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Evaluation question 1

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

Evaluation question 1

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

Conventions commonly found in a thriller opening:

• Non-diegetic music plays loudly throughout action scenes
• The sounds/music should match the pace of the opening
• Fast editing should match the pace of the opening to create tension
• Characters are normally introduced
• Shouldn't give away to much

Below is the opening for 'Se7en'. It is a stylised and discrete opening. One convention found in this opening is that non-diegetic sounds play at a similar pace to the opening. For example a reasonably slow paced drum beat plays throughout the opening.

Conventions of title sequences:

• Ident(s)
• Stars
• Main title (can be after the stars or at the end)
• Other actors
• Crew (e.g. casting, costume design, music etc.)
• Director
• Ident again

The title sequence of 'Se7en' follows the same convention of title sequences except the director's title appears after the idents. This is because the director of the film isn't as famous as other directors such as Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino.

Conventions used  in our thriller:

Fast editing, or editing matched to the pace of the intro, is a convention commonly found in thriller openings. We matched our editing to the pace of our intro and also to the slightly fast beat music we added to the soundtrack. We also tried to give as little as possible away in order to keep the viewer interested in to what happens in the rest of the film.

Our title sequence:

• Ident (candimedia studio)
• Stars
• Title
• Other actors
• Crew
• Director

Evaluation Question 1

The general conventions of a film opening include

• Lasting 2 minutes 
• Introduce main characters
• Establishes the main scene
• Usually non diegetic sound
• Key event will occur

Conventions of a thriller film opening

• Fast editing/cuts
• Draw audience in 
• non diegetic music usually matches theme of the film opening 
• Tracking and Pan shots commonly used 

The general order of titles for an opening

• Ident
• Main Actor
•  Title (can be after the stars or at the end)
• Other actors
• Crew
• Director

Timeline in order for our film 'pushers' titles

The timeline for the opening of Titanic, shows how it generally follows the order for the titles

Conventions used in our thriller

Evaluation question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our thriller represents a few social groups, for example: business men, drug dealers and lower class girls who associate with drug dealers. The character I play is portrayed as a person middle class and slightly above average status. This is done through mise en scene and in particular his suit and briefcase. The characters played by Orrie, Sophie and Luke on the other hand represent a much lower class and status because of their cheaper looking clothes. Other types of mise en scene such as the cocaine, also contribute to their lower social status and class.

The man in a suit is represented in a complex and ambiguous way but more negative than positive. The mise en scene suggests that he has a high class and status but his actions and inconspicuous nature creates a suspicious atmosphere around him. The character of the drug dealer, played by Luke, represents a completely negative social group, primarily because of his consistent presence around narcotics. The girls are also represented negatively through their clothes and association with a drug dealer.

We created a contrast between the man in the suit and the other characters in the drug house by giving them completely different social groups and class. We did this because the fact that the man in the suit and the characters in the drug house are mutually involved with narcotics makes the viewer question the actual social group in which the man in the suit is part of.

Evaluation Question 2

When we studied tv drama our group found that a big target audience for this was between 15-25 year olds. We found that the majority of tv dramas we looked  at included different aspects of crime and violence, therefore we thought it would be appropriate to include some sort of crime into our own. This resulted in our group using flour to portray cocaine and generally aimed our target audience between 16-25.

For Ians character we decided to portray him as being middle class through the clothes he wore and props he used such as wearing a suite and carrying a briefcase. Also by adding a cigarette adds to the portrayal of everyday life and we hoped people may relate and identify with this. We also tried to make Ians character appear much older then he is through his clothing to give the idea that he was a business man. The characters ethnicity was white.

For myself and Orries character we were portrayed as being lower class, this is through the clothing we wore which was quite revealing and scruffy to show not much care or consideration was taken in our appearances. This was because the characters we were playing were situated inside a crack house our characters were a lot younger then Ians and this was shown through the body language of us. The ethnicity for myself is white and for orries character mixed race.

For Lukes character we tried to portray him as being high-class then myself and Orries character but still of lower status. He played the drug dealer and was dressed casually in quite baggy clothing which was tracksuit bottoms and t-shirt we decided to also give him a hat to add to the drug dealer effect. Again his character was portrayed as being young but older then myself and orries character and his ethnicity is white.

