Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Friday, 30 April 2010
Undercover Depression: The Feedback
Initial Audience Response/Impressions: Good Areas
The Scary Voice-over, Sunlight glowing through the trees onto the two characters meeting, I like the slow paced editing that has been done, Yellow/Orange effect was cool, Music went well and created a Dreamy/Sinister effect.
Initial Audience Response/Impressions: Weaker Areas
Storyline was quite confusing for me actually, Narrative was not striking home, Voice-Over was a bit over the top.
Use of Cinematography
Blur & Flashbacks created great effects, When George looks directly into the camera (CU)
Use of Mise-En-Scene
The way that they made George look like an Everyman & How they made Seb look really Shady. Emily's costume was clever as the colour represents Danger which is very noiry.
Use of Sound
Voice-Over went well with scenes, the fact that there was no ambience in the background was very interesting, Music created a greater Tone & Tension.
Use of Editing, Titles & Effects
Suitable/Average Titles - did the job alright but needs to be more noiry, Motion/Effects creates a dream like quality.
Suitability of Style to Noir Genre Codes & Conventions
Definatly a noir but a very different neo-noir.
Suitability of Narrative to Noir Codes & Conventions
Sign posted needed/ a little more, More of a trailer than an Opening, Audience will be confused.
Suitability of Characters (Representation) to Noir Codes & Conventions
Ex Copper character YES works with a noir, Shady characters backs it up.
Overall Production Values
Give nathan & George more credit, only 2 people in the group, created SOLID WORK LADS.
Target Audience? How does it Appeal to them?
15+, 12A, Guns, Action, Psychological Thriller.
The Scary Voice-over, Sunlight glowing through the trees onto the two characters meeting, I like the slow paced editing that has been done, Yellow/Orange effect was cool, Music went well and created a Dreamy/Sinister effect.
Initial Audience Response/Impressions: Weaker Areas
Storyline was quite confusing for me actually, Narrative was not striking home, Voice-Over was a bit over the top.
Use of Cinematography
Blur & Flashbacks created great effects, When George looks directly into the camera (CU)
Use of Mise-En-Scene
The way that they made George look like an Everyman & How they made Seb look really Shady. Emily's costume was clever as the colour represents Danger which is very noiry.
Use of Sound
Voice-Over went well with scenes, the fact that there was no ambience in the background was very interesting, Music created a greater Tone & Tension.
Use of Editing, Titles & Effects
Suitable/Average Titles - did the job alright but needs to be more noiry, Motion/Effects creates a dream like quality.
Suitability of Style to Noir Genre Codes & Conventions
Definatly a noir but a very different neo-noir.
Suitability of Narrative to Noir Codes & Conventions
Sign posted needed/ a little more, More of a trailer than an Opening, Audience will be confused.
Suitability of Characters (Representation) to Noir Codes & Conventions
Ex Copper character YES works with a noir, Shady characters backs it up.
Overall Production Values
Give nathan & George more credit, only 2 people in the group, created SOLID WORK LADS.
Target Audience? How does it Appeal to them?
15+, 12A, Guns, Action, Psychological Thriller.
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Alien
Alien is the same idea to Terminator, using the elements of noir to clash with the Sci-Fi, Horror genre to make something unique and scary.
The new planet discovered in the narrative is all dark and fact that all you can hear is the spooky theme in the background and the heavy breathing from the oxygen masks is almost a new genre added right there and then.
The Terminator
The Terminator is definatly a Sci-Fi landmark in cinema history However the fact that most of it is filmed at night introduces elements of noir into the mix. James Cameron stated that making Terminator more of a night movie would bring in most of the unique suspense that has never been created before. Costumes were dark and evil/shady style worked well to go with the night film idea.
The Hitcher (1986-2007)
The Hitcher (I thought) included some of the codes and conventions you would find in a Film Noir narrative. The fact that most of the story takes place behind the wheel like the 1950s film Detour, is a good enough comparison to the genre. The 1980s version include better elements of the tension and suspense in the story whereas the re-make makes the story more modern and less noir.
