2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

In this evaluation question, I gained some feedback from a selection of audience members, in person and also on Facebook and YouTube to gain an insight into positive and negative features of our film. I also gained some useful comments on how to improve, adjust and change the film for our audiences entertainment.

1. The first step in gaining audience feedback: 

I began with getting a selection of ten different people, from all different age groups and genders to spend just under ten minutes of their time to view our film and to fill out a questionnaire about some personal questions, and also some questions about the film.

The questionnaire is as followed:

Pie chart 1

Pie chart 2

Pie chart 3

Every individual that came and watched the film, also filled out a questionnaire, yet some questions were ignored and with only several offering any decent and valuable information. 

These are the results of several questions placed into pie charts:

The pie chart which shows the age of the audience members (Pie chart 3) is very telling, as although it ranges from 10-50 years of age, it still achieved a 100% recommendation rate (Pie chart 1). This is then furthered as the gender of those who filled out a survey was divided, although not equally, between male and female but it still shows that 40% of females that watched the film, also enjoyed it (Pie chart 2). This shows that a crime/thriller film is an extremely broad genre, reaching out to a wide range of age groups and also both genders. 

Other questions on the questionnaire required an individual, written response so cannot be placed into a chart. So I have picked out several that are the most significant. Several of the written responses are below. My camera phone quality is not great, so I will type out the relevant answers to these questions from each audience member so it is easier to read. There are also videos of me interviewing different audience members to gain more information of their responses and then to elaborate on them.

These responses included:

‘Are there any negative features in the film which you would like to mention?'  
                                                         ‘If I had to mention one, it would be the ending and how I wanted to find out more about the situation involving the briefcase’

‘Are there any positive features in the film which you would like to mention?’                                                                                                                                                                                                                       '                                                        'A lot is very impressive, especially the chase scene. That and the music made a great tense scene’




‘Are there any negative features in the film which you would like to mention?’

                                                       ‘the scene where the two characters and the briefcase, the dialogue is very limited, I wanted to know more about the storyline'
                                                       ‘Are there any positive features in the film which you would like to mention?’                                           ‘                                                     'the flashbacks especially when the briefcase closes! Great editing work’

  This is me interviewing James Henson and his responses to the film.

‘Are there any negative features in the film which you would like to mention?’ ‘maybe the lack of action - especially shoot out scene!’

‘Are there any positive features in the film which you would like to mention?’‘the acting in the whole film was very professional, I though alex and ed were Hollywood quality :) ’

‘Are there any other comments that you would like to mention?’

‘the flash back scene was awesome’

This is me interviewing Alex Mathieson and his responses to the film. 

2. The second step in gaining audience feedback: 

From my questionnaire from the focus group, it allowed me to find out more about an individual comment as it was in person. Contrasting with this would be my online survey, where people from Facebook and YouTube had the chance to share their opinions on my film through SurveyMonkey. 

To create a survey online, I used a programme called ‘SurveyMonkey’ which allowed me to upload an interactive questionnaire onto the internet so I could gain a broader range of views. This also allowed other friends, and YouTube, Facebook members to have their say on the film, rather than having to get a physical copy of the questionnaire.

This is the URL for the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9VV7V7V

My results have been collected and I will express my views and what I have learnt on some of them.

Gender, age and recommendation charts 

Spider diagram of 'If you had to pick any word to describe the film, what would it be?'

A somewhat trivial question has actually led to some great feedback. When planning my questionnaire, I placed this question in as almost everybody would answer it and some feedback is better than the question being ignored (like some larger questions which require a larger comment). My results were all very positive and I have learnt from this question that all those willing to answer the question and who have watched the film, have enjoyed the film.

Two responses that have caught my eye include:

‘alright’ - This is the least positive comment we received, and this still counts the film as on an average level which is still positive.

‘different’ - This comment perhaps suggests that our film is unique. And from the evaluation question 1 this actually has some truth behind it.

The negative with this question, is that I am limited from feedback apart from the single word so I am left to decide and learn from very little.


Evaluation of, 'Are there any positive features in the film which you would like to mention?'

Evaluation of, 'Are there any negative features in the film which you would like to mention?'

4. How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

How did you use media technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation stages?

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Final film poster

The Dominant Commodity final film poster. All three of us worked very hard on this poster, all of us assigned to different parts in creating it. Our group research and ideas for this poster have obviously paid off with a professional quality movie poster created as a result.
Most discussion was in person, and I will try to sum up certain aspects that all three of us worked together on and certain points that me as an individual was assigned, to play my part in creating the film poster.

