Plans for Friday the 12th

On Friday we plan to film two more scenes these will include the stair well chase scene and the roof top finale.

For the Stair well chase we will need Mitch and he can ware what ever he wants as this will take place at a different time to the first murder scene. we will also need another actor to play the police officer Elliot has offered to play this character as many of his cloths are dark coloured this will give of a more evil vibe.
For the Roof top finale Mitch and Elliot must have different clothing as this scene is at the end of the film and so they will have some what changed clothes as it is taken place after the stair chase scene  and the murder.

Filming troubles 2

On Friday the 12th we went n to Oxford to film. little did we know that we needed a permit to film in the car park. We arrived at the car park and were just about to film when a security guard turned up asking us to leave and said that we cant film in the car park with out a permit. From this experience we learnt to look up and rules and regulations that we must abide to be able to film and after looking on the Oxford City Council website I have found that we must fill out a Application form, Risk assessment form and pay up to £50 in fees to be able to film.

First filming shoot

On Monday the 17 of November we started our A2 media filming. for this shot we needed our main character (Mitch) and a body/victim (Molly). we also needed some blood to which we had to improvise as we had no fake blood, so we used beetroot juice mixed with flower to thicken the mixture this gave us a realistic blood substitute. Below are the raw videos that we took and will eventually edit into the final product.

This first video the focus had focused on the sofa so when we went round the corner the room as out of focus this surprisingly added a level of  unease to the shot.

This next shot we just filmed and told Mitch and Molly to change positions while we filmed as we can cut out sections and lengthen others to make our sequence work and to get the scenes we need.

                                     

Filming troubles

For one of our scenes we wanted to film in in a flat however we do not have access to a flat. So to try and recreate a flat scenery to do this we have asked to use a friends bungalow which will look similar to a flat as all of the rooms are on one floor like a flat. With this problem comes another as we also need a flight of stares so to try and recreate a block of flats flight of stares we will be using a multi story car park as the flight of stares are similar so we can make it look like the character are in a block of flats. to further create the illusion that our characters are in a block of flats is by filming scenes of a block of flats and then cutting to the bungalow this should give the impression that you are in a flat

Cross fade

To try a new editing technique we attempted a cross fade showing one person fade out and another person fade in to the same place. This was an idea that we tried as we thought we could use a scene similar in our trailer 

Oxford Test filming 1

On Monday during our half term me and Elliot went in to Oxford to scout for some good filming location sand to try and try and get a clear idea of how we can use these locations to our advantage. Below is one of the trial clips that we took during our time in Oxford. This is a panning shot took from hangman's hill by Oxford castle this gives a good over view of the area and you can clearly tell that you are in Oxford. This could be an affective opening to the trailer as you get a clear understanding of where you are.

Oxford Test Filming 2

Also during our time in Oxford we were in a multi story car park and we used its flight of stares because one of the scenes is in a bloc of flats and we needed either a bloc of flats with a stare well of a suitable alternative and as we don't have access to a bloc of flats the car park stares look very similar. Below is the test shot that we have also edited. on of the features we edited in was the illusion that he is being chased by multiple people  however this didn't turn out as anticipated and you can easily tell that it is just the same shot replayed three times.

Lighting effects

In one of our lessons we attempted to recreate the lighs of a police car.This will allow us to potentially apply this effect to our production to make the illusion that there is a police car round the corner. This section is supposed to be the part of the trailer where the murder is running away from the police down an ally to which the light appear on the wall as if a police car has turned up

Time management

This is a estimate time plan for our production. I have left space for extra planning and for post production as we might take longer on some things but as of now this is the time table I would like to stick to. by using and planning this I have got a ruff idea of what we have to do and what time frame we have to do this. As of making this I know we only have a couple of weeks to finish the majority of the planning and start filming. 

