed and to be used to greater effect. I have also utilised the pan technique. 

I like to keep the audience informed of what is happening in the media text which is essential for the film's story

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I feel that my film doesn't represent any particular social group, although an indicator leaning slightly towards ABC1 is in the fact that the rooms shot in had computers.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

My clip is reasonably short, it was originally designed to be part of an entire film so that the film would seem like the opening scene of a movie (minus an establishing shot). If so perhaps a larger film company such as 20th Century Fox may distribute my film. However in its current format the only way my film could be possibly distributed is through a web based institution or possibly at a film festival, in both circumstances no profit is made.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

In its current format the only audience it will receive is that of the media classroom, Mr.Winn and the examiner, this is because that is the audience the task is specifically designed for. Should it have been a longer film or part of a t.v. series then the audience would be far broader and would attempt to appeal to both sexes of the action thriller genre

How have you attracted your audience?

My audience has already been attracted because they are already involved in the task, the examiner has set the criteria for the exam and i have followed it. 

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

I have learnt how to successfully cut and edit a movie utilising iMovie as a editing medium, using the frame choice in order to match non-digetic sound with the action. I also have learned the dynamics of shot framing and how this creates attachments to the audience and can be enhanced in the editing. I have also learnt how certain transitions created in iMovie can simulate different effects such as the appearance of time passing. 

Making the Preliminary Film

Step 1 Production

With pre-production complete, storyboard, basic script ready and all of the necessary props and equipment available to me being used i was ready to film.
This was a relatively quick process, I retrieved all of the necessary shots needed. I did this using:

A digital camera

A tripod

Props

The media hut

And 2 individuals

Step 2 Post-Production

1. I began by uploading all of the necessary clips from the camera to my appleMac using iMovieHD; this was a fast process as so far no real effort was required

2. I then began to run through all of the clips getting rid of the outakes and unecessary footage and added this to the timeline

3. After this i began to trim my clips in order to make the film run more smoothly, this makes the film more aesthetically appealing to the audience; helping my film greatly. The transition from shot to shot i wanted to appear smooth and not a great leap through space, confusing the audience. Most of my cuts were used to give the audience a different angle on the same movement and piece of film to make the film more interesting rather than obscure the audience to objects in the line of sight.

4. During the splicing together of the movie i realised that the rate that i cut the shots created how intense the scene would be as the editing of the product would set the beat of the movie, so began to use faster shots where i wanted the action to be more intense and slower shots where i wanted the audience to concentrate on the dialogue

5. I also noticed that there was a large amount of unwanted digetic sound during my movie (especially during the second day), this has to be cut; as most of the dialogue could not be clearly heard, so i reduced the volume of my movie to 0% so that the digetic sound was no longer there. Thus i had to add non-digetic sound in order to add the realism back into my movie.

I began to re-add some of the digetic sound that i wanted which i thought were nice effects such as the cartridge to the gun being inserted. So i did this by using the extract audio option under advanced. This extracts the entire audio of the whole clip, i then simply split the extracted audio and cut out the pieces i didn't want and matched them to the film so it appeared realistic.

6. I then added sound effects such as the gun shots which was more non-digetic sound being added to the film. This was to give the film some of the stereotypical sound effects of an action thriller.

With most of my digetic sound gone i began to invest in a technique called Foley, which is a technique used in post-production in video games and arguably movies. It consists entirely of sounds created after production is completed so none of the original sound is used.

I used this to create the missing footsteps (my schoolshoes stepping on my wooden floor and on a carpet), doors closing and the gun cocking.

These sounds also need to be matched to the footage as otherwise the sound and the film do not appear genuine.

7. I then added music to my movie, i added the "suspense" music from iMovie to create the mood of fear and expectation of that something bad was going to happen. Music is designed to do exactly this, it creates the mood and feeling for a piece of film and adds to the actors' emotions, and enhances their performance.

I would have added a different piece of music to match the movie possibly created in garageband so that i could enhance and change a piece of music according to the mood of the film.

7. I then created a longer movie to create a greater sense of story and suspicion, but i realised that this film could have possibly broken the 180 degree rule. I must research it further and see if the 180 degree rule can change after a scene change.
I then created a shorter movie that stayed in sure continuity with the 180 degree rule and then changed the lighting to a more darker setting; using the visual effects option on iMovie, this matched with the film's darker mood.

