What is a Director?

• A film director is a person who directs the actors and crew in the making of a film. They control a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors.

Film directors are responsible for overseeing creative aspects of a film under the film producer. They often develop the vision for a film and carry the vision out, deciding how the film should look. They are responsible for turning the script into a sequence of shots. They also direct what tone it should have and what an audience should gain from the cinematic experience. Film directors are responsible for deciding camera angles, lens effects, lighting, and set design, and will often take part in hiring key crew members. They coordinate the actors' moves and also may be involved in the writing,financing, and editing of a film.

The director works closely with the cast and crew to shape the film. Some like to conduct rigorous rehearsals in preproduction while others do so before each scene. In either case this process is essential as it tells the director as well as other key members of the crew (Director of Photography, stunt choreographer, hair stylist, etc.), how the actors are going to play the scene, which enables them to make any necessary adjustments. Directors often use storyboards to illustrate sequences and concepts, and a director's viewfinder to set up camera angles.

The director also plays a key role in post-production. He or she works with the editor to ensure that the emotions of the scene and the close ups, mid shots and wide or long shots appropriately reflect which character is driving the narrative. The director also advises on the (colour) grading of the final images, adding warmth or frigidity to the composition of the shots to reflect the emotional subtext of the character or environment. He or she also participates in the sound mix and musical composition of the film. ^[2]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_director)

Through examining information on the role of a film director, I can see that we are doing small parts of what a real film director would have to complete when creating a production. This information helps as it sets out what we should be thinking about, and factors we should be considering when filming and directing. 

A few of my favourite directors are set out in the link tab to the right of my page.

A directors mind is vital to the piece they are creating, a director is what makes or breaks a film. When viewing films directed by the same person, you can always find traits that are fluent in all productions, this is why an audience will go and see a film by a certain director, as they know they'll like what they'll see and will expect a consistency in quality. 

Film Classifications

As most of our inspiration for our opening title sequence comes from films that are certificates 15 and over, myself and Joseph were aware that our OTS would most probably have to be a 15 or over.
As we show no explicit violence, swearing, or nudity, only imply certain factors, we have decided that a 15 would be an appropriate certificate.
Use of alcohol, drugs, death and murder is implied and so this would not be suitable for a certificate of 12.
The scenes which contain such things will be shown more clearly when our animatic/story board is uploaded.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
These certificates and such are explained on the bbfc website, which is useful.

Our 3 Main Characters.

For the character of Kevin Paine, AKA Butch, we shall be using my step father Kevin.
He has quite a domineering look about him, and so I thought he would be appropriate to use
for a business man type character. He has also featured in some of my previous media products
as a violent character, so we know he can also play the 'kicked to the curb' angry loner. 

My sister Charlotte shall be playing the character of Vee, she is quite a modern looking female
with fairly futuristic/quirky appeals such as her hairstyles. This is useful for what we want, as we
need a woman who can look quite punky yet seductive at the same time. She is also the appropriate
age group for Veronica, as Vee is a young mother, and my sister is 25. 

We will be using Flynn as our Champ character, as  he has quite a 'punk' like style,
which is what Champ turns into after his mothers death. He is also the correct age, as
Champ is getting over his teenage years, growing up and seeking revenge for his mothers
unjust death. 

Location; Wells Sailing Club Bar

AS Media Studies, Joe Cracknell: The wells sailing club bar.

Here are a few images of the location of the main part of our opening title sequence.

What are Semiotics?

Semiotics, also called semiotic studies or semiology, is the study of cultural sign processes (semiosis), analogy, metaphor, signification and communication, signs and symbols.  Semiotics is usually divided into three branches, which include:

• Semantics: Relation between signs and the things to which they refer; their denotata, or meaning
• Syntactics: Relations among signs in formal structures
• Pragmatics: Relation between signs and the effects they have on the people who use them

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiotics)

The characters in mine and Joseph's opening title sequence will all find a symbol which has a mutual meaning between them, thus incorporating the idea of semiotics. This will be a tarot card, as I have explained. Through the sequence, the audience will see the card, and know its association with our antagonist. When the characters mutually find the cards in the end of the sequence, both the audience and characters will understand the meaning. 