The representation of all the characters we played are mostly negative, however with Ians character although he is being portrayed as middle class and quite presentable the viewer knows he is up to something. The rest of the characters are portrayed negatively this is easily identified through the clothing and body language of our characters.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation question 3

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

The only media distribution that we used was Candimedia studios. At first we decided to use Miramax but later discovered that we had to use a distribution company that might realistically fund our product and not one that normally produces other thrillers in the same genre. The "candistudios' ident features at the vey beginning of our opening as the first title.









Candistudios is a small independent distribution company that is based in City and Islington college. It is only used to fund the media products of the students within the college. Choosing candistudios is more suited to our thriller opening because its free of charge. The only other alternative distribution company that we could've chosen to use would be a small, independent British one. This is because they would be more interested in producing a small thriller than the bigger Hollywood companies.

Evaluation question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our thriller is associated with three different social groups, these being business men, drug dealers and lower class girls who dedicate their lives to using recreational drugs. 

My character is a drug dealer, who is portrayed as lower class due to his scruffy appearance, plain room and quite a run-down block of flats. My character represents the kind of typical drug dealer, in a sense that although he may have money, he's quite concealing about his identity, which may be why his mise en scene appears to be lower class.

Ian's character is meant to be seen as quite middle class, due to his suit and briefcase, also in the scene where he is waiting for the phone call, he is standing outside a jewellery store, which slyly hints to the audience the theme of wealth and social class within his character.

Much like my character, the drug dealer, Orrie and Sophie's characters who are meant to be seen as intoxicated women are also seen as working class for similar reasons to my character.

These are some words that are associated with our film, which are mostly to do with social class.

Ian's character is portrayed in a positive way due to his clothing (suit), this makes his look wealthy. In contrast to this, my character and Orrie and Sophie are portrayed in a negative way, my character looks scruffy and Orrie and Sophie look quite revealing.

Here are some words/objects that also present social class, we can see the type of clothing, objects that are used (briefcase) and also the location and scenery.

EVALUATION - Q2

How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

I think that our thriller represented the social group of ; drug dealers.

Our social group relates back to when we studied age while doing the TV drama unit.

• Ian - High status - dressed in a suit with a briefcase ( business man ), Looks much older due to his dress sense, Ethnicity - White
• Orrie&Sophie - Lower class - dressed in provocative clothing, In a crack house, Looks much younger because of the clothes worn & the way Orrie acts stroppy when being pushed away,Ethnicity - Sophie - White - Orrie - Mixed race.
• Luke - lower class ( drug dealer ) casually dressed, Young (wearing a hat) , Ethnicity - White

The representation of Ian is complex and more negative because he looks Upper class as he's in a suit and wearing smart shoes, However he is on his way to do something mysterious which the viewer establishes is going to get some drugs.

The representation of Orrie & Sophie is Negative, The viewer is easily able to interpret what sort of girls they are being portrayed as due to the clothing worn and the way they act, Needy lower classed girls.

The representation of Luke is Negative, He is a drug dealer and in casual clothing an a hat.We are able to recognise what is character is as he is sorting out the drugs.

VLOG 

Lighting - Ian is filmed in brighter lighting which portrays everyday, normal life as people are dressed smartly when they go to work, Gradually the lighting gets a bit darker as we realise he is going to do some suspicious business

Luke , Sophie and Orrie filmed in a dark lighting to illustrate the darkness of the situation as its illegal.

Mise en scene - Ian filmed near jewellery stores , dressed in smart clothing , props such as briefcase and cigarettes normalises his character.

Orrie and Sophie dressed in revealing clothing's , filmed in a small dark crack house

Camera - orrie and Sophie filmed with higher angles to show they are less important where as Luke and Ian have many close ups and full shots as they are vital characters

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Overall the general audience that is targeted for thriller films is usually quite wide and a wide range of ages enjoy them, however the minimum age tends to be 15 and over as anyone younger than this may not understand the complexity of some films. Also due to the violence and general use of drugs and illegal activity in most it is best suited for maturer audiences. However in general although both genders enjoy thrillers, males tend to enjoy thrillers more then females because they are able to relate with the characters a lot more unlike women who generally are able to relate with characters from other genres like romantic comedys.
When looking at thrillers there are many sub genres to go by that appeal to different types of people and different age groups. Again this is due to the violence shown and explicitly included in most of them.
For our own thriller we decided that the ages most suitable would be between 16-25, this is because it is a crime thriller and involves topics such as drugs and potential violence. I believe that our thriller will appeal mostly to males as stereotypically they tend to enjoy crime thrillers more. We decided that people who were in their late 20s and older wouldn't enjoy the film as  much as the younger audience as they are too 'mature' for topics such as drugs and crack houses. However this is just a general outline of our target audience.

