How did you attract/address your audience?

Our film appeals to the target audience because of a number of different things, like music and the conventions. For instance the low, monotoned music appeals to the thriller/tension side of the audience.

As well as this to appeal to our target audience we uploaded it onto you tube for the whole world to see:

This would appeal to the target audience as they are all about the technology of today, for instance they are morel likely to see the clip on You tube than the chances of seeing it on TV or at the cinema. This would be the reason we upload it to you tube because it is more accessible for a wider audience, thus appealing and attracting the audience.

Who would be tha target audience for your media product?

Our target audience would be between 15 and 27, making it a very large target audience. The audience would be mostly male with some females as well mostly of which will probably be in some form of education.

The target audience would be probably very mainstream, wearing the latest fashions probably shopping at shops like Top shop or Primark. They would watch TV shows based around a similar action genre with a bit of comedy as well, like Chuck for instance. I would like to think they listen to classic rock, perhaps with a liking for White Snake. They would watch the film because they like the films of similar genre and like to keep up to date.

The age certificate of the film would probably be a 12 or a 15 at a push. This is because we would still be able to appeal to our target audience as well as it being accessible for people younger than our target audience.

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

The institution that could distribute our film would probably be a low budget British company, similar to the company that distributes '28 Days Later'. The company 'Fox Searchlight Pictures' could distribute it as the film would be produced by a low budget company but then sought out by a bigger company like Fox, who would then distribute it to the audience.

What kinids of taste might your target audience have?

In my opinion our main target audience would be 16-27 year old, mainly based around the university lifestyle. Our typical Joe Public would be male and watch this film and similar films regularly, in between studying for his future career. They would probably not watch much TV but would listen to a lot of music, perhaps favouring the Metal/Heavy Rock genre. As for clothes they would not stretch much from jeans and t-shirts, with other possible Sci-Fi/Action references printed on the t-shirt. They would watch the film because they enjoy the genre and like to stay on top of latest releases.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We only had 3 main character's, Jess, Angus and myself. Firstly Jess:

The social group based around Jess would be a rebel, run-away teenager with a twisted, dark side possibly. The audience that could relate to her character would probably be a teenage audience who was a little escapism. As well as this the 'Goth' scene may be able to relate to her all black clothes and sarcastic attitude. The only other film character i could even think to compare her too could possibly be the Black Widow from the Avengers.

The second character would be Angus, who has a puppet feel - as if he is being manipulated from a higher source. His character seems like an old-fashioned spy, possibly disagreeing with the ideals of the organisation but furfilling their needs anyway. the audience could relate to Angus as the villian, a low level villian with more like him to follow. A film character I could think of being similar to Angus would be Agent Smith, from the Matrix.

The final character would be myself - the main hero of the film. My character has a focused and serious feel, as if he has a purpose and nothing will stop him from completing it. The all black outfit shows some sort of uniform possibly, or perhaps just a sort of camoflauge. The audience that could relate to me could possibly be the majority audience, possibly even getting emotionally attached. Another character i could relate myself to would be Chuck, from the TV series Chuck.

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

All together the film opening we made suits the forms and conventions of real media products. The opening is a strong, believable opening to an action/thriller film. For example the title: The Red-Field Protocol, has an action feel to it as it gives a feel of the army/special armed forces. As well as this the setting and location seems just like that of a action genre, the big hall with the dark lighting is typical of the action genre. Also the costumes and props suit the genre: me and Jess in all black - insinuating a dark or dangerous person. The only prop we used was the gunk, which was used to make the spy theme more believable.

Our opening sequences are quite typical of a thriller genre, because the clouds at the start make a serene environment until it all gets disturbed by Jess. This is typical of the genre as the night is darkest just before the dawn, similar to most movies. The story itself is very typical - spy vs spy, end of the world, nuclear disaster. the opening sets this up perfectly, for example the evacuation sign shows a little back story and gives a world for the audience to enter.

The special effects used were mainly basic, with an exciting effect on the gun - making it more believable and more exciting to watch. The other effects include a hue/saturation which provided the end of the world scenery. our opening sequence develops the conventions of the genre in such a way that the tension builds up and builds up (during the interrogation), i believe this is a developing of the conventions as it is typical to films of the genre.

Our opening had been influenced in a lot of ways, for example there is the western-barrel-gun-shot which is typical of the action genre. another way we were inspired is by the lighting and ambient music from the Dark Knight - used in the interrogation scene. This was very inspirational to us as we set out aiming to make an interrogation along the lines of the dark knight. So our work was influenced by the conventions of typical action films as well as a little inspiration from the dark knight.