 

We all went away and then researched some key questions that we thought were useful topics in helping to create a movie poster. Although initially placed in note form and basically scribbles into the back of my book, I thought it was necessary to make additions to my blog on certain features that I found. I will also add to them.

These included:

• What images to add onto the film poster?
• Should we edit the picture?
• In what style should the film titles be developed?
• Where to put the film title?
• What to put on the film poster?

Research results.

After gaining the research all three of us were left to talk about certain conventions we found and then decided upon what to do with the film poster. Oli artistically painted our protagonist character on the front, with the placement of the briefcase on the top of the picture situated carefully and precisely by myself. Certain superimposed text was placed onto the picture by both myself and Ed, after finding it pretty tricky to work alone we combined our skills and then placed this onto the picture while in class so it was easy to work together. Final film poster.

The Dominant Commodity - Final Film.

This is our final film with everything completed.

12 March - Blog update - Music sources

Editing is moving on swiftly, and we are all extremely happy with the results of our hard work. Our film is effectively finished and could be uploaded now, but as we still have some time left we are just adding in some additional features including some extra sound effects which will hopefully be recognised by the examiner. This blog post is also to recognise our background music sources:

 

 

These are both free and un-copyrighted so we are legally able to use them in our film. After considering GarageBand, we believed our film would be more professional after researching some music, as what we were producing was very limited in representing our theme. Nonetheless, the music used fits perfectly with what we are trying to portray with the violins used being similar to what the viewers would expect in a foreign country, transporting the viewer to an exotic, unfamiliar environment linking to our film where the viewers are taken to a underworld gang life, equally as unnerving.

6th March - Blog update

We have almost finished our final film and so we WILL meet the final deadline. We just need to add a few more titles and some background music through iMovie and then we will upload the film.

After losing all our material and having to transfer it onto another computer we starting worrying about meeting the deadline but we have all put in lots of our own time to make sure we meet the deadline and that we are happy with our film. 

Recently we have done some filming, including a final scene where it shows the protagonist character saved which we placed in to make sure we were close to meeting the 5 minute short film requirement.

And also we have all assigned ourselves certain positions to make sure we are organised and that we will complete our film with Oli on title sequences, Me on the music and Ed focused on touching up the project.

Oli just making some adjustments to our film.

Magazine Review

Reviews of films are presented in both magazine and online formats, helping to engage the reader and ultimately audience that may watch the film being reviewed. But everything a reviewer has to consider before writing falls under certain sub-headings including:

• Layout
• Style of writing I.e formal, informal
• To take an objective stance or a more subjective one

As an amateur writer it would be almost impossible for myself to go into writing a review without doing any research on similar film magazines. So I took it upon myself to go out and buy an Empire Magazine due to its high reputation of being ‘The world’s leading movie magazine’. What Empire are writing must be influential on gaining this high reputation so I found a few movie reviews within the magazine, and made notes and also took pictures of my findings.

I noticed not all the magazine reviews were not the same, and they seemed to differ on size and the amount of reviewing space for each movie. But they all contained certain characteristics that I will replicate for my review. Certain reviews contained certain benefits and I will link all those benefits into one review.

 

Research on an Empire magazine review - focusing on writing style and what to include when writing the review. - The Hobbit
Before I start writing my review, research is vital to understand how to write a movie review in the best manner. When writing for a magazine, the readership will be people who have bought them magazine for entertainment purposes, to gain information or both. So that is what I am going to include in my review. I will be entertaining and informal with my writing style, but also include material reviewing the film. I want to engage the reader and provide them with enjoyment but also inform them with the reason they are reading the review.
I copied a review from www.empireonline.com/ of The Hobbit and have picked out certain points that I am going to replicate.

These include:

The Dominant Commodity

Plot
Two characters (Smith and Rose) find themselves in a sticky situation after robbing a high profile terrorist group. While one takes it in his stride, the other fears their capture, with the plot taking the audience through this tense situation and its results. Is there any reasoning for the characters fear of this group? Or will it be impossible to escape their punishment?

Review
“They are going to find us,” (Alex Rose) tells his partner in crime at the start of the short film. This is perhaps just the start of what the reader are expecting, allowing this petty crime robbery to lead both characters into the real world, dealing with real crime. All three directors, Rose, Smith and Trinh have obviously formed the plot ingeniously taking the reader through the eyes of this gang underworld with both its smooth editing and precise camera work emphasising that this world is not too far from our own.

