Evaluation Task 1

Evaluation Task 6

During the process I acquired different forms of software that would be used together in order to produce my final product. This included Sony Vegas and Adobe after Effects. My reasoning for using Sony Vegas is that we felt that it helped us to organise our scenes and clips, which helped us to bring all footage together and create the unfinished opening. Whilst Adobe after effects was used for additional effects which gave our product the final look it needed. For example our main editor Casper used after effects to create a distorted transition effect to make it seem as if there was an impending event about to occur and also to make it seem as the character Rakim had been hurt. This gave us the desired effect that we wanted to convey. We also used Adobe effects to create our typography, in which we used a combination of moving transitions, text and sound, as would wanted our opening to be as close to the film experience as possible. This taught me that I can use a wide range of software’s for a range of different uses. After Effects allows you to incorporate different ratio aspects in order to increase the resolution of the product (e.g. 720p, 1020p etc.). This taught me that some software’s can be used to develop and enhance the final product significantly, whilst other types of software can be used to place all the footage together in a chronological manner. However, they sometimes may be complicated to use and quite expensive. Another issue is that these programs are hard to use and difficult to acquire and use also come with regularly updated plugins, which is beneficial as new plugins can add new effects to your work. However, these plugins can sometimes come in big files such as 1GB or even 3GB, and some plugins are not free and are expensive to buy and download.

Evaluation task 7

Evaluation task 4

Evaluation task 2

Evaluation Task 3

Institution: An organisation or company that owns and produces media products for the consumption of an audience. As our film is an independent film it may have a smaller budget and collection of actors, with lower production costs. This may be due to the fact that we would have less access to conglomerates and institutions, meaning that we would have to apply a scheme such as the Love Film microwave scheme as we would be on a smaller budget, with less risk on the output of the film. This may mean that our films will be shown in smaller cinemas such as art houses where more social concept based films will be shown. Due to the young age of the actors within our thriller opening we agree that we would like to go down a similar path as ‘Shifty’ and use a smaller budget of £150 000 and use more unconventional forms of advertising to reach an urban audience, such as advertisements on pirate radio, using social media websites such as twitter and Facebook. This may be due to the fact that our specific audience will be able to identify with the characters in the opening. This may mean that other independent companies such as Studio Canal produced the film known as ‘Attack the block’ which although was not successful at the box office it went on to receive mass publicity.

Evaluation Task 5

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

as a whole. We also tried to emphasise how much ‘next generation’ technology that teenagers use and within the first scene it is madOur product represents several social groups in today’s society. One of the main social groups represented is the teenage demographic consisting of ages 13-19. During our opening the main protagonist can be seen to be representing certain stereotypes associated with today’s youth. In the opening the character ‘Rakim’ can be seen playing a violent video game known as ‘Grand Theft Auto’ which has been criticised for its violent nature and explicit content. We believe that this suggests that the youth of today are constantly being exposed to violence in and around them every day and in turn is leading to a much more dangerous society e obvious to the audience that the character has a large television, game consoles and a high tech phone. This suggests that teenagers have almost unlimited use of technology and have almost become unattached to society as a whole choosing to stay in their own home rather than socialising outside, signalling that times are changing, almost as if today’s teenagers are becoming anti-social. Regarding Rakim’s costume we believed it was best if we captured the stereotype that urban youths are most likely to be dressed in tracksuits and dark clothing. We did this in order to reinforce common stereotypes for our audience before they had an opportunity to form their own, because as the opening carries on the audience are made aware of Rakim’s true character, leading to our audience having to reconsider their own stereotypes, in all suggesting a misrepresentation of urban youths in our society. We believe that our thriller opening addresses the issue of peer pressure among teenagers today, as in one particular scene where Rakim and Ahmed are conversing it is apparent that Rakim is having second thoughts about carrying out the favour that Ahmed asked of which leads to Ahmed pressuring regarding a possible payment, it is also apparent that Rakim is slightly afraid of Ahmed. This scene suggests that among teenagers there is a social issue of peer pressure and fear of other opinions regarding their own character. As a result this leads to many teenagers being forced into situations that they shouldn't be involved in; often leading to issues which could have been avoided. We believe that this shows that our youth have self-confidence issues which lead to them being unable to stand up for themselves in certain situations, such as the issue that Rakim encountered in London’s Burning.
 

