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

• In our preliminary task we used match on action when Mitch opens the door to the classroom, we used 3 different angles and used match on action to make the shots flow together and be continuous. We also used this technique in our opening 2 minutes when Me and Matt find the case and open it to see what is inside. From us using the match on action technique in the preliminary task it showed us how we can implement at various points and how effectively it can be used to develop continuity. In our opening 2 minutes we made the match on action a bit smoother than in the preliminary task to make the shots even smoother.

• In our preliminary task we used the 180 degree rule a lot because we included a lengthy conversation which I decided the shot reverse shot would work well but we also had to make sure the 180 degree rule was followed thoroughly. In our opening we used it mainly in the scene when Me and Matt find the case because we needed the camera to stay on one side or else it would not match and not be continuous. Also as there is no conversation between two people face to face in our opening we had to remind ourselves of the 180 rule to make sure we followed it in our opening.

•  In our preliminary task we used shot reverse shot for the majority of the clip because Matt and Mitch were having an interview so I thought the best camera angle was over the shoulder and we merged it to a shot reverse shot in Adobe premiere elements. After using the shot reverse shot technique in our preliminary task I realised this technique can be powerful if used properly so when i saw the perfect opportunity in our film opening i decided to take it. When Me and Matt are in the alleyway we have a standoff with Harry which uses shot reverse shot looking at Harry's expression and then Me and Matt's expression to add tension to the opening and i think it works well overall.

•  In our preliminary task i had my first proper use of Adobe After Effects to create a security camera effect which turned out really good and quite professional so i made a note of this as i knew i could use this in the opening two minutes to make it stand out and look really professional. For the opening i took the basic skills i had developed from the preliminary task and developed them even more by learning various new special effects techniques and created a few mock ups of the opening credits and ultimately created the actual mendacity opening with the blood splat which i am very proud of, which would not have been made without the basic skills i gained from creating the security camera effect in the preliminary task.



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

 

•  From producing our opening I have learnt that you must always keep the camera in the same position because we had to re-shoot a few scenes and i had to edit some clips so they flowed together due to camera position moving or lighting changing.
• I have also learnt to always use the tripod (unless you are trying to produce a specific technique) because it makes the clips look more professional and smoother.

• I have learnt that the school computers have some issues regarding uploading footage and sometimes slow the footage down when playing it back due to a lack of hardware. So i brought my own laptop in to school that had the software uploaded on it and learnt how to transfer footage from the camera onto the computer.

• I have learnt much more about Adobe After Effects that i used to create the opening title with the blood splatter. I already had some knowledge of this software but i learnt how to combine layers and make a virtual camera to track and pan across the screen.

• We used premiere elements to edit our openings. I already knew quite a lot about Premiere Elements due to using it for small home projects and the preliminary task but i did learn a few new things such as how to seperate sound from video and the various effects and transitions that are pre-loaded onto premiere elements that were really useful when producing our opening.

• We used photoshop to create tiles of different shots and combine them into one image. I have used photoshop for a very long time so i am very used to all the tools however i did learn when using photoshop that you can smooth pictures out when resizing them so i used those filters when resizing screengrabs to keep a good quality image.

• We used blogger to host our blogs. I learnt a lot about blogger as i have never had a blog so i learnt all about blogging such as posting, editing and drafting posts.

• We used Youtube to host our videos and post them online. I have another youtube account but i learnt about annotations because i have never had to use them before and they proved to be very useful and easy to use.

• We used Freeplay music to search for our royalty free music used in our opening. I learnt that there was a vast amount of copyright free music on the internet and all of them are very easy to download.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Please view the annotations on the youtube video of our opening.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

 

This is the typical audience member that would see our film. They are males because from previous research i completed the majority of the audience for other closely related films to our opening also have the majority of the audience as male. The male image also reflects the fact they like action and suspense but also like films that require some thinking with various plot twists. 

They are between the age of 25 and 34 as this is the prime age of audience members in other related films in previous research. It also shows them as mature enough to enjoy a good suspensfull film and take time from stress and other commitments in their lives to watch a film. 

Due to the genre of our opening it is likely the audience members could be watching the film alone to fully read into the story and enjoy the storyline much more than being interupted by friends or family. It is also unlikely for anyone under the age of 18 to see our opening due to the certificate of our film being 18 because of the violence and swearing involved in our film.

