Final Piece

Our Final Edit of "Suspect 7"

Evaluation

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

I think thay my groups media product challenges lots of different convetions within media. For example, we use lots and lots of different shots and shot angles within the work we have done in our products. (Below) These shots include things like: point of view shots, establishing shots, over the shoulder shots, push pull focus shots,  shot reverse shots, and in our first draft we also used high angle shots, and a lot of panning and other techniques with the camera which we did not have the resources to do within the second draft due to the location so we just ensured that we used as many as possible whist it still worked for what we wanted in our product.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups? 

I think that my groups media product does not represent any particular social group inparticular in any way. The only thing i can think of that represents any social group is through the actors we used. In our product we used three actors.

 Suspect Seven - Matt Hall














Assassin - Josh Mallors















Governmet Agent - Bonar Michael

















All three of the actors we used are around the age of 17. We used these actors as these people are the only people we could find who were willing to participate within the piece. So we had to use what we could get. So with the actors we had, i think that they represent younger people to be more interlectual than steriotyped in the way that these young men/teenagers are dealing with situations as technical and advanced like this the product.

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

I think that our media product would most likely be distributed by a company that would be interesed in films that involve spy, thrillers and action. I think this because our product as show aspects and upcoming aspects of all of the genres listed above.. If my group were to continue making the entire film we would have lots of ideas coming for all sorts of different genres to make the product as good as we could and with this i also think that many different distributors would be interested in our film if we were to carry on making it.

• Who would be the audience for your media product and how did you attract/address your audience?

The target audience for my group's media product would probably most likely people that are interested in the spy and actions side of a thriller ranging from all age groups but mostly from the age of 16 plus. I think this as most of the people i showed the media product too, the only ones that seemed to be interested and said hey would watch the whole film if it existed were the people that were around the age of 16 plus. I think that the main we targeted our audience were they ways in which we tried to include aspects of different types of thirllers and through the way we used young actors. For example, the way in which Matt walks through the field acting suspicious and being alone in a creepy/weird place represents him to be a suspitious person and maybe being involved in some dodgy crimes or action. The way we used dialogue shows that we have also thought about the more intellectual and older audience as we used dialogue with more meaning and more complicated to represent the way the whole film if it was made would be interlectual as well as being an action and spy thriller.

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

I think that I have learnt quite a lot about technology we used for our product. For example, for our final product we used a Canon 550D HD camera to record our final product and to edit our piece we used Sony Vegas Pro.

With this camera, I learnt how to do quite a lot. For example, I learnt how to record and use the actual camera and I also learnt lots about camera angles and different camera shots with this camera.
With the programme we used to edit the product, I learnt so much about editing. Some examples include: how to add effects, how to add sound within the product. The only problem I encountered with this programme was getting used to using it for our final edit instead of using Adobe Premier like we did for the first edit and for the preliminary task.

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

Construction

Main Task "Suspect 7" (production)

First Draft

 

Filming "Suspect 7"
For the filming of the main task, it was hard to find a time to get it done but we eventually assessed the time and dates we could all do the filming and we were eventually able to get get the filming done towards the end of the holidays and get it done then in time for lessons so we could have lots of time to edit the piece.
Firstly we all met up and gathered any equipment we needed including things such as: props, costumes, camera equipment etc. and once we had done this we made our way to school/college to start the filming. before we started filming, we came up with a plan for the rout that me, Josh and Matt were going to run and this is what we came up with:

These three different coloured lines shown in the satellite picture of the school/college show the rout that all three of us were going to run to "catch" or "runaway" from each other.
As shown Josh is green and is shown to cut off Matt so we are able to catch him.
The only problem we have with this is that because we know the plan of the school/college we as the actors/producers know that he is defiantly going to be caught and this makes it more exciting for us as we know what is going to happen but the character being chased doesn't. But the audience this is going to be put out too will not know the plan of the school/college so they will have no idea why Josh has left the chase in another direction until the very end when Matt is captured. So what we were thinking about doing is towards the end of the clip, Ash is going to shoot a new shot of all three of us running towards each other so that the audience who do not know the plan of the school/college can see that Josh has gone to cut him off.