Regarding social groups we tried to make sure that the costumes we used were able to portray the image we were trying to put across to our audience. Both Ahmed and Saeed were dressed in suits. We wanted this to connote that the two characters were both of great wealth and intelligence, representing the upper class and almost elite like in wealth.  It is quite obvious from the opening that both Saeed and Ahmed command some sort of power over Rakim who is not as fiscally secure as the other two, with Ahmed even offering him money to do a job for him with Rakim willing to do it.  We wanted this to denote that the upper class/ the 1% have greater influence in society today rather than the general public. This is evident as Ahmed and Saeed were able to do their bidding, suggesting that the upper class profit from the work that the middle and lower class do

We believed idiolect to be a pivotal part of our thriller opening. The various use of slang helped us to represent and cater to a much younger and urban audience. Throughout the opening it is apparent that all characters use type of urban slang as the following video is likely to identify.

Storyboard

Treatment

Our thriller outline:

• Rakim receives call from Ahmed to come and do a favor for him
• All of which occurs whilst Rakim is playing a game that involves blowing objects up (foreshadowing)
• Rakim makes his way to Ahmed's home where he picks up the goods from Ahmed
• Ahmed gives him instructions to deliver the goods to his close friend Saeed
• Rakim takes the goods to Saeed outside an empty station exit whilst being watched by a mysterious figure 
• Camera cuts to a groggy POV shot from Rakim who has been hurt whilst being kidnapped by the mysterious figure 
• The mysterious man questions Rakim on prior events that led to a bombing
• The figure gives Rakim an ultimatum
• Cuts to typography 

What resources we will need

• Camera 
• Stand
• Video editing software
• Spare bedroom
• A black bag
• Access to a home
• Mobile Phone
• Games Console
• Television
• Access to a formal room

Locations:

Jordan's bedroom

Kasper's driveway and living room

Clockhouse train station

Harris Academy Beckenham's conference room 

Sound:

Batman Soundtrack 

Justification of ideas:

Our editing which creates the sense that our opening consists of a set of flashbacks that refers back to the interrogation scene. The soundtrack that we used only adds to the suspense of the thriller as they dynamics and instrumentation only begins to increase throughout the piece only adding to the drama. We used a combination of lighting in order to show the personalities of different characters. We believe that the frequent changing of scenes helped us to also achieve the aim of showing flashbacks.

Shortened Edit of London's Burning

Camera Shots/ Angles

Here we used a shot on the television of the character Saeed playing a violent console game where the character can be seen to be blowing up various different objects, a foreshadowing scene of what is to come.

In this shot we used a medium long shot from behind one of the characters when he was opening the door. We believe that this was effective as the window on the door slightly blurred the audiences vision of what the character may look like and also his features, we believe that this and the combination of the dark lighting helped us to achieve the ideal atmosphere needed for a thriller film, also helping us to follow the mise en scene. When editing this scene we used blurred some of the images within the scene to make the scene feel as if it was a flash back.

In this shot we used a medium close up to identify a new character. We filmed the character behind bars, as if almost this also a foreshadowing event as it is later found that this character and two other were involved in criminal activity. The contrast was also tinted lighter as when researching how different colours affect people, we found that colours such as amber, red and yellow suggest danger, thus we took the initiative to tint the scene orange to suggest fore coming danger.

Here we used a medium close up of the side of the mysterious hooded figure, to conceal the identity of the character so the audience are not completely aware of who this character may be or what his alter motives may be.

Here we utilised a point of view shot of the mysterious detective who has his head on the table, during this shot the camera was swaying to indicate that something was wrong with the character, suggesting that he may have been attacked. On the far right we had some natural lighting coming in through the window but not completely. Here we wanted to suggest that the character may already feel as if he is in prison during his interrogation. The mysterious detective once again has his face planted downwards, as he is trying to conceal his identity .

In this shot we attempted a low angle shot to partially show the detectives face, whilst also managing to partly keep his identity concealed.

This shot utilised a close up shot of the character Saeed, as he is given a proposition on whether or not to work for a secret service to conspire against his own associates. We wanted to capture the character's facial expressions and emotions when given this information.

 In order to keep the audience constantly involved within the opening we also decided to use a fast paced panning shot which followed the phone as it was passed along the desk, as the character Saeed becomes aware of what his actions have led to.