It is hard to relate this film to any other, a short film but with a confusing yet thrilling twist may be a controversial to some but packs a mighty punch. The film is a one off, having little emphasis on individual characters but focusing mainly on the plot and its chaotic development with the two characters that initiated its events, unnamed emphasising what little effect they have upon those of a higher class (even if it is still in the gang world).

Yet these positives, are counteracted with the negatives of the slowly paced action that is involved through the torture scene. The audience in the following scene were in a fast cutaway with the editing and camera work adding to this effect and then they are immediately taken to a contrasting scene. Some may see this a real victory for Rose and his team, yet personally for me I believed it was just too confusing. Although I do respect how much time the lads had to film and also the length of it, so in that respect for what they had it was as good as it gets.

Even so, all the scenes from its starting safe house to ending basement provides the viewer with stereotypes helping them to almost feel as if they were in the film. The protagonist (Smith) character provides an interpretation which few have seen before of being inside the terrorist strong hold and seeing their dirty work at close quarters. This perhaps links to the current affairs constantly featured around the world, not just in the expected stereotyped middle east but also everywhere on the planet where crime and its terrorist enterprise has a corrupt rising that is sadly unstoppable. But do not expect this to run quite so smoothly as you hope, its five minute maximum filming time has left out a key focus on what the viewer really wants to see including more on the torture character (Oliver Trinh) and also the initial partner to the protagonist (the famous Rose’s unbeatable talent seems wasted).

Still, with this quick storyline we are not left disappointed with what we are provided with, understanding thoroughly the nature of all the characters and the position they are in. This is not a petty crime raid as what the audience expects when they first see these initial two characters. It eventually leads to a bloodbath of gun shots and hostages; something that would not have been expected. Some have suggested that they would have preferred and on-going unprofessional crime scene with more of an equal crime hierarchy providing more of a chance for the underdogs, but I think Team Rose has managed to pull this off spectacularly with its cinematic touches and music creating the experience that I have long waited for in a film.

A place of critical review of the short film is why did these petty criminals deal with (or more like rob) these extreme killers? What got into their heads and what precisely were they thinking? Well all I can say to these critics is if you do not have the insight of basic imagination then you should not be in a position to watch a film where imagination is the key. It makes the film enjoyable when you are left questioning from the start to end whether the decisions made are successful and it places emphasis on what exactly do people think when they are doing something at the time. Who originally has a plan for everything they do? Well the answer is, nobody. Even these amateur directors had little idea of what they were going to produce.

The chief character played by the magnificent Ed Smith helps make the film. He is argued to be the films strongest with his acting skills matching up to Hollywood’s finest. His facial expressions and amazingly produced dialogue ( not forgetting his fine looks) has a unique character presence than any other. His cheeky naivety helps lead to his downfall but we can not blame him for wanting to be wealthy stating something that the audience can relate to, ‘We’ll be fine’. Although the film takes the audience on an adventure through the decrepit underworld of gang life and terrorism, Smith still keeps his cool and makes the audience realise that we are not so different.

The most spectacular moment would be rapid chaotic movement away from the safe house and into the vast surrounding fields. The effortless smooth movement from the POV of the protagonist character is featured in such a way where the viewers are left in an ore of escaping from the terrorists. It really brings into context the lack of planning of the whole operation when leaving through a window is the only available exit for the characters. Yet this shows clearly that these two characters can deal with any working environment and highlighting how Edward Smith and Alex Rose are at the height of their film career.

A final note to mention would be the interesting editing undergone be Team Rose. An obviously time consuming effort may have gone unnoticed by the lack of lighting effects due to the flash back when it is in black and white. May be this is just so the audience can understand the situation, that this scene has already happened (similar to Casino Royale) or may be this loses the films cinematic realism as it distances us from the colours we know and makes it obvious that this was just created post-filming. This is just something to consider when viewing the short film.

Verdict

The film sees a final examination of the crime world which is almost forgotten in present cinema. Rather than crime vs. the innocent it is crime vs. crime providing a different yet thrilling experience. A final conclusion can be directed around one of Rose’s famous quotes, ‘A film can only be described as ‘great’ by those who understand the capability of a great film’. There is definitely potential here and maybe, just maybe I can describe it as ‘great’.

FINAL REVIEW WITH LAYOUT

 

 

 

28th February - Blog update

26th February - The Dominant Commodity - Our film title.

