Reflective Analysis

The sequence that I made was suspense thriller, displaying the overall strength of the human mind and body when faced against the odds, to live and grow. It's a subliminal message to people urging them to fight for what they believe in and stand for something  rather then conforming, the main character is an embodiment of this and will make him relate-able to the audience and admirable. I had to use all of the micro elements to create the right atmosphere and narrative message, so the lighting, costume, props, etc. had to be perfectly fitting to the narrative and effect the narrative drive, so it didn't ruin the message of the narrative.

For myself to create the right amount of suspense and isolationism was to use sound to my biggest advantage, by using the acoustic song L490 by 'Thirty seconds to Mars' it connotes isolation with no use of lyrics and only on instrument, being the acoustic guitar a soft sounding and very eerie instrument if used with the right scene, such as the one I use. It invited the audience into the mind of my main character and added a sense of sympathy as they feel for him as most people feel more compelled with their feelings when a slow and soft song is played during a scene so they'll feel empathy for 'John' and curiosity towards how he got there and why. The serious tone of the music makes the audience realize that this scene and most likely the rest of the film will be based upon serious tones and themes.

The audience know that the opening is very serious with the lighting of the scene achieved by filming on location, the natural light and the natural feel of the opening gives the distinct 'British' feel that I was going for with the opening with the genuine feel, rather than a studio shot film, which is why I think British audiences prefer and relate more with location shot films, The effect a location shot scene can have is much better than anything that can be shot in a studio (for the style of film I made) for instance if the scene I filmed at the beach wouldn't have the natural feeling of a beach, it'd be a computer generated 'paradise' but i think a location shot can tell more about and film and it's pureness.

For costume I just really needed to pick some neutral colors and go from there really, without any designs that stand out or distract from the seriousness. Black jeans, Nike shoes and a Black and Red jumper, just look like a typical teen making him  relate-able to the older teen audience so that'll create interest in the biggest cinema goers and the word of mouth will help to freely advertise.

My film is influenced by British film production company Warp X with such films as 28 Days Later, Hush, Dead Mans Shoes and many more, these films have had me on the edge of my seat wondering what's going to happen yet and most American films fail to do this which is why i much prefer British produced films and I appreciate the genuine feeling that British films culminate and that they produce such great films on a miniscule budget so it's not trying to win people over by 'having the best cast' or 'best effects' it's just making a film for the pleasure of the audience and it is done almost perfectly with most films made by Warp X productions.

With a limited cast it helps focus on the character's development during the narrative and helps the audience focus strongly on the characters as individuals rather than a group of people, so they can relate and get into the psyche of the characters. It help the characters be understood and admired or feared by the audience, or enforce catharsis (with my film as pity is something the audience will feel for 'John' and fear for the 'infected' but they haven't been introduced into the opening) towards 'John' with his situation being quite grave and worrying to imagine yourself being put into.

For an improvement to my film I'd have recorded more sounds and had a few more shots taken of the scenes as I feel a crispness could've added to the effect and I'd have preferred the weather to have been quite dull but I couldn't get that without luck playing a part, but overall it's just very small things that I'd have improved with my opening scene. I'd have also added a bit more to the scene or added a freeze frame at the end but I didn't see it fit at the editing phase.

The use of a teenage character makes him a relatively unknown person which adds to the realism, it shows that this can happen to anyone. It embodies the human struggle within one character and shows how people should face adversity and not run away and give up because they can be victorious, so it will provide a strong positive message to the viewers so they will feel empowered to stand for themselves and fight off anything that's a threat, this will also make people feel good about themselves, which is a trait of 'cheesy 80's martial arts film' by making the audience see that 'anything is possible' this technique is a very successful technique, it gives the audience a feeling of nostalgia and will overall improve their feelings about things in general.

To conclude, all of the elements of mise en scene are integral to making the narrative and look of the opening look correct and make sure that the audience relate with the narrative drive and have the right emotions evoked by the film and it's narrative. My opening I feel did it quite successfully to embody the ideas of positivity and fighting for the truth and using the human curiosity to our advantage and creating a powerful suspense thriller.
   

