Q1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
9 Key Moments in The Awoken
I decided that we should create a hybrid-genre movie as I thought creating a movie with one particular could limit us and what we could create, and by crossing genres we could expand the plot of our movie. We decided to go with a Crime/Psychological Thriller movie as the two genres compliment each other. I believe our group showed off many conventions of a crime and thriller throughout the opening scene through a range of editing, cinematography, mise-en-scene and sound techniques. As a group our inspiration was movies such as 'Seven', 'The Butterfly Effect' and more, we will be showing comparisons to those movies and ours.
Cinematography was mainly done by me however in one scene I was acting as a dead body which forced another team member (Keith) to record the scene. Cinematography is essential in any movie as every shot is thought out beforehand allowing the director to implement a deeper meaning behind every scene.
Cinematography
Establishing Shot / High Angle / Low Angle / Tilt
In our movie, we added two establishing shots as we used two different locations. We used a police station which ties in with the crime genre as it indicates a crime has happened otherwise the movie wouldn't be based in a police station. Also, we used a rundown abandoned building to show off the thriller part of our movie, as it creates suspense and mystery as to why we would be filming in an old building like such. I took a low angle shot of the establishing shot of the abandoned building allowed us to build tension. Additionally by using a tilt we show the size of the building and how large it is which makes it seem huge and intimidating. I took a high angle shot of the main detective to show his position in authority and how powerful he is in comparison to the main actor. I like the third establishing shot which is from 'The Butterfly Effect' which is another movie created by 'New Line Cinema'. It is a good establishing shot because it is taken at night so it uses natural lighting and the building doesn't look rundown or abandoned instead it looks like a mansion which would make the audience wonder and be tense about where they are going at that time.
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Close Ups / PoV Shot / Over the Shoulder Shot
I decided that we should take a few close ups and also PoV shots. I chose to take close ups to show the actor's emotions which will allow the audience to get in touch with the actor's feelings at the current situation. Also I thought PoV shots would be good for our movie because they are unique and not commonly used. I thought it would be a good idea to see what happened from the actor's eyes so the audience can feel like they are going through the situation themselves or so they can understand what is going on even better. Additionally it gives the audience a sense or pleasure as they know something the police doesn't know in the movie as they experienced it through the shot. Over the shoulder shots were used in our movie as they show that the camera in the view is speaking to the person that we cannot see, this technique is used in many movies and is seen in 'Seven'. Mainly used in 'Seven' to show a conversation between the detectives or the detectives and the suspect.
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Mid Shot / Two Shot
We took mid shots to show the surroundings of the actors to give the audience an idea of where they are. We took a mid shot to show the detective staring into the interview room and also when the actor wakes up and there are dead bodies around him. It gives insight to the audience and helps them understand what is happening. Also, we used a two shot to show the encounter between the detective and the actor. In the two shot we can see that the actor struggles to keep eye contact showing that he is intimidated and nervous. Two shots have been seen in many movies, such as 'Seven'. Two shots are used to show two characters in one scene to establish the connection between them, in the case of 'Seven' it displays the two detectives side by side at a low angle, this is to show the audience that they are both in a position of power. We decided to implement this into our movie as we figured it would be good to show the connection between two characters to the audience.
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Editing
Colour CorrectionThe main editor in our group was Keith however we all had a part in editing. We added some colour correction to one of our scenes - the establishing shot. We took this shot on a bright sunny day however we used colour correction to make it seem like a dull dark day. The dark grey building and graffiti on the wall connotes that this building is abandoned and empty. The connotations of the colour grey is boring and dull.
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Cross CuttingWe also used cross cutting in our movie. We used cross cutting through the use of a CCTV shot that we created to show a new character entering, as the detective and main character were speaking. We did this to build suspense in the audience as they would have been wondering who this new mysterious character is.
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Special EffectMy group and I decided to create a unique shot not commonly seen in movies as it would stand out. We filmed the shot by using the camera and shooting the scene at a high angle then later editing it on Final Cut Pro and adding a special effect to make it seem like a CCTV camera. We thought this shot will grab the audiences' attention as it is a unique way of introducing a new character into a movie.
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Mise-en-scene
Costume: Detective West + Detective CharlesWe paid close attention to costume for our actors and made sure the outfits fit the conventions of our genre. In Crime and Thriller movies the outfits are commonly black as seen in 'The Godfather', 'Scarface' and also TV Series 'Luther'. Luther was the inspiration for the outfits of the detectives as they stereo typically wear long dark coats.
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Costume: MichaelWe wanted our main character to wear smart clothing such as a shirt and trousers to show that he is very intelligent however he has scruffy hair and he looks nervous and confused which subverts the idea that he is intelligent. However the fact that he is wearing smart clothing can be seen as a way for him to outsmart the detectives.
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LightingWe chose red lighting in a black room as the colours red and black have many negative connotations for instance:
Red is associated with the devil and fire. These are obviously very negative connotations which show that our main actor Michael is in a room surrounded by these evil things. Black is associated with power, and it is intimidating as it takes away light whereas the colour white brings it, meaning it is the opposite to white. We also made sure the establishing shot was grey which has connotation of boring, dull and old. |
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LocationWe filmed our whole movie in our school however we tried to use different rooms that are not classrooms to give the idea that we aren't in a school. We took shots of a police station and abandoned building to suggest to the audience that we were filming in there however that was not the case. Also, using our school was a good idea in case we made any mistakes so we could go back and re film with ease.
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Sound
Throughout our movie, we had many different types of sound. The main one was obviously diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The dialogue was all diegetic as the actors can hear each other when they speak for example when Detective West is interrogating Michael. We used creepy, eerie music throughout the whole opening scene which was non-diegetic as the actors could not hear it. It was used to build tension for the audience and to show them that the movie will be intense. We also used this score as Se7en's opening scene contained an eerie score which set the atmosphere for the whole movie. Additionally, through editing we did volume control to make the dialogue slightly louder making it easier for the audience to hear.
The most important sound in our movie is dialogue which allows the audience to determine what is happening. Through the use of dialogue the audience will understand who is in a position of authority which is evident in the scene when Detective Charles enters and begins is aggressive with his tone which shows the audience that he is angry and also in power as he is able to demand answers from Michael. The accent can help the audience understand the position the character is placed in society, for example, Michael uses colloquial language which shows that he may be lower class.
The most important sound in our movie is dialogue which allows the audience to determine what is happening. Through the use of dialogue the audience will understand who is in a position of authority which is evident in the scene when Detective Charles enters and begins is aggressive with his tone which shows the audience that he is angry and also in power as he is able to demand answers from Michael. The accent can help the audience understand the position the character is placed in society, for example, Michael uses colloquial language which shows that he may be lower class.
Q2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Q3: What kind of institution might distribute your media product and why?
Q4: Who would be the audience for your media product?
Q5: How did you attract/address your audience?
Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
Q7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what have you learnt in the progression from that to the final product?
Our preliminary task wasn't very creative and was very simple. We used a variety of shots such as Match on Action and we used continuity editing however it was very short and lacked creativity. After creating that we learned through our mistakes and realised that in order to create a successful product we would need for it to be unique and stand out. In our new movie we tried to subvert traditional stereotypes and subvert Todorov's narrative theory to make the movie keep the audience on edge throughout the entire opening scene. Also, while doing the preliminary task our group was able to familiarise ourselves with the camera we were using and learn how to use it and also get used to Final Cut Pro and all of the editing techniques we could implement in our main movie.
Lighting
In our preliminary task in this particular scene the lighting was very poor and we couldn't really control it. However in our main task we were able to manipulate the lighting in our favour by using a dark black room with red lighting to show the audience that the scene is dark and dangerous. By doing the preliminary task it allowed our group to look through it and realise the mistakes such as lighting and focus on making sure the lighting is correct in our main task in order to give the audience the right impressions. If we hadn't done the preliminary task I don't believe we would have had as much success in our final film because we wouldn't have had made our mistakes and learnt from them prior to the main task which helped us avoid making small mistakes such as lighting problems.
Costume
In our first attempt at the main task, we used one of our friends as a detective. This was not successful as he did not have the traditionally stereotypical look of a detective; which is the long dark coat and shirt. We realised that he did not conform to codes and conventions of a thriller movie as he did not look intimidating and he was wearing a casual hoodie. In our final take, our detective conforms to traditional stereotypes as he is wearing a long black coat and a shirt which shows that he is in a position of authority. By filming a draft, we learned about the impact of costume and its importance and realised that it played a large part in every movie. Also, we included a prop (police badge) to add realism for the audience because in the first draft the detective didn't make it clear who he was and it confused a lot of our audience which forced us to rethink the whole scene. That prop was the only prop we used in our movie however it clearly portrayed to the audience who the detective was.
Location
In our last opening scene, it was very evident that we were filming in our school and we realised that we were not being creative enough. We believe that the location alone limited our grade as we did not put effort in to go and scout a better location. We tackled this by using a dark black room which does not look like the standard school classroom but a mysterious hidden chamber that is not very obvious. This was done to build tension for the audience as they do not know where the character is which makes them uncomfortable. This conforms to codes and conventions of a thriller as it creates mystery for the audience. This has helped our group understand the importance of location and the impact it has on the movie, looking back at our first attempt, if we had submitted that as our final piece it would not have been a good piece because the classroom is bright and it does not seem scary at all because it is full of tables and chairs, however in the final main task we made sure that there was nothing but the dead bodies and the single chair the main character was sitting on which helped build tension a lot.
Sound
There were many issues with sound in our first attempt to the main task. One huge issue was at the end of our opening scene when the detective was talking to Michael however you could barely hear a word they said due to the diegetic sound of the coach in the background. This was extremely bad as the audience could not hear what they were saying which did not help as the detective didn't look like one. This forced us to have to redo the scene. In our new film from what we learnt prior to filming, we decided to avoid coaches and film indoors in an 'interrogation room' where the sound would be clear and the focus would be on the two characters and nothing else. We used a non-diegetic score throughout the opening scene to build tension as we used eerie music to keep the audience on the edge of their seats from the beginning. I believe that dialogue was very clear in our final film as we focused on volume control through editing to raise volumes of the characters when they couldn't be heard and we also tried to record in empty areas to avoid background noise and isolate the area to make it seem more suspenseful. I strongly believe that without shooting our first attempt we wouldn't have learnt about how small obstacles could make the biggest difference that would ruin the whole opening scene.
Cinematography
Establishing Shot: Our establishing shots are quite different. In our first attempt, we took an establishing shot of a nice modern school which looked new. We realised that this was not really an intimidating building as it looks brand new. This would cause confusion for the audience as they may not be able to justify what kind of genre it is because of the modern building. By doing this, we learned that we needed a building that isn't as modern and new, so we found an abandoned rundown building that definitely creates tension from the moment you set eyes on it. It has graffiti on it and smashed windows which builds suspense for the audience right away leaving them trembling in their seats. Filming the first attempt has definitely helped me see what I needed to improve for my final task which was to film an abandoned building to fit the codes and conventions.
Editing
In comparison to our first attempt and preliminary task, our group has used more editing techniques in our final task to produce the best content. By doing our prelim task and first attempt it was evident that volume control was necessary otherwise background noises and other things could interfere with dialogue, to tackle it we changed the volume control and raised the voices of the actors to make them easier to hear for the audience.
We also added colour correction which we hadn't done prior to our final task. I believe that doing our first attempt helped us pick out the missing pieces that we could add and colour correction was definitely one of those things. We adjusted the colour of the establishing shot to make it seem like a dull day to set a dark mood which fits the codes and conventions of thrillers. We hadn't done this in our first attempt but by exploring Final Cut Pro we realised that we can add more into our movie to improve it.
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We added a non-diegetic score throughout the opening scene to increase tension, we also implemented this from our first attempt which makes the whole opening scene suspenseful for the audience to watch.