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Final Video - Dead End

Final Video - Dead End

Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 7 - Looking back at your preliminary task (the continuity editing task), what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to full product?

Compared to the preliminary task, I feel it is clear that we as a group have learnt a lot through in particular trial and error. In the preliminary task, we had limited use of a tripod and had many continuity errors.

We made a lot of effort in the creation of our product to avoid these problems however, when we first began filming we did not have access to a tripod and so we seemingly recreated these fluctuations in quality. In the preliminary task, we had only our camera to record audio which we found to be not a good quality so took the decision in our final product to record all of the dialogue separately. This also came as a bonus as when we filmed, we often found that the weather became particularly windy which would have potentially ruined takes.

However, with this came more challenges than the conventional. Lip syncing and mimicking spoken dialogue to match the footage was difficult and has led to many pain-staking sessions of recording audio. Furthermore, in our preliminary task there was little to no background noise due to being filmed in a relatively quiet part of the school. We did not want this in our final product as the effect would seem unnatural and make the illusion of a busy city moot.

To counteract this, we imported sound effects from free sources and also filmed footage of a busy round-about to create more ambient diegetic sound. To create a more professional film, we added music based on BBC's Luther's theme to create a somber and mysterious mood. This met the typical movie convention of a memorable soundtrack that wasn't present in out preliminary task. We spent a lot of time attempting to create a continuity error free product which was one of the faults of our preliminary task. To ensure this, we filmed the key dialogue in a single shooting session to minimize any discrepancies.

This way, we didn't worry about wind changes which would have altered minor yet noticeable details such as trees in the background blowing in a certain direction. Furthermore, all our shots that included Harry playing the character John, wore the exact same clothes solidifying a costume. Also, we made sure that we followed the 180 degree rule to make sure the over-the-shoulder shots remained understandable to the audience. 

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 6 - What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

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Evaluation Question 5

Evaluation Question 5 - How did you attract/address your audience?

To address our audience we stayed within certain expected conventions within the crime genre. These conventions include mystery, urban setting, undercover cops & so on. From our qualitative research, we opted to have two protagonists who are crime fighting partners as that appealed to our target audience. Predominantly, John is the main protagonist whilst Pedro is more of his partner. As their brief dialogue unfolds it's clear that these two have a good friendship both inside & outside of the police force which complies with the convention that the two crime fighting cops are good friends. The antagonist has prominent appearance which foreshadows his intentions to be villainous. His black cap is shown to be draping over his arms which display connotations of death & destruction and further appeals to both the crime & thriller audience. The climatic large explosion creates an tentious atmosphere which reinforces the appeal to the thriller audience. In terms of feedback, our peers and friends believe it to be a descent attempt at creating a film opening especially since we are not professionals. If we were to do this again, then we would invest in a better quality camera and learn more about special effects that could be applied via software. 

Evaluation Question 4

Evaluation Question 4 - Who would be the audience for your media product?

Crime Thrillers usually are targeted to a more mature target audience. This is usually because of the mature content (e.g. Murders) &/or taboo language that is within the genre. Due to the nature of Crime Thrillers having a BBFC of 15, our age range will start from there. Secondary research has shown that an audience of both males and females (aged around 40) find crime genres to have interesting plot lines. So, our film opening for "Dead End" will be aimed at males and females aged 15-40.

The target audience for this genre is stereotypically of both males & females. Male characters are depicted as the organised, head strong leaders. In some cases they have a crime partner (stereotypically male as well) that will act as a moral compass. On the other hand, female characters are shown as being in less practical roles like secretaries or on the intercoms. In recent media, women are sometimes subverting these roles in the crime genre by being appointed leadership, hands on roles.

Thrillers usually are interested by young adults as they enjoy the suspense and mystery within the plot line. Since Thrillers have content that could be considered frightening & violent, the BBFC certificate is often 15. Most of the time they appeal to people who are 15-21 year old. They also appeal to both genders.

Males usually find Thrillers appealing as stereotypically they enjoy the fast paced action. They usually enjoy plots that cause high adrenaline as there are a lot of action filled scenes.

Females may find Thrillers interesting as stereotypically they are attracted to something that causes mystery and causes them to ask questions. The main protagonist is usually a "ladies man" that generally women find attractive. As a result, females find the sex appeal of the Thriller appealing.

Because of the close similarities in target audience for Crime genres and Thrillers, we believe that our film will appeal to both audiences.

In conclusion, our target audience is both males & females aged 15-35. This is attributable by the fact that the Thriller aspect of the film lowers the targeted age since Thrillers are usually enjoyed by younger people.

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 3 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media film?:

Evaluation Question 2

Evaluation Question 2 - How does your media product represent particular social groups?

John v.s Commissioner Gordon

In our film we decided to come up with the idea of creating a character like Commissioner Gordon from Gotham to convey general conventions of the "good cop" persona. We assigned Harry's character the name "John" as (Like the name "Gordon") is a very common name which can be expected to be within the police force. Therefore, making John the archetype of cops throughout the crime genre. Furthermore, reinforcing the idea of creating a character that is microcosm for the "male good cop" character who wants to solve crime and is always working, even on his day off. 

