7) Looking back at your Preliminary Task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

During our Preliminary Task we used the 3 principles of continuity;

Match On Action Shot

Shot Reverse Shot

180 Degree Rule

This gave us an indication and some good ideas for our full media product. However, we did not use any of them because during our sequence our actor was never in conversation with another character. This was a personal choice which we could look back and reflect on, to improve our product. For example, looking back over our planning process, we could of added in another character so we could include the three principles. Not using these gave us idea's of using it on a future product.

We learnt how to use the camera and microphone. This helped us with our final product as we were able to keep the camera steady whilst filming and get the angles we wanted to achieve.

During the editing of our preliminary task we learnt how to use the basic functions of FinalCut Pro. We were able to use the skills we learnt to help us log and capture our final product footage. Also we were able to cut out the parts we were not using as this is what we learnt during our preliminary exercise. By knowing the basic functions of FinalCut Pro we were then able to work on using the more complex parts of the program like transitions and video filter effects, it also gave us an advantage as we were able to log and capture and edit our footage with less trouble and mistakes.

6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the construction of our media product, we learnt:

- Editing Techniques

Whilst using Final Cut Pro, we learnt how to use:

- A fade in and out effect.

- Various video filters

- Various video transitions

We learnt how to use Photoshop in a more complex way, we learnt how to:

- Take layers off of an image

On Soundtrack Pro, we learnt that it was very useful for a variety on sounds and sound effects. After going through it we found out that it is actually a complex program and it can sometimes be difficult to find specific things that you are looking for but can also be very helpful.

Whilst using Livetype, we found a good way to create animated fonts, so we could create a fade effect. It also had such a variety of font types and animations, it was almost too helpful.

Using Soundtrack Pro, we were able to layer it on to Final Cut Pro so that we could have the Music going on top of the film footage. We also had Livetype as well to layer it on, however we decided against it in the end, but it gave us the choice which we did not know we could do.

When we were out filming we realised that we could put the tripod literally anywhere, and we could set the legs at any angle we wanted, any shot we wanted in a limited facility.

We were on the internet researching different font types and came across a website that has lots of different templetes pre set for you, which we decided to take some designs off of and choose one we all agreed on. We also found a website that had a step by step picture editing through Photoshop, which really helped us design a logo.

Overall we found some very good and helpful technologies that improved our media product from last time. If we research more i suspect we would find lots more technologies to help us even more. Because they are so detailed and in depth we did not have the time to try out and example everything. But overall very good.

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

Audience Feedback

• Accent portrayed the character well
• Music was repetitive- we found it difficult to create a piece of music appropriate as we did not have a specific genre for our media product.We felt that none of the sounds on Soundtrack Pro suited the theme so went with a simple soundtrack
• Font was more suited for a thriller- however in the whole film there will be elements of thriller and crime, this was not made clear in the opening sequence
• Effects- they liked the effects we used for the transitions of the shots and the video filters
• Not as good as expected from our preliminary task and previous work

As our film is aimed at the age certificate of 15, it would attempt to attract the audience by immedietly grabbing there attention with the use of brief none violent action shots of boxing; to show them that instantly the film will be about something related to boxing. Having a voiceover throught the sequence, means that the audience would know straight away know what is going on in a very brief opening. In the first few seconds they will most probably ask questions about what is going on, but all is answered so it is clear, if the audience is unsure then they should watch it more carefully, so potentially pulling them in more. As there is a minimum of bad language in the opening sequence, it shows the audience that is not aimed at a specifc over 18 rated audience. As there is a slight bit of violence it tells the audience that this film is not aimed at any lower aged audience members. With our upbeat music, its grabs the attention of the audience, as they can watch it thinking something might happen now. We used interesting and eye catching fonts so the audience were always aware that it is a film.

4) Who would be the audience for your Media Product?

A certificate of 15 years would be on our Media Product as it would not include any sexual references but the product would contain violence and some bad language that would not be appropriate for people of a younger age but on frequent basis.