Youth culture

In our theory lessons we have been learning about youth culture in media and how it is represented and how it has changed over the years. we have been looking at three main theorists which have  researched in to this area of the media these theorists are:

• Giroux
• Acland 
• Hebdige

Giroux

Giroux argues that in media representations of youth becomes an “empty category”. This is because media representations or young people are constructed by adults. Because of this they reflect adults concerns, anxieties, and needs. As a result of this media representations of young people do not necessarily reflect the reality of youth identity. When applying Giroux to media texts you need to think about who constructed the representation, who it is aimed at, and does the representation reflect adult anxieties or serve the purposes of adult society (e.g. by reinforcing hegemonic values)

Acland

Acland argues that media representations of delinquent youths actually reinforce hegemony. They do this by constructing an idea of “normal” adult and youth behaviour, and contrasting it with deviant youth behaviour which is shown to be unacceptable.

Acland also claims that a media representation of young people out of control allows the state to have more control of them (e.g. media reports about delinquent youths led to ASBOs). This is something Acland calls the “ideology of protection”- the idea that young people need constant surveillance and monitoring. This happens because youth is the time when young people learn about social roles and values, and allows the state to make sure they conform to hegemonic values.

When applying Acland think about the extent to which media representations show young people as in need of control. Do the representations show young people as behaving in and unacceptable way? If so does this this identify what behaviour society thinks is acceptable (i.e Hegemonic)? You may want to focus particularly on how the representations we looked at show working class youths to be deviant , thus reinforcing middle class hegemony.

Hebdige

Hebdige studied British youth subcultures in the late 1970s. his work is more focused on the reality of youth culture, than Giroux or Acland who are concerned with media representations of youth. Hebdige argues that youth subcultures are a way for young people to express their opposition to society, and to challenge hegemony. This is primarily expressed through style. In this context you may consider how the working class youths behaviour is a response to their position in society. (e.g. the class envy of the characters in “Eden lake” who steal the signifier of middle class wealth such as the 4x4 and Ray Bans).

Hebdige also argues that the representations of young people are quite limited showing them as either fun or trouble. Again this suggests media representations of young people do not really relate to reality.   

Practice Filming

To help us get back in to the media mind set our teacher stet us a task to recreate a clip based around our chosen brief. for our task we chose to recreate a scene from Batman. 

In the scene Commissioner Gordon confronts the Joker  in a interview room. To try and recreate this we had to use two locations which disrupt the flow of the scene but to get the darkness when the joker is sitting alone we used a cupboard to which had no widows so we could have complete darkness however we needed a bigger room for when Gordon walks out of the room so we used a small room opposite our media room. we only recreated the first scene with Commissioner Gordon and the joker we did not do the bit when batman turns up. Below are the two videos (original and our recreation)

Our recreation:

The IDEA

Our fist thoughts where based on a crime thriller to which you would follow the life of a detective and unravel a interesting and obscure murder. However after about a week an idea cam in to my head where instead of following the detective you follow the murderer as he tries to escape the police and the detective. After investing some time in to this idea we chose to switch it up a bit by reversing the audiences opinion on the "murderer" by making him the good guy. To do this we changed the idea of the detective and the police by showing the idea  that the police are corrupt as the detective pays them to frame the character we follow. This switching up the idea of a normal crime thriller. However as we are only creating a trailer we will have to show these ideas subtlety through the trailer but with out giving to much away. To help us design the trailer we are going to plan out what happens in the story as to help us get an idea of what should be in the trailer.

I have had some ideas of what scenes we could do:

Idea 1: Setting: central city area, night, street lamps light up the street and some cars on the road with a couple of bystanders on the opposite side of the road.

The main character runs around a corner in to a ally as he gets about half way down you can see red and blue flashing lights up on the wall to which he runs past the camera cutting to black

Idea 2: Setting: similar to idea to, Central city, Night, Street lights light up the street with only a few cars on the road but with 5-7 other people on the street.

