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.