Question 7, Evaluation

Since my preliminary video, I have learnt about different camera angles, shot types, lighting conditions, how the movement of the camera can effect the audience and every single thing in a camera shot can effect how the audience and how they react to the clip they're viewing. The lighting can have a massive effect on how the clip is percieved and can subconciously suggest the mood of the clip and what may happen during the progress of the cilp. In my preliminary the lighting wasn't exactly how I wanted it to apper so for my actual clip I made sure that the locations I used had good natural light that I could work with to improve it if it was needed. The sound wasn't picked up very well on my preliminary video so for my actual clip i've recorded some sounds after the video recordings and added them in during the editing of the main clip. I used some of the origonal recordings also that were picked up during the video recording. I choose locations that would add to the total effect and atmosphere of my video, to make the audience interprate the video's meaning and get the feeling of suspence. I've learnt that not showing the view every aspect oif your video can have a great effect on them as their imagination can help add to the horror of a scene in a film. The use of a soundtrack can be very effective and can add to the main narrative message that it being presented so the correct atmosphere is presented and read by the audience.

Question 6, Evaluation

This this the make and model of camera I used to record my clips, it was a very simple camera to use the zoom was used in the recording and it worked very well to create the effect I wanted to be portrayed. Overall it worked very well to record my videos and it was simple to use.

I also used a tripod, to add certain camera effects to the video that I wantedd to be added, it worked very well and captured shots like; Panning shot and Steady shot, it worked very well for stationary shots but 

I initally used Abobe premier pro as my editing software as I find it to be a better product for editing videos than WLMM and has a better collection of effects and offers more to the editing than WLMM does, Premier was initally a hard software to use but once i'd gotten use to it, it became quite easy to use and I got all of the effects i'd like on my video clip.

Question 5, Evaluation

As you can see I've used a young teenage male (myself) to be the main character which will help attract the audience with a young cast people usually enjoy watching them to see the new actors and if they have any talent and it also doesn't distract from the film's overall message by placing a massive household name, it keeps the film genuine and realistic.I adressed my audience by looking at the usual age for people that attend thrillers movies at the cinema. My music choice is quite upto date music by popular musicians so it will interest people of a young age to view the film.

Question 4, Evaluation

My main target audience would be young adults from 18-28 as they're interested in suspence horrors and have a high enough maturity level to watch a film with patience and the correct analytical viewing, by depicting everything in the films as they are meant to be presented in the clip. People that are interested in thrillers will also be a target as they're most likely to enjoy the film and will give it a positive reaction and will tell their friends about the film and the word of mouth is a very strong advertising technique, so if you impress a fan of the genre they're likely to tell their friends and they will be intrigued to watch the film for themselves. The target audience will have a keen interest in thrillers and suspence, so they will enjoy the film and understand the films concepts. With my target audience being at the age of 18-28 people around them of a younger age and older age will listen to their opinions of the films as they're at a responsible age. My target audience will most likely be mature working class young adults, that enjoy watching programs such as, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Criminal Minds and other programs with similar style and themes. Their taste in music will be anything up tempo for instance metal or hard rock. My audience are a very approachable and usual type of 18-28 year old, that are smart and mature.

Question 3, Evaluation

My ideal choice of film distributor would be Lionsgate as they are a high emerging film distribution company that aren't part of the big six but are holding a massive amount of very successful films uner their belts such as; The Hunger Games, The Twilight Saga, SAW, Etc. these films have been extremely successful and have a strong fan base which i'd hope to generate for my film. Posters, Social Network pages/accounts, trailers, websites, apps, advertisement campaign in newspapers and websites; such as YouTube, public transport, billboard campaign. But realisticly with my film being low budget it wouldn't have all of these but it would have Posters. I'd try to get the film into the best cinemas in the UK so more people will watch it and then use the word of mouth to tell their friends about it and garner interest.

Question 2, Evaluation

My character is a teen male, that follows a typical convention for a young male in modern society, he wears typical clothes that don't distract from the origional idea or narrative drive. His body language shows his bewilderment and his desire to find out what's happened and how. His hair and face hasn't been altered so it has a natural look to it rather than a 'clean' look so he fits in with the idea of waking upon a beach without an idea of anything. He represents the idea of never giving up no matter what obsticle lies in front of you that a human can conquer anything if they try their best to overcome it. People will aspire to be the character as he doesn't give up and shows resilience to find the truth.

