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Evaluation 7 - Daniel Wilson

Looking back on your preliminary task (The continuity editing task), what do you think you have learned from it to the full product?

The video on the top left is of my preliminary task, uploaded on September 10th 2011. This video contains a commentary of me and other people who were involved in its production. Most of it is pointing out the faults in the short such as lighting and camera issues. This was my first scene recorded for media and whenever I create another scene, I always bear in mind to compare it to this to see the improvements

The video on the bottom left is of the final cut of my Crime/Gangster movie "Interceptors". Many improvements were made to make this scene play out better than past versions.

One of the improvements is the increase of the variety of shots and the fluidity of the cuts. In the preliminary task, the editing was clunky and the shots were repetitive. In this, the editing, while not perfect, have been improved. Furthermore, a wider range of shots have been implemented.

Responses to the lighting in the final cut have been mixed. Some see it as a positive effect, claiming that it sets up the dark atmosphere. Others say that it was poorly lit, with the actors sometimes disappearing into the darkness.

Evaluation 6 - Daniel Wilson

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


Camera & Tripod

Before this project, I already had some basic knowledge on how best to use a camera in terms of positioning to get the right angles and such. Get used to using a tripod rather than just holding the camera took some getting used to. I learned throughout this is that  using a tripod is incredibly useful at getting still and panning shots. However, it is really impractical for moving shots.


Adobe Photoshop CS5


Even before this project, I was already very knowledgeable on how to use Photoshop, having used it several time for other current and past subjects. As a result, I haven't really learned anything new about how to use Photoshop as a result of using it in this project.


Final Cut Pro

Final Cut Pro was a video editing software that I had very little knowledge of, having used either I Movie or Window Movie Maker prior to this project. In the beginning, I found using Final Cut very difficult, it being a lot difference in terms how things are organised than the other two programs. After some familiarisation and  assistance, I've managed to become somewhat competent with my editing now.

You tube


You Tube was used for the uploading of the final piece and any other video media that was needed for the project. Youtube was best suited for this as blogger allows easy embedding of videos from Youtube


Garageband


Garageband was a very minor program in terms of its significance to the project. The only time we used it was for creating the bass riff at the end of the opening.

Blogger


Blogger was without a doubt the most used technology in this project, it being used for recording my entire progress and development of the final film. Before this project, I never used a blogging site before and had little-to-no knowledge of how to create and maintain a blog. Now after this project, I have gained some knowledge on how to run a blog to a somewhat sufficient, if somewhat disorganised, degree.

Overall, I have gained some knowledge in programs I have never used before. By becoming more familiar with the use of these programs, I am able to create more professional work than what I could have made prior. However, simply knowing how to use these programmes doesn't guarantee an especially creative piece. A lot of it comes from the ideas generated before hand.

Evaluation 5 - Daniel Wilson

How did you address/attract your audience?


The audience we are aiming for are male ages 18 - 35. Because of this, our movie has to appeal to those target audience's tastes. It  is generally thought that males enjoy violence in media significantly more than women. However an over-saturation of violence and gore tends to cut off a large portion of the target audience  Because of this, the opening contains some instances of violence and cold-blooded torture without going to far and disgusting the audience rather than entertaining them.

People who watch movies usually use it as a form of escapism from normality and view situations that they wouldn't see daily. Because of this, the opening scene is a torture scene, which is far from a daily occurrence in the life of the "Average-Joe".

We also wanted to attract people who enjoy gangster movies as a genre. We tried to recreate the old gangster atmosphere faithfully through mise-en-scene; from the costume design to the actions and mannerisms of the gangsters.

Evaluation 4 - Daniel Wilson

Who would be the target audience for your media product?


Our film "Interceptors" is a Crime/Gangster movie. Typical conventions of this genre are that it will be bloody, the use of profanity will be unrestrained and will include situations attributed towards mature audiences. As a result this movie would result in  being given an "18" certificate by the BBFC.

All of the cast members are males and the theme of Crime and Gangster is typically suited towards older males. However, elderly people may not enjoy this film as they may find it a bit too bombastic and most of the characters would be the kind of people they would associate with. Because of this, it's relatively safe to assume that the best suited target audience are Male age 18 - 35.

