Evaluation, Question 8; What have you learned in the progression from your preliminary task?

Before the creating our thriller, ‘Nameless’ we were given a preliminary task. The prelim task was basically a practice run, to enable us to learn about different camera angles, how to use a camera and what not to do when using a camera. We made many mistakes whilst creating our prelim but these mistakes helped us to improve and develop and if you were compare our prelim to our final product you will see how we developed.

Narrative; before creating our prelim we had no narrative, we did not plan or brainstorm any ideas we just did everything spontaneously and improvised with what we had. This is very different to our final product being that we spent a long duration of time planning ideas, brainstorming ideas, sourcing different props and different locations. What makes ‘Nameless’ so authentic is the fact that the opening is purely driven by its suspenseful narrative, this is something that our prelim task definitely did not have.

No Genre; because of the absence of narrative, there were no narrative conventions that were represented in our prelim and because of this you are not able to figure what genre it fits in. This is very different to ‘Nameless’ because, the film score, the characters, the instant arousal, the quick edits and the narrative all represent the thriller genre.

Title Sequence; Our prelim, lacked visual qualities because of its simplistic title sequence, in ‘Nameless’ we used a stylized font to fit with the entire theme and representation of the story line. However in our prelim, we rushed and picked any font within the category in ‘LiveType’, instead of sourcing other fonts.

You can definitely see the difference in the stylised element of the two fonts, 'Nameless', represents more of a brand.

The order of the title sequence in our prelim is also something that we learned about, we learned that the sequence that we used was the wrong order. The correct order for a sequence is; the production company 'CandiStudios', the actors/actresses, the music editor,the film editor, the writer and finally the director. As you can see here, we did not use this order for our prelim.

Mise en Scene; For our thriller we used props such as, a Blackberry,artificial blood, coins, white paint, a table,a chair an upmarket flat and our college's basement. The props used for our thriller made our narrative, without it our thriller would not make any sense. The locations used helped to represent the social group of city proffessionals, this is very different to our prelim being that the location that we used did not represent a social group. The only props that we used in prelim was the props that were provided by our media teachers, for instance, the table and chairs in glass. The lighting in our prelim was extremely bright, it effected some of our shots being that we were unable to see the leading character.

 Here is some examples of props used in our thriller opening.

                                Here is an example of the classroom that we used in our thriller.

Camera Shots; In the prelim we did not edit shots correctly, many of the shots skip and some are too long, a good example of this is when the leading character is walking down the hall way, this scene  is too long, it had nothing to do with the narrative and personally i thought that after watching it i became bored. Originally the idea was to do this so that the audience question where she is going but it did not need to be as long as it was. For 'Nameless' there is a similar scene when the characters meet in the basement, what makes this scene different from our prelim is the fact that we used a quick edit, the edit allowed the audience to see the 'Nameless' caller doing various actions, what made this more effective than the prelim was how the suspense was built and how we kept the audience entertained by making transitions from shots.

Soundtrack; Another difference between our prelim and our final thriller opening is the soundtrack. The sound that we used for our prelim did not relate to the narrative and we only used it in the beginning. In our final product we created a variety of non digetic sounds, for instance; the coin sound, the door slamming, the texured , atmospheric, suspensful, droning sound use in the backingground and the quick violins.In our prelim we did not use any sound to emphasize every day actions , like closing a door.

In my conclusion i would like to say that we learned and progressed from our prelim and this is shown through our different props, locations, characters, locations and sound.

                                         

Evaluation, Question 7: What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When creating our thriller we used a variety of, different types, of technology. The technology we used ranged from internet websites , such as 'Google', 'Youtube' and 'Blogger'. We also used Apple software, such as, 'Final Cut Pro', 'Soundtrack Pro', 'HandBrake' and 'LiveType'.

Before creating our thriller we used the internet to do research on other successful, thriller, movies to get some inspiration. 'Google', was the search engine we mainly used, it allowed us to access several websites, for example. 'IMBD', 'The Art Of The Title Sequence', '101FREEFonts.net' and 'Blogger'. 'IMBD' allowed us to view other films within the thriller genre; we were able to learn about the different narrative conventions of thrillers.

