Final Cut Film Opening REVIVE

Here it is in all its glory!

Evaluation Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Evaluation Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

In our media product, the two-minute film opening 'Revive', we aimed our target audience of teenage girls, and certified it a 15 which means it is not too restrictive and fits our desired age category of 16-21 year olds. In order to successfully capture the interest of our target audience we needed to make sure we had many aspects to it which would appeal to them. Below I have listed some of the aspects we discussed and considered:

Protagonist= Our main character is the age and gender of our desired target audience which makes the audience able to relate to her more easily thus increasing their interest into the film.

Sound= The music we used was urban and had a moody emotional feel to it. This particular music would appeal to our target audience as it is the genre of music they would generally listen to, with artists with similar style in the charts today.

Props=We have used a bottle of gin as our main prop. Our target audience are at the age where they may be considering drinking alcohol socially or abusing it. This is an easily relatable prop and this may interest the viewer further.

Flashbacks= In the flashback the main character and her mother are having an argument. This is very common and relatable to teenagers who are our target audience. This adds further interest.

Key moments in the opening that would particularly attract the audience:

This is a screenshot of when we first fully meet the protagonist. The fact it is a medium close-up and focuses on her face and make-up, is a key moment because female teenagers at that age are typically concerned and conscious of how they look, and this represents that making it relatable to our audience.








This is a screenshot of the bottle of gin that she was drinking. This relates to what I previously said about the props. Our target audience are at the age where alcohol could potentially be an interest to them therefore, captivating there interest.   




This is a screenshot relating to what I have previously said about the flashbacks. The mother and protagonist are having an argument representing the stereotypical 'norm' issues between teenager and parent making it easily relatable.






This is a screenshot of our protagonist walking into her own bedroom. As you can see the walls are pink, there are musical posters above the book case, their are photos of friends an family on the door and, a white and pink spotty dressing gown on the door. All of these are stereotypical props to have in a teenager girls bedroom, which fits our target audience.

This is a screenshot of when our main character walks in and you can see the contrast of her scruffy attire and some expensive heels she has worn before. This shows that the main character can be sloppy and look like she doesn't care, but at the same time is conscious of how she looks and will make an effort. This could be extremely relatable to our target audience.








Evaluation Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

SUMMARY:
The social groups that we represent are:

• Middle-class
• Teenagers
• Parents
• White-British
• Females

Editing issues

In general editing was quite a swift process however we did encounter a few issues along the way

 

The flashback effect

From the feedback of our first draft, it was clear that some people were not aware there was a flashback, this meant we needed to make it clearer.

 

 



Raw footage

Scripting

Script One (Voice over)

Have you ever felt so mad you just got numb,
feel blank,
lose focus,
drown your sorrows...in whatever way you can.

That was the night it all started,
The night I broke in, to get out.

Script Two (Flashback argument)

Mum: Why are you doing this to yourself
Girl: For fuck sake stop trying to protect me
Mum: I don't even know who you are anymore
Girl: Will you just listen to me please for once mum
Mum: You're just like Dad
Girl: I am nothing like him
Mum: Get out!

In our first cut of the film we did try a Ken loach approach and got them to improvise the argument, so that it appeared more natural. However, it took longer than expected to shoot because the actresses were embarrassed and kept laughing. Therefore when we re-filmed with the new mother and daughter, we had the set lines above to use.

Research: Iconic Social Realism Directors

We have finished filming!

We re-shot all that we needed to last night and can now get down to properly editing everything ready for our deadline in a few weeks.

Bits to Re-film for our New & Improved version of our Film Opening

When editing our new footage for our new and improved version of our opening, we discovered a few issues with some of the videos, which means that we shall have to re-film them once again. Below are a list of the shots we want to re-film and the reasons why we have to:

• POV shot = we need to film closer to Grace's house as her house was not in shot
• Grace walking= film closer to house again grace's house was not in shot, make the turn into her drive more clear
• Hand on bush = needs to be much more lighter
• Grace walking through the door = too dark
• Turning on light= switched on wrong light which meant it was too dark
• Close-up of gin bottle being put down = more light too see label
• Looking up at the window = hands need to be on face
• Photos dropping = photos need to be more spread

 

Wednesday Filming

We managed to re-film everything last night and are well underway with the editing

After feedback on her makeup looking like "a clown" we toned down the black around the eyes and put a small amount of concealer on her lips to make her looked washed out and unkempt

Chloe using the higher quality camera throughout unlike in our first draft where two different camera were used



Subsequent alternations (Houston we have a problem)

Due to our final film deadline looming, and various other reasons, we have decided to change our actress. We understand that we have a lot of extra work now to do, however the benefits outnumber the issues.