This is an example of our target audience

Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation question 3

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Thriller films tend to have attract a variety of ages depending on the sub-genre, for example: a political thriller might attract an older audience because it requires more concentration and involves less action, which might appeal to an older audience. However a thriller can also attract different genders as well as ages, for example: a thriller involving a romantic story or plot might attract a more female audience while an action packed might appeal to a more masculine audience.

I believe that our thriller would be rated 15 and would attract an audience of up to 30 years of age. This is primarily because of the prominent reference to drugs. Even though drugs would be more suitable to an older audience (18 and above) i think that our thriller doesn't contain too much inappropriate contents and would therefore be suitable for 15 year olds. In my opinion, i think that our product would be more appealing to a male audience because the rest of the thriller would contain a fair amount of action which might come across as a less feminine film.

Evaluation question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Generally, thriller films tend to have an older audience, like over the age of 15 or so. This is because most thrillers are based on making people think in order to get into the film, which is why an older audience best suit thrillers, as they generally tend to be more interested in the complexity. Age isn't the only factor within thriller audiences, there is also gender too. What's good about thriller films is that because they are so alternative, both genders seem to have as much interest as each other.

What tends to happen is that the different sub genres appeal to different age groups, but most thrillers appeal to 15 or over. This isn't just because of the complexity, but also because most thrillers commonly contain violence, and this violence isn't suitable for young ages and quite pyscological topics. An example of sub genre appealing to an audience would be a crime thriller. A crime thriller would typically appeal to a male audience as it contains a lot of action and violence. This isn't always the case, but we generally associate these things with a male audience due to the stereotype.In contrast to this, something like The Drama Thriller might appeal to women more than men as they contain more mature topics, but this all is due to the stereotype, but is also proved to be true.

For our thriller film, I think a younger audience, of about 16-30 best suited it as the drug related theme appeals to a younger age. But we didn't want it too young. e.g. 15 and under as it would be too explicit and we would be sending out the wrong message. I think over 16 is the right age as the theme of drugs should be seen as a mature topic in which the audience of our thriller could maybe relate to at a young age, but we have put the maximum age range as roughly around 30 as we don't think that people over this age would take as much interest into it.


This is a Facebook profile which I have created for a potential audience viewer of a our film. As you can see he studied at a good college and is of a young age, so he is an ideal person to watch our thriller film.

Evaluation Question 7

This is Sophie and Orries response to question 7

EVALUATION - Q3

EVALUATION - Q4

Who would be the audience for your media product ?

In general, the majority of thriller films are always 15+ as most contain violence and a complex storyline. Therefore they are made for an older audience as they are more likely to understand it. There is no gender in equality as both genders like thriller films however id say it appeals more to boys as it contains violence. There are different subgenre's which narrows the thrillers down into different category which attracts different audiences.
our film is a crime thriller as it is to do with drugs and would potentially involve violence , this would attract a male audience more, where as a drama thriller could attract women more  as the topics are more mature which woman are seen more as then men in stereotypes.
we picked 16-25 for our thriller as it contains drug use and people above this age are more likely to understand the concept of this.

Evaluation question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

A brief interview from a member of our target audience. 

A brief interview from a member of our group.

Evaluation question 5

How did you attract/address your target audience?

The target audience that we thought was best suited to our film was young adults aged 18 to 25. This is because it involves action, which appeals to a younger audience, and also drugs, which would be suitable for a more mature audience.

Mise en scene

We worked a lot on our mise en scene to try to make it as appealing as possible to our target audience. We did this by using flour to represent drugs, the theme which our thriller revolves around. This will hopefully attract a slightly more mature audience as drugs are considered a taboo and therefore less suitable to a younger audience. We also dressed our actors in a way which would relate to our main themes. The main character (the man in a suit) is dressed in a suit to represent his higher status and class. The girls in our film are dressed in a revealing way to attract the young male audience. We also tried to make the girls look as if they were under the influence of drugs in order to relate to the theme of drugs.

Storyline

Our storyline is about a man getting in trouble with the law and criminal side of London. We chose this storyline because it would involve a lot of action and suspense. This is one of the characteristics that would attract a younger audience.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack that we used in our opening was very subtle, in the sense that the music was fairly quiet and only got loud near the end, but mainly it was just in the background. We did this primarily so the  audience would focus on the shots we used. The music we did add was a slow paced club beat, this would appeal to a younger audience because modern club music, and clubs in general, are mostly frequented by the younger generations.

