Finished

I have completed my foundation media coursework unit G321.

My film

This is my final product "Back to Black"

Conventions of film

In my film opening, i used Levi Straus' narrative theory of binary opposites. I have shown this through light and dark scenes, also an opposition in settings such as the city and the country. Another narrative theory i have used is Todorov's, i have set an equilibrium at the start by the main characters leading normal, happy lives. The disrupyion comes when the two main characters see eachother in town, this is shown with flashbacks of a disturbing past. I have challenged the usual codes and conventions of a thriller by making the opening fairly light hearted and slow paced. The film however, pickes up throughout. The codes and conventions i have used seem quite subtle apart from the image of a dead body.

Progression

From the prliminary task, i feel the shot types such as match-on-acton, come alot more natural whilst filming. Also i find it easier now to get the fraiming correct and interesting. Another filming technique i learnt is the 180 degree rule.

Technologies

From the process of constructing my product, i leant alot about technology and software i was using.

Apple mac - Before this project, i had never used a mac. I thought that they were alot more advanced than an average computer however, i found them slightly harder to use. Once i had got used to the macs, i found them very useful as you can do much more and be more creative.

imovie - I found imove very useful as it was easy to upload and edit my film. I had used windows movie maker in the past and i found imove has many more editing options.

Institution

I think institutions such as Twisted pictures and Dark Castle productions would be suitable to distribute my media product as they have distributed other films of similar genres such as Gothika and Saw. Another institution who could distribute my film would be Revolver entertainment as my film is a british teen thriller and the company has produced other successful british teen films such as "Kidulthood".

Audience

I decided to give my film a certificate 15, i chose a 15 as i found the existing films of this certificate very interesting and i felt i would be able to relate more to the age range. I found from analysing exiting thrillers with a certificate 15 that the content is not to explicit.

To show my film is a certificate 15, i used props such as the alcohol bottles which relate to teenage drinking also mild violence and swearing which would be suitable for a 15 year old.

How I attracted my audience

My film would attract a teenage audience as teenagers would be able to relate to the life styles of the characters. My film adresses many teenage issues such as, relationships, nights out, work and school.

The signifiers i have used would also appeal to my audience as the are aimed at people aged 15 and above.

Representation

The characters in my film are represented as typical teenagers, leading perfectally average lives. I have shown this through costume and the location outside collage green, which has shown to be a popular hang out place for teens, as shown in the popular british T.V series Skins. I also tried to give them a realistic reaction that would be typical for there ages and background when the past is revealed.

Shooting schedule + Story boards

Before filming, me and my partner thought it would be benificial to create a shooting schedule which would help us with organisation and alow us to meet the deadline.

Contributors release form








Risk assesment

Shot choices

I chose to use an over the shoulder shot to put the audience in the position of the character I chose to speed up this shot as it addes a sence of time passing and confusion.

Enigmatic codes

In my film I chose specific enigmatic codes to show that it was a thriller.


This shot is of one of the main characters, by putting his head in his hands, it shows confusion, stress and worry. I thought these emotions would be related to a thriller.

Smoking is often related to the feeling of stress, so when the character lights the cigarette, it will get across that she is feeling stressed.





I chose the characters to be drinking in the woods as the thought of being in the woods as it’s getting late gives a sense of danger.






By having dark figures from a low angle shot, it makes the viewer feel slightly uneasy as it feels like you are being looked down on.







This shot of a dead body is an extremely obvious enigmatic code to show the thriller genre, as I found from research into other thrillers.

The filming

During the production, i worked with Harry Creed. We took pictures of us working together and trying to get the perfect framing for out shots. As shown in this picture of the statue, a cone had been placed on its head. This was a problem as we needed it in our film, luckily we managed to remove it.

Results

Questionnaire

1. 
   What would be a typical alcoholic drink for a teenager?
   Cider
   Vodka
   Alchopops
   lambrini
2. 
   What clothes are most likely to be worn by teenage girls?
   Jeans
   Skirts
   Tracksuit
   Combat trousers
3. 
   What clothes are most likely to be worn by teenage boys?
   Jeans
   Tracksuits
   ¾ length trousers
   Shorts
4. 
   Do you think swearing is suitable in a film rated 15?
   Yes
   No
   Moderate
   Not sure
5. 
   Would you expect to see violence in a film rated 15?
   Yes
   No
   Moderate
   Not sure

Costume and props

In my film i have chosen to include flash-backs to show a murder that took place 3 years before. To show clearly the difference in time, the costume in the flash-backs is more casual and "young", compared to the slightly smarter more safisticated style of dress in the present time.
In the flash-backs the actors play a group of 16 year old rebelious teens, i looked at the fashion styles of this age group to ensure the costum was realistic.

Props
we did not use many props as we did not find them nessasary, we did however use alcohol bottles to show the teenage characters out binge drinking, we used lage vodka and martini bottles.

Location

I chose to film in bristol city centre, i chose well known areas such as college green and parkstreet. I felt that this was a suitable area for the age range of the characters as college green seems to be a popular place for teenagers to hang out.

I also chose to film on rodway common, i thought it was a good area as it is quiet also has a slightly wiery feel as it is a wooded area.

Gothika analysis

Genre - Thriller

Age rating - 15

Use of camera angles - The film starts with a close up shot of a womens face talking about the devil, the camera slowly moves round to show another women again close up who seems to be interviewing her. Then camera then slowly pans from behind a wire screen showing some kind of prison/ mental hopital. The camera then circles the to characters as the interview is taking place.

Enigmatic codes - from the opening 2 minuits, you can tell straight away it is a thrill through the use of sound and speech. The colour of the shots also shows it's genre as it is a dark cloudy looking setting which gives a slightly edgy feel.

Genre - Thriller

Age rating - 15

Use of camera angles - the first shot is a slow panning shot from above looking over the city, followed by a medium shot of a man stood at a balcony, this immedatly puts the audience in his position. Then we see another medium shot of a women in bed just waking up, seeming very innocent. This is followed by a close up of the man's face looking troubled and worried, which suggests that something has happened or is about to happen. There is then a shot reverse shot between the man and women which builds up tension, followed by a mediam shot of the man looking over the balcony and jumping off. We see a fast zoom as he is falling then a close-up on the womans face looking extreemly shocked, big close-up as she looks down at him, followed by a low angle shot from the ground to the balcony and reversed back to high angle shot looking down on his dead body.

Colours - opens with a black background on which appears a curse, there is a contrast on white writing on the black background, words such as "Curse" and "Furey" appear in red and are last to fade out. Red is a sign of danger, also representing blood, love and anger. After introductory scene came the cast and title sequenc (black on red).

Textual analysis

Before i started filming i had to decide on a genre, i thought a thriller would be most interesting to film. when i decided on a genre, i looked at and analysed films of a similar genre. i chose to look at "The Grudge" and "gothika"