Welcome Moderator

Welcome Moderator

I worked with Charlie Slorick 1770 and Thomas Hutchinson 1733, I directed the film and made sure that it all ran smoothly whilst consulting my ideas with Charlie and Tom to make sure that they were okay with any directorial changes I may want to do.

CONSTRUCTION : final peice

My final piece is shown as above, it was made in partnership with IGNITE films and PSYX productions. We chose to go for a more older style of film, with a genre that is rarely seen as of recent. 

We chose the black and white colour pallet as it looked smoother and fit the theme of the film we were going for, it also helped with making our production look more professional, smooth and    tight-knit. The black and white was also chosen as it looked quite stylish as well, the lack of colour makes the audience more engaged and involved in the film. 

There was one time in the film where we decided to use a bit of colour, and that was the flame that our antagonist used to light his cigarette, we did this edit because we realised that it would fit the theme that we were going for and it would look very stylish and professional, using a small amount of colour in our film was an idea we came up with to make our film unique amongst the other productions.

The camera angles we used were primarily used to indicate who was in power in any situation, the key time this was used in our film was on the boat, when the camera panned upwards when the antagonist rose from his seat, giving the impression that is was towering over the detective, both physically and mentally.

There was a smooth match cut which we used to show that the detective has travelled a certain distance, this was very effective and our editing was really good as to keep the cut smooth and controlled.

Each member of our team was responsible for a separate part of the film: 

- Editing : This job was taken on by Thomas Hutchinson, he made sure that all the cuts smoothly fit together and he came up with the idea to make the flame coloured, as to make it stand out from the rest of the film. he also edited the soundtrack together in an effort to add some suspense to the film. he also managed request as he had the most experience and talent when it came to editing and managing editing software.

- camerawork/cinematography :  Charlie Slorick took the lead for this role due to the fact he has camerawork experience and was knowledgeable on how to use the environment to our advantage. this worked out really well and we ended up with some extremely professional looking shots.   

- Directing : i wanted to do something inspired by the godfather (1972) the rest of my team agreed that it would be a good idea as there aren't many films like that being made anymore and it had become less mainstream, so it would be unique. i did let the cast and crew have quite a lot of freedom in how they conduct their lines and how they wish to portray their character, i just made sure that filming was running smoothly and made sure that everything as going according to plan.

CONSTRUCTION : my ident

I had to make an ident as to show that anything I worked on was highlighted. i used a mix of Photoshop and Adobe aftereffect to help make a completely unique ident to brand my work with.
it is shown below:

I chose to use the name 'keyhole productions' to reflect the kind of films i would be making , which were primarily crime and mystery thrillers.

PLANNING : hot seating

In preparation for the filming of our media production we made a short hot seating video in order to convey how

we wanted our characters to present themselves in the actual production. 
We used Adobe Premier Pro CS6 in order to put together the video, and made sure the font was consistent 

throughout the video.  we also made sure that the footage flowed consistently with fast hard cuts between

characters

We finished the editing process, added names to the scenes of the hot seating and uploaded it to YouTube with 

tags in order to make our video easily accessible. also if we posted it onto youtube it would be more likely to be

seen as there are a large number of people that use the platform It can be seen below:

CONSTRUCTION : Representation of problems in society

How does my film opening represent ethical problems and issues?

My film explores two main social issues that face society today, the first one is the large amount of violence that is happening, with specific examples being knife crime and gang related violence/crimes. we made sure that we tried to portray the problems as something that isn't good, as so we can be sure that no-one will watch our film and think that it is a good thing to commit violent crimes and hurt people.

The second problem/issue that we decided to help people realise was a problem was mobs or gangs. we tried to portray these groups of people as dangerous and something that isn't to be desired or idolised. we did this by making the people watching the film get to know the detective, even if slightly, then ending the film with the boss pulling a gun on the detective, this means that people will link the mobs/gangs to violent acts such as that and as the boss is portrayed as a villain the all these problems will than be linked to the horrible acts of the boss.

our film also lightly touches other subject such as drugs, however it is not a prevailing theme, this was done in the shots when the antagonist smokes a cigarette filled with and unknown substance. however we don't have this as a primary theme in the film and it is never referenced again.

