Creativity Q's

How have you tried to facilitate and encourage your own creativity?
We all got together and put in all our ideas to get the best product we could

Did you experience limits/blocks on your own creativity?
When we disagreed on certain ideas it was difficult to pursue your own creative idea. Also when filming we came across problems in our creativity however in a way it made us more determined to move on from it and create better ideas.

How easy/difficult was it to be creative while still working to the brief?
I found it quite easy as our brief was very flexible. We were allowed to choose our own genre etc and in a way we could go anywhere with our ideas.

Did working within conventions stifle your creativity?
In a way yes because we had to stick to one type of genre however conventions also made it easier for us as we could focus on one type of idea. 

To what extent did you need to work with others and ‘bounce ideas’ off other people to be truly creative?
A lot. There is no denying that all of us put in so many different ideas to come out with one end product. No body didn't contribute and if I was working alone the product would not have been that good.

How much of your creativity was about trial and error?
I think a lot of it was. In our editing process there were a lot of things we had to cut / keep however it worked to our advantage in the end.

To what extent was a lack of confidence an issue in terms of your creativity?
I don't think there was lack of confidence. If I was working with people I didn't really know I think it would have effected the amount of creativity people felt comfortable putting across however we were all good friends and therefore felt at ease with the situation. 

To what extent was a lack of technical competence/confidence an obstacle to your creativity?
To be honest I don't think confidence or technical competence was really an issue as I think it made us more creative. 

Music Video Notes

'How I Got Over'
Reading the lyrics to this video and hearing it I have been asked to talk about how I would set up a music video to the song (without seeing it).

Where would it be set?
Probably set on the streets.

Who will feature in it?
The song artist and also extras.

What genre is it?
Rap and maybe funk?

Actors/Locations/Props etc.

List of Actors:

Killer: Benji Easlick-Schoolman
Victim: Florence Eckersley
Girl 1: Ella Lilliebjerg-Heder
Girl 2: Phoebe Wood

List of Locations:
Downs Park Road
Dunlace Road
George's House

Props/costumes:
Knife
Picture of our victim
School uniforms
Dark Clothing
Snakes

Story Boards

What we changed:

 

In some ways we did stick to our story boards but in other ways we spontaneously decided to change it. For example, last minute we decided to include snakes in our video as it gave a sinister feel to it. We also swapped some shots around as at the time we felt it would be better. Of course it may seem like we didn't stick to our plan at all, but we did. We had a basic idea as you can see from most of the story board shot sketches we had, we used a lot of them. We may have had some spontaneous ideas last minute, but I think that is what film making is all about - we managed to make an even more successful film. 

Call Sheets and Floor Plan's

Call Sheets

To organise our time in a productive way, we used these call sheets. This way we had a good plan and knew what we were doing and how to manage our plan, something we didn't really do in our first task.



 The Floor Plans

The Floor Plans helped us look at each scene and where we set our scenes and where our cameras should go to capture the actors in the best ways.

MAIN FILM - Reprisal

Audience Research

7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Our preliminary task (left) and our main product (right) above.

Media evaluation question 7 from ellapear

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

5. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

4. How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation How did you address / attract your audience?

Evaluation

3. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Evaluation

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

We wanted our product to be sinister and creepy however also wanted to keep it original. With music, we took ideas from opening scenes from films such a Seven and Silence of the Lambs. The music from Seven was very dark and sharp and the music from Silence of the Lambs was more fast and classical, but like Seven still very dark. We wanted our music to go very well with our clips so we found what is called 'creepy music box' on youtube which fitted perfectly with our filming, and added greatly to the thrilling side to it.



When looking at Seven, what we liked most about their opening scene was the fast cuts. From looking at Seven we were able to discover that putting lots of different fast cuts into our opening it made it more scary and engrossed the audience a lot more. We had lots of shots of our killer in his house which we used and lots of shots of our innocent school girl walking home from school on quiet, empty roads. By putting these shots together and having them cut quickly from one to another it created a lot of tension. 

Along with out shots and music our mis-en-scene also did conform to the usual conventions of horror opening scenes. The killers house was very dark and his 'criminal' like clothes also added to this. Furthermore our 'victim' was very innocent looking, in a school uniform however walked down a dark street. This I feel is definatley typical of an opening scene to a thriller.

Although we used forms and conventions of real media in some aspects of our scene I feel we used very unique camera angles. In our opening we used snakes. We created camera angles where we would zoom in and out of the snakes in the background highlighting the phycopathic side to the man in his house.

