Note to Moderator

Dear Moderator,

Our brief was to create a film opening that was approximately two minutes long. We were given control over the genre we decided to do.

 Rhianon and I worked together on this project. Instead of splitting the work and responsibilities, we both worked together on every aspect of the piece. This ensured we created the best possible product that we could both be proud of, knowing we had had input and control over everything.

Please use the labels to navigate through my blog.
Simeron Rana-Candidate Number: 9230

Edgbarrow Sixth Form-51111

FINAL PRODUCT

We were asked to create a film opening approximately 2 minutes long. We could have chosen any genre and we decided to do crime drama. After lots of development regarding plot lines, editing, lighting, sound and lots of other elements, this is what we created.

QUESTION1-In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?-FINAL

QUESTION2-How does your media product represent particular social groups?-FINAL

We carefully thought about many elements in our piece to ensure they represented the social groups we wanted. This made sure our characters were relatable and therefore our audience can get more involved and feel more empathy for the characters. Because we only had two characters we had to focus closely on every aspect to them and their mannerisms, facial expressions and costumes. We were keen to present Freddie as quite a shady and hidden character-we had him dressed in all black to reflect a dark side. We wanted to make sure Jade was quite girly therefore we made the actor wear her hair down and wear quite girly pyjamas. This made her come across as a 'typical' girly girl, it showed her innocence. By conveying her as a normal typical girl we were able to make the plot twist at the end seem even more surreal. We were able to make the audience feel sympathetic towards her because up until now she had been shown as a 'normal' girl, however how she appears at the end we are able to determine she doesn't lead a normal life. We also focused on the surroundings because this gave away a lot about our piece. For example we included an establishing shot initially of a peaceful village and included sounds of birds chirping to present a picture of innocence.

 

This is our establishing shot which we placed at the beginning of our sequence. We wanted the shot show an peaceful and "normal" village. We made sure no people were in the shot because we wanted to present this idea of tranquillity. These houses additionally look quite modern which is good because right from the beginning the audience are shown the time period. Freddie is shown walking in quite a run down area that looks quite dodgy. This is representative of the stereotypical image of a teenage boy who typically gets into trouble and involved in dodgy business. However, this contrasts with the type of house and village he lives in being quite middle/upper class.

 This is some shots of our character Freddie Sharp. He needed to reflect a young man who had this dark side. We had him dress in black to reflect this. At this age teenage boys are stereotypically seen as quite threatening and invasive, so the black adds to this idea of him being intrusive. The converse and hoodie-cardigan show that he is a younger character. The fact that he is wearing converse shows that he is  We looked at a few RMAs to see what characters typical of this type of role would wear. We thought "Teen Wolf" was a good one as they are teenage boys with a secret dark side.in most TV shows and movies the evil baddie wears black so this was an easy way to get the fundamental idea behind his character across. The colour of black is also often associated with death which is obviously a prominent theme in our crime drama. We kept the shots of Freddie very fragmented, showing close ups of particular areas that are ket in the scene. This adds an element of mystery, again making him seem threatening as his identity is hidden from us. 

 

This is our character Jade Jarvis. We contrasted Freddie's costume and personality with Jade who wears white to reflect purity and innocence. This difference exaggerates each of their roles. In addition to reflecting this, white often shows emptiness which is also a main theme that comes to light right at the end. Her mannerisms, such as the slow breathing and scared facial expressions, show her as weak. This is a stereotypical characteristic of girls, especially in contrast to the powerful image that men typically portray. We had her brushing her hair initially in the sequence to present her as very image conscious. This takes the depth away from her character and draws her down to simply the way she looks. This is very stereotypical of girls who take a lot of pride in their appearance. We also did this to show how little control she has over her situation and therefore she takes extra care into the elements she can control (her appearance.) 

At the end Jade is on the floor crying leaving the audience guessing what has happened. Unlike with Freddie, we ensured that Jade's face was seen throughout which gave her an identity. It makes her character seem very clear and therefore we empathise with her more. Additionally she is more relatable because we can see her fully. 