Final Video - Feedback

For the feedback I went once again to Matthew, to get his expert advice:

However just Matthew alone would not be enough so I went to my second reliable source, Steve:

Then just for a few extra points of feedback we decided to put the video onto YouTube to see what the Internet had to say about the whole thing:

Final

Annotation - Commentary

Annotation - Editing/Effects

The editing was probably the hardest bit of the whole project, this is because it took the longest and needed the highest degree of detail. For example a simple idea is the dialogue lining up with the video, however we had issues with that. To overcome it however we detached the audio clip and manually synced the two. The program we used to edit the video was Adobe Premiere, here's a screen shot of the editing process (rendering to be precise):

Some good transition techniques we used were dissolve, fade to white/black and simple cut aways. An example of the fade to black is during the logo sequence, we used it here because it was very simple what with the logo's black backgrounds. However at the end of the logo sequence it fades to white to show the transition into the actual film, another example of a fade to white is at the very end when the title screen appears. We used fade to white there because it gave a finish to the 2 minute clip. An example of the dissolve would be where the circular dish dissolved to the bright light, traditionally the dissolve meant a change in time however we thought to use it as a change in location. This is however one of the things that is unclear about the clip, so if I were to improve it I would perhaps use a different transition - possibly a simple cut away.

As for effects there wasn't really that much used, the most technical being the security camera (previously discussed). Apart from that there were a few adjustments, like for instance the whole video was given a dark overlay. This made the clip more dramatic as the darkness always signifies to an evil of some sort. You can see the darkness in this shot slightly but the idea was that it shouldn't be that noticeable.

Annotation - Interrogation

The first shot after the transition is a long shot of Jess (the terrorist) sat in a chair with a beam of light on her. This is good as it establishes the scene and gives the audience an idea of where the character is situated. Then as Angus and I enter the shots got more interesting, for example there is a symmetrical shot (in the style of Kubrick) with a light in between us that looked quite good. It showed a silhouette of myself, Angus but also Jess. This was effective as it gave spacial awareness.

The next good shot was the shot down the barrel of the gun, a shot inspired by westerns. It was made even better by the lighting which produced shadows onto my face. The effect we later added with the blaze of light coming from the end of the gun made the shot look even more realistic. As well as this the shot was made better by the GREAT actor in the frame.

Then the sequence carried on, however it switched to a security camera. This provided  bit of variety for the sequence, allowing the audiences attention to be refreshed almost. For the security camera shot we went up to the balcony and did a high angle shot looking down on Jess. This obviously showed how small and possibly insignificant she was but also gave a feel as if someone was watching over them. To make this we filmed it normally, then in after effects we added a hue/saturation and a grain effect. From that we put on a frame and logo to make the security camera feel more realistic.

The last shot that is seen is a shaky camera shot of myself and Jess running out of the interrogation room into the daylight. This is effective as the transition from dark to light have a sense of fading to white, this was then ultimately followed by a fade to white (where the title shot appeared). I thought this looked good as it almost gave an adrenalin rush to the end. This worked well as a normal film opening would not really have an ending after two minutes so the fact we ran out made the film look like it were meant to carry on.

Annotation - Opening Credits

The opening credits take up half of the 2 minutes, they are placed on a montage of cloud and landscape shots. After the logo's have finished the first shot the audience see is a shot of clouds with a transition to another cloud shot. As it does our first credit appears on screen: 'Midnight Pictures presents'. The text is in plain black writing in a bold text, emphasising the production company. The credit is also placed centre screen as there are no other visual aspects on screen.

The sequence then transitions into a long shot of two radio masts, this is when the audio track comes into the scene. The idea behind it was to show it is a radio broadcast by showing radio masts, also the radio masts look slightly sinister. The next shot is one of my favourite, it is an example of foreshortening. This is when a shot conveys a 3D image by layering items on the picture plane. This is effective as it gives an interesting shot to the sequence, making it more effective than just having simple shots.

As the credits continue to appear the shots change angles around the various radio masts, creating a sense of familiarity for the audience. The shots also continue to give an air of mystery with the shadows and dark colours. The next good shot was the manual focus pull, this is where the shot was concentrated on the radio mast then pulled foreward to the barbed wire. This is effective as it goes from a neutral shot to a dangerous and mysterious shot.

The evacuation sign then provides a little insight into the film as the nuclear plant would have caused an evacuation. However the sign is fades and worn down - suggesting some time has passed since the incidence. As well as this it provides a thrill for the eyes as it is different from clouds or radio masts.

Shortly after this there is the transition between the opening credits and the interrogation. This is significant as it links the two sequences together. It does this by a fade from a circular dish on the radio mast to a circular light in the interrogation. This is effective as it transitions between the two without breaking the visual aspects of the sequence.

