Evaluation activity 5

This is activity 5, we used the annotations tool on YouTube to highlight key parts of our film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wTD0S_4pZ4

Evaluation activity 3

This is our directors commentary it provides some insight into our film production company.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1crpNeXLD4

Evaluation activity 6

This is the editing software we used Adobe Premier 10, this was relatively easy software to use, and it made the editing process very easy to understand, but we did struggle at times to fully understand what everything did.

To view our film and other clips, we used YouTube because it is the biggest video-sharing website in the world and it is the best place to upload our video as it is easy to access and is available to almost anyone, anywhere, it is also easy to upload our videos to as well, and linking them to our blogs was relativley simple as well.

To create our blog page we used Blogger, this is was simple to set up and is much easier then I thought it would be. I have learnt how easy it was to create a blog, because before I thought it would be quite hard.

Evaluation Activity 8

In this task I believe we did very well, the why I will try and improve for next year would probably be to develop the skills such as 180 rule and match on action, this I would try and develop through making my own films over the summer. This year there were several things I think I would have done differently, I would have probably used a much wider range of shot types as I believe that we relied on medium shots too much throughout the film and I would have liked to see some more close ups and long shots, we tended to just use the camera in different ways, like moving it about and changing the angles, we were more reliant on the editing to make each shot look good. I would have also done some of the editing differently, because I feel at some moments the film kind of stops for a second then moves on, I feel there is very little flow in the film. I would have also done far more scripting in the film because at the time we had very little scripting which meant the actors weren't sure what to say and it was also very difficult trying to get the right emotions for the character, so I would have done far more research on detectives and how they behave around crime scenes, just to have some kind of idea on what to say and how.

In our next production we will try and use a much wider range of shots, this should be particularly easy as the next project in A2 is to make a trailer which can make it easier for us to use different shots.

Targets:
Mise-en-scene, I believe in this project we got most of the props and costumes very accurate, however there were several instances throughout that didn't fit in, I think that some of the objects that were in the background shouldn't have been there and next time we should try and remove these objects.
Camera composition, We will try and add more variety of camera shots and use them to add more effect like showing the actors emotion using close ups and providing an establishing shot with extreme long shots and long shots.
Editing: I think we should try and make the project flow better by making more cuts and providing transitions between shots to make it appear a bit more like a movie. However sudden shot cuts would probably be necessary in the next project as we are creating a trailer.
Sound: We will probably add a soundtrack to our next project to add a sense of tension and build excitement in the audience, as it is a trailer, I think that it probably wouldn't have worked in this project because it didn't really require any need for tension build up and it would have been very over the top to use it in the two minutes.

Animatic of Storyboard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC-mBpyBEDA

This is the animatic of our storyboard, this makes it easier for an audience to understand what the initial ideas of the film are going to be, it also helped us figure out what the film will feel like and we did make various changes because of the storyboarding, such as the panning of the camera at the start began with the animatic, it also helps us figure out how long each scene should be.

Evaluation Acitivity 7

This is were we capture our match in action, this was our first attempt at it and it wasn't the best, some of the continuity was wrong such as the hand position in the door was wrong, back then we initially believed this was a good preliminary task however now I see things wrong with it since filming our opening two minutes. I would probably now use a shot closer to the door then what we used, so it flows more smoothly. I think the editing could have also been smoother, with a slower pace instead of an instant cut, this could be solved by having the actor step further into the room making the cut more seemless. We also used the 180 degree rule in this clip, this was very well done, even now it was good, we felt more confident using the 180 degree rule in our filming because it was a pretty basic use of camerawork, along with this I believe that our use of the shot reverse shot could have been improved, through the use of editing, to cut the space between and there is lack of continuity between Luke entering the room and him being sat down in the shot reverse shot this could be improved by improving the directions and telling him to come in and sit down instead of instantly cutting when he is standing up, this could have confused an audience as they would not have seen him sit down, so they might think the movie is not properly down.

In our actual opening two minutes, I believe we used these techniques far more effectively, we used match on action very well to show the throw between the two detectives, to show the continuity of the scene, the medium shot we also used for it helps the audience focus only on me catching the object, although if we were to do this again I would probably have used a close up shot of my hand catching the bag(like later in the clip), because this would have provide a mystery to what was inside the bag and made it the audiences main focus instead of me. We tended to focus on medium shots in this opening because we wanted people to mainly focus on the two detectives and this was the easiest way to gain speech, background and the character speaking, all at once.