Evaluation 3 - Daniel Wilson

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


Most, if not all, films are typically funded by a studio so that it can get off the ground and into pre-production. Some studios are more likely to produce certain films than others. A lot of indie film producers are usually self-produced or produced by small independent companies. The beginning ident of the movie show's that our film is produced by "Little Devil Productions", a fictitious production company we created for the purpose of this movie. Below is the ident for that company, as well as a few existing companies that could also produce this movie.

Little Devil Productions Ident

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Miramax Films

Newline Cinema















One thing all these production studios have in common is that a lot of the movies they have produced where independant films with a lower than average budget. Both Fox Searchlight and Newline are subsidiaries of larger companies (20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. respectively). We believe that one of these production studios would be a suitable choice, primarily because they have produced similar genre movies to ours. For example, Miramax Films have produced Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction: movies that have inspired our one.

Evaluation 2 - Daniel Wilson

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The characters in the above picture are Mr. White and Mr. Edgar from Quetin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" and Our film "Interceptors" respectively. I have chosen to compare our character to a character from Reservoir Dogs as it seems fitting to compare ourselves to the movie we drew a lot of inspiration from.

The characters of Mr. White and Mr. Edgar are quite similar in some regards. The first is that they are both addressed by the title "Mr." (Although we only find this out about Mr. Edgar in the credits). The fact they don't have full names or are presumably working under pseudonyms suggests that they are shifty men and must always be kept under close surveillance. Another comparison is that they are both "Boss"-like characters. They are calm under pressure and are typically the ones calling the shots. This is evident in Reservoir Dogs when Mr.White is the one ordering around Mr. Pink and taking care of Mr. Orange. It is also evident in our movie in that Mr. Edgar is the one ordering Mr. Cooper around.

Mr Edgar also resembles the "Boss" Archetype in general. He is the one in control and he is the one ordering around his subordinate (Mr. Cooper). He disciplines and punishes those who he does not like (DCI Woods) and tells his subordinate to finish the work for him, rather than do it himself.

Evaluation 1 - Daniel Wilson

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (I.e. Film Openings)

Our film opening doesn't really step out of the typical boundaries set by the Crime/Gangster genre. It adheres to the general conventions and tropes you would find in your everyday mobster movie.

1. For the Opening title, we used a font named "Mobster" from a website called "www.dafont.com". We used this sort of font to stand out from the default font styles and to avoid the title from looking too amateurish. The font really suits the style of the movie, with "r's" being replaced by pistols pointing downwards. The opening titles also used still images of the characters with rumbling titles. This is similar to Guy Ritchie's "Rocknrolla", from which we took mild inspiration from. 

2. The setting is at an undetermined location in a dark, badly-lit room. The poor lighting suggests it's at an unpleasant room, creating tension and discomfort among the audience. This kind of location is typical for a Crime/Gangster movie. 

This room in actuality is a photographic dark room with only a studio light lighting it. Because of this choice of location, the doesn't look as seedy and run-down as we'd of liked it to have been.

3. Mise-en-scene is a very important aspect of a Crime/Gangster. As a result, we have taken many steps to try and recreate a Crime/Gangster feel. The gangster are wearing suit jackets and white button up shirts, similar to Gangster movies such as "Pulp Fiction" or "The Godfather". Other props such as guns and cigars are also used to help create the right atmosphere suitable for a gangster movie.

4: Our film opening uses a variety of shots. The most prominent types of shot are close-ups and low angles shots. The low angle shots are used to empower the gangsters and to male them seem a lot more menacing. The fact they are almost always shot in the shadows also make them seem a lot more sinister. The close up shots creates tension. The close ups give the gangsters a more commanding presence. The movie itself is shot in black and white. This creates a "classic" feel as a throwback to the old gangster films of the 1930's.

