"We might not be there yet, But we're closer than we was yesterday" - A New Ending
29 December 2010
14 December 2010
EVALUATION : How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research planning stages?
Media technology plays a major role in film production; due to the fast paced progression of new technologies it makes the process much more exciting and easier. It also widens your knowledge around media. I used a variety of media technologies in my research, planning and production stages.
I used online media technology to create a blog which enabled me to upload text, pictures, and videos etc. It showed the progress of my portfolio from the research and planning to the production.
Blogger has allowed me to use different font styles and also sizes for text. In order for my blog to look consistent I just made sure I stuck with the same style and size. I showed evidence of my work by uploading videos and pictures on my blog. Blogger allowed to choose from different options on how I wanted the size to be and where I wanted to place the video for example in the left right or center.
I thought using blogger was very easy to get use to and i came aware of how to navigate around the website very easily
You tube is a video sharing website which I used to look at other short films for my research and planning. Most of them inspired me on how I wanted my short film to be. I also used this website to analyze other short films and upload them on to my blog, and uploaded our film onto there in order to get some feedback
Wikipedia was my main source that I used for research due to the fact that it has a lot of relevant information that anyone can use. I used it to find information on gang culture, statistics on knife crime, short films, music and much more.
Other technologies that helped me communicate with my group member and actors:
*SMS
*FACEBOOK
*MYSPACE
*TWITTER
I used Photo shop because it was a software that I used in my AS coursework so I was already fond of it. It played a huge part in my ancillary tasks. i used it to edit images, cut them out change the saturation levels and contrasts to fit in with everything else. There were a lot of things to play with on the software.
Adobe premiere Pro was used to edit my film. I found this software quite easy to use. It enabled me to import video clips, play with sound effects/music and pictures, cut and overlay videos, apply video transitions and effects I also used IMBD to research film genres and directors.. I used technology such as Microsoft PowerPoint to create my mood board and Microsoft word to edit my text and check spellings before uploading it onto my blogs.
We used the Sony handy video camera to capture our footage for our short film and we made sure that everything we captured was stable and not shaky by using tripods which created smooth shots when needed. We uploaded the footage to adobe premiere pro on windows home vista to edit our footage into the correct order. In order for me to get a better understanding on the sort of genre that my film fell into I watched films on a DVD player to study certain shots, costumes, props and many more.
Looking back at my coursework I think it has allowed me to develop my skills from how I did in AS, I think I have got stronger at editing and filming. I have also realized that me and Naomi worked as a proper team and there we no problems between us that effected our work if I could improve on anything or had the chance to do it again than I would probably get all the acting done as soon as possible and make sure that I have a lot of time on my planning and research.
EVALUATION : What have you learnt from audience feedback?
Once me and Naomi finished our film we exported it to MPEG and gathered a small amount of three people to watch the film after we finished we each gave them a piece of paper and asked a few questions to get some responses. These were the questions that we asked:
1.What is your initial thought of the short film?
2.What do you understand from the storyline?
From all of these responses we learnt that out of everything in the film the monologue had the most effect and it allowed the audience to connect to the character, the fact that we kept everything natural and real gave out the sense of feeling that me and Naomi hoped for. We also realized that the order of the scenes we put together along with the editing made the storyline less confusing and that how the target audience could point out what sort of role each character played. When I and Naomi created this film we hoped that it will not only have an educational impact but also an inspirational impact on the target audience, from some of the responses that we received we realized that our short film reached our aim. Although me and Naomi wanted to film in at night or when it was darker to create the same feeling from the past and the present it sort of came out as a disadvantage because it made the lighting difficult to achieve new did not have extra lights in order for there to be more effect.
Here is the feedback we received:
26 People completed our questionnaire 18 males and 8 females the majority of them were aged from 14-18.
My results show that 23 people enjoyed our short film however 3 people didn’t. Although a small amount of people did not enjoy our film the amount that did enjoy it reveals that our film was a success.
This shows that my audience had good knowledge of what was happening in the film which indicates that both me and Naomi expressed the storyline well and kept it consistent throughout.
My results show that 58% found the film inspiring, 19% found it educational and 23% found it emotional. We’re very happy with this because the majority of the audience found the film inspiring which was the sort of feeling what me and Naomi was trying to achieve.
From this bar chart we could see that the majority of the audience thought the monologue (voice over) had the most effect. This feels like a success for me and Naomi because it took us both quite a while to write out the monologue and at the same time fit it in with the shots within the film. We had to make sure that the monologue flowed well with the soundtrack and also the acting so we had to make sure that there were points where the narrator sounded happy, upset, angry, and pleased.
