small scale research study presentation

small scale research study

http://www.slideshare.net/maxcochrane11/small-scale-research-62760586

My Movie Poster

smale scale research video

questionnaire

1. What did you like out of my opening sequence e.g camerawork, editing etc?
2. What were some areas of my opening sequence that you thought I could've improved on?
3. Do you feel my opening sequence followed some drama conventions?
4. Would you as a viewer continue watching my film past the opening?
5. based on this opening sequence where would you see the rest of the film plot going?
6. If I was to create a film poster for the movie what would you expect to see in it?

Note to examiner

Dear examiner,
This is my blog for OCR's Media Studies AS qualification. My blog has the work and tasks that we have covered over the past year from planning to final products. To look through my posts you visit my main page and scroll down clicking on which ever post you wish to view, once you reach the bottom of the page you can click on the older posts option to see the page below.

Thank you,
Max Cochrane

Evaluation question 4

http://goanimate.com/videos/0sUbK3-clbVE?utm_source=linkshare&utm_medium=linkshare&utm_campaign=usercontent

Evaluation question 7

Evaluation question 2

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/13313037-untitled-presentation

Evaluation question 5

evaluation question 3

evaluation question 1

http://www.slideshare.net/maxcochrane11/evaluation-question-1-updated-61738713

Evaluation question 6

https://prezi.com/meehbey1-xri/media-opening-sequence/

proliferation of hardware and content

https://www.slideshare.net/secret/LlhcendNcblwBG

How is ethnicity represented in the clip from ‘Hotel Babylon’

The representation in the clip from tv show ‘Hotel Babylon is presented to the audience through the uses of camera angles, editing, sound and mise en scene. In general the immigrants who are all workers at the hotel are shown to all stay in their ethnic groups as social groups. When the immigration officers come in they are all shown from quick cuts to panic and express lots of fear. The shot reverse shot of them getting into the room shows their support to each over and also shows the main woman’s stress and worrying to get them all in as soon as possible. The close up panning shot of all the immigrants inside the room show their facial expressions showing fear and anxiousness. The close up shot of the main woman also shows her stress rise when she realises there is still one person missing in the room. During the entire shots of the immigrants in the room they are all presented as vulnerable but they all support one another as they work like a team not leaving others behind showing they all have a connection. The close ups with the immigration officer show him to keep a serious and slightly angry facial expression representing him as the crueller character audiences are supposed to dislike. The quick cuts of the immigration officers capturing the immigrant who never made it present his panic in the situation and creates more tension and represents him as a victim. The final shot of the clip panning across the immigrants having lunch show them as very ethnically dependant as they do not mix when eating they all sit in their own ethnic groups and are represented as very stereotypical. The shot of the black people stays for longer as they are shown to be the only ones genuinely saddened by the immigration officers deporting one of them.

The characters are also represented as vulnerable by the editing of the clip the fast pace as the tension builds presents them as weak and in need of support and help. The pace changes between the immigrant cleaner being found and captured and the people standing in the room, it builds again when one of the diabetic immigrants pass out and they are all represented as supportive as they all go to her.

The mise-en-scene in the clip helps present the immigrants as hard working and attempt to present themselves well as they make sure they dress smartly and neat unlike the immigration officer who show to be dressed in an uneaten scruffy way representing him as crueller and rougher than the immigrants.

The sound used in the clip is also very vital in how the characters are represented, as the immigrants are moving into the room in fear and panic the non diegetic sound is louder and more fast pace to create more tension and drama and a gripping feel. Once in the room and during shots of the immigrant still outside the non diegetic sound is much quitter much like the immigrants trying to remain silent. Some of the dialogue also represents the immigrants as underrated in their abilities and talents as the man who helped the diabetic lady showed great knowledge of medicine and biology and says “I wasn’t always a cleaner” representing him as a victim of society for when he could be a doctor he is instead in a much worse job due to his ethnicity. The phrase “rules of the game” said by the immigration officer shows how little he cares about the very serious matter and represents him as cold and unnecessarily harsh and selfish further presenting the immigrants as unfortunate and vulnerable.

In general these four areas manage to represent the immigrants as supportive team players but very vulnerable and underrated, they share some stereotypes but are presented to be more likable by audiences unlike the immigration officers who are presented as cruel characters who we want to lose in what they consider “the game”.

“Cross-media convergence and synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences.” To what extent do you agree with this statement in relation to your chosen media area?

I think cross-media convergence and synergy are a vital process in having a successful market of different media products, it creates opportunities to increase the awareness of the products and then increase profits. Synergy allows a certain product e.g a movie to take advantage of another type of media such as video games and soundtracks like the movie ‘Star Wars The Force Awakens’ then went on to be released around the same time as the video game ‘Star Wars Battlefront’ which would appeal to a wide range of audiences which could be possible fans of the film series or not. Since both the game and movie are obviously related to each over and being released at around the same time, it allowed a wider audience to become aware of both and would then cause the appeal of the movie to broaden as the people playing the game will know something about it and vice versa with people watching the film will then be more interested to play the game. Another example of this same area would be the soundtrack of the movie in which people may download music that is used within the film. Before the films release there was the release of also a cartoon series aimed at a younger demographic called ‘Star Wars Rebels’. Being aimed at younger audiences and also a cartoon it was easier to understand and would cause younger audiences to be more appealed to the coming movie of the same franchise. Also with this being done if audiences of one of the certain media areas enjoyed the game or movie depending which one they used, they could then inform others who do not know about them and then could increase the size of the audiences for the products which could lead to more popularity and eventual profits. Also action figures of the characters within the film were made aimed at younger audiences but then the younger audiences who see the film would have lots of appeal and a want to purchase these products.

Another way in which synergy worked with Star Wars The Force Awakens was on Sky a month before the release of the film they had a channel called ‘Sky Star Wars’ which only played the six star wars films on repeat as to increase the excitement for the new instalment and also bring extra awareness to the old movies while also then increasing the amount of people using Sky in order to watch them benefitting both the new film and Sky.

A disadvantage of this could however could then be that if some audience were to play the game or watch the movie or just listen to the soundtrack and were dissatisfied with the product they listened to/played/watched then the other media types would become less appealing to those audiences, of course the market would have made some money from the audience using the specific type of media, but they miss out on a chance to make so much more because of this. Also dissatisfied audiences could tell others about it and talk about how they felt it was not worth it and so it reduces the amount of target audience as the general appeal to see the movie or play the game is reduced.

Convergence is when combining two or more mediums in the media for example TV/ computer graphics / radios and websites. Difference between convergence and synergy is that while both involve media products synergy can involve non media products like action figures, books. Star Wars The force awakens was in many magazines and news papers to increase awareness of the film. All these in full strongly benefit the market of the media products for audiences with a wide variety of options for them. I feel even with the risks and possible backfire in general synergy and cross media convergence are very vital for a successful market in the media.

opening sequence final draft

After further editing my video trimming down shots and also adding in the integrated titles I labelled this as my final draft and uploaded it to youtube.

Storyboard for opening sequence

Location

I chose to use Hammersmith as the location for my movie as I needed somewhere which the character could live but also very importantly has a bridge within it which Hammersmith does so I found it a suitable location for me as in the full film the bridge would need to be a key part in the story.

Integrated titles in my opening sequence

As one of the last changes I wanted to make for my final draft of the opening sequence I decided to integrate the opening titles through the use of adobe after effects, I felt this would look a lot better and would also allow me to improve in a another area of editing.


In order to do this I took several of the opening shots I had used and got their unedited versions and put them all onto after effects, from there I had rough sketches of where I wanted the titles to go and what they would do, already in my video I had titles but only simple ones that were offered on Final Cut Pro. I would have the shots put up on after effects the cut them down to the size that they are in my actual video and then type in what I wanted the title to be. After this I changed the size of them and managed to activate the 3D option which gave me options of rotation which made the titles pop out more. For moving shots it would be more difficult and would mean I would have to put a tracking option on so the title would remain locked with the item that It was tracked onto, also to further keep it as stationary as possible I could go through the clip shot by shot and move the title back into place.