In terms of costume, we decided to opt for the smart-casual style unlike Gordon's full suit attire. This is because we felt like it gave our production a grittier feel and blended nicely with the urban surrounding setting. We decided to opt for a colour scheme of black and white. This is because black has connotations of death with symbolises John's profession as he investigates crimes that can lead to death (much like Commissioner Gordon). It also shows a sense of sophistication and formality which in turn complements the idea of a smart-caual appearance.

Not only that, but the connotations of white entails a sense of great feelings and emotions that are positive. As a result, showing the optimistic outlook that John (much like Commissioner Gordon) has on solving a case. White colour schemes are often associated with life and purity 

By pairing the black and white colour scheme together, we were able to abide by the expectations of the aesthetics of a cop which further reinforces the general conventions of the crime genre.

Pedro v.s Harvey Bullock

For Pedro's character, we were inspired by Commissioner Gordon's crime fighting partner: Harvey Bullock. As part of "Dead End's" narrative, we made Pedro's character dress in a more casual attire as it his day off work. We wanted to go against the standard convention of having a "good cop/bad cop" character with Pedro and make his alignment seem more neutral. Like Harvey Bullock, we made Pedro a side character who is good friends with the protagonist - John. As our interpretation of Harvey Bullock was loosely influenced, we have a lot of physical features like costume that defy the the cop demeanour but rather role in the police force that is remnant of Harvey Bullock.

The dark blue shirt worn by Pedro shows a sense of keeping within the crime genre as it is not a bright and luminescent colour. Therefore, keeping within the dark, gritty feel of the genre. Dark blue has conventional connotations of conveying authority, trust, truthfulness & stability. As a result, the choice of colour for Pedro's costume links with his role as being both a cop (therefore showing authority & stability) & Jon's crime partner (showing trust & truthfulness).

Evaluation Question 1

Evaluation Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of film openings)

There are many films and television shows that replicate our movie.

The movie is strictly a thriller film as it had many conventions that show this through the use of the crime genre.

One of the films that our film was based off would be se7en, we decided to choose clothes such as the protagonists in se7en due to the fact that they wear what traditional detectives wear. Suit, shirt, tie. However, in a way we defied this convention as we decided to take the more casual route to detective dress to represent that we were not expecting to go into work. The protagonist, John, wears a variety of traditional detective wear such as a black coat to suit the genre and a shirt, however John is wearing trainers and is not wearing a tie to display this. From this we based all of our clothes on the conventions of crime thriller films such as Jack Reacher or James Bond. This helps achieve a depressive mood and undertone that is a convention of crime thrillers also. This sets the entire tone of the film and in doing this brings the audience in with a "what's going to happen next" mentality that has been so successful in the past with films such as The Dark Knight or Jack Ryan.

John Doe from Se7en (played by Kevin Spacey) is a methodical religious extremist. . 

He is extremely sadistic and shows many traits of a psychopath, this is also a common convention of the series. The villain is always portrayed as realistic but somewhat otherworldly to the other characters to add a macabre feel to the villains actions. This is similar to our movie as the villain in our film is not revealed which gives an otherworldly feel to him. This makes his actions more menacing and more dangerous as he is not portrayed as mortal but an otherworldly villain. This "otherworldly villain" convention is frequent in many other forms of media but the most notable "otherworldly villain" would be The Joker from the Dark Knight. The Joker seems insane and does not have the same thought process of a normal human which is what makes him such a feared and notorious villain, this type of villain is synonymous with the genre and has become a convention in it's own right.

Luther is one of the most focal inspirations for our project as it highlights the tormented lives of people who solve the most heinous murders. It portrays a deeply troubled individual working on the fringes of acceptable law enforcement. A running sub-plot focuses on this and a task force designed to remove Luther from his job which he does in a controversial unorthodox way. The tormented cop is a convention also due to the fact that it is frequent in almost every single Police related film. It's even made its way in to different genres such as superhero films and action, adventure genres such as Fast and Furious series.

The final convention that is similar to the thriller genre and is considered a convention throughout is motion blurs.Motion blurs are used to establish a shot or thing without actually making the reader focus on it, this is to give credit to another aspect as to what is on screen. This could include props, characters or subtitles, credits

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

As part of our  filming process we decided to conduct a "risk assessment" to help with our opening film. Attributes to consider were as followed:

Filming location:

Weather:
Attempt to shoot on a day where there is light but it is cloudy. Use of pathetic fallacy to reflect mood of film.

Careful not fall into lake:
When shooting scenes that require us to approach the lake in Cuckoo's Hollow, do not stand too close to the edge of the brush. Also be sure to not drop the camera in the lake in filming over the bridge or rails.

Neighbourhoods:
Do not make too much noise to disturb people living in the neighbourhood. 

Beware of traffic:
Don't get hit by a car.

Beware of passer-bys:
Could accidentally get them in the footage without consent.

Alchemy scene:
Be careful not to cut self on equipment.
Don't drop glass bottles/jars.
Beware of any spillages.

Pictures of Setting for film: