Focus group

A focus group is a group of people joined together to participate in a discussion about a product before its release. I will be gathering and creating a focus group of around 10 friends and family who can give me feedback on the tasks I complete leading up to the film we make.

Research into opening title sequences

The Hangover

The hangover starts with a group of drunken people in the middle of nowhere not knowing what has happened. This is very similar to the film we will be making. The opening has the theme alcohol and drugs like our film. It is also showing what occurs at the end of the movie at the start. However the very start of the film shows a wedding reception and the mise en scene of some flowers which signify weddings and happiness which contrasts from the next scene where the group of men are in the mise en scene location of a dessert panicking and not knowing where they are or what to do. Also the transition of the man on the phone in the dessert to the title of the hangover. This connotes the emptiness that the man feels, as he man looks into the sky of the dessert to find some sort of salvation only for the title of the film to be beamed across the sky. Another example of editing is in the opening scene where there slow transitions of the flowers being took out the car and the shot of the wedding cake. This connotes the calmness of the opening scene and portrays that nothing has gone wrong yet. For camerawork the pan of the wedding dress and cake clearly signifies that a wedding is about to occur. This promotes a contrast to what actually occurs in the film with the sex, drugs and alcohol in Las Vegas. Also the close up of the woman's face on the phone shows the state of panic the woman is in, and also the general she has towards the man on the phone as she is demanding to find out where her husband to be is. The music in the background at the start of the scene of the wedding, is uplifting and cheerful music, suggesting that there is a celebration or that something good is about to happen. However the next sound is the sound of the answer phone for 3 different men. This suggests that someone is trying to get hold of these men but are unable to, as all there phones are going to the well known sound of somebodies answer phone. The answer phone messages presents worry to the viewers as they are worried that something may have happened to the people who are not picking up there phones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKtHA8EFgIo

Superbad

Superbad is also similar to the film we are making as its about partying alcohol and drugs, these are all picked up in this opening scene. The themes we pick up from this opening is teenagers obsession with parties, drugs and pornography. We learn that Seth especially loves pornography. The opening shows the mise en scene of a car and Seth using a phone whilst driving car. This connotes careless and thoughtless teens as they are more worried about making a phone call then being safe whilst driving and putting themselves as well as other drivers at risk. It also puts worry towards the viewers as Seth could cause an accident by driving whilst on the phone. Also the mise en scene of the location shows a quite well off neighborhood which could be mainly occupied by people who are middle class. This is because of the reasonably large houses and lawns that are shown and because this teen is able to afford a car which suggests that he or his family are not poor. A piece of editing in the sequence is near the end where the transition of the next scene is onto a school bus. This signifies school and tells the viewers that these two characters are school students and that film is likely to be set in or around a school and likely to be school related. Also the cross cutting of the boy in the car and the boy in his house. This shows the comparison between these two friends looks and likes. For example we see that the boy in the car is very stocky whereas the boy in his house is as skinny as anything. The 2 shot of the 2 boys in the car portrays the similarities and differences between these 2 boys. For example the driver of the car is chubby and the passenger isn't, you get to see the striking binary opposites between the 2 friends. The mid shot of the boy in his house portrays his body language of not really listening to what his friend is talking about and being more interested in his breakfast. Also the sound of the boys dialogue is very typical teenager speak. For example talking about "porn", "sex", "drugs" and "alcohol", pretty much all the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQeWAZDJu8

21 and over

21 and over similarly has an opening with a group of boys wanting to go out and buy alcohol. The character who house seems threatened by alcohol and doesn't necessarily want to have it. Whereas as the others are very keen. The low angle shot of the boys dad talking to his friends suggests the overriding power and authority that he has over his friends, the friends seem particularly scared. Also the over the shoulder shot showing the face of the Chinese teen shows genuine fear and fright about talking about the subject of alcohol whilst his parents were in the house. The mise en scene of the teens backpack connotes school and school life. It also tells the viewers that these group of friends are likely to be school students. Also the mise en scene of the lighting on the dads face. This signifies that he has far more authority over the teens and that he can say what he likes without being answered back to. The background is also blurred out which makes the dad out to be some sort of God figure with the light shined on his face. The rapid cuts when the teens start talking about alcohol signify tension but also excitement on the boys account as they are figuring out a way of get holding some alcohol even though it is against the law at there age. Also the sound of silence when the boys dad walks in shows the authority and aura that he possesses. Also the frightening nature of him as everyone stops speaking because they dont want the dad to hear anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwyjBL53Mc4

