Evaluation

My media product reflects the same way that most introductions work, introducing a basic story line so people know whats going on i did this by showing a normal person discovering his dead brother and revealing it to be himself who seemed to kill him, and also posing questions so that people want to stay and find out more like: how will he cope with his illness and how will he overcome it if he does. I think I accomplished this quite well.

My media product is about a teenage boy challenged with schizophrenia, therefore it represents the teenaged social group, it represents them in a posative light how they have to cope with troubles that are usually associated with elderly people or middleaged people.

I dont know if it would be distributed in cinemas because it is not a popular genre of film however I feel it may be featured on T.V in places like channel four aimed at teenagers. I also think it would be released on DVD by Film 4 but would not be released by any major company as it is indie and not a mainstream genre.

My media product would be aimed at teenagers and parents, I would hope for it to reach a wider audience but I think teenagers and parents could appreciate it more as they may be able to sympathize with the main character.

I attracted my audience by trying to make them curious while not giving away too much, for example posing questions to them like: How is he going to deal with his split personality; how would he stop his other personality commiting murder and how it all happened. I addressed this as a bit of a thriller at the beggining and then trying to add some mystery.

I found that to make this appeal to the audience i had to get straight into it which i did by putting in a chase sequence from the very beggining. I also learnt that to make a good introduction i had to get the audience to watch the rest and the best way to do this is do pose questions which i explained above. I also learnt that to make it flow i had to use good transitions in order not to break the tension.

I think since my preliminary i learnt that i had to explain the story better for an introduction, because if the audience did not understand they would be less likely to enjoy the film as they would not know what was going on, i did this by starting at the beggining and adding more dialog.

This is  my preliminary work, i had very little knowledge of how to use editing software and what shots, angles, effects and mise en scene. I also did not know much about continuity and match on action either but while editing and in the  evaluation stages i learnt alot from this piece.

Final piece

This is my final piece of coursework, im very happy with it.

Production logo's

This logo will be used to label products produced by my company.



This logo will be used at the begginning of films and programmes my company produces.

 I chose to have two logos in order to make it better for certain use, due to having thin blue lines on a dark background it would be hard to see if it were small or far away therefore i also have black on a white background, where as the black on white is very boring  if it is to be annimated in the future or even if its just stood alone therefore i also have a colour version which will be more aesthetically pleasing at the beggining of films and programmes etc.

Age Certificate Research

BBFC is the British Board of Film Classification, this organisation classify each film so they are suitable for certain ages

A 'U' certificate film is suitable for all audiences, it may contain mild horror, or violence but this will be strongly disaproved of.

A 'PG' which stands for parental guidance; is suitable for most children at the age of 8 or over. The parent is encouraged to consider whether it is suitable for their child especially if they are more sensative for example. Most genres are acceptable but only mild, for example only natural nudity and no sexual content.

A '12/12A' is reccomended as not suitable for children under 12 years old, however if accompanied by a parent or guardian the child may watch the film, the responsibility of effects on the child lies with the parent or guardian. In 12/12A's most genres are acceptible but must not be glamourised.

Nobody under the age of 15 may view a 15 rated film and are not aloud to buy or rent a 15 film. All Genres are acceptable but easily accesed weapons are not to be glamourised and easily accesed solvents and aerosols are unlikely to be acceptable.

Nobody under the age of 18 may view a 18 rated film and are not aloud to buy or rent a 18 film. In the 1998 human rights act it is stated that Adults may choose their own entertainment, however exeptions are made when the film contains material gathered illegaly and if the material is believed to harm the individuals pyschological characteristics or if sexual violence is involved.

'R18' films are only to be shown in specially liscensed establishments and cannot be purchased on the internet or by phone etc. These usually contain strong sexual content including fetish. These films may encourage an interest in sexually abusive activity.

Synopsis

I had a few ideas for film and film intros:
The first was a film about a police chiefs son being kidnapped and held for ransoms, the hero would of course be the police chief and the villain would be the kidnappers. The disequilibrium would be his son being stolen. I did not do this due to the fact i would need atleast 4 people to act in it and they would have to be a range of ages.

