Evaluation Question 7

Q7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

My preliminary task was not my best work but it did teach me one important thing. If you use the camera in such a way you can tease the audience with it. So you can show them a shot of someone’s arm but the audience then want to know who’s arm it is. This intrigues the audience and keeps them guessing throughout. I learned this as in our prelim we used a lot of over shoulder shots and came up with the idea of showing the character we’d already seen walk in from the mystery person’s perspective keeping the audience guessing.

As well as this I was first introduced to the camera during the prelim and since then my camera skills have significantly improved as the prelim was a sort of dummy run with the camera experimenting seeing what worked. I also experimented in the time of my thriller opening filming. So my camera skills have come on leaps and bounds since then.

Another that went much better in the actual project was the time it took me to complete everything. During the Prelim I had to depend on others and had to spend time chasing the up. An example of this is the fact that we split the editing into three but I actually ended up doing all of it. This time I did it all on my own so there was no last minute waiting for other people I completely depended on myself making life much easier for myself.

The big improvement since the prelim has to be my editing work, the prelim editing went terribly as I had never met the software before but when I got the hang of it, it became easier that is why my editing in my final draft is much more professional than that of my prelim.

Evaluation Question 6

Q6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

In this project Ive had to endure and ongoing battle with technology, learning how to use new pieces of technology and new pieces of software.

The first piece of technology I had to learn turned out to be the most reliable and straight forward to use, the camera. The camera in question was a relatively recent canon camera which I had to learn how to manipulate in different ways to ensure I got the right shots, for example the lens and focus.

When speaking of software that was much more complicated, the Adobe premiere system was introduced to me on my prelim task and I’ll be frank it was a bit of a sham. I was very naive to the system making silly mistakes like accidently over lapping clips. But I researched in depth and got there eventually learning the tricks of the editing trade.

I also briefly had to learn how to upload to youtube which I didn’t have much experience with, that was fairly straight forward.

During the evaluation, I had to create presentations meaning I had to use presentation application and websites. The first one I encountered was prezi which looks like a labyrinth of doing things wrong but eventually you get the hang of it and produced a very good looking presentation. As well as prezi I used a cartoon presentation sight which was enjoyable and fun to use, complicated at first but really quite straight forward.

Evaluation Question Number 5

Q5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

My first draft of the film featured my lead character Adelaide having dreams/nightmares about a masked figure. The mystery of the masked figure driving a car would creep out the audience and intrigue them into watching. But in my feedback I was told the mask was’t work and just looked wrong the way I was using it. So with this I went back to the drawing board and came back with my final draft where I had re-shot some of the film. The way I decided to grip people time was mainly in the music it begins with tense soft piano music. Which dramatically changes to “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” this change in music draws in the viewer giving them almost a false sense of security. When they we’re feeling safe watching the film, sound of a car crash hits shocking the viewer and causing them to want to continue watching. As well as this the added mystery and puzzle of why the woman is dreaming of herself driving stays with the viewer causing them to want to continue.

As well as the obvious curiosity through the music I have attracted the audience through the creation of a very clever and intriguing character in Adelaide. The young student sleeping alone in a very well lit room wearing what looks to be some form of engagement ring on the wrong finger, which then cuts to the same girl driving what seems to be her car late at night on an abandoned road. This character creates interest in the audience, making them want to know the answers to all the questions my opening creates like "why is she driving at night?".

Evaluation Question 4

Q4) Who would be the audience for your media product?

Above I have found some information on different ages and whether they watch thrillers. This is a rough guide line because each thriller is different and in some cases aimed at different age groups. An example of this is Se7en, a very well known thriller is definitely aimed at the higher end of the age barriers for its explicit and distressing content. On the other hand we have films such as Skyfall which is an all round thriller have the ability to entertain all ages from around the age of 12 up, this is because of its extravagant police chases and huge sets.  Then there’s films like Apollo 13 which is still a thriller and still a PG but may not appeal to all age barriers even though it fits all age barriers.