The BBFC permits the following within the bounds of the 15 certificate:
Theme: No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.
Language: There may be frequent use of strong language; the strongest terms are only rarely acceptable. Continued aggressive use of strong language and sexual abuse is unacceptable.
Nudity: There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex: Sexual activity and nudity may be portrayed but without strong detail. The depiction of casual sex should be handled responsibly. There may be occasional strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.
Violence: Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain, and of injuries. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.Imitable techniques: Dangerous combat techniques such as ear claps, head-butts and blows to the neck are unlikely to be acceptable. There may be no emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons (in particular, knives).
Horror: Sustained or detailed infliction of pain or injury is unacceptable.
Drugs: Drug taking may be shown but clear instructive detail is unacceptable. The film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug use.

People who can associate with our character, Owen Haynes, such as a troublesome childhood or releasing anger through a sport like boxing would be the audience of our Media Product.
People interested in boxing may watch the film due to the boxing impact; they may watch it as the theme is attractive to them.
Gender wise, our film would attract more of a male audience due to the content of violence and boxing there is involved.
The film would also interest the younger generation such as teenagers and people in their 20's as they are the people more likely to be able to relate to the film and characters within it.

3) What kind of Media Institution might distribute your Media Product and why?

Our film would be distributed by a company such as Fox Searchlight because they are associated with smaller films.



Other films Fox Searchlight have distributed are:

• Adam

• Juno

• 500 Days of Summer

• Slumdog Millionaire

Fox Searchlight distribute unique and distinct films that introduce new actors.

Our media product, An Eye for an Eye, does not classify into a particular genre of film. The storyline is slightly unconventional and there is elements of Drama, Sport and Crime conventions.

Fox Searchlight, or another independent company, would be more suitable and likely to distribute our film due to the unconventional approach we took in creating our media product.

Our film would also have to have a low budget meaning we would have an independent company distributing our product.

Never Back Down, is a sporting film similar to our media product. This film was distributed by Momentum Pictures and Universal Studios.

These companies are leading companies in the UK (momentum pictures) and the USA (universal studios). If our film was of a higher budget, these companies would be appropriate to distribute our media product as they distribute all genres of films, including films like Never Back Down, which are a similar genre to our product.

2) How does your Media Product represent particular social groups?

In our film opening sequence, only the main character, Owen Haynes, is introduced. He first appears putting tape on his hands and then shortly after, boxing. This has particular relevance to the film and the character, as it represents the violence and aggression involved. Owen Haynes is not representing a clear and defined social group, but he is representing young, sporty men from a working-class background. He is stereotypical as he is interested in sport and fighting, and he wears a hoody. The mise-on-scene too, is a typical place for the character to be. Owen Haynes is walking down an alley way. Alleys have a lot of connotations, mainly involving crime. In addition, Owen's character himself could be a connotation of the alley way. Throughout the opening sequence, we do not see Owen Haynes' face. This gives him a more mysterious look and adds danger to him. It again, contributes to the representation of his social group. There is not one specific film genre that our film would class as, so the representations in our film is not typical for it. Furthermore, I do not think that our character of Owen Haynes is typical for any film genre.

1) In what ways does your Media Product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real Media Products?

Our opening sequence uses many conventions of film opening sequences; we looked at opening sequences such as Green Street, Dead Man's Shoes, Snatch and Legally Blonde.


Through watching these, we established some of the main conventions of film opening sequences. We believed that the main conventions of the beginning of a film were:



Introducing characters - We have introduced our main character, Owen Haynes, through the use of voiceover and his boxing image. The main focus of our sequence was to present Owen to the audience to incorporate his way of life and his childhood difficulties. We changed the accent and native of Owen from Cockney/English to Irish as we believed that the Irish accent put on by our actor, Toby Zahiri-Sellers, sounded more 'thuggish' and fitted with his character and appearance.

Introducing Story Line - This was also shown through the use of the voiceover. The voiceover explains the main plot of the entire production; it projects Owen's childhood, his path to boxing and implies his misdemeanors-

''My name is Owen Haynes. Last summer something happened in my life to make me realise I gotta make something of myself; my mate, Danny, from school, convinced me to join his gym. Little did I know it was specialised in boxing. Boxing really wasn't my thing, you only had to look at me to know that; when I started I was the same small, scrawny little bastard as I was when I was a kid. I was constantly looking over my shoulder, I didn't think that anything could be worse than my childhood. I always wanted to get something out of life, i think now is the time for that to happen..."