PLANNING : risk assessment

Dark alleyway :
- tripping and injury from lack of balance in the ground

- infection from cutting on glass, needles, knives, etc

Ways to avoid issues: We must be careful when filming in the alleyway, especially if one is holding the camera. This scene requires us as a production team to work together sensibly and carefully. If someone does become injured, there is an adult on set in order to help care towards them.

Boats :
- Water, drowning

- Infection form dirty water

- Falling overboard due to lack of balance of the ground.

Riverbank :

- Falling over the ledge

- Drowning

Again we must be careful when filming on the boat and by the riverside, as we want to make sure we don't lose the camera to the water as well as all our footage.

CONSTRUCTION : filming

On the day of shooting our film, we used our call sheets to make sure we had all the props and people we needed to have a successful day of filming with minimal mistakes and setbacks. We decided to film our short film opening in chronological order to ensure that everyone was involved in the narrative, this also meant that we knew where we were going with our film and we knew if we needed to make any changes. This meant that the scene in the alleyway where the murder takes place is the first scene that we shot so we headed there first. Charlie was the cameraman, getting many shot variations with different camera angles which helps us with selecting shots for our story and our narrative.

One of the best shots we were able to achieve that day was the panning shot we got to link a transition to the next scene. Charlie and I did very well in achieving a smooth shot and left enough time to be able to transition to the next scene on the marina. We had to film a lot more scenes at the marina and used the tripod to stay as stable on the boat as possible. We managed to obtain many close up shots on Alex B on his cuff links and his cigar that we made using paper with some colouring for authenticity. We also achieved a focus pull shot from Alex to the bridge in the distance which  tom thought looked very professional so we kept it in the final product. We made the decision to film most of Big Boss's shots at a lower angle in order to connote the idea that he held more power than the detective in this confrontation and had a more overpowering aura about him, which we managed to show quite well in our film.

We had to use the green screen in our film to show our expertise and skills in film and editing, of which we did a good job. We thought the final product looked very professional and was an overall success and Nathan (Detective Swanson) looked as if he was actually outside the alleyway in the green screen shot.

CONSTRUCTION : BBFC certificate

To make our film look more professional and authentic we decided that it would be best to make a BBFC age certificate for our film, this means that our film will look authentic and it will look more professional. i order to make this certificate we had to look up pre-existing certificates and find one that fit our film.
We found a template below that states that the film would be classed as a fifteen due to the 'mild drug references' of which we had with one of our characters smoking an unspecified substance, and 'strong violence' which we used to as reference to the gun that would be pulled on our protagonist later on in the film.

PLANNING : storyboard

CONSTRUCTION : social media

In order to gain an understanding of how films and TV shows are advertised we decided to make some social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter in order to investigate the response. We chose these platforms as they are the most commonly used social media platforms and therefore most likely to be seen by the general public. I took personal charge of the Instagram and Twitter account, meaning that I had to be aware of how to maximise reach to an audience on both of these types of social media platform.

Instagram

This type of social media I have experience with as it is my most commonly used form of social media, which means that I know how to get a following and how to get attention on the app. I decided that in order to keep consistent with the theme of the film all posts would be exclusively in black and white to keep a constant colour pallet and to look more appealing for anyone who looks at our account. In keeping to monochrome posting I hoped to start to make some brand unity with the social media advertising and the film itself and build excitement for the same.

Twitter

This social media is used as a central hub to update people when we post something onto our Instagram account when we update something on our website, and also to notify our audience when we do some filming. The hashtag Duty Calls was launched on Twitter and continues across Facebook and Instagram building further on our marketing across platforms.

Facebook

On this we will be uploading posters and reviews for the public to see and upload their own reviews and comments. Facebook is the most commonly used social media platform in the world and therefore can be used to reach the largest audience and get a good start for a social following.

