Final OTS

QUIETUS JOE CRACKNEL from fLIX.TV on Vimeo.

Evaluation

Media Evaluation on Prezi

Specification for Evaluation

In the evaluation the following questions must be answered:

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

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

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

Who would be the audience for your media product?

How did you attract/address your audience?

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

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

The end is in sight!

Myself and Joseph have almost completed our OTS, it has taken a rather long time due to the sheer amount of complexity we set out for the project. We seem to have come into a few difficulties with music and sound, as fitting in a variety of music doesn't always sound 'right'. We've been testing out different music tracks and such, just a few more adjustments need to be made.

Script

As our OTS has several musical changes and sounds, we thought it would be best to keep the voice overs short and simple, but long enough to further explain what the viewers are seeing on screen. 


Vee
"I still remember that night. The smell of my babies sweet clothes. That shot changed my life in a second. 
My guy took money from a man with no soul. My family paid the price."


Butch
"It's just business he said, we'll make it big. We made it all right. In this business, it's a one man game he said.
Apparently I wasn't that man. Everyone's expendable. They can rip your future away in a second."


Champ
"My mother. Faith. Children. Love. Security, For what? It took him 2 days to leave her. It took me a week to find her. Her heart. My heart. Stolen. Ripped. Dead. For what? 
Wherever he went, chaos followed. Now we were brought together. For what? Revenge."


I wanted the pieces of dialogue to be very short in order for them to be spoken slowly and clearly. This is to contrast the speed the stories unravel on the screen. If the voice overs were long and drawn out, it would force them to be spoken quicker, therefore creating too much of a fast and rushed pace for the OTS as a whole.

Target Audience

Our target audience for our OTS will be both males and females aged between 15 and 20.
As our OTS involves more male characters than female it may stereotypically be more attractive to females. Our femme fatale is not a conventional girly, long haired beauty. She turns conventions through the discarding of a dress and wearing of jeans, and having short spiky hair. This may also attract females as it has more of a 'girl power' feel.
We decided upon this category whilst collecting information from questionnaires and polls.
We thought the suitable class choice would be middle to lower class, as from what we have found, these are the classes that are more open to unconventional styles and editing. A mature (perhaps in their 20's) audience may enjoy our OTS more as it has quite a confusing and interpretable storyline.
The classification for our OTS will be a 15, as it contains a fairly adult storyline involving death, murder and crime. This would not be suitable material for younger audiences.

Whilst deliberating over what music and sounds we wanted to use in our OTS, we had to research copyright laws in order not to break them unintentionally.

Copyright

Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original 
work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. Copyright does
not protect ideas, only their expression. In most jurisdictions copyright arises 
upon fixation and does not need to be registered. 
Copyright owners have the exclusive statutory right to exercise control over 
copying and other exploitation of the works for a specific period of time, after 
which the work is said to enter the public domain.Uses covered under
limitations and exceptions to copyright, such as fair use, do not require permission 
from the copyright owner. 
All other uses require permission and copyright owners can license or permanently
 transfer or assign their exclusive rights to others..

-This is a section taken from wikipedia.

There are principally 2 types of copyright to consider when we talk about music copyright.

-The traditional ©, ‘C in a circle’ copyright, applies to the composition, musical score,
 lyrics as well as any artwork or cover designs, as all of these are individually subject 
to copyright in their own rights, (though when you register, you can include them all in
a single registration provided they have the same copyright owner(s)).

-The second type of copyright applies to the sound recording itself, and is signified by
 the ‘P in a circle’ .

- http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/protect/p07_music_copyright

If we want to use music in our piece, it must either be copyright free, or only be used
for a small amount of time. We will need to consider this when editing the music
into our final piece.

Fonts

Whilst browsing through some possible fonts to use for our title screen on our OTS, myself and Joseph came across the fonts used in films that brought us inspiration.

Although the typography and such for this film was very impressive, we did not think it suited our OTS. This appears more horror like, as it appears that the lettering has been cut in half.

This was our favorite font, as we felt it added most cartoon like appeal, which is partly what we were attracted to when planning our OTS.

This font has far too much aggression linked with it, and appears too brutal for our thriller.

 This is an example of the font we will be using for the title of our film, it incorporates the cartoon type style, but has been changed with colour to suit the Film Noir black and white appeal.

Audience Research

I created a poll on Facebook to gather some general knowledge on what people actually know about Film Noir, what it is, and where people prefer to watch products. 20 people took the poll, the ages/class/status of the participants varied largely, so we could get an insight into all different areas.




I also created a hand out questionnaire to find out further audience information.