Final Video

Production - Diary

9th February 2012
Today we got Steve to record a voice for the radio broadcast at the start. This went well and i think we will have a good, strong opening.

16th February 2012
Filming was meant to start tonight but due to forces out of our control it was postponed until tomorrow.

17th February 2012
Today we filmed the whole interrogation scene in roughly 50 minutes. It went quite well, we have a number of shots for each scene and should have enough for editing the film in a manner that shows its qualities. I dresses like a proper spy today with the thick, black jacket and the all black jeans - very ominous. Here's a picture of Angus looking like a director for you:

20th February 2012
Today we looked properly at what we filmed and put it all into Adobe Premiere. All in all it looks good and editing should be fun!

28th February 2012
It's been almost a week of editing and we are already annoyed. The computers keep crashing and key frames are our worst enemy but the movie is starting to take shape.

19th March 2012
It's coming together slowly - very slowly - but surely. The opening is nearly ready for the magic of After Effects... Can't wait.

16th April 2012
First day back and there seems to be more to do than I could remember there being. The video is all edited together now and all we have to do is put some effects on it. I'm starting to like how the whole thing is turning out.

20th April 2012
DONE! Finally all the editing is done and the film is ready for export. Links and analysis to follow.

Production

Now the planning and research are done, we have a very good idea of what we are going to do. Ideas will obviously change a little as we go on but mainly everything is sorted.

A 'diary' is to follow this post, outlining everything that went into production and post-production.

Planning - Script Feedback

I presented the script to two people both of different target audience's. The first is Matthew who is younger and would be more likely to watch the film and movies with a similar genre. Here is his video feedback:

The second person I interviewed was Andrea, who was older and would have watched more of the genre of film that Matthew. Here is her video feedback:

Planning - Final Ideas

After reflecting on the ideas as a group here are the final ideas:

Logo's:

And here is the final script:

ORIGINAL FILM OPENING SEQUENCE - PART 1

OPENING TITLES:

(COMPANY LOGOS)

MIDNIGHT PICTURES PRESENTS

IN ASSOCIATION WITH FALLOUT FILMS

A RED-X-SCAR PRODUCTION

DIRECTED BY ANGUS BENTHAM

PRODUCERS:

Angus Bentham

Jessica Lyon

Lauren Simpkin

Andrew McFadden

SCREENPLAY by Angus Bentham

EDITED by Andrew McFadden

CAMERA OPERATED by Lauren Simpkin

ACTORS/VOICE ACTORS:

Jessica Lyon

Andrew McFadden

Angus Bentham

Lauren Simpkin

>> CAST NAMES

TITLE – THE AGENT OF CHAOS                 ?

EXT. RADIO MASTS ON HILL – MORNING

Howling wind bridges THREE moving cloud Shots and into the rest of scene 1. Setting provides peaceful atmosphere which is then broken by an incursion of WHITE NOISE from a Radio Transmission. The Camera then pans down from sky onto a Radio Mast (at Billing Hill). White noise fades away and the Radio Speaker provides a voice-over for setting’s brief exposition.

(WHITE NOISE)...Good Morning, it is Friday the 18th of March 2022, and you are listening to IMPERIUM FM. To start with...

(WHITE NOISE)...Increased Gale-Force Winds so you can expect to see thunder Storms by the early hours of tomorrow morning. We advise you keep...

(WHITE NOISE)...The terrorist is alive. We are still reminded of the chaos which took place right across the country 10 years ago?

(WHITE NOISE)...collaborator has been detained. It is thought that he may have useful information concerning the location of their leader. You should remember that we are your protectors and we will ensure that (WHITE NOISE)...Our role illuminates your future; a future of freedom, prosperity and peace.

(WHITE NOISE)...Play LACRIMOSA by MOZART

>> MUSIC BRIDGE INTO NEXT SCENE

DISSOLVE – Circular radio dish to circular pool of light

INT. BLACKED OUT HALL WITH SMALL POOL OF LIGHT – Collaborator Character is sat at a desk here, bashing her head on the table rhythmically.

Lacrimosa is fading away, being replaced with a Low Bass Rumble sound effect. Distant intercom voices in the background.

She is sat at a cleared desk with only a lamp on it, alone.

Stream of light comes across the hall to the victim on the floor. A low Angle Medium Long Shot of interrogator one followed by a High Angle Medium Long Shot of the Criminal Collaborator. Interrogator slowly approaches with echoing footsteps. Victim is still bashing head against the table, as if insane.