Evaluation activity 4

Our target audience consists of mostly 15-25 year olds, this is because they would be because a lot of young adults like thrillers and are age certificate for the film is a 15, this was to allow a much wider audience that we would be targeting, to go and see the film at a cinema. This target audience would be particularly interested in our film because they would hopefully be captivated by the mystery of the murder, and they would also be expecting things like car chases, antagonists and gunfights, all of which would be in our film if it was feature length. We would have been targeting mostly amale audience as they would like theuse of bloody murders and killing people, as well as using macho detectives, but this would also attract a female audience as they might find the detectives attractive, and they could also be captivated by the interesting story.

Evaluation Activity 2

Similarities:
Both our actor and Morgan Freeman's character in se7en are wearing similar style in suits with the jackets over a jumper/waistcoat.
They are both confident characters, in there films and they both very good detectives who are able to read crime scenes.
They both have detective partners, who help them with there investigation, or in the case of se7en personal investigation.

Differences:
Our detective is able to develop his theories on the murder by simply looking at the evidence at the scene and coming up with a plausible timeline of events, while Freeman's character is more reliant on evidence and eyewitnesse accounts.
Whereas Freeman's character is considered the sidekick to his partner, our actor is the main character and we would see the film based around him.

Evaluation of scenes part 9

This final shot really sets up the rest of the film after the main title of the film. It is a low angle shot, which provides the audience a good view of the actors faces as they are looking down, and any other shot would have obscured the view of their facial expressions. The bag in the foreground also provides a mystery to the audience because they don't know what is inside and they don't find out what's inside during the scene.

Evaluation of scenes part 8

This medium shot, provides the audience with a good view of the murder scene, but we purposefully left it focused on the murdered man, so that mystery still surrounds the identity of the murder this helps make the film feel like it would continue on after the clip ends. In terms of special effects we had to make this scene lighter as it would have been difficult to see the action going on.

Evaluation of scenes part 7

This is one of our main shots in the film, this is the establishing shot that appears just at the start of the film, this helps build the scene in the audiences head, and makes them wonder what happened? and why?, from this very few things are immediately given away as this would intrigue the audience and make them want to watch more of the film. This also sets up the film as a crime film as the dead body is associated with that genre and this provides the mystery.

Evaluation of scenes part 6

This shot helps us build up the story as we are unable to identify the cards, so the victim remains unknown, this helps build the mystery around the character. The low angle shot we used gives the audience the power as they can see everything, they also have more power then the dead body has over them. The Jewellery worn by the detective gives the idea that he is not like ordinary detectives as the audience would mostly expect to see a well dressed suit with a tie, but this one looks like a rogue, suggesting he has an interesting back story, this would make an audience want to know more about him, so they are more likely to continue watching the film.

Evaluation of scenes part 5

This shot provides a good view of the setting as well as the title font. The setting is clear in the background and shows that this is a hidden location as it is not clear were the murder occurred, it also suggests that the victim was pushed off the bridge shown in the background. The font we used is very clear to read we chose this because it stands out in the scene, it also juxtaposes with the theme of the film and scene, as white is often seen as pure and good, but in this scene there is death and crime. We used the font because it suited the style of the film, it was very plain and it draws the audiences attention but doesn't completely distract them from the scene.

Evaluation of scenes part 4

This high angle shot gives the audience full view of the main character and what he is doing, it also adds a sense of helplessness to the audience as they are unable to do anything to help solve this murder or prevent his death. Some of the props are also shown here as the make up on the side of the corpses face suggests he has fallen or has been in some kind of fight, this suggests to the audience that there is also action scenes in this film, helping to establish the crime genre this film belongs to.

Evaluation of scenes part 3

In this shot we used the lens flare, as used in films such as Star Trek, this adds realism and drama into the scene to immerse the audience into the film. We also a get a mystery because the detectives are clearly looking at something that we don't see, this leads on to the match on action sequence we use and makes it clearer what we were showing.

Evalaution Targets

You've done so well this year Tom - so let's push yourself in the final stretch to really show our ability to reflect on our progress. Comment in detail on your findings from audience feedback. Revisit your recent posts and see if there are any more opportunities to use specialist terminology to explore mise-en-scene, editing and camera composition and comment on the way you intended to appeal to your target audience even more - there's so much to comment on to show how reflective you can be. Get working with your group to complete director's commentaries and comment more on what you have learnt from others.

Evaluation of scenes part 2

This shot we used for camerawork and to make it easier to film our dolly shot, we introduce the police officer from an off screen position here, and the introduction from behind the crime tape suggests that the officer has already been investigating the scene, the use of camera keeps our attention on the detectives, while the cop comes on screen, it also gives as a surprise as the detectives are looking at the cop who is off screen so the audience don't know who or what we are looking at. The location gets into the shot as well, this shows a rural-urban environment, this is not as common in crime films as cities are seen as crime hotspots but because this is a secluded area it wouldn't have many people going through it, which would make it a good place for filming and not many people would discover the body in the film.