21 jump street

21 jump street is about two men who went to the same school becoming undercover police partners to try to undercover a drugs mule in a school. The opening goes back to the school days of these officers and shows the loneliness of one the officers faced. Firstly the mise en scene of the school bus suggests that this film is going to be based about or around a school, the bus is a key indicator for this. Also the costume that the boy who looks like eminem is wearing, shows that eminem is his idol and he is paying tribute to him by trying to look like him. The reason we know he is trying to look like eminem is because of his bleached blonde hair and also because of the non diegectic soundtrack of eminems song "slim shady". For the camerawork in the sequence the over the shoulder shot of the boy asking the girl to prom, shows the awkwardness in the face of the girl at having to be asked to go to prom by this boy, the shot then switches back onto the boy and shows the embarrassment on the boys face. Another shot was the pan down onto the eminem look alike where the camera was first in the air but is then panned down onto this main character who looks like eminem. For editing the blurred and pixelated background of when the boy is asking the girl to prom portrays the almost surreal nature of the occurrence and also the hope of the boy that no-one else was watching but it turned out that almost the whole school was watching which promotes the embarressment even more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN_aEGCLn4Q

Finally the film American Pie is similar to our film, because it portrays the troubles and fun teens go through throughout this period. Also the pan across the teens room signifies the typical state of a teenagers with cloths and everything on the floor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LvdUekq7K8

Photomatics sequence

The photomatics sequence was done on microsoft powerpoint but I decided to upload the sequence onto slideshare. The link is found below.

http://www.slideshare.net/saintsjames/photomatics-2

Photomatics

This is the camera we used for our photomatics sequence.

This is the bloggy we used to take the picture of the camera we used.

This is our completed storyboards for our photomatic sequence.

Prelim task evaluation

Our prelimary task didnt go as effectively as we wanted it to. For example the film we recorded wasn't long enough and the picture quality was too blurry. The way we can learn from this in our real film make sure we record enough film, and also to make sure we use a proper video recorder to record our film so there isn't a bad picture quality. Another thing that went wrong in our video is that the editing software we used (video pad) wasn't the best. This led to a few obvious mistakes in the narrative. However this isn't such a bad thing as for our real film opening we have learnt not to use this software as it isn't quite good enough. We also found sound a problem in our prelim video as the dialogue between the two actors was drowned out by the loud background noise of the wind and the sound of children shouting. This background noise should have either been silenced by the editing. Or instead a piece of a non diegetic soundtrack should been installed to accompany the narrative and to silence the background noises. In our actual film opening a non diegetic soundtrack will definitely be used to match the film. However not everything went wrong in our group, for example the group had a good chemistry and the group worked well. The group was very organised and always met the deadlines that were set by the teacher. The only thing that was stopping us from making an excellent video was that we didn't film enough narrative. However as the group worked so well together, it would be great if the group could work together again for the opening credit sequence.

Continuity editing

Editing and Representation

Action match

This is when following a certain character (e.g Harry Potter casting a spell) which is a purely technical device. When a action match is used for inter cutting, it can heighten the contrasts between two different characters in two different situations.










Eyeline match

This is usually used to provide insight into a characters thoughts. For example the picture below suggests what Jamal from Slumdog Millionaire is thinking what the answer to the question is.






Final shot

This is where in any scene in which characters or a character is shown in the final shot of the sequence. This is normally the character who the audience have to identify. The image below is a final shot used in Eastenders which are usually cliffhangers.