On to my thriller, Counterblow which is about a woman coping with the manslaughter of a child while driving home one evening. This film should not be to graphic but may contain some bad language keeping it at least a 12 this followed by the situation itself f manslaughter may make the film a rating 15 film. As the manslaughter of a child to some people can be upsetting. With this film being aimed at 15+ it may not entertain those people as people all have different views. This will be a tense thought out thriller narrowing my market. So despite the film being a 15 it may be aimed at 20-50 year olds. 

Another big thing that effects whether or not a Thriller will be successful and must be considered when figuring out a target audience is the gender it’s also being aimed at. An example of this is Apollo 13, a star studded thriller in it’s own right but very much aimed at man. The film being based on the real life Apollo 13 shuttle may be found boring by most woman. Another example of gender choice in thrillers is Hanna a sharp unique thriller with a female heroine instantly appealing to woman.

The final thing that has to be considered when creating a target audience is class, for example films such as Casino Royale are aimed at the middle and upper class audiences. But thrillers such as The Sweeney are aimed at The lower classes reasons for this would be the frequent bad language the fact it’s set in the London suburbs, etc.

Evaluation Question 3

https://www.powtoon.com/show/b9lcaro9Mdv/media-evaluation-question-3/#/

Evaluation Question 2

My thriller opening only includes one character an 18 year old girl. This character is shown to be rather young suggesting she is a new driver this is her social group. As well as this a character of her age is suggested to be a student.

The room itself seems to be clean suggesting a tidy person maybe an OCD sufferer as well as this the lighting suggests she is paranoid as the lighting is far too intense suggesting she has trouble with sleep or is fearful of what is or is not in the room..
As well as the room being immaculate it is also very well furnished suggesting this character is middle class, reinforcing this fact is her name Adelaide Smith.

In my thriller I suggest that 18 year olds suffer with sleep problems, evidence of this is Adelaide being seen rolling back and forward continuously in her sleep.

This furthers the characters representation of your run of the mill student being up all hours and being a young driver are two of those stereotypes.

Towards the end of the clip the thriller cuts to black and we hear car crash sound effects this suggests young drivers are reckless and prone to incidents. An example of all the points I made is in my final draft posted previously.

Prezi Evaluation Question 1

Final Edit

Oldboy (2003) A-Level Research

Fargo Intro Commentary - Research

21/01/2015

Last night I concluded my filming with more car shots from many different angles round an industrial estate, which was desolate. What I failed to realize was that me with a camera around an industrial estate full of ware houses with expensive goods seemed abit dodgy. So at one point during the filming I was pulled over by the police and asked what I was doing. Apart from this minor mishap I got many good shots to replace the ones of the mask as feedback from my first draft was mainly negative.
Today my re-edit has begun, clips need to be changed but I'm having technical issues as my files will not transfer.

17/12/2014

Today I have prepared for the christmas break and listed all that needs to be completed. As well as this I have looked into other research oppurtunities.

Movie Research 'Funny Games' Commentary

Feedback of Counterblow Draft

Mrs Dughan-

Great start Ciaran, but too long - the brief says a max of two minutes.

I don’t like the mask - I think you have enough footage without it

Try intercutting the car shots (which are great) with the bed shots (also great - lovely variety and framing)

Key shot is too long and should be intercut with the bed shots

Think about including other shots in the bedroom and perhaps a few more car shots without the mask.
Tom Gent- 
"Yeah you need to contrast the music some more, and yeah I think taking the mask out would be better."
Emily-
"The font was nice but when it said executive producer you cannot read it. The film felt really slow. Film was confusing but good."

Prop Choice

The main prop for the film is the mask worn by the mystery character, this is because the prop is original, mysterious and memorable. Other props we used we're the keys, the phone and the alarm clock we're used to create verisimilitude.

Music Choice

The reason I chose this music is because it was simple, effective and gradually builds.

Costume Choices

Elena Bed Outfit-
This outfit is very simplistic only featuring a white top and black leggings, the reason for this is to create verisimilitude in the audience.