Question 1, Evaluation

The title of the film is shown during he opening credits and is revealed slowly over the panning shot of the beach to add suspense and mystery to the scene. The setting that was chose were an almost isolated beach about a thirty minute walk from my house and I followed a typical british film by filming on a location rather than using a set, to save money and because I think it shows a more genuine atmosphere and location for the audience to admire and absorb into so the film is more immersive. Filming on location had an advantage because the atmosphere came across perfectly as the long expanding coast brought across the isolationist feeling that I wanted to be brought across during the filming. The font style I chose for my titles, was a nice straight forward and easily readable font style, with some elegance and grace as it is a very formal font for the viewer to read so they know that the film is going to be tackling a serious subject. The opening sets up the rest of the film to be a suspencing and edge of your seat style joyride trying to guess what will happen next, as the character is searching for any sign of life or an explanation to why or how he woke up on the beach. The shots used mostly are long takes and long shot to add a good sense of time passing and isolation. Characters aren't introduced by names, but rather by their faces which adds a mysterous effect to their persona's as the audience will only know their name when they're mentioned by other characters during the narrative. Special effects that were used were fading which adds to the suspence the audience will feel, as they are slowly revealed to what is coming next, rather than it jumping to other scenes.

Final Revised Opening

Click on the link for the video

Progress Report

My opening is getting uploaded now and I will be doing a reflective analysis on it once it's uploaded and I will be removing my 'Evaluation questions' and re-doing them so it relates to my newest video rather then my previous opening. It should all be done by Thursday and my blog will then be ready and completed.

Video Update

My video has now been fully editited and revised and is ready to be uploaded to my YouTube channel tomorrow and I have removed the dialouge scene so it focuses on the opening scene and isolation, so it adds the serious tone that I want to be brought across by my opening. I've changed the font style I previously used so it doesn't distract from the main focus of the opening and so it adds a eerie tone with the pure white it gets translated perfectly. Overall i'm quite happy with my film opening and how it's presented, obviously it's a bit amateurish, but I think that adds to the effect and I will be doing my refelective analysis to comment in more detail about the opening.

Costume

Costume choices are very important because the cast need to be dressed the part so they work well and incorporate the Mise En Scene, so the audience won't be confused. A characters wardrobe can represent their personality and mannerisms, so it's key to get them right, it can also represent a stereotype so the costumes have to be specially decided upon. For instance if the film is set in a historical time the costume has to be right so it looks realistic and serious, if the film is set quite far back in the past then the costume department may have to make the costumes for the film or if the character is a 'alien' in a sci-fi film the costume will have to be made if an actor is playing the 'alien' that is.   

Cast choice

The cast are the most important 'prop' in a film as they need to look the part and act the part, for example you couldn't imagine anyone else other than Russel Crowe playing General Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator (2000) because he looks the part as he is the right build to look like a Roman soldier and he doesn't look 'modern' so he is the perfect choice to play the General. So in my film I play my main character a young adult, just like any other teenager from the local area, so it has more realism to it than having a twenty-something playing the character of John. So for the overall point of the narrative to be delivered directly and efficiently it's best to have cast myself or some around my age bracket and appearance.  

The effect of a good soundtrack

Everybody that watches a film will notice music in the background for most films so it sets the mood, for instance in a martial arts film there's usually what you'd call 'up-beat' motivational music so it gets the blood pumping and the mind focused, in a horror there's usually a use of eerie music that slowly builds up in tempo, action films have usually fast paced 'heavy' music, so the music choice by the production team has to be critical to the movie and reflect it's narrative so it's delivered in the right way so the viewer gets the right message. My opening has the soft acoustic that's quite eerie so it shows that the opening is a very serious film and is not for instance a comedy.

The impact of the Media

Media is a massive global industry affecting a large majority of people's lives, it has more control than most governments as people are so Media orientated they live their lives around the Media that they believe what they're told by the Media and pass it off as the full truth without any direct evidence. The Media has the capability to cause people to believe almost anything, so it's a very influential and has a strong effect on people's beliefs. The Media is a powerhouse the basically controls the world and what goes on in it and keeps people up to date with the current unfolding news. With my film opening I want to install fear and curiosity into the people that view it, with the isolationist feeling that is basically screamed at the viewer it will make them have the natural human compulsion to be curios of what's going to happen during the narrative so \i believe that this is a good technique used by myself.

American Psycho Opening Clip Analysis

In this clip it shows Patrick Bateman's appartment, with a commentary from him which helps keep the viewer in touch with the main character and helps them understand his psyche and ego. With his comments about himself he tells the audience about his daily routine, which would normally be classed as unnecessary information, but it shows how much his life revolves around time schedules and that if he doesn't follow these daily routines he will himself become the monster that's inside him, but the main focus of these parts is to mock the culture that people feel the need to be so materialistic. With the comments on his daily routine it also links to the end of the film when Jean ( his secretary) discovers his dairy and how he's drew horific picture of murdering people, at first it's just small doodles in the book then it's eventually the whole pages full of horrific images, to show Patrick's slow decay and breakdown into a mental wreck, when he believes that he's been caught by Detective Kimble. The bright and crisp white of his apartment represents his outside personality as he seems very harmless but as revealed later in the narrative there's something grotesque hidden there for instance a head in the freezer, and he's a hidden psychotic murderer so that's the hidden inside personality of Patrick Bateman and his apartment.