One of the first things we did before planing and filming was a preliminary task. We learnt how to use a 'JVC' camera. After creating our prelim we uploaded it onto a programme called 'HandBrake'. From 'Final Cut Pro', we changed our rendered movie as a Quicktime file (MP4), then on the main desktop we typed 'Handbrake' into the search bar, we then converted our file as an ipod touch file (this makes the file size smaller). We then uploaded the video onto 'Blogger', to upload the file onto 'Blogger' we clicked on the video icon and pressed 'choose file', then we were done. This experience enabled us to learn about how to use 'Blogger'.

After doing our prelim task we continued to do research, we created a pitch onto Microsoft powerpoint, to present to the class. We then created an animatic storyboard. To improve the visual aspect of both the presentation and the animatic, we used a website called 'Prezzi' and copied the embeded link into the HTML section in 'Blogger'.

When we were done filming we used a programme called 'Final Cut Pro'. Final cut pro is the programme we used to edit our thriller opening sequence. We also used a programme called 'SoundtrackPro', we used this programme to create non digetic sounds. After making our sound we rendered it into a submiz and then imported it into 'Final cut Pro'. (this is an example of how we used two technologies together). 'LiveType', is a programme that we used to create the title sequence for our thriller. After creating our sequence we imported it  into 'Final Cut Pro'. 

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

When it came to creating 'Nameless', my group was inspired by a variety of films.

After watching a documentary in class called : 'Watching BBC Beginnings', we discovered the idea of 'instant arousal', this is when an audience is entertained from the very beginning because of a dramatic opening. The 'Naked Kiss', is a film that does exactly that, the opening, is of a woman brutally attacking a man with a knife, throughout this scene various titles are shown and when the victim dies, the title of the movie appears. This is very similar to 'Nameless' being that the opening begins with our leading character staggering out of a lift with blood pouring from his shirt, after this occurs, he falls to the ground and the title 'Nameless' appears.

The order of our title sequence is similar to The 'Naked Kiss'. The first title is of the production company 'Allied Artists', then the drama begins, after this, the actors/actresses are introduced ' starring CONSTANCE TOWERS as Kelly', then music editor, the film editor, the writer and lastly the director.

Even though we were inspired by this opening, we still made our opening unique and different but we still employed similar conventional elements from other thriller movies within our opening. In the documentary we watched we learnt about the downsides of having a opening that instantly aroused the audience, because it gives too much away. Even though our opening is similar to The 'Naked Kiss', it is different because the audience does not know who attacked our leading character, we did this so that the audience could question the situation but also because we did not want to give too much information way in the beginning of the movie, to ensure that the entire film would be effective.

Q: 4 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The media institutions that we used to distribute our thriller film was ‘CandiStudios' and 'Candiproductions', two, small, independent production companies. Independent, produced, movies, are different to mainstream films being that they  have a specific style. The reason why we chose this route, is because we had a relatively low budget and we did not have any connections with any major production studio, to help with the financing of the film. By choosing to distribute our thriller independently, our vision was not changed, however we had to compromise our marketing strategy. 

Evaluation Q5: How will you attract/address your audience?

To attract our target audience, because of our low budget, we will use social networking sites, cinematic screenings and more!

Take a look at the slide show below to get a sense of how we will attract our audience.

Milan London AA29342 on Prezi

Evaluation, Q3: Who would be the ideal audience for your product?

Kelly, is 18 years old, she is currently an undergraduate university student studying criminology at Southampton University. On the weekend she goes to her local bar and drinks Vodka mixed with cranberry juice and on the odd occasion she goes to the cinema with her best friends. Typical movies that they watch are films such as ‘The Black Swan’ and ‘Inception’. Once every once and a while she goes to Topshop, she buys a t-shirt and a bag, she loves to wear the latest trends.

Kelly is extremely materialistic, like most young adults in her generation. She owns an Ipod Touch which plays music from her favorite artist’s, mainly mainstream music. She owns a Blackberry Curve to speak to all of her friends on Blackberry messenger and uses public transportation to get around everyday. Kelly lives in a student, shared flat which costs around £100 per week. She reads crime, thriller and mystery books. Steig Larson is her favorite author; ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ is her favorite book.  Kelly’s favorite TV channel show is ‘Mid Summer murders’, she also watches ‘True Blood’ and ‘Vampire Diaries’. Kelly lives on a student, maintenance loan to get by everyday but still enjoys every element of life.