The second idea which I am going to carry on with is, a man wakes to find his wife dead in the bed next him, he tehn notices a figure run out the door, he imediatly gets up and chases him down the hall and corners him in the room at the end, when he turns the flee'ng man around he discovers it is himself. He slowly discovers he has a split personality with murderous intent. This would be simple to do because i would need 2-3 actors and the intro could all be done in one place.

Opening Credits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=875R8kHxzrA

During our research into opening credits we looked at the film “Dawn of the Dead”. This introduction gives a theme of death due to the song by Johnny Cash ‘When the man comes around’ which is about the grim reaper knocking at peoples doors. It also shows the theme of death using blood to write out the titles. It also shows cuts of screeching zombies, army, people panicking, praying and all things related to a zombie apocalypse. This also introduces the genre of horror/thriller and the theme of zombies. They used general clips from the news and of people praying but put it next to the zombies and blood to change the context making it relevant, where as before a picture of thousands of people praying could be completely normal.

Narrative Structure

Narrative structures are obvious in nearly all films, even films that don’t follow the basic narrative structure still have elements of it in the film. The narrative consists of a series of questions posed to the audience, these are applied during the introductions of films if not the very beginning of a films. These questions are usually posed by showing equilibrium (the normal happenings of a place or person) and then having a change come about this change is known as the ‘villain’ even if it is not a person. Then there is the hero which is the person involved in re-gaining equilibrium.

What I have learnt from film introductions.

Since I started the media course I have learnt allot from watching film introductions. Firstly how important the introduction is, because if the introduction does not draw you in and the film has what may be called a “slow start” the audience may give up, this can be fatal for indie films as well because a producer or marketer will not want to watch the whole film unless he is drawn in during the first five minutes. Secondly I learnt how these first five minutes of a film can establish theme, genre etc. by simple things like music or for example a topic of conversation. I also learnt how a basic shot of an item can tell you something about the character due to the mise en scene, it can also be linked with dialog and show countless things without a whole scene and section of dialog devoted to it.

Pretty Woman Film Anlysis

Media – Pretty Women intro analysis

The film starts with a man doing a magic trick, he says “No matter what they say, it’s all about the money” this quickly establishes that the film is about money, he then goes on to do his magic trick and it seems he makes money out of nothing, this is very much what Edward does in his business. It then talks about buying women “a penny for the ear, how much for the rest?” this introduces the theme of prostitution. The introduction then quickly establishes that it is a party for Edward, the reason that everyone is asking after him shows that he is an important person in the film but also an important person to them for business in the film. We then see who we assume is Edward on the phone, we assume it is him due to everyone speaking about him then it going to this character, the shot is taken from behind him, this hides emotion as he breaks up with a women on the phone. The woman on the phone says “I speak to your secretary more than I speak to you.” This shows he does not have very much time for women, this sequence also tells the audience that he is single. Then using a high angle and the fact he is up high in this building looking down at everyone tells the audience that he has a powerful status.

When the audience see him next going down the stairs he is talking to one of his assistants, asking about something, when the assistant says he does not know the audience can tell that Edward is very powerful due to his bossy and demanding tone. He then goes on to speak to a lady, you quickly establish that she is an ex through the conversation and that she is now married, he asks “When we were dating, did you speak to my secretary more than you spoke to me?” she simply answers “she was the bridesmaid at my wedding” this tells the audience that he has the same problem with women every time. As he heads outside a man chases him, this shows he is in demand, Edward then persuades this man, very easily to take his car even though the man is very protective, this shows the grip he has over all these people.

It then shows a sequence of him driving, getting lost and stalling the car, this shows he is not use to driving and more used to being chauffeured as he would not need to know how to drive or how to get where he wanted to go. The music then plays over the top, talking about being ‘over you’; this reflects that he has no grief over losing his last girlfriend. It also shows the audience him slowly getting to the poorer end of Los Angeles and away from the riches of Beverly Hills.