Youtube
This will be used to post our finished, edited work such as our hot seating short and our final piece, meaning that we can send it to all the users of the separate social platforms allowing the viewers to access the videos and watch them for their own entertainment. It will also be where the final piece will be uploaded for the public to see.

PLANNING : initial mindmap

A key inspiration we found was the notorious gang led by Al Capone during the 1930s and his signature dress to impress way of going about things. We saw him as a good example to base the villain of our story on as he once ruled San Francisco which was the style of approach we wanted to take with our antagonist. As we built on the idea of gangs and Al Capone, we began to draw out the world in which we wanted the plot to inhabit. We then thought of well-known cities that have been filled with gangs, such as New York and Chicago. Although, we still believed that it would be a good idea to directly set the plot in this already existing cities. This would allow us to use existing history around them and create our own history to help with the world-building in our story. After that, we began to look at possible characters and started merging the ideas for Film Noir and Al Capone's empire.

We decided to use many stereotypes to convey the Film Noir aesthetic. This is going to mainly be achieved by making the video monochrome (black and white) as this was conventional at the time as the colour video hadn't been invented. The mind map showing our thought process for this is below.

PLANNING : treatment

I learned from Frank Ash, the creative consultant at the BBC academy about what Digital Storytelling: how to connect with an audience through a relevant story to create suspense and anticipation. Frank devised this into a series of questions, in which you have to answer in your piece. These questions were: The Top line, and the Big question. 
Frank later went on to explain that when making a production you must work out what you as an audience member would want from a story. He also talks about how you must put your self into the shoes of an audience member in order to discuss what universal themes or ideas you want to convey, that connect all humans together. 
If this can be achieved, it would mean that the audience would be able to relate to your main message and can really understand the production later on. They might even be able to put themselves into your story. This all comes under the umbrella idea of social trends.
He finishes off by saying, if you can answer all these questions, you will be more confident when coming to making decisions about your own productions. 

When thinking of ideas for our production, we found that murder mystery had been in the news recently as the film 'Knives out' had started its advertising campaign and started gaining momentum. This gave us the inspiration to use the enigma genre, and we brainstormed our USP, and decided to reignite the love for Film Noir and use that approach. 

We then came up with our Top Line and Big Question:

Top Line: On a cold night, a man is walking home from work when he is brutally murdered in an alley way. Detective Swanson, a close friend of the victim, is put on the case and he suspects the mafia, and it is up to him to find the truth, whatever it takes.

Big Question: Will the detective solve the murder

PLANNING : casting

My production team's casting for each necessary role in our film.

PLANNING : prop list

After extensive planning, as a group, we began to draw together what props we would need in order to bring our idea to life.


Fedora
This hat is prevalent during the era in which our story takes place. A time in which class is shown in the way in which you dressed. We felt that a fedora would be the ideal headwear for the setting the plot takes place in; 1930s London.






Bow Ties
During the 1930s bow ties were common attire for the upper-class members of society and a way of showing sophistication. They were a must for the fashion conscious man about town. 






False cigar
During the era in which our story takes place, tobacco was a large part of society. There was a divide between the rich, who smoked a cigar, and the lower classes, who smokes cigarettes. Cigars were seen as a sign of wealth and status. 











Typewriter
The staple of a stereotypical secretary and appropriate of the time.














False gun
In the fraught times of the big city, people only felt safe with a
pistol in their pocket.

PLANNING : call sheet

HOLIDAY WORK : Film Industry essay

I have studied the film industry and will be talking about how distributors engage different audiences using a variety of platforms, including film websites, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, trailers, film posters. 

Distributors will often advertise on social media as it will help reach a wide audience and help to get a larger social following and gain the attention of the media, meaning that the film will get more sales as the public understand what the movie is about. It is common for films marketed towards children and young adults to be marketed in this way as the majority of the target audience have access to social media and online websites. This also means that they can engage with the audience and they can get feedback on what the public wants out of this film so they can maximise revenue from the film, and create more interest online prior to release.