Masked Person-
Obviously the key to this was the white mask itself creating fear and making the audience feel uncomfortable. As well as the mask the masked person wore mainly plain clothing to emphasize the white mask when in darkness and make sure that is the only thing that could be seen.

The Masked Person was played by Brittany Reddish as well to reduce the chance of being let down.

Actor/Actress Choice

My choice for lead actress is Brittany Reddish, someone I knew I could count on and could give me a lot of her time. That's not the only reason Brittany also played Sandy in a performance of Grease last year, this is great evidence to show she has acting experience.

Story Boards for Counterblow

The Plot line has since been changed, as the fire itself was unsafe and I simply ran out of time. The plot became a lot simpler, my lead actress would be lying in a bed having a bad dream. The camera would include several inserts to create atmosphere e.g. an alarm clock shot. I would then edit in images of a masked person which would be what the heroine would be dreaming of.

Draft 1 Counterblow

Counterblow Draft 1

Brain Storming Session

Internet Audience Research

Modern thrillers usually contain adult themes like murder, drugs, gambling, etc. Thrillers now a days are aimed at 18-30 year olds, thrillers aim to entertain us but do it by creating an almighty suspense and leaving us on the edge of our seats throughout. The reason a lot of thrillers in the modern era are 18 rated is because audiences want to be disgusted and distressed as well as thrilled. Examples of 18 rated thrillers are:

• The Usual Suspects
• Pulp Fiction
• The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
• Se7en

There are exceptions for thrillers in the modern era for example the latest installment of the Bond series, Skyfall is a rated 12 film because of it's moderate violence and occasional foul language. Another example if a rated 12 thriller is the Bourne franchise because of it's violence. Looking at the evidence it becomes apparent that spy thrillers are rated 12 and everything else described as a thriller will be a 15 rating or higher. 

Classic thrillers are a completely different story the era was much more mellow as the world 50 years ago was much more PG for example Rear Window an iconic thriller from the 1960's directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The reason for Rear Window being a PG film is because of the mild violence in the film through out. Other thrillers fit into the PG rating list another example is 39 steps another classic thriller. As above there are exceptions funnily enough the exception is directed by a man who made his name in thrillers and has already been mentioned, Alfred Hitchcock in 1960 directed a film which still today scares viewers and keeps them on the edge of there seats. The film I am referring to is of course Psycho rated 15 because of the violence shown.

Skyfall Rated 12 Example

Psycho Rated 15 Example

Pulp Fiction Rated 18 Example

Bibliography - http://www.bbfc.co.uk/

Thriller Questionnaire

The questionnaire was created in a certain way and asks questions which will help me decide which idea I'm going to use. The picture below is the original questionnaire and below that is the results I got.

Using the responses I would decide what character and the type of film I'll base my ideas on.

Why are thrillers still so popular?

Thrillers started with the godfather of the thriller Alfred Hitchcock, his films we're insanely popular in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. this is because they had the power to grip the viewer to the point that they become enthralled in the character and there story. Sadly as the movie industry developed Hitchcock's films we're left behind. That leaves the question as to why Thriller is still so big? The thriller genre upped it's game using the new technology to keep audiences on the back of there seats with more action, for example The Bourne saga and the recent James Bond film Skyfall. More action isn't the only way the thriller genre has stayed fresh, psychological thrillers have become a huge part of cinema scaring, distressing and at times disgusting the audiences who shoe up to watch films such as 'fight club', 'blood diamond' and the 'girl with the dragon tatoo'.

