AS Media Opening Sequence 'Cemetery Gates'

This is our final AS Media Opening Sequence product. Hope you enjoy it!

Big thanks to Paddy Kinch, Ben Pilston, Mr Buckmaster and Mum.

Evaluation-Question 7

This is my response to question 7 of my media evaluation. The question is 'looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learned in the progression from it till the full product?'.

This is my Preliminary for reference.

Hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Evaluation-Question 6

This is my responce to question 6 of my media evaluation. Enjoy!

Evaluation-Question 5

How would you attract/address an audience?

Product research has shown me that the majority of people find out about new films through watching trailers online/seeing posters online or at the cinema before a film. From this research I though the best way I could attract an audience was through the medium of posters and trailer.

This is the poster I have created to attract an audience...

If I had more time I would have created a trailer for the film with clips not just from the opening scene. This would have been a successful marketing strategy.

The best platform to promote these adverts is on a social media site like facebook or twitter as lots of young people, our main target audience, use twitter and facebook daily. Also more 'old school' advertising like on billboards and on buses is still incredibly effective in addressing an audience.

Evaluation-Question 4

This is my response to question 4 for my evaluation. The question is 'Who would the audience be for your media product?'.

Hope you enjoy it and leave a comment below on what you think!

Evaluation-Question 3

 

Question 3

This is my respomse to Question 3 of my evuluation. This question is 'What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?'.

      

Here are some links to the institutuions mentioned.

http://www.film4.com/film4-productions

http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Phoenix_Picturehouse/

http://www.bfi.org.uk/

Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Evaluation-Question 2

This is my response to question 2 of my evaluation. The question is 'How does your media represent particular social groups?'.

Hope you enjoy and let me know what you thin in the comments below!

Evaluation-Question 1

This is my response to question 1 of my evaluation. The question is 'In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?'.

Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think in the comments below!

Evaluation Brief

I have recently been introduced into the brief for my evaluation of my media work. Each question must be answered in a different media i.e. podcast, PowerPoint, directors commentary. Additionally, each answer should be around 2-3 minutes long. Listed below are the questions I must answer...

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

2) How does your media represent particular social groups?

3) What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?

4) Who would the audience be for your media product?

5) How would you attract/address your audience?

6) What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

7) Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learned in the progression from it till the full product?

 I will now carefully decide what type of media is best suited to answering each question.

Bunny and the Bull

Bunny and the Bull is a 2009 British comedy film from writer-director Paul King. The film won the
British Independent Film Award for Best Achievement in Production in 2009.

The opening sequence for this film interested me as the way the titles appear and soundtrack reflect the type of film, characters, and storyline. This is an aspect I have tried to recreate in my own media product with the titles appearing on badges, and on iPods to reflect the main characters interests and personality. Ben Pilston and myself wrote the soundtrack together to get a perfect representation of the genre and begin to introduce a story line.

Here's the opening sequence for Bunny and The Bull...

Wes Anderson

Wes Anderson is one of my favorite directors. With the upcoming release of 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' I decided to have a marathon of all his films. First on the agenda was 'Moonrise Kingdom'.

'Moonrise Kingdom 'is an intelligent and touching comedy that explore love, youth and family set on an island just off the coast of New England in the summer of 1965. Anderson's way of creating quirky, lovable characters is epitomized in this film.

The opening sequence to 'Moonrise Kingdom' is also typical of Anderson. The use of symmetry and yellow tones reflect the melancholy atmosphere of the film.

Another Wes Anderson film I watched was 'The Darjeeling Limited'. This emotional comedy revolves around three brothers reforging family bonds. 

This film also features a soundtrack forwarded by one of my favourite bands of the 60's The Kinks. 

BFI

 On the 5th of February I attended a lecture at the BFI from Mathew Hall regarding youth culture in the media.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first half of the lecture involved a discussion based around 6 clips from The Wild Ones, Rebel without a cause, Quadrophenia, Easy Rider, Human Traffic, and Kidulthood. We were asked to think about the denotations and connotations of the clip and keeping in mind how an older audience may react differently to the film than an younger.

In the second half we watched 'My Brother, The Devil'- a 2012 British film written and directed by Sally El Hosaini. It has won multiple awards, including at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival.

The film follows two Arabic brothers living in east London. 'My Brother, The Devil' explores the issues relating to identity, religion, and sexuality.

