Objective: to develop understanding of the new business model used by Radiohead
In Rainbows is the seventh album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead. It was first released on 10 October 2007 as a digital download, followed by a standard CD release in most countries during the last week of 2007.
Regular recording sessions began in August 2005, with the band updating fans on their progress intermittently in their new blog, Dead Air Space. Recording continued into early 2006, but the sessions were slow. Although the band had written several new songs by this point, little came of the recording sessions with Stent, which ended in April 2006.
The band decided to tour again, giving them a goal to work toward. Commenting on their preparation for the tour, Yorke said "suddenly everyone is being spontaneous and no one's self-conscious because you're not in the studio ... it felt like being 16 again. In May and June 2006, Radiohead toured major cities in Europe and North America, returning to Europe for several festivals in August. Radiohead played in smaller venues such as clubs and theatres during the tour, which was their first in several years. The band also played larger music festivals such as Bonnaroo and V; they headlined V and played their longest live concert in years at Bonnaroo a 28-song set. During their live sets, the band included songs they were working on in the studio. The album's download and "discbox" sales were not eligible for inclusion in the UK Albums Chart because the website is not a chart-registered retailer. The week of its retail release, In Rainbows peaked at number one on the UK Album Chart, with first week sales of 44,602 copies. The album entered the Billboard 200 at number 156 due to street date violations, but reached number one on the chart the following week. The record sold 122,000 copies in the United States in its first week of official release, according to SoundScan In October 2008, the band's publisher Warner Chappell Music Publishing revealed that the album had sold three million copies (including digital and physical format sales) since the album's physical release in January.
Radiohead used loads of new technologies from there downloads and there use of blogging, otherwise they probably wouldn’t have become as famous as they did.
The target audience was so important to the success of Radiohead’s strategy, as they needed to appeal to a certain type of audience. For example, if they didn’t appeal to the right market, then they wouldn’t have sold nearly as many albums as there type of music isn’t the sort that would appeal to a wide mass of audience.
Wednesday 4 March 2009
Monday 9 February 2009
Audience Profiles for Method 2
From our group's research into audience (audience research 1 and audience research 2) we have drawn up a plan of who will be our film's target audience.
Age Group: From looking at both of our questionnaire results, it would become apparent and clearer that the age group which would be most attracted into watching our thriller "Iniquity" is an audience demographic between the ages of 15 and 25 years. This is because that this particular age group would be more attracted to lots of action and be able to identify with male lead characters, who this demographic would idolise.
Gender: The gender which would most likely be attracted and drawn into watching our thriller is males. This is because they would be drawn to the fast paced action and adventure portrayed in the film, and secretly they would wish they were like the male protagonist. Furthermore, from the results of our questionnaire more males than females in our demographic said they preferred action thrillers and fast paced films. However, we intend to capture a wider audience, consisting of more females, due to having a main female role and voice over, and the narrative from the perspective of this character.
Occupation: The vast majority of our audience will be mainly made up of students, because between the ages of 15 and 25 years, you grow from being a sixth form student to a University student. This is again, backed from our questionnaires when in aspirations; a vast majority of our demographic stated that they would like to attend University.
Ethnicity: We intend and are aiming to have a mixed variety of audience, because we plan to have a mixed cast to give the film a wider range of audience and demographic.
Aspirations: The audience for our thriller film will mostly aspire to be fully educated with perhaps a degree, because on our questionnaires participants stated that they wanted to aspire to attend University. They would also aspire gain experience, and this is backed up by evidence on our questionnaires as a vast majority of the participants said they would also like to travel. Therefore, our audience will have high aims, and aspirations.
Interests: They will have typical male interests such as meeting up with there mates, having a good time and playing sports such as football or rugby. From looking at our questionnaires, we discovered that this group would enjoy action and comedy TV programmes and films, and they will also enjoy listening to music such as pop or rock .Our questionnaires also showed that participants enjoyed listening to the radio, such as stations like Radio 1 and Kiss and Broadland (local area stations). However, about only half of our participants said they enjoyed reading Newspapers and Magazines, but the participants who did enjoy reading Newspapers said they did pay attention to the news, therefore indicating some more of their interests. Films that they may enjoy include 'Layer Cake', 'Essex Boys' and television shows such as 'CPS.'
Age Group: From looking at both of our questionnaire results, it would become apparent and clearer that the age group which would be most attracted into watching our thriller "Iniquity" is an audience demographic between the ages of 15 and 25 years. This is because that this particular age group would be more attracted to lots of action and be able to identify with male lead characters, who this demographic would idolise.
Gender: The gender which would most likely be attracted and drawn into watching our thriller is males. This is because they would be drawn to the fast paced action and adventure portrayed in the film, and secretly they would wish they were like the male protagonist. Furthermore, from the results of our questionnaire more males than females in our demographic said they preferred action thrillers and fast paced films. However, we intend to capture a wider audience, consisting of more females, due to having a main female role and voice over, and the narrative from the perspective of this character.
Occupation: The vast majority of our audience will be mainly made up of students, because between the ages of 15 and 25 years, you grow from being a sixth form student to a University student. This is again, backed from our questionnaires when in aspirations; a vast majority of our demographic stated that they would like to attend University.
Ethnicity: We intend and are aiming to have a mixed variety of audience, because we plan to have a mixed cast to give the film a wider range of audience and demographic.
Aspirations: The audience for our thriller film will mostly aspire to be fully educated with perhaps a degree, because on our questionnaires participants stated that they wanted to aspire to attend University. They would also aspire gain experience, and this is backed up by evidence on our questionnaires as a vast majority of the participants said they would also like to travel. Therefore, our audience will have high aims, and aspirations.
Interests: They will have typical male interests such as meeting up with there mates, having a good time and playing sports such as football or rugby. From looking at our questionnaires, we discovered that this group would enjoy action and comedy TV programmes and films, and they will also enjoy listening to music such as pop or rock .Our questionnaires also showed that participants enjoyed listening to the radio, such as stations like Radio 1 and Kiss and Broadland (local area stations). However, about only half of our participants said they enjoyed reading Newspapers and Magazines, but the participants who did enjoy reading Newspapers said they did pay attention to the news, therefore indicating some more of their interests. Films that they may enjoy include 'Layer Cake', 'Essex Boys' and television shows such as 'CPS.'
Sunday 8 February 2009
Our characters for our Thriller
After the idea of our thriller had changed, our characters also had! Instead of having a gang of male protagonist's, we kept to only having two characters. A female lead which was playing the role of being chased and being the voice for our voice over. Then the only other character we needed was a lead male which was chasing the girl with the thriller signifier of the gun. Luckily, we found two sixth form students to play the part. Mary Collins aged 16, and Guy Walker also aged 16.
Life on Mars
Life on Mars is a British, police drama TV series, which is broadcasted on BBC1 at 9.00pm. The programme tells the story of a policeman Tyler, who after being hit by a car in 2006, he finds himself in the year 1973.
At the beginning of the scene, straightaway the audience is faced with a close-up camera angle shot of some patterned shirts hanging on the washing line, and the camera angle zooms in through the shirts, to give the audience an overview of the setting. Straight away, the fact that people hang out there shirts in the open shows they live in a close-knit community, yet also that it is quite poor, as the houses are small in a rough area. The non-diegetic music is up-beat to start of with, but soon dies down when you the policemen Hunt and Tyler drive there orange car over some bins. This tells the audience, that the police in the 1970’s were actually quite rude and arrogant, as now-days policeman are respectable of other people’s properties. The policeman hunt is also seemingly dis-interested in the Irish man’s conversation as well; by the way he keeps his arms folded as he speaks. The camera keeps shooting back and from Hunt and Tyler to the Irish man, and reason why the camera is doing this is probably to enable the audience the view of being able to see the reaction of Hunt and Tyler, and the camera is giving the audience platform to accuse Hunt. The Irish man has also been notably beaten up, yet doesn’t seem to gain any sympathy from either of Hunt and Tyler. However, out of the two, Tyler is paying the most attention, and there is a contrast between both Hunt and Tyler’s expression; as the close up camera angle shots show how un-interested Hunt is in the Irishman’s conversations.