1.       BLACK AND WHITE security camera shot.

2.       Back to Normal Cam.

Collaborator

(Little laugh) ...Hi.

Interrogator just stares at her trough his sunglasses then looks to the side, where there is a suspended clock at 8:58am (Manual Focus Pull from face to clock when he turns his head)

Interrogator two enters the room and walks up to her, also wearing sunglasses (Echoing footsteps). The two interrogators stand there (one on either side of her – interrogator 1 on her right and two on her left) and she gets up onto her knees and smiles at them.

Collaborator

...Do you think that I could perha...

Interrogator 1

Shut up...we’ll be asking the questions.

You killed your entire team and then went on to demolish the first power station in 10 years...

Collaborator

How were the fireworks from where you were? My head’s still ringing a little bit to be honest.

FLASH BACK – POWER STATION – Morning (Camera Shake)

Interrogator 1

Your head will be more when ringing by the time we’re through with you (pulling gun out) I’m not allowed to kill you, yet. But, I don’t think they’ll mind if I shoot you in the leg...

Interrogator 2

By tonight, we will know our Victory is much closer than it ever has been before.

CLOCK SHOT – 8:59am

Interrogator 1

I don’t know about that. She’s just a collaborator to the Real threat...We need to get information out of her which will probably take days. It’s a good thing we caught her when we did.

BLACK AND WHITE ES security camera, goes static and black.

Back to Normal Cam.

Interrogator 2

I wasn’t talking to you...

Interrogator 1 looks to no.2 and is shocked to see Interrogator 2 pointing a gun at him.

Collaborator

You wanted information, Mr?

CLOCK SHOT – 9:00am

Interrogator 2 shoots no. 1 and kills him.

Collaborator

The security cameras...have you dealt with them?

Interrogator 2

Yes, now let’s get out of here. It’s 9 o’clock, the power will be cut, the facility will go on Red Alert, and we will have our opportunity to escape.

The collaborator stands up.

CUT TO

Interrogation light goes out.

Corridor - all lights go out.

Staircase - tilt down, all lights go out.

Corner of Building, with clouds passing by – Red Alert Ambient Sounds.

FADE TO BLACK

Planning - Technologies

One part of the planning stage was to look at the technologies we needed to use, for example we had to familiarise ourselves with Adobe After Effects and adobe Premiere Pro. As well as learning how to use the camera and how to position frames correctly. This job fell to me and Lauren.

Together we watched a total of 9 videos equalling to roughly 131 minutes. This was very educational as we learnt how to do basic effects on After Effects, like removing a green screen and placing a different background onto it. As well as this we learnt more simple techniques like text overlay for example. This would come in useful for the opening credits as well as for future use. Here is a link to one of the videos:

http://www.videocopilot.net/basic/tutorials/07.3d/

After this we looked at the camera, seeing how each was used. This was useful as it familiarised us with the idea behind the camera and how to operate it efficiently.

All in all we became more familiar with the effects programmes as well as the camera itself. this will be helpful for when we come to film and edit.

Planning - Script

The script was mainly constructed in the class discussion, all that was left to do was to type it up really. Here it is:


COURSEWORK FILM OPENING – 2 MINUTES LONG                                          

       OPENING TITLE
       MIDNIGHT PICTURES PRESENTS
       RED-X-SCAR PRODUCTION
       IN ASSOCIATION WITH FALLOUT FILMS

> CAST NAMES

1.       EXT – SCATTERED CLOUDS OVER BILLINGE HILL – MORNING

Howling wind bridges THREE moving cloud Shots and into the rest of scene 1. Setting provides peaceful atmosphere which is then broken by an incursion of WHITE NOISE from a Radio Transmission. The Camera then pans down from clouds onto a Radio Mast (at Billing Hill). White noise fades away and the Radio Speaker provides a voice-over for setting’s brief exposition.

...Good Morning, it is Friday the 18th of March 2022, and you are listening to IMPERIUM FM. To start with...

...Increased Gale-Force Winds so you can expect to see thunder Storms by the early hours of tomorrow morning. We advise you keep...

...We are still reminded of the chaos which took place right across the country 10 years ago?

...MOST-WANTED has been captured. We are going to deal with him and make sure he never attempts to break the delicate chain of order we have built across this nation over the Years. We are your protectors and can make sure that Criminals such as this man are taken care of. Our role illuminates your future, a future of freedom, prosperity and peace.

...Play CLASSICAL MUSIC >> BRIDGE INTO NEXT SCENE (MOZART – LACRIMOSA)

2.       INT – SHADOWED HALL WITH SMALL POOL OF LIGHT – Character is lying down here (MOST WANTED).

Low Bass Rumble sound for uneasy atmosphere along-side classical music. An interrogator enters the hall - Use 180 degree Rule with the slow, suspenseful approach.