The feedback we got from the questionnaire was positive and it helped us realize that we created a media product that the audience can relate to, understand, and follow the narrative.
EVALUATION : How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary text?
My film poster and film review uses typical conventions of existing film posters. Before I created this I analyzed other film posters and found that all film posters that fall in to this genre includes images of the main characters and shots of from the film. The titles are always linked to the images with the tag line connecting towards it. I included all the information on the poster which fulfills its purpose. At the same time I was analyzing existing film posters I was also analyzing film reviews and noted down that they all include the name of the magazine the film review has come from, editor’s names, and essential information about the film such as producers, screenplay, directors, running time etc. I realized that film reviews always have an introduction of the film as well which helps the audience understand what the film is actually about before they continue to read on.
I think my film poster and review is appropriate for my target audience because I am aiming my target audience to be young males between the age of 14 and 21. I made my film poster different and quite technical and also did not add any colors. Although I have not used any role models I have copied the style of most role models that young males look up to such as clothing.
My film review combines well with my poster and main product because they all include shots from the film so you can tell that they all evolve around the same thing and are from the same location which indicates that the same process is being carried out in all products. Using the same theme would help people remember the name of the film and what it is about.
My film is based on a boy that lost his brother years back due to gang violence and now he is working to be successful not only for himself but to give his brother a new ending as well. My poster combines well with my main product because all the main characters feature on the poster. The only thing that does not reflect on the poster is death you can’t tell that someone dies in the film all you know is that there is an end, you can however tell there would be an act of violence from the use of costume and the fact that there is a sense of anger coming from the last image.
As I was creating my poster I looked at other existing posters to make sure that mine looked professional as possible.
The film review I created allows me to further communicate about the film and help advertise. I kept similar imagery but include more pictures from the film so that the film review and poster relates making it recognizable. I think it is eye catching due to the enlarged image of the little boy looking down at the text and the pictures, the fact that I used the little boy again makes it appropriate to analyze and evaluate the film.
I chose to use adobe photo shop cs4, as I am familiar with this program. I played around with the tools and created effects to each image and changed colors and brightness levels. I decided to insert the image of Marlon when he is older in the word “NEW” and the two boys that killed his brother in the word “ENDING” because I felt that it connotes the words and it would create a strong visual link between title and the film. There is an effective combination of both poster and film review with the images which raises enigma around my products and gives the audience ideas about character types. I also feel the way my title is laid out on my poster creates an interesting buzz to our film.
From early research, I noticed that film posters included information about the film on the bottom of their posters including their film website which usually has a logo about the film company such as “shank”. So if I had a film website then I could have created a cohesion between my poster and film website using synergy because I have included a reference to the website on my poster which would boost more awareness towards my film and also encourage the audience to read the film review.
The film review created is the main link between my ancillary tasks and film. The film review features information about the film and what sort of genre the film falls into. By including these texts in the website it allows the audience to engage with the film and download the posters to view. The film review also promotes actors, magazines and producers.
EVALUATION : In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge the conventions of real media products?
Before we began to create our products (Short film, Poster and Double page spread), me and Naomi researched into short films in order to use, challenge and develop the conventions of a short film. We also researched genres of posters and advertising of film reviews for the existing films. In my research I found out how long short films usually last, what sort of mise en scene they intend to have and also noted what sort of companies specialize in short films. Focusing on our desire to create a documentary crime/gangster short film, we decided that due to the sensitivity needed around the storyline for our film, our intended audience would be mainly teenage males between 14 -21. The main demographic code that would be attracted to our short film would be people that have had an effective past life that inspires them to move forward and strive for success in the future. Mainstream viewers could also make up a large part of our audience as they would use our short film as a basis for social interaction, and would also see the educational appeal.
The film that we developed our idea’s from was “Shank” The main character in this film is a boy whose brother got killed by youths around the area and he is trying to seek revenge by killing the character that murdered his brother, he talks about his life as teenage boy and there is a good use of flashbacks onto how he ended up where he is now. Our film “A New Ending” is based around London and we made sure that we signified this by the use of slang, costumes, and accents. During the film the main character is telling his story to the audience we decided to do a voice over so the audience could see images in order to understand the storyline the ending however reveals the main character is actually talking to his brother threw a letter.
