The Two Minute Opening of...'Genetics'

Here is my final finished AS media studies piece, after many many many hours of researching, planning, constructing, editing and evaluating I can finally say I have completed this chapter of my media studies course!

Evaluation Question Seven : Looking back at the preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

For our preliminary task we were given the task of creating a simple sequence in groups of three. The task involved completing a short film clip where we had to demonstrate a character walking through a door, the short exchange of dialogue between the character and another character and then the view of the character walking away from the scene. We were instructed that we must keep the camera at the same eye-line for each character to ensure a smooth transition when using a shot-reverse-shot technique. Rather than the task being marked on the complex content of the film, we were given a simple task in order to help us develop our skills and knowledge of filming and editing in preparation for our final film opening.

Our preliminary task


Firstly I feel that I learnt alot about how when creating an opening to a film it takes alot more planning than what was put into the preliminary exercise. For the preliminary task we didn't need to put in alot of planning, we were given the task and had to complete the filming within that hour. We had a short discussion in our small groups about what we should do, my group came up with the idea of going down a more comical route and doing a "serious" thumb war, just to the time constraint we decided to use ourselves as the actresses so therefore two of us acted and one filmed, we also came up with a very quick rough idea of how the dialogue would go.  For my final piece firstly I explored many different ideas, recording them all I was able to construct my final idea however unlike the preliminary task which only took us about 10 minutes to come up with our final idea my film took much much longer. I then had to put in a great deal of planning in order to construct a successful opening this included drawing a detail plan of when I was hoping to complete certain tasks by, and key hand in dates. I then had to gather together my ideas about each scene, what content would be present within the scene, what shots and transition I would use within each scene, to present all this detail I had to create a storyboard. I then had to explore the characters, props and setting I wanted for each scene to do this I created a moodboard where I could gather all my ideas together on one canvas board. Similar to the preliminary task I had to create a script, however for my actual piece the script had to be in much more detail, including everything from the dialogue to whether the location in inside or outside.

My Moodboard

My preliminary task also did not involve the level of research that I put into my final piece, as in order to gain knowledge about what makes an effective opening and what does not work so well for the openings to films I researched on you tube pre-existing A level students pieces and also professional openings. However due to a strict time task we could not research prior to carry out our preliminary task, for such a simple synapse I do not think it was necessary to put in any research however I found it very useful to research prior to even writing down any ideas for my actual film.

Examplar of pre-existing AS work that I researched and evaluated for what I thought worked and didnt in order to gain knowledge for my own piece

Similar to the time constraint we were given for filming for the preliminary task we also had only roughly an hour to edit our films, therefore we used continuity editing this kept it simple and meant that we only spent time of cutting down a few of the longer shots, this was very minimal editing however the task was just for us to get used to the editing equipment in preparation for our final piece I do not feel I gained much knowledge on the more complex editing which I used within my final piece therefore I feel learnt a great deal in the progression between the preliminary task and my final piece in terms of editing. For example for my final piece I explored using flashbacks in the use of home videos, I had to edit the clips so that a present day scene would smoothly transfer to a past home video. I also had to do alot of editing in order to create the home video effect, this included manipulating the noise and colour of the clips. In order to my non-digentic dialogue to be heard over the non-digentic music I had to edit the volume of my scenes. Just a few of the ways in which shows the more complex editing skills that I used within my final piece.

'After effects' the editing programme I used alongside premier pro

Unlike the preliminary task where the only audio present was the diegetic dialogue between the two characters, in contrast for my final piece I only included non-diegetic audio. Firstly in the form of the voice over by the mother, but also I had to explore the different music and learnt how much a piece of music can create a certain effect. In order for there to only be non-diegetic audio, I had to learn how to also separate my original footage from the original audio, and learn how to overlay the voice over on top of the music which I had not had to explore during the preliminary task.

Exploring different copy-right free music

Mise-en-scene was a key aspect to consider in the creation of my opening, I had to think about the location and the meaning that would be portrayed by the audience on the basis on the locations, for example in order to create the home family videos, I used my own family home if I had just filmed in a school class room this effect would not of been created. For our premilary task we were only given the hour within our school lesson to film, therefore we had to use a classroom for our location so we were not able to explore how important mise-en-scene is to the creation of films. This also meant that we could not change our costumes, as we had to film in our school suits however for my opening I used the costumes to portray to audience the status of the character for example for the chief inspector he wore a dark suit with a crisp white shirt and the criminal was in a black plain dull hoody. However I did take from the premilary task the aspect of the position of characters in terms of mise-en-scene, and how body language can help establish the relationship between the characters to the audience.

The setting for one of my home videos

I feel that I have learnt alot between the premilary task in terms of media skills, but also I have grown in confidence I did not think during the completion of the premilary task that I would be able to film my own opening and then edit it in order to create an opening that draws an audience in and makes them want to carry on watching the rest of the film however from my audience feedback that I received such as "I would like to see the rest of film as interested to find out what happens next" I feel I have progressed throughout the course, and my new knowledge has shown within the opening.