More traditional symbolism will also be used such as colours and their associations, e.g. red and it's link with danger. 

What is an OTS?

The main-title sequence or the opening credits of a movie can be considered the most important piece in a film. Other than trailers and marketing elements, they are the first images the audience sees when the lights go down. These quick clips (all about two to three minutes) outline the filmmaker's intentions and set up the expectations of those watching. Saul Bass, a graphic artist in the film industry said, "making a main-title was like making a poster, you're condensing the event into this one concept, this one metaphor·a back-story that needs to be told or a character that needs to be introduced."

http://myweb.cwpost.liu.edu/paievoli/finals/505Sp_03/Prj2/MataP2.htm

Examples of Opening Title Sequences;

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/03/26/se7en/   - Seven

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/01/14/casino-royale/ - Casino Royale

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/03/17/300/ - 300

Task 5

In some ways, different types of media do seem to acquire higher statuses in terms of intelligence than others. This is a common interpretation by the public. When thinking of this in terms of television, film, radio etc, I believe that radio and newspaper are favoured as the most intelligible sources of media text. This seems to be because of the more mature nature they often portray, leading us to believe that you can appear smarter through the usage of these products. In terms of music, there is a clear division in what the public believes entices you to be intelligent. 
Classical or Operatic music is often associated with the higher classes or the more clever of the public. Whereas Rap or Pop is often shunned and labelled as unintelligent. Music taste is often associated with class and social status, which of course, is utter rubbish. Stereotypically, people view upper class as classical music lovers, and middle and lower class, lovers of rap, pop and rock. This is like saying that all higher class love caviare, and all lower class love junk food. 
I, as part of a working/lower middle class family, listen to all forms of music, from classical, jazz to rock and pop. Therefore I believe that different forms of music cannot define your intelligence level.
Although, this is not to say that music does not affect behaviour, I certainly think it does. I believe that teenagers in particular are more heavily influenced by music than they realise. Through the repeated subjection to specific types of music, the messages and atmosphere of the tracks are subconsciously transferred into the mind. For example, if listening to a song about death, abuse, violence and such, it will affect the mood of the consumer. Certain music is also linked to events, such as some classical will relate to events such as funerals. These factors all alter how we respond to media, and how it effects us. 
When examining products such as television genres, it can be seen that the public believe programmes that entail problem solving e.g detective/crime thrillers are more intelligent than that of soap operas. This theory, I believe, can be slightly more backed up than the musical taste theory. As certain programmes do actually require a certain amount of brain power for full understanding e.g CSI, and some, not as much e.g Eastenders. This is not to say that specific groups watch certain programmes, it's just an observation on intelligence levels for programmes. 
In some ways, the audience for our production may be viewed as one of the less intelligent audiences as they would be the type of consumers that would be used to crudeness and explicit violence. This can be seen in films such as Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction. We target the Tarentino generation.




Here are links to the other tasks completed within the group:
http://asmediastudiesjoecracknell.blogspot.com/2011/01/audience-as-product.html
http://asmediastudiesjoecracknell.blogspot.com/2011/01/task-7.html
http://asmediastudiesjoecracknell.blogspot.com/2010/12/media-medium-status.html

Task 4 - The Cultivation Theory

I find the cultivation theory to be quite true to life, when you are subjected to something for a prolonged amount of time repeatedly, you become adjusted to it. This can be seen in television and film, even sometimes in music. As a culture we have become used to seeing and hearing of violence in everyday life, this allows us to believe it is normal. This is the same for the use of language we hear nowadays, when being subjected to swearing, we look upon it as an average thing. This differs from say, Victorian times as this language would not be used, to hear something that we are used to now, looking back it would be extremely vulgar. This does not necessarily mean that when viewing these things they will entice you to do them. When viewing violence, I, aswell as many other people do not believe it is right to commit these acts after being subjected to them.

            When the series Skins first came out, I was shocked at the amount of adult content in it, as it had not been shown so explicitly in a teenage programme. The use of sex, drugs and violence dismayed many as it was innovative in a programme aimed at such a young audience. Now when viewing these things, I, as a consumer find it completely normal. This type of content is shown more regularly in programmes aimed at a teenagers to adults such as Misfits, Sugar Rush or This is England ’86. Being subjected to this so much on television and film has definitely had an impact on the ‘shock factor’ products must live up to.

Our own production will not entail much violence or crudeness, and so the cultivation theory does not really effect us. The only perhaps 'obscenities' that will be seen is when one of our characters discovers their fatally inflicted mother, although this is not very graphic. As modern audiences have been subjected to much worse than this on a daily basis, it will not seem out of the ordinary.

Task 3 - The hypodermic syringe effect

Task 3 (The hypodermic syringe theory)

1. I do believe that perhaps in some ways the hypodermic syringe theory could work, but in my experience it has been in more of a positive way than the article suggests. Blaming crime and violence on TV/film is, I believe, a terrible excuse for why people commit crimes in everyday life. As a consumer, when I watch products that entail robbery, crime, or violence, it does not entice me to go out and murder someone, it does quite the opposite. I believe showing such things brings more awareness of circumstances that can occur in reality, and would make you more likely to look out for situations that could bring you into harm.
If watching a programme such as Desperate Housewives, you see Bree doing the washing up or cooking, a man may feel like this is the woman’s place, proving the theory right. A different man may view this completely differently, and think, maybe they’ll do the washing or cooking for their girlfriend to ease the labour. When considering the effects of the theory, I do believe that I have been influenced by some products, such as the Posters of David Cameron on the internet that degrade his slogans and him as a person. This has automatically influenced me to feel that the man and the party are as the posters portray them. Which after much research I can see is true, and so I believe the theory can be used to warn people of rising threats.

How the media can influence an audience;

This image shows David Cameron combined with the previous prime minister Gordon Brown, the message portrays that nothing will change with the swap in roles, that perhaps all of the leaders bring the same outcome in their time in chair. This entices an audience to view the government with less respect, which is emphasised by the 'fooled you again'.

This image is an advertisement from a celebrity magazine enticing and convincing girls that they need to lose weight, the image very clearly shows a young woman that has no need to lose weight, yet portrays her as someone who needs to take the drastic measure of buying diet pills. This is a way of indoctrinating people to believe that skinny is the perfect image, and it allows us to believe we need to lose weight to be accepted. 

Ads such as this use the hypodermic syringe theory for good, as it attempts to warn people of the effects of dangerous habits. Advertisement of this sort is a successful way of turning around the view that the hypodermic syringe theory it is only used for negative indoctrination. It is an effective way of portraying a powerful message without using fearful tactics.

Our production will perhaps entice audiences to view films that are similar in style to it, as the conventions we will be using are borrowed from specific directors and film types.

Task 2 (audience theory activity & understanding booklet)

Do you think the audiences for most media texts do come "from all walks of life" or do different kinds of people watch very different kinds of programme. Are there any examples of media texts that you can think of that do seem to have audiences of all kinds of people?

1. Depending on age groups, I believe most media products target a fairly niche audience rather than a large group. It is easier to create a product with an accurate target group in mind rather than something produced for universal purposes. For example, television programmes such as Skins or Misfits are very universally unacceptable as the themes of the programmes are not suitable for all ages. These programmes are targeted at a very niche market due to their content, but are very popular amongst this market as they were created with everything that the audience is interested in. This contrasts with Disney products, as this company in ways caters for all ages. With films such as Toy Story, Disney makes sure to allow fairly adult content in a child friendly manner, such as puns or jokes that younger audiences would not perhaps understand, but adults would enjoy. This is quite difficult to accomplish with films aimed at children. When you, as an audience, think of certain television programmes or films, you can automatically classify their audience through stereotypical traits the products entail. Usually, as a consumer, I wouldn’t find many media products that I watch that I could say would be targeted at a universal audience, so therefore I believe most audiences for media texts very are much individualised. This can be seen with our own media production we are currently creating, the audience will be very specific as we do not stick to conventions or realism.