Production company research

Agile Profile-
Agile is a Shoreditch based production company with experience across commercials, music videos, live music and feature films. We pride ourselves on our creativity and our determination to deliver outstanding work to any brief. Our roster of directors covers a wide range of styles and we are committed to working with and developing young directing talent.
One of Agile's most recent projects is a thriller called Beast, the film is based in Jersey which is being terrorized by a serial killer. The lead character Moll is struggling with her simple life and begins to have erotic dreams about the murders, this is what scares her the most.
Agile targets films with a good story and a talented, young director, for my film to possibly be picked up by Agile the story itself would have to grab them and my director style would have to be fresh and interesting for them to see a future.

http://www.agilefilms.com/

Research Task - Lord Of War (2005)

Synopsis - 
An arms dealer confronts the morality of his work as he is being chased by an Interpol agent.
Camera -

• A tilt is used to move the cameras view from dead bullets on the floor to a man standing center of shot holding a briefcase. The camera then zooms in on the lead holding the briefcase, the shot then becomes a mid shot. This shot is used in this way to build tension going from evidence of destruction to a stranger holding a briefcase, also builds suspense. (1 & 1.1)
• Camera tilts and lowers towards factory floor showing the factory workers and a machine, increasing the audiences curiosity as to what will happen next. (2 & 2.1)
• Camera zooms in on machine once again increasing intrigue and tension. (3)
• The camera then follows the beginning of the creation of a bullet through a machine going across a conveyor and several other aspects of the machine. (4 & 5)
• Then the camera following the bullet continues along the conveyor but camera tilts upwards giving a low angle shot to the bullet making the bullet look bigger and more powerful than before. (6)
• The camera shakes giving the illusion the audience is shooting down a tube, increasing tension. (7)
• The camera is then cleverly raised following the bullet being picked up and showing this perfectly. (8)
• Camera then again follows bullet through another tube using same technique of a sudden fast movement down. (9)
• After the bullet has been put in a crate the camera get's a low angle close up creating the idea that the Russian soldier was greater than the bullet. (10)
• The bullet then falls on the floor and then camera follows the bullet using a rolling motion in the camera. (11)
• Another clever camera technique is that which was used to create the illusion of the camera being thrown, the camera tilts up and then down very fast while tracking across.
• A super close up of the bullets then makes them look greater to the audience. (12)
• Rocky unstable tracking is then used to show the bullet being carried, then again shows the bullet as almost insignificant. (13)
• Another close up of the fingers lifting the bullet and a tilt and a track shows the bullet being put in the gun. (14)
• A close up of the inside of the gun makes the bullet look huge creating an illusion of mss amounts of power. (15)
• Then see a long shot down the barrel of a gun which actually creates an ominous feeling of tension as men firing guns are shown down the barrel of the gun. (16)
• Finally the extremely fast zoom finally follows the bullet hurtle towards the target. (17)

1

1.1

2

2.1

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12.1

12.2

13

14

15

16.1

16.2

16.3

16.4

Sound - 

• 'For what it's worth' by Buffalo Springfield is being played throughout the rest of the video, which is a calm western song featuring guitar and calm male vocals this makes the creation of the bullet seem like a calm and peaceful event. Which is the desired effect as the audience will get comfortable listening to the music of Buffalo Springfield and just as the bullet reaches the end of it's cycle and is fired the music stops and all that can be heard is the bullet flying through the air, all that is seen is the child being shot dropping the audience into a state of shock. The music also acts as a tension builder giving the audience a false sense of security.
• Nicolas Cage speaks before the creation of a bullet is shown accompanied by Buffalo Springfield, Cage speaks with received pronunciation showing he has a high class. Cage also breathes out heavily not in a panicked manner but in such a way to show he is relaxed this suggests he has high status as well.
• Various non-diegetic music is heard reinforcing the idea that the shot is in a factory, for example trolleys rattling and factory workers can be heard.
• When the shot is showing the African soldiers with the bullets the non-diegetic sound of the gun cocking and bullets being thrown on the floor can be heard creating verisimilitude.