Evaluation Question Six : What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

The IMBD website helped me develop my knowledge about existing films, by providing key information not only about the genre and a synopsis of the film, but also what company distributed and produced the film therefore helping me determine knowledge about the kind of company that would be attracted to distributing my film. Generally I found it extremely useful during the research element before I actually started constructing my opening, as it provided me with knowledge about many aspects that are attached to the film industry.

Another way in which the Internet became an important aspect when constructing my film was by allowing me to use Google. For the research it allowed me to search the web for information about all aspects of the film industry, such as the site "art of the title" which in turn gave me more knowledge about how many title sequences to have, and what they should be. It also allowed me to search for images to go along with my media glossary within the research stage, this overall made my blog much more interesting to view. I also used Google however in the main construction, especially when I was hunting for copyright free music (without Google this would be been an even harder task then it was!).

When documenting the process to my final two minute opening, I found Blogger not only effience but also rather easy. I had never used a blogging site before starting the AS course, so therefore it was a new technology for me to discover throughout the year, for example I discovered how to upload videos from my you tube account straight onto my blog.. It has been perfect for not only because I can show clearly all the stages of the development to my film, from the initial researching to the storyboard to the final edit, but also because it can be viewed by other class mate therefore allowing me gain feedback quickly on my work.

Youtube, has been an extremely useful website through the process of constructing my opening two minute film. Before starting media studies I had off course used you tube in order to listen to or watch videos, but I had never personally used it to upload one of my own pieces of work therefore I have learnt how to do this within the course. Although it does take a while to upload my films to you tube, one I had been patient and gone through the process of uploading adding them onto my blog was very simple (insert video-my you tube videos). I also found you tube useful during the research stages as it allowed me to watch existing AS level work, along with professional openings therefore allowing me to gain an idea of what worked for an opening and what didn't.

When it came to constructing my film I feel it was within the process of using the editing software that I have learnt the most, developing my knowledge within editing started with learning about using Photoshop for my company ident. I had to learn how to trace an image, depict colours, add a transparent background and then export the image into after effects so I could construct my ident and add the necessary animation.

The second piece of technology involved in editing which I learnt about during the construction was After Effects. This came useful in all aspects of constructing my film, from putting together my company ident where I learnt many new skills such as how to add new layers including text layers and add animation such as fade in transitions to my text/images. I also used after effects in order to create my title sequences, it enabled me to create a text layer on a transparent background so I could import my titles on top of my film footage.

The last main piece of technology that I used to edit my film was Premier Pro, this piece of editing I had however used prior to editing my opening, as we had been set the task of re-creating the opening of "The Hangover" and our preliminary task where we had to film and edit the pieces. I used premier pro firstly by individually editing my home-video film clips, I was able to overlay the footage to create a "super 8 effect", by distort the colour and noise to create this in my opinion made a realistic home movie. I also used it as a base where I could put all my film clips together, along with my ident and title sequences from after effects. I was then able to overlay my audio to the appropriate footage, along with my piece of music and where appropriate I added a cross-dissolve transition (such as between my second ident and the family photos) to create a smooth shot transition.

I was able to incorporate my music easily into premier pro, however the main issue I has was in order to find copy right free music. I therefore learnt about new music sites, which enables users of the website to down load the music copy right free. I first of all looked on "sound cloud" however I did not find a piece that I felt was right for my film, therefore I looked on another site called "Jamendo" where I was able to find a piece that I personally felt fitted perfectly with my film opening. I learnt how to import my music into premier pro, where I could distort the volume to allow my own non-digetic and digetic dialogue to be heard.

Throughout the actual filming I developed my knowledge about the equipment involved within creating a film. We had all used the equipment before hand in groups when creating the opening of "The Hangover" and completing our primelary task, however I had never used the equipment by myself, so I was therefore able to really develop my skill of how each part on the camera worked. I used a Canon HD camera, the quality was high enough for what I was filming and the camera was not over complex so I felt confident when filming. I also used a Tri-Pod during some of my shots, (example = the police interview scene), however when I was re-creating the home-video shots I used a hand-held shot so that I could really create the effect of a home made video, I did firstly try with a tri-pod however the most effective pieces were those shot with me just holding the camera.

Evaluation Question Five : How Did You Attract Or Address Your Audience?

In order to attract and address my audience, I used my knowledge that I gained within my audience research taking on board what would make them wanting to see a film and then trying to portray these ideas into my opening. Firstly I investigated their general background to cinema, including how often they go and what is their ideal film to watch. From my research I gained the insight that the ideal film would be one that made them really think, therefore I decided to go down the path of including the issues surrounding the nature-nurture debate, by enforcing this psychological thinking into whether genetics or upbringing determines a persons characteristics I addressed my target audience by providing a thought provoking film.