8. The 180 degree rule and my film, for my short film that conforms to the project, i have above placed all of the shots and show how they are in continuity.
Camera one shows the assassin moving through the corridor

Camera two is the zoom on the back of the random worker's head

Camera three shows the assassin shooting the worker in the head

Camera four shows the target entering the room

Camera five shows the panning shot of the worker dead panning to the assassin in the chair. And is the conversation shots for the assassin

Camera six shows the target in conversation sitting down

Camera seven shows the side shot of the assassin and the match on action of the trigger

My preliminary film storyboarded

1. Film begins with "The Assassin" entering a bathroom to change, this shot is in mid-close up to bring the audience's attention to the character. The assassin looks at himself in the mirror and takes off his blazer

2. MOA as the blazer falls down the back to reveal a gun, this signifies that the assassin is going to kill, threaten, or rob someone to bring a sense of ambiguity into what can happen in the next scene.

3. The assassin exits the bathroom and goes through the corridors some fast, and close up shots are used. This is to bring up the level of suspense. We then see the assassin advancing up a corridor from behind. To tell the audience where the assasin is going 

4. A slow zoom with footsteps are advancing, this is to simulate a POV shot from the assassin's POV and tells the audience that he is going to die.

5.We then see the assassin walk into the room shoot, and fade out. This is to let the audience know that the first death is over as the gunshot resonates

6. The target enters the room after leaving during the zoom shot. 

7. This shot again simulates the target's POV, and brings emotional attachment with the character. This tells the audience he fears death. MOA as he sits down

8. Reverse shot of the target as dialogue begins. Shot reverse shot continues as plot details are revealed by the assassin. the target reveals he knows nothing. The assassin raises his gun in mid close up

9. MOA as the assassin pulls the trigger

9. 

Preliminary task similar media texts

In order to attain a good grade in this preliminary task i must research into other media texts that borderline and are similar to this text. This is to allow me to know how to make my personal sequence.

The Matrix

The scene where Neo me

ets Morpheus

1. The scene begins with an establishing shot of the stairs that Neo and Trinity are climbing up, this is to demonstrate to put bluntly they are going up the stairs to get wherever the next scene takes place. Because this only establishes setting like an  earlier shot outside the building there is no attachment, the only thing added in addition here is a dramatic angle in the shot to connotate the fact that wherever they are going is very high up on the staircase. 

2. After traversing the stairs it shows a full shot outside a door (giving the connotation to the audience that the next scene will be in there. Trinity exchanges dialogue with Neo, this is done in full shot, partially because the dialogue being said is unimportant and also to give more dramatic effect to the next shot. MOA (Match on Action) to show that they are entering the room through the door, and then reverse shot to see them enter through the door. 

3 - 4. Shows a full shot of morpheus' back turned this shot last around two seconds as lightning strikes and the shot immediately changes to a close up to bring the audience closer to the character in the shot, because this is our first meeting with morpheus this is to give the audience a better and more full profile of his face, the effect of the lightning creates the connotation that morpheus is a frightening man or a very shocking one

5 -6. Conversation begins with Neo including the use of shot reverse shot and continuity with the 180 degree rule. This creates a the signified sense of calm between characters and by that the audience interpreting Morpheus as an ally with the Hero.

1. An establishing shot follows a man walking down a corridor, the shot shows where the next scene is going to take place, i.e. through the door. The mise-en scene of the clip signifies to the audience that the place is either an office or a school. 

2. The clip then displays match on action as the same character supposedly walks up to the door and grasps the handle to open it. These are two different shots designed to link together seamlessly as to flow in one continuous motion. This is to help tell the audience that the character is going to go through the door, also this for example could be used to demonstrate a locked door

3. The clip then demonstrates a cutting reverse to show the other side of the door as it opens,  linking and finishing the transferral of the shots as they go through the man goes through the door.

4.  As character A (The man who entered through the door) he comes into contact with and sits on a chair opposite character B (Already sitting in a chair). Character A is established as owning the right hand side of the screen, whilst character B owns the left hand side of the screen. This is the create sub-consciously a sense of security of where each character is going to be. This can obviously be changed if confusion is wanted to be created. This becomes after another smooth cut and over shoulder shot focusing on character A

5. Character B returns dialogue with character A, this is also over shoulder shot which can give a better view of the focus actor in this case A. This is a shot/ reverse shot where the opposite actor is viewed. This maintains the sense of security for the audience and allows the actors to maintain ownership over one side of the screen

6. The film ends with another reverse shot, focusing on character A returning dialogue and acquiring an object that is the subject of the entire clip

Starsky and Hutch 

Huggy bear intro scene 

1. S&H enter Huggy's office from a side angle, this is to create a sense of insecurity about the room in the audience over the room they are about to enter. his is because Hutch has never met Huggy before

2.  Cut reverse shot as the pair enter the office from the opposite side of the door, this still has not shown huggy, the first thing you hear is Huggy's voice, as he greets hutch.