Our voiceover was inspired by the voiceover of Elijah Wood's character Matt Buckner in Green Street. We thought that it was a clever way of introducing the actions and thoughts of the character.

Introducing setting (through use of mise-en-scene) - We used two settings in our opening sequence to help portray elements of our character; the gym and the alley way. The gym helped give a sense of the character's background via his personality and hobby of boxing. Also, the gym helps foreshadow the violence that would happen later on in the film. In addition, the alley way is in association with crime, drugs, etc which helps define Owen Haynes' character and hometown.


Grab Audience's Attention - In order to grab the audience's attention, we covered up the face of our main character to present the character in a mysterious manner. In the voiceover, there were things about Owen that were revealed but not everything as this also adds to the mystery of his character and this makes the audience want to find out more about him.

Genre - Our film opening sequence consists of various genres.
These include:
Drama
Sport
Crime

Eye For An Eye Final Cut

Editing Images

These are some images of some of editing we did.

Editing

The first stage of our editing was cutting all the parts of the footage that were not useable out. We were then left with the correct amount of footage. We put it all in order to match the sequence on the storyboard. We had to adapt the order due to the changes we then needed to make on the storyboard.

We then added in the titles to the sequence on Final Cut Pro. We originally had these over the footage but some of the shots did not flow and we did not want to over use the fading effect. We moved them to in between shots and this made the shot transitions clearer.

After all the shots were in order we started adding the effects. We wanted the child scenes to look as though they were a dream from the past. The best way to achieve this was to add an additive fade in fade out effect. Also to make sure it was clear these shots were from the past we added a black and white effect. This is a traditional use of effect to show past events.

We put the production logos at the front as this is the place in which they go in films that have been released.

Once we were happy with the sequence we then worked on the soundtrack. We used Soundtrack Pro to create a simple piece of music to go beneath the voiceover. We used You OK and Distorted Portamento 1. These two sound effects create the music throughout the whole open sequence. For the Eyeline Studio Production logo we used Computer Data 2 for when the white part of the eye moves. For the Draak Production logo we used Dinosaur Growl and Explosion Blast 4.

We recorded the voiceover straight onto Final Cut Pro. We recorded the monologue in separate sections so we could have the voice throughout the whole sequence. This allowed us to put the correct part of the monologue over the child scenes. Also we could put the end of the monologue on the end shot so the voiceover finishes as the footage fades out.

Adaption of the Storyboard

Once we had all the footage in the correct order we found that the sequence did not work as well as we planned. The scenes including the victim being punched and killed made the story line unclear to the audience. It was hard to portray how the victim linked into the main character's life.

We attempted having a match on action shot in two of the shots. One was in the child scene, where he walks down the alley. We wanted to show him from the front and then the back. This made the sequence of him walking too long of just one element, therefore boring and less entertaining for the audience. The second shot was where our main character goes to punch a punchbag and the match on action shot shows him punching the victim. We had to take this out due to the confusion in the storyboard, also it was difficult to make it flow seamlessly with the resources we had available.

We decided to have all the child scenes next to each other because we wanted a certain part of the voiceover to play alongside it. This part of the voiceover makes it clear to the audience that the child is our main character in the past.

Filming Completion

After completing the filming of the alley/walking scenes, we were on course to continue filming our Boxing scenes.

On Thursday 4th March, we used a friend's garage to implement our Boxing sequence. After spending approximately 3 hours, we collected enough footage - 8 minutes 37 seconds (to be precise) - in order for our group to work with and commense on successfully editing our opening sequence.

Due to our actor being ill, we had to put back the filming of our 'child on a swing' and 'child walking' scenes from Thursday 4th March to Friday 5th March. This piece of filming has now been completed and the voice over of our character Owen Haynes is the piece of audio/filming that is yet to be completed and is expected to be done on Monday 8th March which will then put us into good stride to start finalising our opening sequence.

Titles

Main Title- We downloaded the font we chose to use and imported it into LiveType. Using this we added two effects; Lurch and Float Away. We chose Lurch because we wanted a shaking effect to create an eery atmosphere. Float Away was chosen because we wanted the title to fade out and this effect flowed well with Lurch.

Other Titles- We used all the same fonts with these to make them consistent. We wanted them to flow with the footage so chose to have them fade in and fade out swiftly.