Reasons for the change:

1. we needed to re-film the whole opening again anyway due to needing to change the makeup, overacting and a change in camera
2. We think it is too slow paced, so we want to add some more action and possibly a voice over
3. The daughter needs to be more violent in the flashback scene
4. We have just found out our actress cannot make the filming, and we HAVE to film tomorrow

This is a change we don't want to make, but it will benefit us in the long run.

 

Reserach: Kidulthood 9 Frame Analysis

I have chosen to do a 9 Frame Analysis on the film Kidulthood's opening as it is social realism, which means I can study the conventions and how it uses enigma codes to get hints as to how our opening should be.

Below is a prezi presentation of my analysis of Kidulthood film opening in 9 frames. But before you take a look at it here are some quick information on this film:

-It follows the life's of many teenagers who attend the same school, showing the troubles such as violence, drugs, sex and alcohol that face the different social and ethnic groups in a rough area
-The film is rated 15, due its sexual and violent nature.
-It is distributed by revolver entertainment
-The film was actually shot in the principle areas (adds to realism)

Prezi:


Further Analysis:

Mise-en-scene= The general colour scheme is grey and dull which makes it look quite gritty. This gives it a more realism feel and compliments the run-down look of the metal cages on the edge of the playground, and the poorly kept grass. This shows further that the area is rough and not a very happy place to live in.

Editing= The editing used almost gives the effect of a CCTV camera, with blurring jump cuts together, panning across the playground zooming in to focus on the different characters and social groups. With the trouble and crime going on in the area the CCTV is quite appropriate and fitting. This effect also adds to the realism of the film.

Camera= There is a varied use of longshots to close-ups, panning and focusing again creating the effect of the realistic CCTV. Also the close-up of the drill highlights the importance of it and makes it more dramatic.

Sound= The film opening uses both non-diegetic and diegetic sound. The non-diegetic sound being a stereotypical 'grimy' urban track, and the diegetic being shouting, laughing, and dialogue. The music sets the pace which is quite fast but slows down when dialogue is used to make it more dramatic.

Enigma codes= The main enigma code of the opening, is the drill shot. This is because the audience is un-able to see what he is making this may trigger the audience to want to watch more. The  boy then goes on to hide it in the bin. This creates questions like, 'what is it?' 'why is he hiding it?' etc. Another enigma is the fact the hooded group is watching everyone looking suspicious, which makes everyone wonder 'what are they up too?' 'are they looking for someone?'. The middle class group who hand out the party invites also create an enigma code as a party where 'everyone invited' is not bound to go well, therefore we wonder what will happen at this party.

Aspects that I have learnt from this analysis and maybe useful to consider for our own film opening=
-A dark dull colour scheme will add to the realism
-Certificating at 15, would be suitable for concerning the social realism themes of violence, alcohol and sex
-Shoot in the real life areas to get full desired effect
-Look into the distributor Revolver Entertainment to see if it could be a suitable match for our film opening once made
-Non-diegetic music can be used to make things more dramatic and help highlight important bits which need to be considered in the opening
-Should use a vary of close-up and long shots, as this is creates the effect of some one watching or CCTV which adds realism

First draft and feedback

This is the first draft of our film opening









We gave the viewers a questionnaire to fill in, to see what they liked and what we needed to improve and this video is our response to this feedback as well as things we as a team think need improving.

Wednesday Filming!!

We've finished filming!!.....sort off
With our first draft deadline loaming, today was the only day we could film in my house, however Hannah couldn't make it with the camera so we had to use Chloe's iPhone camera. We think that we will have to re-film the shots taken today as they may not make the quality of the other shots, but we will have to see when we upload the footage tomorrow.









We had to use the furniture in my room to achieve a high-angle shot.














After filming we gave Liv her wages....so hard earned chocolate ;)

Sunday Filming!!

Today, we had our first day of filming which I think went rather well. We have finished all of the flashback scene, however we did not manage to get all of the footage in the bedroom shot, therefore we will have to film on another day.









We think that our makeup was very successful and we were pleased with the outcome. We will now have to be careful when we film again, to make sure that it looks the same.

As some of our filming was done outside, we made sure that our actress was wrapped up warm with a hot water bottle between takes.













And we found that a head torch came in handy, as it was very hard to see Liv in some of the shots outside.