The typical audience member for our opening likes to keep well kept and enjoys keeping up a good appearance. They like to shop in designer shops when they can but don't spend fortunes in them, due to the fact the majority of the audience members are from the social class C1.

They like to listen to pop music but are quite diverse so they like some songs from various different genres. The main genres that they like to listen to are rock and dance, with artists such as Chase and Status and Arctic Monkeys.

They like to watch comedy shows such as Friends, The Big Bang Theory and Peep Show. They also might occasionally watch an animated show such as Family Guy or American Dad.

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

The script for my commentary:

•   The production company is called MKM studios which is a combination of all our names but also resembles MGM studios. The logo for MKM is the letters MKM in a fancy font that is dependent on what type of film the studio is producing, for example if it's a zombie film it will be red and have blood marks and bite marks in the lettering.

•   A production company is responsible for the physical production of a film. Due to this there is a lot of pressure on the production company.

•   A distributor is a company that is responsible for releasing the film to the public. We do not have our distributor title in our opening however it would be universal as they have a national reach to allow our film to be distributed worldwide.

•  The money for our film would come from the national lottery fund as our storyline is great and they see real potential so they give us funding for our film. This is also due to the UK Film Council being shut down so it is difficult for British films to now get funding.

•  In our titles the actors are credited as without them the characters would not be on screen. The actors titles are arranged by screen time.  The director is also credited afterwards but the director's credits are on their own towards the end of the opening to show the director's importance over everyone else.

•  Our film is similar to Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz as not only are they both British films but Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz were released in the UK before other countries to decide whether it was worth making the film global which is what we will do with our film so not to waste the funding.

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How does your media product represent particular social groups?

These are me and Matt as the henchmen in our opening for Mendacity and John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction. Our characters are similar to those in Pulp Fiction because we are both wearing black suits with black ties to show our formality but also convey a ruthless and violent side.

Both me and Matt's hair is quite long just like the characters in Pulp Fiction which shows that we are unkept and focus on the job at hand becuase we have no time to worry about ourselves which shows we are dedicated.

In our opening me and Matt are on a mission to collect a briefcase and securely deliver it to Mitch. This is very similar to the storyline in Pulp Fiction as John and Samuel have to take the case to Marsellus safely and they encounter a few problems but ultimately they do manage to deliver the case but in our opening we lose the case. This shows that we are dedicated to the job at hand and nothing crosses our minds until the job is finished.

There are some differences between me and Matt and Samuel and John such as in Pulp Fiction they use guns however me and Matt are not equipped with guns on our mission as it is seen as a straightforward mission with no threat.

Also in Pulp Fiction John and Samuel use sophisticated language to intimidate their enemies into submission however in Mendacity there is hardly any speech and we rely on our physical strength and image to scare our enemies away.

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

• The first screenshot shows the title of our opening and the name of the production studio. I chose the slightly cracked and falling apart font for Mendacity to foreshadow the crumbling of Mitch's empire. I also chose this font because it attracts the audience's attention due to it looking different and unusual to other titles. The background is red to foreshadow the bloodshed that will ensue later on in the film when Mitch's mob starts to slowly degrade. The bloodshed is also foreshadowed by the bloodsplatter that drops when the title is revealed. 

•  The second shot is a shot that shows the setting in our opening. Our opening uses 3 different locations but we don't use long drawn out establishing shots as we want to keep pace when the shots change. We also include characters in each of our shots showing setting as we found the time limit tight enough as it is. The shot shows an open wooded area to show how far from society we are and how alone we are which also shows how vulnerable Me and Matt are for a possible attack.

• The third shot shows Harry in his costume and one of the main props in our opening. We thought it was the best for all of the characters in our opening to be wearing formal suits to keep with the genre of the film being a crime to show we are from a formal well organised mob. The fact that all of our characters are dressed in suits also makes the opening more realistic as it is similar to other crime films such as "Scarface" or "Pulp Fiction". The baseball bat Harry is carrying is very important for our opening to work. We felt that if Harry had a gun or knife it would not be as hardhitting to the audience and both knives and guns are used all the time in crime films whereas a baseball bat is less common and makes the brutal attacks much more personal which adds some background to Harry's character as it shows him as a ruthless killer that might enjoy using a baseball bat to perform beatings to other weapons.