As we were querying a different range of people, I thought to ask favourite genre again. Out of the 20 mixed gender and aged participants, the majority preferred to watch drama and crime. These results were useful to us, as this is the mix of genres we are aiming for our OTS.

As a side question I wondered what directors were favoured (if any). It turned out that out of the 7 people that answered the director question, 5 preferred Quentin Tarentino, of whose style inspired us.

The majority of males/females of whom liked crime and drama were aged 15-20, which is our target age group. 

Textual Deconstruction - Neo-Noir

Red Riding - 1974


Red riding begins with a camera panning up as if travelling through ground to light, as the camera reaches above the earth, chiaroscuro is used between the darkness of the night and the vivid white of wings on a child's body. This technique is common in traditional Noirs to define the contrast of light and dark. A droning sound is heard through out this, which is used to create tension and suspense. The scene then cuts to our 'protagonist' covered in dirt/blood dropping a gun. The colours used here appear quite desaturated, which is a common factor in Neo-Noirs. As the beginning scenes unfold there is a sense of disorientation due to the blurring of the image and moving camera. This is perhaps used to intrigue the viewer as to what has been occurring, it is also commonly used to distort the storyline, which alludes back to the twisting, maze-like plot of a Noir.

As the scene moves into current day, we meet our protagonist. The setting is one of morbid dystopia due to the rain, cloudy sky and deserted road which appears to be in the middle of no-where. This dystopian setting is often used in traditional film Noirs to emphasise the dark themes. Traditional Noirs are often set in suburban areas, Red Riding subverts this and places itself in a rural marshland. Acoustic guitar music plays throughout the car journey, which is a modernisation from olden Noir, yet still sends the feeling of isolation. This isolation is also portrayed through the narration, again a convention of Noir. Whilst driving, the protagonist is smoking. This is often a signifier in a film Noir, traditionally it shows seduction and mystery. 

As the scene moves into a dull and smoky room, we are informed that our protagonist is in fact a traditional anti-hero, as he has failed in his job in London. The colours used in the room are all very dull and desaturated, highlighting the melancholy tone. The 'law enforcement' characters inform the viewer that a child is missing, which refers to the opening scene where we see a body of a child. This narrative of murder reverts back to traditional Noir.



Blade Runner

Blade Runner is a classic example of a 'modern' neo-noir. Set years in the future, the film is still able to incorporate traditional Noir conventions. The opening scene conveys a wide darkened sky scape which is pierced by the blaze of fires and lights. This merges classic chiaroscuro into 'modern' day. Film Noir is most often recognised through the strong use of light and shadows, this is shown in the scene where characters are first introduced in Blade Runner.The surroundings appear very desolate and dystopian emphasising the darkly thematic plot. Noir often attempts to create a feeling of hopelessness and anguish through its setting. The music score is far from conventional as it includes electrical sounds and drones created from machines rather than orchestral.

A figure is then introduced in a shadowed and smoky room, the darkened silhouette accentuated in white light (again applying chiaroscuro). The character smokes which adds elements of mystery and rebellion, traits associated with orthodox Noir. Blade Runner does not create a sense of realism which is something Noirs traditionally try to do, differentiating it from customs.

Mulholland Drive

Mulholland Drive appears to conform most to traditional film noir conventions than the previous films I have observed. The opening scene shows classic 50's style dancing surrounded in bright coloured lights. This style of dancing and such is quite fitting to the Noir genre, and so fits in with conventions.

The scene then transcends to a darknened road in which the camera is following  a moving car. The headlights of the car act as spotlights, which interjects classic chiaroscuro. The music in the background is orchestral and high pitched, which is a classic effect for building tension/suspence, a factor almost always included in film Noir.

The 'femme fatale' is then introduced, dimly lit in a dark car. She wears traditional dark makeup and lipstick, and appears the most conventional character. The driver threatens the 'femme fatale' with a gun, a classic signifier. The plot then thickens as the car crashes and our protagonist limps away from the wreckage. The narrative of attempted murder becomes clear here, which is one oftened assosiated with Noir. The two main characters create a kind of chiaroscuro through both their images, and the storylines that they are involved in.

Brief re-cap on conventions of film noirs..

In a traditional film noir you'll find something that goes like this..

Narrative

• Seduction
• Tragedy
• Crime
• Violence
• Melodramatic

Characters

• Femme Fatale
• Antagonist
• Protagonist - Law Enforcement

Mise-en-Scene

• Chiarascuro - Contrast between dark and light
• Monochrome - Different shades of one colour

Costumes

• Seductive
• Period Costumes
• Suits

Location

• Urban
• Bars
• Casinos
• Dystopian looking surrounding

Sound

• Orchestral
• Classical
• Jazz
• Heightened sound effects

Editing

• Generally simple
• Sense of realism
• Verisimilitude
• Slow pace
• Suspence/Tension

Targets for now up to half term.

- Complete all audience research including graphs.
- Voxbox interviews on cultivation theory (http://katharinewood.blogspot.com/2010/12/task-4-cultivation-theory.html)
- Experiment with Foleying + Go through piece in detail to see where foleying needs to be put into place.
- Complete all editing.
- Deconstruction of the opening of a film noir.
- Script narration, record + fit into final piece - after completion of editing without sound

Filming DONE.

I can finally say that we've completed all of our filming and are now fully concentrated on editing. Joe has been experimenting with different final cut effects that we could use in our final piece, so we can try and get to grip with the programme. As we've got quite a complicated narrative, it will take quite a long time to complete editing. I'm also quite a perfectionist so directing the editing process may become quite tedious for Joseph. We've played around with how we want the lighting in the flashbacks and current day to look, using low saturation levels for current, and bright saturated colours for flashbacks, which diverts conventions as you usually find flashbacks in B/W or sepia. We've also been toying with the use of slow motion to emphasise certain places in our piece, so that the audience doesn't get lost in the plot.
At the weekend I'm going to collect the results for the polls myself and Joseph created on facebook, and also the one I created on paper. These will be put into a graph for a visual aid to convey information about our target audience.

Please take part in our poll!

http://apps.facebook.com/my-polls/mediapoll

Location shots and cast in Wells

This is the little sailing club we've used for the main location for our  OTS, I shall now take you inside..

This is the main seating type area in the bar, I like that everything is mainly wooden, as it adds to the antiquity of the place. It has an old fashioned aura inside, so we thought this would be a perfect setting for our Film Noir OTS. By the fire is where one of our 3 main characters shall be sitting, we won't need to use artificial lighting here as the fire provides a more authentic look.

This is the bar area where our other 2 protagonists shall be awaiting their fate. Again everything has a nice wooden finish which doesn't bring too much modernism in, the general seating patterns and such are also quite old fashioned. 

This is our cast ready to film!

filming;

We only have 2 more scenes to shoot! Hooray. Tonight I will be filming Veronica's flashback in which she makes a gruesome discovery after an unwelcome visit from our Kingpin.
After this we believe our final filming date should be on sunday, so hopefully all will be good and done this week so we can edit next.

Target for the next 3 weeks;

• Finish all filming by end of this week (filming on wednesday+sunday)
• Begin editing process
• Write + record narration - after completion of editing of OTS
• Finish blog work

Self Assessment for filming.

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

• holding a shot steady, where appropriate;
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
• shooting material appropriate to the task set;
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;
• using titles appropriately.

Green = Completed

Audience

Part of my research needs to involve investigating the viewing habits and preferred reading of different audiences, this will ensure that we;
a) deliver a product that our audience will enjoy
b) are efficient in producing a real media text for a specific audience

In order to achieve this I need to carry out the following tasks:

1. What kind of people watch film noir
2. Is it a genre that has a niche or mainstream audience
3. How can I produce something that people will want to see
4. How are film noir texts distributed and exhibited
5. Do I want my film to be exhibited on television, cinema, or virally
6. How do people respond to different representations of character or location
7. What critical theories will apply to my production e.g users and gratification model or cultivation theory. This will allow me to demonstrate the theoretical level that is necessary to achieve an A grade

The instruments and methods that I will use to find this information are as follows;

1. Questionnaire based on what ages and types of people prefer certain genres and directors. This will be distributed on paper and the results shall be formed into a visual aid to help us understand our audience. 
2. Facebook poll on how many people have heard of/watched a film noir.
3. Facebook poll on whether our OTS story sounds appealing to watch or not.
4. Tumblr/Facebook ask on where people like to view media productions, e.g cinema, internet.

modern day femme fatales.

Whilst watching some of my old favourite films, I noticed that the character of Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction is quite similiar to that of a femme fatale. This is shown in several manners. We know that the character is married in the film, and rumours of infidelity have spread amoungst her husbands workers. She acts very provocatively towards her husbands co-worker Vincent Vega, and almost brings his downfall, as if she comes into harm he would quite possibly be killed (she overdoses accidently). Her style though, is quite opposite from that of a classic femme fatale, as she wears a shirt and trousers. Smoking is quite common in the classic maneaters, Mia also uses this in a seductive manner.

