Before any film is shown several names of the actors appear on a black screen lasting a few seconds before changing to a different name. The opening starts with a black screen this then fades into a shot of some mountains. The light are dim the sun is still rising. There is diegetic sound of the wind rustling. A man is talking over this non-diegeticaly as we cannot see him he is talking about the old days and how things used to be, his voice is deep and gravely. There are several more shot similar to this of the surrounding fields and mountains. With each shot which lasts about 6-11 seconds it appears to be getting lighter, dawn. At about 1.20 in the camera pans from a dusty old field with a barbed wire fence running along it to a copper who is escorting a man into his police car. It is at that point that the voice over fades out to just diegetic sound. We can see that they are in the middle of no where as we see the long stretching road beyond. There is a medium shot as the cop pushes the man into his police car, all the wile the man seems calm and does not struggle. This cuts to a close up shot of the passenger seat which the police man then places a canister with a hose attached to it. We are left wondering what this mysterious object is and what it s used for. The police man then gets in to the car behind him we can again see the long empty road behind, there are no other cars or any buildings. A crane shot is in which we rise up as the car drives of into the distance. Which we presume is heading to the police station.
Friday, 24 April 2009
No Country for Old Men
Thursday, 23 April 2009
Costume
The main characters in our thriller opening are teenagers therefore they should be wearing clothes similar to the ones they normally wear. Things like jeans t-shirt and hoodie are common items for teenagers to wear. This will help keep it as realistic as we can. As it is winter whilst we are filming coats are likely to be worn over the top but again these should be similar to the ones worn everyday by pour teenagers.
We need to make Dan look like a game keeper obviously because this is his part and the main point of the thriller. To do this he will be wearing an Barbour coat and old jeans which we feel will
fit in well with the clothing a game keeper would wear as when we googled it this is what we found in pictures. As well as this he will be wearing a hat to make him seem more mysterious.
We need to make Dan look like a game keeper obviously because this is his part and the main point of the thriller. To do this he will be wearing an Barbour coat and old jeans which we feel will
fit in well with the clothing a game keeper would wear as when we googled it this is what we found in pictures. As well as this he will be wearing a hat to make him seem more mysterious.
We used different props for our thriller, but we used 4 main props which we kept simple and easily accessible. The four main props we used were a farmer's coat, a pillow, a picnic basket and a plastic gun.
We used the farmer's wax coat as Dan was a Grounds Keeper and needed to look like one. We didn't think that Dan looked old enough to be a keeper and therefore we put him into this coat to give him an 'aged' look. The pillow we used was to make Dan look larger around the stomach! We felt this was a stereotypical keeper and so we made sure the character was a 'stock' character.
The plastic gun was used to simulate a real gun as obviously it would be inappropriate and illegal to use a real one! The picnic basket is an idea that came about after we changed our mind about the rave. Therefore, it is what teenagers could do in a forest therefore making the film more realistic.We lastly used the most influential prop: the pheasants. They are usually associated with a farmer or a farming family. This gave is the inspiration for the rest of the props.
We used the farmer's wax coat as Dan was a Grounds Keeper and needed to look like one. We didn't think that Dan looked old enough to be a keeper and therefore we put him into this coat to give him an 'aged' look. The pillow we used was to make Dan look larger around the stomach! We felt this was a stereotypical keeper and so we made sure the character was a 'stock' character.
The plastic gun was used to simulate a real gun as obviously it would be inappropriate and illegal to use a real one! The picnic basket is an idea that came about after we changed our mind about the rave. Therefore, it is what teenagers could do in a forest therefore making the film more realistic.We lastly used the most influential prop: the pheasants. They are usually associated with a farmer or a farming family. This gave is the inspiration for the rest of the props.Location
We only used one main loacation for the filming of our thriller but due to the weather we had a covering of frost on the ground.We used the main field for the running scenes. And the shots were the girls are having there picnic it is shot in a enclosed part of the woods.We used the loacation to a huge exstent from the panning shots at the begining to the close up of the girls having there picnic. We used P
oringland Woods because we thought it was a conventional keeper's land and land much like the land featured in thrillers such as Don't Look Now and Blair Witch Project.
