Jack Rowland
Media evaluation
1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? The purpose of an opening sequence is to establish the genre of the film and to introduce key elements of what will be happening over the course of the film and my sequence conforms to this convention Key elements include the narrative which is important in setting the scene. The audience need to understand what is happening during the opening sequence in order for them to make presumptions and comprehend the scenes which are being presented to them.
Use of montaged news footage were used in Red Dawn and also my sequence.to set the scene.
One of my key inspirations in making this video was the movie Red Dawn. It is a great example of how key elements are introduced to the audience through the opening titles and sequence. The backdrop to the opening credits is a montage of news and media reports about the political turmoil in North Korea (above). The following sequence doesn’t show exactly what is happening but shows enough to entice the audience. The first shot of Red Dawn shows the main character laying on his bed in casual clothes. The second shot is him running down the stairs which is followed by the increase in the tempo of the music. The first use of dialogue is him saying “What is going on?” following that shot the establishment of the film is shown. Below is a screenshot of the establishing shot showing an ensuing invasion.
Jack Rowland
Media evaluation
In my opening sequence, I wanted to establish the scene and what is happening in the early stages so that it can be developed later on in the film. Therefore in order to do this I needed to find videos with permission from authors of my subject matter. My opening sequence contains showcases real events, and introduces both the villain and heros. These develop forms and conventions of real media products as they provide a build-up. My media product also develops real media products as it includes key credits such as the production company as well as the text which provides the audience with information of the actors and the title of the film. I have also included a ‘voice over’ which further introduces the narrative and gives the audience some background knowledge of the storyline as well as a greater understanding of the plot which allows them to relate to the film. This technique was used in the film Titans. Genre Research During the preparation stage of my opening sequence, I had to research what genre I would like to base my opening sequence on. In order to do so, I watched clips of the openings of films. After this process I decided to base my opening sequence on an action film. The original inspiration for this occurred when I analyised the opening sequences of both Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight. I commenced research on these two opening sequences and also researched Skyfall. From analysing these opening sequences, I was able to isolate the key points, show how the genre links with the mise en scene and how it fits with the codes and conventions of an action movie 2. How does your media product represent particular social groups? As the name suggests, the subject of the film is ‘Anonymous’. Now a World famous collective of computer hackers and activists (‘hacktivists’). The group has political undertones and antiauthoritarian outlook. As they have no official structure or leadership, the result can be quite anarchic and, like the website ‘Wiki Leaks’, the collective have drawn much criticism for sometimes irresponsible actions. However, over time there have been some breath-taking examples of the group taking on injustice of governments, organizations, and corporations. A prime example was #Operation Egypt. During the Arab Spring, Anonymous aided Egyptian activists to restore Egyptians' access to websites being censored by their government - aiding free speech online – and even gaining cautious acceptance by Amnesty International.
Jack Rowland
Media evaluation
In #Op Paris, the collective declared war on terrorism and Islamic State. Unsurprisingly as the group turned their attention to just and ‘legitimate’ targets their notoriety and following has grown. Symbolism Ironically, Anonymous also owe some of their identity, to a graphic novel and now cult movie, V for Vendetta. The film/book are set in the UK in an alternate future where a tyrannical, fascist regime has taken control. V, an anarchist freedom fighter, attempts to start a revolution. "V's use of the Guy Fawkes mask and persona functions as both practical disguise and symbolic element of the story. In turn, the Guy Fawkes mask has been adopted by Anonymous, who also use the motto ‘We do not forgive, We do not forget, Expect us’.
My media product represents a few social groups. When creating my opening sequence I decided that I wanted the end product to represent social groups that had interests in computer hacking and political thrillers/action. These consist of: A younger, computer literate generation that would relate to the theme of computer hacking and action. This social group is represented by the main actor who is a child hacker who is trying to take down terrorist web sites and online propaganda. People who are part of a social group share similar characteristics, therefore people who have an interest in the genre of action are represented throughout the opening sequence.