• The fourth shot shows a piece of camerawork and editing that i was very pleased with. The shot shows the fade of the sky that blends into the sky of the next shot to show the change of scene. I think this shot works well to stitch a difficult scene change together. This technique is rarely used in crime films but i think it works well, i got the idea for the camerawork from a BMX riders video when the camera panned to the sky and merged seamlessly into the next shot and i thought it would be great for our opening. The editing was easy for this shot as i spent so long making sure the camerawork was right that i only hade to put a simple cross-fade between the two shots to make it seamlessly merge onto the next shot. 

• The fifth shot shows the opening credits that fade in and out of shots when Mitch is getting ready. The font of the credits is very typical of a crime film as it is easy to read and simple to show that the film is very straight and doesn't mess about. The font also has sharp edges to show the unforgiving nature of a crime film in that if you make one mistake your dead. The titles fade in and out of shots make it easy for the audience to read the credits as the transition is not sudden which might put the audience off as they are takenaback for a few seconds. The fading credits is also used in various film openings to keep the opening flowy and laidback rather than sudden and high paced, which we use to show Mitch's morning routine is laidback showing that he has no troubles in his life. The titles are also contrasting colours to make them stand out and be easy to read for the viewer.

• The sixth shot is the first glimpse the viewer gets of the case which is main part of the opening and a key factor in the story for the whole film. The story of our film is very similar to various crime films in that Mitch is a kingpin mobster and Me and Matt are henchman, the case has very important goods in it and me and matt lose it to an ex-member of the mob who got blackmailed and is out for revenge. Due to Me and Matt losing the case the mob goes under and we follow Mitch try and regain his status by completing a huge job. The opening sets up the story by showing Mitch in his home looking laid back with everything going his way. The opening then shows me and Matt collecting the case and encountering the ex mob member and ultimately losing the case which foreshadows the collapse of Mitch's empire. The opening is also similar to other crime films showing a mob at it's highest point and then quickly collapsing then having to come back from nothing, such as "Scarface".

• The seventh shot is a shot from inside the case looking out at Me and Matt. This shot is not used often but is used in one film (Pulp Fiction) where the whole film revolves around one case. The shot shows the genre of the film by showing both Me and Matts costumes which show the audience the genre is crime because it follows the conventions of a sophisticated mob being formal and caring about looking good despite what job they are completing. The shot also shows Matt standing over me as i look into the case which also shows the audience the genre is crime because stereotypically in crime films the henchman are in pairs or more, one person does the work and one watches for other people looking intimidating to allow work to get completed without interruptions.

• The eighth shot is Mitch getting ready in the morning. This shot is the first shot the audience see of Mitch and that is intended because it is the first character they interact with so naturally want to find more out about him and because he is shown doing normal activites when he is getting ready in the morning the audience can relate to him and a connection is made between Mitch and the audience. This technique to introduce characters in crime films is not widely used, normally in crime films the characters in the opening are introduced by making the audience intrigued with something about the character or what they are saying. A good example of this is in the Godfather opening which is just a very slow reverse zoom from Al Pacino's face but it does make the audience intrigued to find out more about this character. I however do think this technique works well for our opening as it quickly creates a link between Mitch and the audience which is good as it makes Mitch seem like a good guy when his empire crumbles.

• The ninth shot is of the crash zoom used to show Harry looking menacing but also show the viewer the length of the alleyway. Many crime films use tracking shots and follow characters through scenes (one being the most obvious is when the camera follows John Travolta through the burger bar in Pulp Fiction) however because our opening was made on a very very tight budget we obviously could not invest in top of the range camera equipment however we still wanted to exaggerate Harry's presence so I thought up the idea of using a crash zoom which works just as effectively as a track would.

Mendacity Comments and Feedback

i posted our opening two minutes onto my facebook page and got a few comments.

Bobbie: Wow...Mitch drank that tea fast! but seriously, i loved this! great work guys! i loved the low angle shot from the briefcase and the baseball bat scene :) you guys should be proud of this!
Oli: Sick!
Katherin: Thats well good
Kavneet: Thats really good


Bobbie's post was the most helpful as it showed us the two points of the film he liked the best and when we look back on this next year we can aim to make every shot the same standard if not better of those two scenes.

Audience Feedback Session

This is a video of some audience feedback when we showed the rest of our class our two minute opening.

Positives

Katie: I really like the sound effects and the credits beginning to show Mitch and the other characters.

Mr Oswick: I thought the editing throughout was really crisp and really tight which i thought added a lot to it, you had your raw footage which there is a couple of things we will talk about but what you did with that raw footage was exceptional.