5. The character "DCI Woods" is introduced as a hostage bound and gagged to chair. Although he is introduced in a low angle shot, he is slumped over and feeling very week. In the exact same shot, the character "Mr. Edgar" is introduced. He walks into the shot and stands above DCI Woods with a commanding presence. He blocks out the light, shrouding him in darkness and making him look more sinister. The last character to be introduced is "Mr. Cooper" He walks in through a door and the shot is very dark, symbolising that he is a very dark character.

Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product? By Johnny Wring

Looking back at my preliminary task, I can say that it helped a lot in the progression to our full produdct. The editing and camera techniques we learned from doing the preliminary task came into play a lot in our final product. Whilst filming we came across a lot of situations which made us think back to our preliminary task and solve the issues which came about.

Here is an example of our preliminary task coming into action in our final product. Camera angles played a big part in our movie opening and as you can see we used techniques from our preliminary such as the one above to the left (low angle shot) in our final product shown in the bottom left.

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

From the process of constructing this product I have learnt a fair amount about different technologies, stretching from hardware to software. I had never used the computer software final cut pro before this project and have now gained a vast knowledge of not only that specific piece of software but editing movies as a whole.

Throughout this project we used many different programs such as Youtube, blogger , Prezi and photoshop all of which have enhanced by knowleged of technology further.

As well as all of this I have barly used a camera in my life up until now, and now have a firm grasp of camera usage and the different options available.

How did you attract/address your audience? By Johnny Wring

When it comes to attacting/addressing our target audience, many different aspects of our film come into play. For instance our mascaline and dangerous characters play a big part in attracting the male audience. Many males will view the characters in our film and will imagine themselves as those characters. This then links with the genre. Many people imagine what it would be like to do this and be that, and in this case many males will be looking at this film and saying "Imagine if I was a ganster/criminal" as research proves that males are much more  attracted to violence and guns than females.

Who would be the audience for your media product? By Johnny Wring

The typical target audience for our film 'Interceptors' would have to be, gender wise, males. This is because our film consists of only males and is crime focused. We have much violence, swearing and guns throughout, and this is all male orientated. Age wise I would have to say 18+, or mor specifically 18-35 year olds. This being because, from doing research, our movie would be rated as an 18+ due to the amount of violence, swearing, blood and guns involved. Restricting the audience to 18-35 year olds would be because of the age of our characters/actors. All of our actors look quite young, therefore much older people (50's, 60's +) would not be able to relate to the characters and story.

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

What does a production company do?
A production company is responsible for supervising the filming from concept to completion, and they hold the sole legal and financial responsibility of the movie as a whole.The production company has a number of responsibilities such as finding a director for the movie and the acting talent. Warner Bros. Pictures are one of the most popular production companies around and are know for films such as Lethal Weapon and the GoodFellas, both crime focused films.

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

A distributor sends the production company's film out into the world for the public to watch. They decide where and when the film will show and they also promote the film.
There are a number of steps in the process of distribution. Firstly the distributors have to determine how many copies of the film to make. The film is then previewed to prospective buyers - e.g. cinema owners. The film is then sent out to cinemas shortly before it opens. The cinema then shows the movie and after people have seen it, it will get sent back to the disrtibutors and payment is agreed. However with smaller budget films, there are many more steps to be taken.

Lionsgate would be an ideal company to distribute our movie. They do not focus on specific movies or genres, and have a variety of films under their belts streching from Rambo to kick Ass. This makes me feel that our film is already at an advantage. As well as this they have many a film produced which does not have a huge hollywood budget, which in our case is great as our budget is near to nothing.
The money for our film would most probably come from donations from the public. Idealy family and friends would be the first place to start. However with enough advertisments we could perhaps get finacial backing from a creative investor with an ambition equal to ours.

How does your media product represent particular social groups? By Johnny Wring

'Mr Blonde' is a character out of quentin tarantino's 'Reservoir dogs' played by Micheal Madison. This character is extremely similar to the character in our movie opening 'Mr Cooper' and shares a lot of similar traits.

'Mr Blonde' is a relitively relaxed and quite character, who shows very little emotion. However as we are shown more and more of this character in Reservoir Dogs, we soon realise that he is a very dangerous and slightly psychotic. In Reservoir Dogs he dresses in a casual suit, very similar to the ones being worn in our movie opening by our characters, specifically 'Mr Cooper'.