Jack Rowland
Media evaluation
A broader and growing demographic group that have a developing interest in social justice and a reaction against the encroaching power of governments, corporations and global terrorism. Their backgrounds may be diverse, but they are likely to have an interest in politics (though anti-establishment) and possibly activism. The two groups are different however link well and both are likely to have an appreciation for action/thrillers. The main section of my opening sequence is based upon a chase scene in which there are fast shots and fast cuts. These are some of the main codes and conventions of the genre which I selected. 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? My favourite film institution is Universal Pictures; they provide and produce great films and are well known for their diverse selection of films which include: Jaws, ET and Jurassic Park. Universal has also achieved popular success and critical acclaim with Academy Award winning films such as Brokeback Mountain, The Deer Hunter and The Bourne Legacy. The Bourne Legacy is an action spy thriller film that has strong narrative and keeps the audience hooked. As my media product is an action film which has a similar style to The Bourne Legacy I think Universal Pictures would be interested in distributing my media product. During my research, I studied Red Dawn. Red Dawn is an action film of the same calibre with a high-school hero. Red Dawn is distributed by the American independent motion picture company based in Los Angeles named FilmDistrict. Therefore FilmDistrict may distribute my media product. 4. Who would be the audience for your media product? My target audience would be 12-50 year olds, predominantly male. When creating my opening sequence I looked at different themes and what would appeal to certain age groups and I felt that the computer hacker related theme would appeal to a younger, more computer literate audience. Youngsters can also identify with the teenage lead role. The political ‘thriller/adventure’ aspect would appeal to a somewhat broader audience. As a media student, I decided to rate my opening sequence based upon the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) guidelines. The narrative of my media product, involves a computer hacker being tracked and hunted and contains moderate violence and threat. The BBFC is an important part of the film industry. Founded by the film industry in 1912 and a non-
Jack Rowland
Media evaluation
governmental organisation, the BBFC is responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom. After looking through the classifications of each rating on their website, and looking at comparable films, I came to the conclusion that my opening sequence best matched the classification of a 12A; no one younger than 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. 5. How did you address/ attract your target audience? Genre is a key point in the creation of a media product. When creating something, you need to consider all of the codes and conventions of a specific genre. My opening sequence is influenced by the research that I produced in the build-up to creating the opening sequence. Therefore I have based my opening sequence on the genre of a political action/thriller. Codes and conventions of action movies always have a hero and a villain. They also include fast cuts which is created by an action scene. Therefore to address my audience I wanted to create an action scene which will begin the opening sequence. In the press over the last year, Islamic State (IS) has made many enemies globally, therefore I have decided to base my opening sequence on IS and Anonymous. By doing this I aim to attract an audience who are into action movies that contain the conflicting principals of IS and Anonymous. Studios can be sensitive to the changing nature heroes and villains. Red Dawn, one of the influences for my movie is a 2013 remake of a 1984 movie. In the original, China is cast as the enemy that launches an attack on America. In 2013 this was thought to be too politically sensitive, and North Korea became the last minute substitute.
6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product? My learning curve for the making for this video sequence has been enormous. Before this task, I didn’t have a great understanding of the technologies or processes involved in order to construct the opening sequence of my film. Some of the technologies and processes learned are as follows: Story Board/Planning I also created a story board which gave me guidance when filming. My story board had images of the locations and different shots to give me an idea of how to film and the sequencing. From this task I have learnt to use new technologies through my planning. Before, I didn’t have a great understanding in how to use a blog, however from doing this task I have a greater
Jack Rowland
Media evaluation
knowledge and understanding in how to. Location scouting During the planning of my opening sequence, I had to explore areas which would be appropriate for filming. To do so, I visited locations which fit with my genre such as locations where I could have a chase scene or a tracking shot. I wanted scenes that would lend themselves to the cinematic aspect ratio. I found some large rocks which would be brilliant for my opening sequence. The rocks were in some woods which provided really good lighting for the shoot. I also identified an iconic viaduct as a possible location. Props Props were a very useful part of creating a media product. All films use props as they create the scene and importantly contribute to the narrative. In my planning stage of this media product, I gathered and researched what I needed in order to film. I mainly needed three props for my opening sequence. These were a Gun, a Car (which was hired) and costumes for my actors. Lighting
Use of ‘golden hour’ lighting and a number of my shots were directly inspired by The Revenant (left).
