Research Tasks

   
        


 
        

   
        
From This task I got a better understanding of the style/way successful films in the gangster genre have been filmed and the look they have, e.g the characters and settings. I also now see the different roads I could go down, whether it is something bloody and dark like these to films or more smart/civilized like the godfather kind of thing. I will try and use some of the ideas of mise en scene from Tarantino's work and interpret it into my own work.


             

In these gangster films from my chosen sub genre, the characters costumes consist of suits/dinner jackets, bowler hats, long smart trench coats and smart shoes. They often have guns by there waist or on a shoulder strap. It is basically an all round smart look that fits in with the period of time that the film is set. When I am planning my costumes for my film opening I will use these as inspiration. Today’s gangster look is pretty much the same kind of thing – smart clothing/suits but it is more suited to today’s style. I will use the traditional look like in my slideshow because those pictures are from films that I am using for inspiration and hope to have a similar look in my work. Also this task shows some of the styles of the settings and lighting because we see that in most of the shots there is only a low level of lighting to create a mysterious atmosphere linking to the things the gangsters do. From this task I have got a stronger understanding of what look I can go for and also things like the different lighting and settings. I have some good ideas that I can hopefully interpret into my work. 

Media Studies AS - Task 10 - Analysis Of Past Students Work 
     
     
                  
        

From this task I have learned about the types of things I need to make sure I do well in my production of a film opening, When producing my opening I will look back at tasks like this for help and hope I can produce the best work I can.

Media Studies AS - Task 11 - Target Audience/ Audience Research

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From this task I have got a good ideas of who my target audience is and what they want in a good film opening. It has also given me a better understanding of the different things I could include in my opening. I hope that when I have created my final film opening, it will tick all the boxes that my target audience want and hope it is as good as I could have made it.


Target Audience...
They will be around 20-40 year old males that like to watch gangster films with a good story-line and a bit of action. They play some sports, go to the gym and like to go out and socialize with friends or family. They would buy their clothes from good quality places such as Topman or if they want something smarter then places like House of Fraser because they have good quality things and it isn't to bad price wise. The reason I have chosen this fairly wide age bracket is because I asked people ranging from 17 up to 45 and they said they enjoy watching gangster films, and some of them said there favorite film is from the genre. From this I realized that the ages bracket would need to be fairly big to get the audience that would enjoy it most to want to watch my opening. I know that the target audience doesn't mean, only the age I select can watch the film therefore I don't need to have a big bracket but I feel like even though my chosen ages have a big gap, it is an appropriate selection.  The certificate ratings in my sub-genre are mostly 18's because they show scenes of a sexual nature, strong violence and strong language. Some of them are 15's because they only have some violent scenes or some bad language but not as much as and 18 would have.

Planning

Initial Plan...

Costume - Suits, Bowler Hats, Trench Coats, Blazers to fit in with successful gangster films.

Props - Fake Guns, Fake Blood, Wine, Glass, Smokes - relevant to film sub genre because there is violence, smoking and drinking.

Setting - Streets, House, Car like successful films have.

Shot Types and Movements - Mid Shots, Establishing, Long Shots, Close Up, Camera Track, Zoom, Pan Across

Editing - Tint/Colour over the top, Titles,

Sound - Non-Diegetic music over the top of the titles, Sound Bridge into opening scene, it then goes to a lower volume while the characters speak/move around and then fade out. Most of the successful films I have analysed have got these kinds of sounds.

The rough Idea we have for the opening is a couple of gangsters in a dark street which will fit the genre because there is always a low level of light at some point and emphasises the bad things that are going to happen. Those gangsters then meet other gangsters and something hapens like the first two kill the others or something like that.

Main Setting...

Raw Footage / Rough Cut...

             

Prop List

• Fake guns - Key object in certain scenes of successful films
• Whiskey/gin - Often used on the sub-genre as key prop
• Drinking glasses - Often used on the sub-genre in key scenes
• Car - Often used in chase scenes and even to be blown up
• Tripod - It will keep footage still and professional
• Camera - To film the footage 
• Umbrella - Keep the camera dry when filming in bad weather
• Fake blood - If anyone needs to be killed or injured
• Cigarettes/cigars - Often used in intense scenes 
• Hat - Sometimes taken off and becomes a prop to hold
• Mobile/telephone box - Sometimes used to call other characters

Storyboard...

Editing...
For my editing I will be using an editing machine with the software called Adobe Premier Pro. This software enables me to put import my footage in and then put shots in order, cut them down if needed, take out the sound and put other sound in and even things like slow them down or speed them up. I will also be using Adobe After Effects which is really good for creating my titles for my film.


Structure of Narrative...

I had a go at making some of my own titles based on what I found out in my research and also what I put in my planning of titles. I think they look really effective, especially in my raw footage/rough cut that is above.My examples are below.