3. Reverse shot again as we finally see Huggy in mid-close up in the form of snoop dogg, he seems to a happy character as he hold's his arms wide open in almost a greeting and the audience immediately takes a liking to him

4. Reverse shot as Hutch says hi, and Starsky introduces himself offering a handshake. Match on action of the hand.

5. Shot reverse shot as Huggy refuses starsky's handshake, with the classic line following witha  classic line from the original series "Nobody touches the Bear". This represents Huggy as being quite a cold character as the next shot displays his sense of distaste

6. Reverse shot as Starsky sits down and asks for a drink. At this point Starsky is seen as still being the uptight cop, and the angles show very few positive emotion close-ups

 

Target Audience (Preliminary)

Target audience is brought into consideration by the content of the clip or film, primarily this being the genre which dictates the stereotypical view by the audience of the whole film. The Genre term can be divided into many categories such as the sci-fi, thriller and western. These split varieties in genre come with their own personal stereotypes such as sci-fi films typically have such props as laser guns, aliens, spaceships. The genre can also have certain split categories too called sub-genres such as for sci-fi: the cyberpunk and apocalyptic world categories respectively.


The genre also affects the target audience, although variable for the target audience a film largely attracts people of certain classes and interests. A film such as Casino Royale has a large audience as the film appeals to people of mostly those aged 15-50, of both classes (ABC1 and C2DE) mostly male although not exclusive, and for fans of the Bond film series. This target audience could also conform for a film such as the Bourne Identity. However an action film could have a very different audience for a film such as "300" where the target age is far lower than that of the Bond fanchise and is aimed more toward both classes because of the content and genre of the film.


The genre i have chosen for my project is the thriller sub-genre the action thriller, this is a film where a lot of action takes place and includes elements of crime and mystery. The target for this audience would be a an audience that wished to be thrilled by the story, i also want to create a feel of mystery.

Because i have chosen this specific genre there are certain effects i must add to the clip, i will reduce the lighting in order to create a darker feel to the clip. Shots typically should be fast moving and at times in order to create dramatic effect break the 180 degree rule, although this contradicts the point of the task and would lose me marks. Location can at times be important especially if a setting is needed to be epic. Props i may need will be guns and perhaps computers which are typical for the genre. I will work from the idea in my head that i have.

Codes and conventions

The codes and conventions of an action thriller are typically guns, fight sequences, epic sets (such as a giant ice palace) and witty puns from the lead character. As i do not have access to most of these i have just settled on the media hut as my set using my BB guns as props, but a full on fight scene would take too long to choreograph and would not fit into the brief of the movie.

Match on action and 180 degree rule demonstration

All rights owned by Warner Bros, and J.K. Rowling

At 1:00 approximately a conversation begins switching between neville longbottom and Professor Lupin. When the camera shot changes to show each actor talking Neville always appears on the left of the screen and Lupin on the right.

At 1:30 Lupin opens the door to the wardrobe using his wand and the door zooms in to show the handle turning.

Preliminary task start

The Brief 

I have bolded out the important pieces of information, and have attempted to find loopholes to make the task a bit more interesting 

A Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. 

Exact definition of continuity being:

1. (a)The state of being continuous

    (b) An unbroken succession 

    (c) A logical sequence

2. The detailed and self consistent scenario of a film or broadcast

3. The linking of broadcast items

Basically we have to link the above together in that order so

1. character opens door

2. crosses room

3. sits down in a chair opposite another character

4. dialogue exchange

There however is no reason to extend the film task a bit further on to incorporate a bit of story which i think is what we are being encouraged to do, we just need to follow the orders of the above. Our other restrictions are as follows.

We must incorporate basic camera work and editing following:

Match on action: Close up on action e.g. close up on hand on door handle when it is being opened e.g.2 close up on hand when drawing sword e.g.3 close up on watch when checking the time

Shot reverse shot: Mainly used for dialogue sequences, frame of character 1 when he talks, reverse to charcter 2 when he talks keeping in consistency with the 180 degree rule

180 degree rule: Basically keep the same character to the same side of the frame between shots, e.g. character 1 comes in on the right, character 2 comes in on the left, the two characters keep their respective sides of frame