Most of my filming was done in the ‘golden hour’ (dawn and dusk) which offered good light for my genre. I didn’t want to have too many locations as this would distract away from the narrative. In addition to the locations. A further inspiration for my film was the movie The Revenant which was almost exclusively shot during the Golden Hour. Shooting As part of my research, I needed to plan what shots I was going to use. In total I used around seven main shots. These shots allowed me to establish the scene and focus on main parts. These shots were: • Extreme Close-up (Keyboard) • Follow Focus (Holly, Assassin/Boy) • Depth of Field (Fire) • Establishing Shot (Morning Sequence) • Panning (Morning Sequence) • Vehicle mounted camera
Jack Rowland
•
Media evaluation
Low shot
Editing/Adobe Premiere Pro Within the construction stage of my opening sequence I was able to use Adobe Premier Pro and learn new ways of editing which I didn’t know before. Premier pro offers lots if ways to edit a video. After adding the clips I needed, I noticed the video looked grey and in need to some colour correcting and grading for consistency. Therefore I watched some tutorials in how to re colour the clips. This was solved by me adding an adjustment layer which colour corrected the video. Premier pro also allowed me to add effects to my opening sequence. I used effects to add contrast to darken and lighten some scenes. My media product used similar conventions of a real media product in the way that I edited the footage that I recorded. Premier Pro is a professional timeline-based video editing software application. A recent film named ‘Gone girl’ was edited using Premier Pro CC. I could write a book on the editing and production techniques learnt, below is a list of some of the effects and techniques that I have used in the creation of this media product. • • • • • • • •
Setting Aspect ratio / Masking Adding Sound Effects (Gunfire, Car, Trains, Glitches, Police Sirens) Special Effects (Muzzle Flash & smoke, Computer Glitches) Titles - Text set to score Title - Sequence, Animated Background Generation Sound: Levels and Gain Graphics: Creation and addition of the logo (Adobe Illustrator) Voiceover: Script Generation, Commissioning
• Warp Stabiliser – stabilising footage • Ripple Delete • Audio and video transitions • Fade to black • Cross Dissolve • Glitch transition Adding music was quite a difficult task. The reason of this was I wasn’t allowed to use music that may interfere with the copyright law. However I found a man who creates royalty free music for people to use in their work. After getting the music, syncing it in with the footage was hard as I needed to match the levels of the sound with the content.
Jack Rowland
Media evaluation
Adding the titles was an essential part of the opening sequence. This breaks up the scenes and introduces the cast to the audience. I created a background animation behind the text that moves and fades in as the names are presented. (Glitch transitions are also used). Opening credits from the BBC series Luther was an inspiration here. From creating this product, I have learnt some key principals of constructing. The technologies that I used in order to edit and create the product worked well and I’ve learnt lots from it. The research element of the product allowed me to create different methods of work and present them differently. I used slide players which allowed me to show my work and deepen my understanding of media technologies. In a real media product, they use many types of filming equipment. To challenge these conventions I produced my media product with minimal equipment. To film I used a Sony A57 and a GoPro 4. The Sony A57 provided me with most of my shots. I used the GoPro 4 to capture low angle shots. Unfortunately we did not have stabilisation equipment, or professional sound equipment. Where necessary, shots were stabilised in post-production using the Adobe Premiere Warp Stabiliser. 7. Looking back at your prelim task what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression for it to the full product? When I first started the prelim task I didn’t have any knowledge or understanding of Premier Pro. I didn’t know much about cinematography. Therefore my prelim task wasn’t as developed as my opening sequence and since doing my prelim task, my cinematography has improved. At first we hadn’t learnt much about different shot types but by doing some of my own research I came across a page where it gave example of different shot types. By looking back at my prelim task, my lighting wasn’t as good as it could have been. I was filming my prelim task in a school where the light was low which didn’t help when trying to recognise the subject. Another weakness of my prelim task was the narrative. I didn’t really know what to film. A positive of my prelim task is that I used a tripod which allowed me to stabilise my shots. When I filmed my prelim task I used my SLR and a canon handheld camera. Previously I hadn’t filmed with my SLR before or knew what settings to use therefore I had a dilemma. In the first shot of my prelim task I created a follow focus which allowed me to hide the subject until they came into shot. I didn’t use the handheld camera much but when I did it was for basic shots. Obviously we didn’t have the same equipment as film production companies which can be seen in the quality of our footage. Likewise given the same equipment as Steven Spielberg in the post-production process I could have added more effects. But it is still a great learning process. The music in my prelim task wasn’t great and it didn’t really link well with my genre or the narrative. For the prelim task I got the music off of a royalty free site. Royalty free sites offer a
Jack Rowland
Media evaluation
large range of music and sound effects but don’t offer specific music for the type of genres in which I was looking for. In order not to revisit this issue, I found a channel on YouTube who creates royalty free music and sound effects for free. In this case I used some music and sound effects from his channel in my opening sequence. I suffered from having no quality sound equipment, and had to work around this using the score and additional sounds effects which adds to the post-production work.