 Interviews

This is some of the feedback we got from one of our audience members.

This is an interview of one of our actors, describing what we did to promote our thriller to the target audience.

Evaluation question 6

EVALUATION - Q5

How did you attract/address your audience ?

Interviewing a member of our target audience

Interview of an actor in our group

Evaluation question 6

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

Software

For our media product we used and learnt about a variety of softwares for example:

• Final cut pro- I used final cut pro to edit all of our shots and put in them in the order that we wanted them to be in. Throughout the process of making our thriller I learnt how to edit different shots by trimming them and adding in and out points. I also learnt how to add titles to the footage and add effects, such as fade out, to the titles and shots
• Soundtrack pro- In order to add non-diegetic sound and change the levels of the diegetic sound I wanted to keep we had to use soundtrack pro. By using soundtrack pro I learnt how to change the volume at different times of the final edit in order to put some sounds where i wanted them to be, for example I added a non-diegetic sound of traffic to the scenes of the man in the suit walking, so in order to only have the sound of traffic in those scenes I had to fade the sound in and out. I also learnt how to add effects to some of the sounds ,such as reverb or delay, in order to make some sounds seem more distant or echoey.
• Quark- I used quark to make a rough storyboard of the production. By using this i learnt how to make a storyboard and add writing to it.

Internet

I learnt a range of new features of the internet while making my media product:

• Blogger- The main new feature of the internet that i learnt how to use while working of my product was Google Blogger. I learnt how to analyse what I did in a days work and talk about it on my blog. I also learnt how to upload pictures, videos and gifs to the blog in order to make it look nicer and involve different features of technology.
• Gifs- Another use of the internet that i used frequently was Gifs. I used a Gifmaker called Picasion to make Gifs for my blog.
• Vimeo- When our product was completed it was uploaded privately onto Vimeo, a video tube similar to Youtube. Therefore we learnt how to access it and watch our media product as well as other student's

Cameras

Whilst filming i learnt a variety of techniques for filming with and using cameras:

• Video camera- The video camera we used ws a JVC pro HD GYHM100E. While filming we learnt how to operate the camera properly. This involves focusing the lens so that the footage wouldn't come out blurry. This was definitely the technological feature that took the most getting used to, for that reason we made some mistakes for example a whole mornings filming came out blurry and we had to go back the next day to film it again. However once we got the hang of it we managed to finish all of our filming before the deadline.
• Still camera- The still camera was pretty straight forward to use as i have used cameras in the past, but we found it very useful to for our storyboard and to take pictures while we were filming. 
• Flip camera- The flip camera was also easy to use. We found it useful to film teacher's as well as student's feedback to our product so we could improve on what they criticised.
  
   

Evaluation question 7

What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the preliminary idea to the full product?

Skills learnt in the prelim film

The first thing we had to do was make a storyboard. In the storyboard we used Ian and Sophie as the two characters, but then changed it when it came to the actual film. We used Quark to lay out our storyboard clearly, using a template. We also had to write a brief sentence or so under the images in our storyboard outlining the shot types we were going to use. When it came to actually filming it, we tried to stick to the storyboard as much as possible. 

Our prelim wasn't thought out that well as we tried to do it quite quickly. We were basically given a task, which was to film a conversation between 2 people. As the idea wasn't anything too special, we had to make it better by the shot types we used and the way in which we edited it. We used a lot of close ups, and a lot of match-cutting as it was filming a conversation. The prelim was filmed in college in a small staff room, so it looked as though it could pass for a normal room in which two people would have a casual conversation in. We were wearing casual clothes and the lighting in the room was pretty normal.

Editing it overall was relatively simple as we had the ideas clearly laid out on the storyboard. The titles weren't too fancy as it was quite a straightforward task so we didn't feel the need to make them look too extravagant. The good thing about doing the pre-lim was that we got a good idea of all the technology that we had to use in our thriller, and also when it came down to making our finished thriller, using Final Cut Pro was no where near as hard to use as it was before the prelim.

Final product
Like the prelim, we did a storyboard of what we were going to do in the thriller, using Quark. When it actually came down to the thriller, we attempted to stick to it, but as the process of making it went by we experimented with different shots to see if they would work better.