Our main Task is a spy thriller with a chase so we though as part of the spy theme we could add a car into it to make it seem a bit more like a real spy thriller like a James Bond chase or something along them lines. But the problem that we cam across with using this car is that  we did not really have a story line to follow what the car actually does in the piece. It is shown speeding down the drive but then after that it is no longer shown within the clip.

So regarding the problem as quite a significant one, we are going to come up with a storyline which involves the car a little bit more so it actually has a purpose within the clip rather than just there to look cool and a bit more like a real spy thriller/chase scene.
For example: maybe drop off some more agents to help capture Matt.
We will come up wit a story line for the car to have more of a role in the clip and incorporate this into the next edit of the clip.


One more problem we came across in our first edit is the miss spelling of the word "Starring" and instead of putting this Matt ended up spelling it wrong and only putting in one 'R'

To fix this problem within our second edit, we are simply going to re-make the credits and make sure they are spelt correctly and look like they belong in a thriller film rather than them looking like they have been made quickly and by a five year old as a last minute fix for not having them included.
Also, because the credits are separate to the actual clip, it makes it look like the clip is a trailer rather than an opening to a film. So the may end up just scrapping the credits and adding more into the actual clip and more to the story line.



One thing that I would defiantly like to add into our next edit of our piece is some more features within action/spy thrillers including things like explosions or slow motion but as things like explosions would be hard to create and edit into our piece i would love to have slow motion in our clip at this point:

I think it would be brilliant to have slow motion added and edited into our clip as it would give more aspects of a real spy thriller into our clip and look better within the action that is happening.



In our Piece we have tried very hard to include as many different camera shots and angles to gain maximum effect for the clip and make it look as good as we can. These different shots include shots such as:

Mid shot
(0:48 - 0:51)










Close up
(1:09 - 1:15)

Panning
(0:32 - 0:39)

High angles
(0:59 - 1:03)
and
(1:26 - 1:32)







Overall I am very happy with the first draft piece and I think that if we make some changes and add some things in we will be able to get our grade up a lot higher.

Planning

Main Task
(Pre-production)


Planning

Location

Firstly, all four of us went location scouting around the school/college area and decided that the actual school/college was the best place for our filming as for the ideas we had in mind the filming fitted in well with the resources we had at the school/college. For example: the buildings, long drive ways and fields as shown in the pictures below.(The picture on the bottom indicates the plan we made for the rout the characters are going to make within the filming)

Storyboard

Before we started to film or piece, we all sat down together and created a storyboard to follow so we knew what shots we wanted to use and put into our piece and what we wanted to include within the piece including things such as: Close up shots, Mid shots; Tracking shots and lots of other different types of shots and things we want to include within our piece.

The storyboard below shows what we are going to try and keep to as much as possible to be able to create the best possible end result that we can.

Casting

For our casting, we decided to just use ourselves for the piece as it would be easier to get the actors (us) to do what we want to do as we all know exactly what is going on in the filming and in the plot etc.
Also, Matt and Ash were able to follow up one of our ideas of using a car in or piece and managed to get Phil Dixon in on the filming with us to help with the driving parts and parts where the car is in shot etc.

Mise En Scene (Props)

For props in our piece, we decided to use some plastic guns for the runners/good guys (Me & Josh) to use to threaten the victim/bad guy (Matt) with. So Josh went into a pound shop and aught two plastic guns for us to use and then we decided to spray paint them black to make them look more realistic towards the audience.

Mise En Scene (Costumes)

Originally for costumes, we were going to dress up smart as agents but since none of us had anything smart like a suit to wear/use, we came up with the idea of being undercover cops instead of agents as it would be easier for us to do then having to rent out a suit or whatever so we used the idea of using casual/undercover cop style clothing instead.