How much of your media experience is when you are on your own and how much when you are with others?

2. Usually, when experiencing different types of media, as a consumer I am on my own. Although this varies depending on which products I tend to use. When listening to music on say, an ipod, a consumer would tend to be alone due to the headphones that are obligatory when buying the product. This product would also be used alone due to the personal nature it possesses to the holder, as it would have personalised music and pictures etc. This can also be observed when looking over media products such as magazines or your choice of newspaper, as the product is created to suit an individuals taste rather than a mass audience. The opposite can be said for say cinema or television, as when experiencing these things you are rarely alone. With cinema, it is a niche audience that watches the product, but it is normally experienced in mass. This sometimes amplifies the media experience as you can see others reactions and strike up a conversation with those who are seeing the same material as yourself. The same can be seen with television, a consumer would usually find themselves watching this with friends or perhaps family, as it is a universal device, it is more used amongst mass audiences.

Are there any ways in which you share your experiences of the media with other people who weren't around when you experienced the text?

3. Ways in which you could share your experiences of media with others who weren't around when you experienced the text can be accomplished in several ways. Often when people want to share their opinions or thoughts on a media product they can blog their views on the internet and allow others who have experienced the same thing to comment or view it. Another common thing which media products do is to create their own space in which people can comment on their product and discuss with others on how they felt about it. This can be seen on sites such as ebay, amazon or even cinema websites in which viewers can recommend (or not) a film through comments. Another form of sharing experiences could be through social networking, such as facebook or twitter, in which people are free to comment and discuss at their will.

Audience theory activity & understanding booklet - Task 1

Task 1 on Prezi

End of the OTS

The end of our OTS see's our three protagonists having a sudden revelation, they will somehow find our signifier for Miller (the tarot card) and all act accordingly. I would like to have a split screen comic book type effect for this, such as the image above, but obviously only showing Vee, Butch and Champ. I'm not quite sure on how or if we can actually do this, it'll need some investigating. I would like to use this effect as we are trying to include a sort of comic book feel to the production, such as in The Spirit or Sin City.

Joe has played around more with this idea, being the editing genius that he is: http://asmediastudiesjoecracknell.blogspot.com/2011/01/split-screening-again.html

30/11/10

We've nearly finished doing all of our concept board presentations, one more group to go! All of the feedback has been quite good from everyone, from the looks of it, most people are sticking to film noir conventions. Me and Joe finished doing our sticky notes animation thing today, so it should be up soon. Doing it has definitely helped us envision what our OTS will look like, although for the notes we've only focused on the very start and Vee's flashbacks. Should be filming soon, all of our locations are indoors so won't have to worry about the snow. Just need to organise everyone for a day, the most difficult part I think.

Veronica AKA Vee, 'femme fatale'

Although I will not be playing the role of 'Vee', I thought I'd experiment with how I want her to look. I want Vee to have the classic femme fatale look, but not the character. Our female character is not the seductive killer/criminal/manipulator, she is a woman seeking revenge for the good of her family. I want to use my dark brown fur coat, and lace dress, as I believe they are fairly stereotypically noir. Dark lipstick and eyes will also be added to our actor. We will be using my sister Mellissa as Vee, we have fairly similiar hair and such, so this should be a good representation of what she will look like. Although the look will be fairly conventional, the hairstyle will not be long wavy locks or glamorised hair, just simple bob cut, to show defiance against the role of 'femme fatale'.

Continuity Task

AS Media Studies, Joe Cracknell: Continuity Task: Mine, Joes and Matt's continuity task.

