Creativity

How have you tried to facilitate and encourage your own creativity?
As a group we all shared our ideas, and then from there we built on those ideas and put the best ones together.

Did you experience limits/blocks on your creativity?
When we had little motivation we found it hard to be creative. Also when we disagreed on each others ideas we found it to be creative as we felt as we were being restricted with how creative we could be as we had more limited ideas to use.

How easy/difficult was it to be creative while still working to the brief?
Although we had to work within the boundaries of creating an opening for a film, this was still fairly general and so we found it fairly easy to still be creative when working to the brief.

Did working within conventions stifle your creativity?
Working to a convention did stifle our creativity as  we had to stick between certain guidelines and so we had to put more thought into our ideas.

To what extent did you need to work with others and 'bounce ideas' off other people to truly be creative?
Working with others made me more creative as working in a group meant we could take the best ideas and combine the together to be truly creative.

How much of your creativity was about trial and error?
A fair bit as we found ourselves starting with one idea and then finding it not working and then adapting that idea.

To what extent was a lack of confidence an issue in terms of your creativity?
I dont think this was an issue as i was working with people i knew well and so felt confident enough around them to share all my ideas with them.

To what extent was a lack of technical competence/confidence an obstacle to your creativity?
This stopped us from being creative in some ways, however i also think this made us more creative as we found ourselves to experiment with the camera's and editing software.

Final Piece

Audience Feedback.

Conclusions.
From looking at our audience feedback we found that we should of subverted more from the thriller genre and made it less apparent to what the killers intensions were, we could of done this at the end of our opening by not having the killer walking out the house with the knife in hand. This would of helped to leave the viewers in suspense at the end of watching our opening. We also found that another way that we could of improved the tension of our film could of been by giving the snakes less prevalence,  By doing this the we would of been able to focus more on the killer and the girl so the story line could of been made more clear for the viewers, it would also help the viewers to build relationships that they could relate to.

Planning of our final piece

Call Sheet

In order to remain organised with timings, something we found difficult with the preliminary task we created a call sheet in order to help us be more organised. 

                                                                       Storyboard
We created storyboards to help give us an idea of what shots we were going to do, this would help us save time when filming as we would already know what we were doing. We decided to give more time to this aspect of the planning of our film as we found ourselves to have rused it in the prelinmary task which meant we made small mistakes.

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

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

Evaluation
by: georgekingsley562

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation How did you address / attract your audience?

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

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

Distribtor from gkingsley5656

Who would be the audience for your media product.

Evaluation

Evaluation

-Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? 

 When planning our media product we wanted to make sure we stuck to the typical conventions of a thriller film however also subvert from the genre subtly in order to make it more gauging for the audience to watch. we watched many different openings to films and found that the opening to 'Se7en' really inspired us.

 In this opening there was a fast paced change between to scenes that appeared to be very different from each other, one scene seemed fairly normal of making tea and flicking through a book, and one seemed to be quite odd a man cutting his finger tips. We decided to use this in our project as the two scenes juxtapose each other making the audience think about what is going on. However in our project we decided to make the odder scene more subtle in order to create more mystery. We also liked the idea quick, fast transitions as it fitted in as if it was a heart beat, which help to build tension for the audience as it speeded up, we implemented this into our film to help give this effect to our film.

 For our music we decided to stick to the normal conventions for thriller music being generally fairly simple and having a steady pace in order to help create tension. This music was very useful in helping to develop our thriller opening as it creates a kind of eerie feel to the atmosphere making people feel uncomfortable, this make the viewers aware something is to happen. We also created a almost humming sound using garage band and have this playing over this music too. By doing this tension is created as the constant hum makes us feel uncomfortable and makes the veiwers aware that there maybe an under lying problem.

Overall i feel that our media project conveys to most of the conventions of a thriller opening as it builds tension, and is fairly subtle with the story line not giving much away. We also used the innocence of children in our project to further aid the development of our thriller as we are again conforming to the genre, and also used the idea of a weird lonely man to be our psycho killer, however we do not make this apparent straight away, instead we make him seem fairly ordinary however we placed snakes around the scenes to demonstrate that there is something else going on with this man.

