Media Studies Evaluation

Media Studies (Evaluation) Done

FINAL CUT

Choosing a title

Finally we have come up with a title for our film, which is a big sigh of relief. When we first began the whole process of filming we thought that the title 'Mad Teacher' was perfect, however after listening to constructive criticism and due to changes in the storyline (i.e. the protagonist is no longer a teacher he is an upperclass business man) we had to change that title as it was not suitable for the film anymore.
Quite recently we have all come to the decision that the title for our film is going to be 'Vengeance' - we thought this was more suitable as it is a word that means to punish someone for wrong doing. We thought this is perfect for our film as the protagonist wants to make the Prime Minister be punished for the economic crisis and current state the county is in.

Difficulties and Changes

Since we began this whole process back at the beginning of the school year we have come a long way, and we have altered many of our original idea as they were not practical or they were not realistic. For example when we initially began filming we started with the interview between the Prime Minister (played by Reece Garside) and the interviewer (played by Millie Warren), the interview then intercuts to the Prime Minister with blood and bruises all over and then cuts back to him being normal again. We then realised with some of the feedback that we got back helped us to realise that it is not clear that the protagonist is imagining it, so we decided to not use this as it was not realistic enough. However we have come a long way since then and now our opening sequence is starting to look very good, and all we are doing now is just adding the titles and making sure that it is perfect and just how we want it to be.

When we all looked back at our opening sequence it has become apparent that we could add a few more shots to help make our title sequence more thrilling and will give it more suspense.

The shots that we are going to include:

1. A shot of the protagonist answering his phone and saying to them "I've got it, alright I will meet you outside the Houses of Parliament at nine" - the fact that he does not specify what "it" is creates the feeling of suspense as the audience is not sure what he means.
2. A shot of the Protagonists phone ringing with the caller id 'unknown'- connotes danger. 
3. A over the shoulder shot of the protagonist on the internet looking up 'how to make a c4 bomb - this leads the audience to imagine what is going to happen.
4. A close up picture of he Prime Minister.
5. And finally a close up of the protagonist fixing his tie - this connotes anger/ seriousness. 

The Editing Process

At the moment we are currently in the editing process of our thriller opening title sequence. Editing takes time and patience to get it just right, however it is rewarding to watch back something that we have created as a group that is really beginning to look professional. At the beginning of the year none of us had used the editing software Adobe Premier Pro before, and throughout this whole process we have all come to terms with how to use it and we have leant a lot along this journey. We have all been there to help each other out if we got stuck with something.
Along the way we have faced a couple of problems things such as; intercutting deferent parts of the film with sound and matching them up with the voices. Never the less we never gave up and we got through those difficult patches, and the teachers have always been pushing us to do our best the whole time and they have never given up on us.

This is the editing software we used (Adobe Premier Pro).

This is one of the group members (Finley) doing some editing.

Titles

At this stage of making our thriller opening sequence we are near the stage of adding in our titles. Melissa decided to look at the order that the tiles appear in other thriller films. Melissa looked at the film 'Panic Room' and one of the things that she had noticed was that he the film title was not until the end of the introduction, this not what we had expected (I thought that it would be nearer the middle or the beginning of a film). This research the Melissa did will help us a lot when we are adding the titles to our opening sequence. 

These were what Melissa found:

• _______ Presents 
• A______ Production
• (Actors name)
• (Actors name)
• Film Title
• Music by______
• Editing by______
• Produced by_______
• Written by_______
• Directed by_______

Evaluation Questions

As the deadline for our Media Studies AS coursework is quickly approaching I am beginning to look at the evaluation questions, in order to give myself enough time to do my best.

These are the evaluation questions:

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
5. How did you attract/address your audience?
6. What habe you learnt about technologies for the process of constructing this product?
7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

These are the questions that we need to complete for the evaluation, we have to put together a powerpoint writing about each one of these questions. We need to write in depth responses for each of these questions and include statistics form our questionnaire that the audience who watched our opening sequence filled in. As there is a lot to do I thought the best ting to do was begin looking at the questions early so when I begin my evaluation I will have a clear detailed set of notes to work with.

