Rahib Khan's AS Level Media
Friday, 5 May 2017
Thursday, 23 March 2017
Evaluation 1 - How does our opening compare to actual film openings
The style of our film is also very stereotypical from every teen angst film I have watched from my research. Opposites, like every other teen angst film I have watched, has quite a generic style. For example, there is no aesthetic style that they follow, such as low key lighting for a dark setting or anything like that. Instead, they all have a high key, generic style. High key lighting connotes that the film will be quite light hearted and fun.
'Setting/Location' - We used the setting of our film in a school. This is very stereotypical to see in the Teen Angst genre and was in almost every film we watched for research. I think that a school environment works very well in this genre because our target audience is teenagers, around 13-18. Having a teen angst film set in a school means that our target audience can relate back to it and they may enjoy it more.
'Costume and props' - We decided to wear casual clothing as this is typical to see in a school environment. Every Teen Angst film that I watched for research, such as Easy A or Superbad, that were set in schools, had characters wearing casual clothing. Quite a few props were used but the main one was the football. Football or just sports in general are quite common to see being played by the male main characters of Teen Angst films, it is usually the popular ones as they are seen to be athletic and that is what we decided to implement into our film opening.
'Camerawork and editing' - Throughout our film, many different camera shots and uses of editing have been used. For camerawork, a wide range of angles and shots have been used to add variety. Long and extreme long shots were used to show the setting, and mid shots and close ups were used to show facial expressions, which involves our characters more with our audience as they can empathize or sympathize with our characters. These have been used in all Teen Angst films by which I have watched for research.
A variety of different editing techniques have also been used. The screenshot above shows a crossfade, which shows a passing of time and also includes an ellipsis. Throughout all of the scenes of the characters walking, match on action used. Freeze frames of the introduction of characters was included with their 'nicknames' beside them to quickly show the audience what type of person they are. Other editing techniques such as shot reverse shot and other transitions were used. Many of these editing techniques are used in other Teen Angst films however the freeze frames with the introduction of characters was not. We decided to use this to make our film different and stand out to the rest.
'Story and how the opening sets it up' - The bag suggests that the film will be set in a school, and the football indicates that Aiden is quite an athletic character, and based on my film research, this type of character is always the popular one. The football also indicates that there may be a scene to do with the football, or it may have some significance and this is shown in the very first seconds. The opening shows a boy and a girl quite different to each other, and this is expressed in the voiceovers done by both of these characters. One thing that Aiden stated in his voiceover was the he needed a girlfriend. Throughout the opening, there are subtle hints that these two characters will somehow get to know each other and this is done through things like 'awkward staring'. Right at the end of the opening, Kate is hit by a football and this implies that this will be their first confrontation.
'Genre and how the opening sets it up' - Right at the start when Aiden opens up the boot, his clothing, bag, and football are seen within the first few seconds. This gives the audience a very early indication that this film comes under the Teen Angst genre. His clothing is casual which is very stereotypical for teenagers to wear and the bag implies that the film will be set in a school. A school setting is very common for Teen Angst films, as found in my research. The voiceovers of both characters express the highs and lows of teenage life, further showing that it is a Teen Angst film. Many other films under this genre also highlight these 'high and lows' of teenage life.
'How characters are introduced' - In opposites, we decided to use quite a unique way of introducing the characters. As other Teen Angst films, they are bought into the shot. What is different about our is that we used a freeze frame and then have their name show up in bright letters. Along with this, we also used a nickname, in this screenshot it is 'The Wing Man'. This helps create an understanding of the characters as early as possible whilst still making it bright, fun and appealing to the eye.
'Special effects'- We used a few special effects such as changing the number plates into a name, and the titles appearing. These are slightly different to other Teen Angst films because the titles normally just 'appear', rather than having some sort of effect or animation on bringing them in, which is what we have done. E.g. when the car drives away and the letters appear one by one. We decided not to use any more special effects as we felt like they were not needed and may be unnecessary if we implemented them.
Friday, 17 March 2017
Thursday, 16 March 2017
Evaluation 2
Evaluation 7
|
Skill/knowledge/application |
Preliminary task |
Feature film opening |
|
camera
Using
a range of camera shots
Using
different camera angles, for what effect?
Using
camera movement (pan, zoom, tracking) for different purposes
|
In the preliminary task we didn't use much of a range of shot types with the majority being mid shots or close ups - this was so dialogue was clearly seen. There was a very minimal amount of movement and there were hardly any angles shown.
|
During our actual film opening we used a much wider range with long shots and extreme long shots, along with the mid and close up shots. We also used some more movements such as a pan. Angles were used more effectively such as when Aiden is walking down the hall.
|
|
Framing
(what is in and out of the shots)
|
No thought was put into what was being included in the shots throughout the video. Because of this, there may be some things in the background that we would like to change if we could have filmed again.
|
we ensured that everything in the shot was meant to be there. This was done by careful plannng and positoning of the camera of what we wanted in the shot. This was to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary was in the back ground at any point which may hinder the realism and/or the final product.
|
|
Mise
en scene
Lighting
Costume
Props
Settings
|
In our preliminary task not much thought went into any of the things that come under Mise en Scene as there was no props involved at all. The setting and costumes had nothing to do with what was being recorded.
|
A lot more planning was put into things such as the costumes which all fit our teen angst genre (casual clothes), as did the props such as the football which is something associated with teenage boys. The setting was also mainly based in a school which is very stereotypical for the teen angst genre.
|
|
Mode
of address
Way
actors speak, words and sentence structure
Gestures
|
Not many words were used during the preliminary task so there is not much variation in voices or use of gestures. The mode of address was probably the most basic as it was just one person speaking to another.
|
We used 2 different narrations over our opening with one sounding quite sad and the other slightly more happy. This showed the contrast between the two characers. Much longer sentences were used compared to our preliminary task which worked well as it is a voiceover. Our mode of address was also more complex, as it was to the audience and to the characters in the film. Gestures were also used in the football scene to show fear of one of the characters, which adds humour.
|
|
Editing
180
rule
Match
on action
Shot
reverse shot
Cross
cutting
Jump
cut
Juxtaposition
Transitions
Sequencing
|
Not a huge amount of editing was used during the preliminary task, the only main ones used was the 180 rule to ensure that the audience did not feel at all confused, and the shot reverse shot to show each person speaking. There was no use of transitions as the film was very short and they might not have worked as there were no jumps in time, or changes of setting etc. If transitions were used, they may have been irrelevant.
|
During the actual film opening we used many more types of editing, for example we used many more transitions such as a crossfade to show the passing of time. During the whole of the scenes of the characters walking, we implemented match on action. We also used shot reverse shot to show the ball about to hit Kate, this also used the 180 rule so the audience knew what was going on. A lot more sequencing was also used to ensure the whole opening made sense.
|
|
Use
of titles
Size
Font
Positioning
|
No titles were used during our preliminary task due to it being so short and may have seemed irrelevant.
|
Many more titles were used during the opening such as for the main title which says 'Opposites' we used the colors red and blue to connote the two opposite ends of a magnet. We also used a lot of different colors as well as font sizes to catch our target audiences attention. The font was sans serif as it shows that it is light hearted and that our film is not meant to be taken seriously.
|
Monday, 20 February 2017
Evaluation 3 - What kind of media insitution might distribute our media product and why?
Production Company Logo:
Our company is called Tomorrow Productions. We chose this because our target audience are younger people, who are always looking into the future rather than older people, who may like reflecting on the past a lot. The word 'Tomorrow' clearly connotes this.
Which film distributor would you choose for your film and why?:
The film distributor I would use is STX Entertainment. I think this because they have distributed similar films such as 'The Edge Of 17' and 'The Space Between Us'. They are also a smaller, less known company that distribute films that do not have huge budgets. This ties in well with our film opening because we also did not have a large budget.
How our film will be funded:
We will use the BFI film fund, within this there is the UK film council - they are known for funding independent films and we feel like this would be the best way to fund our film. One of the films that they have funded is Kidulthood, which is the same genre as our film and follows similar themes, which is why we think that they would fund our film.
Titles and how we have presented them:
We have presented our titles in many different ways. They are all at the start of the video, so everyone knows the characters and who is involved from the very start of the film. We use them in places such as around the steering wheel of a car, on a number plate and next to the characters on a freeze frame when they are introduced.
Unique Selling Point:
Our USP is that we have a male lead role, which makes our film different because based on our research, the majority of teen angst films have a female lead role.
Marketing Material:
Our main marketing technique would be social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. This is because it is very cheap and our target audience are teenagers, and they are often on social media. Facebook has 620 million active users per month, and twitter has 105 million active users per month. These are the biggest social media websites, we will use these to show things such as trailers and exclusive content.
Release of film:
We would aim to release the film at the end of the summer holidays, before they go to school. This would be because our target audience would also be starting school soon, meaning that they can relate to it. Also, at this time, the weather is generally colder and people might not want to be out and about, and instead, they could watch a film.
Information on Poster and Trailer:
Release date, names of actors, reviews, production company logo, distributor.
Cinema it would be shown in:
Our film would be shown in Showcase cinemas. These are smaller, and independent cinemas which show lower budget films. However, they show a variety of genres, one of which is Teen Angst.
Our company is called Tomorrow Productions. We chose this because our target audience are younger people, who are always looking into the future rather than older people, who may like reflecting on the past a lot. The word 'Tomorrow' clearly connotes this.
Which film distributor would you choose for your film and why?:
The film distributor I would use is STX Entertainment. I think this because they have distributed similar films such as 'The Edge Of 17' and 'The Space Between Us'. They are also a smaller, less known company that distribute films that do not have huge budgets. This ties in well with our film opening because we also did not have a large budget.
How our film will be funded:
We will use the BFI film fund, within this there is the UK film council - they are known for funding independent films and we feel like this would be the best way to fund our film. One of the films that they have funded is Kidulthood, which is the same genre as our film and follows similar themes, which is why we think that they would fund our film.
Titles and how we have presented them:
We have presented our titles in many different ways. They are all at the start of the video, so everyone knows the characters and who is involved from the very start of the film. We use them in places such as around the steering wheel of a car, on a number plate and next to the characters on a freeze frame when they are introduced.
Unique Selling Point:
Our USP is that we have a male lead role, which makes our film different because based on our research, the majority of teen angst films have a female lead role.
Marketing Material:
Our main marketing technique would be social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. This is because it is very cheap and our target audience are teenagers, and they are often on social media. Facebook has 620 million active users per month, and twitter has 105 million active users per month. These are the biggest social media websites, we will use these to show things such as trailers and exclusive content.
Release of film:
We would aim to release the film at the end of the summer holidays, before they go to school. This would be because our target audience would also be starting school soon, meaning that they can relate to it. Also, at this time, the weather is generally colder and people might not want to be out and about, and instead, they could watch a film.
Information on Poster and Trailer:
Release date, names of actors, reviews, production company logo, distributor.
Cinema it would be shown in:
Our film would be shown in Showcase cinemas. These are smaller, and independent cinemas which show lower budget films. However, they show a variety of genres, one of which is Teen Angst.
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