It then cuts to a shot of a Hotel in the night, this is stereotypically a cheap place to live which reflects the wealth of the character but also using a visual pun it has the neon’s ‘Ho’ lit as appose to the whole thing, this implies she is a prostitute. It then cuts to her in her underwear and a shirt, this shows that she is either poor and does not have nightwear or was tired when she went to bed meaning that she could not be bothered to get changed. Then an alarm goes off which shows she works at night, it slowly implies more and more what her line of work is. The music playing over the top has the lyrics “I’m a wild one” this implies that she is a bit wild. You then see a pan of some photos with the faces ripped out, this could imply to the audience that she has had a bad past relationship related, and there is no photo with the face intact which also tells the audience that she is single. While she is getting ready it shows her revealing cloths and cheap tricks in order to look classy and sexy, this helps the audience realise that she is a prostitute and poor for example her colouring her black boots with a marker pen to make them look newer.

When walking down the stairs she sees a person being told off by the landlord looking for rent, she then goes upstairs and takes a box with money in out of the back of the toilet, this shows that things need to be hidden in order to keep them safe, it also shows that she was willing to pay the rent until she finds that there is not enough money in the box, this makes her more likeable as a character. It then shows the audience she is use to avoiding the landlord by showing her climbing down the fire escape. It then shows again that she is poor by her not having a car and walking her way into the city. When she gets into the city you see a crime scene, the dialog tells the audience that someone has died, and this shows that it is a rough place to be at night. She then goes in a bar to meet with her friend she confronts her about not having the money to pay the rent, and assumes correctly that she has spent it on drugs, this reinforces she is a good person because she wanted to pay the rent and she is against drugs, this allows the audience to like her more.

When they go down the stairs her friend picks up cocktail fruit off of the bar to eat because she is hungry, this reinforces the fact they are poor. Then a fight breaks out in the background, they do little more than glance in that direction showing that people are use to fights breaking out round there at night reinforcing that the place is dangerous. They then go outside to “work”; this confirms the audience’s suspicions that she is a prostitute. They find another prostitute on their street, Vivian’s friend starts to shout at her to get her away, this shows that she is aggressive, the women they are trying to get away says “she’s a newwy” this shows the audience that she has not been a prostitute  for long which puts the audience on her side some more. After the women has gone a car drives by and one of the people in it say “how about a freebie it’s my birthday” Vivian’s friend tells him to get lost this shows that they cannot afford to waste time and that they do not do it because they want rather that they are forced to in order to have a roof over their heads and be able to eat.

Then when Edward drives over they notice he is wealthy due to the nice car he borrowed of his friend, because he stalls by their corner they think he is looking to pick someone up. It then cuts to a close up of him trying to sort out the car, this shows that he did not want to pick someone up but he is just having trouble driving showing the audience that its sheer coincidence that they met. When Vivian asks if he is “looking for a date” he says “no I’m looking for directions” this shows he is a bit cocky and sarcastic. When she tries to charge him for asking for directions you notice how desperate for money she is and later when he agrees you also see how desperate he is to get to his destination.

Layer Cake opening monolouge

This is the longest version of the intro i could find.

Review of ‘Layer Cake’

The introduction of Layer Cake is made to do one main thing; it makes you sympathize with the main character. First of all it does this by using a voice over in order to give the audience the feeling they are inside his head. He starts by talking about how drugs came about as a “billion dollar business”, he starts to explain this showing you a robbery, it involves people with guns and masks, like a classic 70’s bank robbery, this immediately shows the audience it is a robbery but it uses a slow moving crane shot which does not match the action going on. It then smoothly transitions into a pan of people smoking drugs, it does this by using a texture match by zooming in on a women’s hair and then zooming out of a mans hair in the next scene this shows the audience a change in time, in this scene he talks about the introduction of drugs to certain countries. Towards the end of the pan you see a woman walking this slowly changes into guard’s legs at a prison, this shows that drug dealers go to prison. In the prison scene you see the men who were robbing the bank talking to the man who was drug dealing, the voice over then talks about how drug dealers and robbers bound together to make the drug dealers we have today.