I think it is really important that different film genres haver certain forms and conventions to follow as it is what makes them what they are. We used creepy music and fast shots as that is what is thrilling about thrillers. I think opening scenes are exremely important to engross your audience into your scene straight away - first impressions are very important, even in film. Of course, every film also needs a unique element to it also, which is what I think we done. We used and developped ideas from big thrillers, but also put in our own ideas also.

2. How does your product represent particular social groups?
Celebz Movie
by: ellapear

Warp Films

Warp films was established by Warp records founded by Rob Mitchell and Steve Beckett. It originally produced a number of short films. Rob Mitchell died in 2001, but Steve Beckett decided to continue with Warp Films with the help of friend Mark Herbert. Warp films is an independent film company based in Sheffield.

One film they produced was This Is England. The films budget was originally £1,500,000. 93% of critics gave the film a positive review (based on 82 reviews). The film had an average score of 86/100 based on 23 reviews. It appeared on several US top ten lists of 2007. Director Gillies Mackinnon rated the film the best film of the year and critic and film maker David Thompson rated it third. The film was also ranked fourteen in The Guardian’s list of 2007 best films. I would say overall this film was a success not only in the UK but in the US also. It definitely benefited the UK film industry as a whole as it then had a spinoff of two channel 4 series. Northern independent realist films became a big hit I think after this film was made.

Attack the Block and Se7en

Attack the block and se7en from ellapear

Script / Stage Directions

1^st February 2013

Reprisal

By

Ava Coyle,

Ella Pearson,

George Kingsley

Mossbourne Community Academy

0208 525 5200

Scene 1 – Opening

Wide Shot: Children leaving school

Close Up: Snake wrapped around pole

Girl 1, Girl 2, Francesca: all leaving school gates - talking amongst themselves looking content

Blake Edwards: looking up angrily whilst sitting down

Girl 1, Girl 2, Francesca: walking down road, looking content.

Close up: snake

Girl 1, Girl 2, Francesca: crossing the road

Blake Edwards: rolling a cigarette

Girl 1, Girl 2, Francesca: walking down road

Blake Edwards: Getting up and walking towards chest of drawers

Girl 1, Girl 2, Francesca: walking down road

Blake Edwards: Picks up knife aggressively

Girl 1, Girl 2, Francesca: (shot from the back) walking down the street

Blake Edwards: Picks up picture of Francesca whilst holding knife

Girl 1 and Girl 2 say goodbye to Francesca

Blake Edwards: looks at his watch

Francesca: walking on her own looking content

Blake Edwards: walks towards window and looks outside

Francesca: walking past house

Blake Edwards: drops picture

Close up: snake moves over picture

Francesca: walking through eerie alley

Blake Edwards: walks down stairs and slams door

Title Sequences that have inspired my work

My title sequence is a crime thriller, so we looked at many different thrillers and decided what worked well for them and therefore what could work well for us.

Sixth Sense
(youtube video does not work on blogspot however click the link below)
LINK

This opening scene is 11 minutes long, and we only wanted ours to be 2 minutes. However, the opening scene is very good and we took some ideas from it. The eerie music set up the movie, making it clear that it was going to be a thriller and bad things were going to happen. Secondly, it started in a murder (or a shooting if you haven't seen the end.) This immediately gripped me when I first watched it and made me want to carry on watching in. Our opening scene also starts with a murder, which from watching Sixth Sense I feel was a good idea, as it starts the story immediately and grips the audience.

Panic Room
 

The opening scene to panic room is very subtle and doesn't give away too much about the story which I thought was a good way to open your scene as you don't want it to be obvious and cliche. However it had all the good elements to an opening scene, it filmed a view of a dark, run down city with some eerie music in the background to add to the darkness of it all. The camera movement was very slow which I felt kept me engrossed in it the whole time, something I thought about when making my opening scene, making sure it wasn't too rushed.

Opening Scenes

Hello Lonesome

• Genre: Comedy/Drama
• Style: They've used small models to design a 'toy' city and uses models of text to put in the 'toy' city to be titles.
• The style supports the genre of the film as it's a quirky independent film with a bit of comedy in it too. The quirky title sequence reflects the whole film.
• It lets you know the film is based in a certain place and will revolve around the people who live in that place.
• It draws you in as it makes you almost want to be in that 'toy' city the title sequence creates and get involved which is what a film should do.
• The font is quite child-like however reflect the cute nature of the film.
• The transitions are simple cuts which keeps it simple.
• The music in the background and the picture itself does reflect the loving and friendly theme of the movie because it's very quirky and cute and makes you smile.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

• Genre: Horror/Action/Fantasy
• Style: They've given it a cartoon style however quite scary and dark. The idea of the cartoon gives a hint of a fairy tale, young theme however the dark music and images adds to twist the film gives.
• The style supports the genre of the film because it is almost like a classic cartoon fairytale however has a twist to it.
• It tells you the film is going to be dark, with fantasy and horror
• When I watched the opening I was actually quite scared but it was really engaging as well.
• The sharp font also adds to the horrific genre.
• The transitions of the fire and the news paper article almost give you a background story on the film.
• The music in the background reflects the dark genre of the film.