In today's lesson we have finally decided on the title for our film. We left it so long on purpose, as it was likely certain aspects of the film would change and we wanted our title to directly represent the plot. After a time consuming discussion we narrowed our film title idea to:
                           'The Dominant Commodity' or 'Contents Unknown'

But we eventually decided on 'The Dominant Commodity'. We wanted our title to relate to the key aspect of our film which would be the contents of the briefcase and the consequence of events due to the briefcase. This is the reasoning for the 'Dominance' and 'Commodity' is a synonym for product which is what the briefcase is, and we want to keep this as ambiguous as possible to draw the viewers in so 'Commodity' is a good word to use.

PPP First draft - NOT FINAL

This is our first draft of our film production. We still have not finished so expect more to come.

Productions music - Research

Background

Almost every film uses music, non-diegetic or diegetic to enhance the effect on the audience to feel more engaged. All are used for different effects with slower, mellow music for situations which are slow, and at contrast faster music for tense situations. The music parallels the plot and so it is essential for a professional production and is expected. Last year I made the music through my own musical instruments, and this year I will use the Apple computers and use the tool, GarageBand. This is music software where you can record your own music according to the hundreds of instrument choices provided by Apple and then I will place it over certain scenes throughout our final iMovie production.



Other films and its music

Alfred Hitchcock with Bernard Herrmann
Hermann is a notorious American composer known prominently for working with the director Hitchcock, most notably in Psycho, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much and Vertigo. This is important as Hitchcock has been described with the nickname, ‘The Master of Suspense’. His large collection of films directed by him are almost always thriller films and he has gained one of the greatest reputations for any director, ever suggested by the Daily Telegraph as ‘Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge’. Being a filmmaker has a large impact on what music he wants to choose for his film and every other aspect of filming so Hitchcock should be recognised.Perhaps taking notes off some of his films will help our group choose a suitable style of music.

This shows the fast paced string instruments, increasing in pace to the antagonist dark character within Psycho. When making the music on GarageBand I will be referring back to Hitchcock's and Hermann’s work.

Stanley Kubrick
Full Metal Jacket is one of Kubrick’s all time classics which has received very few critical responses but only praise. Although in reality it will be impossible for us to create any music production on level to Kubrick’s or Hitchcock’s films, we can show ambition. A certain scene I have recognised would be where one of the soldiers shoots himself in the head after shooting his Sergeant. He has gone insane because of the pressure, and the music really highlights this. But the music is only that of diegetic sound so is very unique but has an extreme effect. This is possible for our group to create and could be used for the torture scene, saving us time and having an even greater effect because of its individuality

Potential genre or style
As our film is a crime/thriller production I need a genre of music which will link to this and base the music I make to a suitable genre or at least a style of music which can be used throughout large proportions of our film.

Certain styles of music I have considered include:

Acoustic

Bass

Electric

Strings

Classical

Military

Discordant

Harmonic

Foreign

Disharmony

Crescendo

Lo-fi

Up-tempo

Rhythmic

Currently I feel a foreign style music would link to our film, linking the gang members to a different society, not just literally, but also through how they are from a different occupation so an unusual type of music for the audience would make the terrorists seem even more distant. Or if not foreign music then definitely eerie music making the terrorists almost inhuman emphasising their acts upon the protagonist including the torture. An example would be the opening scene of The Shining:

 It brings chills to the spine, a great piece of music, may be a bit too eerie for our production but nonetheless this opening is incredible.
 

The original by Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique - Dream Of A Witches Sabbath. Throughout is spectacular and due to its age it bypasses copyright laws so we could strip certain parts off and use it for our production? I will have to decide with the rest of the group but this has serious potential.

5th February - Blog update

SoundCloud plan.

In our last lesson we decided to re-film several shots, due to problems with lighting and also some shots had a blurred effect, so lacked vivid detail losing the films cinematic atmosphere. To further this cinematic filming style we included other actors, so our film is presented to be more professional, showing the effort we have put in. We also found new props and guns to help them fit in when we used them for the hostage scene.  They do not produce any dialogue, so they do not take any credit and keeps the audience focused on the main actors, yet their presence is telling to show that these terrorists mean real business and have a large gang base. We also used another person to help film a certain shot so all three of us who created the production could be featured in a shot together, including me, Ed and Oli. I also insisted on having this shot for a potential poster photo so the audience understand who will be featured within the film and this also shows planning ahead so our group is not kept behind. 