A prime example of this is the Captain Marvel campaign. It was hugely successful and was able to gain a following of over one million, by showing clips of the film, interviews with actress' and actors and also a countdown to the film's release. They also had a clear target market with people who like superhero films. Unusually the studio also tried to make the campaign appeal mostly to the female market, with a film about a superhero who is a girl. Another promotional technique was fan engagement, this can be illustrated by the massive feedback and huge fan following that it got.

I watch the Marvel films upon release and follow their marketing campaigns, therefore my experiences with the marketing campaign are that it is quite relentless, often bombarding you with posts relating to the movie so you can almost never escape the film. It is often successful as I see the films upon release, but it can feel quite cramped as your social media is often flooded with content relating to the film and it can sometimes put you off as you become alienated by the constant advertising of the film.

Captain Marvel's campaign was heavily reliant of showing off their well-known cast and the film is the first of the Marvel films starring a female lead, meaning they can use it as a forefront of their campaign and get people to watch the film. The cast includes Samuel L Jackson, Brie Larson and Jude Law, who all are accomplished actors and actress' who will get the public's attention due to their fame and successful acting careers to date.

It is also worth noting that Captain Marvel released two websites; one to showcase the film and to update of film developments and the second a retro-style website with the theme of the '90s. It features twist's on classic games such as pinball in addition to showing retro-style posters as well. This is a good way to engage audience and get them interested and involved with the upcoming film.

Roma was a film distributed by Netflix through their streaming service, However, it had a short theatrical run, which is odd for a film created by a streaming service. It was revealed that it was shot on a widescreen camera, meaning that the resolution was best seen on a cinema screen, meaning that they put the film on a short theatrical run. Roma used social media (mainly Facebook and Twitter) to advertise, but it also used their own website to advertise as well. 

Marketing is also achieved through reviews for the film, but can also be deceptive when the marketing department for a film twist word and reviews to their advantage. An example of this would be in the poster for Legend in where a two-star review was spun to make it seem like a four-star review and was labelled 'marketing gold'.

RESEARCH : My Audience Profile

My Audience Profile

I needed to plan how to reach my target audience, which means I needed to know who they are. Factors that may be relevant include age, gender, ethnicity, social class, what their media needs are. I need to research how to meet my target audience needs to ensure I can produce a product that they will want. I need to ensure I know how to reach them and this in turn will inform how I market my film. I will show how my research has influenced my planning. 

From this research I learned that my target audience will have to be older, and more mature, as to not cause the more 'active' viewers to incorporate the violent aspects of the story and minimize risk to immature viewers. However by limiting the age to 15 we will remove the immature viewers and will instead only get viewers who will enjoy the film, but not try to replicate anything they see in the film.

CASE STUDY : Rogue One, A Star Wars story

Rogue One Questions
Kathleen Kennedy, and Allison Shearmur

• Who directed the film?  Gareth Edwards

• What other films have they directed? 
Monsters, Godzilla

• What was the budget? $265 million (gross) $219.5 million (net)

• Who stars in it? Felicity Jones, Forest Whitaker

• What other films have they been in? The Theory of Everything, Black Panther, Inferno

• What technology has been used to make the film? (What cameras did they use? How was the film edited? What CGI was involved?) The film employed usage of CGI to help build the image of outer space and create the planets that the story would be set on, Alexa 65, which is Arri’s top of the line digital cinema camera. It shoots in 6K resolution.

• How was the film marketed? Which different marketing tools were used? It was primarily marketed through posters, trailers, and interviews with the cast. This meant that it would reach a wide range of audiences quickly and efficiently.

• What examples of synergy with other products/merchandise can you find? T-shirts, Figurines, books, graphic novels,lego products etc.