The shots above show how I would place the titles somewhere move, rotate them slightly so that they would look more 3D and well fitted into the place then the shot on the left shows me moving them shot by shot to remain stationary in the place I wanted them in the photos case in-between the small gap above the door as it looks like they are just resting in-between the walls so it fit well in my opinion.



In this shot the character is preparing to hit the golf ball so I could lock the titles onto his club which would make the titles follow the action of it. By also tilting it slightly as the shot goes on so it properly follows the action of the club.



Once I had managed to transfer over the finished and edited shots with the titles I put them over the original shots on Final Cut Pro. Once I had finished editing the new clips into my film I then labelled it as Final draft and uploaded it to youtube.

Ident

Casting

For the main role of Will I went with my friend Ethan, he was also good for the role being very experienced at golf which was one of the main things for the character who dreamed of being a professional golfer in future. Ethan has a bit of asian ethnicity in him so for the role of his mother I went with my mum who is also of asian ethnicity plus they both has a similar skin tone so I felt it could work well.

List of props

For the video we needed only a few props which included:

A golf bat, so that are shown the main characters fondness of the sport, we see him also cleaning it showing he wants it kept in good condition as it is an item he is very fond of.

A golf ball

A vodka bottle

 

List of costumes

For the character of Will as he was meant to be of lower class when we had gotten an outfit from Ethan's wardrobe including a golf cap he owned as the character is meant to be a great lover of golf,we went down to a small green close to his house and smudged small amounts of mud onto the top and one side of his face showing the state in which he and his clothes are in.

Opening titles and credits

In films opening credits and titles are very common and can come either integrated or standard.

Some examples of integrated titles are:

Harry Potter:

In the opening we see the title come from behind one of the clouds

 

Zombieland:

The title is in 3rd and when the crow bar goes through the water sprinkler it breaks both the water and title apart



The girl with the dragon tattoo:

The title is submerged in dark liquid we assume is oil

 

Examples of none integrated titles are:

Pulp Fiction:

A simple opening and the title fades into the background with the rest of the credits appearing as a normal credits.



Jackie Brown:

Similar to Pupl Fiction the opening sees the character move along the shot and the title simply pops onto the screen.



Integrated titles are more complicated and usually can appear behind or in-font of another visual on the screen such as a building or a car. There is no official order in which titles will always show up in a film, recently some motion pictures babe actually not used opening credits and only display the movies title at the closing credits. Films such as the Star Wars franchise don't show opening credits they only show the films title.
The common opening credit order however is still:

• Name of the studio
• Name of the production company
• Possessory credits
• Starring 
• Film's title 
• Featuring 
• Casting
• Music
• Production design 

Other possible credits could involve:

• Set design 
• Costumes
• Hairdresser
• Make up
• Sound recording 
• Visual effects director 

Also:

• Edited by
• Director of photography 
• Producer 
• Based on (true story, book)
• Writers 
• Director 

YOUTH script

Youth

By

Max Cochrane

Shooting script

EXT. LONDON. HAMMERSMITH BRIDGE. DAY

We see the Hammersmith Bridge with dark clouds in the sky, the title of the film slowly appears and then fades.

EXT. LONDON. HAMMERSMITH. DAY

We see several parts of Hammersmith the station, and the street, random pedestrians that walk by on their day.

INT. LONDON. WILL'S HOUSE. HAMMERSMITH. DAY 

Will wakes up slowly, gets dressed places his cap on and then opens his curtains, we see him take a deep sigh then enter his mothers room but before doing so he also grabs his golf bat and golf ball. We can see his mother asleep or passed out in her messy room with an empty bottle of vodka in her hand. Will carefully reaches onto her bedside table and steals a note from it perhaps to also prevent her using it to buy more drink, once he has taken the money he proceeds to exit the house.