25th January - Blog update

Thankfully over the last two periods, we had a double lesson of filming which is what we have needed since the beginning of the project to enhance the amount we filmed. Through this double period we filmed a whole scene, being the torture scene and we also managed to film other shots within the hostage scene. For continuity reasons we had to film many of the shots on the same day otherwise we would face problems with sustaining the same make-up and costumes the next time we filmed.

We added certain media techniques including a match on action where you see a torture weapon hit the character and then you see his reaction afterwards. This is made cinematic with a quick zoom showing the results of this attack with blood upon the wall. It links to the fast paced the attack which juxtaposes the rest of the scene whereby it is slow, which slows the plot down to reach the climax of the attack keeping the audience in suspense. 

The next lesson we have, we hope to finish off some more shots of the hostage scene, and place in some dialogue over the top through the editing process. We need to make sure we do not fall behind on one or the other parts of filming otherwise we will suffer when it comes down to handing in our final film. 

18th January - Blog update

These last few lessons have given us the time to be able to completely finish our second scene and to even complete certain parts of the editing stage. Sadly, I have been off ill for several lessons last week, and nothing has been completed film wise since I’ve been gone, with the other members of the group just completing their own blogs, trying to catch up.

Recently we have started to film our first scene, which includes the shots on the terrorists and also the hostage situation. Firstly we needed to clear the setting making it seem more professional by placing a banner up and by clearing some objects in the room that had no relevance to our film. This will be efficient for future filming as by the next lesson we can just begin to carry on as we had previously done. Several shots have been completed, but for the next lesson we have organised other characters to be involved by being extra terrorist members so the whole scene seems more realistic and professional using additional actors.

Recently I have also focused more upon ‘blogging’ from my mobile phone. This makes it easier to blog at every opportunity as I can write my blog on my phone, include pictures from my phone onto that same post and then post it. Especially through a wi-fi connection this is a very fast process, and even without the wi-fi, I can still write drafts and ideas quickly and efficiently, furthering the production of my blog.


 

8th January - 2nd day of filming.

We continued filming today, with a positive and ambitious attitude to finish the filming of this part within today's lesson. We carried on the filming of part 2 being the briefcase scene. Currently, we have implemented many different shots within this part which have made it more professional. The downside of it could also be seen as a positive because our storyboards have only been used as a basis to film on, we have been adding many different shots in which seem right at the time. Some of these shots include: Low angle shots to show the dominance of the protagonist character. Over the shoulder shots to make the whole scene seem more realistic. Within the future, I will update the storyboards with our newly added shots so the examiner can see the change from our originally thought out storyboards to our newly developed shots.

Other progress we made today will be shown by this documentary film created:

Vimeo anaylsis

Attempt It (Short Action Film) from Giannis JR Kritikos on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/31829892

Attempt It (Short Action Film)from Giannis JR Kritikos

I believed it would be for the best interests of the group if I continued researching, even throughout our filming work to see if there are any possibilities to gain ideas on all different aspects of filming in a similar short film. Within these categories, I researched the camerawork, soundtrack, editing and mise en scene of my chosen short film.

All of these are needed to create a successful film so I believed I should research a successful short 5 minute film to gain some insight to these aspects. Although this film is just under 5:00 minutes it still adds emphasise to our group about how important these aspects are, especially in a confined time period.

Sound

The soundtrack throughout this production varies to different situations within the plot. It starts with an eerie, unusual music, most likely to lead the audience into a false sense of security creating an enigma effect as we as the audience are unaware of what is to come.

Yet, when the plot progresses, this changes to a fast paced, techno music because of the action beginning to unfold. This draws in the attention of the audience, expecting something to happen more prominently, especially some action.

The diagetic sound also used is emphasised, used most effectively when the protagonist character breaks the neck of an individual outside of the terrorists building. The audience tingle after hearing the sound because it is realistic and gruesome.

Mise en scene

I also took note of the clothing they were wearing, especially the terrorist characters. They all seemed to be in dark colours, with balaclavas and also scarves. This emphasises the stereotypical view that these characters are criminal and feel the need to hide their faces to the hostage. They also have illegal dangerous weaponry, making the scene seem realistic and what the audience would expect from these criminals.

More importantly would be the setting of the film. The majority exists in an urban, graphitised environment with the walls crumbling and the floors covered in dust. This information is perfect to what we would like to implement within our film and adds to the effect of the reader that these are criminals and they do business in squalor linking to the underworld they find themselves in.

Camera work

The majority of the film was taken with a handheld camera, to emphasise the chaotic situation and the fear from the hostage. It was also used to create tension with the action scene so the audience are left clinging to their seats to find out what the results of the fighting will be. Our group has already decided on implementing this into our production because we feel it will draw in the audience and bring emphasise onto the fear from our characters.

