final opening film sequence 6042 evaluation[1]

8/9/2019 Final Opening Film Sequence 6042 Evaluation[1]

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Main Task Evaluation

Candidate No. – 6042

Blake Claridge



Crime thriller was my chosen genre for my media product because I had already seen andbeen interested in these types of films which I felt would assist my knowledge and save timewhen developing both my primary and secondary research. When planning and jotting downinitial ideas for my media product. I studied the elements of real media products by looking atthe mise en scene of several films of the same genre. This is shown in my research andplanning where I created a mood board consisting of relevant notes around film stills,analysing camera angles, costume, lighting and mise en scene. Much of my research was

done using the internet to study professional film reviews on sites such as Empire as well asseeing what genuine audiences of crime thriller think on forums. This enabled me to form astoryboard based on my own ideas as well as professionally produced films. This worked wellas it allowed me to develop suspense within my product just by using specific camera anglescombined with sound effects e.g. Heavy beat music playing over a close up shot to implysuspense or a state of shock. I use this example as it is one used in my media product whenthe main character Greg finds his wife dead. This worked well because the project required meto attract an audience as well as introduced a story through a short opening sequence. I aimed

to establish the main character in my opening sequence and believe this worked well due tomy gathered research through the use of questionnaires which I discovered that as a majoritypeople aged 16 – 30 gained a better understanding of any thriller film when briefed on thecharacters situation.



In my opening film sequence the specific social group that I have addressed is a hard workingfamily man of middle-class society. It is clear that he is middle-class because he has quite a bighouse and his wife is able to stay home rather than work to help support the family, Greg can dothis by himself because he has a well paid job. This can be seen as he has his own office at hisplace of work; noticeable in the 6th scene of my main task. Furthermore, I aimed to create acharacter by which audiences can relate to otherwise the film would not be successful if it were tobe distributed by a major film industry. I believe that the audience for my main product would bewell educated or at least interested in psychological stories that involve working out enigmasbecause this is the nature of crime thrillers. However, this film does involve action sostereotypically attracts mainly male audiences and rightly so because the ideologies behind thisfilm is that of an old fashioned nature because the film itself would be about a man doing all that isin his power to save his daughter. For this reason I would have to claim that the main audience willbe 25 years old and over as this is usually a point where someone would start a family of their own. Instead the conventions I have used create an individual character with troubles hidden inhis past as well as demonstrating the clash of work and raising a family. In my opening sequence I

have attempted to establish the main character (Greg) so that the audience will be able toempathise with him and understand his situation. Watching the opening sequence should bringshock to the audience and leave them asking questions about Greg’s past.



I was surprised to find that it was not only males who enjoyed crime thriller films but also girls as

well. This came as a shock as my research had shown that most crime thriller films have main

characters who are male and crime films are stereotypically considered to be masculine. I decided

to design an opening that has action but also a very intellectual plot. I did this by showing a dead

body and not the murder occurring as well as using a technique simply by taking out and editing

shots so that blood is seen and screams are heard but no violence or weapon is seen. Having saidthat my media products main audience is people over 25 years of age I believe it also applies to

younger adults 16 years old and over. This is because I myself and a large number students around

this age were excited by the film purely for its fast pace and clever timing when the opening comes

to its climax and the phone rings. My media product applies to younger adults and teenagers

because it twists the clichéd loving family image and turns it into a disaster caused by mistakes in

the main characters earlier life.

I have demonstrated the use of codes and conventions through the use of camera angles. For example there is a two shot of Greg and his wife Sheila showing how close the two are and theequality within the family.



I believe that if my opening film sequence was to be distributed, it would be done

so by Paramount Pictures. This is because Paramount have distributed many

crime thriller films similar to the genre my opening sequence. Films to name are

‘Payback’, ‘Mission Impossible’ and ‘Collateral’. However, these films are not

independent and have well known actors cast, nonetheless I was aiming to createthe same style of film as these when producing my opening sequence.

After researching thriller films and camera angles independently I found out about

a shot called the Dolly Zoom effect. During the zoom, there is a continuous

perspective distortion, the most noticeable feature being that the background

appears to change size whilst the subject appears normal. This can be seen in myproduct when Greg walks into his house and finds his wife dead. The aim of this

was to cause emotional drama for the viewer as the background suddenly

overwhelms the subject by size.



Before I started this project I knew little about technologies beyond the PC but since I began

both my preliminary task and my final product I have learnt how to use iMovie; to generally edit

clips by trimming, adding fades and using a slow motion effect when the opening his a moment

of climax. This is seen when Greg hears the phone ring and throws his daughters drawing. This

also shows his state of mind at the time and I first added a heart beat sound but later decided

this was unnecessary. I also used Garage Band (a music creating programme) to edit songs and

sounds to sit scenes in my product and to cut out unwanted voices that may be on the track. I

felt that voices would have compromised the films atmosphere so editing it out worked well.

The filming with the video camera took up a large part of my project time allowing me to

experiment with a variety of shots and angles. I discovered along the way the mise en scene is

important when framing a shot as well as lighting. This can be seen in the two images below;

the image on the left is set in the morning because of the clear and bright natural light. Whereas

the image on the left is set at night hence the warm colours of artificial light. In turn this alsosets a dark and upsetting mood that is almost scary. The image on the left is also an example of

framing; keeping the relevant subjects in the shot. Only Greg and his wife are speaking so are in

the foreground whilst their daughter Lucy can be seen in between them and in the background.



In my final product I used knowledge gained from early on in my AS studies when making a

Podcast on Garage Band as well as my preliminary task where I was able to practise using the

camera to shoot the 180 degree rule, close up, match on action and the reverse over the

shoulder shot. This was simple but I was able to develop it in my final project. In the progression

from my preliminary to my final product I have made my ideas and practical work more complex

by using lighting to signify the time of day and sounds effects to establish suspense. This can be

seen when the suspicious character looks at Greg's house and a loud sharp sound can be heard.

I believe that there is room to improve on my main product. I am pleased with my final product as

it met all of my expectations and aims at an amateur level and even more so at a semi-

professional level in terms of the combination of music and slow motion effects at the opening

sequence climax. However, only to a certain extent. I feel that I could have filmed the Dolly Zoom

effect better but due to the limited use of technologies (only a video camera) the shot seems

slightly unsteadied and viewers may be unaware of the effect. I could have overcome this by

having an object in the background such as a car to emphasise the enlargement of the

background relative to the subject. In general some moving shots are unsteady but could not

have been overcome in the circumstances that I had only limited camera filming equipment.

I added in a split second shot of a blood splat on

the floor combined with a screaming sound.

However, when looking over the shot a number of times the blood looks watery and unrealistic,

but I feel this will not be a problem due to the

lighting and sudden change in scene.

final opening film sequence 6042 evaluation[1]

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