'Mr Cooper' is one of our character in our movie opening. He shares a lot common with 'Mr Blonde' from Reservoir Dogs such as dress sense and style. Both characters are quite quiet and portray a relaxed body image. Both are 'professional' criminals, and both carry a gun. Although 'Mr Blonde' is clearly more Psychotic than 'Mr Cooper', they still share a lot of similar traits both in image and personality.

As for whether our characters represent a more wider audience/social group, it is hard to say. Our character do not particuly represent any groups in society, however do challenge the typical male criminals you will find in crime movies. For instance our characters are clearly much younger than your typical criminal such as 'Mr Blonde' however image wise are very typical.

In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? - By Johnny Wring

1.The setting/location of our movie opening is in a small-darkened room, complimenting the crime genre and narrative we have chosen. Using the typical conventions of other crime movies, our location has a sense of isolation and crime infestation amongst it. Perhaps not developing the typical conventions of crime movies as much as we could have, our setting/location still uses many of the conventions found in other products of a similar nature.

2. Our movie focuses a lot on close ups of characters as well as high and low shots of the characters to create tension and show the  authority of certain characters to help the audience understand what its all about and whats going on. These are the typical conventions you would find with similar products. As well as this we edited a lot of our movie opening in an attempt to use and develop the typical conventions of real media products. Our biggest edit would have to of been changing the   

look of the opening to black and white, which perhaps challenged forms and conventions of real media products as not many crime movies are filmed in black and white, especially these days.

3.Our costumes and props are very typical of a crime movie. Another movie that could perhaps be compared to ours when it comes to costume and props would be ‘Reservoir Dogs’ which consists of professional criminals dressed to match their particular style. In our movie we are dressed in suits and have typical props of a crime movie such as guns and cigars/Cigarettes.

4.When comparing our title to the typical conventions of other real media products, specifically within the crime genre we can see that it isn’t far off. Many movies centered around crime such as Guy Ritchie’s ‘RocknRolla’ have a particular font and style to compliment them, and our product is no different. For our title we used a specific font called ‘mobsters’ which matched the whole crime genre perfectly, using the current conventions of real products as well as developing them further. The name of our movie opening ‘Interceptors’ was picked for many reasons, one being the fact that it matched our style of film and characters. Interceptors sounds aggressive and professional representing our characters and style of film within the opening very well.  Just like in Guy Ritchie’s ‘RocknRolla’ the name of the film represents the style of film and characters perfectly.

5. There are three characters in our movie opening. 'DCI Woods', 'Mr Edgar' and 'Mr Cooper'. 'DCI Woods' is introduced to the opening as a hostage tied to a chair, in which we have the camera start on him and move up behind him slowly. Our second character (Mr Edgar) is then introduced to the opening with an intimidating walk into the only source of light in the shot where he then turns and stares towards the hostage. Our third character is then introduced into the opening 'Mr Cooper' when called by 'Mr Edgar' where he then enters.

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

Since making the preliminary task i believe that i have learnt alot about camera work and editing. First i knew the basiscs of useing cameras but not much of an idea of camera shots and angles. Furthermore i  was very much unclear of all the softwares that you edit your shots in to create your film.

During this project i was working in a group which placed less pressure upon myself but it made me feel like i couldnt let my team down becasue it would have an affect upn there grades. So this made me concentrate and work as hard as i could. Also becasue i was part of a team we had more ideas which helped me and our group get the best possible ideas and have the greatest possible outcomes.

By concentrating i made all of my work as good as it could be. I made sure I knew my way around, Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro and Photoshop, this helped me make the film look as good as possible. Without all of the new techniques i have learnt i wouldnt have been able to create nearly as much work as i did. with the new techniques i have learnt i was able to create effects while only using camera shots/angels/sounds and lighting.

By working more with cameras i have learnt that the camera can create differnt effects and it can pick up more that images. I also learnt that by editing all of the clips i have recieved i can create the nessecary sounds and images to enhance the film to make it as good as possible. With all of this i have gained more confidence so i can attempt more things so i can make the effects better and create a better film.