The symbol of racism is also portrayed within the scene, as Hunt refers to a woman as “pakki” when an African/American couple are moving into there new house. This is outrageous, and wouldn’t be allowed now-a-days, yet it shows how much time has moved on from the 1970’s, and how people’s attitudes were different. Again, this shows the care free and arrogant attitude of the police. When the scene changes, a symbol of racism and discrimination are again portrayed, as Hunt refers to his friends that he’s “never known an Irishman who has refused a drink.” The scene changes with the non-diegetic music starting up again, and opens with a panning up medium camera shot of Tyler walking in. This is to enable the audience to see how a cosy mise-en-scene of a 1970’s pub looked like, which is that it has a nice, warm atmosphere. There the symbols of the men and woman openly drinking and smoking, and in the corner there is the 1970’s iconic juke box. The diegetic music of the juke box adds to the warm atmosphere of the pub, and there are zooming in medium shots of Hunt and his friends so the audience can hear there conversation clearly. There’s also the diegetic noise of the red telephone ringing, and a long shot going back and from Tyler’s gaze and phone. This to enable the audience to see Tyler’s reaction clearly.
The smoke drifting around the pub gives the scene character and shows of the true style of what an original pub was like. It shows the audience a contrast from what a pub used to be like and how it is now-a-days, as now the smoking ban has been introduced, a pubs atmosphere has changed.
At the beginning of the scene, straightaway the audience is faced with a close-up camera angle shot of some patterned shirts hanging on the washing line, and the camera angle zooms in through the shirts, to give the audience an overview of the setting. Straight away, the fact that people hang out there shirts in the open shows they live in a close-knit community, yet also that it is quite poor, as the houses are small in a rough area. The non-diegetic music is up-beat to start of with, but soon dies down when you the policemen Hunt and Tyler drive there orange car over some bins. This tells the audience, that the police in the 1970’s were actually quite rude and arrogant, as now-days policeman are respectable of other people’s properties. The policeman hunt is also seemingly dis-interested in the Irish man’s conversation as well; by the way he keeps his arms folded as he speaks. The camera keeps shooting back and from Hunt and Tyler to the Irish man, and reason why the camera is doing this is probably to enable the audience the view of being able to see the reaction of Hunt and Tyler, and the camera is giving the audience platform to accuse Hunt. The Irish man has also been notably beaten up, yet doesn’t seem to gain any sympathy from either of Hunt and Tyler. However, out of the two, Tyler is paying the most attention, and there is a contrast between both Hunt and Tyler’s expression; as the close up camera angle shots show how un-interested Hunt is in the Irishman’s conversations.
The symbol of racism is also portrayed within the scene, as Hunt refers to a woman as “pakki” when an African/American couple are moving into there new house. This is outrageous, and wouldn’t be allowed now-a-days, yet it shows how much time has moved on from the 1970’s, and how people’s attitudes were different. Again, this shows the care free and arrogant attitude of the police. When the scene changes, a symbol of racism and discrimination are again portrayed, as Hunt refers to his friends that he’s “never known an Irishman who has refused a drink.” The scene changes with the non-diegetic music starting up again, and opens with a panning up medium camera shot of Tyler walking in. This is to enable the audience to see how a cosy mise-en-scene of a 1970’s pub looked like, which is that it has a nice, warm atmosphere. There the symbols of the men and woman openly drinking and smoking, and in the corner there is the 1970’s iconic juke box. The diegetic music of the juke box adds to the warm atmosphere of the pub, and there are zooming in medium shots of Hunt and his friends so the audience can hear there conversation clearly. There’s also the diegetic noise of the red telephone ringing, and a long shot going back and from Tyler’s gaze and phone. This to enable the audience to see Tyler’s reaction clearly.
The smoke drifting around the pub gives the scene character and shows of the true style of what an original pub was like. It shows the audience a contrast from what a pub used to be like and how it is now-a-days, as now the smoking ban has been introduced, a pubs atmosphere has changed.
Saturday 7 February 2009
Thriller sub-genres
Information gained from imdb)
Within the thriller genre, there are many types of sub-genres, such as action or horror thriller, as there are a wide range of different type of thrillers that you can watch.
For example:
Action thriller - This is where the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence with lots of graphical features, and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain large amounts of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place.
Crime thriller - This particular genre is a combined type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime . These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects, and mostly focus on just the action and the crime.
Drama thriller - In which the story generally consists of the elements of a thriller and drama film. These films are usually slower paced and not as fastly edited and involves a great deal of character development along with plot twists.
Psychological thriller - In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. Such as "The Ring."
Spy thriller (also a subgenre of spy fiction) - In which the hero is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists. This type of film again, is usually more fast paced.
Supernatural thriller - In which the conflict is between main characters, usually one of which has supernatural powers.
Within the thriller genre, there are many types of sub-genres, such as action or horror thriller, as there are a wide range of different type of thrillers that you can watch.
For example:
Action thriller - This is where the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence with lots of graphical features, and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain large amounts of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place.
Crime thriller - This particular genre is a combined type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime . These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects, and mostly focus on just the action and the crime.
Drama thriller - In which the story generally consists of the elements of a thriller and drama film. These films are usually slower paced and not as fastly edited and involves a great deal of character development along with plot twists.
Psychological thriller - In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. Such as "The Ring."
Spy thriller (also a subgenre of spy fiction) - In which the hero is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists. This type of film again, is usually more fast paced.
Supernatural thriller - In which the conflict is between main characters, usually one of which has supernatural powers.
Thursday 5 February 2009
Tuesday 3 February 2009
G321 Foundation Production - Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Throughout the production of our thriller, our media project used developed and challenged forms and conventions of media products. Firstly, our production challenges film conventions in the way that we used a female for our voice over, where stereotypically within thrillers it’s often you hear and see a male as the lead. Films that influenced our choice to use a voice over, were films such as “Sin City,” as the voice over used in that conveyed mystery, yet made the narrative more clear to the audience. However, we did use typical thriller signifiers in our production, such as spiralling staircases and the use of the gun shot at the end. Our mise-en-scene of our production (block of run down flats) is also typical of a thriller setting, as it creates a sense of mystery in itself. The use of camera angles does vary in our production, as for example at one point we used hand held camera, which you don’t often see to much in other thrillers. Therefore I and my group felt that this did challenge certain forms of real media products, as I haven’t viewed a thriller film yet which use this camera technique in the opening. The music in the background was deliberately chosen as it matches the fast paced conveyance of our thriller; furthermore this is very apparent in thrillers, as you often see the openings using up-beat music to engage the audience.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product represents particular social groups in certain ways. For example, we actually did perceive women in a stereotypical way, as we have our female lead being chased by the man, making her look vulnerable. Therefore this doesn’t challenge the stereotyping, and the only way we do that is that we have the female as the lead, despite not making her look strong. The voice over in our film also makes our female fatale seem quite weak, lost and over powered by men, and it is also sympathetic to the female protagonist. This is because we are encouraging the audience to identify with the character through the use of voice over. We also represent males in a stereotypical way, as we have our male protagonist chasing a young woman with a gun, which is obviously quite apparent in many thrillers, but we haven’t challenged the male stereotyping in terms of thrillers. The age of our characters are also young adults, which we haven’t represented them making them look harmless, instead we are almost portraying them how the outside world expect them to behave. (Gang culture of young teenagers.) Therefore our thriller is actually quite a true picture of what does happen in the outside world.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
For our thriller, the media institution which might distribute our media product would be an institution such as Working Title Films. This is because our thriller is main stream, in terms of its narrative as it is stereotypical chase scene involving thriller signifiers such as violence and drug use. However, at our age, once we have made the thriller film it would be more likely that we would have to distribute our film straight onto the internet and broadcast it, in hope that a institution such as Working Title Films would discover our film and hopefully fund it. The scheduled time on TV if our film ever made it onto television veiwing, would be that it would be braodcasted around 10.00pm as the certificate for our film would have a 15 certification, therefore wouldn’t be suited for viewings at around 9.00pm as it contains drug use and violence.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for our media product would be mostly males between the ages of fifteen and thirty years. This result has come from audience research, as more males than females were proven to be more attracted to thriller films, especially with the plot of violence and drug use. Males would also be largely attracted to our films as it has a female lead (also wearing a stereotypical skirt which males would be attracted to) and males would be intrigued to watch a thriller film with a female lead instead of a male one. However, the symbol of the stereotypical skirt of sexually objectifying the female, as the character is being judged just by what she is wearing by the male audience. Males are also more attracted to thrillers involving thriller signifiers such as chase scenes, simply because they almost aspire to behold that strong position of power of holding a gun. The other type of dramas which the audience would watch would be programmes such as “24” and “Prison Break” as they also contain similar narratives.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the process of producing our media product, I’ve learnt a huge amount about camera angles, movement and shot types. For example through the process of filming me and my group tried a huge range of varied shot types such as close-ups, medium and long shots, hand held camera, panning shots, birds eye shot, low and high angles shots. Therefore we have learnt the technologies of the camera and how it works, and through this I have also learnt how to keep a steady shot, so it’s not jolty or moving around. Throughout the editing stage, we have learnt what relevant material to keep and what needs to be cut out. I have also learnt how to create both fast and slow paced shots, so you gain a pace to your film. My group and I also used and experimented with a variety of transitions, and how to make our narrative structure more clearly by using a voice over. Finally, we edited our sound mixing our voice over with our background music, to gain a more up-beat sound to our thriller opening, and the voice over to engage the audience.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Overall, looking back at our preliminary task, it allowed me and group learn more about the camera, and it enabled us to learn more about how to plan, shoot and edit our final film production. Me and my group found it very successful to be able to plan when to shoot as there were only two of us together. Therefore, when it came to planning and shooting our film, the process went swiftly, and without any complications such as not being able to all meet up on a certain date. We both also contributed equally to our film, and split the responsibilities evenly. After looking at our audience feedback, they all came back better than I expected. The comments were helpful for me and my group to find out on how to improve our thriller and a majority of the comments were all positive with just a few comments explaining the weaknesses, which enabled us to know how improve on our camera skills in future. For example, the lowest score we got out of 10 for any of the categories was a 6, and the highest was a 10. Overall, the category which seemed to reach the highest scores was our framing shots, what relevant material to use, and using image and sound effectively. Quotes from the audience feedback included sayings such as “Loved the music,” “Liked the long shot when there running,” “Liked the staircases,” “Good steady shots,” and “Liked the way the titles faded out.” The main thing which we seemed to score the lowest points on was the narrative and the fact it seemed to be un-clear, and one person commented that “Ending didn’t work with music,” and “didn’t like transitioning of title.” This showed us the strengths and weaknesses of our film, but overall I was happy with them. However, due to the audience feedback me and my group altered the ending of our thriller so it had a clearer narritive that was more readable for the audience. One person from the audience commented that one of our shots could have been mpre steadier, therefore next time we will make sure to hold a more steady shot. The most important thing I have learnt about film making is all the planning that has to happen before, otherwise the whole film production doesn’t work.