Mise-en-scene

Lighting

Call Sheet

Rakim's House Scene

^17th December

Jordan's House

2:00-3:00 PM

Actors needed: Jordan

This will be our initial shots involving an actor known as Rakim, the shots are likely to be part of our opening 

Costume: Home clothing

Casual clothes will be necessary in order to fit the character of Rakim who is a young ‘urban’ teenager. This includes colorful sports tops, tracksuit bottoms and other sports apparel.

Interrogation scene:

December 20th

Harris Academy Beckenham

2:00-5:00 PM

Actors needed: Andrew and Jordan

Andrew will need to wear a suit in order to follow the usual conventions of a detective in order to give our audience a true representation of his character. Jordan must be in casual wear (jumper and trainers) also as he must follow the provisions of an urban teenager.

During this day we will be filming the entire interrogation scene with varying angles, test shots and even interviews. We will be using lighting that may vary in order to give us the opportunity to follow the mise en scene of crime thrillers.

The Representation Of Women In Thriller Films

The role of women in thriller films can vary from several concepts, this incorporates the following

• Motherly figures
• Heroins
• Sexual roles
• Innocent
• Vulnerable
• Protagonists

Motherly figures: This is evident as in the crime trhiller 'Training Day' as the character Lisa Hoyt who is the protagonist's wife plays the casual role of a house wife and maintains the household whilst her husband works in the police force

Soundtrack - Vespertilio

The piece which is written in a minor key has slowly rising dynamics and encoumpases a wide range of instruments. The opening  from 0:00 to 0:17 features a combination of orchestrial instruments and also computer edited sounds, which creates a sense of uncertainty and confusion within the opening few scenes. From 0:18 to 0:38 the tempo of the piece begins to dramatically increase and there is an increase in the use of computer edited sounds, mostly of which features violins, and strings with the main rhythm being played by some sort of drums. The increasing tempo helps to increase the suspense and tension within our opening as it follows the scene where the character ‘Rakim’ is called to meet a person who the audience is unsure of. From 0:39 to 1:00 there is a combination of vocals and edited sounds with varying dynamics, however the dynamics are significantly quiter than the earlier section of this piece. This directly correlates to our opening as the character is seen travelling, with the action taking a backseat. 1:01 to 1:25 the tempo of the piece begins to increase again as the encorporation of more strings follows, the sound of violins can be heard with also an increase in the dynamics of the drums, suggesting on coming danger is forthcoming.  1:26 to 2:25 this section of the piece features loud dynamics and instrumentation with the computer edited sounds, stringed instruments and minor vocals all coming into play at the same time, this part of the piece correlates with our piece as during this section the character ‘Rakim’ is seen handing a suspicous package to another character, where they part ways. This helped us to form suspense as at that current time the audience were unaware of what was in the package, and whilst we wanted to keep was in the bag consealed we also wanted the audience to be aware that it was something sinister and this particular section of music helped us to put that idea across. This particular piece of music helped us to follow the mise en scene of sound within thriller films. With music usually beginning with a slow tempo and slowly increasing over time, with dynamics also slowly increasing as the piece continues. Due to the instrumentation of the piece we were also able to build up a form of tension without having to reveal as much information on screen and at points left our audience unaware of certain aspects of our opening.

Final Edit - London's Burning (including typography)

Typography

Our Teaser Film Posters

Luther Title Sequence Analysis

How did we record and edit the test shots?

As the other members in my group were acting within the piece I took it upon myself to direct and edit the film. To edit the footage I used the program 'Movie Maker'. Thus this allowed me to cut and edit particular parts of the footage in which I was able to record.

I then took advantage of the soundtrack from the film '28 weeks later' known as 'In the house, in a heartbeat' by composer John Murphy. Due to the tension that and suspense that the soundtrack was able to create due to features such as a minor key and repeated phrases. This allowed us to slowly build tension until the climax of the short film, due to these qualities we eventually added this composition to our piece.

What shots did we use?
Wide shot: This shot established to the audience that the character seemed to be running in order to save or look for someone, with the audience beginning to question who is he looking for?

Medium shot:

Low angle shot:
This shot aided our attempt in trying to create suspense, as the audience could not see the characters face thus there being a sense of mystery.

Titled panning shot:
These shots allowed us to further increase the tension as the audience is still unaware of who the character is and what their intentions are.

Extreme close up: Here we used an extreme close up of the character pulling on their gloves, signalling that they apparently are up to something sinister.

