Disconnect - Final Opening

Question 7

I feel I have learnt and progressed a lot from the start of the prelim task to the end of our main task.

Pre production

In the prelim task, because we only had one location and only had a couple of hours to shoot, we didn’t really have a shooting schedule. However, the problem we encountered with this is that when asked what time we’d be finished (such as by the cast) we weren’t really able to give a definite answer. We learnt from this, and so ensured we had everything scheduled in our main task using a shooting schedule, which was especially useful because we had several different locations to shoot in, as well as the fact that filming was spread out over 2 days.

Casting for our prelim task was quite simple and easy, as we could ask people we already knew, and it wouldn’t be too difficult for them to fit into their own schedules (as filming took place after school and only took a few hours). However, casting for the main task was a bit more difficult. Because whoever we used had to be able to get off of school timetable for 2 days, we were unable to use any of the people we knew in sixth form, so needed to find someone in one of the younger years who was willing to take part. We did cast an actor and begin rehearsals with him, but he then chose to drop out a few days before shooting began, so we had to cast and rehearse with another actor to take his place. What this has taught me is that it is important to always have a plan B, as when filming anything can go wrong, but you need to be able to come up with a solution. A similar situation took place during the pre-production stage of our main task one of our group members dropped out of our media class. As a result we, again, had to think on our feet and delegate the remaining tasks between the 2 of us. 

Production

Through preparation for the prelim, we were taught about the importance of total shots, which we especially appreciated during editing, as it makes continuity much smoother. This is something we also carried on into the main task. However, there were some instances where simply doing total shots wasn’t enough to ensure continuity. For example, in the shots taken at my house, there were some takes where we could hear my dog barking in the background. We were able to make a note of which takes were affected using continuity sheets, which made editing a lot quicker.

Another thing I learnt from my experience in the prelim task that I was able to apply was the idea of trying to use more camera movement, as in the prelim the only movement is a short but simple panning shot. Therefore, we chose to uses some different panning shots – such as not only from side to side, but also up and down – as well as using a tracking shot, which we weren’t too sure about because we didn’t have much experience using tracking pads before hand, but after some practice we did get the hang of using them and did decide to use the shot I our final edit.

One thing that I definitely learnt through the prelim is that having a wide variety of shots is never a bad thing, as the one thing I would change about the prelim would be to add a wider variety of shots. So, whenever we finished shooting a planned shot in less takes than expected and had extra time until our next scheduled shot, we’d do some different creative shots, such as to film the same thing, but from an alternate angle. In the long run, I’m really glad we did, as quite a few of those extra shots did end up in the final cut of the opening. Some examples of these extra shots are the shot taken from a low angle where Ashley throws the crumpled up paper at the camera, the 2 panning shots around the classroom and the point of view shot when he wakes up.

Post Production/ Feedback

I feel like a lot of the skills for post production and a lot of the feedback we got on the prelim task applied to the main task, but on a larger scale. For example, we had some experience with credits from the prelim, but kept it relatively simple, where as in the main task we needed to apply transitions/ effects etc. to make the credits more effective.

Also, we learnt a lot more about how to transition between different shots, such as when we faded between the shots of him getting out of bed and walking along the pavement to school. This meant we didn’t have to include shots of his entire morning routine, which would have made our opening to long, as well as probably less interesting for the audience.

Another thing we learnt to use on this project was to alter colour filters on the different shots. For example while the shots of him in school looked good on the LCD as we were shooting, because of the bright lighting thy contrasted too much with the shots of him at home and weren’t eerie enough in comparison. To even this out and mae the overall look more interesting, we put a kind of dull blue-tinted filter over the scenes where he is at school, as this differentiates these shots from the ones at home, yet makes the overall look of the opening more coherent.

The only real feedback we were given (by both our teacher and by others) was to make the opening have a bit more of an eerie vibe to it. We thought the best way to achieve this was to change the colour filters, making the overall look more grey and serious and less like a moody teenager getting on with a normal school day. If I could change anything about our opening sequence, it would be that we would have encouraged our actor to (all irony aside) be a bit more dramatic. If we had done so, I feel our opening could have been even more effective in drawing the audience’s attention.

Question 6

• Canon XHAI HD camera
• Tripod
• Adobe Premiere
• Tracking Pad

Although I did have experience using this type of camera before – such as in class and in the preliminary task – I feel that this extra experience with the camera has actually taught me some new skills. For example, we used some more experimental shots (such as panning up and down rather than just side to side, the low angle shot from the table where Ashley throws the paper ball and the tracking over the shoulder shot when he’s walking to school) that we hadn’t tried beforehand, but felt much more confident with by the end of filming. Also, although we hadn’t had experience with the track pads before, we were really determined to use him for the tracking over the shoulder shot. So, after some practice before shooting and on the day of shooting when we took a break, we were able to get the shot done rather successfully within a few takes.