We focus on our character walking down the street with a couple people behind and in-front of him, the camera cuts to across the street looking at him from between two cars, then is cuts to a over the solder shot looking at a window on the third floor on the building two buildings down from where he is stood, Cuts back to between the cars to see him open and close the door to the building. The next shot is him in the elevator, as we see him through the CCTV camera in the elevator, the elevator door opens and he steps out, we then cut to a view of the entire hallway, the character walks towards us then turns left to open a door we see him reach in to a pocket, then we cut to a close up of the lock to which he place a key in the lock and turns the key. we are then looking at him from inside the dark room the door opens so that we can only see silhouette of him, he enters the room disapering  from sight to which a larger silhouette steps in to view. It then cuts to black


These are only some basic ideas and might not be used in the final production  

Audience research

In our last lesson we discussed what we could and needed to do for audience research. Audience research is often used to help to specify a idea for example if you wanted to create a short film and you decided that you wanted to make it based around a action film you could ask a group of people what they would expect from an action. This would help you think about what you needed to include within your production. Audience research is almost always used by large film producing companies as they want to give there film the best chance of making money as they would like to gain a profit from there film. So making it more appealing to more people who will hopefully buy tickets to go and see the film in the cinema.

There are many ways of researching your audience:

• Questionnaires ( E.g.asking questions based on your idea, other similar films and asking questions that will help in the choices that you will have to make 
• Exit polls - Physical/Digital (E.g. Putting a link (video,Article) on your blog/website and then making the reader come back and fill out a poll based on what they have read or seen) 
• Focus groups (E.g. gathering a group of people that have a similar taste in film and making them watch a film on there interest and asking questions like why do you like these types of film, what was your favourite part and why etc.)
• Secondary research (find information that has already been studies like stats etc)

My Chosen Brief

                     2.A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the                                following three options                                                                                                                                  -A website homepage for the film                                                                                                                  -A film magazine front cover, featuring the film                                                                                              -A poster for the film

This is the brief that I have chosen to do because I feel that I can create a better product than with the other briefs. As a trailer will be easier to make but also to make a successful film trailer there will need to be allot of editing and as a trailer must not give away to much of the story or spoil what happens in the film. Trailers must also include text to show important people who made and stared in the film for example (lead Actors, some secondary actors, Director(s), Lead editors/Cameramen etc ).  

The boy whose skin fell off

Documentary's:

The boy whose skin fell off

The documentary follows the last 4 months of a Jonny Kennedy who has suffered from EB since birth. John Kennedy is a 36 year old man however due to his skin condition he has barely grown (he is 5ft) and the condition has also cause his voice box to scar which has left him with a high pitch voice. The condition Epidermolysis bullosa  (link for more information) causes the skin to be very easily ripped and torn by the slightest amount of friction or contact. This then causes the skin to blister easily and scar.

For further information about the program or the Charity links below

Program: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-boy-whose-skin-fell-off

Charity (DEBRA): https://www.debra.org.uk/ 

The documentary is narrated by Jonny as he explains how after he was told that he only had 1 year to live he decided to go out and do things that most people would think to be impossible for him for example he went flying, skydiving, he went to number 10 downing street and then set up his own charity for his skin condition.

during one point in the documentary he even went a chose his own coffin to which for some people might be a bit odd but Jonny had come to terms with his fate and decided that he was going to arrange his own funeral. During this point in his life he also decided to leave home and go live on his own but due to his skin condition he did have to have 24/7 care from carers and family.
Another point in the documentary the crew ask his mother with him next to her weather after all of this would she have had an abortion at the time of his birth knowing what kind of life he was going to live and her answer was "yes" and even Jonny agreed with her as the skin condition had caused much trouble through his life and has had effects on the family. But around the tome of his birth abortions were looked down upon by most people and most hospitals did not offer any kind of contraception.

Overall this documentary does make you question some of the ways they filmed his last few months to with some might be a find disturbing and moving but overall this documentary does follow the death of man with a life changing skin condition.

 

A2 Brief

A2 briefs 

For our A2 media we have been given a range of briefs. From this list of 13 briefs we must choose one, we can choose to work on our own or in groups. Here is the list of briefs

1. A promotion package for the release of an album, to include a music promo video, together with two of the following thee options: A website homepage for the band, A cover for its release on DVD, A magazine advertisement for the DVD
2. A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:A website homepage for the film, A film magazine front cover, featuring the film,A poster for the film
3. An advertising package for a new product or service, to include two TV advertisements together with  two of the following three options: A radio advertisement, A TV program sponsorship sequence, A web pop-up
4. A promotion package for a new computer/video game, to include two TV advertisements together with two of the following three options:The cover of the games package, Two hyper-linked pages from the games website, A magazine advertisement for the game.
5. A promotion package for a new soap opera, to include a TV trailer, together with two of the following three options:A listings magazine front cover featuring the new soap, Two hyper-linked webpages (with video extract) for the soaps website, A poster for the soap
6. A selection of materials related to an original children's TV drama, to include the title sequence to the TV program, together with two of the following three options:The front cover to the magazine for the series, A DVD cover for the series 
7.  An extract from a new documentary TV program, lasting approximately five minutes, together with two of the following three options:A radio trailer for the documentary, A double- page spread form a listings magazine focused on the documentary, A newspaper advertisement for the documentary, A newspaper advertisement for the documentary 
8. The first two pages of a new local newspaper, together with two of the following three options: A poster for the newspaper, A radio advertisement for the newspaper, Two hyper-linked pages form the papers website  
9. A website for a new TV channel (to include a minimum of three hyper-linked pages with original images, audio, and video extract) together with two of the following three options: A newspaper advertisement for the channel, A double page spread for the listings magazine, focused on the channels launch, An animated ident sequence for the channel
10.  A short film in its entirety, lasting approximately five minuets, which may be live action or animated of a combination of both, together with two of the following three options: A poster for the film, A radio trailer for the film, A film magazine review page featuring the film
11. The first level of new computer/ video game, together with two of the following three options: The cover for the games package, A magazine advertisement for the game, A radio advertisement for the game 
12. An extract from a local TV news programme, lasting approximately five minutes, together with two of the following three options: Two hyper-linked pages from the programmes website, A generic radio trailer for the programme, A short title sequence for the programme
13. An extract from the radio play. lasting approximately five minuets. together with two of the following Three options: A newspaper advertisement for the play, A double page listings magazine feature about the play, A page from the radio stations website promoting the play

Starting Point

An evaluation of my AS production

After a year of lessons and practice me and my group have made a opening sequence based of a thriller genera and a post apocalyptic setting. Here is the link to my other blog which has the video and my evaluation and other blogs I have wiriten.
Link: http://thomasewartsmediastudies.blogspot.com/

Ideas
Our original idea was for the main character to be walking down a small road with trees and bushes on ether side and for a car to be heard in the back ground, the character would the run towards a building behind the tree line through a hole in the bushes. He would then scavenge around for supplies to then walk out of the building back on to the road, only to find the car parked with a suspicious figure stood to one side of the car. this other character would then draw a gun and shoot the main character cutting to black when the gun shoots. However after multiple discussions with between our group we decided to change it as using a car and gun could prove more difficult than expected, and with the fact that we kill our main character at the very start of our opening sequence limits what the audience will think will happen next.

 Camera work
From this production I feel that my camera operating skills have vastly improved since I started this A Level also with this I feel that by using the camera more and more it is easier to think up more interesting camera shots add angles that can add to the sequence. However during our opening sequence some of the shots are shaky as at the time of filming it was very cold however it does add some insecurity to the shots which turned out to benefit our opening sequence.

Editing
After filming this opening sequence we had to edit all of our scenes together. this part in the production took linger than anthing else so from this i have learnt to leave enough time to edit after we have filmed. Throughout the production i was also helping media via a active citzenchip progect our school has implied, though this I have also got to grips with other editing software other than "Serif movie plus" this could help in making my next production as other softwares have different tools and editing methods which can make it easier and allow me to make the production look more profeshional.