Evaluation of Scenes part 1

In this scene we have a conventional start to the clip, as the cops are being briefed by the police who have collected preliminary data, I have seen in many crime films and TV shows such as CSI the police have normally arrived first and the detectives arrive later, this makes our film look like it is in the crime genre. The costumes used as well helps build this idea into the scene as we have some labelled police, suggesting crime and the two detectives look as they would in real life. Also some of the props used such as the police tape, helps as it would be common to have police tape set up around a crime scene.

Final Film

This is our final piece, we filmed this back during November and December, since then we have been editing this film trying to make the film flow and to make it look more like a film, overall I think the filming went very well as we now have full opening two minutes. I think some of our best work comes at the start and end of the clip with the camera work used to zoom in on Ashley's body, setting the scene and tone of the opening, and at the end the editing between the flashback and real time I believe that the editing and use of transitions really makes the clip look good and seamless. I beleive however that we can improve the film by adding a couple of transitions in when the detectives approach the river there is a jump which we could have as a time jump.

Storyboard

 

 

This is our basic stroyboard, we have had to make severla changes to the stroyboard over time and this contains much of the scenes that appear in our film and we have the timings for each clip and the sound that will appear in the scenes, with a basic picture of what it will look like. I believe this is a good Storyboard because it does its job of informing us what clip we are doing next, what sound we will have and what shot and camera type we will be using. A few changes were made to the film that weren't in the stroyboard, such as the exclusion of the title 'The Case' we thought it didn't really need to add it.

Opening title Research

This opening sequence is very scary, as it involves very dark gothic music that makes the audience jumpy and increasing the amount of tension in the film, it also suggests that this film is very dark and will involve a lot of violence or dark themes, it also fits in well with video in the background, the font of the credits, would remind many people of perhaps asylums, or someone who is very psychotic, this makes the audience frightnened as they can tell this movie will be very creepy. The music in the scene also helps add to that creepy effect, which could intimadate an audience, I believe that this music is very effective, as it compliments the credits font and background visuals.

History of the crime/mystery genre

The crime/mystery genre is a sub-genre of crime films, in which a investigator has to unravel a mystery, usually based around some kind of murder. The earliest mystery film was a 30 second film of the classic Sherlock Holmes, made in 1900 and registered in 1903 by Arthur Martin.

This is one of the very first examples of mystery films, despite Sherlock Holmes being unrecognizable, it was one of the first films to be based on a book or novel, most mystery films of this period were being based on novels such as Agatha Christie's Miss Marple and Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

In the 1930's many films came out with a detective that used Denoument, which is were the detective pools together all the clues to discover who the real bad guy is, this time period was also a period of so-called Gentlemen detectives who don't use violence but intelligence to solve murders, they normally carry no weapons and have eccentric personality's, however this style of detective only survived until 40's as the relative success as films like 'The Kennel Murder Case' were very popular and successful. But the introduction of tough detectives who used more brute force made audiences more excited.

During the 40's and 50's the genre took a much darker tone due to the second world war. This lead to an increase in macho, tough guy detectives who were almost as bad as the bad guys they were meant to be catching, the genre began adding new crimes such as corruption, making them appeal more to the audiences as corruption was a major issue in the US at this time and tales of corrupt businesses during the second world war fuelled this idea.

Humphrey Bogart was one of the major actors and influencing figures of this genre, as he was able to fit into the cruel and violent world many of these films were based in, the clip above was from one of his films 'In a lonely place' this film was one of the first psycholgical films.

 

The 60's and 70's was were the period of 30's films were being made tributes, with many films going back to the old times of more classic detectives like Sherlock Holmes, but the lead film in this period was Chinatown by Roman Polanski, this film is considered as one of the best mystery films ever made and it won 9 awards. The film was also credited with providing more awareness of the water issues involving Los Angeles during the 1910's.



 

The 80's brought about several new versions of the mystery film as well as the reemergence of the film noir genre from the 40's, in a new style of film known as Neo-noir erotic thrillers, this added to the moody atmosphere with more sexuality being explored in the films and more and used a lot of sexually exolicit scenes, the best film of this genre was Sea of Love with Al Pacino. Other film styles that became popular in this time period was military and Police films, which were complex films based around military matters, cover-ups and conspiracies, some of these films include State of Play, The general's daughter and Bloodwork. These also led to the introduction of period piece films based around LA in the 40's and 50's, these often had some message about current problems. LA confidential was probably the best of these films because it won 2 academy awards and was nominated for 9.