EXT. LONDON. HAMMERSMITH. DAY

We see a few more shots of Hammersmith and then will quickly walking down his road after leaving his home before starting to walk looking mostly on the floor, he doesn't pay much attention to anybody. After a while we see how he is skilled with a golf bat and ball as he begins to do tricks with it and see shots of him playing golf in alley ways hitting them into cups and trying to do tricks with the golf balls, at one point he hits it much harder and manages to knock down one of the pieces of rubble he used as a target as he looks on with pride. We witness him wander around with his golf bat for a while longer before he returns home.

INT. LONDON. WILLS ROOM. DAY

We see Will watching videos of famous golfers and watching them play, as he watches we see him smile showing the audience he wishes to be one on day, as he watches he slowly looks up outside his window, as the scene is coming to an end we hear Wills mother call out his name in anger and him turn around startled and worried as the screen fades to black and the title "YOUTH" appears.

END

opening sequence first draft

audience feedback for first draft

Some of the things which I have been advised on it that:

• The scenery shots were good however there are too many and I need to take some out.
• It was odd that the boy is shown getting out of bed already in his clothes.
• Some of the shots taken in the bed room were blurry and out of focus. These are the shots in which I am going to reshoot.
• Wake up scene is overused so should taken out and replaced with him just getting ready and heading out.
• I am also going to take some new shots of him watching and his mum shouting at him as I want the opening to have more conflict and excitement so to further hook the audience to watch more of it.

opening sequence conventions

1. List of generic conventions of opening sequences

2. Conventions of your specific genre

3. Conventions you will choose to stick to

4. Conventions you will deliberately subvert (change slightly/turn on their head)

1.

·      The purpose of a film opening is to entice the audience to continue watching the film, it should usually establish the characters and the genre and this can be done in many ways.

·      Establishing shot, it is often used in an opening sequence to show the audience where the film is set, what location.

·      Sometimes there can be a narration which will inform the audience on minor details that will give them an understanding of perhaps backstory, what is going on, who the characters are etc.

·      Often in action movies there will be an opening with an action scene, which will be fast paced to get the audience interested straight away.

·      Another thing that would usually be used in action movies would be a chase scene this also attracts audiences to watch as they become interested.

·      Productions logos shown before the actual film, if the film is high budget the logo will be adapted to reflect the genre and story line of the film.

·      Title sequences can be used, sometimes showing the cast and production teams, the titles can also be used to build up tension and suspense and possibly show the genre of the film.

·      Animation can be used to portray the beginning of the film in a creative way and visibly show the difference between the film itself and the opening sequence.

·      A compilation of photographs can be used for example in romantic films, it shows the audience the theme and relationships within the film.

·      Narrative content, this includes the context as well as the pace of the narrative increases as level of engagement increases.

·      Soundtrack, the tone, volume and tempo, which will generically start, quiet and slow-paced.

2. I am choosing drama for my opening sequence so the conventions for that are:

·       Exhibits real life situations with realistic characters, settings and stories.

·      Portrays journeys of the character development.

·      Intense social interaction.

·      Purpose of a dramatic story line is to move the audience emotionally.

·      Heart of drama is the conflict.

·      Conflicts include inner/outer realistic struggles depicting hardships, difficulty, and pain.

·      Audience can relate to the characters (preferred reading - Halls Theory)

·      Structure with climaxes and anti climaxes to keep the audience emotionally attached and the tension on-going

·      A form of realisation at the end/happily ending.

3. The conventions I will try to stick with are:

·      Exhibits real life situations with realistic characters, settings and stories.

·      Portrays journeys of the character development.

·      Purpose of a dramatic story line is to move the audience dramatically.

·      Conflicts include inner/outer realistic struggles depicting hardships, difficulty, and pain.

4. Conventions I will change will be:

·      Heart of drama is conflict

·      Audience can relate to characters

·      Intense social interaction