-Question 2: How does your product represent particular social groups?
Our media project involves two social groups being, school girls and older men. I think that our project represented them in the fairly stereotypical ways, especially in terms of the thriller conventions. We decided to choose to have the victim to be a young person in order to create vulnerability and innocence, we further added to this by also choosing it to be a girl. I think that this has represented the social group of school girls to be vulnerable innocent and un aware of the dangers around them. The second social group we used were lonely old men, i also think that we represented this social group fairly well as we showed him to be fairly weird by having him sit in his room alone, we also used the use of snakes to also demonstrate his creepiness. However i also feel as if we slightly subverted as we normally expect older people to be kind and gentle, which in our thriller he clearly is not.

Script

Script Repriasl

Audience Research

In order to find out what the audience like about films we conducted a questionaire so we were able to find out ways in which we could improve our film and make it appeal to the audience. Here is the link to our survey

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HXG7W3Z

Response
From conducting this survey we was able to find out many different opinions from viewers that watch thrillers. We found that the most common reason as to why people like thrillers is the tension and the suspense that the film creates in the atmosphere. We therefore decided that we needed to make sure we had elements of our film that created tension and suspense, from this we got the idea to use snakes in our opening sequence to create this suspense. We also asked what are the most common features of a thriller opening sequence were so we would be able to include them into our opening sequence, we decided to do this so the viewers would know what genre our film was straight away. Our respondents said the most common features expected from thriller opening sequences were eerie music, low lighting and quick transitions.

Task 3- Title inspiration.

The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo.

I found this opening sequence to be inspirational towards my work as it doesn't immediately make it clear what the story is about, which is something we had done in our sequence in order to help build tension. As well as this the it quickly changes between shots which is again something we have implemented into our opening sequence so we are able to give the audience and idea into what the film is about however not a complete picture as we want to keep them guessing right until the end. We also used the idea of very simple music, which is used here in for our film as it doesn't take away the focus of what is going on, on the screen.

Snatch.

Although this movie is a different genre to the opening sequence i created, i still found it to be inspirational towards my titles. This opening sequence introduces all of its main characters before the movie even begins which helps the audience to create a understanding of who is who and what is going on. I liked this idea and so incorporated it into my film, I showed both characters at different locations going about there own business, whilst creating subtle links that would suggest there paths    are going to later cross. This is done in the Snatch opening in the transitions of shots.  

Task 2-opening sequence reviews

Opening  sequence reviews.

Hello Lonesome- The opening sequence of this film involves stills of a replica, miniature world. This tells the audience that the film maybe based on reality but in all fairness not everything they are about to see is going to represent daily life correctly. This opening sequences fits in with the genre being a drama as it entails the life of being lonely. Also the opening is slightly comical due to seeing everything on a scaled down version, it helps put the audience into the perspective of being a observer, the opening sequence tells them that they are going to be watching the lives of others and creates more of a realistic feel to the movie. As well as this the simple music and simple text help to ease the audience into watching the film, they do not have to do anything but watch in order to understand the film, the music is almost puts the audience into a trans like state ready to view the movie.
Opening sequence:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPFHnA0N9xY&safe=active

Hansel and Gretel- The opening sequence of this film almost tells the under lying plot of the film, which immediately engages the audiences attention on to the film, as well as this the use of the music helps to create tension and create a almost eerie atmosphere helping to get the audience to feel ready for the film, it builds up there emotions and the use of the animated plot makes the audience want to know more. The use of flames in the foreground helps to emphasise that the film may not the most joyful, however tells the audience that this film is more of a horror/action film to than a rom com. The text and the overall theme of the opening sequence seems to be fairly medieval which also tells us that this film is a fantasy, the opening sequence of this film sets the audience up for what is to happen in the film and is almost a movie within a movie.
Opening sequence:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq4-mlh7TMs&safe=active