• What examples of cross media convergence can you find?Duracell, Nissan, Gillette, Verizon, General Mills, Uber

• What examples of technological convergence can you find? Snapchat filters which allowed pictures to be taken with members of the cast in the background

• Where and when was this film released (nationwide, worldwide) and in what cinemas? The film was released worldwide and in all cinema's as to maximise profits 

• Who produced the film?  Kathleen Kennedy, and Allison Shearmur

PLANNING : audience questionaires

I created an audience questionnaire on google forms so I could identify the target audience and work out what I need to include in my film as to appeal to the audience. The aim of my questionnaire is to gain information about my target audience so I can create a film that perfectly suits the needs of my audience so as to gain as many viewers as possible.

Due to the usage of Google forms I will be able to get as many respondents as possible and use the information to help with deciding the content of my film. Google forms helped with retrieving the information.

my film questionnaire

The questions I asked were:

1. What is your gender?
2. What is your age?
3. What is your favourite genre?
4. How do you prefer to watch films?
5. Which 3 streaming medium do you find yourself most commonly using?

Then 2 questions asking if the poster selected made the audience want to see the film, and the same, again, but instead of posters I put trailers.

POSTER 1 : infinity war ensemble poster
POSTER 2 : The joker
TRAILER 1 : The Godfather
TRAILER 2 : The Irishman

HEGEMONY

Hegemony

Hegemony is the idea that the media continuously represents certain groups as more dominant and more powerful than other groups. In western society the group that is most commonly shown to be the more dominant and powerful group are the middle-class white men. This is because middle-class white men dominate media production in the news, film, TV and writing industry.

Pluralism is when there are multiple viewpoints, ideas and ethnicities being shown through diverse and different types of media such as film, music and shows. Western media fail to hold an even distribution of various background in media, in the UK, for example the majority of jobs in the journalist proffesion is held by 94% of the journalists being white, and 55% of journalists being male. which is a clear under-representation of the masses. Therefore meaning that it requires people of separate viewpoints rather than continuous representation of the same ideals.

The uses and gratification model states that people will only consume media that reflects their own viewpoints, this means that it can be difficult to persuade someone who adopts a certain viewpoint (whether that be politically, more radical or docile). This can, if the active vs passive model is reflective of contemporary society, influence people's views and in extreme cases their actions. 

Western society is then shown more media consisting of middle-class white men, and less so of other ethnicities, gender and class. This then created the image that middle-class white men are deemed to be more successful and more powerful than other people. Which then forces western society to be ‘controlled’ by a certain group of people and not represented as in control by the whole population. This can then influence people who consume the media which can reflect in their actions and can affect society as a whole.

The writer believes that hegemony helps us to understand the ‘messy’ relationship between the society we live in now and the media we consume daily. This is because it helps us to think about and understand how we as audiences and consumers of media are influenced by the media we consume, for example seeing something online such as a challenge, then attempting to replicate it ourselves.

In the titles of the posters it says ‘if you’re surprised you don’t see enough black people in major roles’ I was surprised. Not at the concept of an black actor playing the roles, but instead that I didn’t recognise the characters being portrayed in massive mainstream film and tv posters. When I saw that the Harry Potter and Doctor Who characters, programmes I have watched before, I was surprised because I hadn’t seen these characters in the story up to that point, not that they were black.

However it is true that black people, Hispanic people and Asian people don’t get as much representation in media as white people. It wouldn’t solve the problem if established characters such as Harry Potter and The Doctor suddenly changed race after a prolonged series of time as they are established characters and people already have an image in their head, of the character’s age, race, ethnicity, gender, and body proportions.

However The Doctor is an exception to this as it is written into the lore of Doctor Who that The Doctor can change ethnicity, gender and body proportions with each reincarnation. It would be better if the scriptwriters changed their stories to better suite the representation they’re going for.

Whilst representation of different ethnicities, genders, ages and sexualities is good, it shouldn’t be forced, as then it wouldn’t feel natural, and would instead make the film, book, show, etc feel flawed and can be off-putting for a viewer to watch or read.