The editing software we used in post-production was Adobe Premiere. The first thing we had to do was to plug in our Lacie (USB drive) and to use a fire wire to connect our camera to the computer. We were then able to digitise our tapes and save them onto the Lacie, and then we were ready to start editing. We then basically went through the rushes, deleting the worst takes of each different shot, and then we began to splice and rearrange etc. on the assembly line. We used this because it is a simple, yet sophisticated editing software. This meant we were able to get the work done to a good quality but were still able to understand the software.

During filming we had to keep in mind the rule of thirds, the 180-degree rule, continuity and match on action. The 180-degree rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters in the same scene should always have the same left and right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line, and it the two characters swap places. This is to be avoided if possible, because it can ruin the flow of continuity. The rule of thirds is the way in which you need to frame shots so they look aesthetically pleasing to the eye. You do this by imagining that the LCD screen is divided into thirds both horizontally and vertically, and then line up different main points of your shot accordingly. Continuity is the idea that a series of shots should be physically continuous, as if the camera simply changed angles in the course of a single event, and so as you cut between the different shots the scene as a whole still flows cohesively. Match on action is an editing technique where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. For example, If someone is drinking a can of coke in a mid shot, then goes to put it down and it cuts to a close up of the can, the editing of the two together should look like one continuous movement. It links to continuity in the way that the scene it is used in still needs to look cohesive.

 

We kept the rule of thirds in mind by watching the footage through the camera’s LCD to ensure the shot looked aesthetically pleasing, and re-shooting and re-framing the scene if it didn’t. We dealt with continuity by doing total shots in each location; so that we could walk away sure we had enough footage to make a part of the opening sequence (such as where Ashley is home after school, and we have one shot of him walking towards a lamp, then a cut away to him turning it off). We kept continuity and match on action in mind with the help of total shots (where each scene is filmed in full from beginning to end in each different camera angle), which meant in editing we simply needed to cut down the clips (using the razor tool) until the cut between the two looked natural. The 180 degree rule isn’t something we had to consider too much since we only had one main character for our opening and that the majority of the shots of him we taken from the front. However, if we had not been paying attention in the mirror shots, we could have ruined to effect of it we did cross the line.

In terms of editing, I definitely had to use more techniques in this task than I did in the prelim. For example, for the parts where Ashley was standing in the hall with people walking past him, we needed to speed it up by 900% (and remove the ‘frame blend’) and then add on the ‘ghosting’ effect to make it seem like everyone was blurring past him and give the scene a more eerie look. Also, this was my first time changing the colour filters and balance on a film, which we used in ours to make the whole thing look a bit more dramatic. When making the credits we were able to use the basic skills we had learnt (which pretty much extended about as far as changing the font and being able to type the actual text), but had to learn a lot along the way too, such as adding in transitions and fades. In our credits we actually layered up 2 sets of each piece of text so that we could have one sliding out faintly behind the other, relating to our film title of ‘Disconnect’.

In terms of problems, the only real issue we faced while filming was trying to do an aerial shot we had planned, because we found that the camera was too heavy to keep still. We remedied the situation however by doing some other creative shots, so we still had something to replace it with (ultimately we replaced it with the Point of View shot used at the beginning of our sequence).

Question 5

The first thing used to attract our audience to our media product was our film poster, which I feel would attract our audience because of how mysterious it is. The poster will be a quite integral part of the marketing for the film, as it will help drum up curiosity around what the film could be about (because the poster doesn’t really give away too many answers). However, we aim for those who see the poster to be intrigued and want to know more about the film, not to feel confused and bombarded with too many questions, so kept the overall look of it quite simple. I did quote a review of the film by Empire magazine, which was 4 stars, and includes the quote ‘If this is puppy love, lock up your kids’. I chose to include this particular quote because it reiterates that this film is aimed at a teen/young adult audience, thanks to the ‘puppy love’ reference, and because it makes it sound as if the film would be quite controversial. Also the fact that the film received 4 out of 5 stars could make the film that much more appealing (especially when competitors may have less flattering reviews).

The main colours used in my film poster are black, white and grey as these are also staple colours on ‘thriller’ movie posters. However, we did chose to forgo using red, as to not give the idea of it being more of a horror/thriller movie, choosing to use blue instead (as the pop of colour is more eye catching than if the whole poster had been black and white, and as blue kind of reflects the depression of our main character). These colours are all quite intense and dark colours, so I felt they would reflect the intense and dark mood of the character and the overall film quite well. Also, paired with the simple image of just an eye, the colour scheme has quite a creepy yet emotional vibe, which is exactly what we aim for the audience to get from the film itself – as inspiration.

