Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Task three: What kind of media institutional might distribute your media product and why?
We thought resurgence would be distributed by a small low budget production company. A appreciate production company would be Vertigo films.
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Thease are examples of some of Vertigos films
I think Vertigo would be a good media institute for Resurgence for different reasons. The first being Vertigo Films is a vertically integrated Finance, Production and Distribution company. This means they can fund and cover the budget of the production and shoot the film using the production studios. Also Resurgence would not have to find a distributor because Vertigo is cable of that too. Also Vertigo films are far more likely to produce a film with unknown actors in unlike major Hollywood film production companies such as universal studios
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Task two: How does your product represent particular social groups?
I think "Resurgence" sticks to stereotypes of each social group involved. This allows the audience to have a 'two dimensional' understanding of the characters and what they represent.
An example of this is Randall Merritt; Merritt represents a younger 'redneck' strange character. You can this by his appearance and the way he acts. He shows no emotion through out the sequence and his appearance is very similar to the cliche red neck representation.
An example of this is Randall Merritt; Merritt represents a younger 'redneck' strange character. You can this by his appearance and the way he acts. He shows no emotion through out the sequence and his appearance is very similar to the cliche red neck representation.
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| The character Randell Merrit who is the subject of the sequence is very similar in Tums of characteristics to Edd Bundy. |
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Edd Bundy. A well known serial killer. Who was executed by the electric chair |
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| Amber Herd Amber Herd is an actress who in terms of characteristics who is similar to the girl in the resurgence sequence. She has also played a similar character. |
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| An unnamed character in the sequence who is younger, blond and pretty. This conforms to the usual 'damzel' in distressed stereotype. She is clearly identified a Ran dells next target. |
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| W. Lee O'Daniel was the Governor of Texas in the early 1940s. He is an example of the sort of character we were trying to represent. |
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| The Governor. Who's sentences Randell before dies also conforms to the stereotypical Texan pollution. |
Task one: In what does your media produce, use develop or challenge forms and conventions and conventions of real media products?
Our media product conforms to and challenges real media conventions. We needed "Resurgence" to do both of different reasons. We let it conform so that the audience could relate or recognize the sequence. We did this by using normal opening sequence credits in the usual order of usual opening sequence conventions. We also immediately used central character of the film in the sequence so that the audience could establish a connection with the character. Resurgence is a in the thriller genre so we also tried to break some of the conventions. We did this because we believe a thriller should try to make the audience feel slightly uncomfortable and uneasy with what they are seeing. We did this by cutting to a shot of a character clearly being executed in the early 1900s to him in the modern-day looking the exact same age.
Usual film opening credits starts with the film distributor; we chose Vertigo films because they specialize in low budget feature films.
The credits then move on to the production company and after this the more creative roles in the sequence, for example director and main actors.
We used after effects so the audience could relate the sepia almost black and white tint to the era of the 1930s.
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We also assisted media conventions by making sure the characters dressed in to date costume.
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This is a shot of a sponge and bucket. It is an extreme close up
This is an extreme close up of our actor Hectors eyes. This indicates the pure evil inside him, no remorse or fear that we should be able to see in another character using the same situation
This shot is of one of the police officers, it is a shot that helps indicate the general surroundings and sets the serious scene.
The last three screen grabs are more visual reinforcement on how we convade real media products.
Account of post production
There are similarities and differences between the prelim task and the foundation production task. They are similar in the way that both tasks were approached, the difference is the level detail. For example our prelim task had two days of planning whilst our foundation production task took 28 days. This was because we did lots of pre-production planning, we needed this planning so that once we had shot the sequence , in post production we had something to work with.
This is a screen shot of final cut pro.
The top left window shows potential shots to use in the finished the sequence. The top right window is the current sequence which plays off the time line in the window where you can edit, move and manipulate the sound .
Printable rules such as the 180 degree rule apply in both prelim and the our main production.