Kelly’s lifestyle and age fits within the target audience for ‘Nameless’. During doing research for ‘Thriller Audiences’ I discovered that the target audiences for thriller films are aged between 18 to 24, Kelly is 18 so she fits within the age demographic for the film. Kelly also studies ‘criminology’, crime is one of the thriller subgenres for our thriller, the fact that she studies ‘criminology’ represents her interest in crime, and this means that she will be interested in our thriller. Her personal items such as her ‘Blackberry’ and ‘Ipodtouch’ relate to the film, in ‘Nameless’ each of the characters own a ‘Blackberry’, so the film would appeal to her. Also her student loan means that she has the money to go to the cinema and enjoy herself. Her love for murder mysteries and thriller television shows represents how she fits within our target audience. The reason why I chose a female target audience member is because my research showed that 57% of women watch thriller movies. 

Evaluation, Question 2; Social Groups

Q2.How does your media product represent particular social groups.

When creating 'Nameless' we wanted our characters to represent people aged between 20 to 30 years old. The reason why we decided to do this is because the characters are meant to be young, city professionals. What makes our thriller suspenseful is the fact that the audience would not expect the characters to be involved in something negative, it makes them question the situation.

To represent particular social groups we used different types of Mise en Scene and camera shots. Our opening is similar to a movie called : 'Collateral' , there are a lot of similarities with 'Collateral' and 'Nameless' because it was a film that we was inspired by.

Here are some examples of how we used props, costumes, and locations to represent a particular social group;

Costumes

Each character was dressed in a business wear conveying their social group (professional business workers) and their age. We would expect business people to be dressed in a suit and generally we would expect adults to be dressed in suits for the obvious reasons like work. The use of clothing in our opening contributed to the actors roles being more realistic. This is very similar to 'Collateral' being that most of the characters are in suits to convey their social group.

Props ; Mobile phone

We used  mobiles, to represent a social group.Although blackberries are now associated with a large majority of all age groups and social classes, they were originally targeted at business people. By business people I mean professions who work in city jobs like banking. We therefore made our characters all use blackberries connotes that the characters using them are professional business workers and this is how we wanted to represent the characters.This is very similar to 'Collateral' being that there is a scene where one of the characters are on their mobile phone, to connote their, profession and social group.

Taxi

We originally had a scene where one character arrives at a location in a taxi. However the taxi was a black taxi and these are not only traditional British vehicles but represent a form of transport for the higher social classes. Usually you wouldn’t see school children get a taxi to school but business professional and inner city workers regularly take this form of transport to work and around. Black Taxis are fairly expensive. Consequently by using this form of transport we wanted the characters to be represented as middle class professionals and we wanted them to appear like they were wealthy. Once again, this is  similar to 'Collateral' being that a taxi is used, it forms the basis of the entire  plot.

Barclays Bike

There is also a scene in the film where a character gets off a Barclays Bicycle. Our film was filmed in London; people within our target audience are likely to be from London, because they can relate to the movie. Therefore we can assume they know these bikes are aimed at people heading into inner city work, this connotes that the character works in the city and it represents the fact that the character as older then the actual actor is.

Location (Apartment):


Lastly we used a high market apartment to film the phone scene where the main character comes out of a lift. The location makes the audience associate the character with wealth and style because the surroundings are up market and in association with wealthy people. This is very similar to 'Collateral' being that various wealthy locations are used to represent a particular social group. 

                                                                               

Evaluation, Q6: Audience Feedback and Comment

Today in class our thriller was previewed in front of an audience of 16 to 17 year olds.

Getting audience feedback is extremely important, it enabled my group to know whether our thriller achieved what we wanted it to achieve.

The target audience for ‘Nameless’ is a wide demographical audience of people aged 15 and above, this is a similar to the target audience for most thrillers. The audience that viewed our thriller fitted within our target audience so the feedback mattered. Overall everyone had made positive comments about our thriller, they commented a lot on our narrative title sequence and they all thought that it looked professional and effective because it took you straight into what the film was about. I was disappointed because we did not really receive any feedback on the soundtrack, I wanted to know what people thought about it and whether it worked well with the shots but overall everything else was very positive.