Lucy: I liked it when the camera was in the box and they opened it.

Mr Oswick: (talking about the case scene) it worked really well and actually that shot was framed really nicely with Matt just looking over, the most nicely framed shot in the whole thing i think. It worked really well.

Alex: I liked the way it didn't stay on the same shot for too long and the credits faded in and out to black. Also some of the shot techniques like when the shot looked up towards the sky and came back down to a different area, i thought that was quite good.

Mr Oswick: The changing of scenes was done really well there as you know there was a variety of scenes there. 

Mr Oswick: No shot was really making us drift off it was all really keeping it going.

David: I like the sped up shot that goes down the alleyway, i thought that was really good and effective.

Ana: I liked the ending how you just heard the noise, it was really synchronised.

Mr Oswick: (talking about the baseball bat sound) That worked brilliantly, really nicely 

Hannah: I liked the music it was really calm and gentle and made you think nothing was going to happen then it did so it kept tension throughout.

Mr Oswick: (Talking about the Mendacity title special effect) That was lovely, really really nice, throwing in a little special effect like that takes your film from all films around the country and pulls it out the pack a little bit. That was a really nice effect.

Improvements:

Mr Oswick: I think the dialogue in the woods was a little low. But that can easily be sorted out with proper mic's.

Overall the comments were good about our opening and certain areas seemed to work better than others (such as the briefcase scene) which shows us that if we are to film another coursework piece shots of that quality and framing work better and appeal more than others. 

The comments also highlight the tight editing used in the opening which shows me that my skills using Adobe are of a very good quality and that what i decided to cut from the original footage was the right choice as the opening flowed nicely from scene to scene. 

The feedback also included some adjectives such as "exceptional" and "brilliantly" which shows the audience felt strongly about their opinion of the opening and truely enjoyed it and found it entertaining. 


Mr Oswick did point out that the dialogue could have been recorded better which i did realise when editing the footage however it was too late to re-record it but i will keep this in mind for the next piece of coursework.

Mendacity (Media AS Opening)

This is our final version of the opening to Mendacity, Enjoy!

Diary of Editing 27th March

Today i finished editing the opening. I changed the sound levels on some clips and faded some clips to make the opening seem more seamless and professional.

Diary of Editing 26th March

Today I cut the opening down to 2:01 which is really good despite the fact that i had to cut out some scenes such as the toast scene. I also added some background music from freeplaymusic.com. The two tracks i used are called Abandoned and On The Trigger. Tomorrow i will remove the background noise from our footage so there is no hissing in the background.

Diary of Editing 23rd March

Today i finished inserting the titles into our opening scene and have started seriously cutting down some scenes to make sure we adhere to the 2 minutes maximum limit.

Diary of Editing 22nd March

Today we had a media lesson so again i brought my laptop in and we carried on editing. I proposed to the group that we needed to seriously cut down and even cut some scenes out completely of our opening to reach the intended 2 minutes, we all agreed this was necessary so we have started cutting out scenes and inserting credits to try  and meet the deadline for our films to be completed by (28th March).

Diary of Editing 17th March

Today Mr Oswick let us use his lesson to carry on with our coursework so I brought the tape in and we uploaded the footage we re-shot of Mitch making the tea. I have put the rendered footage onto my memory stick and will add it to the rest of the footage on my laptop when i get home.

Re-Shooting 15th March

Today me, mitch and matt went to matt's house to re-shoot the making of tea shots as when we originally filmed it mitch moved so when i cut the shot down it was jumpy and at some points he appeared out of shot so we have corrected this today and will upload it on monday when we have our next media lesson.

Diary of Editing 14th March

Today in lesson we carried on editing focusing on the kitchen scene as we can cut down a lot of time in these shots.

We have decided after some attempts to merge the scenes to look seamless that we will have to re-shoot some sections of the kitchen scene so we have signed a camera out for tomorrow and are going to Matt's house after school to film the shots and we will upload them at school when we have a lesson or a free lesson.

Diary of Editing 12th March

Today i carried on with editing for 2 and a half hours and got a substantial amount done. I have added a working title logog to the start to make our opening look more professional and realistic and have started adding credits inbetween the Don's getting ready scenes as it splits up the shots nicely and looks better than having the credits over the top of the shots. I also trimmed some shots and just generally editing to get our opening looking as smooth and professional as possible.