We started the editing process by selecting the appropriate shots to use from camera. We would decide which shots to use by analysing the camera work, authenticity and actor performance, we used certain shots to show who was speaking or convey the narrative or plot. Once we have separated the suitable shots to be in the finished piece we have to decide which shots to use, this meant that we had to use shots with out breaking rules such as the 180 degree rule. Once we had the appropriate sequence to convey what we wanted to visually. We concentrated on sound by cutting the sound that came with the video to make sure the sound is always in sync with the video or it continued fluently from shot. We also used sound track pro from there we could bring in sound effects such as electricity, this added an extra aspect to the sequence. In order to create the the title effect we used a layering system to create a glowing effect. We then separated the letter so that we could move them to different sides and invert them to give the title a sense of abnormality. We also recorded a radio news bulletin to show the narrative of the sequence we recorded this because we wanted to show the plot and setting of the scene realistically with out forcing it through the characters to the audience.
This is a screen shot of final cut pro.
The top left window shows potential shots to use in the finished the sequence. The top right window is the current sequence which plays off the time line in the window where you can edit, move and manipulate the sound .
This is a screen shot of Adobe after effects. Using this program we changes the colour tint to manipulate the feel of the sequence. In the first half of the sequence we gave the shots a darker sepia tint to convey a 1930s atmosphere. This produced a big contrast with the second part of the sequence to show the difference in time and culture
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Account of Shoot Day
The Shoot day began by my group and I setting up the set. The set had all ready been built the day before, all we had to do that morning was lay the floor. All the planning had already been completed in lesson time. The set looked very similar to what we had planned in the set sketches and story boards. I feel as a group we were well prepared for the first scene which was filmed in the studio. We could of briefed the actors better so they understood the plot also we were poorly prepared in getting the cast appropriate footwear for the day.
For our second scene which we shot on location, at a local gastro pub which. We had not prepared for this scene as well as the first, this lead to problems, these being the amount of space we had to film, a large mirror that restricted where we could not film with out the crew and the equipment being reflected into the shot. As well the location being open to the public which is unsuitable when using equipment such as a boom or laying tracking on the floor. The location did not look that similar to our original storyboard but was still suitable as it had all the major features that were needed.
The shots we used in the first scene are: With most of the shots we used, we used them to create tension. We wanted to create tension because we wanted our audience to feel on edge or uncomfortable.
Wide establishing shot of the whole of the set- We used this shot so the audience could see setting and the different characters evolved. This shot was also one of the easiest to shoot, this was because the positions of the camera were easy to set up as we do not have track or pan so it was quite simple to shoot.
Tracking in shot of Randell Merit- We chose to this shot because we believe it will create tension. This was one of the hardest shots of several reasons, these being that we had to make sure the camera was straight by making sure the tracking was layer correctly. Also I had to keep the shot in focus whilst another member of the crew held the camera steady whilst tracking in.
Mid shots of the governor, priest and the two policemen- We shot mid shots of these characters so they could all be separately identified.
Close ups of the governor, priest, the two policemen and Randell Merrit- The close ups of the characters helped to create tension.
Extreme close ups of the hood being pulled over Randell's head and a sponge being squeezed- We used the close up of the hood to graphic match the first scene with the second, which can help the sequence flow better.
We used a single shot for the second scene which was a tracking panning shot. We used the shot so we could create a tense atmosphere as well and conveying the story line in a effective way.
For the first scene we shot in our school studio. We shot in the studio for several reasons, the first being that we could design and build the whole set so that it could fit our specification, also it would be hard to find an appropriate on set location seeing as there is no capital punishment in theUK
We chose specific costumes and props represent or signify different things. We wanted to try and be as authentic as possible so that we would not challenge the audience to much.
In the picture you can see several of the main characters of the opening sequence. First Randell Merrit who’s is sitting in the electric chair. We tried to research what authentic prisons wore at that specific time period as well as the police/guards and the priest. We could only find limited information on the process of an electric chair execution, especially involving what the costumes are for the different characters. We borrowed costumes from a performing art department.
We chose the appropriate actors to be cast the parts for different reasons. The actor who played the main character was chosen to play Randdel Merrit because he had a dark look about him also slightly redneck look which was appropriate for where the sequence that was set. We used our teacher for the governor to make it look more authentic. This is because the majority of actors available to us were aged 16-18 years old and politicians would be a lot older and look middle aged. We also cast a pretty blond girl that fitted the usual horror convention of a serial killer target. With the rest of the actors which we cast we picked them on how comfortable or appropriate as there character. We tended to use actors that look older than they actually do.
For our second scene which we shot on location, at a local gastro pub which. We had not prepared for this scene as well as the first, this lead to problems, these being the amount of space we had to film, a large mirror that restricted where we could not film with out the crew and the equipment being reflected into the shot. As well the location being open to the public which is unsuitable when using equipment such as a boom or laying tracking on the floor. The location did not look that similar to our original storyboard but was still suitable as it had all the major features that were needed.
The shots we used in the first scene are: With most of the shots we used, we used them to create tension. We wanted to create tension because we wanted our audience to feel on edge or uncomfortable.
Wide establishing shot of the whole of the set- We used this shot so the audience could see setting and the different characters evolved. This shot was also one of the easiest to shoot, this was because the positions of the camera were easy to set up as we do not have track or pan so it was quite simple to shoot.
Tracking in shot of Randell Merit- We chose to this shot because we believe it will create tension. This was one of the hardest shots of several reasons, these being that we had to make sure the camera was straight by making sure the tracking was layer correctly. Also I had to keep the shot in focus whilst another member of the crew held the camera steady whilst tracking in.
Mid shots of the governor, priest and the two policemen- We shot mid shots of these characters so they could all be separately identified.
Close ups of the governor, priest, the two policemen and Randell Merrit- The close ups of the characters helped to create tension.
Extreme close ups of the hood being pulled over Randell's head and a sponge being squeezed- We used the close up of the hood to graphic match the first scene with the second, which can help the sequence flow better.
We used a single shot for the second scene which was a tracking panning shot. We used the shot so we could create a tense atmosphere as well and conveying the story line in a effective way.
For the first scene we shot in our school studio. We shot in the studio for several reasons, the first being that we could design and build the whole set so that it could fit our specification, also it would be hard to find an appropriate on set location seeing as there is no capital punishment in the
We chose specific costumes and props represent or signify different things. We wanted to try and be as authentic as possible so that we would not challenge the audience to much.
In the picture you can see several of the main characters of the opening sequence. First Randell Merrit who’s is sitting in the electric chair. We tried to research what authentic prisons wore at that specific time period as well as the police/guards and the priest. We could only find limited information on the process of an electric chair execution, especially involving what the costumes are for the different characters. We borrowed costumes from a performing art department.
We chose the appropriate actors to be cast the parts for different reasons. The actor who played the main character was chosen to play Randdel Merrit because he had a dark look about him also slightly redneck look which was appropriate for where the sequence that was set. We used our teacher for the governor to make it look more authentic. This is because the majority of actors available to us were aged 16-18 years old and politicians would be a lot older and look middle aged. We also cast a pretty blond girl that fitted the usual horror convention of a serial killer target. With the rest of the actors which we cast we picked them on how comfortable or appropriate as there character. We tended to use actors that look older than they actually do.
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| Here we used naturalistic lighting, the location was lit sufficiently for us not to use any additional light |
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Here we used the lighting available to us and a blond head light. |
Are sound on the day was dialogue we used a boom to record a sufficient sound.
our team work was consistently good, we all got on and agreed with each others ideas, i felt everyone got an equal amount of say in shot choices and directing.
After the day of filming i felt good about it and exited to start editing. it was thoroughly enjoyable and i would love to work with the same people again in another project. I wouldn't change a huge amount if i did it again i would not have filmed in the pub as a location as sounds and shots were differently because the obvious reason of the location not being designed for filming.
Friday, 14 January 2011
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