When it came down to filming, we had some experience with using the camera so we were able to experiment with shots in order to make them better. As the time went by for filming our thriller, I became much more confident with filming. Honestly, I wasn't involved as much in the editing for our final thriller piece, so I can't really compare it with the skills I learnt in the prelim, what I can say is that the contribution I did give enhanced by skills quite a lot and I have become much more confident in using Final Cut Pro, although I would much prefer to learn more about it.

13. Orrie Jimack, Ian Keserue, Sophie Larkin-Tannett, Luke Zelkowiicz from 283goswell on Vimeo.

EVALUATION - Q6

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

During the process of making our thriller movie, we used a range of different technologies to help improve the quality of our product.

Evaluation question 7

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

When making our preliminary film my skills of using software, cameras and internet were much weaker. When we began filming our prelim I had little to no experience of using a camera and was just taught the basics. Since we were following a basic guideline we had a clearer picture of what we were doing (a short film with dialogue).

Pre-production

For the pre-production we used Quark to make a storyboard. This was when we first learnt how to use this software (this involved taking pictures with a still camera and inputting them into Quark). Since then we didn't learn any new skills to do with the software. So similarly while preparing for our actual thriller opening we made a storyboard on Quark. To conclude, in the pre-production side of making a media product i have learnt how to make a storyboard on Quark with pictures and captions.

Post-production

• Camera skills- For filming our prelim we used a JVC pro HD GYHM100E. While filming the prelim i learnt the basics of using this camera (this involved turning it on, inserting a memory card, zooming in, capturing footage and watching it). On the other hand when it came to the filming of our thriller opening we required slightly more advanced camera skills, for example: i had to learn how to correctly focus the lens when zooming in, we encountered problems with focusing the camera and as a result we had to re-film a large section of our opening. So to conclude, working between the prelim and thriller opening has taught me a variety of camera skills including: how to operate the camera while filming, how to focus and zoom, and how to playback the footage to check if it was correctly filmed and focused.

• Mise en-scene- The mise en-scene used in our prelim was very basic because we used the clothes we were in and the staff room. However when working on our thriller opening we had to think about what props to use and why. We spent a fair amount of time dressing our actors up to appropriately suit the roles they were meant to portray, for example we dressed my character up in a suit to give him more class and authority and on the other hand we made the drug house look as grotty as possible by using scruffy furniture and a worn out table. So in the progression from the preliminary task and the full product i have learnt how to use mise en-scene to portray my desired image of the characters and setting.

• lighting- When doing our preliminary task we didn't focus on the lighting at all. This was because    we didn't have the option of regulating the amount of light. For our thriller product on the other hand lighting was very important for the drug house scene. We had to find a way to make the location seem as dark as possible in order to achieve that gloomy and dark feel. in contrast the skills required to light the locations in our thriller opening were much more complicated than the skills required in the preliminary task.

• Editing- While editing our preliminary task the only software that we used was Final cut pro. We learnt how to match cut, cross cut and put our footage in order and also add titles. On the other hand, in the post-production of our thriller we had to use another softwares called Soundtrack pro. while using soundtrack i created a soundtrack to go along with the final cut of our opening. I also learnt how to input our opening into soundtrack. To conclude, in the progression from the preliminary task to the full product i learnt i wide range of skills while using softwares like final cut pro and soundtrack pro to edit, create a soundtrack and add titles to our media product.

EVALUATION - Q7

Constructing Titles

Titles

We changed the titles at the last minute in order to make it more aesthetically pleasing. We did this by choosing a new font called Base 02 and we decided to make it flicker in order to show the dodgyness of the situation.

 There was trouble because we the titles would run over the next scenes to it was quite time consuming to make all the titles shorter.We've changed the size so its more easy to read as the font is sort of unclear.

-We put the ident first which was candi media 

- Then we put the main star which was Ian

- After went the second important in the movie which was luke 

- And after that we had the two less important characters , Orrie Jimack and Sophie Larkin-Tannetta

- The producer was put next which was Max Walker

- Then we put editing by Emma Smith

- Music is by Ian Keserue

- Then lastly we have the director who is Tom Carroll

Why I liked the filming locations

Drug house location
I really like the location for this as it had very low lighting which gave it an eary feel to it and actually look like it could pass for a drug den. This was filmed in Ian's house, we had to rearrange some of the things in the room such as little things in the background on the shelf. Also, in order to make the room look darker we blocked the light from coming into the window. By convincing the audience that it looks like a drug den, we had a little light on to make it look very discrete, much like drug dealers tend to be. (The picture on the left doesn't really present the lighting very well, when filming the room looked much darker.)