Shutter Island
Shutter Island is Martin Scorsese's new neo-noir, psychological thriller movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. You can tell that this film is or uses elements of noir just by studying the promotional poster. Light illuminating the face and setting builds the tension and adds the suspense.
Tuesday, 27 April 2010
Undercover Depression Final Evaluation (1000-1500 words!)
George Duric-Last’s Media Evaluation
One of the real media products that my film opening uses is the very typical Noiry Storyline about a certain character being double-crossed, betrayed and involves police corruption for personal matters. The noir I researched was the neo-noir film Seven and I felt that the characters we used were similar to the cop corruption and shady villains that we involved in that film, I felt that this worked very well and it is something that is not usually seen very much so it can have an impact on the audiences predictions of the event outcome. The techniques I was excited to use were how producers/directors instantly had the audience hooked on an opening compelling them to watch the whole film e.g. the scary voice-over that occurs when explaining a back story of the protagonist and the flashbacks that are sometimes thrown in to give the audience a more visual idea of how and why things are how they are, I did use these particular techniques in my project because I felt that they were the main part of how to get someone interested in something that isn’t that important to them. I made sure to follow the genre characteristics at all times because I wanted to help the audience realise it was a noir by staying on that track/ train of thought at all times. Honestly it was more of a neo-noir than a classical, memorable noir because I thought it would appeal more to my target audience (late teens+) I challenged the codes and conventions of noir a little bit by altering the characters costumes to make them appear as more of an everyday type of person and I tried to base the dodgy deal around things that actually would occur these days and clashed with an enigma explaining very little at first sight created more interest among viewers, other than this I used the common codes and conventions of noir in the opening scene.
The Christchurch Park area was supposed to represent an open, dead space of scenery where secrecy is highly possible to happen so I thought it would be best to film it where there are less of the public and shiftier, shady areas to go perfectly with the dodgy deal. At one point Emily was dressed in red to represent danger/death in order to put more effect on current/future events, Seb & Martin were dressed in Black, Shifty clothing to put more emphasis on their characters. I did not focus too much on the college setting; it was just to divert away from the current events taking place at the park and to explain previous events. All in all I thought that my project was very stylistic in use of the elements of film noir but had a sudden clash of surrealism when Seb had returned from the dead. The messages and values I was trying to create with my project were to signify what can actually happen these days and the types of things that can drive you to the edge of your sanity.
I really do not know who would distribute this low budget, unknown film opening but I would have to say something like Working Title/Metronome because I remember when they distributed Shifty which became an instant success in British audiences. Our film opening relates a little bit to the certain genre these films include and the fact that it is an independent unknown future British film to hit screens very soon with some potential in there somewhere so it would have the same effect on the distributers as Shifty had on them. In an attempt to repeat history they probably will take our film into consideration for a low budget cinema screening or direct-to-video release. I do have a lot of hope for this project but being realistic I think it would only be able to get as far as those little small-town, independent title cinemas and the TV channels that would show them are probably something like the ITV3 or LIVING channel that can get tired of broadcasting American stuff all the times, it would all depend on how well a station is doing and if they think that showing this would boost the ratings on their show, it would probably be shown around 6:30pm-9:00pm time.
The typical audience that would take an interest and be suitable for our project would be the late teens to adult area of the public (15+) because this involves guns and action which are some of the many things that appeal to the younger generation going up. The BBFC may rate this film a 15 because the involvement of guns and death may not be suitable for children of a younger age. All the research I did was primary because I did not need to refer to an existing project and request help from another group, I wanted to start fresh in order to gain a better experience and not to take the plain and simple road to my final grade. The class responded to my film opening with mostly positive feedback and great, helpful comments were useful for this project to become better and better each time. In some places the class requested that I made the “little things” more Noiry in order for perfect detail in full, I will keep this in mind next time round.