Se7en

• Genre: Crime/Mytery/Thriller
• Style: It's very dark with harrowing clips of people with razors. Creates an eerie beginning. 
• The style supports the genre of the film because it's dark and scary and makes you wonder what is going on which is exactly the point of the movie.
• It tells you that although the genre is crime and mystery, there will be some harrowing scenes.
• When I watched the opening I was engaged and wanted to know what was going to happen.
• The font was almost like someone had carved the text, adding to the murderous feel to the scene.
• The text faded in slowly but the actual transitions of the clips were very quick cuts which made you jump when you least expected to.
• The music in the background reflects the dark genre of the film.

Drive

• Genre: Crime/Drama
• Style: Because of the pink text, disco type music and city atmosphere it seems to have a very glamourous style to it, however it also has a twist due to the fact the man seems to be up to no good. 
• The style of the title sequence has a twist, like I said above, which matches the type of genre it is. Usually with crime dramas there is a twist and there is someone up to know good, which is what the opening title sequence displays.
• It tells you it's going to be quite a glamourous yet dark film.
• The opening scene was unique and that's what is always good about them, it makes you engaged and want to know more. It left me with a cliffhanger. 
• The pink font against the black background was quite sinister.
• They kept cutting to the scenes of the lit up city and the man in the car which kept us interested.
• The music matched the glamourous atmosphere the sequence gave off

The Art of Film & TV Title Design

Purpose of title sequences:
Title sequences are like when the curtain rises. It draws you into the movie and is very fascinating. It's a precious moment that cannot be wasted. It has to be memorable and true to the story. The movie cannot exist without the title sequence.

Zombieland:
Zombieland were very unique in making their title sequence. They used slow motion shots of zombies around the country killing different people. It was very graceful but at the same time was horrific. They used the titles to interact and show up in the scene. They kept the font very simple so it did not over power the actual film.

Blue Valentine:
Blue Valentine emotionally connect with the audience by being honest and taking you places that are hard to go. They wanted to show that although love is hurtful, it still exists. They took the lenze of the camera to make it out of focus and added emotional rhythmic music to it. They uses stills as well to create an emotive effect. The director got the actors to give to him to make the photos powerful. It was very experimental to put in mainstream cinema however it worked and created a very magical title sequence.

Spring Breakers Poster - uses of gratification

Spring breakers from ellapear

Different transitions and examples

Wipe:

Fade:

Dissolve:

How does the meaning change when the shot order changes?

I created a story with ten different pictures. I then ordered the pictures randomly. This would be the story in a random order:

1. They approach Steve's door
2. It is 6am
3. He looks tired
4. They start talking about God.
5. The knock on Steve's door.
6. He shouts at them.
7. They flee.
8. Some Jehovah's witnesses are walking down a road.
9. He opens the door.
10. He is standing in front of some Jehovah's witnesses.

 This tought me that putting shots in the wrong order doesn't make any sense. Having your shot's in the right order is crutially important.

Planning the task

What we need:

·         School uniform

·         Photos of family

·         Dart

·         Knife

·         Big Coat

·         Digital Clock

Synopsis (Blurb)

Deborah Strongman is a detective searching for the killer of her daughter against the wishes of the police force that she works for. When she gets a call to come to a scene of a crime, she has no idea that she will find her dead daughter only minutes from her home. Despite the promise from her co-workers that they will find the killer, Deborah decides to take matters into her own hands, desparate to know what led to the death of her teenage daughter. We witness a series of events in which Deborah risks both her career and her safety in this longing search to bring justice for both her daughter, and herself. Upon months of searching, we conclude and Deborah finds herself in a familiar house. All too familiar. Finding herself face-to-face with her ex-lover, she realises that his next target was to be her 11 year old son. Avenging her daughters death, she shoots him. She has found justice.