A key convention to short films is shots being taken from many people’s viewpoints, in our film this was paramount when the character of Marlon as a young child was watching the argument that was happening between his mother and his older brother, and this is also used in the gang scene when one of the gang members is following behind the main gang member.
Cinematography which is how the film was made, the mise en scene consisted of inside and outside setting made us think of how the weather and lighting would be. The lighting inside the house was looked great just from the use of light bulbs and candles on the birthday cake. On the other hand filming outside was where the problems occurred because it was too dark the black and white effect did not really stand out and made certain running scenes look fuzzy, it also made it harder to see the characters faces but then at the same time it went along with the gang culture atmosphere we were trying to create.
We used Todorov’s narrative theory of equilibrium – disequilibrium and new equilibrium when planning the plot for our film. When creating our short film, we focused not just on showing the first equilibrium – Marlon’s life as a young boy, but also the beginning of the disequilibrium – The brother who got killed. it enabled us to create a story on what Marlon was going to do in order for him not to end up like his brother Todorov argued that narrative involves a transformation, the characters or the situations are transformed through the progress of the disruption. In the case of our film this is shown through Marlon striving for success not only for himself but for his brother who did not die the way he was meant to, so in a way it’s a transformation from his brother to himself.
Grime (urban music emerged in London ) 'dangerous' in today's media and a bad influence on teenagers, I wanted this to be part of the film where the killing occurred and his voice was getting more and more frustrated, I decided to use a slow song at the beginning and end of the film where his voice was calm and it flowed with the scenes.
For my poster to go with the film, I added reviews which are used to entice people to go and see the film, this a very common in film posters I also added in statements from magazines and newspapers. At the bottom showed the information on how the film was produced, who was involved and also the actors that starred in it. My poster has the title and a picture in each word of the title, the pictures represent that word indirectly and you would only understand if you was to watch the film.
Many film reviews show an “exclusive interview with one of the cast members however I chose to do an article on what the film is about, what kind of film it is, and what people thought of it adding in my own strengths and weaknesses towards the film. I added a main image of the main character when he was young looking down at the review and also created my own magazine name to make it seem more realistic.
13 December 2010
PRODUCTION : A New Ending Film Review (Final)
Main picture before it got edited. In our film we decided to use a young toddler in order to be Marlon when he was younger so me and Naomi chose my little nephew.I took the opportunity to take pictures of this young character everywhere we went due to the fact that he would not always pose for a picture, this picture was taken from a sony camera, whilst on holiday.
12 December 2010
PRODUCTION : A New Ending Film Poster (Final)
Pictures that I edited to use for my poster which I will be discussing in my evaluation.
11 December 2010
PRODUCTION : Soundtracks
Soundtracks play a major role in films even if its a short film. When choosing soundtracks you have to make sure that it blends well with the storyline, genre and location, also if your using songs with vocals then its important that it underlines certain meanings from the film, although the audience might not always listen to the lyrics its important that you still choose your soundtrack wisely.
In our short film we are using soundtracks but only instrumentals, the reason for this is because throughout the film we have a narrator (Main character) speaking and taking the audience through the film from his point of view and his past life, in order for the audience to understand the film they will have to listen to what the narrator is saying to get the storyline. During my research I noticed that when most monologues are used at the beginning of films and usually the endings however they usually have some sort of music or instrument even playing in the background which makes everything blend its important that when you are doing this you dont choose a piece of music that does not go with the monologue for example having a rock metal instrumental behind a sad monologue about death would not make any sense and would be difficult for you to pull off.
This is one of the first scenes of our film, I realised that during monologues when there is no background music it makes it mkre dramatic, or through an introduction it connects with the audience more. Me and Naomi decided not to use background music for the first minute or so because that way it will be easier for the audience to be aware of what is going, by listening to the narrators dialogue without music at the beginning it will help them understand the point of the first scene halfway through the film.
The music then fades in after the introduction with a change of colour which makes it obvious that its a change of time, during the first scene we are going to have a soft piece of music playing whilst Marlon is talking about life events that use to happen whilst he was younger.
There will be a change of music throughout the film to match certain scenes but not obvious changes because we do not want it to distract the audiences attention when they should be paying attention to the dialogue and the pictures. We will also have a fades of dialogue from the film itself instead of listening to Marlon throughout the whole film.