oringland Woods because we thought it was a conventional keeper's land and land much like the land featured in thrillers such as Don't Look Now and Blair Witch Project.Sunday, 5 April 2009
Friday, 3 April 2009
Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media product has strong connections to no country for old men, which also features long panning shots. We took this as a basis for some of our opening also using a voice over which again connects to No Country for old men. This adds lots of atmosphere and helps to set the story for the rest of the film. In many ways this film was an inspiration providing us with many ideas and conventions to use. Another film we have picked ideas from is Blair witch. The way this features a group of teenagers going to some woods and the shaky hand held camera. This was to be a bigger feature in our original idea but we had to change this due to convenience and weather conditions. But I think this may have been for the best as we have produced some really strong conventions and connections to other thrillers.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
One group we have particularly represented is teenagers who are often young and inexperienced leaving them vulnerable to all sorts of dangers. Another group our film represents is women, who in our film are the victims. This is very conventional of thrillers in which the victim is mostly women represented as vulnerable and helpless characters. In our production we see the women looking lost and confused representing the weakness of women. As a result of this I think or thriller will be appealing to other women because they are the main featured characters.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We have chosen or film as a mainstream production as our target audience are more likely to go see it at a main stream cinema. So for example it will be distributed in Norwich to Vue and Odeon as these are the larger multiplex cinemas in Norwich.
How did you attract/ address your audience?
Our audience will be attracted to view our film as it features characters that are a similar age to them, doing something that they would also be likely to do. The audience will be attracted to it as they can relate to it themselves. In the same way we will address our audience drawing them in because they may see similarities in their lives. Our location sis a woods, on the day of filming we were lucky that it was frosty which added more of a mysterious and creepy atmosphere to our production. Although we did not directly dress our audience it could sound as though he is talking to them giving them a warning.
Audience Profile
Our audience will be teenagers about the same age as us. WE decided this because our film features characters that are this age so the audience can relate to them and what they are doing.
Our film picks two females to play the victims; this is very conventional of thriller films- to prey on venerable young women. This means that the film will appeal slightly more to girls as they can identify with the female character, although I don’t think there will be a great difference between appeal to male and female.
As most of our audience is still young on the social grade scale they will not rank very high about a D or E. As many will not be in full time employment having only low skilled jobs because they are still studying and have not complete training for more skilled jobs. There will also be a large number that do not have a job at all because they are still in full time education, are too young for a job, or have left school and are currently looking for a job.
As our film features no people or any references to ethnic minorities, only featuring a white British culture and people. I do not think it will appeal that much to people from other culture as there is not much for them to relate to. Therefore our film will be for white British people but this is open to any cultures.
As teenagers have wide and varied interests and taste, our audience like lots of different types of media and genres. However one genre I lot of teens favours is thriller and horror. So our film will be in line with their tastes.
So to clarify our target audience are white British teenagers within bands D-E on the social grade scale with an interest in thrillers.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt and improved on many techniques during this production. We learned how to use a tripod to get a more steady and smooth shot, and how a slight jolt can ruin the whole shot. I have also improved my knowledge of different shot types which need to be added in order to create the right effect. During editing I learned the difference a good soundtrack can make, taking the production from something un-finished to a finished product. Also how to put a sequence of shots together to create suspense and tell the story. As we used some effects I have learnt more about these. The different types and the effect they can have overall. In the planning stages I learnt a lot more about audience research. Other things I learnt about during this stage are shot list, story boards, scripts and the impotence of completing these in order to make a more successful production.
Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the final product?
By doing the preliminary task this gave me and the necessary skills to plan a production. These skills have been expanded upon as we have used a lot more techniques in planning filming and editing. The preliminary task taught me the importance of planning and having it all in place to make the production straight forward and more successful, which again has also taught me that working as a group and all of you getting the work completed is important. Another thing I have learned by working in a group is organisation particularly when filming to ensure that all the correct people props and equipment are there. Within or group we divided tasks to make it easier and quicker, one of mine was to create the story boards, which i think were successful in showing the right shot and lighting. In my group i was able to give suggestions and discuss ideas to improve the production. Overall we worked well together each giving good contributions in order to create the final product. I am pleased with the audience feedback as overall it has been positive. This hopefully has proved that our production is a successful one. The most important thing I have leant during this task is how all the little piece (different shots, music, voice over and sound effects) come together when editing. When I started I didn’t realise the impact a close up or effect could have on the whole production.