American Psycho Opening Clip

American Psycho opening scene

Problems/ideas faced during editing

Problems that I faced during the editing process were things such as sound issues, with wind noise and people shouting in the background which was a large problem, so I opted for a almost full sound removal. It was easilt achieved as all I had to do was open Premier Pro (the editing software I used) and the add the clips onto the 'timeline' and just drag the audio file onto a different 'audio track' then mute that track thus removing the annoying background noises that would distract from the narrative drive. The effect of 'cuts' had to be decided appropriately so it didn't ruin the narrative drive, so I opted for a dissolve cut for most of the 'cuts' to show the progression of time and I think it worked quiet well to show this. For the POV scene it was quite easily achieved as all I did was hold the camera in my hand so I tried to move slowly and not too eratic so it shows the confusion the character's in and the end of the POV shows the character's legs which adds a good sense of realisim to the scene. The opening titles are on screen for too long so i'm going to opt for putting the opening titles in the panning shot at the start of the film sequence.

'Your Highness' case study

Just a steal from my other blog as I thought this case study could be relevant, to show my understanding of film industry.
Genre: Comedy, Fansaty
Overview: When Prince Fabious's bride is kidnapped, he goes on a quest to rescue her... accompanied by his lazy useless brother Thadeous.
Director: David Gordon Green
Production Company: Universal Pictures
Release date: 8th of April 2011
How many screens was it released to in the US: 2,769
What the trailer suggest about the film: It looks like a comedy, quite funny, fantasy based, full of jokes, it looks a bit more serious than what the film actually is
Poster: it sets the scene by telling the audience that the film in set during medievil times as the clothes that the actors are wearing is quite archaic
Internet Marketing: there wasn't a massive advertisement campaign as it was advertised on tevevision
Was there any promotional merchandise: No there wasn't
Was there a soundtrack: yes there is a soundtrack CD available but only background music; rather than acutual songs
Audience: between 15-25 year olds as there are sexual refrences but it is not mature and is treated humoursly and they've been targeted as they are usually big fans of the comedy genre
Critial and Commercial success: it didn't get a good review as critics though it wqas badly produced and it didn't commercialy

Progress Report

I'm almost finished my blog I just need to edit a few posts and add some more things, such as; Story boards, mood boards, audience review, reflective analysis,  re-do of my evaluation, final video improvements, review of American Psycho, audio commentary (if able to make) and a few more things on top of those.

Hush DVD trailer review

I recently watched Hush A Warp X production, it's a very good and visually realistic film so I thought I'd review the trailer as I can't find an opening scene on YouTube, so I'll settle for the DVD trailer. It opens with a over head shot of a not particularly glamorous car, on a British motorway during a torrential rainfall, to create a depressing mood and low tone to add a very serious nature to this film so it has very little comedic value. I'd say it's aimed at a very select audience of 18-40 years old Brits, predominantly male as the main protagonist is a male character named 'Zakes Abbot' is searching for his missing girlfriend Beth after seeing a woman tied up inside a truck, so the women's captor sees it fit to abduct Zakes' girlfriend and he goes on a chase to retrieve Beth.

The gloomy atmosphere displayed by the Trailer will have the viewer very curious about the film, as people have a natural compulsion towards fear as it releases adrenaline. The questions being asked to the audience will provoke them into thinking of an answer, so even if they're not interested in the trailer at first if they answer the questions asked then the questions have been successful at creating a reaction from the viewer. The dark hooded figure of the 'bad guy' adds a sense of mystery and curiosity for the viewer to find out who is this person? why they're kidnapping people? how they get away with it? will Zakes save Beth? and many more questions will spring to mind. The arguing between Beth and Zakes shows that something is wrong so it will intrigue the viewer to watch the film to discover what's caused them both to argue. The face that the font jumps all over the screen represents Zakes state of mind during the whole narrative, as he is confused, the character in my opening will also but in this state of mind. The final title screen saying 'Help is not on the way ' is very reflective of the film and what happens to Zakes during the narrative and it has the audience on the edge of their seats.         