The shots all vary within this film some being long establishing shots, while others being close ups. The establishing shots being very broad show the setting and thus the audience can have a fuller understanding of where these criminals are and are more interested.

Editing

This has quite possibly made the most impact on our film. The other three aspects, the majority we had all ready thought of and used for our film but now the editing showed different and improved ways to add to our film post filming. Firstly would be the flash backs that take place. These are increased in pace and show what has already but in reverse and at high speed to a key point which brings attention to that particular point. As our group was thinking about creating something similar with the flashbacks, this could be how we could implement it into our production.

My chosen short film is by Giannis JR Kritikos, from Chania in Greece. Where he is from would normally have little importance to the film, but within this film, there are subtitles in English to translate the Greek language. Our film also contains subtitles because of the terrorists, as it was great to see another film/editor using subtitles with the same effect due to the terrorists within this film (although this is quite possibly indirectly due to actually being Greek).

18th December - FIRST DAY OF FILMING.

Finally, after months of planning and research we began to film today. I have to give credit to other members of the group for bringing in much needed props and to have a desire to get some filming done before the Christmas holidays.

A quick overview of what was filmed today:

We started on part 2 with the briefcase scene. The most difficult part was to find a place to film, which had changed from our original plans. I thought I should take a few pictures to show the new setting we have found which we believe has serious potential for our film. From what has been filmed so far, the dark lighting has had a serious impact to the professional quality of our film. The camera we are also using is of high quality and every shot seems to offer perfect picture quality.

The pictures of the new scene:
Both of these pictures show the new scene where we are filming part 2, the briefcase scene. As you can see by the picture on the right, the window offers a certain amount of light providing just the right amount, symbolising the darkness of these two criminals lives.

Understanding film reviews.

In this blog I have decided to view certain film reviews of a similar film to ours, relating it back to one of Shane Meadow's classics, 'This is England'. I want to gain an insight on reviews from both the audience and also the more commercial media including newspapers and film magazines.

Firstly, I visited IMDB to view user reviews. I have decided to analyse both the positives and negatives and hopefully this will have an effect on how we film our film to try and improve on the negatives and follow the positives.





POSITIVE REVIEW OF THE FILM FROM AMATEUR REVIEWER.

This post shows the real positives of the film from a viewer. Certain key points that are of extreme relevance include where ‘Rathko’ admires the ‘authenticity of the film’. This highlights the need to understand the audience and current issues of the time. Relating our film to petty criminals, stealing without knowing the consequences is popular within Britain. People can relate and it makes their viewing more cinematic and appealing.

Another key point to mention is where the film is described to be ‘at times it’s as though you’re watching a documentary’. In the context it relates to how the film, looks simply, great. In this case, the reviewer respects the effort placed into this, which our group already understood was a massive factor that we needed to act upon. In our films case, this would be making sure that our film does not look like it has been filmed within school, it needs to look realistic, and therefore good



NEGATIVE REVIEW OF THE FILM FROM AMATEUR REVIEWER.

This screen shot shows quite the opposite review and of certain factors we may want to avoid. It was very difficult to find a review of such a great film that was negative and even with the one found, the writer of the review lacks knowledge of how to understand the benefits of a great film. But this was the best review to analyse because some points he makes have some relevance, and hopefully we can avoid such negative points that have been established.

Firstly, the first paragraph criticises that ‘It’s just another’ relating the film to other films that have already existed, so we need to make our film exclusive and different from any other film to prevent reviewers coming out with such negative comments. It will create more interest for the viewers if they see a film which has no relevance to any other film created and is unique.

Secondly would be that ‘oslane’ picks out on a point which I can slightly agree with. He picks up on the unrealistic plot line of two members becoming close, even though they would hate one another if it really was as realistic as ‘Rathko’ describes it to be. We need to make a flawless plot which will not alter a member of the audiences opinion by an unrealistic storyline and an experience which is not likely to happen.
The next review has a more objective opinion due to being from an official reviewer, being 'Dan Jolin', an Empire Magazine Editor. He is more likely to feature both sides of the argument due to his position and his job. The consumer, especially over a magazine that is solely based on movies, want to read reviews that tell both the positives and negatives to a film so they can make a judgement on whether to watch it or not. Dan Jolin's interpretation and review of the film was very interesting:


OBJECTIVE REVIEW OF THE FILM FROM PROFESSIONAL REVIEWER.