To attract the audience to give a chance to my opening scene I introduced guns and criminal activity into the narrative in order to create appeal and reason why they should be interested and why they are the target audience for this film, my feedback was positive so my theory was correct and the props did work well with my chosen narrative in the end. The Crime theme was perfect for bait in order to attract my ideal audience, my messages and ideology helped the audience agree with what I was trying to describe and how I used the film to get that out in the open. The style of music was to put more effect on the narrative, add more tension and suspense to the actions and to make an obvious statement that it is a film noir. The costumes I used were modern and worn by the younger generation which would appeal to the target audience however to keep on the noir track I expressed it through colour coded representations using the different types of clothing. The shots were plain and simple but mostly used to capture effects and emphasise them in order to get the positive feedback I needed and the full understanding the audience needed. I kept the pace at an average speed in order not to compromise the audience’s enjoyment and understanding; I mostly focused on the narrative than the pace of how it is told. The scene where the protagonist is abusing himself to make himself feel better or to die can relate to how many youngsters may feel at this time which creates an understanding between a real person and a fictional character, my class found my tough-guy American voice over very amusing so I would say that was a strong point that helped getting them hooked on the short scene they had making them wanting more and more.
I have learned that a Blog is a great way to keep track of your pre-production and to keep a record of who done what without having to remember every time over and over again. I studied other people’s film openings in order to gain knowledge from their techniques and use them for my own advantage. I did not surf the web for a scrap of info that may help me because it would be too time-consuming and being unable to claim credit for yourself does really help you I think. I was not the editor so I believe my partner will have more to say in this department. The equipment was state of the art and very helpful without the downside of being complicated in any way, it made it easier to do and less stressful to work with technology during the project.
I have learned that not having dialogue in the film opening can create and unusual effect that can still work well and achieve good feedback, I had learned from my errors and therefore richer in knowledge and was careful not to make the same mistakes again. I had improved a lot more on this project and the next one should be even more accurate than this one. I & Nathan did not go into a lot of depth during the planning stage as we were both interested in improvisation with the camera angles and settings. We organised a specific date and time to film and made sure Seb & Martin were able to help us on this date, we were very strict about this stage of planning. I done basically all of the pre-production work and came up with the setting, costumes, camera shot ideas and starred in the film opening as the protagonist. Nathan was more involved in the technological side of the project so he did all the camerawork and editing on final cut pro.
One of the real media products that my film opening uses is the very typical Noiry Storyline about a certain character being double-crossed, betrayed and involves police corruption for personal matters. The noir I researched was the neo-noir film Seven and I felt that the characters we used were similar to the cop corruption and shady villains that we involved in that film, I felt that this worked very well and it is something that is not usually seen very much so it can have an impact on the audiences predictions of the event outcome. The techniques I was excited to use were how producers/directors instantly had the audience hooked on an opening compelling them to watch the whole film e.g. the scary voice-over that occurs when explaining a back story of the protagonist and the flashbacks that are sometimes thrown in to give the audience a more visual idea of how and why things are how they are, I did use these particular techniques in my project because I felt that they were the main part of how to get someone interested in something that isn’t that important to them. I made sure to follow the genre characteristics at all times because I wanted to help the audience realise it was a noir by staying on that track/ train of thought at all times. Honestly it was more of a neo-noir than a classical, memorable noir because I thought it would appeal more to my target audience (late teens+) I challenged the codes and conventions of noir a little bit by altering the characters costumes to make them appear as more of an everyday type of person and I tried to base the dodgy deal around things that actually would occur these days and clashed with an enigma explaining very little at first sight created more interest among viewers, other than this I used the common codes and conventions of noir in the opening scene.
The Christchurch Park area was supposed to represent an open, dead space of scenery where secrecy is highly possible to happen so I thought it would be best to film it where there are less of the public and shiftier, shady areas to go perfectly with the dodgy deal. At one point Emily was dressed in red to represent danger/death in order to put more effect on current/future events, Seb & Martin were dressed in Black, Shifty clothing to put more emphasis on their characters. I did not focus too much on the college setting; it was just to divert away from the current events taking place at the park and to explain previous events. All in all I thought that my project was very stylistic in use of the elements of film noir but had a sudden clash of surrealism when Seb had returned from the dead. The messages and values I was trying to create with my project were to signify what can actually happen these days and the types of things that can drive you to the edge of your sanity.
I really do not know who would distribute this low budget, unknown film opening but I would have to say something like Working Title/Metronome because I remember when they distributed Shifty which became an instant success in British audiences. Our film opening relates a little bit to the certain genre these films include and the fact that it is an independent unknown future British film to hit screens very soon with some potential in there somewhere so it would have the same effect on the distributers as Shifty had on them. In an attempt to repeat history they probably will take our film into consideration for a low budget cinema screening or direct-to-video release. I do have a lot of hope for this project but being realistic I think it would only be able to get as far as those little small-town, independent title cinemas and the TV channels that would show them are probably something like the ITV3 or LIVING channel that can get tired of broadcasting American stuff all the times, it would all depend on how well a station is doing and if they think that showing this would boost the ratings on their show, it would probably be shown around 6:30pm-9:00pm time.
The typical audience that would take an interest and be suitable for our project would be the late teens to adult area of the public (15+) because this involves guns and action which are some of the many things that appeal to the younger generation going up. The BBFC may rate this film a 15 because the involvement of guns and death may not be suitable for children of a younger age. All the research I did was primary because I did not need to refer to an existing project and request help from another group, I wanted to start fresh in order to gain a better experience and not to take the plain and simple road to my final grade. The class responded to my film opening with mostly positive feedback and great, helpful comments were useful for this project to become better and better each time. In some places the class requested that I made the “little things” more Noiry in order for perfect detail in full, I will keep this in mind next time round.
To attract the audience to give a chance to my opening scene I introduced guns and criminal activity into the narrative in order to create appeal and reason why they should be interested and why they are the target audience for this film, my feedback was positive so my theory was correct and the props did work well with my chosen narrative in the end. The Crime theme was perfect for bait in order to attract my ideal audience, my messages and ideology helped the audience agree with what I was trying to describe and how I used the film to get that out in the open. The style of music was to put more effect on the narrative, add more tension and suspense to the actions and to make an obvious statement that it is a film noir. The costumes I used were modern and worn by the younger generation which would appeal to the target audience however to keep on the noir track I expressed it through colour coded representations using the different types of clothing. The shots were plain and simple but mostly used to capture effects and emphasise them in order to get the positive feedback I needed and the full understanding the audience needed. I kept the pace at an average speed in order not to compromise the audience’s enjoyment and understanding; I mostly focused on the narrative than the pace of how it is told. The scene where the protagonist is abusing himself to make himself feel better or to die can relate to how many youngsters may feel at this time which creates an understanding between a real person and a fictional character, my class found my tough-guy American voice over very amusing so I would say that was a strong point that helped getting them hooked on the short scene they had making them wanting more and more.
I have learned that a Blog is a great way to keep track of your pre-production and to keep a record of who done what without having to remember every time over and over again. I studied other people’s film openings in order to gain knowledge from their techniques and use them for my own advantage. I did not surf the web for a scrap of info that may help me because it would be too time-consuming and being unable to claim credit for yourself does really help you I think. I was not the editor so I believe my partner will have more to say in this department. The equipment was state of the art and very helpful without the downside of being complicated in any way, it made it easier to do and less stressful to work with technology during the project.
I have learned that not having dialogue in the film opening can create and unusual effect that can still work well and achieve good feedback, I had learned from my errors and therefore richer in knowledge and was careful not to make the same mistakes again. I had improved a lot more on this project and the next one should be even more accurate than this one. I & Nathan did not go into a lot of depth during the planning stage as we were both interested in improvisation with the camera angles and settings. We organised a specific date and time to film and made sure Seb & Martin were able to help us on this date, we were very strict about this stage of planning. I done basically all of the pre-production work and came up with the setting, costumes, camera shot ideas and starred in the film opening as the protagonist. Nathan was more involved in the technological side of the project so he did all the camerawork and editing on final cut pro.
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