Risk Assessment

Health and Safety is one of the most important aspects we need to consider when filming. Before filming we sat down and discussed the possible dangers we could face and how we would overcome these below is what we discussed:

Possible risks:

-When filming by the roadside on the pavement, there is a possible danger of falling into the road or a car could come up onto the pavement and damage one of us
-It could be really cold and our actress will only have her tracksuit on and no coat, so may possibly get ill from the temperature
-When filming low angled shots onto the protagonist we will have to stand on chairs or wardrobes which creates a possible risk of one of us falling off and hurting ourselves
-In the argument (flashback) when pushing the parent into the door, it may be too forceful and possibly hurt one of our actress
-When throwing the picture onto the floor it may accidently break, and glass may be broken and possibly damage one of the crew or actresses

How we will overcome them:

-To have full concentration at all times, and be aware of the surroundings and what is going on
-Do not stand on the curb or on the edge of the pavement as that would increase chances of falling into the roadside
-Do not film in road, or do not walk in road when moving locations (use pavement where possible)
-When crossing the road look left and right and be absolutely sure it is safe to cross
-Bring a coat and hot water bottle with us to film and in between shots give to actress to keep her warm
-When standing on wardrobe or chair, make sure it is absolutely sturdy and that you have someone helping up there and helping them down
-Do not mess about when standing on furniture and make sure you have full concentration
-Do not push too hard, and make sure that in the area where the actress is pushed into, that all sharp objects or possible objects that could hurt are removed
-Replace the glass in the frame with plastic
-When throwing the frame, throw it onto a cushion

SUMMARY= 
If all of the above are considered then we should practice good health and safety.

Music Inspiration

In order to create the desired music that we wanted we searched already existent tracks which would fit our opening. By doing this we could create a similar piece and be inspired. Below is my analysis of three tracks we looked at:



I like this track because it is emotional and moody and I think this will fit our opening well as it reflects what she is feeling. From this, we have decided to capture an emotional feel to our own opening like this track.



I like this track too as captures a similar feeling.




We loved this track as it captured an emotional and moody feel, this fits the best out of the three tracks and we are inspired by this very much!

Research: Camera Drunken Effects Research

After deciding that in the narrative our character will be drunk, we thought that it would be most effective to show this aspect particularly through the POV shots. To make these shots realistic and believable we thought that we could use or create some camera effects or editing techniques. I will be researching into our possible and best options that we could use in our film opening.

The first camera technique I looked into was the unsteadiness, this was to make everything seem disorientated and so that you can almost feel the effect of the stumbling. To test this out I have experimented different ways that you can make the shot unsteady using test shots. 

Technique one:
We waved the camera side to side when walking this worked well and could be a possible technique to use

The second camera technique was blurriness, this is also to add to the effect of disorientation and get the full effect of what it is like being drunk. When researching the ways I could get blurry shots on the internet I found out that to get the effect it was mostly created when editing. However, there is one way you could create it, which we could do luckily due to the type of camera we are going to use.

On iMovie there are a number of effects which you can use to get the blurry effect and they are listed below:

• If you slow down the video by quite a bit, it slightly blurs it naturally anyway. Slowing it down does at to the drunken effect as when drunk, reactions are slowed down so this is quite a realistic effect.
• The video effect 'glow' can be used. This blurs it reasonably well but also brightens it quite a bit, this almost makes it feel like a flashback which is not the desired look so this isn't probably the most suitable.
• The video effect 'romantic' can be used. This blurs it slightly but again brightens it up making it also seem like a flashback thus not the most suitable.

The most suitable techniques for our opening is the slowing down of the video.

Finally, after choosing technique 1 and the camera technique for the blurred effect to be most suitable I have used them together at the same time to see how easy and effective it is.

SUMMARY:
From this piece of research I have found out that:
-Technique number 1 was the best technique to get an unsteady look
-Having bright lights in the distance/background when doing technique number 2 adds to the drunken effect, in this case street lights and tail lights on cars would be good
-I think that combining the camera technique of waving the camera with the  slow-mo would be most effective.

Filming Schedule

This is our plan for when we film on Sunday

2:00- camera crew arrive
2:30- actors arrive and are briefed
2:40-3:00 -filming flashback scene
3:00- checking footage, Gill (mother) leaves
3:00-4:30 -wait until it gets dark
4:30-5:00 -brief actress and do her makeup
5:00-5:30 -outside filming
5:30-6:30- inside filming
6:45- actress leaves
6:45-7:00 - eat dinner whilst checking footage
7:00 -leave