Throughout the production of our thriller, our media project used developed and challenged forms and conventions of media products. Firstly, our production challenges film conventions in the way that we used a female for our voice over, where stereotypically within thrillers it’s often you hear and see a male as the lead. Films that influenced our choice to use a voice over, were films such as “Sin City,” as the voice over used in that conveyed mystery, yet made the narrative more clear to the audience. However, we did use typical thriller signifiers in our production, such as spiralling staircases and the use of the gun shot at the end. Our mise-en-scene of our production (block of run down flats) is also typical of a thriller setting, as it creates a sense of mystery in itself. The use of camera angles does vary in our production, as for example at one point we used hand held camera, which you don’t often see to much in other thrillers. Therefore I and my group felt that this did challenge certain forms of real media products, as I haven’t viewed a thriller film yet which use this camera technique in the opening. The music in the background was deliberately chosen as it matches the fast paced conveyance of our thriller; furthermore this is very apparent in thrillers, as you often see the openings using up-beat music to engage the audience.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product represents particular social groups in certain ways. For example, we actually did perceive women in a stereotypical way, as we have our female lead being chased by the man, making her look vulnerable. Therefore this doesn’t challenge the stereotyping, and the only way we do that is that we have the female as the lead, despite not making her look strong. The voice over in our film also makes our female fatale seem quite weak, lost and over powered by men, and it is also sympathetic to the female protagonist. This is because we are encouraging the audience to identify with the character through the use of voice over. We also represent males in a stereotypical way, as we have our male protagonist chasing a young woman with a gun, which is obviously quite apparent in many thrillers, but we haven’t challenged the male stereotyping in terms of thrillers. The age of our characters are also young adults, which we haven’t represented them making them look harmless, instead we are almost portraying them how the outside world expect them to behave. (Gang culture of young teenagers.) Therefore our thriller is actually quite a true picture of what does happen in the outside world.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
For our thriller, the media institution which might distribute our media product would be an institution such as Working Title Films. This is because our thriller is main stream, in terms of its narrative as it is stereotypical chase scene involving thriller signifiers such as violence and drug use. However, at our age, once we have made the thriller film it would be more likely that we would have to distribute our film straight onto the internet and broadcast it, in hope that a institution such as Working Title Films would discover our film and hopefully fund it. The scheduled time on TV if our film ever made it onto television veiwing, would be that it would be braodcasted around 10.00pm as the certificate for our film would have a 15 certification, therefore wouldn’t be suited for viewings at around 9.00pm as it contains drug use and violence.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for our media product would be mostly males between the ages of fifteen and thirty years. This result has come from audience research, as more males than females were proven to be more attracted to thriller films, especially with the plot of violence and drug use. Males would also be largely attracted to our films as it has a female lead (also wearing a stereotypical skirt which males would be attracted to) and males would be intrigued to watch a thriller film with a female lead instead of a male one. However, the symbol of the stereotypical skirt of sexually objectifying the female, as the character is being judged just by what she is wearing by the male audience. Males are also more attracted to thrillers involving thriller signifiers such as chase scenes, simply because they almost aspire to behold that strong position of power of holding a gun. The other type of dramas which the audience would watch would be programmes such as “24” and “Prison Break” as they also contain similar narratives.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We attracted our audience in many ways. For instance, we used characters that our male audience can relate to, as there young and are carrying the object if a gun which is a male obsession, particularly for males between the ages of about 15-25 years, as its between those ages where men are attracted to video games which use violence such as shootings. Therefore they can relate with the male prospective. If our thriller would also attract a female audience, then they would relate with the female lead and narrative of being chased. We also attracted our audience however, with a 1st person voice over, which encourages the audience to identify with the female character, as you gain a sense of her as an actual person, and you also feel her vulnerability. The male audience would also be attracted to this as they would be intrigued to here the female’s perspective of what’s happening to her. The mise-en-scene would attract males, as the setting if the block of flats is quite a rough area, and is therefore attracting a particular type of a male audience as they like settings which are quite “rough around the edges,” and doesn’t have a calm sense or feel about them. Again, the age group of these males would be around 15-25 years as they would find this type of setting dangerous and also similar of a setting in films such as “Layer Cake,” which this demographic would be interested in watching.What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Throughout the process of producing our media product, I’ve learnt a huge amount about camera angles, movement and shot types. For example through the process of filming me and my group tried a huge range of varied shot types such as close-ups, medium and long shots, hand held camera, panning shots, birds eye shot, low and high angles shots. Therefore we have learnt the technologies of the camera and how it works, and through this I have also learnt how to keep a steady shot, so it’s not jolty or moving around. Throughout the editing stage, we have learnt what relevant material to keep and what needs to be cut out. I have also learnt how to create both fast and slow paced shots, so you gain a pace to your film. My group and I also used and experimented with a variety of transitions, and how to make our narrative structure more clearly by using a voice over. Finally, we edited our sound mixing our voice over with our background music, to gain a more up-beat sound to our thriller opening, and the voice over to engage the audience.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Overall, looking back at our preliminary task, it allowed me and group learn more about the camera, and it enabled us to learn more about how to plan, shoot and edit our final film production. Me and my group found it very successful to be able to plan when to shoot as there were only two of us together. Therefore, when it came to planning and shooting our film, the process went swiftly, and without any complications such as not being able to all meet up on a certain date. We both also contributed equally to our film, and split the responsibilities evenly. After looking at our audience feedback, they all came back better than I expected. The comments were helpful for me and my group to find out on how to improve our thriller and a majority of the comments were all positive with just a few comments explaining the weaknesses, which enabled us to know how improve on our camera skills in future. For example, the lowest score we got out of 10 for any of the categories was a 6, and the highest was a 10. Overall, the category which seemed to reach the highest scores was our framing shots, what relevant material to use, and using image and sound effectively. Quotes from the audience feedback included sayings such as “Loved the music,” “Liked the long shot when there running,” “Liked the staircases,” “Good steady shots,” and “Liked the way the titles faded out.” The main thing which we seemed to score the lowest points on was the narrative and the fact it seemed to be un-clear, and one person commented that “Ending didn’t work with music,” and “didn’t like transitioning of title.” This showed us the strengths and weaknesses of our film, but overall I was happy with them. However, due to the audience feedback me and my group altered the ending of our thriller so it had a clearer narritive that was more readable for the audience. One person from the audience commented that one of our shots could have been mpre steadier, therefore next time we will make sure to hold a more steady shot. The most important thing I have learnt about film making is all the planning that has to happen before, otherwise the whole film production doesn’t work.