Editing -

• Jump after lead character Yuri opens with a quip.
• The shot cuts to what seems like a fairly continuous shot but includes plenty of CGI added in the editing stage to show the audience the life of a bullet, this includes machines stamping out metal and putting lids on bullets, etc.
• Following the CGI look at a bullet assembly line an editing technique is used to show a factory worker lift the bullet and view it, the effect makes the audience feel like they are the bullet and being lifted themselves. The effect is successfully done by showing the mans finger and thumb holding the bullet in front of his face.
• The camera then follows the CGI bullet down a chute into a crate full of other CGI bullets.
• An extremely clever editing technique is used next where they show the crate of bullets being sealed and still leave cracks of light showing even though it is then a jump cut to a Russian Sergeant opening the box.
• The effect is used again but this time the crate is opened by African soldiers near a dock.
• The CGI bullets are then knocked out of the crate and roll across the ground the camera only follows one which is then picked up by computer generated finger and thumb.
• The computer generated bullets are put back in the crate and rock gently as the crate is moved keeping the illusion that they are real going.
• As before the editors have been clever when cutting, this time instead of a lid covering the view the bullet falls down showing a view of other bullets in the crate when it sees light again the shot is in a different part of Africa.
• The bullet is then CGI picked up for the final time and put into a gun which is also computer generated. Following this the bullet is fired and as it hits the child in the fore head a jump cut to a CGI red blood stain fills the shot.

Mise-en-scene - 

• A bullet ridden field of war is the first thing to be seen giving the audience a sense of threat straight away.
• The setting seems to be a foreign country with palm trees and building with smoke puring from them this also reinforces threat and keeps the audience alert.
• The lead character Yuri Orlov is then seen standing dressed in a sharp suit with a brief case in one hand and a cigar in the other, this shows he is wealthy.
• Another reason to suspect the shot is in a foreign country is because of the high key lighting.
• Yuri is stood center of shot facing away increasing the audiences curiosity.
• The following shot is in a factory with a lower key of light but not in anyway dark.
• Several factory workers are seen in overalls and hats.
• The setting changes slightly as the camera takes you on a journey through several machines with varied lighting keeping up the illusion and making it feel real.
• The finger and thumb of a factory worker is seen next they are extremely grubby showing a lower status than Yuri beforehand.
• The next character to be seen is that of a military officer which is obvious from the fact he is in military uniform. This character is still out in the open but in a different country obvious from the change in light, the boat behind the character is that of a very wealthy military vessel.
• The shot turns to African soldiers at a dock apparent from the boat in the background but the boat is in a worse condition than the one before suggesting a lower class and status. The African soldiers them selves show a lower class by what they are wearing but suggest high status by the gun in there hands.
• More African soldiers are shown but then an African child is shown wearing simple clothing and holding no gun suggesting a lower status and class than that of the soldiers.

Title list (in appearance order) -

1. Nicolas Cage
2. Lord of war (Title)
3. Jared Leto
4. Bridget Moynahan
5. Ian Holm
6. Eamonn Walker
7. Sammi Rotibi, Eugene Lazarev
8. Jean-Pierre Nshanian
9. Shake Toukhmanian
10. and Ethan Hawke
11. Casting b Mindy Marin, C.S.A
12. Music by Antonio Pinto
13. Costume designer Elisabetta Beraldo
14. Edited by Zack Staenberg, A.C.E
15. Production Designer Jean Vincent Puzoz
16. Director of photography Amir Mokri
17. Executive Line Producer Ronaldo Vasconcellos
18. Douglas E. Hansen co-producer
19. Executive producers Fabrice Gianfermi, Bradley Cramp, Gary Hamilton
20. Executive producers Christopher Eberts, Andreas Schmid, Michael Mendelsohn, James D. Stern.
21. Producers Nicolas Cage, Norm Golightly
22. Producers Andy Grosch, Chris Roberts
23. Produced by Philippe Rousselet and Andrew Niccol
24. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol

Credit Analysis -
An example of the font used in the opening credits are below. The reason this font was chosen was to add to the idea of war in the audience created by the talk of weapons and of bullets. The different names are faded in and out to create a smooth effect and not take away the smoothness from the images there being shown over. 

 Finally here is the opening to Lord of war (2005).