I have gained alot of knowledge and differnt techniques which can haelp make sure I can create the best media product I potentionally can.

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

Throughout this project my knowlege of differnt technologies has vastly improved.

i used this machine throughout the project. All of the differnt programs that i used were all based on this mac so i had to gain a decent knowledge of this mac to understand all of the differnt programs.

It was on photoshop where i did all of my editing and seting up so that i could make every thing look more proffesional. However at the start i had a fairly decent knowledge of photoshot so it was easy for me to pick up the neccesary techniques needed for this film.

I used final cut pro to edit all of the film clips so that they would run smoothly. I had never heard of this program before so before i could start useing it i had to learn all of the basics.

I used soundtrack pro to edit all of thesound clips so that they would run smoothly. I had never heard of this program before so before i could start useing it i had to learn all of the basics. furthermore i created music on other programs so i had to decide which i was better at and then use that chosen programs.

I used  blogger to blog all of my work throughout the project. I had never used this program before but it was very easy to grasp and use.

HOW DID YOU ATTRACT/ADDRESS YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE? By Jack Bowering

By following the normal style of Gangster films i was able to attract the target audience while using the normal features. These are very similar to what you see in the big screen.


The setting is very simple but yet sinister.

The characters are seen to be very powerful and serious.

The soundtrack during the titles is more lighthearted unlike the film. This helps introduce the characters in a gentler way.



suspence is built up during the entire clip to make the audience what to keep watching.

As you can see my film is like many Gangster films you see on the big screen. This will therefore not only bring in our target audience but others aswell who are intreseted in gangsters and what comes with them.

WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE OF THE MEDIA PRODUCT? By Jack Bowering

WHO WOULD BE THE AUDIENCE OF THE MEDIA PRODUCT? on Prezi


Above is the target audience however many people that dont fit into that group may still watch the film so it is more of an estimate.

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

A Production company is the company who makes the  production of a film. The production company may be responsible for raising funding or may have a link with a larger company whom funds the film. We have created a film distributer company for this film which is "Little Devil Productions" when it came to releasing the film we would of had to locate a distribution company whom is responsible for releasing films to the public.


I have researched into possible distributors who could release of movie. i have found different companies big and small.i have found Kaleidoscope film distributors as a perfect company to use because of how it specialises in Gangster films. we could also distribute by sending our film to a film festival for example Cannes film festival or  Edinburgh International Film Festival. There are many famous film distributors around the world. Here are three famous film distrubutors and three smaller film distrubutors.

Warner Brothers.

Paramount pictures



Universal Pictures







Icon Entertainment

 lionsgate logo

 

Momentum Pictures

Before any filming can be done they must aquire the funds to create the film from different companies. This sate of the film is usually taken place in post-preduction. Gathering the funds can be a large risk for the companies fronting the money because they are not sure how much profit they will make from the film so this makes this process of the film production one of the hardest and most lengthiest parts of film production.

In the opening of many if not all film you will see the distrubutors logo this advertises there brand informs the viewer that they were contributors in the film. we also include the distrubuting company in our film as to show who contributed and helped create the film. for our titles we thought of taking ideas from other films or even using other film distrubutors however we decided to use our own because it would give it the correct effect.

For our film we could have many options because of its genre we could distrubute it with own of the big six. However i think that we would prefer a small independant distrubution company because our film is a small to no budjet film and then it would be taken to film festivals and spread viraly just like we have done. If i could choose a specific company it would be Revolver Entertainment because it is a small independant british film distrubuting company know for doing crime and gangster films. Revolver Entertainment has been around for since 1997 and has distrubuted many films around the world since then.

 

How does your media product represent particular social groups? By Jack Bowering.

Above we have our character Mr. Cooper (left) and John Dillinger (right) from Public Enemies. i have chosen Public enemies because they are both gangster movies will a similar rise and fall story line. I feel that there is a large comparison between the two representations.Public enemies is a  story of the last few years of the notorious bank robber John Dillinger. John Dillinger is a hard mob boss/ bank jobber he is played by Johnny Depp in comparison with our media product they both have a dangerous life and are both crime lords that inflict a massive amount of pain towards their victims.