'Effy Stonem' is a prime example of a modern day femme fatale, her seductive manner and provocation shines through the series Skins. The way Effie dresses is unconventional for a femme fatale when compared to original noirs, yet in some ways they share similiarities. Both wear very dark shadowed colours, in makeup and clothing, yet obviously Effie wears far more modernised clothing. The stereotypical noir female has an air of mystery shrouded around them, this is also portrayed in Skins, as Effie has clear psychological problems and does not reveal to others what is in her mind. These factors allow other characters to be attracted to her, as many are intrigued by what they do not understand. One of her 'lovers', Freddie Mclair becomes very infatuated with her, which ultimately leads to his downfall. This is common in conventional noir films, as the protagonist male is usually lead into danger because of the femme fatale, er go 'fatal'. This is shown in Skins through Effie's psychological doctor murdering Freddie, because of the doctors estranged obsession with her.

Marking criteria for film

Level 4 48–60 marks

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

• holding a shot steady, where appropriate;
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate;
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate;
• shooting material appropriate to the task set;
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer;
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set;
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set;
• using titles appropriately.

Wells filming; done

On sunday night we completed our first piece of filming in Wells Sailing Club. It was the first chance myself and Joseph had to test ourselves on our filming and directoral skills. I found that I was quite unconfident with the camera in my hand, and felt better giving direction to others. I've found that I need to be more clear when I direct others, as they cannot see what is in my mind. I took some location shots and images of our cast in costume, these will be uploaded in due course. We will be completing one of our flashback scenes tonight at Joes house.

Audience Research

http://www.audiencesuk.org/data-and-resources/jargonbuster/S/social-grade

Commonly used social classification systems

National Readership Survey (JICNAR)

Classification	Description
A	Upper middle class
B	Middle class
C1	Lower middle class
C2	Skilled working class
D	Working class
E	Subsistence

Registrar General's Social Classes

Classification	Description
I	Professionals
II	Managerial & technical
IIIN	Skilled non-manual
IIIM	Skilled manual
IV	Partly skilled
V	Unskilled

Classification	Description
1	Managerial & professional
2	Intermediate occupations
3	Small employers & own account workers
4	Lower supervisory & technical
5	Semi-routine & routine Never worked & long-term unemployed

Thinking in terms of class for our OTS, I believe the C1-C2 bracket would be most suitable for our target audience. Perhaps these would be the most appropriate people, as they tend to be more open minded than higher class, and not stuck in their ways like stereotypical lower class. This middle section is where the majority of Brits fall into, and so it would be the most universally acceptable target group. Looking at the research from our questionnaires and such, our OTS and theme is satisfactory with the majority of varied age groups.

My role in our production + Storyboard

In our production and planning I have taken more of a directorial role, this includes production and development of ideas as well as physical directing with filming. 

I've found that creating ideas for our piece comes most easily to me, as I watch an unreasonable amount of films. I believe that if you've watched a large amount of diverse material, that you will have a better picture of what styles suit you and what you would like to conform to.  Music is also very important to me, so when looking at a piece I can automatically assign it certain songs and such. This is useful as whilst going through our shots, I can give advice as to what pieces of music or sounds to use, and what styles to borrow from different media productions I have viewed. We still need to decide on two further songs, and a few sound effects. As each of our characters is introduced in the sequence, the music alters to suit their personality. We have Champ and Butch to assign music to as yet.
We're filming our main scene on Sunday evening, so that should be a good chance to see how I cope with directing quite a large group of people.






Storyboard of OTS:

(clearer when full screen)

Criteria for Research + Evaluation

Evaluation;

• Excellent understanding of issues around audience, institution, technology, representation, forms and conventions in relation to production.  
• Excellent ability to refer to the choices made and outcomes.
• Excellent understanding of their development from preliminary to full task.
• Excellent ability to communicate.
• Excellent skill in the use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation
• showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size.

Research + Planning;
 Marking Criteria for the presentation of the research and planning
Research and Planning may be presented in electronic format, but can take the form of a folder or scrapbook at this level. Where candidates have worked as a group, this may be presented collectively, but teachers are asked to differentiate the contributions of individuals within the group in arriving at a mark and justifying individual marks on the assessment sheet. As part of the moderation sample, the moderator will expect to see research/planning evidence.
  

• There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience.
• There is excellent organisation of actors, locations, costumes or props.
• There is excellent work on shotlists, layouts, drafting, scripting or storyboarding.
• There is an excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning
• Time management is excellent.

Presentation of Concept Board

KETTMEDIA PRESENTATION 2 from fLIX.TV on Vimeo.