 

We used an iPhone as an important element to our mise-en-scene. It is hugely representative of this modern day time where everyone seems to have one. It shows again that they are middle to upper class as they can afford really modern and expensive technology. It also establishes the kind of time period our film is set which is modern day. 

QUESTION3-What kind of media institution might distribute media product and why?-FINAL

http://rhianonfayemorris.wix.com/tied-website
We created a website which would give audiences more information about our film.We also used this to answer our question 3.

QUESTION4-Who would be the audience for your media product?FINAL

We did some character profiles of people that would for perfectly into our target audience. We did a questionnaire very early on in our planning process and from this we decided to make our target audience males from 15 to 19. We did this because of the themes we included

QUESTION5-How did you attract/address your audience?FINAL

QUESTION6-What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?FINAL

http://www.powtoon.com/p/fz64P1bv05k/

QUESTION7-Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?FINAL

Mrs D

Good draft - question 5 is missing?

1 - pics are great. Comments need work - no sense of c and cs. Ie technical areas linked to purpose (intro character/ location and genre) limited analysis - descriptive and vague.
2 - analysis is generally good - some of this could be moved to question 1. Minimal sense of rep social groups of people. Think gender/age/class. You explore rep of atmosphere etc. not the question.
3 - great ideas. Get rid of the other tabs you are not using. Comp to film on their label. What about other avenues of distribution that will build revenue? Think AS exam. Use the data you already have on your thor blogs.
4 - great. Embed the prezi.
5 - missing.
6 - clip won't open. Link to presentation needs login. Let me know when you have sorted this after Easter if you want feedback.
7 - fine. What about what you learnt about sound and editing? Could be more detailed.

Potential Song

We researched into alternative songs to use over the back of our opening sequence. This is one we were very keen on and felt worked well with our theme. We got good audience feedback from it and found it made the sequence more intense. However we ran into one big problem-it made it look like a short film. Because of the rhythm and pace of the song and the fact that it came to an end made it seem more like a short movie than an opening that would continue. For this reason we were very put off as it seemed to change the whole idea and concept of our piece. Similarly the song is already well known and associated with Dexter so that may mean people would get confused or think that our piece had something to do with it (especially since it's in the same genre!)

Evaluation Planning

Freddie's Monologue

This is the monologue we recorded for Freddie to say over the top of our opening sequence. We felt it shared details about his character and made the clips easier to follow. But when we got audience feedback we found that it actually confused people and have too much away too soon. Similarly because the song we used had lyrics it made it very confusing and difficult to focus on one thing. We didn't want to change our song because from our audience feedback we learnt that people really liked the song and much preferred the idea or keeping that than keeping the voice over.

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

We created a video where we did a voiceover over the top of our preliminary task, animatronic storyboard and final product. This ensured we could directly compare them.

What kind of media institution might distribution your media product and why?DRAFT

http://rhianonfayemorris.wix.com/tied-website
We created a website where our audiences would be able to learn more about our film. We have also answered this question on there.

Who would be the audience for your media product?DRAFT

 We did some character profiles of people that would for perfectly into our target audience. We did a questionnaire very early on in our planning process and from this we decided to make our target audience males from 15 to 19. We did this because of the themes we included.
http://prezi.com/qexb9g-dxkx0/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Website DRAFT

Apart from the media product itself we had to find ways to reach our target audience. Since a person spends on average 18 minutes on Facebook per day we felt creating a page here would be an easy way to reach out to our audience. We also created a website to attract audiences where we would post backstage footage and teasers to get our audience excited about the up and coming movie, as well as giving them extra information about the upcoming film.We would also post interviews with cast members to attract inherited audiences.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?DRAFT

How does your media product represent particular socai groups?DRAFT

We carefully thought about many elements in our piece to ensure the represented the social groups we wanted. This made sure our characters were relatable and therefore our audience can get more involved and feel more empathy for the characters. Because we only had two characters we had to focus closely on every aspect to them and their mannerisms, facial expressions and costumes. We were keen to present Freddie as quite a shady and hidden character-we had him dressed in all black to reflect a dark side. We wanted to make sure Jade was quite girly therefore we the actor wear her hair down and wear quite girly pyjamas. We also focused on the surroundings because this gave away a lot about our piece. For example we included an establishing shot initially of a peaceful village and included sounds of birds chirping to present a picture of innocence.