After the explanation how drugs became popular to use and deal in certain countries you see the first shot of Daniel Craig, it is obvious that he is the main character because as he starts talking about himself in the first person he appears on the screen. You see him in a pharmacy shopping but everything on the shelves is a drug, for example cocaine and speed, this shows what he is thinking, they are also under a popular brand name. It also plays a very relaxed song; this shows that this character is very mellow. As he carries his items over to the counter everything begins to change into the normal thing you see in a pharmacy like vitamins and cough sweets.

The next scene is of him walking down a street with his bag. He says on the voice over “I’m not a gangster, I’m a business man who’s commodity happens to be cocaine.” This puts you on his side. Just after this it uses a crane to show him walking into a flat, he says that a kilo is worth one thousand pound, it then shows four kilo’s on the table, this shows that he is rich without him saying it because this could ruin your impression of this character. He then puts on a mask and begins to handle the cocaine, this shows that he is not a user himself, this also makes him more likable because drugs are associated with bad people. It then shows you these bad people by cross cutting to Amsterdam and the voice over talking about keeping away from loud people, because the next shot is of someone kicking a police car and getting drunk while the sun is still up this shows that these are the people he does not want to get involved with because they will get him into trouble.

You then see him and the rest of his accomplices in a meeting, he is issuing money to each of them while talking about giving money out fairly on the voice over to keep them happy, this again makes him look smart and fair making him more likeable to the audience. He then talks about paying his boss the right amount on time in order to keep him on your side again showing that he is smart. He then tells one of his people to “shut up”, this is the first thing you see come directly from his mouth, this confirms that he is the main character but it also shows that he is the boss before the boss he was talking about before hand. After this a man walks in and takes money from Daniel Craig’s character (who is not given a name throughout the whole film) and says that ‘Jimmy’ wants to meet with him, the music suddenly changes and his friend looks nervous, this shows that when Jimmy wants to chat it is usually not a good thing. After this he says “when you have a plan, stick to it” it then shows him transferring money across to another bank account, he states that he is saving a million for his retirement. This again allows you to sympathize with him, making you like him more, but you realise that it is not all going to be that easy, and makes you ask the questions, “what will happen when he meets with Jimmy?” and “what is going to happen with the people from Amsterdam?”

Pulp Fiction Opening Restaurant Scene

An Evaluation of Pulp Fiction By Luke Watt

I think that the opening to “Pulp Fiction” is good because it is funny, takes an unexpected turn and reveals a lot more than you first may think.

 

The introduction to pulp fiction talks about robbery and holding people for ransoms, this is very much linked to gangsters which is basically what the film is about, but it does not show an organized pair of gangsters, they very much go with the flow, make a decision when it comes to it which is also shown in the introduction even though the people in the introduction are not the couple you follow through the film.

 

The introduction uses lots of two-shots to show it is a fairly private conversation between two people. They use mid shots and long shots through out to show where they are and when a third person comes over. They use a close up when he puts the gun on the table to create suspense. The sound is very normal and plain to show it is a normal day in a plain restaurant/coffee shop. 

 

The introduction does not introduce the main characters, in fact it seems that it is not linked to the main characters at all until the very last scene, by doing this it makes you want to know what happens with these characters and it keeps this from you right until the end.

 

The introduction introduces absolutely nothing about the plot and unless you watch the film very carefully it is hard to pick up the plot at all.

 

The introduction introduces the theme of gangsters by showing some fairly amateur robbers. It is showing you one end of the scale before introducing you to the upper end who are the main characters. But it does not introduce the theme of gangsters like stereotypical gangsters of today but as more mature and experienced gangsters.

 

It introduces a very laid back atmosphere until the end shot when they start shouting. There is no huge gun fight or car chase and no particular problem is made obvious. It very much undercuts expectation because you see the adverts or hear from friends that it is a film about gangsters, but the introduction is just about a pair of amateur robbers discussing whether or not to rob a restaurant/coffee shop.

 

The introduction hooks you because you want to know what happens to the couple in the introduction, whether they manage to rob the store, whether they get away, and a bit later on, how they are linked in with the main characters and story.