Our Continuity Task
We used a range of different shot types in our Continuity. These include, Low angle shots, POV shots, Match on Action, Shot Reverse Shot and we stuck to the 180 degree rule. This influences the audience understands, as by keeping to the 180 degree rule, the camera isn’t all over the place and misleading the audience so they get confused. The Shot Reverse shot helps the audience follow the conversation. POV, Low angle and match on Action shots helps to engage the audience and add variety to the intense atmosphere.We used digital cameras for filming and non linear editing soft ware for editing. We also used You Tube and our Media blogs to present our work. Whilst using this technology we learnt how to keep a steady camera and use a variety of different shot types. We also learnt how to use editing soft ware to create a fast edited short film.Our final product we felt met the brief well, because we used the action it required and also the camera types which they asked us to use.
Monday 2 February 2009
Evaluation of Skins
The scene begins of with the audience viewing a close-up camera angle shot of Cassie looking spaced out and in her own world, in the mise-en-scene of the back of a bus - the morning after a massive, out of control party. All throughout the bus journey there’s non-diagetic music of children eating food, which is ironic as the audience see a close-up camera angle shot of Cassie discovering a note in her dress with the words “EAT!” written on it. This indicates that the representation of this scene is focusing on Cassie’s eating problem, and the disease anorexia.
Throughout the first scene on the bus, Cassie is almost made out to look like an angle, as she’s wearing a stunning white dress, and her long blonde hair is flowing around her shoulders, overall making her look very childlike. On the bus accompanying her is very much a theme of children, as there are a variety of close-up and medium shots of young children, eating food which exaggerates the theme of Cassie’s anorexia. The camera angle when Cassie is sitting on the bus is positioned in front of her face, so the audience gain a clear view of her spaced out facial expression, and there’s an effective medium-shot of her sticking the note saying “EAT!” upon the bus window.
However, when the scene changes and Cassie is shown walking into her middle-class house, you automatically see the symbol of W.V van, which is the type of vehicle that middle-age hippies own, suggesting to the audience that her parents are going to be quite eccentric. What you notice straightaway when Cassie enters her house, is the naked painting of her mother, which actually appears about three times in different rooms of the house. Automatically, you gain a sense that Cassie’s relationship with her parents is very erratic and not a close one, as you see a zoomed in close-up shot of Cassie’s gormless facial expression when she walks in on her parents in the kitchen just as there about to have sex. Therefore, this induces another representation in this scene, not just anorexia but focusing on the relationship she shares with her parents. When Cassie’s dad pointedly asks if she’s had breakfast, and Cassie is blatant lying when she says how Michelle cooked her breakfast, you can tell that her dad doesn’t even care, yet is more thinking about having sex with her mother.
Cassie’s mum is not a stereotypical mother at all, and all her family are dressed in white, therefore it as if there all acting like children, and can’t let go of there “hippy” childhood, which is why the mise-en-scene of the very clean, middle-class house doesn’t contrast at all with the bright orange hippy van. Therefore, this concludes that Cassie’s loose relationships with her family could be the reason for her controlling her body and eating habits. Therefore, is anorexia really a disease, or is it just a way of teenagers controlling there body? This almost leaves you feeling sympathy toward Cassie, as she is struggling with her illness.
The audience also see Cassie almost turning into the mother, when she takes the liberty of looking after the new born baby. The mise-en-scene of the baby’s bedroom is very stereotypical of a toddler’s room, and Close-ups of Cassie cuddling and comforting the baby portray an image of Cassie almost a child herself. When diagetic music of the baby chimes start playing above the crib, it’s almost armour to cover up the noise of her parents having sex. Cassie still remains looking spaced out, and the scene ends with a wonderful shot which makes Cassie look like the baby in the crib, as it she’s looking above at the chimes, which soon blur out, making the audience almost feel as if there drifting of to sleep.
Throughout the first scene on the bus, Cassie is almost made out to look like an angle, as she’s wearing a stunning white dress, and her long blonde hair is flowing around her shoulders, overall making her look very childlike. On the bus accompanying her is very much a theme of children, as there are a variety of close-up and medium shots of young children, eating food which exaggerates the theme of Cassie’s anorexia. The camera angle when Cassie is sitting on the bus is positioned in front of her face, so the audience gain a clear view of her spaced out facial expression, and there’s an effective medium-shot of her sticking the note saying “EAT!” upon the bus window.
However, when the scene changes and Cassie is shown walking into her middle-class house, you automatically see the symbol of W.V van, which is the type of vehicle that middle-age hippies own, suggesting to the audience that her parents are going to be quite eccentric. What you notice straightaway when Cassie enters her house, is the naked painting of her mother, which actually appears about three times in different rooms of the house. Automatically, you gain a sense that Cassie’s relationship with her parents is very erratic and not a close one, as you see a zoomed in close-up shot of Cassie’s gormless facial expression when she walks in on her parents in the kitchen just as there about to have sex. Therefore, this induces another representation in this scene, not just anorexia but focusing on the relationship she shares with her parents. When Cassie’s dad pointedly asks if she’s had breakfast, and Cassie is blatant lying when she says how Michelle cooked her breakfast, you can tell that her dad doesn’t even care, yet is more thinking about having sex with her mother.
Cassie’s mum is not a stereotypical mother at all, and all her family are dressed in white, therefore it as if there all acting like children, and can’t let go of there “hippy” childhood, which is why the mise-en-scene of the very clean, middle-class house doesn’t contrast at all with the bright orange hippy van. Therefore, this concludes that Cassie’s loose relationships with her family could be the reason for her controlling her body and eating habits. Therefore, is anorexia really a disease, or is it just a way of teenagers controlling there body? This almost leaves you feeling sympathy toward Cassie, as she is struggling with her illness.
The audience also see Cassie almost turning into the mother, when she takes the liberty of looking after the new born baby. The mise-en-scene of the baby’s bedroom is very stereotypical of a toddler’s room, and Close-ups of Cassie cuddling and comforting the baby portray an image of Cassie almost a child herself. When diagetic music of the baby chimes start playing above the crib, it’s almost armour to cover up the noise of her parents having sex. Cassie still remains looking spaced out, and the scene ends with a wonderful shot which makes Cassie look like the baby in the crib, as it she’s looking above at the chimes, which soon blur out, making the audience almost feel as if there drifting of to sleep.
Sunday 1 February 2009
Method 7: Working Titile Films
Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, England. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1984. It produces feature films and some television productions. Eric Fellner and Bevan are the co-owners of the company now.
The company gained mainstream traction after the unexpected global box-office success of Hugh Grant-starrer, Four Weddings and a Funeral. Among the company's films are Richard Curtis-scripted romantic comedies, which usually star Grant, and Coen Brothers' films, but has in recent times moved into many other types of film, such as United 93.
In 2004 it made a profit of £17.8 million pounds sterling. As of 2007, all its films are distributed by Universal Studios, which owns a 67% stake in the company, and many of its recent films are co-productions with Studio Canal. The remaining shares are owned by the company's founders, BBC Films, and private investors.
The film company also has a smaller low-budget film brand, WT2 (Working Title 2) which has produced films such as Billy Elliot (2000) and Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Recently the company produced Burn After Reading, a comedy starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney.
The purpose of Working Title Films is that it keeps the British film industry alive, as it produces many independent and popular British films. It’s also a huge company which produces many jobs for British workers, and it gives the British film industry a huge boost in terms of it having to compete with the USA film industry.
The company gained mainstream traction after the unexpected global box-office success of Hugh Grant-starrer, Four Weddings and a Funeral. Among the company's films are Richard Curtis-scripted romantic comedies, which usually star Grant, and Coen Brothers' films, but has in recent times moved into many other types of film, such as United 93.
In 2004 it made a profit of £17.8 million pounds sterling. As of 2007, all its films are distributed by Universal Studios, which owns a 67% stake in the company, and many of its recent films are co-productions with Studio Canal. The remaining shares are owned by the company's founders, BBC Films, and private investors.
The film company also has a smaller low-budget film brand, WT2 (Working Title 2) which has produced films such as Billy Elliot (2000) and Shaun of the Dead (2004)
Recently the company produced Burn After Reading, a comedy starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney.
The purpose of Working Title Films is that it keeps the British film industry alive, as it produces many independent and popular British films. It’s also a huge company which produces many jobs for British workers, and it gives the British film industry a huge boost in terms of it having to compete with the USA film industry.
Thursday 29 January 2009
Storyboards for our Thriller
These are our storyboards for our thriller, which explain what me and my group planned to film shot by shot. However, our idea did actually change from what these storyboards show. Although, we did still use some of the key elements from our original ideas, such as the use of guns and the "gangster" element.
Wednesday 28 January 2009
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Monday 26 January 2009
Analysing Film Posters
The whole idea of using film posters to promote the film, is that it has to automatically grab the audience's attention when they're for example, just walking down the street. Film posters are designed to become eye catching, as film posters are displayed around various places such as on a side of a bus, on walls, or on a bus stop. Therefore they have to look interesting to be able to draw attention to them.