Intercutting

This is used to draw two storylines together, this can be structured to create tension,
and therefore heighten the audience’s identification with a particular character.  In Hotel Babylon, intercutting
offers both tension and juxtaposition: just as Adam is saving his colleague’s life with a jar of jam, another African immigrant, Ibrahim, is being lost. The tension and juxtaposition lead the audience to identify with both
characters.






Jump cuts

These are rarely used in TV or film; when they are, they tend to suggest either chaos and disorder,
self-conscious ellipsis (drawing attention to the rapid pace of the action) or by a director who likes

to break the rules.






Continuity editing

A highly standardized system of editing, now virtually universal in commercial film and television but originally associated with Hollywood cinema. A key element of the continuity system is the 180 DEGREE RULE, which states that the camera must stay on only one side of the actions and objects in a scene. An invisible line, known as the 180 DEGREE LINE or AXIS OF ACTION, runs through the space of the scene.

In an instance of two people facing each over you would have a load of shots throughout the passage. Foe example: establishing shot, re-establishing shot, long shot, medium shot and two shot (shot with two people). These shots usually alternate between the two speakers, with the camera placed at more or less opposite ends of the axis of action between them.This pattern of alternating shots is called the SHOT/REVERSE SHOT.

Cross cutting and Parallel editing

Cross cutting is a pattern of editing that alternates shots of two or more lines of action occurring simultaneously in different places. For example there could be a shot of someone in pain after being stabbed, then a shot of an ambulance driving.

Parallel editing involves the same pattern of alternation, but does not necessarily imply temporal simultaneity (two events happening at the same time). An example would be contrasting two scenes of happiness and sadness.

Prelim video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRtIBLnrRWI Here is the link to our prelim task. The process of filming was done at the cherwell school with a iphone. The editing software we used was videopad. 

Codes and Conventions Menu

Genre- Horror   

Starters 

Location- A house in a small village nothing unusual about it.

Casting- Actors who have an experience in horrors, teens and adults in late 20s-30s required and preferably English actors.

Make up- For all the actors and stops lighting from shining off actors faces. Used heavily for the teens who turn into zombies.

Mains

Lighting- Natural lighting in the day, but then at night under lighting for the zombies to create horror effects and key lighting to highlight the main character.

Hair styling- Chavy hairstyles for the teens and then usual hair styles for the rest of the cast.

Costumes- Chav clothes for the teens like tracksuits, and then posh clothes for the adults as its in a posh area.

Desserts

Background- The background of the film is a forest behind the village. This creates suspicion for the audience as there curious why there's a forest. 

3D- This is because our film will be in 3D.

Set- Our set needs to be made purposefully to suit the needs of 3D. The set will also be natural and not a man made set.

Filming Preliminary Task

Our task involves us filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. The task also has to demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

 Front of storyboard

 Back of storyboard












Our story is about a man coming back to his house and wife after cheating on his wife. His wife is not pleased and acts angrily. The genre of our film is romantic, mood is tense and the title is Cheat.

                                                  The camera we will use to film is a iphone. This camera is good as it was easy to upload to a computer. The editing software to be used is called videopad.

Our Shooting schedule

Camera Movements

Pan- A pan is a movement that scans the scene horizontally. The camera is placed on a tripod, which operates as a stationary axis point as the camera is turned.

Tilt- A tilt is a movement which scans a scene vertically, otherwise it is very similar to the camera movement of pan.

Dolly Shots- This involves the camera being placed on a moving vehicle and moves alongside the action, generally following a moving figure or object. A dolly shot may be a good way of portraying movement, the journey of a character for instance, or for moving from a long shot to a close-up.

Crane Shots- These are basically Dolly shots in the air. A crane can be used as a useful way of moving a camera - it can move up, down, left, right, swooping in on action or moving diagonally out of it.

Steadicam- Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizing mount for motion picture cameras that mechanically isolates it from the operator's movement. It allows for a smooth shot, even when moving quickly over an uneven surface.

Handheld- Handheld camera movements can provide specific tones and emotions to a viewer. In found footage films such as Cloverfield, the shaky camera effect is used to represent a home video effect.