Wide shot: In this shot the character's figure can be witnessed however they remain hooded. Due to the previous shots only showing different parts of the character's body we decided to finally reveal the character's full frame to the audience, still retaining a sense of tension without revealing the character's true identity.

Blurred close up shot: In our final shot we used a blurred close up shot in order to retain mystic and tension as the character's face is not completely revealed and the music also begins to increase in instrumentation thus leading to the climax of the film.

Preliminary Task

Updated Location Reccee (Possible)

Edit Shot List - Low Angle Panning Shot (Test Shots)

The reasoning for our extensive use of this shot is to slowly build suspense as the camera slowly pans upwards, slowly revealing the identify of the character who is detective Victor. There is very low lit lighting in this phrase in order to create further mystery and suspense as the audience is not fully aware of the characters features and cannot thoroughly see his face. We believe that these shots helped us to follow the mise en scene of a conventional thriller as the use of low lit lighting and slow panning helped to create mystery and suspense.

Edit Shot List - Medium Shot (Test Shots)

Here we used a close up shot of Saeed with his hood up in order to give a sterotypical representation of our youth today. The audience are unable to see the whole of the characters face, but are just able to see a side shot, with the scene also containing lowly lit lighting

Edit Shot List - High Angle Shot (Test Shots)

The reasoning for us using a high angle shot was to create the idea that the interrogation was being watched, almost as if there was cctv in the room. Thus helping us to follow the mise en scene of a crime thriller which props may include a tape recorder, table, chair and also cameras watching the on going procedure. This helped us to capture the true atmosphere of an interrogation.

Edit Shot List - Over The Shoulder (Test Shots)

In this shot we used an over the shoulder shot in order to gain detective Victor's prospective and view within the scene. We used this shot over looking Saeed to connotate to the audience that detective Victor looks down on Saeed and believes that he is superior to him. This is later evident within the opening with the way that detective Victor represents himself. In this shot we placed the lighting behind detective victor in order for their to be a tint of darkness over the character Saeed, connotating that there may be no hope for Saeed and is in a desperate position despite being innocent.  

Edit Shot List - Point Of View Shot (Test Shots)

In this shot we used a point of view shot (POV) in order to capture the true seriousness and tension in this scene. The point of view shot allowed us to capture Kasper's (detective Victor) emotion and anger, underlining the gravity and magnitude of the situation. We continued to use lighting within the scene even though it was low key and low lit, in order to allow us to carry on the darkness within the area.

Opening 45 seconds of thriller opening (Test Shots)

My inspiration for the opening of this piece came from the British thriller 'Britz', in which I viewed in my Media lesson. The opening of this piece was intended to give the viewer a natural insight into what the thriller opening may contain. However this is directly contrasted by the musical piece 'Death is the road to awe' written by Clint Mansell, which was written in minor key. Due to this, this allowed me to place the video and music into together, as the the music which is slow yet tension building follows the feeling of fear.

Opening Concept

The concept for our short media piece revolves around the interrogation of a young male who is involved with a conspiracy against his own country. This correlates with the concept board I previously placed on the blog. The short film is meant to give an insight into the stereotypes placed on young Muslims as well as ethnic minorities within the UK. However we have considered the script and idea and taken away any thing which may have been seen as controversial.

Within the opening 30 seconds we used a montage of the Woolwich attacks along with the news coverage that it attracted. The soundtrack 'Death is the road to awe' in order to set the tone for the film. We hope that with this the film will give off the effect of fear and tension that is necessary in order for the audience to adapt their own opinion. The song itself of sets an extremely tense and negative mood, which we believe in imperative for a thriller opening. All of this sets the viewer up for the next scene, which involves the interrogation.

This then follows where the innocent victim is interrogated by an apparently ignorant detective who seems to enforce his own negative stereotypes,  which eventually manifests itself...

Rough Cut Analysis

Here within the opening shot we believe that we did not sufficient lighting as it

is quite difficuilt to make out the characters facial features, as we were trying to give the audience an understanding of who the character is. In our next set of shoots we are going to strive to use the appropiate lighting in order to get our point of view across to the audience.

We also found our location to be quite poor as the boards we were using were not enough to hide the sorounding location that we were filming in, as the backdrop contradicted (we couldn't completely turn the lighting off as it would vastly hinder our filming process).  

Our Rough Cut (Test Shot)