Hush DVD trailer review (link)

Hush DVD trailer (2009)

Character Bio: John

John is the main character of the narrative and is the only one to feature in the opening of this film sequence, he has no memory of where he is or how he got there, so he is on a mission to try and find out what's happened and why no one can be found, he is a very serious character and will display the right integrity for the right effect, he will be portrayed by myself as I feel that I know how I want the character to act more than me getting someone else to play him. He will be the main focal point of the narrative so I feel that he best suits being a very serious character to add the correct tone to the narrative drive, rather than having the wrong sort of character to play him. His costume will be that of a typical male teenager and he will have typical and stereotypical mannerisms. 

Opening improvements

I have been given a few improvement suggestions for my film opening such as using a basic white font and having the text in a fixed position which I will be doing in the following week. I will have a control group watch my opening and comment on it so I get some audience feedback. I've also been suggested to remove the 'POV' part of the opening which I am skeptical about but I am considering it, if it ruins the total effect of the narrative drive. Also the dialogue may also be removed as it does ruin the lonely atmosphere and the slowly unwinding narrative, rather than just jumping straight into the story it takes it's time so the viewers emphasize with 'John' more. 

Media video

Click the link for my media film opening

Interview

Click link for Interview video

Behind The Scenes Video

Click link for Behind the Scenes

28 days later; Review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV6CXPVA_t4&feature=related
The use of actual footage of riots, foreshadows anarchy and how the narrative will have similar features to a anarchic environment. Unlike my opening sequence 28 days later tells the audience what's happened to cause the decline in human life and caused the infection to spread, whereas mine doesn't reveal to the viewer why or how the character John has woke up on the beach and there's no other signs of life, so it leaves him to investigate. Jim (the main character in 28 days later) wakes from a coma to a "empty" London scene unknowing that there's infected people in the city, he walks around the city looking for people, shouting "hello" in confusion, which John also repeats.

 My character, John, wakes up without any indication of wheter he fell asleep there or just woke up there, so it raises many questions to the audience so they'll want to watch the narrative as it develops and see if any of their questions get answered. In 28 days later it shows Jim walking around London, in my film opening John is walking around the beach, for the type of film I am making it's not needed to be on such a grand scale like 28 days later as it's about John's personal struggle, not about the devestation of the country, also with it being on a beach it adds to the possibility of it being almost anywhere, so it will effect a wider audience but later in the narrative I would've made it distinctly british, with a full british cast and a british town would be a main setting for the film. Jim finds Human bodies at the end of the opening scene, John doesn't find anyone during the opening so it leaves more questions for the viewer and it also doesn't start with an equlibirem so it doesn't follow a typical narrative structure.

30 Seconds to Mars L490 Part of this song will be played during the opening sequence, it have a very eerie and serious tone to it. It adds a very great sense of isloation to the viewer and adds to the narrative as the sound track really helps the clip be delivered in the correct sensee, to make the viewer feel a sense of curiosity and sympathy for John as he is searching for some sign of life and is song provides a perfect backing as it's not too loud, so it doesn't distract the viewr and it's not too low, so it has the right effect on the view without being too subtle but yet not being too in the viewers face. The mood is really set once you can hear the acoustic guitar and it's long drawn notes as John looks for other Human beings, so the song will be a reccouring thing during the entirety, or a song/songs of similar qualities. The fact that there's no lyrics also adds to the eerieness as most songs that people are use to involve lyrics of somekind but this songs doesn't so it creates the perfect atmosphere of loneliness and isolation.

British Film

My opening sequence will reflect a typical British film convention as it will be filmed on location with an entire cast of Brits, it will have the sterotypical grity atmosphere that most British films have as, I want the film to be very relateable to a British audience, so it has a more mature theme that will appeal to a certain group of people rather than just to make money and appeal to a mass audience as I believe that a film should be made to be enjoyed by people who truly appreciate the British genre rather than going for money. It has it's own sense of sincerity and genuine atmoshphere that can only really be translated and understood by people who are use to the genre and are fond of it and see it's beauty as a whole.

Revised idea

I have decided to scrap my initial opening sequence and i'm opting for a completely different type of opening. The idea that i'm going for now is quite similar to that of 28 days later's opening scene, with the main character waking up in a bewildered state wondering what's going on, without any signs of Humans anywhere. The shots used will be mainly extreme long shots to show the expansiveness of the area that he's in, the area will be a remote beach, the main character will be looking around the beach for any other signs of Human life and it will end with him running up to a massive victorian bridge towering above him to show the extent of his isolation and confusion. In the background of the soundeffects will be a very slow accoustic song with a very serious and calming tone to help the mood of the viewer so they can begin to reflect with the character and their despiration. Photographs will be taken of the production and a video will be made documenting the making of the opening.