10 December 2010
Production : Changes
The original death that Daniel (Character) was going to die from was meant to be a gun, however myself and Naomi had issues attempting to find a fake gun as they did not look realistic, we then decided to use the next big thing which was a knife. We picked this as our main weapon because although guns is a major issue within gang culture knives also play a major role. Statistics show more than a dozen young people have been killed by knives in London alone this year and A UK study found that males who had been convicted of violent crimes between the ages of 10 and 21 tended to be troublesome, difficult to discipline and dishonest at 8-10 and to be frequent truants, liars and bullies at 12-14 and by the age of 18, they report to drug use, heavy alcohol use, gambling, drink-driving and sexual promiscuity, the study found.
Experts blame the breakdown of family life for the rise of gang culture. the gang has replaced the family unit and provides youngsters with a structure and a sense of belonging which generates the 'post code pride' which leads to murder. Many are loose affiliations of friends from the same area intent on controlling a 'turf' or territory, often defined by a post code. the penalty for straying into the wrong area is to be robbed, beaten or stabbed. Many teenagers now routinely carry a knife out of fear, in order to defend themselves if attacked.
9 December 2010
PRODUCTION : Pictures of us recording.
We took turns filming different angles of scenes, we didnt use a tripod for every shot that we took but always made sure that our hands was not shaking, this is pictures of us recording the scene where marlons older brother leaves the house in where he gets killed.
7 December 2010
PLANNING : Our Storyline
Title: A New Ending
Writer(s) : Patria Senga & Naomi Edwards
Running Time : 5 Minutes
Age Certificate : TBA
They seem to be very popular in the UK, typical British gang culture films, based around knives, guns and youths mainly males where the majority of them end up in prison or dead, everyone's seen them for example Kidulthood, Adulthood,Bullet Boy and more. However you never really see one that stands out, one where you think oh that's different to that one because of this and so on. Me and Naomi intend to produce a film that falls into that genre but instead of sending out a negative message it sends out a positive message to its target audience, we want to add twists and flashbacks so the audience don't think its the typical youth film that they usually watch.
6 December 2010
PLANNING : Final Monologue (Script)
Instead of having a usual script for our film, me and Naomi decided to do a voice over, where the main character will be saying a monologue over the images. Below is the final monologue that we will record the actor saying. However at the beginning we will have his coach talking to him fading in and out and sometimes during the film
SCENE 1.
"Determination is my key to success (Coach - "First of all I wanna say well done, you did well"), qualifying for the Olympics makes me feel like I've taken a step even though I cant see the whole staircase (Coach - "but qualifying that's the easy part, there's still a lot to work on like your acceleration for one") I don't even care that I have to train till mad hours and run in jeans because I cant afford tracksuits that don't rip (Coach - "You need to think whats going to motivate you, what is it that's gonna get you across the finish line before everyone else") Only thing is I'm not just doing it for myself, am i"
SCENE 2.
"A certain day in a certain year seems to be my motivation, i just wish she didn't care about crack cocaine more than she did about us, i mean is it fair for a three year old to listen to his mum and brother scream at each other on his third birthday, but you did look out for me buying me food and clothes you know acting like a father since our real one didn't want us, you bought me the same rusty cake for three years in a row (Laughs) i never complained it made me happy you know, i remember before you ever went out you would lift me high up and tell me "Your gonna be as tall as me one day" and then you would say your gonna be back soon, little did I know that would be the last time I would see you"
SCENE 3
"You tried didn't you, to stay out of trouble with the hood rats around the area, you told me you need to focus on looking out for me more, i even found old letters that you use to write for me until i could read, telling me that how i am gonna get further than anyone in this family and (Coach - "3 2 1, useless stop!)" how mum does love us but she just doesn't show it, i don't even know why I'm calling her mum i cant stand her, if it weren't for her you would still be here. if it weren't for her you wouldn't have gotten into trouble with Taylor and that about owing him money for drugs, drugs that she bought and said you were gonna pay for her,(Coach - "Not only are you wasting your time but your wasting mine" )if it weren't for her you wouldn't of had to run that night knowing that your life was in danger... if it weren't for her you wouldn't have walked straight into that knife and realized that you was... you was dying"
SCENE 4
"Whenever i feel like giving i remember why i have held on for so long in the first place, (Coach - "Much better, go again.. Come on!" clapping hands) bringing you back is something i cant do but making you proud is something i know i can. Running means the world to me I've had people around the area call me an amateur because they only see me run in the park and to school, these clowns don't seem to realize that professionals are amateurs who didn't quit, I'm not going to stop now, its been 13 years since you left this world but somehow i feel like your always with me, so if your watching me now here is me returning a favor and giving you this letter, your life didn't end the way it was meant to so I'm doing this for you to give you a new ending. oh and P.S just so you know we might not be there yet, but were closer than we were yesterday right?"THE END
5 December 2010
RESEARCH : Film Poster Analysis
THE DARK KNIGHT.