 
Dan Jolin’s expertise manage to find a respectable negative point in ‘This Is England’ and one that luckily we indirectly avoid due to this being the one film that will be examined. Yet, we still have to make it different from the many others that will be examined which was picked up on from the amateur negative reviewer. Our film has to be unique to capture the audiences attention and to create something different and interesting.

The positive point that Jolin mentions would be something that has also been picked up from one of the amateur reviewers, yet this time it being the positive reviewer. He mentions the ‘sheer quality of performances’, relating to the high level of acting. This is obviously a must for any film for it to be professional and to be treated seriously. We are school kids, yet acting has to be at a high level for it to become such a great as Meadow’s films. It is going to be hard work, but it will be worth it for the end result.





 

 

17th December - Start of filming.

From this point on, filming is our top priority. We have come to the conclusion that filming is a necessity so that we can progress and start on the evaluation after filming. From experience, we understand the need to plan this process and have with our one hour lessons we have decided to split it into two parts:

1. Film. This will take up three quarters of our lesson and is for film work only. On certain occasions we may need to come in slightly earlier so that we make sure we have this full forty five minutes to film so that we can progress with Media Studies.

2. Diary. We all understand that to update the blog on our current process is of extreme importance and so we have planned that we will need at least fifteen minutes to complete this in. Similar to AS levels Media Studies, I came up with the idea to form a documentary style top of an update, purely because it will intertwine both filming and the diary into one and will show a more hands on approach to Media Studies and I am going to include this within this year.

Now we have planned our timetable around Media, we have to make sure we are completely organised so when a lesson does arise, we can film straight away. This includes making sure all props exist within the schools premises. I have started to collect props, and have left them in school so we are fully prepared for our next lesson. Certain props I have brought in include:

 

- 1 x balaclava - terrorist scene

- 2 x puffa jackets - terrorist scene

- 1 x fake gun - terrorist scene

- 1 x Egyptian scarf - terrorist scene

- 1 x chain - torture scene

- 2 x ties - briefcase scene
- 1 x shirt - terrorist scene

Props are needed to created a more realistic filming process, so I am not holding back on what is needed so I can further our groups progress.

But props do not just have to be brought in externally from school, using the initiative I decided to use what was already in school to help us. This includes a large, rustic VCR camcorder which we can use for the hostage scene and also a large amount of tools borrowed from certain workers around the schools premises.

Hopefully by next lesson, other members of the group would have started to bring in a larger number of props so that we can start filming and progress.

I took several pictures while we were collecting certain props and deciding their relevance in our film:

This picture shows Ed taking a picture of one of the guns I brought it, a realistic yet fake gun. The camera he is using has been provided by a member of staff for greater picture quality.

This picture shows Ed taking a picture of one of the guns I brought it, a realistic yet fake gun. The camera he is using has been provided by a member of staff for greater picture quality.

 

 This picture shows a variety of props that have the potential to be used. When the picture was taken we were just looking at the props each other had brought in to see if they were of high enough quality to be used.

 

This final picture shows the balaclava and one of the Egyptian scarves that has been brought in. Just from this picture (excluding the school uniform) you can see the potential of both of these props.

13th December - Diary update film preparation.

Film preparation was our main aim today. We WILL film tomorrow with are now wide selection of props which we can use. We have just been gathering our props and selecting which ones for certain shots we will use. This is a photo of some of our props:

This is one of the guns we will be using for the hostage scene.

This is the banner we will be using for the hostage scene. 


To take these photos for ease, I have used the macs, placing them on a time limit and then situating myself in front of the camera with certain props.  

30th November - Characters

In today's lesson, we believed it was finally time to decide upon who was to be playing certain characters of the film. We believed it would only be fair to share equal responsibilities on acting and also filming to gain the most praise we could indivdually. These are the results of the characters:

• Torturer - Oli
• Main character - Hostage - Ed
• Main characters partner - Alex
• Terorrists - All three of us and others*

*includes other actors that are not actually in our group. 

Finally the characters have been established and now we can begin to film. Each of us individually have started to bring in props so we have all our props ready to start filming.

4th November - Props

This is just for personal use because Oli has actually created a 'Prezi' on props.

Within the 'Prezi' there are costume ideas and also the props we will be using. Now all we need to decide is about how brings in these props and costumes and then we are looking to start filming by next week.

The PROPS on Prezi

11th December - Audience Profile.