Diary of Editing 11th March

Today we had an inset day so i stayed at home and edited a lot of footage in the opening and am now getting stuck on the difficult sections such as cutting peoples arms out of shots that shouldn't be there and some clips this may be almost impossible so we might have to re-film some shots.

Diary of Editing 10th March

Today i brought my laptop into school as it is easier to edit on it because of the transfer issues that plague the schools network. We managed to get some editing done but there is still a good amount of hours left to get it to a level i'm satisfied with. Matt and Mitch feel unused at the moment so they are editing some of the titles at school while i focus on cutting the opening but they will give ideas and help every now and again.

Diary of Editing 9th March

Yesterday evening i imported the 2 files of our filming onto my computer when i realised that i had missed a 3 minute section out when i cut the footage into sections so today in school i have cut the section that i need out of the backup file and have imported it onto my memory stick so i can start editing at home tonight.

Diary of Editing 8th March

For the past 3 lessons we have been rendering and uploading the footage onto my memory stick for me to start editing at home on my laptop because the school computers run very slow on the network which makes it nearly impossible to get a reasonable amount of editing done in a lesson. Once i have started editing the clips at home i will bring my laptop in for future lessons instead of using the school computers.

Credits?

Today in lesson Mr Oswick told the class to make sure our film openings reflect real film openings such as credits over the shots and the film title at the end of the opening and leaving the opening on a cliffhanger. So this has made me think about our opening credits and i will have to scrap my previous opening credit ideas as i want our opening to reflect a real opening sequence as much as possible.

Opening Credits Mk2

I have re edited the opening credits and this is how they currently look



This is not final as of yet as i am unhappy with the jerky fast camera movements so i will perform some finishing touches when i can whilst also editing the rest of the filmed footage.

Diary of Editing 28th Febuary

Today in lesson we uploaded the clips to the school computer. The footage looks great and we can't wait to start editing it together however my memory stick was not big enough to transfer the footage to my home computer to start editing on it so tomorrow i will bring a bigger one in.

I also finished re-enhancing the opening credits and we will have a vote to choose which ones we use in the actual opening. I am uploading a video of them and will post it later.

Diary of Editing 27th Febuary

Today i have started re-enhancing the opening credit system i made a couple of months ago. I have decided to still use the typography technique but i am using a brick wall as the background. This will make the opening credits more realistic, interesting and professional. Currently i have only started on the background but i should finish it within the next couple of days and the title of the film is subject to change depending on what we as a group decided is best.

Diary of Filming - 26th Febuary

Today we went to film the alleyway scene, i met up with Harry at his house then we walked to the alleyway with tall the equipment.
Matt met us at the alley and Mitch couldn't make it because he could not get a lift so Harry had to help with the filming for the alleyway scene.
The filming went well and we got all the shots we wanted despite some rain showers.

Diary of Filming - 25th Febuary

We ended up finally filming the splash scene today as i wasn't feeling very well on thursday and Mitch had work anyway. We met up at the splash at 2'oclock and filmed the scenes where me and matt are running to the suitcase and we all thought up some great ideas for shots and if all goes well tomorrow when filming the editing should be quite straightforward and will produce some really nice looking shots and great continuity.

For continuity purposes we will start filming in Ashtead tomorrow around 2:30 ish to show a difference in light which shows a change in time.

Mendacity

Today we decided on our film name.
We have called our film Mendacity because mendacity means untruthfulness which will link into our film as you find out later in the film that the stranger that steals the case (Harry) is an ex member of the mob seeking revenge after being cast out due to being set-up by a fellow mob member.

Diary of Filming - 23rd Febuary

We had arranged to film down the splash today but Matt texted me in the morning telling me that he was ill so we have had to re-arrange filming to tomorow (Thursday) but that works out better because it has been raining today and it is much easier to film that scene in the dry and will help the continuity when editing.

Pictures of FIlming

These are pictures of us filming the kitchen scene at Matt's house today.

Possible Film Names

Today i have decided to start thinking up some ideas for the name of our film so far i have thought of:

Duplicity (did a search and is already a film)
Deception (did a search and is already a film)
The Deceitful
Double Dealers
The Hokum
The Truth of Treason
Mendacity

Action Shots

I read advice on Pinkbike.com from a video editor about how long action shots should be when filming and editing. He said that shots should be no more than 4 seconds long when filming action sequences so i will use this technique tomorrow when we film mine and Matt's action sequence and will also use it on Friday when we get hit by the baseball bat.

Diary of Filming - 22nd Febuary

Today we all got round to Matts house around 11am to start filming the Don getting ready scenes. We got all the filming done that we wanted from different angles in 2 1/2 hours and despite the camera running out of battery halfway through we managed however this could be something to remember later on in the week as we will have to come back again when the camera is recharged as there will be no electricity as the other scenes are outside. 

Weather Forecast

 

If the weather does unfold as forecasted then it could make filming the finding the briefcase scene difficult as we do not intend for that scene to be rainy and if it is raining then we would need it to be raining on friday aswell which it does not look like will happen so we may have to reschedule filming for wednesday to another day.

Alleyway Filming Location

 Today i went to Ashtead on my bike and found an ideal alleyway to do our filming for our final scene. The alleyway is almost perfectly straight which will be good for when we do a crash zoom effect onto Harry's face and has a streetlight halfway down which will give the scene a mysterious feeling when we film it at dusk.

This picture shows the alleyway from Matt and I's perspective.

This picture is looking back down the alleyway from Harry's point of view.

 

This picture is the end of the alleyway where Harry is standing and will knock me out.

Shooting Schedule

We have a half term next week so we intend to get most of our filming done in half term.

We want to get filming done as efficently as possible but also making sure we have enough shots so we don't have to re-film any scenes.

We can split our opening into 3 major parts: the boss/don getting ready in his house, the henchman finding the case and the alleyway with the rival mobster.

We aim to get the don getting ready scene filmed on Tuesday and because this scene is inside we can film it no matter what the weather is. We will arrive at Matt's house around 10 o'clock to getting a good amount of hours filming done.

The henchman finding the case scene we will film on the Wednesday as Mitch has work on Thursday. We will possibly film this at the splash in Fetcham.

And the final scene we will film either Friday or the weekend depending on when Harry is available and what the weather is like. Light rain could work to our advantage on this scene as in a dark alleyway it will give a dark, mysterious feel.

Characters Photos

Today in lesson we all brought in our costumes that we are going to be using in our film opening. We chose these outfits as it conveys a classic gangster which the audience can relate conventions of gangsters to with a slightly modern twist wich can give our film an interesting hook for people to want to see it.

Crime/Gangster Films Typical Release Date

Crime/Gangster films are released generally between October and January.
Pulp fiction was released in October.
Goodfellas was released in October.
Se7en was released in January.
and Reservoir Dogs was released in January.

We would release our crime film in this group of months because it appears to promote and sell the films the best in comparison with films released during the summer such as silence of the lambs which was released in May and did not do aswell as it perhaps could of done if released during the winter period.

Our film would not have great competition because nowadays crime films are rare as action films and rom-coms seem to dominate the box office.

Possible Shooting Locations

 This is a possible location of the kitchen used when the boss is waking up and making his breakfast. It is a good location as the toaster is easy to see and can easily be filmed from various angles if needed and gives a modern look which we want to portray as it shows the boss as having a lot of money.

 This is a possible location of the alleyway used towards the end of our opening. It is a good location because it is dark at night and has street lamps which can give a very good atmosphere and helps set the scene at night time and can make the mysterious figure even more inconspicuous.

This is another angle of the alleyway again showing another streetlamp which will enhance the atmosphere of the scene.

Prop List and Photos

This is the metal case which will be the main focus of the flashback scenes. We have decided to use a metal case as it shows the characters as not conforming with the usual stereotypical leather briefcase and is very protective to protect the valiable assets inside.



The baseball bat will be used by the mysterious figure to take out the two mobsters in the alleyway scenes in the flashback. We have decided to use a baseball bat instead of a gun or a knife because it shows the character as a more gritty hard character who isn't afraid to get his hands dirty with no regrets.

Shot List

Shot 1 is of the opening credits which i (kieran) have designed in a typography design.

Shot 2 is of an alarm clock on a table to set the time of the scene. (close up)

Shot 3 is of The Boss getting out of his bed (medium)

Shot 4 is of the boss washing his face in the mirror (close up)

Shot 5 is the boss sitting on his bed buttoning his shirt (medium shot)

Shot 6 is of the don tightening his tie (extreme close up)

Shot 7 is a shot of the boss walking downstairs (medium shot)

Shot 8 is of the boss switching the kettle on (extreme close up)

Shot 9 is of the boss putting toast in the toaster and the toast popping out again almost instantaneously (close up)

Shot 10 is a time lapse of the toast being eaten on a plate (close up)

Shot 11 is a shot of the kettle pouring in to a mug and a tim lapse of the tea getting drunk.(close up)

Shot 12 is of the boss opening the door from inside the house (medium shot)

Shot 13 is a first person shot of the boss closing the door, the shot then fades out

Shot 14 is a long shot of two characters running in the pleasantville effect (long shot)

Shot 15 is of the two characters running towards the camera (medium shot)

Shot 16 is of the characters feet running through a puddle (close up)

Shot 17 is of the characters reaching a patch of undergrowth/hedges (medium shot)

Shot 18 is a shot of the corner of a case sticking out of the hedge (extreme close up)

Shot 19 is a shot of the characters pulling the case out of the hedge/undergrowth (medium shot)

Shot 20 is of the characters walking away with the case (long shot)

Shot 21 is of the characters starting to walk down an alleyway (medium shot)

Shot 22 is a shot of a mysterious figure appearing at the other end of the alleyway, a baseball bat slides down from behind his arm (long shot)

Shot 23 uses the long shot from shot 22 and tracks down the alleyway to an extreme close up of the characters face and his expression changes more sinister.

Shot 24 is of the two mobsters looking worrid (close up)

Shot 25 is a shot of the mysterious figure walking away (long shot)

Shot 26 is of the characters cautiously carring on walking down the alleyway (medium shot)

Shot 27 is a first person view of the mobsters emerging from the alleyway and looking right

Shot 28 is a first person view of the mobsters looking left and see the mysterious figure hit him with the baseball bat, shot fades to black and a crashing/falling sound is heard.

Shot 29 is a first person view of the mobster on the floor at a canted angle showing the mysterious figure walking away with the case (the mobster might reach out with a bloody hand)

Shot 30 is a first person view of the mobster still on the floor at a canted angle but the shot starts to fade out as if the mobster is passing out and the eyes are closing and a passing out sound is played.

Animatic

I made the storyboard into an animatic to show our scenes in motion. I have included a music track that could be used in our opening which is copyright free and i have also included sound effects to help the viewer visualise the scenes which i might use in the opening.

Story Board Page 6

 

Shot 26 is of the characters cautiously carring on walking down the alleyway (medium shot)

Shot 27 is a first person view of the mobsters emerging from the alleyway and looking right

Shot 28 is a first person view of the mobsters looking left and see the mysterious figure hit him with the baseball bat, shot fades to black and a crashing/falling sound is heard.

Shot 29 is a first person view of the mobster on the floor at a canted angle showing the mysterious figure walking away with the case (the mobster might reach out with a bloody hand)

Shot 30 is a first person view of the mobster still on the floor at a canted angle but the shot starts to fade out as if the mobster is passing out and the eyes are closing and a passing out sound is played.

Story Board Page 5

 

Shot 21 is of the characters starting to walk down an alleyway (medium shot)

Shot 22 is a shot of a mysterious figure appearing at the other end of the alleyway, a baseball bat slides down from behind his arm (long shot)

Shot 23 uses the long shot from shot 22 and tracks down the alleyway to an extreme close up of the characters face and his expression changes more sinister. 

Shot 24 is of the two mobsters looking worrid (close up)

Shot 25 is a shot of the mysterious figure walking away (long shot)

Story Board Page 4

 

Shot sixteen is of the characters feet running through a puddle (close up)

The seventeenth shot is of the characters reaching a patch of undergrowth/hedges (medium shot)

Shot 18 is a shot of the corner of a case sticking out of the hedge (extreme close up)

The nineteenth shot is a shot of the characters pulling the case out of the hedge/undergrowth (medium shot)

Shot 20 is of the characters walking away with the case (long shot)

Story Board Page 3

 

The eleventh shot is a shot of the kettle pouring in to a mug and a tim lapse of the tea getting drunk.(close up)

The twelfth shot is of the boss opening the door from inside the house (medium shot)

The thirteenth shot is a first person shot of the boss closing the door, the shot then fades out

The fourteenth shot is a long shot of two characters running in the pleasantville effect (long shot)

The fifteenth shot is of the two characters running towards the camera (medium shot)

Story Board Page 2

 

The sixth shot is of the don tightening his tie (extreme close up)

The seventh shot is a shot of the boss walking downstairs (medium shot)

The eighth shot is of the boss switching the kettle on (extreme close up)

The ninth shot is of the boss putting toast in the toaster and the toast popping out again almost instantaneously (close up)

The tenth shot is a time lapse of the toast being eaten on a plate (close up)

Story Board Page 1

 

The first shot is of the opening credits which i (kieran) have designed in a typography design.

The second shot is of an alarm clock on a table to set the time of the scene. (close up)

The third shot is of The Boss getting out of his bed (medium)

The fourth shot is of the boss washing his face in the mirror (close up)

The fifth shot is the boss sitting on his bed buttoning his shirt (medium shot)

Audience Profilling Continued

No country for old men fills the stereotype related to crime films in that the age range is classed as young adults but because of the actors and the period the film is set the film was also seen by a lot of 45+ year olds which is unusual for a recent crime film. Also a large amount of females went to see this film which is unusual as most crime films are very masculine and generally only appeal to males which shows that our crime film could succeed if we develop the storyline more and give it more depth to give females a reason to watch this film to increase revenue.

The departed is another crime film that fills the stereotype of being a male targeted film as 59% of the total audience were men but there was a large amount of females that went to see it and that is because this crime film is different to any other because the social class that accumilated 43% of the total audience is C1 which is a higher social group thatn normally expected for a crime film and this is because the departed makes you think more which appeals more to people who want a more intellectual movie rather than your plain simple crime film and this is again probably the reason why a high majority of the audience were over 45.

Audience Profiling

I have found it hard to find audience profiles for crime films as most of them were made before 2000 so the website i used (pearl and dean) did not have audience profiles for them. Therefore i have only managed to find an audience profile for Sin City which shows us that the main age range for crime films are 15-34 and is prodminantly male. The film was also seen by a variety of classes which shows that our film can appeal to a large audience and potential market.

Questionnaire Results

We have asked 30 people to complete our questionnaire with age ranges varying from 18 to 50 and mixed genders.

1. The majority of men answered no whereas most of the women disagreed. All of the males under 25 answered no.

2. The results were quite balanced with both males and females choosing both options, the age ranges were also balanced. Titles over action had just slightly more votes.

3. Almost all the women answered no, however 13 of the 15 males answered yes.

4. 14 of the 15 women preferred more modern crime films. The majority of males under 25 also preferred modern crime films however the over 25s preferred the traditional crime films.

The answers to this questionnaire help us choose who our target audience is and what they prefer to see in a crime film which will help us appeal to the target audience and sell more tickets and copies of our film.

Questionnaire

I have created a questionnaire about Crime Films, the questionnaire helps use choose a target audience for our film and helps us choose some key features that should or should not be included in our film.

Q1 - Are crime films too violent? 

Q2 - Do you prefer opening credits on a plain background or over film footage?

Q3 - Do accents affect Crime films?

Q4 - Do you prefer traditional "gangster" crime films or more modern crime films?

Opening Credits Original

I have made some opening credits over the weekend in typography style using Adobe After Effects. This is just the original to give us an idea of how it looks and i will alter it until i am satisfied with it if we use it in our actual opening. The music used in the background is non-copyright from freeplay music which builds tension. This would work well as an intro because the music will lure the audience into the opening credits and then they will get startled by the sudden and loud alarm clock sound from the first scene.

Mood Board

I have created a moodboard to show the overall mood and main components of the scenes in our opening.

Free sound effects

I have just downloaded lots of free sound effects that can be used in our opening from pacdv.com.
These sound effects will help our scene become more natural and make it more believable for the audience.

Music

i have found a website called freeplay music which has lots of copyright free music that i have been looking through for music for our opening.

I found a few songs that could fit into our opening scene because i want a song that is slow and builds tension for the opening credits so when the alarm from the clock kicks in it will make the audience jump and pay more attention. The other tracks i want are ones that are more ambient that i can put in the background of scenes and blend well with the action.

Audience

The audience who are likely to watch our film are going to be mostly between the age of 15 and 50 because the film certification is 15 so no one under 15 will watch it and the age range is upto 50 because after the age of 50 people don't tend to go out and see films anymore and films have altered from their own experiences so there is no appeal to see the film. The typical people to watch our film will be male as the film is quite violent and appeals to a male audience more due to the testosterone and manliness levels. This image sums up the stereotypical audience that are going to view our movie.