In terms of where we would actually place our film poster, we would advertise in publications that our target audience would regularly read (such as maybe Metro newspaper, Sugar magazine, NME etc.) and in locations they would be likely to pass (such as at bus stops, train stations, in shopping centres and in cinemas). For example, since the new Westfield shopping centre recently opened, and since its right near the Olympic village, which will be packed with people from all over the world this summer, and houses a Vue cinema, this could be an ideal location.

We used several techniques throughout our opening sequence to address our audience and keep them interested. The first technique used was the music. When choosing music, we kept in mind that the character (and target audience) is quite young, so we chose music that would reflect that as well as still reflectingthe mood of the film. For this reason we chose a soundtrack which was quite sombre, yet still sounded quite dubstep (cateringto the age element to still address our audience). Also, even separate from the film, it is quite a good piece of music (it was one of the things quite a few of those giving feedback said they liked), so maybe we could do an official soundtrack CD or downloadable album to coincide with the release of the film.

In terms of mise en scene, we were able to address the audience and keep their attention most through body language and facial expression. The character’s body language and facial expression become increasingly zombie-like as the film progresses, which would keep the audiences attention because it will make them more curious as to what has happened that has affected him in this way (and the point of any opening sequence is to make the audience ask questions).

In editing, one example that I think will keep the audiences interest is the part where Ashley stands still in the hallway while everyone around him is sped up so they are blurring past him. I think this will engage the audience purely because it is quite visually engaging and aesthetically pleasing. Another is our use of colour filters, as all of the scenes either have a grey or pale blue tint over them. I feel that will keep their attention because of the eerie effect it has, make them ask more questions about what will happen.

I'd say one of the best example of interesting the audience using camera is where the paper is throws at the camera, as if we chose to produce the film in 3D itd really jump out at the audience. Another I think will be the various mirror shots (close-up, long shot etc), as I think it’ll which will yet again make them ask a lot of questions about who he is and why he is staring at himself so intently for so long.

Question 4

Our back story for our main character, Ashley, is that he has never been very good at connecting to others socially or emotionally. This stems from the fact that he has never got on very well with his family. When he was born his mother had suffered from severe post-natal depression, and Ashley's father abandoned them when it all became too much. As a result, Ashley had always blamed himself for his dad leaving, and his mother blamed him too. And on several occasions throughout his life she'd make sure he knew it. 

After a particularly bad fight with his mum, he had been kicked out of the family home by his mum, so is now staying in his aunt's living room (yet, quite significantly isn't seen coming into contact with this aunt or any other family member throughout the opening, showing that while he may have contact with them, he still doesn't necessarily connect to them).

The way Ashley sees it, he only has to put up with everything - his family, his school, his life - until he reaches 16. After that he can get as far away from everyone and everything he knows as he can. That is, until a new girl comes to his school. From the moment he meets Janet he is enamoured with her, and by some miracle she feels the same. But when she breaks his heart it is too much for him to bear. He realises she is just the latest in his life of people who had abandoned him, and so sets out to make her feel as much pain as he had.

In terms of position in society Ashley would be described as: a 14/15 year old working class male, who is a loner/ outcast when it comes to the majority of his peers. We show this through our camera shots and angles (especially the long and over the shoulder shots in the hallway, showing how disconnected he is from those around him) and through costume (school uniform and casual clothes). In terms of inner presence, we tried to portray him as someone who is quite introverted and emotionally unavailable with most people other than Janet, who he would be willing to express his feelings to. By doing this, we hope to show the audience that he's not just saying she means everything to him, but that they can see it too.

- One of the characters we took inspiration from was Newt from Hollyoaks, and so we had our character copy some of his blank facial expressions and slouched body language. Although it is not a film Hollyoaks is a drama, and the storyline his character was involved in was quite psychological-thriller themed. What really inspired us about this character is that he did have psychological problems, but no one around him had been paying enough attention to him to realise. That level of isolation and feeling of neglect is what causes him to start his decent into madness, much in the same way that our character Ashley does.