Sin City (2005)
The first thing you notice about this poster is the blood red colour of the typography, which connotates danger, passion, love, sex and lies. This is indicating to the audience about what the film is about already, and the bright red automatically grabs your attention, and is the first thing that draws you to the poster. The typography is also very bold and thick, which makes the title of the film stand out to the audience, so the name of the film sticks in their head.
The symbol of the guns on the film poster connotes danger, and again suggests to the audience that the storyline and genre of the film is action and thriller. The use of guns also makes the film seem like it will have a tense storyline, which will appear to, for example teenager boys and young men walking down the street. The way that the rest of the poster is in gray scale compared to the bright red typography again makes the title stand out, and everything else seem more gloomy and dark in comparison, suggesting that the storyline will be quite mysterious.
The low angle camera shot portrays an image that the characters in the film are strong and powerful, compared to long shot of the one man walking down the street which is lit up by blinding light toward the bottom left of the poster. This suggests that the characters portrayed standing up strong and powerful in the poster are all together fighting against the one guy walking down the street. However, the blinding light surrounding him is very catching and draws the readers attention. One of the men holding a pistol gun in the poster is directing in an angle which portrays it as if it's pointing almost outside of the poster, creating a very clever 3D effect.
There are three male stereotypes on the poster, and it suggests that the film has one strong male lead by the way that one of the male protagonists is standing before all the characters looking stronger and more important, as its clear the camera s focusing more on him. One of the female characters on the poster is however in some ways stereotypical of a "slutty" female fatall, as she is wearing quite revealing clothes as her stomach is on show, yet she is also portrayed as being very strong by the way she is posing in a manner which portrays her as looking fearless. The other woman is shot furthest away from the camera, suggesting she is less important manner, yet from what you can see of her she is wearing very black, Gothic clothes, which goes against the girly, female stereotypes in thriller films. The way every character is wearing black connotes danger, mystery and a storyline of darkness to the audience. The mise-en-scene of the rain is quite effective to the audience as it stands out and technically looks very eye catching, and the dark background suggests to the audience that the film is shot in darkness for quite a majority of time.
I Am Legend (2007)
Sin City (2005)The first thing you notice about this poster is the blood red colour of the typography, which connotates danger, passion, love, sex and lies. This is indicating to the audience about what the film is about already, and the bright red automatically grabs your attention, and is the first thing that draws you to the poster. The typography is also very bold and thick, which makes the title of the film stand out to the audience, so the name of the film sticks in their head.
The symbol of the guns on the film poster connotes danger, and again suggests to the audience that the storyline and genre of the film is action and thriller. The use of guns also makes the film seem like it will have a tense storyline, which will appear to, for example teenager boys and young men walking down the street. The way that the rest of the poster is in gray scale compared to the bright red typography again makes the title stand out, and everything else seem more gloomy and dark in comparison, suggesting that the storyline will be quite mysterious.
The low angle camera shot portrays an image that the characters in the film are strong and powerful, compared to long shot of the one man walking down the street which is lit up by blinding light toward the bottom left of the poster. This suggests that the characters portrayed standing up strong and powerful in the poster are all together fighting against the one guy walking down the street. However, the blinding light surrounding him is very catching and draws the readers attention. One of the men holding a pistol gun in the poster is directing in an angle which portrays it as if it's pointing almost outside of the poster, creating a very clever 3D effect.
There are three male stereotypes on the poster, and it suggests that the film has one strong male lead by the way that one of the male protagonists is standing before all the characters looking stronger and more important, as its clear the camera s focusing more on him. One of the female characters on the poster is however in some ways stereotypical of a "slutty" female fatall, as she is wearing quite revealing clothes as her stomach is on show, yet she is also portrayed as being very strong by the way she is posing in a manner which portrays her as looking fearless. The other woman is shot furthest away from the camera, suggesting she is less important manner, yet from what you can see of her she is wearing very black, Gothic clothes, which goes against the girly, female stereotypes in thriller films. The way every character is wearing black connotes danger, mystery and a storyline of darkness to the audience. The mise-en-scene of the rain is quite effective to the audience as it stands out and technically looks very eye catching, and the dark background suggests to the audience that the film is shot in darkness for quite a majority of time.
I Am Legend (2007)Straight away the mise-en-scene catches the audience's eye, as it's obviously the setting of almost a broken city. Therefore this suggests to the audience that the storyline involves devastation and action. The broken city scape behind the male protagonist looks very lonely, yet the brown, white and overall pale colours connote almost calm yet also creates tension in the atmosphere. The yellow typography for the title matches the colour scale of the mise-en-scene which makes the typography shine out above the ground, yet the lettering is very thin and stylish, suggesting to the audience that this isn't going to be a full on action film with loud gun shots and bombs. The word "LEGEND" stands out particularly to the audience, which will then stick in there minds and catch there eyes straight away.
The phrase stated upon the poster "The last man on earth is not alone," entitles the audience to gather what the storyline is about, which is obviously that the male protagonist displayed on the poster at some pint becomes the last man on earth and that the entire human race is killed. Again, the typography is simply laid out in the poster and blends in delicately with the mise-en-scene - quite a contrast compared to the Sin City poster. The name of the actor "Will Smith," is blatant set out at the top of the poster in quite big lettering so it stands out to the audience and Catches there eye as Will Smith is a well known, popular actor. Therefore, this film would appeal more to the audience as they know Will Smith is obviously the main actor, as he is the only human portrayed on the page.
The medium camera-shot of the male protagonist portrays the character is being quite lonely, as he obviously the only human around the world. The type of clothes he is wearing and the macho way the character is walking makes him look quite strong, and not afraid of anyone else. In the poster, you can also see that the male protagonist is accompanied by a dog, suggesting that he is the male characters side kick throughout the entirety of the film.
Overall, the whole mise-en-scene is portrays an image of a deserted picture, suggesting to the audience that film will contain quiet scenery's, yet contain plenty of tension, even though you can tell by the writing that the film wont star many characters.
Overall, the whole mise-en-scene is portrays an image of a deserted picture, suggesting to the audience that film will contain quiet scenery's, yet contain plenty of tension, even though you can tell by the writing that the film wont star many characters.
Tuesday 20 January 2009
Method 5: Research into Warp Films
G322 B Institutions and Audiences Case Study on “This is England and Warp Films.
Research into Warp Films
Information on Warp Films: gained from www.WarpFilms.com
Warp Films has created some of the most exciting pieces of British film making in the last five years. It has won numerous plaudits and awards (including three BAFTAs) since being set up in 2002.
'My Wrongs 8245-8249 and 117' was Warp’s first short film and was directed by Chris Morris. It won the BAFTA in 2003 and for its television premiere on Channel 4, more than one million viewers tuned in to watch it. Warp sold an astounding 22,000 DVDs of My Wrongs and was the first DVD single in the UK market.
Warp's debut feature 'Dead Man's Shoes', directed by Shane Meadows, received a record eight British Independent Film Award nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Achievement in Production. ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ was also nominated for a BAFTA and won the Southbank Award for Best Film. The film has received nothing less that rave reviews across the board, and is being hailed by some as a landmark in British cinema.
Chris Cunningham directed Warp's next film, Rubber Johnny, –an experimental short and 42-page book that shocked and amazed audiences.
Following Rubber Johnny Warp made the critical success 'Grow Your Own', a film written by Frank Cottrell Boyce (24-Hour Party People), which tackled the subject of immigration.
In 2006 Warp made their most successful production to date: 'This is England', the story of Shaun, a boy who is befriended by a local skin-head gang after his father is killed in the Falklands war. With its evocative soundtrack, dazzling young star and emotive content it has won numerous international festival awards as well as scooping Best Film at the British Independent Film Awards and Best British Film at the BAFTAs. At the same award ceremony Warp collected it's third BAFTA as Paddy Considine's directorial debut 'Dog Altogether' won best short.
Warp Films has also worked closely with the Arctic Monkeys, producing two music videos for them and collaborating on the short film 'Scummy Man' starring Stephen Graham, which won best music video at this year's NME awards. Richard Ayoade has recently directed a feature length live show film with of them. Shot at their final concert of a world tour.
Warp Films' development slate currently includes projects with directors Shane Meadows, Chris Morris, Chris Cunningham, Richard Ayoade, David Slade and Lynne Ramsay. They are also dedicated to seeking out new voices; this goal is reflected in their recent ventures into promo making and the new digital slate, Warp X.