Progress

So far, we have completed the filming of the alley scenes, which have been edited in Final Cut Pro. We have also filmed some extra footage consisting of boxing and gym scenes, which we may not use in our final piece. Today, we completed our animated logo which will be used at the beginning of our opening sequence. We are going to work on completing our soundtrack and finishing the filming of the boxing and childhood scenes, ready for the end of the week. Once we have finished this, we will then need to record the voiceover and finish off editing our sequence.

Production Logo

This is our production company logo. We made this using programmes including Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack Pro.

Animated Production Logos

We have started making our production logos for the beginning of our opening sequence. To make them look more proffesional we have decided to animate them. To do this we are using Photoshop and Final Cut Pro.
For our Production company we downloaded an image from Google. In Photoshop we then erased the fire and created the name of the company. In Final Cut Pro we then created the animation to make the words appear out of the dragons mouth representing the fire.

Music ideas

Our first sample of music for opening sequence was to have a bass and a drum kit for the whole sequence, with strings in the middle to resemble his childhood. We chose to use a bass and drum kit as the sounds create tension and correspond with the images we are portraying.

Our final music piece was very basic and just drums and bass throughout. We kept it basic so that the voiceover would be the main focus of the sequence.

Storyboard Animatic

This is a short animation of each shot from our storyboard. It has helped us to make sure the shots are in the most appropriate order and that the sequence makes sense to the audience. The shots that show flashbacks to the characters child hood have an effect to make them appear older, hopefully this is an effect we can use in our final piece.

Costume

Our costume plays an important role in our sequence. We have two characters that are the same person just at different ages. To show that they are the same person we will need to show similarities between them. To do this, costume is one factor where we can show the audience they are the same.
For our main 'adult' character, Owen Haynes, he needs two sets of costumes, as he is in different places on two occasions. In his first scene, he is in a gym so the sort of costume he needs is going to be; shorts and a t-shirt, or tracksuit botttoms and a vest top or mix and match them all. This is to show the audience that he is in a gym not out on the street. The costume will instantly make the audience know where he is. His footwear will be simple training shoes, such as trainers.
For his second scene, he will be outside and will be wearing clothes that suit his standards. So he will be wearing jeans and a hoodie. The hoodie is an important element as he will put up his hood in one scene, to mirror what he does as a child. So hopefully watching this contrast it will indicate to the audience that they are the same person. His footwear in this part will be trainers also or something similar.

For our other character, the child version of Owen, he will have similar clothes to the Owen that walks around outside. So he too will have jeans and a hoodie on. To symbolise their similarities the hoodie will lift over his head. As well he will have trainers on or something similar. As this character comes on before his older version the audience will not have an idea who he is until older Owen does the similar things mirroring his younger version.

We have one more character who gets hit by adult Owen. He plays a more imortant role in the whole film but for this opening sequence he doesn't matter too much. He will be wearing just casual clothes, so either a tracksuit or jeans and a top and jacket, or something that will indicate a lot of questions to the audience about who he is and why he got punched.

Props

For our opening sequence props isn't one of our biggest issues. It's more about location rather than having a lot of props. However we will need a couple, which are:

1. Pair of Boxing Gloves - For our main character to have whilst hitting the punch bag.
2. Hand Tape - Also for the main character to use before he puts his gloves on.
3. Possibly a Mobile Phone - To have when our character is walking down an alley way, not to symbloise anything just to have as an extra prop.

Because we don't have many props, it doesn't mean we're not incorperating a lot into our sequence. The location tells more about his life than the props do.

Production Schedule

Production schedule:

Thursday 4th February- filming the boxing scenes in Worle School gym
Tuesday 9th February- filming the alley scenes
Thursday 11th February- recording the voice over and child scenes

Changes in Production Schedule (due to unforeseen circumstances):

Tuesday 9th February- filming the alley scenes
Thursday 25th February- filming in the gym
Wednesday 3rd March- Voice over and child scenes
Thursday 4th March- Boxing scenes and murder scene

Final Story Board

Fonts

Font 1: We thought that this font could be good as the small lines surrounding the letters look like lines you would see in a picture to show something was moving. We thought this would relate to the theme of boxing, as there is a lot of movement, like his gloves and the punchbag.