Questionnaire

It is around this time that we are beginning to look at the evaluation questions, to help us with the evaluation we have created a questionnaire to give us more insight to how the audience are reacting to our thriller opening sequence 'Vengeance'. We will all post the questionnaire on our social network sites, along with the finish product. The questionnaire target specific areas of the thriller opening we have created and asks the audience to inform us on how well they believe done.

These questions are only the first draft, so we may make some changes to them if need be. 

1. From the opening sequence, does it make you want to watch the rest of the film?
2. Does the opening sequence make sense?
3. Do the camera angles work and do they create realism?
4. Are the transitions smooth?
5. Is the non-diegetic score work?
6. Does it have thriller elements within the opening?
7. Is the storyline well presented?
8. Are the props in the opening realistic?
9. Did the characters work well within the opening sequence?
10. Do you think that the locations are suitable?
11. Are the titles easy to read and do they last for long enough?

As these questions are just the the first draft for the questionnaire, I am sure that we will change them in order to get the best possible responses from the audience. Looking back at them, it is apparent to me that people who do not know much about media studies most likely would not know what some of the vocabulary means for example (non-diegetic) or they might not know what the elements of a thriller are. So they will have to be reworked so that everybody will know what we are asking them. The feedback that we receive is important because it will help us to complete our evaluation as we need to know where, what and how we can improved, and most importantly if we have made an enjoyable viewer experience.

Locations

Locations

My groups opening begins with an interview of the Prime Minister talking to the children about the government and the current state of the United Kingdoms economy. As a group we decided that the front entrance of our school was a suitable location for the interview to take place.

We chose three possible locations outside the front of the school and took pictures of them to see which one works best. The first picture is of the front reception, however we decided it is not best because it is very busy and we will constantly be interrupted and is not the most practical choice.

Or second option is outside the front gates of the school, however we decided that the scenery is very dull and on the side of the road which means it is very noisy which is not helpful when we are trying to film. We thought best not to use this location.

This is our third and final location, it is the front of the school and is a main feature of the school, it is the one that as a group we came to a conclusion that it is the most suitable place because of the fact it is one of the schools main features and is on the side of the front entrance which means that there are less interruptions.

Deadlines

Deadlines

We have been set deadlines, this will help us to be able to keep to the deadlines.

Storyboards and Animatic Presentations: Tuesday 15th January
All of the filming; Monday 28th January
Post-Production, Rough cut: Friday 15th February 4pm
Final Deadline: Friday 8th March
Individual Evaluations: Friday 29th March 4pm

These deadlines are essential to keeping us on track with our work and give us time to edit our work if we are not happy with it. 

Rough cut

Rough Cut

This is the rough cut for my groups thriller project, as you can see it needs refining as it is not quite there yet. Last week Melissa and I went up to London with Callum to film the second section of filming that had to be done. As a group we collectively decided that we needed to go to Westminster in London because, there hold lots of iconic symbols that people will associate with the Government and the Prime Minister of England. We are still searching for non-diegetic score to add to the film to give it the audience that thrilling edge to the production. We collectively decided that it was best that we did not ad the title into the clip as we were unsure if it fit in, the title was going to be 'Mad Teacher' but we thought this was not the best and most creative name. I feel that a lot of the shot have to be polished up and made so that the transition is a lot smoother, however when this is done I feel that we will be very pleased with the finishing result.

Filming - London

Melissa Kerrison, Callum Carroll and I all went up to London yesterday (February 14th) to film some new shots to add to our opening sequence. We went to Westminster so that we can film Callum coming off of the train and walking up and out of the underground tube station, and also to film him around the Houses of Parliament. This was very successful as we got done exactly what we need to do. 

I am very pleased to say that we got managed to film every shot we needed with out any problems which was nice. They were the perfect length, and were steady and the distance was right; so Callum's head was not cut out of the frame like before. 

However, there was one small problem which was the fact that we were unable to get the view of the Houses of Parliament that we wanted without viewing it from the bridge. This was a little bit of an inconvenience as we intended for Callum to be waiting right outside the Houses of Parliament waiting for the Prime Minister. Despite this I am extremely happy with the progress that we have made and this new footage will make a big difference to our thriller opening. 