Explaining the Purpose of Warp Films:
Warp Films are different from any other film company as they support independent and unique films, instead of the mainstream Hollywood block busters. Warp Films have created a number of successful British movies, such as “Dead Man Shoes” directed by Shane Meadows which received a record eight British Independent Film Award nominations. Warp Films don’t follow the route of Hollywood and USA films, yet they create and support the independent British film industry. For example, in 2006 they created there most successful film yet “This Is England,” also directed by Shane Meadows, which is film completely based on England’s traditional and historical values.
Warp Films also make the type of films which tend to show the reality of Britain. For example, they don’t make films which portray an image of British people talking in a posh London accent like the Queen and go round shooting pheasants all day. Yet instead, the type of films directed show perhaps the “rougher” side of England, and the lower class.
Chris Cunningham
Chris Cunningham first forged his relationship with Warp Records in 1995 with his debut promo “Second Bad Vibel” for Autechre, and since has directed a score of mind-bending videos for the likes of Squarepusher, Bjork, Madonna, Portishead and most memorably, Aphex Twin. His role within Warp Films is that at the moment he is currently developing a feature length script with Warp Films. He has also created films such as “Rubber Johnny” – an experimental short and 42 page books.
Chris Cunningham’s Music Video “Africa Shox.”
Chris Cunningham’s music video is shocking, and certainly portrays America in a bad view, as it’s representing how white Americans treated Black African/Americans. The main guy in the film looks like a completely broken man, with no-where to go. At one point during the music video, you see a white man sitting down on the bench reading a newspaper completely ignoring the black African/American, which proves how badly treated they were and possibly still our.
There are certain resemblances to “Africa Shox,” and Shane Meadow’s film “This is England.” For example, Africa Shox and This is England both show the reality of their countries. For instance, This is England portrays the real image of what England is actually like, and shows the lower class side of living in a British city, and Africa Shox portrays the harsh reality of how people are still treated in America, not the rich living white Americans. Both films also use quite real life settings, as This is England uses the setting of a rough end of Grimsby, and the setting of Africa Shox looks as if it’s also set in a rough city in America.
Research into Warp Films
Information on Warp Films: gained from www.WarpFilms.com
Warp Films has created some of the most exciting pieces of British film making in the last five years. It has won numerous plaudits and awards (including three BAFTAs) since being set up in 2002.
'My Wrongs 8245-8249 and 117' was Warp’s first short film and was directed by Chris Morris. It won the BAFTA in 2003 and for its television premiere on Channel 4, more than one million viewers tuned in to watch it. Warp sold an astounding 22,000 DVDs of My Wrongs and was the first DVD single in the UK market.
Warp's debut feature 'Dead Man's Shoes', directed by Shane Meadows, received a record eight British Independent Film Award nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Achievement in Production. ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ was also nominated for a BAFTA and won the Southbank Award for Best Film. The film has received nothing less that rave reviews across the board, and is being hailed by some as a landmark in British cinema.
Chris Cunningham directed Warp's next film, Rubber Johnny, –an experimental short and 42-page book that shocked and amazed audiences.
Following Rubber Johnny Warp made the critical success 'Grow Your Own', a film written by Frank Cottrell Boyce (24-Hour Party People), which tackled the subject of immigration.
In 2006 Warp made their most successful production to date: 'This is England', the story of Shaun, a boy who is befriended by a local skin-head gang after his father is killed in the Falklands war. With its evocative soundtrack, dazzling young star and emotive content it has won numerous international festival awards as well as scooping Best Film at the British Independent Film Awards and Best British Film at the BAFTAs. At the same award ceremony Warp collected it's third BAFTA as Paddy Considine's directorial debut 'Dog Altogether' won best short.
Warp Films has also worked closely with the Arctic Monkeys, producing two music videos for them and collaborating on the short film 'Scummy Man' starring Stephen Graham, which won best music video at this year's NME awards. Richard Ayoade has recently directed a feature length live show film with of them. Shot at their final concert of a world tour.
Warp Films' development slate currently includes projects with directors Shane Meadows, Chris Morris, Chris Cunningham, Richard Ayoade, David Slade and Lynne Ramsay. They are also dedicated to seeking out new voices; this goal is reflected in their recent ventures into promo making and the new digital slate, Warp X.
Explaining the Purpose of Warp Films:
Warp Films are different from any other film company as they support independent and unique films, instead of the mainstream Hollywood block busters. Warp Films have created a number of successful British movies, such as “Dead Man Shoes” directed by Shane Meadows which received a record eight British Independent Film Award nominations. Warp Films don’t follow the route of Hollywood and USA films, yet they create and support the independent British film industry. For example, in 2006 they created there most successful film yet “This Is England,” also directed by Shane Meadows, which is film completely based on England’s traditional and historical values.
Warp Films also make the type of films which tend to show the reality of Britain. For example, they don’t make films which portray an image of British people talking in a posh London accent like the Queen and go round shooting pheasants all day. Yet instead, the type of films directed show perhaps the “rougher” side of England, and the lower class.
Chris Cunningham
Chris Cunningham first forged his relationship with Warp Records in 1995 with his debut promo “Second Bad Vibel” for Autechre, and since has directed a score of mind-bending videos for the likes of Squarepusher, Bjork, Madonna, Portishead and most memorably, Aphex Twin. His role within Warp Films is that at the moment he is currently developing a feature length script with Warp Films. He has also created films such as “Rubber Johnny” – an experimental short and 42 page books.
Chris Cunningham’s Music Video “Africa Shox.”
Chris Cunningham’s music video is shocking, and certainly portrays America in a bad view, as it’s representing how white Americans treated Black African/Americans. The main guy in the film looks like a completely broken man, with no-where to go. At one point during the music video, you see a white man sitting down on the bench reading a newspaper completely ignoring the black African/American, which proves how badly treated they were and possibly still our.
There are certain resemblances to “Africa Shox,” and Shane Meadow’s film “This is England.” For example, Africa Shox and This is England both show the reality of their countries. For instance, This is England portrays the real image of what England is actually like, and shows the lower class side of living in a British city, and Africa Shox portrays the harsh reality of how people are still treated in America, not the rich living white Americans. Both films also use quite real life settings, as This is England uses the setting of a rough end of Grimsby, and the setting of Africa Shox looks as if it’s also set in a rough city in America.
Monday 19 January 2009
Shot Types
Rule of Thirds:
The Rule of Thirds is one of the most common shot types. The basic principle of Rule of Thirds is to imagine breaking down the image into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, so your then left with nine parts. You now have four important parts of your image left in the frame, therefore you make these four parts the most interesting, so the shot type grabs the audience's attention.
Panning Shot:
The panning shot is overall just he horizontal movement of the camera. Therefore, this creates the image that the object you are filming is also moving horizontally.
The Rule of Thirds is one of the most common shot types. The basic principle of Rule of Thirds is to imagine breaking down the image into thirds, both horizontally and vertically, so your then left with nine parts. You now have four important parts of your image left in the frame, therefore you make these four parts the most interesting, so the shot type grabs the audience's attention.Panning Shot:
The panning shot is overall just he horizontal movement of the camera. Therefore, this creates the image that the object you are filming is also moving horizontally.
Dolly Zoom Shot:
This is a diagram example of a dolly zoom shot. The dolly zoom is an un-settling in-camera special effect that appears to undermine the normal visual perception in film. This effect is achieved by adjusting the camera lens, to adjust the angle of the view. This is happening while the camera moves toward or away from the subject.
This is a diagram example of a dolly zoom shot. The dolly zoom is an un-settling in-camera special effect that appears to undermine the normal visual perception in film. This effect is achieved by adjusting the camera lens, to adjust the angle of the view. This is happening while the camera moves toward or away from the subject.Tilt Shot:
This is quite a simple shot, and basically just involves moving the camera angle just up or down slightly, so the angle isn't always at the same level. This therefore creates either a high or low angle shot. This can make the object appear smaller or larger to the audience.
This is quite a simple shot, and basically just involves moving the camera angle just up or down slightly, so the angle isn't always at the same level. This therefore creates either a high or low angle shot. This can make the object appear smaller or larger to the audience.Thursday 15 January 2009
Vertigo 1958
The film Vertigo was directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1958. The one thing which I noticed straight away in this film was the fantastic mise-en-scene which was used, as it was all stylish and authentic. For example, there is a lot of the colour red used within the mise-en-scene which creates danger, love and passion. The colour red is used in many scenes, such as for the colour of the walls, the red lipstick worn on the female fatale and the also the red clothes that the female fatale wears. However, the scene with the roof top chase is a great thriller opening, as it automatically engages the audience, and brings them into the action themselves, which therefore makes the audience want to continue watching the film. The chase scene also means that film isn't giving anything away at the beginning, which is therefore keeping the audience guessing. The film also has the scenery of a house, which is quite light. This is a normal everyday setting, meaning the film isn't being to fancy, and wants to give away a feeling of the characters living an ordinary everyday life.The female protagonist wears old fashioned clothes which obviously suit the time that this film was made. At one point within the film she wars a green backless dress which creates sexuality. As it is backless it is made to make the women stand out above the crowd, and green is the colour of envy, suggesting she's showing of to the men and making other women jealous of her looks and hold upon the men. There are plenty of effective sounds used in the film. For instance the music is quite sinister and non-diagetic. The music builds up, and is quite jumpy and contains a creepy feel about it. However, it keeps changing tone from loud to quiet to build up the audience for something to happen, then bring them down, which keeps the audience engaged. Certain thriller signifies used is the detective, and this is quite typical of a thriller. Special effects used are spirals around the characters eyes at the beginning, which gives the effect of dizziness to the audience and engage them.