TWILIGHT.
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF PHOENIX.
SHANK.
4 October 2010
PLANNING : Shot Lists
This is a detailed shot list. A shot list is a list of all the shots we plan to take, in the order they will be taken.
SCENE 1
EXT. PARK DARK COLD NIGHT
MID SHOT OF COACH AND MARLON
E.C.U OF MARLON
SCENE 2
INT. HOUSE BLACK AND WHITE
C.U OF YOUNG MARLON
M.S - PAN OF MOTHER AND YOUNG MARLON
C.U OF MOTHER
L.S OF MOTHER AND DANIEL
L.S OF DANIEL PREPARING CAKE
C.U OF CAKE AND DANIELS HANDS LIGHTING CAKE
L.S OF DANIEL AND YOUNG MARLON
EYE LEVEL SHOT OF DANIEL AND YOUNG MARLON
LOW ANGLE SHOT OF DANIEL AND MARLON
SCENE 3
INT. HOUSE - BLACK AND WHITE
EYE LEVEL SHOT OF DANIEL
C.U SHOT DANIELS HANDS AND DOOR
EXT. PARK - L.S OF OLDER MARLON AND COACH
EXT.COUNCIL ESTATE - L.S OF DANIEL
C.U OF DANIEL
EXT. O.V.S COACH AND DANIEL
L.S DANIEL
PAN DANIEL
O.V.S COACH AND MARLON
EYE LEVEL SHOT GANG
PAN TO DANIEL
O.V.S DANIEL AND TAYLOR
M.S TAYLOR AND DANIEL
O.V.S DANIEL, TAYLOR AND KILLER
M.S COACH AND OLDER MARLON
L.S DANIEL
LOW ANGLE SHOT DANIEL
M.S KILLER
L.S DANIEL
LOW ANGLE SHOT OLDER MARLON
M.S DANIEL AND KILLER
C.U DANIEL AND KILLER
L.S KILLER
M.S DANIEL (SERIES OF MONTAGE SHOTS)
M.S OLDER MARLON
C.U DANIEL
SCENE 4
EXT. PARK
L.S OLDER MARLON
EXT. COUNCIL ESTATE
M.S OLDER MARLON
C.U. OLDER MARLON
E.C.U OLDER MARLON
E.C.U YOUNGER MARLON
C.U BIRTHDAY CAKE
LOW ANGLE SHOT OLDER MARLON
EYE LEVEL SHOT MARLON
C.U LETTER
EYE LEVEL SHOT DANIEL AND YOUNG MARLON (INT.HOUSE)
LOW ANGLE SHOT DANIEL AND YOUNG MARLON
EXT.DEATH PLACE
C.U LETTER
LOW ANGLE SHOT OLDER MARLON
E.C.U OLDER MARLON
PAN TO SKY
LOW ANGLE SHOT AT LIGHTS
FADE OUT
THE END
PLANNING : Character Profile.
Marlon says:
“ I am going to prove to my mum that although she didn’t act like any normal mother I was still able to make something of myself, I am going to prove to my dad that I am nothing like him, that I am not a coward, and that I never needed him to begin with. I am going to prove to my brother that everything he said to me has been my motivation for the past fifteen years everything he done for me was the reason why I am successful today and everything I do now is to thank him”.
Daniel says:
“I don’t care about him and I don’t care about her as far as I am concerned I'm an orphan because not once have I felt like I have parents. All I care about is my little brother not going through and seeing the same crap that I did he don’t deserve it he might be young but I just know that he is a smart boy. I have always been there for him when he needed me and taught him stuff that my deadbeat of a father should have. My life is all about my little brother and how I bring him up. But what happens when my life gets taken away? How would he cope facing this corrupted society alone?”
Rita says:
“What do you expect me to say? That I’m an embarrassment and a failure as a mother? I already know that, but what else can I do now? If I could turn back time I honestly would. I fell pregnant at the age of 16, the man I devoted my entire life to walked out on me when I had my second child and I couldn’t even handle my first kid. No one should turn to drugs at a time of struggle but that was the only thing that kept me happy, the only thing I woke up for, the only thing that was on my mind but it should not have been like that, the only things that should have been on my mind was my beautiful sons Marlon and Daniel but of course its too late for that now…”
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