Any film created has to reach out to a broad audience to gain a larger following and popular reviews. A film which is already linked to its consumer’s interests is half of the effort to create a great film. Our film (like any film) is going to have its key target audience, but we are also going to offer our film to all different genders, ethnicities, age categories and so on to reach out to a broader audience to expand the viewing figures. Our genre currently would be a crime thriller which obviously has limitations to certain age groups and other aspects. So firstly our film has to be placed within the 'British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)' and we would place our film within the '15' category.  

 

This may seem very exclusive and to exclude the younger generation, yet without this rating we would have to change large amounts of our film to abide by these regulations, which would in turn exclude members of the older generation who would then see the film as aimed at younger members of the public. At least with this, the older generation would be more inclined to watch a film which is aimed at adults. So a minimum age of 15 to a generous age of 35 and over would be a target we would be aiming for.

As part of my research I thought I would question certain people, in different places and of different age groups. When I collected my results it became obvious to me that the majority of people that would be interested are from the male genre, linking the crime genre to films such as 'Snatch', 'Layer Cake' and 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' to name a few. Summarising the questionnaire results shows a 65% divide of the male gender, yet females are not to be excluded, and will be drawn in by the aspect of the thrilling genre. Social class were less obviously divided with people from all different parts of the spectrum, enjoying the film.

I also asked questions on what our potential audience would enjoy in our film and got a few responses back which interested me. Certain questions I asked included:

Asked to: Deborah Rose, 45, Female.

QUESTION: 'What makes you want to see a film?'

REPLY: 'Anything that makes you want to see more. If you don't know exactly what's going to happen it makes the whole experience a lot more fun! That's what you go to see a film for... for the enjoyment and the fun!' 

This has benefitted our audience research as we can summarise the above reply to creating further enigmas in our film. If we create a film where the viewers have no idea about certain events, or events that are going to take place then the experience will be more enjoyable. In our current film storyboard we have created the on-going enigma of what is placed in the briefcase. Other films that link to this enigma would be throughout the film ‘Dead Man's Shoe’s’ with the viewer not being able to distinguish that the main characters brother, has actually deceased and it is all on his imagination that he is there.

Perhaps I expected this response from any age, or gender. Whether the film is of any genre, where the audience feel compelled to watch more is a great success of any film. Any film has to be "enjoy(able)" and we have to mould the need to "make... (the audience) want to see more" around our genre.

Asked to: James Doyle, 23, Sheffield, Sales Assistant at HMV.

QUESTION : 'What are your favourite aspects to a film?'

REPLY: 'A film is not just based on the screenplay and the animation. It's a combination of the music, the freeflow of the editing that makes a film'

This has swayed our focus away from the just creating a great shot film and we have started to place more emphasis on the music throughout and the non-diagetic sound placed for sound effects and emphasis. We will also spend a larger time period editing to create an almost effortless movement between shots which will also add to this and how this reply has also suggested that a great film is the combination of the screenplay, music and editing.


This question was designed for somebody I knew would have more knowledge upon films in comparison to the average person. The interviewee on this occasion obviously has a key interest in films and technology as a whole to be able to gain a position and HMV, which has a large selection of films. A more detailed response is what I was expecting and his age is almost our perfect target audience. In general, more people around this age are more likely to be tech-savvy and more interested in the latest releases so to gain an insight from a member of the population of this age was extremely useful.

Throughout asking the questions I believed that if I became aware of who the people were I was questioning, by what brand of clothing they were wearing, certain foods they were eating and so on then I could wrought my results and final film to the viewer’s preferences. Many of the males I asked seemed to pay a lack of attention to what they were wearing and had an urban, rough look. One that caught my attention seemed to have ‘Monster Energy Drink®’, a very expensive energy drink showing the fast paced lifestyle that a crime thriller would link to. An example would be that in the chase scene with the quick shots.

Summarising my results would be that overall I can establish certain key factors that would help my final production. Focusing on popular public opinion is extremely important to us, because ultimately they will be watching our film in the future.  From what I have learnt our target audience would be between the age of 15-35, mainly focusing on the male genre but not excluding the female market. Yet I have established what sort of clothing and products our potential audience would be into I will not single out any possibilities to increase our fan base to gain the maximum amount of support from all social classes and so on. The questions I have asked have helped for me to gain an insight on how to improve our film to relate to the target audience. Linking to this will be understanding certain brands that are consumers are into including foods, drinks and also clothing. All of these will help our group to challenge our competitors in the potential market by giving our viewers what they want to see and love helping to draw them in further to our final production.