Question 3

There is a process each film must follow in order to follow the distribution process and achieve the goal of every film, to have an audience. First must come the Production process, consisting of Pre-Production (planning the film), Production (actually shooting the film) and Post-Production (editing and adding the final touches). After this the film is finished and ready to be seen. For this to happen the filmmaker/ production company needs to get in touch with a distributor, who will basically organise getting the film out to be seen – leading to the next stage, exhibition (whether that means selling a copy of the film to a major cinema, or simply posting it on Youtube). The size of the film would determine the amount of distribution (and therefore size of the distribution company) needed. For example, a mainstream, big Hollywood blockbuster could try to use a distribution company like 20^th Century Fox, while a small independent film may turn to a company such as Dogwoof.

For our media product, we would need to distribute our film through an independent distributor. This is because we do not have the funds to pay for mainstream distributors, but also because an independent distributor would have more experience with smaller-budget films like ours, so would know where/how to distribute it better.

Diffusion Picture’s main goal is to ‘handpick our films to find the best undiscovered gems’, and this is the exact approach we would need a distribution company to take when working with our film. We feel they may show interest in distributing our film because it does fit in with the films they have distributed so far, in the way that the majority are mostly drama-based and all concentrate on how a specific series of events can completely change the protagonist during the film (such as in their films)

Another distributor that could consider our media product is White Night Studios. This distributor ‘is the production and distribution division of Concept Media Arts Inc.  As a sales agency and distribution company we offer a wide selection of International titles, which deal with some of the most outspoken, provocative, and intense filmmaking. Our film library can be viewed from a variety of formats made for multi-broadcasting purposes. We offer a variety of broadcast and distribution licensing for North American and international territories including regions where digital and non-digital formats are still being used. Our clientele reaches to over 65 countries worldwide including: United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Greece, Soviet Russia, Taiwan, Japan, India, China, Israel, the United States, Mexico, Canada and many more.’ I feel this could be a good distributor for our film because while they do specialise in distributing independent films, they are a sub-division of a larger company, so would already be quite an establish name in the film industry (making it more likely they will have important contacts in terms of exhibition outlets).

However, there are some outlets we could use to exhibit our films if we were not aiming to make money, meaning we wouldn’t have a need for a distributor. For example, if we were to post it onto social networking sites such as Twitter and Tumblr, we could make our film available to a large number of people. Also, if we could manage to get our film to be a popular trending topic, attracting more people’s attention to it, this could also act as marketing. From a financial perspective, we would be able to put all of our money into production and marketing if we were to take this approach. However, the main problem with this would be that our film could easily become lost in the crowd of other films on these social networking sites, and it could be quite difficult to get the word out about it to a large number of people.

Question 2

The Primary Audience for our media product are females of any ethnicity (as long as they speak English) and aged around 15 – 22. They could partake in any kind of activities or hobbies (because our media product doesn't cater to a particular demographic in that respect, eg. how those who would be the target audience for dance films may be interested in ballet). However, they all would typically would have experienced a break-up or some form of rejection, so would be able to relate to the main theme of the film. These girls would possibly see our film because the central idea is that our male protagonist is very emotional (as he spends most of our film depressed) which is quite different from the male main characters in most other films. This would also provide our film with a unique selling point. Also, even though the movie does end up veering more towards psychological thriller than drama towards the end, it is a more ‘female friendly’ thriller than some others in the genre because it is more about emotion than just raw violence.

Our Secondary Audience could be males of any ethnicity (as long as they speak English) and aged around 15 – 22. once again, they could have any interest or hobby. This audience would go and see our media product because they could relate to our main character, as they could have experienced similar feeling themselves, so would be able to put themselves in his shoes. 

We chose these target audience groups because we feel there haven't really been many films made of this genre (half way between a drama and a psychological thriller) specifically for these audiences. We feel that this audience would be attracted to our media product because most films aimed towards young people either set out to teach the viewer a life lesson, or to give them hope with a happy ending. Our film does neither, instead showing how the intensity of young love can turn bad. As a result, our film is much darker then the typical teen drama so as to be a truer representation of how our character would feel. 

On the poster, we would have quite dark and intense colours (such as black, grey, blue) to reflect the intense mood of the character and of the film overall. We could have the silhouette of the character by himself with maybe a blank background (kind of playing on the idea of the character being a shadow of his former self as well as showing his isolation), or a close up of a facial feature, such as an eye, because this alone could create quite a creepy atmosphere (especially with the dark colour scheme), while still representing the more emotional side of our character (especially if the eye looks like there is a tear coming out of it).

In the last 6 months our audience may have seen:

- Fatal Attraction, as it follows a similar murderous-suicidal ending to our film.

- Twilight Saga: New Moon, as the entire film is about the isolated after-mathe of the break up of Edward and Bella, and she goes through a depression similar to our character's. Also there is a point where he tries to commit suicide because he thinks she has, so it is based around an extremly intense/ bordering on unhealthy teenage relationship, much like our film