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