After the viewing, the group took part in a Q&A session with Julia Godzinskaya, the producer of 'My Brother, The Devil'. We discussed mainly the making of the film and the response to the film. I discovered how the film crew got around limitations (in particular the effect of the London riots and how they were not allowed to film on the streets with knifes or any fight scenes). Godzinskaya also explained how the audience interpreted the film differently in terms of a positive or negative response to the representation of youth culture, religion and sexuality.

First Draft of Opening Scene

 

 



This is mine and Paddy's first attempt at part our opening scene.

 

 

 

 

On the day of shooting the weather became as issue as it was very windy and lightly raining. This resulted in poor quality audio and lighting.

 

We will be re-shooting what we think we need to to acheive high level work. Furthermore, we will also use a new mic which atches to the camera to attain quality audio.







Donnie Darko

 

 

Donnie Darko is a 2001 American science fiction drama film written and directed by Richard Kelly and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Patrick Swayze.

 

 

In the opening scene an audio bridge of thunderstorm over the text signifies horror generally, possibly connoting the darkness of the film. This thunder sound contrasts the opening shot where no storm is evident – suggesting the strange time shifts of the film.

Camera pans the scenery, establishing setting and with the use of lighting, again a hint at the darkness of the film.

Tense slow music is used as there is a pan on the central protagonist, connoting mystery, as does the onscreen action. With introduction of keyboard (with echo) it signifies a sadness to this character, which is further anchored by the shots panning the scenery.

 As Donnie turns to face the camera and laughs, again signifying the very strange side to this film, we have the film name on screen in a simplistic font The font “explodes” and fades to white before entering the next scene.

It then fades in from white into a shot of Donnie, now established as our central protagonist, riding his bike down the hill, with also the introduction of a different song – “The Killing Moon” by Echo and the Bunnymen – (Bunnymen links to Donnie’s giant rabbit friend Frank). Song links to genre, music and lyrics connote horror movie. The use of this 80’s song also signifies the date that the film is set.

The bike riding in this text has helped my group in filming our bike section. In terms of what works well and what doesn't, this clip has aided our filming (despite the difference in genre).

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BELOW IS THE LINK FOR DONNIE DARKO OPENING SCENE

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                             http://vimeo.com/25661457

Independant Audience Research



I have recently undertook some audience research in order to find out the best ways to market my product and to what audience.

 

My intended target audience is 15-20 year old. This was roughly the ages range of the sample of people that filled out the questionnaire for this audience research. The purpose of this was to collect relevant data that will support our planning and production.

 

 

This is the data we collected...

 

 

 

 

Leave a comment to let me know what you think!

 

BBFC

The British Board of Film Classification is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom.

This is the website for the BBFC...

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/

By using the information on the BBFC website Paddy and myself have concluded that our media product would be rated 15. This means we could include...

frequent strong language

strong violence

portrayals of sexual activity

strong verbal references to sex

sexual nudity

brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

discriminatory language or behaviour

drug taking

We have decided 15 because we would not want the limitations that come with choosing rated 12 eg. no strong swearing, drug taking or sexual references.

Additionally, the comedy/drama genre is meant to reflect real life. Real people do swear and have sex and take drugs. So in order to make the media product as realistic as possible we have decided that we would include these elements.

However, if the rating was based just on the opening sequence it would be rated a U on the criteria of the BBFC.

Choose Life

Trainspotting is a 1996 British black comedy/drama film directed by Danny Boyle based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh. 

The screenplay follows a group of heroin addicts in a late 1980's economically depressed area of Edinburgh. Beyond drug addiction, other themes in the film are exploration of the urban poverty and squalor in "culturally rich" Edinburgh.

The film has been ranked 10th by the BFI in its list of Top 100 British films of all time. In 2004 the film was voted the best Scottish film of all time in a general public poll.

Trainspotting has one of the most iconic opening scenes in British Film. The fast pace action is matched with the brilliant tune from Iggy Pop creates an engaging, stimulating opening.

The variation of camera shots make it seem like a lot is going on which reflects the nature of the film. Furthermore, the facts the two characters are being chased by policemen presents to the audience immediately the type of characters and hints and some of the key events that happen in the film. Additionally, the car hitting Renton may be seen a metaphor for his 'flirting with death' (heroin addiction).

The film includes so many iconic quotes and moments. The opening scene includes the famous 'choose life' speech. This for me is what makes the opening so memorable. 

Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin can openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life . . . But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?