These are some of the photos that we took whilst we were up in London Filming:

Deadlines

Deadlines

Storyboards and Animatic Presentations: Tuesday 15th January
All of Filming: Monday 28th of January
Post-Production (rough cut): Friday 15th February 4pm
Final Deadline: Friday 8th March
Individual Evaluations: Friday 29th March 4pm

We have all taken on roles and responsibilities in order to meet these deadlines and keep the wheels in motion. Each having our own role in our group allows us all to get on with our own thing and speeds up the whole process, which means that if we have to change anything in our film we will have enough time to sort it out and perfect it.

Roles and Responsibilities

I am taking pictures of characters, props and settings.
Melissa and Hannah are in charge of the animatic.
Finley is in charge of the shooting schedule and shot list.

The New Storyboard

After our opening title sequence was shown to the class, and assed by our peers, it became clear to us a group that we need to make a lot of changes. Some of the changes that need to made are things like; in some of the shots the lighting was not adequate, some of the panning is not smooth enough and we cut a bit of the protagonists head out of the frame. So we decided to take a step back and re-think our storyboard. The reason we chose to improve our storyboard was so that we knew exactly what we wanted it opening to look like, and exactly what we had to film. I feel that this is going to really help us to make a better more well put together piece of media.

Here is our new and improved storyboard:

Update

When we all looked through and began to edit the shots that we had recorded, we had noticed that it was no where near long enough and also a few of the shots that we had recorded we not satisfying enough. As a group we all got together and came to the decision that we HAVE to improve on what we already have, and that on the 5th of February that two members of the group and the actor (Callum Carroll) would go Westminster in London to film various shots near the Houses of Parliament. We have also agreed to bring in a new character, who is going to be the wife of the protagonist, but we have not decided to just use an clip of audio (so you do not see her) or wether she will be seen. She will be unaware of what her husband is really up to and thinks that he is just going to work as normal.

Things that we will be filming: 

• The protagonist on the train. Impatient and agitated mood.
• The protagonist walking amongst the public.
• An establishing shot of the protagonist smirking and gritting his teeth (with the Houses of Parliament in the background).
• Shots of iconic buildings/ landmarks in London.

Things to re-film: 

• We need to redo a shot where we cut some of the top of the protagonists head out of the frame.
• We need to redo the panning shot of the bottles, because it is jumpy and not smooth.
• Some shots need to last for longer, the idea of doing this to create suspense. 

The re-filming will take place at my house as that is the location for a lot of the shots. After we do the filming in London we hope that the film will look far more professional, and with the re-filming the title sequence will be the adequate length (time scale for this task is two minutes)

Development of Idea

Development of Idea

This is the developed idea which we have chosen to cut down:

• The Prime Minister being interviewed explaining why he has chosen to visit the Chalfonts Community College.
• The over the shoulder shot of the assassinator turning the television off. 
• Zooming out from the television screen, turns to a close up of the assassinators face (to create an intense and angry tone) dressed in a smart suit and tie. 
• He then walks down the hallway (silence except for his footsteps).
• Stops 'Welcome Prime Minister, Mr David Cameron ( sound of applause)
• Assassinator opens door, then cuts to a black screen and titles appear. 

Props

In the room where the television is, on the wall there will newspapers cut outs of David Cameron and every thing that he has done, since he was elected Prime Minister of England. Key information will be circled with red pen to show the audience that he is obsessed/ angry.

We need a room with a television.

An actor who looks like he is determined and stern.

Throughout the process of filming we are bound to make small alterations to end up with the best out come possible.

The Filming Progress

The Filming Progress

When the group was all together at my house on the weekend we had a lot of fun filming, and most importantly we managed to get the majority of the filming done which is a huge relief. Due to the weather circumstances (snow) we were very fortunate that everyone in the group were able to attend, and we got a big section of the filming done. I think we all had a great time filming as we all helped with the filming, setting up props and directing. Here are some photos to show you us doing so:

Me having a go at filming.

Melissa having a go at filming.

All of us watching back some of the footage we filmed.