The type of camera shots used varies, for example there are extreme close-ups used of the women's mouth and eyes. A birds eye view shot is used on a stair case (another known thriller signifier), which is effective yet simple to achieve. This emphasizes on the picture, and gives the audience a different view of the scenery. There are also plenty of quick angle shots including long, mid and close-up shots. The audience is also left with the question "Do you think Madeline is still alive?" This creates tension and engages the audience themselves to solve the mystery.
The script for our Voice Over
"It wasn't the first time I've got mixed up in a deal like this. For some reason something went wrong, and the rest is kind of a blur. All I remember is those flats and being carted away in that white van. Everyday I find myself walking back there, hoping that somehow I can change what happened."
We chose to use this for our Voice Over, as it's quite simple, and we didn't want a voice over running over the whole of the introduction. We are going to separate parts of the voice over to match in the timings of certain scenes of the film. We're using a females voice as it's a female lead we are using as this goes against the typical casting of a thriller, and it's also a female we use for the shots of the character walking back to the scene of the chase.
We chose to use this for our Voice Over, as it's quite simple, and we didn't want a voice over running over the whole of the introduction. We are going to separate parts of the voice over to match in the timings of certain scenes of the film. We're using a females voice as it's a female lead we are using as this goes against the typical casting of a thriller, and it's also a female we use for the shots of the character walking back to the scene of the chase.
Editing our Thriller
So far, editing our thriller has become very successful. We decided to use the colour of black and white as these looked more stylish, and we have edited the shots down to make them look slow paced in some sections, yet fast paced during the chase scene. We arranged our thriller to alternate between the chase scene and shots of our female protagonist simply walking back to the place where the chase all happened. We did this to almost confuse the audience, yet at the same time we have a voice over which help explains what goes on. At the moment we are using a combination of music and a voice over. The music is very fast paced to match the fast paced style of the film, and the music is quietened down while the voice over is running. We are also having the titles appearing in edited transitions across the bottom left of the screen as we have our female protagonist running. They appear only for a short duration each to again match the quickened pace of the film. However, at the end of the introduction we end with a gun shot and the title of the film will appear in just white and black, which we are hoping will create a stylish end to the introduction.
The Process of Filming
After the decision of me and my group to change the idea of our thriller, filming it has been more successful, and we are achieving what wanted. We've mainly been focusing on creating established shots, and concentrating on the style of our film. We changed the location to a block of the flats within the city centre, which we used for our chase scene between our two characters. We chose the block of flats as they contained a very "city" feel about them, and it was easy to imagine a chase scene happening in them.
The layout of the flats were also quite symmetrical, and looked effective with stairs leading down to the ground either side, which is where we filmed parts of the chase scene. We also used a range of thriller signifies in our thriller, such as spiral staircases, as they are a known thriller signifier, and looked very effective. We also filmed a white van as white vans are normally associated with kidnappings, and we wanted to suggest to the audience than the main female protagonist had been kidnapped.
The layout of the flats were also quite symmetrical, and looked effective with stairs leading down to the ground either side, which is where we filmed parts of the chase scene. We also used a range of thriller signifies in our thriller, such as spiral staircases, as they are a known thriller signifier, and looked very effective. We also filmed a white van as white vans are normally associated with kidnappings, and we wanted to suggest to the audience than the main female protagonist had been kidnapped.
Women in the Film Industry
During my media lessons it has become apparent that men certainly have the upper hand within the film industry, as most directors appear to be men, especially in the Hollywood film industry. If you look at the films which have won the most Oscars within the last 10 years such as "Titanic," in 1997 who won 11 Oscars, "The Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King," in 2003 who won 11 Oscars and "Ben Hur," in 1959 who also won 11 Oscars, they were all directed by males. This is a huge problem within the film industry, as without women as directors, the audience loose out on seeing women views. However, this also creates the problem of male actors playing the leads in both films and TV series. For example, how often do we see an action or thriller TV series with a female protagonist playing the lead? In fact one of the only TV series which we do see a female taking charge is in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," or programmes also such as "Charmed," which have three women leads who are viewed as being very powerful, and hold the upper hand against men.
Wednesday 7 January 2009
Thriller Conventions
During my media lessons, I have learnt what actually makes a thriller, and what thriller conventions are. For example, a thriller doesn't include super-hero's which have the ability to climb up walls or have magical powers. Instead thrillers are corruptive and often quite dark and bleak. Often they also have the certificate of a 15 or 18, and not for the younger audience. They also use real protagonists who are often dark characters who have the ability to kill people and corrupt there lives.
Examples of these type of thrillers are films such as "Chinatown," "Sin City," "Reservoir Dogs," and TV series such as "Spooks." Conventions include crime at the core of the narrative. Examples of films including crime are "Psycho," which involves a human being being murdered while taking a shower. "Sleeping with the Enemy," where Laura is the victim of systematic and violent abuse by her husband, and plenty of other plots from films include penicillin being given to vulnerable children. All these type of plots are defiantly chilling, and not for the younger audience.
Other conventions include false paths, false clues, red herrings and enigmas. An example of these type of conventions being used and conveyed is "Third Man,"where questions may be asked to as why at the end of the film when she walks past the well intentioned protagonist Holly Martins because she is still in love with the character "Harry Lime," who committed heinous crimes against children. This crimes included watering down Penicillin and selling it on at the black market.
Resolutions to the crime are also often ambiguous, and the protagonist is often dis empowered and drawn into a web of intrigue by the antagonist (the person who intends to oppose the hero). The protagonist is also often flawed. For instance, in "Pulp Fiction," Jule's brutal past is redeemed by his sudden professed conversion to Christianity, which is presented as threatening and hilarious.
The antagonist is also often attractive, but the arrogance of the characters can often be there downfall. Extraordinary events also often occur in ordinary situations. For example, the gruesome scene in "The Godfather (part 1)" where a member of the mafia wakes up in bed with the bloodied head of the horse sitting on the pillow beside him. Most possibly one of the most gruesome scenes throughout the the trilogy of "The Godfather." This also induces the shock factor.
Themes of voyeurism is also used, and elements mise-en-scene frequently reflect the protagonist's emotional state. Shadows, lift shafts, alley ways, car parks, car boots, spiralling stair cases all reflect the entrapment of the hero and a suggestion that there is no way out. Thriller signifies such as wall streets and narrow roads indicate a fall into the world that is morally corrupt and confusing.
Deviant female fatale is also classic of noir thrillers. For instance women are often filled with glamour and sexual seduction and pulls the male protagonist into further peril. The themes of identity of who is the protagonist who is the antagonist or line between good and evil are often blurred of confused. The narratives are also often very twisted, which us again a known thriller signifier.
Examples of these type of thrillers are films such as "Chinatown," "Sin City," "Reservoir Dogs," and TV series such as "Spooks." Conventions include crime at the core of the narrative. Examples of films including crime are "Psycho," which involves a human being being murdered while taking a shower. "Sleeping with the Enemy," where Laura is the victim of systematic and violent abuse by her husband, and plenty of other plots from films include penicillin being given to vulnerable children. All these type of plots are defiantly chilling, and not for the younger audience.
Other conventions include false paths, false clues, red herrings and enigmas. An example of these type of conventions being used and conveyed is "Third Man,"where questions may be asked to as why at the end of the film when she walks past the well intentioned protagonist Holly Martins because she is still in love with the character "Harry Lime," who committed heinous crimes against children. This crimes included watering down Penicillin and selling it on at the black market.
Resolutions to the crime are also often ambiguous, and the protagonist is often dis empowered and drawn into a web of intrigue by the antagonist (the person who intends to oppose the hero). The protagonist is also often flawed. For instance, in "Pulp Fiction," Jule's brutal past is redeemed by his sudden professed conversion to Christianity, which is presented as threatening and hilarious.