Block of flats/street location
I also really liked the location of the flats, as it didn't have much to it, which is what we intended. We were able to capture some really good shots at this location of the man in the suit (Ian). I also liked the bit outside the flats where Ian had to be waiting about to receive a phone call, this was filmed outside a jewellery shop and the theme of money could be subtly linked to this.

Final film feed back from audience member

Rough cut feed back from audience member

PLANNING-pitch feedback on rough copy

 This was our rough copy feedback from Dan.

Feedback from target audience member

PLANNING- title inspirations

Blow (2001)

We looked at this title sequence as part of inspiration for ours we found a drug thriller called blow (2001) and analysed the way the titles approached the screen which was through the effect of typing. The titles were discrete as they featured over images of marijuana and the effect of smoke continued also, this portrays the idea already that the film will be about drugs however does not completely give it away.

Pusher (1996)

The opening to this was quite typical as the titles were super imposed, the sequence in the background consisted of the characters slowly introduced fading in and out. This was effective as it added suspense and mystery and gave the impression of something bad.The font is bold giving the illusion of it being more masculine and adding depth.

Dan's feedback to our soundtrack

A short clip of Dan's feedback on the soundtrack for our thriller. 

Use of flour (cocaine) in our thriller

A brief talk about using cocaine in our thriller.

Pusher - Storyboard

Storyboard

Part 1

Part 2

PLANNING-TARGET AUDIENCE

From the start our group agreed on the target audience being 15-25, even after our pitch presentation and the feedback we received as a group we have all agreed we will keep the current age range as we believe it is suitable for our film. The fact that our thriller opening includes everyday props and items will attract an audience as they will be able to identify with the characters within our opening, by using this strategy will hopefully attract the target audience we want.

Production schedual

Before we started to film , our group made a production schedule to keep up on track with what needed to be done before hitting our deadline.Personally we think we stuck very well to our schedule , we got the drug house scene filmed all on the Thursday like planned. However although we got the scene of Ian walking done on Tuesday like planned , there were some complications as some of our footage came out blurry so instead of spending the Saturday focusing on the drug scene again , we were able to use that day to re film Ian's scene which was more convenient as we had extra scenes to use and were able to choose the best to put in.

Once all filming was finished we began editing on the days stated .We found the editing difficult as our scenes kept getting lost so it was time consuming to redo them but due to our free week for evaluating, we were able to use some of those days as editing took longer than planned and still be on track to get everything finished by the deadline.

Inspirations.

Before making our final thriller project , we were influenced by a few films. In Arlington road there were close ups of the little boys feet walking which we thought was good enough to place in our film when Ian is making his way to the drug house also the Mise en scene used such as the setting , outside , was used in ours too. There was also a film called 'Protege' which we used the Mise en scene from. The famous scene of the drug taking inspired us with its dark lighting and small room which we then put into our thriller in the scene of the drug house. We thought that what we took from each film worked really well with our film.

HOLIDAY HOMEWORK - research 2

Inception

Plot 

In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a highly skilled thief is given a final chance at redemption which involves executing his toughest job to date: Inception

Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible-inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming.

Camera
Most of the shots used in this film were close ups , these help us to identify peoples facial expressions giving us a sense of what they feel . for example in the beginning scene , There is a close up of Leonardo which is shown 3 times illustrating the importance of his character. Aswell as that , close ups of children were shown 3 times as well, match cutting with Leonardo's close ups showing they also have some importance and connect to Leonardo in some way.There was a close up of clocks many times again suggesting that the timing is crucial.Wide shots are also used frequently when entering a new place or leaving a place, for example the scene where they have just finished being in a dream on the train . It ends with a wide shot of the train going into a city enabling the viewer to see where its going.

Sound
Sounds in thriller play very important parts, In a sence it makes a thriller. Throughout the movie there are alot of non digetic sound played in the background such as low and slow music which creates an eary and mysterious feel to each scene. There is alot of digetic sounds such as crowds screaming and explosions , crashes and bangs in fighting scenes. When the word 'Inception' is first mentioned , the music becomes loud all of a sudden suggesting the word is important.