Zoom- This involves changing the focal length of the lens to make the subject appear closer or further away in the frame. 

Reverse zoom- A single shot which moves away from a particular subject. When done very quickly it can displace the audience, but it can also be used to show the wider picture or context of an image.

Mise en scene plan and real thing!

   Plan-

                Real Thing-

Semiotic Analysis

Semiotics are often used in adverts to portray signs that the consumer will understand or get, from looking at the advert. For example a thumbs up or smile would be used as semiotics in adverts.

The advert I will be finding semiotics in is the hair removal company Veet. The first or main semiotic you get drawn to as the consumer is the picture of the smiling beautiful woman. The smiling woman could represent the happiness and beautifulness you will feel after using the product. Also as a sign of someone smiling you automatically have the feeling that this person is happy and joyous about something, and that something must be to do with the product. The second semiotic in the advert I noticed was the images of the flying trousers. This semiotic is represented as a sign of the new lease of life you can feel after using the product. Also the flying trousers may also represent the hair which will fly off due to the Veet hair removal cream, and the sign of confidence you will gain after using the product because you won’t need to wear jeans anymore to cover up the hair on your legs. The third semiotic is the pink colouring at the right hand side of the advert. The reason for this is that the colour pink is signified as a feminine colour, and the use of the pink background is a sign that the product is for females and isn’t a male product. Also pink is symbolic of gentle emotions and considered a colour of good health and life, this links to the fact that this product offers you a good or better life. The final semiotic I will be looking at is the slogan “what beauty feels like”. This sign suggests the benefit women will get after using Veet, which is feeling and also becoming beautiful. Women get attached to the advert as they want to “feel beautiful” and want to know what it feels like to be beautiful. This then encourages women to go out and purchase Veet as they wanted to feel and become beautiful.

Shot types and Camera angles

Shot types

Extreme long shot- This is a shot that is taken very far away from the actual image, and is usually used as a scene-setting, establishing shot.  It normally shows an exterior, eg the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action eg in a war film or disaster movie. 

Long shot- This shows the image as approximately life size ie corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the screen in a cinema. For example a women appearing 5 ft tall.

Median shot- This is a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for speaking scenes. Variations on this include the two shot (containing two figures) and the 3 shot (contains 3 figures). Another variation is the over the shoulder shot (as shown on the right). 

Close-up- This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail in the scene. Everything else is just a blur in the background. A film-maker may use this to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character.

Extreme close-up- An extreme version of the close up, generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. An extreme close-up of a face, for instance, would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail whatsoever. Directors will use this for dramatic effect.

Camera Angles

Birds eye view- This shows a scene from directly overhead, a very unnatural and strange angle. Familiar objects viewed from this angle might seem totally unrecognizable at first. This shot does, however, put the audience in a godlike position, looking down on the action.

High angle- Here the camera is elevated above the action using a crane to give a general overview. High angles make the object photographed seem smaller, and less significant (or scary). 

Eye level- Here the camera is positioned as though it is a human actually observing a scene, so that eg actors' heads are on a level with the focus.

Low angle- These increase height (useful for short actors like Tom Cruise or James McAvoy) . Low angles help give a sense of confusion to a viewer, of powerlessness within the action of a scene. The background of a low angle shot will tend to be just sky or ceiling.

Oblique/Canted angle- Sometimes the camera is tilted , to suggest imbalance, transition and instability (very popular in horror movies). This technique is used to suggest point of view shots 

Welcome!

Welcome to my new media blog. I will be using this blog to record all work relating to my OCR Media Studies Foundation Portfolio, including research, planning, drafts and final constructions. I would like to introduce myself. I am James Upham just embarking on my AS studies at Cherwell School. I study History, BTEC Sport double and obviously Media. In my spare time I enjoy playing sports like cricket and football, I also like playing games on my Xbox.

Here is a link to my exam blog, where you can take a look at what work relating to the OCR exam unit: Key Media Concepts in relation to TV Drama, and Institutions and Audiences.

http://juphamcherwellmediaexam.blogspot.co.uk/