Planning of Music...
http://www.freesound.org/  - I looked on the website freesound for some music that would fit in with the music sub genre. In the godfather the main music is classic music such as violins so I searched for some things like violin tunes. I found a couple of soundtrack's that I think would fit into the sub genre and my work and I used one in my rough cut. I will also use them in my final piece.
www.youtube.co.uk - I looked on YouTube for some music and I found some really good ones, however they all either cost a lot of money to have a copy or copyrighted so I went back to websites like free sound as it is free and there is still some good things.

Construction

We went out for our first filming session at night with just the low level lighting of the street lamps. I thought this would look really effective because in films I analysed in my research, had low level lighting. The thing is my camera was only in 720p hd so the footage was a bit grainy and unclear. I then decided to use a full 1080p hd camera to film and this made a big improvemnt to the clarity of footage and quality all round. My original script was changed slightly when filming, adding a bit more improvisation to the scenes so that they were more natural and flowed better. However they were still around the same kind of lines as I originally came up with.

Original 720 Camera

Better 1080 Camera

The sound was the next problem. It wasn't clear in the first place so we decided to rent out a microphone/boom which made the sound a lot clearer and stopped any loud background noise.

The Mic/Boom

 Originally I only plannes for the one setting in the dark street where the main drama happens. But after I filmed this I thought it would be good to add an extra scene in the end so I did. I had the gangsters going back to a house and celebrating the fact that they exterminated some rival gnagsters.

Preliminary

Final Prodcut

Evaluation

Evaluation Question 1: In what ways does your film use,  develop or challenge conventions?

Evaluation Task 2 - How does your film represent particular social groups?

In my film opening, there is different representations of gender. The low level lighting kind of makes the male gangsters seem more powerful because the only light is on them and it is darkness all around. The use of props like guns, drinking whiskey  and being in a ark street at night is seen as a traditional representation of a man because they are being brave and strong characters. The use of these props and the lack of women in the scene suggests a traditional representation of women because they wouldn't be using things like guns and they wouldn't be out in the streets at night. The costumes in the opening suggest both modern and traditional representations of men. There is a traditional representation because the smartness makes them look like strong characters and they do carry out dirty work. There is also a contrasting modern representation because in a way they do care what they look like, making sure they wear smart clothing and have their hair slicked back.

Low Level Lighting - Shows power

Traditional Male - drinking alcohol etc

The editing in my opening has either quick paced continuity or fades to black. The quick continuity editing helps the scene build up a bit of tension and speeds it up which represents the quick dirty work of the gangsters that don't like to hang around. This helps boost the traditional representation of the men because they mean business and will go until the job is done. The different sounds used in the opening has a big impact on the representations. The non-diegetic music that goes throughout the scene is quite slow and fitting the the style of the opening. I think it helps the representation of the genre more than the characters but it is quite calm and strong music so it could represent the type of gangsters that they are. The dialogue in the scene is delivered quite loud and strong at times which shows the strong and powerful representation of men and in particular the characters. If a women was to perform this scene I don't think it would have the same impact, I think she would have to take a more traditional representation of women being a sex object to get what she wants rather than being powerful and superior to the others.

strong facial expressions, body language and use of
gun shows representation of traditional male.

Low angle shot looking up at gangster
shows his dominance in the scene

Some of the shot types were really important when thinking about representation. Close up shots of the men when they are talking is important so you can see the facial expressions and the way they deliver their lines. This will help the traditional representation of men because it shows them as strong whereas if they just said there lines really soft and quiet it wouldn't have the same effect. a shot in particular that is really good in the opening is a low angle shot looking up at the character with the gun. The fact that it is looking up at him shows he is powerful and a traditional representation of a man being brave and superior. The fact that he has a gun in his hand in this shot emphasizes the extra power he has due to the gun being there. If the gun wasn't there then he wouldn't look as dominant. Close ups on the gun emphasize the power that the character has in his hands which is again a traditional representation. When the two other gangsters are dead on the floor, the shot is looking down on them. This is like these two are inferior to the other two that killed them and you see them walk away showing there dominance. Camera movements like a pan across with a character shows a traditional representation of men because it shows their presence when entering the scene, they are important and the camera therefore follows where they go. When they are pouring the alcohol into the glasses and drink them is a traditional representation of men because they are drinking and talking. A traditional representation of a women wouldn't be in the same room with the men if they were doing this. Also you wouldn't really have a traditional women drinking whiskey in dark clothing in a dark room.


Evaluation Task 3

Evaluation Task 4

Evaluation Task 5

From asking these questions to my target audience I wanted to make sure that the key parts of my film opening had an impact on their opinion of the film. If they didn't have positive views about these points then it wouldn't be good as it would mean my target audience don't think my opening is good. The good thing is when I did address my questions to my target audience, they said very positive things and liked the opening.

The questions I asked were trying to address the best areas of the film and the areas that I wanted to have audience feedback from. The answers I got from the questions were really good which means that the areas of my film that attracted the audience attention were effective.

From this task I have learned about what my target audience thinks about my film. I interviewed a 23 year old male which is around the main target audience and they said positive things.I also asked 17 year old males and they also said positive things about the film opening. This means that my target audience is quite accurate and the film opening has turned out well.