Editing
Match cuts have been used alot while people are having a conversation so we are able to see facial expression while in the conversation and see also see who are talking. Tracking is used majority of the time in fighting scenes so we can keep up with all the action going on .As well as tracking during fighting scenes , fast cuts are used to show there is alot going on and the complication and mess involved in the scene.
In inception especially, there is alot of slow motion , slow motion gives a sort of dreamy effect with connect with the whole plot of people being in dreams. slow motion has been used when one of the characters eg Leonardo is in a kick and also when the city is exploding

Mise en scene
In the begging scenes , Like many thrillers ,the lighting is pretty dark which illustrates the mysterious atmosphere making the viewer wonder exactly what is going on . Its gets the viewer thinking there is something dark behind this. However Bright lighting is also used , for example when Leonardo is explaining to the girl the whole process behind inception. This shows how its enlightened her and aslo the viewers as we finally understand what they want to do. As well in the footage of his children playing , bright lighting is used to indicate those were happy times.
Props- Guns , Black clothing, suits, bats and fire.

Soundtrack

Music

The music opens with a slow beat jazz riff that fades when the man in a suit receives a phone call. Then a drum beat plays over the foleys. The music carries on throughout both the man in suit and the drug house scenes. It starts fading out near the end of the intro and stops after the third knock on the door.

Foleys

We inserted the sound of a phone ringing when the mans phone rings. Another foley that we used was the sounds of the door shutting at both shots of the door closing.

Diegetic sound

We decided to keep the diegetic sound of the footsteps going up the stairs because the sound of the echoing footsteps in the stairs sounded better than the foleys. The only other diegetic sound that we used was the sound of the door buzzer.

Non-diegetic sound

The non-diegetic sound used on our soundtrack is the sound of traffic in the scene when the man in the suit is on the street waiting for the call. We faded the volume into and out of the scenes of the drug house to make it seem like the traffic was only in the man in suit scene.

Editing Process

just finished editing the rough copy without sound and effects, it took us around 3 lessons due to the fact that some of our group has to go re film specific scenes as the previous footage was blurry as we accidentally left the camera on manual. Not only that but our clips kept getting lost as they were not on the video drive previously. The fact that we over filmed ment we were able to use the best clip and angles that worked.

During editing we found it difficult at first as we were unsure of all tools that we could use to help shape and trim our scenes however we then got the hang of it and the editing process became increasingly easier as we went along due to the in and out process and the shaving tool.

Production company

Candi Studios
Previously we had chosen a big production company but soon realized that our opening would be very amateur, so using the feedback given to us we went on to find a more suitable production company.

The production company that we would use for our film would be Candi Studios. Our reason being that it is an independent film production company. It's also suits our low budget film very well. Lastly, it is a student film production company, and out film is a student film. 

It makes much more sense to use this company as oppose to one that is of high budget as our film is a student film and costs nothing to make. 

2nd day of filming

2nd day of filming

On the second day we filmed , we got started pretty quick . However the journey there took quite a while to get there and the weather was not so good. We started filming straight away but the filming took quite some time . We first filmed the outside scene in the public area so we found it very difficult to do as people walk walk into the camera so we had to find a space to place the camera where no one would interrupt . Also like mentioned , the weather was bad as it began to snow half way through filming so we had to protect the electrical equipment . The weather condition also lead to filming our scenes as fast as we could as it was cold which meant we were not using our acting to our full potential. Then we started filming indoors , it was very cramped and small so it was hard placing the camera in different places for different angles. We did not think about spacing for equipment which was a downfall. Also we realised half way through filming that some of our footage were blurry so we had to re-film on a different day.

Filming again

We had a slight problem the first time filming Ian's scene the first time with a few of the shots, as some of the clips came out blurry. This meant that me (Luke) and Ian had to go back to the location (Holborn) and film some of the shots again.

I think this was a good idea anyway as we had already finished filming ahead of schedule, so this way we had an extra day to fall back on if anything went wrong. Going back to the location also meant that we could include more shots as well as re-filming the blurry ones.

Besides this slight problem, the rest of the filming went very smoothly with no problems, and even though this problem did occur, as explained above we were able to re-film and also include more to improve or thriller.

Media Pitch presentation

Screen Grabs of editing process

When we first started editing we had some trouble remembering exactly how to place the footage into the programe. For a whole lesson we edited it in a completely different way we were taught to , we had to use a special tool to trim our scenes down to the parts we specificly needed which took us quite a while to do but then again gave us more knowledge on what some of the tools did. When finally remembering the way we were taught to edit which was the in and out process, we began to proceed rapidly with our editing .