This is our establishing shot which we placed at the beginning of our sequence. We wanted the shot show an peaceful and "normal" village. We made sure no people were in the shot because we wanted to present this idea of tranquillity. These houses additionally look quite modern which is good because right from the beginning the audience are shown the time period. We used this to contrast the social group we were trying to present. Our characters are young and he is involved in a lot of drama. We wanted this to seem unexpected because of the village seeming so calm and uneventful.

This is some shots of our character Freddie Sharp. He needed to reflect a young man who had this dark side. We had him dress in black to reflect this. We kept his costume understated and simple. This was an attempt to reflect that in his mind what he is doing is so simple and not necessarily wrong. The converse and hoodie-cardigan show that he is a younger character. These are quite popularly worn amongst this age group, but typically in a colour other than black. This is significant because it shows that he is defying group norms. Black similarly reflects a hidden side. We looked at a few RMAs to see what characters typical of this type of role would wear. We thought "Teen Wolf" was a good one as they are teenage boys with a secret dark side. in most TV shows and movies the evil baddie wears black so this was an easy way to get the fundamental idea behind his character across. The colour of black is also often associated with death which is obviously a prominent theme in our crime drama. It is typically socially understood that people who wear black may be

aggressive and people that we may want to avoid.









This is our character Jade Jarvis. We contrasted Freddie's costume and personality with jade who wears white to reflect purity and innocence. This difference exaggerates each of their roles. In addition to reflecting this, white often shows emptiness which is also a main theme that comes to light right at the end. We had her in white but also made sure her mannerisms were very particular and precise to show that she is very clean. We liked the spot of red on the top because typically red represents danger which is another important idea. We had her hair down to show a girly side, particularly when she brushes her hair to shows her taking a keen interest in her appearance. This is very stereotypical of girls this age (taking pride in her appearance.)

At the end Jade is on the floor crying leaving the audience guessing what has happened. The black mascara shows the pristine clean and white image destroyed, almost reflecting the end of her innocence. The black is the most dominant colour in this shot and again represents danger. We also did this because he is wearing black so it hints that it was him that hurt her and he has left his mark on her. We kept her still to show that he has taken control of her and she has lost her ability to take control of herself.



We used an iPhone as an important element to our mise-en-scene. It is hugely representative of this modern day time where everyone seems to have one. Again the white matches well with Jades innocent personality.

What have you learnt about technologies from the construction of your product? DRAFT

This is a presentation on " What have you learnt about technologies from the constructing of your product?" I will also put the link below to the website because the exported version which is on YouTube is much lower in terms of quality.
http://www.powtoon.com/p/fz64P1bv05k/ - Link to our presentation.

TIED FINAL PRODUCT

Freddie's Monologue...

We decided not to use Freddie's monologue throughout our opening as we felt it didn't really fit in with what was happening and would ultimately confuse our audience.

TIED- Final Film Opening

This is our final two minute film opening.

Deadline Approaching

With our deadline approaching, we have made a plan of what we are yet to complete and when we will complete them. This ensures we are organised and have everything covered.
-Wednesday: Plan Freddie's monologue
                      Record dialogue with Tom
                      Get signed permission from actors
-Thursday: Plan each scene/shot/timings etc
                  Look back at RMAs for inspiration (Hidden)
                  Get audience feedback on our new storyline and opening sequence
-Friday: Continue planning shots
             Start sorting our sequence (credits, industry shot etc)
Monday: Film
Tuesday: Edit
               Get feedback from teachers and other class members
Wednesday: Make any improvements
                    Submit

Freddie's Monologue- DRAFT

7.02am

My name is Freddie Sharp and I have a lot of secrets, I guess that's what makes me (pause) me. 

This is my girlfriend Jade. I ask myself every day why she chose me. Everything I do is for her, to protect her. It's not wrong, its love. 

This is where I live. Its a small village, nothing used to happen here, people used to feel safe and secure-but everything has changed. 

Those who are afraid don't need to be. But those who don't fear the worst are the ones are the ones that have the most to lose. That's my theory you see. 

My most important moral? Being faithful. Something I learnt from a very young age. 

My dad made me the man I am today. Watching him abandon my mum, leaving her crippled with heartbreak, I swore I would never let that happen again, to anyone that I love. 

He's the real monster, not me. 

Night shift, that's where she thinks I've been. Working hard to provide for my family. 

I do what I have to to protect her, and no one will get in my way. 

8.02am

Until tonight, I'm Freddie again, the one she loves, the one she thinks she knows.

Facebook Feedback

This is the feedback we got from people when we posted our rough cut onto Facebook. The feedback was very helpful and we are taking it all into consideration as we are planning our final cut.

June to Jade

We've had to make some changes to our piece and specifically our characters. In our initial draft, some of the feedback we received regarded the confusion around June, the fact that she was played by a much younger person. So we've discussed possible alternatives and come to one we are both quite happy with. Instead we will use Felicity (our female actor) as Freddie's girlfriend, Jade. This ensures there is no confusion. We will have to alter our storyline and instead we will have Freddie coming back from committing a murder, attempting to fool his unsuspecting girlfriend that he has been on a night shift at work. We have decided to do a voiceover over the whole thing, this will make it more intense.

Mrs D

Well done for hitting your deadline. This is a good first draft. I agree with all your points that you need to consider. In particular lighting and some framing of some shots needs thinking about. I like your titles. However, they are a bit repetitive. Go back to RMAs to help you improve this. Is genre obvious? Look back to your RMAs to help with this.

TIED- Film Logo

This is the logo we will use when advertising the film in posters, adverts etc. We chose to keep it fairly minimalistic with just black and white. The trees symbolize where most of the murders Freddie commits take place.

TIED- Rough Cut Updated version

When we came to the lesson today, we found that a few of our clips had been lost. Michelle then sorted that out for us and located them and we managed to put them into our sequence. This is the updated version of our rough cut.

TIED- Rough Cut

This is a rough version of our opening sequence for our movie 'Tied.' We ran into a few problems and have made a list of area's we need to work on just from watching the clips back through.
-Our movie is quite a lot shorter than we had hoped because we weren't able to use some of our clips. This was down to it being confusing for the audience and our main priority was to ensure our audience wasn't unsure by keeping it simple.
-We found the lighting and framing on some of our shots didn't look particularly professional and we are keen to go back and improve on these.
-The beginning is a bit jolty between our company title and the beginning of the film. We couldn't seem to make this smoother whatever we tried so when we will improve we will extend the clips and audio so it will be more smooth.
-Some of our shots are quite short and we think extending them may set the scene and ass some tension.
-The ratio of June screen time and Freddie screen time isn't evenly spread and we wanted it to be, so we will need to go back and add some scenes in which even the time out. This will mean we get a better idea of what Freddie is doing and it will give a bit more away about the characters because at the moment we feel its difficult to know much about them.
 We will post it on facebook and other social media accounts so we can get more feedback. This is also particularly useful because offering it to people are age means we are getting feedback from our target audience.
In addition to this we will show our actors the sequence and get their feedback because having been heavily involved in the process they will be good to get feedback from as they may be able to envision things we can do to benefit the scene.
From all the feedback we receive we will re shoot and make all the necessary adjustments.

Behind the scenes of filming

Shoot 1:

 

Shoot 2: 

These are some pictures from the second video shoot we did.

Communication regarding filming

Planning for our video shoot

Mrs D

Well done Simeron. You have got some good idea and your RMAs deal with codes and conventions of an opening of a film well. To improve you need to add more technical details to your RMAs especially sound. Your animatronic storyboard looks good - you need to work on the pace/ editing and the variety of camera shots. Are you using split screen as lots of your shots use this?

Final Anamatronic StoryBoard

This is our final anamatronic storyboard. We shall post it on facebook to get some audience feedback of our shots and backing track.

Final StoryBoard

This is our final storyboard for our film 'Tied'. We've included rough timings for each of our shots. We have ensured that we have left enough time for transitions that we will later add and any changes we may want to make.