Se7en-The beginning of this film makes the audience very un easy as we are shown a man in his bed, and not totally sure of what is to happen next. Then we are to the sound of a metronome which builds tension, the ticking is almost as if it is a count down and we are waiting for something to happen. With the constant building of tension we now know that this film is a horror. Throughout the whole of the opening sequence tension is being built, the use of the flashing images and the use of lighting again help to give us a slight view into what might happen in the film.
Opening sequence:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yALjuJcfg90&safe=active

Drive- The opening sequence of this film introduces us to a man, who we do not yet know anything about, however we are made to assume that we are going to learn his story during the course of this film as his face is one of the first things we see. The bright pink text against the dark background of the city suggests that the man is looking for a light at the end of the tunnel or an escape in his reality, which suggests that the film is a crime/drama. The use of the slow paced music helps us to slow down and start to engage in the movie and watch his journey through the opening titles, which then follow on through to the film, the titles do not give off to much about the film, however this keeps the audience waiting for what happens after the titles.

Opening sequence:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm0cZB4XQjI&safe=active

Task 1-title sequences.

Opening sequences
The movie cant exist without the opening sequence, and the opening sequence cant exist without the movie.The purpose of title sequences is for it to draw you in from your own world and pull you into a world where all you have to do is watch. The use of a title sequences creates almost a movie within a movie and immediately engages the audience, it makes them stop what they are doing and simply watch. The title sequence is there to invite the audience into the film and to entertain them as the film is about to begin, it tells a story of what is to happen in the film.

In Zombieland the text used is different to other films as it is simple not to over power the image as the images them self were all ready good, the simple text helped to characterise each of the scenes, it brought a comedic effect to the opening sequence of the film as the simple text entertained the audience in the opening sequences, as they saw the text moving across the screen.

In the opening sequence of blue valentine, they have tried to show that there is love even though they may think it has gone it is still actually there. They have taken the lens off the camera in order to create a blurred perception, this could help engage the audience into thinking what is actually love? during these opening titles and whether they will find the true perception of love in the movie or even in the opening title. The use of fireworks could be being used to show the rush off emotions that are being felt, but quickly fade once the film begins. The use of stills helped the audience to create a bond with the characters before the film had even begun, making the whole film a much more emotionally engaging film.

Inspiration

How to lose friends & alienate people

Producer: Elizabeth Karlsen, Stephen Wooley.

Director: Robert B Weide.

Cast: Megan fox, Simon Pegg, Miriam Margolyes, Kirsten Dunst, Gillian Anderson, Max Minghella, Bill Patterson, Jeff Bridges, Thandie Newton.

Writer: Toby Young.

How to lose friends and alienate people was originally a book, which was written by Toby Young, this was the initial inspiration for the film, which was directed by Robert B Weide, who has also directed other films that follow previous real life events such as Lenny Bruce: Swear to Tell the Truth, however this was directorial debut. Elizabeth Karlsen producer of this film also produced films such as Made in Dagenham, which was a bafta winning film. The casts used in this film are all of high profile, Simon Pegg and Megan Fox especially, the wide spectrum of actors makes them appeal to audiences off all ages. The book, which is the original inspiration for this screen adapted film, which is about the author’s 5-year struggle in New York as a journalist after leaving London. The novel is a funny read and so this is demonstrated with the film being very comical with events of the author being kicked out of bars and parties. The real life events of the author from the novel make this a very comical watch.  

Brave-analysis of poster

Media class work

Transitions

A few examples of transitions are:
Fade
Wipe
Dissolve
Cut

A wipe is a type of transition where one shot replaces another by going from one side of the fram to another.

A fade is when the the frame gradually dissappears.

Here is an example of a dissolve transition.

Cover work- storyboard

My storyboard was about a rabbit crossing the road in order to get a carrot however this carrot ends up get crushed by a car speeding down the road.

My first shot was of a rabbit at the side of the road, my next shot was then of a old man crossing the road with a handfull of carrots. He then drops one and so the next shot is of a rabbit eating the carrot. The next shot shows a car coming towards the rabbit. The rabbit then runs away in the next shit. The car driving away is then showed in the next shot, and the squashed carrot in the last shot.                                 

representation

A young male actor plays the lead role of Red Riding; by choosing to have the main character portrayed as a young man this generates a large female audience. Eddie, a young reporter always turns to his supervisor for advice. His supervisor is played by an older, fatter man. This could be used to show that with age there is wisdom and experience where as Eddie has none of this and is always finding himself getting into trouble due to lacking the experience that his supervisor has. However as he is young and is able to take risks, be brave and also promiscuous, something of which todays younger generation maybe described as. By having these age stereotypes of old peoples wisdom and the younger carefree characters the audience is able to relate to characters.