Font 2: We liked this font because we liked the way in which the letters were all slanted in different ways. It makes it not look quite stable, like our character. The letters slanting different ways could show that our character does not know which way to go- revenge, boxing, forgiveness, etc? Also, we liked the way in which the letters seem to fade out at the top/bottoms. We thought that this could represent the way in which the aspects in his life are fading- like values, family, and even his ambitions.

Font 3: We really liked this font because we thought it was different.There are a lot of slashes through the words, looking like a knife has been through or suggesting violence which relates to our film. Also, on the 'R' there is a cross going straight through it. This stands out and links to the title of our film which is religious; ''Eye for an Eye''

Font 4: We liked this font because it gives a sense of danger and suspicion. It could look like graffiti on a wall, which matches one of our locations; the alley. The letters are not placed in line, corresponding with the character who is also out of line in many respects.

Font 5: We thought that this font was good because it hides some parts of the letters, which could represent the character of Owen hiding behind his boxing and anger. The font, like the film, asks a lot of questions.

Font 6: We thought this font looks like it could have been written by a young child. This corresponds with Owen's personality as he is still living in the past, and is obsessed with his childhood.

Font 7: This font reminds us of prison, which links to our film as Owen ends up in prison by the end of the film. The way in which the letters are not linked up could represent how he is not complete as he feels he still needs to get revenge.

We narrowed down these seven choices to two possible fonts; Font 3 and Font 4. We decided that one of these fonts would be the most appropriate for our film opening sequence. After debating over which font to use, Font 4 was our final decision. We chose Font 4 as it looks like graffiti which relates to our character growing up in a run down area and the film itself.

Analysis of Legally Blonde

The first frame fades into an extreme close up of the main characters' (Elle Woods) blonde hair, waving from side to side. The score immediately starts of ''Perfect Day'' by Hoku. The score automatically represents the genre and feel of the film, and appeals straight away to the target audience. The close up of Elle's hair means that the audience can only focus on one thing- exactly that. The audience can only see her blonde hair, which straight away brings up the first and maybe main issue of the film- blondes. It also gives us a clue to how her character i going to be. Titles fade in and out, with pink swirly writing. This writing again appeals to the target audience, as it is pink and girly, with things like hearts incorperated in it. The camera then starts to slowly zoom out to a close up of the back of Elle's head, still focused on her hair. It shows Elle brushing her hair. Her nails are manicured, giving the audience more clues about her character- that she is ''girly'' and cares a lot about appearance.

It then cuts to a long shot of a girl riding a bike. The camera tracks along side her giving the audience a clear view of the mise-en-scene. There is a water fountain, showing that it is not a poor area. There are a lot of people around, with diegetic sound of laughter and talking. This adds to the happy atmosphere in which everyone seems to be in and introduces us to where we are. But still, because the camera is following the girl on the bike, we are focused on the story, too.The score is still playing.

Next, it cuts again to a mid-shot of Elle shaving her leg. We still cannot see her face, which forces the audience to concentrate on what we can see and put these things together to work out her character. Her leg is leaning on a pink chair of some sort, and in the background we can see a pink curtain. Again, these things contribute to what the audience think of her character- we can see that she is definitely a ''girly'' girl, maybe even more so than we first thought. The camera is still, showing no intention of showing us her face yet. This causes more suspense. The score is still playing.

It then cuts back to the previous scene, in which there is a water fountain, greenery and lots of people. The camera is moving around the setting, showing the girl on the bike and the other people in the mise-en-scene e.g people playing frisbee. This camera movement adds to the lively and fun atmosphere of the place and emphasises the happiness. The girl on the bike is wearing shorts and a small T-shirt, with her hair down and she has a basket on the front of her bicycle. She looks like another ''girly'' girl. The camera carries on moving around the setting until it is a long shot of a group of topless young guys messing around, playing sport. They all stop and turn around, and the girl rides into the shot. There is diegetic sound of the boys cheering and shouting at the girl riding past. This shows what life is like where they live, and suggests one of the main focuses of the film- love.

The camera then cuts to a close up of Elle Woods putting on a silver heart necklace. It also reveals the top of a pink dress, and again shows her manicured nails. It again, forces the audience to think about her character and creates tension of what she will look like. The score is still playing underneath.