Thriller Genre Research

For the opening to our film we decided on the genre of thriller. We found from our research that the usual target audiences for thrillers would be young men (around the ages of 18-25.) Films like Layer Cake and Kidulthood were found to have more men watch it than females. However, we want out film to include more female characters, which would draw females into the film more. We also took into account that we know many females (including myself) that love thriller movies so we decided we wanted our target audience to be males and females from the ages of 18 to 25.

In our research we found that people in the target age rage we are focussing on, being quite young, feel that "anything is possible." They feel they can "branch out and find themselves" at the age they are as they feel once they hit 30 it is time to settle down. From this research I can imply that our film would be good for them as it is quite adventurous and exciting. If our research is correct, then I'm sure 18 - 25 year olds would love to spend their money on a cinema ticket to see an exciting thriller like ours, as, like I said before, for them "anything is possible."

Task genre

In the process of deciding what we wanted to do we looked at different types of genres and different openings.

We looked at Kidulthood to start with and liked the idea of having a lot of drama about young people as it would relate to our possible target audience, teenagers.

We then looked at Lord of War as it had a very edgy feel to it, following the bullets around from the camera which presented violence and action, a genre we were considering doing.

We then looked at Juno as it is a very humorous film. The opening of Juno is very quirky, with quite memorable music, something we would like to put into our film introduction.



Peter Pan

Over the christmas holidays I watched Peter Pan, the 2003 version. Although it is a movie aimed at people below my age, it has always been such a classic to me ever since it came out in the cinema.
The film has an all star cast, including Jason Isaacs and Olivia Williams. What I love about the film is how it brings the cartoon version to life, and is a wonderful adaptation.
What I like a lot is the setting of this film. I feel it really brings to life neverland and Peter Pans world. Everything about the setting is so perfect and precise, and I think what a lot of people don;t understand is that without the setting, films would be no where near as good as they can be.
Jason Isaac steals the film in my opinion. He is such a credited actor, and handled playing two rolls (Mr Darling and Captain Hook) incredibly well. I thought he really shone and I truley believed his Captain Hook. It's a film I would reccomend for all age groups as it never gets old.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task

Our film tackles the issue of drug use between young people today. We felt it is a very relevant issue in society today, and also something quite interesting to learn about, so therefore, this is what we based our script and filming on. Our film genre is a drama. For our film we aimed it at a teenage audience as we feel it is relevant in their lives. Furthermore, me looked at other TV series such as misfits and skins, which tackle the issue of drug use. Their audiences are for young people, so therefore we felt that's where our influence lay. We decided to name our film 'dépendance' as it is French for 'addiction' and we felt this was an artistic and expressive name for our film. We wanted to achieve a quirky and dramatic film which displayed an issue in societ today, and would make the audience think and want to know more about the characters and their stories. This is our film:

I worked with Ava Coyle (http://avacoyle-media.blogspot.co.uk/) and George Kinsley (http://georgek56sasmediastudiesblog.blogspot.co.uk/) to produce our film. Ava was in charge of costume, positioning and lighting. It was her job to make sure all the actors looked right for the part and worked well with the camera. George was director, and made all the main decisions about how to shoot and wear to shoot. I was in charge of the camera, so I filmed all the shots and made sure they all worked with eachother and flowed to make good match on action.

I felt we fufilled our breif relatively well. We were asked to film a character opening a door, which we did successfully at the beggining of our film. We were also asked to have the character sitting at a table opposite another, which we also did successfully when having two characters exchanging drugs in the middle of our film. Furthermore they exchanged lines of dialogue, which was also required in our briefing.

Our briefing also included what type of filming techniques we needed to use. We were required to have correct use of match on action which I felt we did really well. We made sure all our filming flowed together well. One issue we did have was we had to film over two different days, and we were worried that the lighting etc would be wrong as we filmed outdoors. However we resolved this well by filming at the same time of day, making sure the weather was the same. We also made sure our actors looked the same and had the same costume. We wanted our film to be unique, so decided to include a montage at the beggining with music in the backgroud to set the scene. We shot different things around our school which looked edgy and a bit dodgy, to give the idea of problems and drug use. Within this montage we used a panorama shot, which I felt showed off our knowledge of different types of shots.

Although I felt our task was very successful, one thing we did wrong was unfortunatley our shot reverse shot. We analysed and understood our mistake and considered filming it again, however we were happy with what we already had, and felt changing it wouldn't make it as good. However to show our skills of shot reverse shot, we then filmed 20 seconds of another example of shot reverse shot, which is shown below:

Overall I felt although we had a problem with shot reverse shot, we resolved it in a mature way, and actually ended up with a very unique and interesting film, which not only had a good story line but also demonstrated our camera skills and our knowledge in media.