Eddie interviews and forms an intimate bond with a older female character, this could be used to represent the changing views on age gaps between couples, as these types of relationship are becoming more common in todays society. The couple could also show that the woman is dependent on her partner as the women does not work and requires his support. This again fits into the stereo type of men being the ones to put the food on the table. All of the victims are young girls and the mothers of these girls all seem to be single mothers. This could be representing how hard life is as a single mother and that everything is that little bit harder, especially grieving, as the mothers have no one to rely on. This also shows the common representation of women being the weaker gender and is dependent on others. As well as this the fact that young children have been killed shows how precious they really are and how they are dependent on adults. The serial killer being an adult could represent the unstable household of today and how over time children’s up bringing’s have deteriorated, they no longer are able to play out on the street or simply go to the park as such because of all of the adults that do not understand how precious it is to have a child in your life.

Things we will need.

What we need:

·         School uniform

·         Photos of family

·         Dart

·         Knife

·         Big Coat

·         Digital Clock

Synopsis

Deborah Strongman is a detective searching for the killer of her daughter against the wishes of the police force that she works for. When she gets a call to come to a scene of a crime, she has no idea that she will find her dead daughter only minutes from her home. Despite the promise from her co-workers that they will find the killer, Deborah decides to take matters into her own hands, desparate to know what led to the death of her teenage daughter. We witness a series of events in which Deborah risks both her career and her safety in this longing search to bring justice for both her daughter, and herself. Upon months of searching, we conclude and Deborah finds herself in a familiar house. All too familiar. Finding herself face-to-face with her ex-lover, she realises that his next target was to be her 11 year old son. Avenging her daughters death, she shoots him. She has found justice.

Thriller.

We have decided to chose thriller as our chosen genre, we decided this as we thought it was an intresting genre and appeals to many.

We looked at the film house at the end of the street, we liked the way the trailer quickly changed between shots which created tense atmosphere and made the veiwer feel involved in the trailer. Heres the trailer:

From research we found that people aged between 18-25 are most likely to enjoy watching thrillers. Aswell as this we found that it was also mainly men who watched thrillers, however we were unsure wheter or not to also target our film at females aswell.  In the end we decided to include 18-25 year old females in our audience aswell as we felt that thriller was widely watched by many females also, other members of my group our female and also enjoy thriller films. In order encourage a larger amount of female veiwers we decided to have our main character to be played by a female so they are able to relate to her.

Task genre

For or our task we looked at a few different film genres in order to get inspiration for our main task, and are still undecided on what our chosen genre is.

First we looked at the kidulthood trailer, we liked the idea of this opening as gave an insight to the different characters within the film.

We also looked at Juno for inspiration. We liked the idea of this trailer as it was very querky and created a very good feel for the rest of the movie, something we want to interpret into our own film.

We also looked at the opening of Lord of War, this trailer followed the process of bullets being made, we liked this idea and thought that something similar to this maybe the best option to do as it is fairly simple yet still a fairly effective way of opening a film.



Friday Night Lights

Over the christmas period i watched the first series of a tv series called friday night lights, which was about a coach and his football team trying to get to the state finals. As you get into the series you find yourself feeling part of the team and look forward to the end of the show where there match normally takes place. Friday night lights is very good as using non digetic sound to make you feel more emotional to whats happening on screen. Many issues are brought up thourgout friday night lights such as racial problems, for example the white players in friday night lights where given more of an opportunity to be the star players. Aswell as this issues with age is also made apperent, aswell as gender roles. The show is shot very professionally and so there is no shacky camera and so reduces the realism of the show, however there is a still a very realisitic feel to the show as the problems that the team face appear to be that of what a real football team may face, such as problems with steroids.