Our film Interceptors is about a group of low level gangsters who get infiltrated by a undercover police officer who gradually destroys them from the inside. all of the cast are dressed in stereotypical gangster clothing. also in Public enemies they are also dressed in stereotypical gangster clothing. As with Public Enemies our film is following the usual rise and fall story line so that the audience can relate to it. However with Public enemies the have a storyline where the police take out everybody around him, ours is about a police officer who is attacking them from the inside. i feel our film is set up is a modern adaptation way and to historical correct.

Above we have our character DCI Woods (right) and Ofcr. Marvin Nash (left) from Reservoir dogs. I have chosen Reservoir dogs because they are both gangster movies will a similar rise and fall story line.I feel that there is a large comparison between the two representations. Reservoir dogs is about a bank job gone wrong. They both are hostages that get severely tortured but survive and the mobsters attacking them get caught. they both fit in the social group of victims. however as ours clothing is normal and uninspiring this makes him look like the unlucky passer by but in reservoir dogs Ofcr. Marvin Nash is clearly a police officer by doing this we have tried to make the audience feel sympathetic for DCI Woods. By having all of the camera shots either looking down from the mobsters or the victim looking up at the mobsters this give the impression that they have no power and that they are at the mercy of the mobsters.

1. In what ways does our media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? By Jack Bowering

Throughout our film opening we maintained the usual conventions of crime/gangster movie openings. We used the usual rise and fall of a mobster boss, we looked at several Crime/Gangster movies so that we knew how they look and make ours looks as professional as possible.

Our Ident pushes the normal conventions of media products because it does not suit the style of film. Our Ident has a simple dark background with a red text over it we decided on this because of how it stands out and is clear to see. The image of the Ident is what is very unrelated to Crime /gangster movies because it is childish and unrelated.

Character introduction:

The way we introduced our characters maintained to usual forms and conventions of real media. We introduced the hostage (Danny Wilson) first from behind while using a panning up shot so that the audience will see how venerable he is. Then in the background of shot the Mobster enters (Jack Bowering) 

but we hid he’s features so it looks just 

like his silhouette. We also showed the 

mobsters face up close so that we see his features

 but to also show his power over the hostage.

 Characters costume:

When we researched our Crime/Gangster films we came to a conclusion that all of the Mobsters should have dark suits to show smart sophistication but also show not to be messed with. The suits were black with a white shirt and black trousers. For the hostages costume we decided to have him were casual clothing as to make him look as dull and boring as possible so that all of the attention is taken             away from him and is focus upon the mobsters.

Location:

For the location we used a college dark room because it was dark and secretive. The room itself had tools to create different objects so if these were seen by 

                                                               the audience it would look like a workshop.

                                                                  This went along with the conventions of 

                                                                Crime/gangsters movies because of how 

                                                                   its cut away from the rest of the world,

                                           furthermore it is sinister this also helps create the suspense.

Props:

We have many “crimish” props. We used a large bag to carry all of the torture tools. In this bad were household tools that could be used to inflict harm on to the            hostage.We also had two guns that were

                                                                        used to show our power. Next we had

                                     a cigar which helped us set the seen of a mobster in the 1970s. 

Lighting:

Throughout the film we have maintained the same lighting, which is a bright white light in the back of the shot. We choose this because it cast shadows over the hostage and area around the set. By causing these shadows we are taking away all of his power because we seem to be looming over him and to be massively more powerful. Also by using a large bright light it helps the objects we use stand out and be more prominent.  

Interceptors final cut

Preliminary Task 2

Preliminary Task By Jack Bowering

Art of the title sequence.

Props list

 1: The Handgun used by the gangsters. Because their is only one gun, there are no shots of the gangster holding anymore than one gun

 2: The hipflask is on the person of one of the gangsters who drinks out of it in one scene. The flask has no real relevance to the story.

 3: The cards are used in the movie to show that the gangsters are gambling men.

 4: This is the costume for the character of "Callaghan" and "Cooper"

5: This is the costume for the character of "Mr. Edgar"