All the techniques I have used have helped me build on my overall knowledge of media studies and making your own production.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our media product has strong connections to no country for old men, which also features long panning shots. We took this as a basis for some of our opening also using a voice over which again connects to No Country for old men. This adds lots of atmosphere and helps to set the story for the rest of the film. In many ways this film was an inspiration providing us with many ideas and conventions to use. Another film we have picked ideas from is Blair witch. The way this features a group of teenagers going to some woods and the shaky hand held camera. This was to be a bigger feature in our original idea but we had to change this due to convenience and weather conditions. But I think this may have been for the best as we have produced some really strong conventions and connections to other thrillers.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
One group we have particularly represented is teenagers who are often young and inexperienced leaving them vulnerable to all sorts of dangers. Another group our film represents is women, who in our film are the victims. This is very conventional of thrillers in which the victim is mostly women represented as vulnerable and helpless characters. In our production we see the women looking lost and confused representing the weakness of women. As a result of this I think or thriller will be appealing to other women because they are the main featured characters.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
We have chosen or film as a mainstream production as our target audience are more likely to go see it at a main stream cinema. So for example it will be distributed in Norwich to Vue and Odeon as these are the larger multiplex cinemas in Norwich.
How did you attract/ address your audience?
Our audience will be attracted to view our film as it features characters that are a similar age to them, doing something that they would also be likely to do. The audience will be attracted to it as they can relate to it themselves. In the same way we will address our audience drawing them in because they may see similarities in their lives. Our location sis a woods, on the day of filming we were lucky that it was frosty which added more of a mysterious and creepy atmosphere to our production. Although we did not directly dress our audience it could sound as though he is talking to them giving them a warning.
Audience Profile
Our audience will be teenagers about the same age as us. WE decided this because our film features characters that are this age so the audience can relate to them and what they are doing.
Our film picks two females to play the victims; this is very conventional of thriller films- to prey on venerable young women. This means that the film will appeal slightly more to girls as they can identify with the female character, although I don’t think there will be a great difference between appeal to male and female.
As most of our audience is still young on the social grade scale they will not rank very high about a D or E. As many will not be in full time employment having only low skilled jobs because they are still studying and have not complete training for more skilled jobs. There will also be a large number that do not have a job at all because they are still in full time education, are too young for a job, or have left school and are currently looking for a job.
As our film features no people or any references to ethnic minorities, only featuring a white British culture and people. I do not think it will appeal that much to people from other culture as there is not much for them to relate to. Therefore our film will be for white British people but this is open to any cultures.
As teenagers have wide and varied interests and taste, our audience like lots of different types of media and genres. However one genre I lot of teens favours is thriller and horror. So our film will be in line with their tastes.
So to clarify our target audience are white British teenagers within bands D-E on the social grade scale with an interest in thrillers.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt and improved on many techniques during this production. We learned how to use a tripod to get a more steady and smooth shot, and how a slight jolt can ruin the whole shot. I have also improved my knowledge of different shot types which need to be added in order to create the right effect. During editing I learned the difference a good soundtrack can make, taking the production from something un-finished to a finished product. Also how to put a sequence of shots together to create suspense and tell the story. As we used some effects I have learnt more about these. The different types and the effect they can have overall. In the planning stages I learnt a lot more about audience research. Other things I learnt about during this stage are shot list, story boards, scripts and the impotence of completing these in order to make a more successful production.
Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the final product?
By doing the preliminary task this gave me and the necessary skills to plan a production. These skills have been expanded upon as we have used a lot more techniques in planning filming and editing. The preliminary task taught me the importance of planning and having it all in place to make the production straight forward and more successful, which again has also taught me that working as a group and all of you getting the work completed is important. Another thing I have learned by working in a group is organisation particularly when filming to ensure that all the correct people props and equipment are there. Within or group we divided tasks to make it easier and quicker, one of mine was to create the story boards, which i think were successful in showing the right shot and lighting. In my group i was able to give suggestions and discuss ideas to improve the production. Overall we worked well together each giving good contributions in order to create the final product. I am pleased with the audience feedback as overall it has been positive. This hopefully has proved that our production is a successful one. The most important thing I have leant during this task is how all the little piece (different shots, music, voice over and sound effects) come together when editing. When I started I didn’t realise the impact a close up or effect could have on the whole production.
All the techniques I have used have helped me build on my overall knowledge of media studies and making your own production.
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