The antagonist is also often attractive, but the arrogance of the characters can often be there downfall. Extraordinary events also often occur in ordinary situations. For example, the gruesome scene in "The Godfather (part 1)" where a member of the mafia wakes up in bed with the bloodied head of the horse sitting on the pillow beside him. Most possibly one of the most gruesome scenes throughout the the trilogy of "The Godfather." This also induces the shock factor.
Themes of voyeurism is also used, and elements mise-en-scene frequently reflect the protagonist's emotional state. Shadows, lift shafts, alley ways, car parks, car boots, spiralling stair cases all reflect the entrapment of the hero and a suggestion that there is no way out. Thriller signifies such as wall streets and narrow roads indicate a fall into the world that is morally corrupt and confusing.
Deviant female fatale is also classic of noir thrillers. For instance women are often filled with glamour and sexual seduction and pulls the male protagonist into further peril. The themes of identity of who is the protagonist who is the antagonist or line between good and evil are often blurred of confused. The narratives are also often very twisted, which us again a known thriller signifier.
Monday 29 December 2008
Progress of our Thriller
Over the past few weeks of filming scenes for our thriller, it soon became apparent that having a large cast wasn't working properly, therefore we felt that it wasn't too late to change certain aspects of our thriller to make it easier. The problem we found with having a large cast was that it was always the issue that at least one actor couldn't make it on time, and when they were all together they weren't working properly.
Now, instead of having a large cast with around 6 actors, we are only having two, one boy and one girl. We are still including a chase scene, but it shall be circled around a block of flats instead. We are also going to focus more on artistic style with more focused shots, and are going to use the feature of a voice over, so we don't have to focus so much on the chase scene. Therefore this will create more mystery.
Now, instead of having a large cast with around 6 actors, we are only having two, one boy and one girl. We are still including a chase scene, but it shall be circled around a block of flats instead. We are also going to focus more on artistic style with more focused shots, and are going to use the feature of a voice over, so we don't have to focus so much on the chase scene. Therefore this will create more mystery.
Monday 8 December 2008
Millers Crossing (1990)
Millers Crossing was directed and written by the Coen brothers, and is of a Crime/Thriller genre. It is very cleverly directed and is full of thriller signifies and intense scenes. The style of the film is quite "gangster" as the actors play the role of American Gangsters, which almost reminds you of the Mafia in Godfather. The beginning scenes have a fantastic Mise-en-scene and are full of thriller signifies such as slattered blinds and a electric fan. The colours of the Mise-en-scene are also quite dark and dingy, which almost portray a feeling of a thriller. There are also many gruesome scenes which obviously are typical of a thriller, yet at the same time scenes are quite stylish, with quite calming music in the background. This is typical of a Coen brothers film as well, as there always made with class and well thought about story lines.
The guys in the film are also quite tough which you always find with a thriller film, however the female lead in this film isn't actually portrayed as being vulnerable, yet quite strong as she stands up for herself against the main guy lead. This is quite surprising as you normally find the female leads relying on the guy to rescue them. Although every single time you see her, she's always filmed within quite a personal place for a women. For example, at one point there's a scene where the she's filmed being invaded in the girls toilets by the main guy, and another one where she's filmed while she's in her dressing gown and underwear. Although, at the same time in these scenes she's always strong and stands up for herself. This isn't very typical of thrillers, and is therefore quite unusual.
There are plenty of varied shots used throughout this film. For instance, they used shallow focus, where one of the male protagonist is in focus, where-as the background is out of focus. This is quite effective, and therefore adds to the films style and authenticity. There are also plenty of zoomed in close-ups, longs shots and medium shots. However, in this film there are also a range of simple shots, for example there's a simple shot of one of the male protagonist hat falling upon the ground. Although the shot looks fairly easy to film, in reality this was probably quite hard to achieve, and it looks very effective and adds the films "class." Overall, Millers Crossing is a stylish film and every character you notice is dressed in glamorous clothes, and during the film there's the symbol of the expensive looking cars and the powerful men smoking. In every shot, the mise-en-scene is stylish and typical of the era that the film is meant to be shot in. For example, the colours of the room are rich such as dark browns and deep reds which are connoting danger, love and passion, and during scenes in which violence is happening, the men always seem to keep calm.
Wednesday 3 December 2008
Why does Britain need a Film Industry?
Britain needs a film industry for a number of reasons. For example, the most obvious reasons is that it creates thousands of jobs for British people. This includes:
- Actors/Actresses
- Directors
- Produces
- Camera Crew
- Builders
- Costume Designers
- Script Writers
- Marketers
- Hair dresses
- Make-up Artists
Without these type of job offerings, the employment rate would most likely double. Having British films made is also great for our tourist industry, as British films have a tendency to show of our true culture, instead of having the Americans perspective of England, which basically includes showing of the posh parts of London and having us speak in posh accents. However, British films such as "This Is England," actually show of our city and rural settings and what life was like for British, working class people. Where-as not many films actually show of our culture. Therefore, British films put our Country on the map.
We also gain Britain's political views, as if we simply just had American films being made, all we ever see is the Americans way of ruling this world, yet we never view the British government. Therefore, people all over the world will be more aware of how we rule this country and our political history. We also have a British film industry to show of our talents! Most people believe all the best Actors/Actresses/Directors are American, simply because that's all they see in films, yet in fact some of the most talented directors and Actors are British. However, if we don't have British films showing this then they would permanently stay hidden.
Tuesday 2 December 2008
No Country for Old Men (2007)
No Country for Old Men is directed and produced by the Coen brothers, and I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and was one of the most intense thrillers I have watched in a while!For starters, the actual narrative is very simple as it's quite straight forward as it's simply a goose chase mainly between the sheriff of his town who is carrying around $2000,000 and drugs in a suitcase, and a guy who follows him in his tracks as he's after the money. However, of course the guy who is chasing him is pure evil as he intends to kill anyone in his path.
The simplicity of the story is what makes this film so watchable and intense, as it's filled with wonderful shot types and thriller signifies. For starters, the Mise-en-scene for most of the film is of a desert, where you get to witness some fantastic scenery. There's a powerful shot of the Sheriff looking through his binoculars at some tree's, which is a great example of "The Rule of Thirds," and the shot type also shows shadows from the tree's which is a great thriller signifier.
Of course, certain parts are very gruesome as you witness a lot of wounded men, but the pace of the film is quite slow and not rushed. The actual Shrift himself resembles quite a secretive man, especially to his wife, and is typical of a strong, male stereotype. What really keeps you on the edge of your seat however, is the scenes when the Sheriff is hiding in a Motel with his money, and the guy chasing him finds where he is with a tag he carries around which bleeps every time he nears the money. These scenes are so intense due to the fact the camera doesn't allow you to see where the two guys are, therefore your kept on the edge of your seat waiting for something to happen.
The music also creates atmosphere because it's dead quiet before something is about to happen, which creates intensity throughout the scenes.
Monday 1 December 2008
The Themes of our Thriller
The themes of our thriller are corruption, deceit, duality of characters, mystery, danger and finally moral ambiguity. The reason why these are the themes which represent our thrillers is because there is a lot of people deceiving each other in our thriller. For instance, there is a lot of conflict between the two gangs which therefore connote a lot of danger and mystery.
The style of our film is that it is a modern, British and is of a gangsta genre. This is because we wanted our gangs to reflect similarities to the "Mafia," and the role of gangstas suited the genre. Therefore, our Sub genre is action thriller.
The influences of our film is "Layer Cake, 2004" and "Essex Boys, 2000." Layer Cake has held an influence over our film because of there use of plot line (drug use) and the dynamic chase scene they use which really grabs the audiences attention, which is what we wanted to achieve for our own film. Essex Boys influenced us by the gangs, as there typically British which will hopefully come across in our film.
Overall, we shall be analysing plenty of films which involve various chase scenes, so we can base that in our own thriller film. However, we shall not be focusing on American films as they tend to be to over exaggerated, and we want our film to give of a British character.
The style of our film is that it is a modern, British and is of a gangsta genre. This is because we wanted our gangs to reflect similarities to the "Mafia," and the role of gangstas suited the genre. Therefore, our Sub genre is action thriller.
The influences of our film is "Layer Cake, 2004" and "Essex Boys, 2000." Layer Cake has held an influence over our film because of there use of plot line (drug use) and the dynamic chase scene they use which really grabs the audiences attention, which is what we wanted to achieve for our own film. Essex Boys influenced us by the gangs, as there typically British which will hopefully come across in our film.
Overall, we shall be analysing plenty of films which involve various chase scenes, so we can base that in our own thriller film. However, we shall not be focusing on American films as they tend to be to over exaggerated, and we want our film to give of a British character.
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