Tom Verco - Question 4

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

The audience for our opening Dream State would be 15 year olds and upward mainly because the plot might be confusing and a bit complex for younger viewers. 

We decided to make our target audience 15 and upwards because ages 15 and upwards enjoy thriller films and action, therefore making Dream State perfect for teens. Also because the film has a plot which is complex it is enjoyable for adults and also older generation and they would enjoy this. 

we didn't want to make our film boring as teens have a lot of opinions when it comes to rating films. We didn't want to make it to complex but we didn't want to make it boring therefore having the right amount of action and suspense would keep the audience on their feet and hopefully not fall asleep. 

We didn't want to go for a younger audience as they wouldn't really understand what is going on because of the complex and hard to understand plot therefore not knowing what is going on and losing focus, and they would get board and ruin it for other viewers.  it is also hard to make a thriller without violence and a bit of graphic scenes. Also the film would be boring for older viewers as they would work it out straight away and would not be entertained. 

Tom Verco - Question 5

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

We attracted our audience through the use of camera work and crated an complex but understandable plot. We also made our piece flow and go from one scene to the next. This is good for the our older audience as they would like the quality of the film as well as the plot of it. Also by creating a lot of suspense throughout the opening it will get our target audience engaged. We tried to keep to the convention of a thriller and not go into the conventions of a comedy. To help us we asked a few people which story they thought would keep their eyes fixed on the screen and not make them want to fall asleep. Hopefully with good actors, camera work and editing it would make the opening a whole lot better to watch. The background music also helped us to create suspense for our audience as it builds and it will make the audience wonders what's going to happen next. Also through the uses of camera angles, acting and editing hopefully it will make the audience feel as if they are there.

Our audience can relate to our main character which helps them get more attached to the character and the story as things like this do happen in reality.

Tom Verco - Question 3

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

I think we would have a large distribution company distribute our product and they would create adverts to get our audience interested and therefore making more people go see it at the cinema. The film would first be shown at the cinema and be shown for as long as possible to maximise the amount of sales and get as mush people off the edge of their seats as possible.

it would then be sold as DVD's and Blurays soft and hard covers, as well as being sold to online distributers such as Amazon prime and Netflix. These companies would pay the distributers and the makers to have their films on their sites.

After a year or few years of the film being released it would then air on Television broadcasters such as ITV and BBC and at some point hopefully be put onto Sky Movies. This could increase sales therefore making more money for the distributers and makers of the film.    

Tom Verco - Question 2

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We have 3 characters in our opening. The protagonist Carl he is portrayed as a high class working man. This is shown through the way that he dresses and the house that he lives in. The way he dresses shows he is a working class man as he is wearing leather shoes, black jeans and a smart shirt and this is typically what working class men ware. His wealth is also shown by his house as you would expect a working class man to live in a house like he does. Throughout the opening there are not really any close ups of Carl this is because he is not an aggressive person and that's what audiences think when close ups occur so we didn't want the audience to think that if an close up did occur. 

Carl is portrayed as a kind and brave person this is shown when he returns the package to its owner, and he is brave when he gets kidnapped even though he might be shaken up he is still keeping a brave face on and not showing any fear toward the other 2 characters. Bravery and kindness is something that you would expect from a character like carl as he is a police officer. We wanted to portray Carl like a stereotypical police officer to give that felling of suspense as he might have enemies because of who he is. 

    

The other two character are our antagonist and theses characters are portrayed as lower class people and criminals as they are wearing hoodies and hoodies and stereotypically warn by criminals. This then gives the audience the idea that they are criminals and then it is later on proven that they are by what they do to Carl. They are represented through mise en scene and the camera work. You only see the antagonist with a close up and this shows that they are aggressive people. Also the room is dark to show that the characters come from a dark background, this gives the audience and idea on what sort of people they are. 

Tom Verco Question 1

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

In our media product we tried to use as much forms and conventions as possible. We used different camera techniques to create a felling of suspense and mystery for the audience, for example we used a range of different angles, shots and establishing shots. This created suspense as the establishing shot was a shot of an abandoned house. At the very beginning of our product we have a close up of our protagonist sleeping to then be woken by a knock at the door and this foreshadows something later on to happen. For the scene where our protagonist was sleeping we used low key lighting. 

in order to build tension throughout our thriller opening we researched a lot of thriller openings in order to get a good idea on what works well and what wouldn't work as well. We got moat of our ideas from the inception and mad max openings.

In our product we haven't got much dialogue until the end scene when our protagonist gets captured, this is because we wanted to build tension and suspense till the end. 

in the Inception opening the use of camera techniques the the uses of not much dialogue is what we tried to use to build tension throughout the opening, i like how in inception they use a lot of close ups so the audience can see how the character is felling and that is what we tried to incorporate into our opening. This also gets the audience to focus on one key moment and this is what we did with ours when our protagonist is waking up in bed.    

   

Tom Verco Question 7

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product? 

I fell that i have learnt a lot from the preliminary task to now i have learnt how to use a camera properly also how to edit and different ways of incorporating sound into your piece. 

i have leant all the camera techniques from White Balance to the different shots and angles and how to get them right. 

When we started our prelim we didn't really know what the techniques for the camera was until we looked back at the footage and saw things differently to when we were filming. For example the white balance in one shot wasn't right and it made that scene look blue and from that moment on that was something that we made sure we got right.

The sound quality from our prelim task to our final product is so much better i think this is because we had a better understanding on how to use the microphone properly and how to pick up the best sound. on top of this we have also found so much better sound effects and background music to incorporate within our product. The sound made a massive difference as it build more tension and suspense as the non-diegetic sound was much better.

Our editing skills improved so much between the two and this is clearly shown when you watch the two videos. This is mainly down to the fact that for our prelim it was our first time using the editing software so we were not that familiar with it. So when it came to editing the main product we all knew what we were doing and we got the editing done a lot quicker, this made time for us to create a title sequence that with research we found out plays a big part within a thriller opening. This made our final product look that bit more professional.

Overall i think that our editing skills and film skills have improved so much from the start, and we now have a much wider understanding of all the techniques of filming and editing.      

Tom Verco Question 6

6. What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I fell that i have learnt a lot from the process of constructing this product for example i have learnt that there is more to cameras than i thought. Also that there is a lot more to editing than i thought there was, image editing and sound editing.

We had two people in our group that already knew a lot about cameras so we were half way there with knowing how they work but even they still had a lot to discover:

The main thing i fell that i have learnt about cameras is the framing and white balance if these are not right when you film then your final product will not be as good as it could of been, and if you get these wrong you can't really solve it with editing. The thing i learnt with framing is that for example if it is a 2 shot you have to make sure that both of the characters are in shot (obviously) but also that if one person is more in shot that the other that it can make that scene look a bit rubbish. The White balance on the camera is one of the most important as if the white balance is off then you whole scene will look odd. If your white balance is perfect them the shot should look the same to what it looks like when you are filming and this will make you footage look crisp and sharp and more professional I also learnt about zooming and how that can help you get all the different shots you want for example a close up or extreme close up.



When it came to editing the Product i learnt that there is a lot more to editing than i thought there was, you have sound editing and image editing.

The pace within our product does change is starts of slow then speeds us as tension build then when the dialogue kicks in its slow paced again and this would of been a challenge to do as we had to get it right and not have it to slow but not have it to fast or it would kill the tension and suspense.

Image editing is something that was new to me as continuity editing is something that you have to be aware off when editing. The continuity editing that you have are: 180 degree rule, Shot reverse shot, Eyeline match, Match on action, Cutaway, Cross cutting, Parallel cutting, Graphic match Post production and Overlapping editing. if you don't use any of these techniques then you final product won't look as good as it could have been. For example if you don't get the 180 degree rule right then it will just be confusing for the audience.

Showing the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot. 

When it came to Sound editing it wasn't all that hard as all we really needed was some sound effect and some background music. When we were searching for some background music we used a few non copyright websites but the one we used the most was Soundcloud and this is a good website of you looking for original music. We also had to try and get the levels right so that when there was any dialogue the music wouldn't cut up any dialogue.  

We didn't really have to edit the dialogue as we connected a microphone to the camera so the picture and the sound were one that made our life a little easier.    

Dream State Full Opening

Story Board for opening.

Permissions

These are screenshots of texts giving us there parental consent to go and film in the abandoned house for our media film.

POV Experiment

POV Experiment

POV Experiment

We as a group experimented with what POV punching looked like, so that we could perfect it for our final shoot. we did this experiment by using our phones to act as the go pro we intend to use for the  final shoot.

These are a few of the videos that we shoot.

Research and Planning

Setting:

- Part of it is set in Jordan's room where he is sleeping until there in a knock on the door.
- The next part is him walking round the street visiting shops and getting a cup of coffee and doing the usual everyday things.
- The next part is him walking up to the abandoned house and is lured into capture.
- The final location is set back in Jordan's room and the first scene is repeated.

Props:

- Parcel - Used by Jordan to lure toms character to the abandoned house and also wakes tom up.
- Car - Tom uses a car to imply that he is going out and doing his chores.
- Coffee cup - Used by tom to show everyday activity.
- Newspaper - Just your average prop.
- Rope/ Cable ties - When Jordan and Frazer tie up Tom.

Costume:

Tom- Jeans and a shirt to signify that he is an under cover policeman, Black jeans, white shirt, black tie and black and white shoes. Hair flat, Blood and cuts on the face and maybe the rest of his body, Calm and composed body language, and an expressionless face.


Jordan- Delivery man sort of outfit, All black clothing. Hair in a hat for delivery man, flat hair for the rest of the film, no make up, bulky, brute force kind of body language, and a angry facial expression.


Frazer- All black clothing for entire feature. Puffy hair, no make up,  brute force kind of body language, and a angry facial expression.

Lighting and Colour:

- Start of with a bright light as it is the morning.
- When outside the lighting is all going depend how the weather is, if it is a nice day then it will be  bright lighting or if its rainy and cold it will be gloomy lighting.
- When filming in the abandoned house we will use dark lighting to signify the situation.

Composition: 

- Jordan standing in the background of shot and then we change the focus point from Tom to Jordan.
- When Tom is tied up and captured use of the correct lighting in order to create a good composition in the darkness.

Risks:

- Make sure Tom keeps to the speed limits when driving his car.
- Assess the abandoned house for any broken or sharp objects/ glass.
- When filming assess the area in which you are doing it to check for laws and or people who may disapprove.

Roles:

-Sam is videographer, and director
-Jordan is an actor, and he is playing the part of Hugh
-Tom is an actor, and is playing the part of Carl
-Frazer is an actor, and is playing the part of Vin, he is also 2nd videographer

Tom - Kill list

KILL LIST

Mise en scene

The Mise en scene throughout kill list builds up to tension and suspense. the opening of the scene leaves the audience wondering what has happened and why it has happened. The lighting is bright but not to colourfull as it symbolizes that they are a poor family in need of money. The characters seem worried about something we know this becasue of their facial expressions at the very beginning of the scene we also know that some money has been stolen from them. They are dressed causal like you would in a house. 

Editing  

The editing throughout the opening is consistent it doesn't really change unless there is tension between the two protagonists, for example when they stared arguing at the very beginning of the opening the pace was fast and when it settled down it got slow again. Also sometimes when they were arguing there was no cuts at all there was sometime pans. There was also a good use of background music. 

 

The camera following the male protagonist

Sound

The sound in the opening was very consistent. There is a part in the opening where after the argument there is some background music which makes the opening more tense as they have just had an argument that made is tense and the music build up more tension. Apart from a bit of non-dietetic sound there isn't much more as the scene works really well without music becasue from the very beginning the audience knows what is going on and can build on that. 

Camerawork 

The camerawork throughout the opening again is very consistent as the camera is mainly the same shot the whole way through. At the beginning there is a medium shot of the male protagonist through the door, it then follows him as if you were in the room with him. There is then a shot of the woman protagonist looking at her self in the window this gives the effect of her maybe trying to work out what she needs to do to sort things out. After the scene with the background music the camerawork is pretty much the same. There is a scene where they have another argument the camera then closes up on the protagonist face. By doing this you can see clearly what their facial expressions are and see how they are felling.           

The male protagonist behind the door.

Tom - Face Off

Face Off

Mise en scene

The Mise en scene throughout the opening builds suspense and tension. The lighting/colour again is black and white for a short time which by itself builds suspense. there two protagonists that we see one with a child on a fairground ride and one which has a sniper pointed at the other protagonist this alone builds suspense. The opening scene is set at a fair ground which makes the audience fell as if nothing would happen at place like that. The man with the snipers facial expression looks like he doesn't want to do what ever he is going to do. Their costumes are smart casual top and shirt with jeans. There is a point after he gets shot where you see the balloons that the chiol;d was holding fload away this could symbolize  that the child has been shot to.

Editing  

The editing is slow paced slow cuts which builds suspense for the audience as they can take in what happening. There are some cuts where the sniper is focused on the man on the fairground ride this foreshadows something later on to happen to them. The editing after that first focus the cut start to get even slower as it builds up to the moment where he shots the man on the ride. while the opening scene is going on some titles of actors are coming on the screen. When the man on the ride gets shot the pace turn into slow motion giving the effect that something really bad has happened. it then cuts to him lying in the floor in pain. 

Sound

The sound throughout the opening is the same. The background music is really happy and cheerful and makes the audience fell as tho nothing bad is going to happen. There is also sounds of children in the background this could mean that it is a good environment for children that again nothing bad would happen. you then hear the sound of the sniper and the bullet interact with the man on the ride. 

Camerawork   

The camerawork throughout the scene is mainly the same it starts with medium shots of the characters and a o. After the title screen it has a close up of the sniper sipping on a drink maybe to show that he might need to calm him self down before he does what he is going to do. There is then a close up of the sniper. After this there is a close up of the snipers facial expression after he has looked through the sniper, he has a surprised look on his face. After the man gets shot there is a zoom of blood on the horse this suggest to the audience that the bullet went straight through the man and killed his child who he was hugging at the time. After that it zoomed in on loads of different horses on the ride. 

Tom - Kill Bill

Kill Bill

Mise en scene 

Mise en scene throughout the opening scene Kill Bill builds suspense, mystery and tension which is key within thrillers. The lighitng/colour in this scene is key because of the type of thriller that it is. in this particular scene it is in black and white and this gives a certain affect for the audience who are watching it for example because its in black and white is builds so much tension. The protagonist who in this certain scene is covered in blood and seems to be in a wedding dress, because it is in black and white makes us wonder if it is a flashback or it happens later on in the future. Not only can we tell that she is frightened from the blood but her body language and facial expressions tells us that she is frigtened. She appears to be lying on a wooden floor which suggest that maybe she was beaten to the edge of death.

Start of the sequence.

Editing 

The editing throughout the whole opening is slow paced, this is probably because they want the audience to see everything that is happening. Also becasue there is no chase and the protagonist is lying on the floor unable to do anything the slow paced editing adds the the effect. There is a point in the opening where it doesn't cut for a while this is becasue they want the audience to capture everything that is happening on the screen at that very moment. The editing doesn't change from that moment for a while until Bill shots her then it goes to the title screen. After the title screen we have a fade in we see a figure lying down on what seems to be a bed, we then have a fade out to black.

The woman Gets shot

 Sound
The sound in the opening scene is very restricted. At the beginning you hear someone breathing really heavily then we find out that it is a woman who is breathing heavily. We then hear some footsteps. Apart from the title sequence there is no background music at all, this is becasue they didn't need background music for this scene as it is already built tension and suspense with the heavy breathing and footsteps. Before the opening titles we have some dialogue form both characters.

Camerawork       

The camerawork is very important in this opening scene becasue there are very few camera shots/movements that happen. The opening starts with a close up of the woman's face covered in blood with some of the background and costume in the same frame. We also see her facial expressions before we get to the shot of Bill we see the woman looking at something before we find out what it is.  The next shot we find out what the woman was looking at because it is the shot of Bills feet walking across the floor. The camera never goes above Bills feet, this is probably because they don't want you to know who Bill is. After the title sequence we have a medium shot of a body lying on a bed we assume that this is Bill.  

 

Shot of Bills feet

A figure lying down

 

 

 

 

 

      

Tom Verco - Bourne Ultimatum

Mise en scene.

Mise en scene is used in this opening to create tension as the protagonist is seen running away from something that we later find out that it is the police that he is running from. The protagonist is clearly hurt this is shown through the use of him body language, he is seen limping as he is trying to escape this builds up tension for the audience as he is obviously injured, he also looks over his shoulder a number of times. His facial expression suggests to us that he is afraid of something that he has done in that past that we don't find out until later on in the opening. He is wearing a long black coat black jeans and shoes. This shows us that he is trying to stay hidden and doesn't want to be seen. 

Editing    

The Editing in the opening scene is used in loads of different ways this helps to create suspense and tension. one of the ways it does this is with fast paced cuts it doesn't leave the audience looking at one part to long. the use of fast paced cuts shows the audience that the protagonist is in a rush to get somewhere. The protagonist has a number of flash backs the editing is this is used really as they are really slow paced so the audience can see whats going on. As the scene gets to the end the editing becomes really slow paced to show the protagonist frame of mind.


 

Sound

The sound also helps to build tension is the scene, at the very beginning of the scene the sound kicks in straight away with fast paced music this builds tension and suspense for the audience. The background music goes on all the way through the scene. As the protagonist is outside at the start you can hear all different types of sounds. 7 seconds into the clip you hear sirens this tells us that he is running away from the police. when the protagonist gets into the pharmacy the music changes it gets even more fast paced but quieter this is because he is rushing to try and gets something done, when this is happening it is putting the audience on the edge of their seats as the police is after him and he is trying to heel him self. 

Camerawork

The camerawork is also used to create tension and suspension. The scene starts with a close up of the protagonists feet as he is clearly running from something. Throughout the scene there are a lot of close ups on the protagonist. When the protagonist is running the camera shakes with him to get the audience to fell as if they are there with him. There are close ups of the protagonists facial expressions to show his worry. every time he looks over his shoulder there is always a close up of his facial expression and body language.     

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot Reverse Shot is a technique where one character is shown looking at another character; the other character is then shown looking back at the other character. Since the characters are shown facing in different directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other. The character's need to maintain their position so it is not confusing for the audience, this links to the technique known as The 180 degrees rule.