Creating this continuity task was an ideal way to find out how we would cope when filming our actual productions, seeing what our strengths and weaknesses are. As I feature in this piece, I could not experiment with filming/directing so much, but was able to give some direction whilst 'acting'. We used a variety of lighting to try and recreate the classical film noir effect, using LEDs and lamps etc. This was quite difficult in some ways, as the faces of the characters/their actions were sometimes unclear. Holding the lights steady was also quite a trial. This has persuaded me to try and create more of a modern piece for our production, as we struggled a tad with keeping to conventions such as lighting. Some of the camera work is a bit shakey, so we will need to work on how to hold the camera, and move it fluently. We stuck to most conventions of noir, having subtitles, a femme fatale and such. I am quite influenced by modern films, so I think that we will try to create a neo-noir. It would be interesting to play with conventions and try to create something different from everyone else. I don't like that the female character in noirs is always seemingly evil and used as an object of the males affection, so I would like to turn this around. Create a strong and independant character, free of male objection.


Storyboard of Continuity:

 

(clearer when full screen)

Sound + Music

I'm not too sure about all the rules surrounding copyright and such, and the 'useful' website posted appears to be not so useful to myself.
I have pretty much decided what music and sound I want incorporated into the OTS, borrowing inspiration from Kill Bill and Pulp Fiction.
Our main setting for the OTS is a bar, it's an old boating pub in wells, which has a nice nostalgic yet modern affair going on. To bring together both modern (the pub) and old, I would like to use the song 'Girl, you'll be a woman soon' (Urge Overkill) in the background. This song has a really nice western rocky feel too it, and contrasts with modern chart music. Yet it will also be appropriate to the modern themes in our feature.
Some of the sound effects in the Kill Bill films really appealed to me when I watched the movies, being a massive Tarentino fan, I would like to use some of them. I really like the 'whistle song' in the film as it has really quite a joyful sound to it, yet in the films it's used in moments of violence. The 'dramatic' music effect (linked below) I also want to use, for the ending of the piece. I would like to somehow figure out how to get a split screen effect for the end of the OTS and use this music over it. We're going to play around with some of these effects to see what we can fit in.

Links;
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7sENFMLHIg 'Girl, you'll be a woman soon', Urge Overkill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENyGj_NQKkU The 'whistle song', Kill Bill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54vtXRI32MQ Dramatic effect music, I couldn't find the original video for the sound.

Blogs.

I have chosen to evaluate an A2 students blog; http://sophieanna2media.blogspot.com/
I like this blog as it is very simplistic and clear to read. It does not include much of her personality, but this for me is a positive. I do not like to blog pointless rants about things that are not relevant to the work, it might make me a bit of a square, but I'm a down to the point kind of person. All of the posts are set out very neatly, each having a clear objective, which is useful for organisation of work. She does not have any useful links set out, which in doing so would make her blog more useful as a tool. I would like to think that this blog is vaguely similar to my own, as it is fairly straightforward and easy to read.

revised; things i need to buy

So, our narrative has changed slightly to fit with the theme of an OTS, as our previous idea's felt like more of an ending to a film than a beginning. This means that my 'to buy' list keeps altering.  We're scrapping the trilby's as we feel it's too old fashioned for our neo-noir, and we're sticking to contemporary hair styles. The guns are no longer needed, as the ending has been completely altered. We now require 3 sets of tarot cards, I already have one set from home and shall buy two more cheapish sets. Although the whole sets are not necessary, we need around 3 of the same cards. All shall be revealed on this front at a later date..
Most of the equipment we require is fairly modern so I don't believe there is anything specifically we need to buy dis including the tarot cards.

16/11/10

This lesson we will be presenting our concept boards to the class, this will be filmed and uploaded to our blogs. Myself and Joe Cracknell have created a Prezi to express our ideas.

Things to buy for OTS

• 3 fake guns
• 3 trilby's 
• Cigarette holder
• Black seamed tights

OTS Concept

When deliberating over what our story and concept should be for the Opening Title Sequence, me and my working partner Joseph Cracknell (http://asmediastudiesjoecracknell.blogspot.com/)formed a story to fit the conventions of Film Noir.
The basic plot is of three characters, who's lives coincide through the sharing of a common enemy. In the OTS we shall be including flashbacks and voice overs to try and incorporate the noir factors.
The story shall be divulged more thoroughly once we have completed our concept board.

Costume Ideas;

Femme Fatale:                                                  (* = need to buy)

• Silk cocktail dress 
• Fur coat 
• Black tights with back seam *
• Black heels
• Cigarette holder *
• Large jewellery
• Smokey eye-shadows and dark lipsticks
• Fake gun? *

Sin City neo-noir examples.

Ideas for OTS

Currently, I am unsure about what my exact concept for the opening title sequence will be, but I have a few ideas on what I would like to try and encorporate.
To try and adapt the idea of Film Noir I would like to try and create a 'Neo-Noir', with stylistic conventions from movies such as Sin City or 300.
I am not yet sure about which movie style to conform with, be it horror or comedy. I would like to create perhaps a thriller with some horror aspects. As attempting to create a purely horror piece would be difficult to execute at an amateur level with little budget.

What has to be on my concept board?

Title
Genre - Film Noir
Plot - Order/Structure of narrative
Narrative - Story
Cast - Character, Representation (style,props,costume), Accents, Mannerisms
Conventions - Established or expected rules of genre
Set
Mise-en-scene
Signifier/Icon
Connotation - Suggestion/meaning/implied
Denotation - Emphasised/explicit/factual/stated
Sound - Diegetic/non-diegetic, effect, synchronous/asynchronous, foleying, contrapunctal, ambiance
Camera - Shot, pace, angle, transitions
Mood
Style
Target Audience - Demographics (factual data, preferred audience

Film Noir on Prezi

Film Noir Stills.

What is Film Noir?

Film noir is a cinematic term used mainly to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that amplify sardonic attitudes and sexual motivations.

The classic film noir period began from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this time is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style.

New age noirs are referred to as 'neo-noirs'.

Film noir's aesthetics are motivated by German Expressionism, an artistic movement of the 1910s and 1920s that involved theater, photography, painting, sculpture, and architecture, as well as cinema.

The private eye and the femme fatale are character types conventionally identified with noir.

Femme Fatale - Mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations.

Private Eye - Private detective.

I Am Legend

Conventions;
-Exposing of story (cure for cancer)
-Enigma established (what happened to the city in which will smith is in)
-Different aspect ratio (from TV to widescreen)
-Runs audio without footage (news story)
-Establishing shot, setting location (America + city + yellow cab = New York)
-Amplifies Enigma (why is the city overgrown, where are the people, why has this happened, etc)
-Creating diageses (world of fictional place)
-Hook (why is Will Smith still alive)
-Tension building (silence when about to shoot antelope)
-Synchronous music (suggestion of sound)
-Silence amplifies contrast (antelope shooting)
-Realistic Aesthetic (trying to recreate actual experiences; news story)

Non-Conventions;
-Takes a while to expose the story
-No non-digetic sound track
-Nothing to interrupt audience attention

Me + Media

I've been a media student for two years, in my first year I established what side of media I prefered, which is planning and directing. Thinking of an idea and building from it is my favourite part of making a production, be it a music video, documentary, or animation. I've come to realise that working alone is most suited to me, as I often conflict with other idea's and personalities in a group. I normally have a clear vision of what I want.  This may seem small minded, but I still collect opinions of others about my work, and take it on board. In GCSE I got an A*, my favourite part of the course was creating our music video, which made me want to make more and more.
I'm looking forward to partaking in the Media A Level, and hope it helps me in my perhaps naive dream of becoming a director. Being a film obsessor has contributed to this aspiration.