(Josh's costume underneath; Plain black t-shirt and jeans)

Research

Thriller Research

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film, and television programming that uses
suspense, tension and excitement as the main elements. Thrillers heavily
stimulate the viewer's moods giving them a high level of anticipation,
ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and/or terror.
Thriller films tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced. Literary
devices such as red herrings, plot twists and cliffhangers are used
extensively. A thriller is villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents
obstacles that the hero must overcome.

Some of the different sub genres of Thriller include things such
as: Conspiracy thriller, Crime thriller, Erotic thriller, Political thriller, Psychological thriller, Spy thriller; Supernatural thriller and Techno thriller.

The aim for thrillers is to keep the audience alert and
on the edge of their seats. The protagonist in these films is set against a problem,
an escape, a mission, or a mystery. No matter what sub-genre a thriller film
falls into, it will emphasize the danger that the protagonist faces. The
tension with the main problem is built on throughout the film and leads to a
highly stressful climax. The cover-up of important information from the viewer,
and fight and chase scenes are common methods in all of the thriller subgenres,
although each subgenre has its own unique characteristics and methods.

For my research, I have studied different opening credits of different sub
genres of the main genre of thriller including: a Horror thriller and a
spy/action thriller. The first one I am going to talk about is the Horror
thriller opening credits from the thriller “Se7en”
“Se7en” is a 1995 American thriller film, with horror and neo-noir elements, written by Andrew Kevin Walker, directed by David Fincher, and distributed by New Line Cinema. It stars Brad Pitt, MorganFreeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R.Lee Ermey and Kevin Spacey. The film was released in the United States on September 22, 1995. Grossing $327 millionthe at box office internationally, Se7en was a commercial success, and received very positive reviews from most critics.

Within looking at the opening credits of this film (link below) I have found some really good elements of the sequence that I really like and could maybe include in my Mains task of making an opening credits sequence to a tiller
film.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=SEZK7mJoPLY

Thriller Research

In another part of this opening sequence, this clip (left) is show of the person crossing things
out and making marks on things and then a red and black flash appears for just
a split second. I like this effect as it gives the effect of something important flashing up and maybe making the audience want to watch on and find out what it was when really it is insignificant and makes you watch the rest of the film.

Thriller Research

In one part of this opening sequence
there is doubled image which I really like and would defiantly like to include
with my piece. I like this as it makes a good effect of being distorted so that
we watch the person write the letter/note but because it is so distorted, we are being teased as we cannot actually read what is being written.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary task

Pre-production

With the pre-production stage, all four of us came up with some ideas for what we could film and we used all our thoughts together and came up with a combined idea with all of us contributing different ideas throughout the storyline.

After we came up with our final idea between us, we began to draw and create a story board and a shot list.

This included all different shot we were going to film and what angle and type of shot. These included shots such as low angle, two shot etc.
once we had finished creating our final story board (above/left) then we began to think about casting and locations. First of all, Josh volunteered to do a roll in some of the acting and got a friend to be the ghost/ghoul thing.

Once this had been done, we thought about locations and because we had limited time and access to different areas other than the school, we decided to use the school/college as it would be easier and still a good location for our piece.

Production

Now we have finished our pre-production we then moved onto filming the 30 second piece.
This began with gathering the two actors and informing them on what their lines were and how we wanted them to act etc. We decided to film the clip in order of how we had written it down on the storyboard as it would be easier for us to follow what we have already filmed. Matt was in charge of the filming, I was in charge of the lighting and directing, Ashley was in charge of the directing and Josh was one of our actors. And then we began to film.

Post-productionNow we have filmed everything we need, we uploaded the clips from the camera onto the computer and began to crop and order the clips in order as shown on the storyboard. We all contributed to the editing of the piece and had all of our own ideas within it, Including the audio etc.
we all finally finished editing it and are very happy with our end result.

Final Preliminary piece