 When we were all together filming, we had to make sure the camera angles were all correct and that there was a sufficient amount of light, so that it was perfectly clear to see what was taking place. We took a number of shots for each of the clips so that we could choose the most well put together and use that in our film. Our actor Callum Carroll did a wonderful job and he carried out all of the acting tasks that we asked of him, and I believe that he had a fun time playing a part in our opening title sequence.

We decided that some parts of our animatic did not look quite right and were not very practical, apart form these minor tweaks we made I feel that on a whole the filming was a success, and if there is any re-filming to do, we have enough time to do so. On a whole I feel that I have gained a lot of  knowledge and experience from this process, and I had a great time doing it which is a nice added bonus.

Our Animatic

This is our animatic which is a short video summary made up of the storyboard clips, it contains every single shot that is going to be in our opening title sequence. What we did was we imprted the pictures that we took of our storyboard into Adobe Premier Pro, this is application we placed the photos in order and made it last the correct amout of time. We added in some diegetic scripting (the speech from the interview) and we also added some non- diegetic music, transitions , effects and titles.

Through this process of making the animatic helped me to understand how to use Adobe Premier Pro, which will come in useful when we begin to edit our actual project. The task of making our animatic was extremely helpful to allow my group mates and I to have a rough understanding of what our final opining  title sequence will look like, it also enabled me to see possible problems that we might have. an example of this is; we were going to use a shot reverse shot in the interview, however we thought that this would not create realism, as in real life interviews, the interviewer and the person who is being interviewed are usually sitting or standing side by side looking towards the camera. After this I feel confident about beginning the filming process for the actual opening title sequence.

Shooting Schedule

Shooting Schedule

Currently at this point the group and I are preparing to begin the filing process for our final piece. As a group we have collectively agreed on specific dates in which we are hoping to get the majority of the filming done. We decided that as this is our coursework we shall begin early so that if we have to take a step back and re-film some of our scenes we are able to do so over a substantial time period. The idea of starting early will allow us to take our time and not rush to and get the whole project done before the deadline for the rough cut which is 15th of February. We have planned to film the interview which will be the opening of the title sequence today (16th January).

This scene is an interview which takes place out side the front of our school (Chalfonts Community College), where the Prime Minister (played by Reece Garside) is being interviewed by the interviewer (played by Millie Warren). 

The process of filming this interview will require us to film it in a few chunks as one of the shots is the Prime Minister having blood and bruises on his face (this is to show the teacher who plans to kill him imagining the Prime Minister in pain), then we plan to have a shot of his face normal again to make it clear to the audience that the teacher (played by Callum Carroll) is imagining it. 

Unfortunately my group mate Hannah Dunsdon and I we unable to be present during this section of the filming as we had to attend classes. However we handed over the task to Melissa and Finely to direct. 

We have planned to all meet and film the rest of the scenes, which will include the montage sequence on Saturday 19th January. This section of the filming will take place at my house which is located in Beaconsfield, and everyone in the group will be present during this process. Callum Carroll will be wearing a smart tie and smart clothing to resemble a teacher. We will be using props which will be set up before the filming begins and we are hoping that all of the filming will be finished by the end of the day. After the filming process we will put it all together on the editing software (Adobe Premier Pro) and this will allow us to see if there are any scenes that require re-filming.

Political Aspect

Political Aspect 

When we were talking to our teacher about the angle that we are approaching our film from, we came to a group decision that we had come from the psycological instead of a political based route, which is not what we had intended to do. So Melissa decided to go back and research the codes and conventions of Political Thrillers.

From the research that Melissa has found it is clear to see that we need to make a few changes in our storyboard. For example we need to add some political information that is occurring that is happening at the moment, we could achieve this by looking at recent news and gaining ideas from this. Our film wont be giving a reason as to why the protagonist wants to assassinate the Prime Minister, we will denote what the Prime Minister is giving the interview about and that's what the audience will assume has angered the protagonist. The protagonist believes he's helping the world by attempting to kill the Prime Minister, not causing trouble. As well as this we may be including another character (the teachers wife) so that we have an innocent character creating a juxtaposition between the protagonist and his wife, connoting the wifes innocence and the protagonists dangerousness.