Planning - Logo Design

Angus went away and made a few logo's for the film opening, consisting of a few similar designs - most of which having a black, opaque background. Here is the first logo:

This logo has a professional feel to it, with the ace shape in the centre making the whole logo has a professional film feel. the 'Midnight Pictures' around the outside give the imaginary company a name which seems daunting possibly fitting with the genre of the films being made by it. The 'Titan-Mind' at the bottom indicates the company in a subsidiary, meaning the idea of the company is more realistic.

This logo also fits in with the action/thriller genre with the black background and the red (signifying danger) writing. The 'Red-X-Scar' seems to make the logo more vicious and sinister, again fitting in with the genre of the films.

The final logo that Angus made is that of 'Fallout Films', this logo has a white glow about the main section and a simple arrow logo in the centre. The idea of the logo is that the glow is residue from a nuclear fallout which, again, fits with the whole action genre.

So all in all the logo's seem professional and would be suitable for a real film, never mind an armature film. Most of the logo's will probably be used as all give a certain feel for the film as well as just looking good.

Planning - Class Discussion

With research over and an idea of what we want to create an what we want it to look like we had to plan. This involved the group sitting down and brainstorming idea's, then all of us going away and working on our assigned jobs.

The class discussion involved our group (Angus, Jess, Lauren and myself) sitting down and discussing what we wanted our video to be like. We came up with a few ideas, one of which was to do an interrogation scene like the one from The Dark Knight. This was a unanimous decision as we all thought it would make for a good opening. So from this we had settled on a Action/Thriller genre, meaning our opening would be quick paced and full of interesting shots.

From this we all decided we should go away and plan various aspects of the video, the aspects were:

• Logo's
• Storyboards
• Questionnaires
• Script

Research - Logo Design

To make our production look more professional our logo's have to be of a certain standard. It may seem simple but without good logo's the film would not look very professional. So in order to challenge this I have decided to research logo's and logo design.

The first logo I looked at was Paramount Pictures. Their logo consists of a mountain scenery with the name of the company above the peak. The text of the company is stylish yet professional, suggesting the company is sophisticated. As well as this the stars that form a circle between the mountain an the text makes the logo stand out more. The stars obviously resembling class and superiority, but all together the logo looks impressive and would open into a great film. The logo is pictured below:

The second logo I decided to look at was that of Warner Brothers. This logo seemed more relaxed that the Paramount logo, possibly because Warner Bros. films are aimed at a younger audience that that of Paramount. Anyway the logo consists of a gold shield shape, signifying the brilliance of the company as well as having a common logo that people could familiarise with. The WB in the logo obviously indicate Warner Brothers but the letters stand out as they are curved, suggesting a friendly feel on the whole thing. Ultimately the logo seems to be aimed at a younger audience but still looks like the film following the logo would be good! See logo below:

The third and final logo I research is that of Columbia Pictures. This logo looks very American and very powerful. I got this from the picturesque woman standing on the steps in the familiar American Lady stance. The power aspect comes from the light emitting from the woman's torch, suggesting that the company produces light perhaps. This is a good logo as it seems to give a authoritative feel to the film, as if the people who made it know it is going to be successful.

After looking at three logo's from similar companies i have learnt that the logo's we make will need to look professional yet powerful, as well as this the aspect of clouds seems to be present in all three. This is an idea we could possibly use for our logo's.

Research - Law Abiding Citizen Interrogation Scene

This clip starts with a close up of a heart rate monitoring machine which immediately signals danger as well as possible violence (which this clip has). we find out that a man is attached to the machine (again signalling danger and violence) as well as the man being tied down. Here is a screen shot of the man:

All the time this is happening the interrogator is asking the man about the crime he has committed, in this instance the murder of a whole family. He then continues to list all of the devices he has that will be used to torture the man as well as asking about the family. This is good as it creates a sense of action and drama on top of the actual interrogation scene. This is effective as it would keep the audience entertained as well as moving the storyline of the film along.

Here is the clip from Law Abiding Citizen:



Toward the end of the clip he begins to inject the man with adrenaline, describing the unpleasant effects the drug will have on him as he does. A number of shots show the clip, the most peculiar is a shot looking up at a mirrored ceiling, which reflects the torture occurring below. This is effective as it gives a different aspect or perception of the events unfolding.
From this clip i have learnt that action can be used alongside narrative to produce a compelling story as well as an exciting piece of footage. Possible things we could use from that clip would be the mirrored shot, or perhaps the 'out of the box' thinking that would produce such a shot.