I also asked them to provide their thoughts on what elements could make a good thought provoking film.The response I received from the female was that the idea of having a film based on a psychology aspect really appealed to her because she is fascinated about how children develop, what influences others, why we turn out the way we do, she also liked the idea of how children can start off in the same place but chose completely different paths, she really liked films where the beginning foreshadows the end, where you know how it will turn out but then have to watch the rest of the film as to why it has turned out that way. Therefore I tried to attract this audience member, and other female's by including the footage of the home videos to help give an insight into the childhood that both boys experienced, I also chose to use the female's mother voice for my proposing questions as I wanted the female audience to feel able to connect emotionally with the character and film.

The family footages I included to attract to the female audience

My male audience research also concluded that they liked the idea of having a psychology related film, but also would like to see a film that explores the different path of maybe having some element of crime and drama revealing hidden twists and turns. I therefore decided that in order to attract a male target audience as well, I would add the element of creating a film that could be classified as a crime, drama genre so therefore alongside the nature-nurture debate issue I tried to create a film that told the story of a male getting into trouble with the police, using the rest of the film to divulge what crime he had committed.

The element of a crime, drama genre I used to attract to the male audience

Evaluation Question Four : Who Would Be The Audience For Your Media Product?

To derive a target audience the audience needs to be quantified and measured, in order to do this the audience is classified into various sub-groups such as social class, age, gender.

After the initial construction of my final idea, I carried out a piece of audience research where I asked a set of questions in order to gather knowledge and thoughts not only about my film idea but also what attracts them to go to the cinema and what makes them want to watch a certain film (example of the questions were : how often do you go to the cinema?what is your ideal film to watch? what influences you to see a certain film?). From this I was able to gain the knowledge that my film would attract an age range of about 17 to 55, from my research I gained the knowledge that the idea attracted both males due to the elements of psychology and crime but also females because of the element of the upbringing and family and whether the childhood does affect does affect choices later in life.

One of the common ways of classifying the audience is to look at social class, and through looking their occupation measuring them according to the social scale. I feel that because my film, is not a typical mainstream blockbuster, it would attract middle class "ABC1"s because they have a more disposable income to spend on the cinema, however my film also may attract young students from a "C2DE" background who even though do not have a disposable income to spend on the cinema when they do go may be more drawn to the different mainstream plus films.

Those who are attracted to my film, may also off been attracted to other psychology relates films such as "A beautiful mind" and "A dangerous method". However because my film does cover many different aspects and therefore may attract a variety of people they may enjoy a range of films, for example the 55 year old females I used for part of my audience research was attracted to films such as "A kings speech".

This is one person that asked for my audience research, therefore one of the characters that may be intrested in my film, he is a 20 year old third year psychology student, therefore is naturally drawn to the "nature nurture debate" aspect of my film. He generally has an intrest in films, and enjoys a range of films from mainstram to crossover to more specialist.

This is another person that I asked to take part in my audience research, she is a 54 year old mother of four, who enjoys films that makes her think and raise questions but also by being a mother is intrested in the aspect of whether it is due to parenting that a child makes a descion in later life or if in fact it is down to the genetic make-up of the child.

Evaluation Question Three : What Kind Of Media Institution Might Distrubute Your Film And Why?

The production company I developed was called "seaside productions", the production company is behind the finical development of the film, some fully fund the film that the are producing and some partially fund it. One of the leading UK production companies is "Working Title", it was founded in 1983 and is behind the production of some major films "Four weddings and a funeral" and "Love Actually", it also as a company has association with the coen brothers and have produced 5 of their films including "Fargo" and "The man who wasn't there". However if the film is an independent film than the funding of the filme can come from other sources such as the national lottery or special film project funds by the government. The production company is key to the making of the film as without funding there could be no film, however it is the distribution company that is responsible for the releasing of the film to the public, this can involves the distributors being involved directly or in larger companies it is done through sub-distributors. When thinking about what pre-existing media institutions may be interested in distributing my film, I have looked at all aspects of my films, including the fact its a independent British mainstream plus film and the targeted audience of my film.

Momentum Pictures

Momentum pictures is sometimes referred to as one of the UK's most leading independent motion picture distribution companies, on average it releases 20 theatrical films per year. It had distributed a range of successful films, such as "The Kings Speech", "Amelie" and "PS I Love You". I feel they might be interested in distribution my film, firstly because they are the leading independent film distributors, but also the audience members that they attract. Those that are attracted to emotional aspect of "The Kings Speech", his struggle and how much of a help his family where may also be attracted to the family aspect of my film and whether the family can affect life later on in life.

StudioCanal UK

This is the UK distribution company acquired by Studio Canal, and before 2011 was formally known as Optimum Releasing, under the new title it has distributed films such as "Tinker Tailor Solider Spy". One of the films it has distributed it "submarine" and I feel that the aspects of testing stereotypes in this film would attract the company to distribute my film as it too tests the stereotype conclusion such as it is due to a bad upbringing that a person would turn to crime. This is also a small distribution company, for example it is the distributor behind "This is England', and due to my film being a low budget independent British film it is more likely to attract that smaller distributors.