Above are some images created on a program called ‘Wordle’, everyone who watched the thriller wrote their own written response to what they thought about it. As a group we collated all of the information and turned it into word art.

Behind The Scenes- Part 4
Below shows a blog with us behind the scenes at our first location which is in Hoxton, East London. As you can see, We are getting prepared before we shoot our scene for our opening sequence. I am applying fake blog onto John Shirt and you can see us in our characters. 
Enjoy  :)

Behind The Scenes Part 3
Below shows a video Blog with us before filming the basement scene for our Thriller Opening Sequence. Within the video blog, we introduced the remaining cast that you will see within our film, the costume designer and the audience is able to see the cast behind the scenes on set of our film. Both the director and the cast talks about their input within the film and what the audience should be expecting when watching o0ur opening sequence.
Enjoy:)

Final Cut For 'NAMELESS'
Below shows the Final Cut of our opening sequence for our Action Thriller film 'NAMELESS'. Finally finished and polished after how many weeks editing and filming. We are proud with the outcome of the film and are proud to release the final cut to the audience including all the soundtrack, credits and title and full effects. 
Hope you enjoy :)- From the members of Group 5

Nerves and Anxiety

Final Day of editing!

Today was a very stressful day, we had only 2 hours to Finnish editing our film. Even though our teachers said that the deadline for editing was on the 25th, the deadline was actually today because all of the computers were booked for that day so i felt like we had to rush everything in at the last minute. Despite all of this we managed to do the best that we could , we stayed at college until 6pm editing and finalizing our movie (pure dedication). The end result of our film was great, if i had the chance i would of made a some slight changes but even with that said i think that our movie represents everything that we planned and everything that we wanted it to be.

First Thoughts on completing the Film

We have finally completed editing our opening thriller sequence. This has been a fun and enjoying film to make and plan. Across the journey we have learned how the production process of creating a film needs to be carefully planned and organised. Thankfully we have completed the film to the best quality we could within the time limit and resources available to us. Everyone within our group has worked hard to please the needs of the audience in terms of the editing, filming, and sound techniques involved. Personally as the Director I feel my Filming techniques have improved and my Editing has skills have become more advanced and theses skills will hopefully continue to develop and progress when I film again.

On behalf of my group we would like to thank the media teachers for their contribution, the media technical staff, classmates and peers, and finally we hope you enjoy our opening sequence and please leave comments about our film so that we can improve our film creating skills.

Group 5 (Adam, Michaela, John and Milan)

Our New and Improved Animatic Storyboard (NOT IN ORDER OF DATE)

Here is our new and improved animatic storyboard, the only issue with this is that some of the shots are numbered incorrectly because the images were scanned into photoshop however when you watch the slide show the slides are in the correct order, so ignore the numbers above the shot explanations.

ENJOY!

Group 5 Animatic Storyboard on Prezi

Editing Photos Part 2

Our New and Improved Pitch (NOT IN ORDER OF DATE)

After watching through our pitch we decided to make a couple of changes because of the feedback that we received in class, we changed our pitch and change some ideas.


Watch our new and improved pitch below!

Group 5 Presentation ; Nameless. on Prezi

Intertextuality Research

Different thriller movies are inspired by each other. There are a variety of film makers that have used different elements from the movie 'Psycho' in an attempt to make their movie successful, we call this method intertextuality. Intertextuality is a term used to describe films with visual similarities and narrative conventions, film makers take different elements from different movies and place it within theirs. This could be camera angles, sound, mise en scene and characters used.

There are three movies that have used intertextuality, they have 'borrowed' different elements of mis en scene , sound, camera angles and characters fromt he movie 'Psycho.  The 'Fatal attraction' is a film about a woman who is mentally unstable, un-stability is a personality trait used in many thriller films, this was taken from the movie 'Psycho' being that we normally associate the word with someone who is mentally unstable. 

Editing Photos

The Following Pictures are of us editing for the thriller film 'Nameless'.

Pictures On Set Day 1

The Following PIctures are of us on set during Day 1: