This is England - Who made it?

Warp Films
Warp Films was setup in 1999, it is a side project of Warp Records (Warp X), and is based in Sheffield.

Warp was formed to produce a range of British films by unique film producers, it provided opportunities to new writers, producers, directors and of course actors! For instance the prime example of a Warp Films favourite type of person would be Shane Meadows, the director of films such as Dead Man's Shoes and of course This is England!

This is England! is a story about a troubled boy groing up in England, set in 1983. He comes across skinheads on his way home from school after a fight where they beocme his new best friends, practically family. This was all based on experiences of director Shane Meadows.

Preliminary Continuity Task

The preliminary continuity task consisted of including reverse shot, match on action and the 180 degree rule.

180 degree rule
The 180 degree rule is quite simple. It is when two people are having the conversation and the line of sight has been set, you can't go across this imaginary line otherwise you can disorientate the viewer. The only time you can come across, or out of, the 180 degree rule is when you clearly show the camera moving sides.

The 180 degree rule is constantly upheld throughout our filming once the 2 characters have sat down. We decided against moving across the 180 degree line due to our script being so small, and losing dramatic affect.

Match on Action
This is when you switch between 2 perspectives of the character, for instance you may see the character open a door from camera one and then switch to camera 2 to see the character coming through the door, by using this the viewer is moving in the same direction as the character and allows the editor to show the shot from different perspectives

We used Match on Action during the first 10 seconds of our filming due to it being mainly convenient.

Reverse Shot
Shot/reverse shot (or shot/countershot) is a film technique used when two characters are looking at each other in one scene. The first character is shown looking at another character. Once the first person has looked towards the other character we can then show character 2 looking back in direction of the first character. The viewer then assumes that the characters are looking at each other.

We used this during the timeframe of 15seconds to 20seconds clearly showing character 1 looking at character 2.

Initial Ideas
Our initial ideas were quite simple, it involved having Emily and Lauren having a conversation and we'd wrap around the camera angles. We decided to do this because of how convenient it was, it meant we could do it at school and get it all done in a single blow. Plus after listening to some advice to make a script it was extremely easy!

Script:

Characters:
Emily- Lauren’s mother (Character 2)
Lauren- Daughter of Emily, adopted by someone else, Emily’s her real mother. (Character 1)

Emily: Hello
Lauren: Hey
Emily: [nervous] I got you a drink…
Lauren: Oh thanks, what did you want to talk to me about?
Emily: [nervous, faltering] Well, this isn’t easy for me…
Lauren: I don’t have long, I’m meeting mum in about 20minutes.
Emily: [exasperated] she’s not your mother! I am!

Analysis on Sequence
The sequence itself involved character 1 walking through a door into the main canteen with a match on action shot. Then we used a shot-reverse shot on the two characters looking at each other mid-way through the conversation. Finally we used the 180 degree rule throughout the entire conversation. Overall the sequence was fairly affective in how easy it was to setup and how quickly we were able to do it after a few test runs.

Technology
We used a varying amount of tools throughout this task, including a Video Camera, Tripod, Adobe Premier Elements and of course a tape. Once we had completed filming the task we transferred the video over via a Firewire Cable onto a school computers harddrive and successfully used Premier Elements to editted the video into a more suitable and enjoyable format.

Editing Software
We used the schools provided editing software Adobe Premier Elements and used it to make sure our sequence was clean and well cut without any unwanted parts. It enabled us to make the transitions between shots far more smooth with such things as Fading to Black as well as to add a title sequence to provide the examiners with the needed information to grade us. Plus it allowed us to add an outtake section for a bit of fun with some good quick switching between amusing shots.

Finally once all of the editing had been done we exported the movie in standard computer format (.avi) and uploaded the contents to youtube to allow the world to view it, as you can see from the beginning of this post.

Conclusion
Although we didn't cover everything within the brief I felt that we covered the important parts such as the shot types. Our sequence itself demonstrates the ability to use the 3 shots, however it does this only once for each, rather than having numerous shots of the 3 varying type. Also in future I feel we need to use the tripod for more of the shot, due to the shaking being quite obvious in some places which didn't show up on the small resolution of the camera but did during editing.

Throughout this task our camera skills barely improved however we came to grips with Adobe Premier Elements, and by doing this we will be able to implement these skills greatly into out Thriller production. Overall we completed the task and it has improved our skills as well as understanding of different shot types which we will be able to use in future.

[To be added : Storyboards]

General Audience Ressearch

This research has been done througout the term, the main idea of this research was to find out the main medium people use to see films, quite interestingly it wasn't what I expected.

I found it extremely surprsing that the majority of people still see films at the cinema rather than than over the internet or through DVDs due to the huge cost difference between them, but it obviously shows that people prefer hearing and seeing the movie in the highest quality possible, rather than sub-standard or simply TV quality. Maybe this will change when Blu-Ray becomes standard.

This is the reason I was surprised more people didn't see films on the internet, due to the majority of people hearing about films from it. Also quite interesting is the fact one of the 2nd highest, Word Of Mouth, is one of the most influential even in the heavy advert based word we live in today. A good review from a public person to a group of friends can greatly improve the seeability of the film.

Case Study: The Third Man

Thriller: The Third Man
Director: Carol Reed
Production Company: London Film Productions
Release Date: 3rd September 1949
Country where made: Vienna
Awards nominated: Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Audience response:

The Third Man is a movie that looks and feels not like a movie of the 40s, but like a neo-noir of the late 60s/early 70s. This wonderful example of classic noir is one of the all time greatest films. It combines amazing visuals, sounds, dialogue, and acting to tell a thrilling story and comment about the atmosphere after WWII.

I agree completely with the above comment, the way the Third Man was filmed was extremely impressive for its time, it's been one of the milestones ever since. If anything the only difference between filming from then and now is that it's now in HD! The same generic features are still used from then today in most films, we plan to use a few generic features from this film in our own thriller production, this is explained further down this post. The user has also mentioned how the film comments on WWII, I'd agree that it quite clearly links in due to being straight after the war as well as incorperating throughout the entire film many different shots of ruins throughout Vienna.

The mass-market Daily Mirror (2 September 1949) ran the headline: "Pardon Me if I Rave!" Its critic Reg Whitley enthused: "At last, here's a film we can really rave about!... Produced and directed Carol Reed, the film combines superb artistry with 100 per cent. entertainment value... a magnificent piece screencraft!"

The external review from The Daily Mirror obvious enjoyed the film, the artistry value points towards the amazing number if impressive shots from the Sewers, Back Lighting, Cat licking Harry Limes shoes and more! It all adds up to a great film.

My personal opinion of the film is that it's very impressive, after watching it you can clearly see where many generic features come from, and why many people still comment and review on The Third Man. One of the key strengths of the film however is how it uses a large variety of shots, one of which sticks out in my mind.

Below you find a short clip I took from Youtube, throughout this you will find plenty of amazing shots, the key ones at 0:32 and 1:01. The first shot is an extreme close up of Harry Lime when he's been spotted by his old friend Holly Martins spots him, this is a very generic feature with a figure standing in an overhanging doorway shadowed by darkness. The 2nd shot is a tilted shot of Harry Limes shadow running off into the distance.

The way Carol Reed uses very bright lighting to throw the shadow across the wall to build up tension has had an impact on many films, throughout modern horrors you seen shadows on walls creeping up on you and more. However the way it's done is very simple considering the affect it has, it is for this reason that we've decided to use similar lighting via car lights for out Thriller Production.

Thriller Opening Storyboards [old]

Below you will find my Storyboards for the initial planning of our Thriller Opening.

There are in total 18 slides, ranging from the intro to the ending of the 2 minutes, the bulk of the information can be found in the post below explaining most of the key details.

Shots 1 - 6



Shots 7-12



Shots 13-18

Thriller Opening Planning [Old]

In this post you will find all of the Thriller initial Planning and ideas ranging from Location to Costume. Please note due to the shear amount of information and the lack of being able to correctly display it will relevant links on Blogger it's a slight mess.

1. Brief Synopsis of plot

2. Shots Outlined

3. Characters

   1. Victims

   2. Villains

   3. Extras

4. Casting

5. Location

6. Sound

7. Props / Objects

8. Equipment List

Brief Synopsis of Plot

The plot entails the 2 main characters who are related by blood, brother and sister, who are immigrating into Britain and someone end up getting caught up in what appears to be a kidnapping, which is all seen by a witness. The opening ends on a "corpse" lying face down on the beach.

Shots Outlined

1. Opening Scene consisting of a very long shot, car hidden near a darkened building with low-key lighting (done by editing if necessary).

2. Track Camera towards darkened building where car has suddenly disappeared.

3. Before getting to the building camera "Whip Pans" towards the floor where it suddenly darkens out

4. Whip Pans again to see the Main Characters on a peer holding hands slowly walking towards the camera (Tracking)

5. Camera Pans to follow characters who walk down the pave where low-key lighting is used again with dramatic contrast from the dark areas and light

6. Very Low-Key lighting to make it so the 2 characters that appear on screen are simple blobs of human flesh which are in "Shallow Focus" with the main characters still walking in the distance.

7. The image is still in very low-key lighting with “Shallow Focus” where a third figure appears which is clearly more dominate than the other 2 figures due to coming in between them both. Camera tracks towards the henchmen until you just see the blackness.

8. Camera emerges from darkness to find henchmen reaching out to grab the male main character. Over the should shot of the arm reaching out towards male character.

9. Main characters put up no struggle and seem to allow themselves to be lead to a car. Camera uses tracking once again staying a few feet behind the characters.

10. Car lights suddenly turn on blinding the camera, with a realistic wobble affect like as in lowering down to cover your eyes with your arm, which also pans away.

11. Camera then has mid shot of the characters lit up shadows where you clearly see 2 characters which are presumed to be the main characters due to one being smaller and holding hands (as in fourth scene).

12. Camera then pans back unto eye level where you find the male main character struggling with one of the henchmen while the female main character is being held away, the car lights are still on providing front lighting making the characters have a halo affect.

13. The camera then close up shot of the female main character watching the struggle, henchmen is slightly darkened so you concentrate completely on the female character.

14. Female character sudden reaches out as though trying to cling on to someone where the henchmen yanks her back. Camera slows down with the shot darkening out.

15. Close up of large ripples on the water, which enables the audience to conclude their own ideas.

16. Camera turns around to see the back door of the car open and the figure of the young girl looking hopeless with her head bowed and hair flowing over her head to cover her face in a shroud. Car door shuts and drives off.

17. Shot then pans once again back down the path the characters came up and tracks the henchmen until a clear corner of a building can be scene where the camera suddenly switches to a close up of the witness looking afraid, who quickly runs off.

18. Final shot of the opening is a beach shot where you see a figure lying face down on the sand, camera moves slowly along the beach to centre itself on the “body”. After a few seconds the camera then whip pans up into the sky and the opening is over.

Characters

Within the Thriller Opening there are 6 characters, the 2 main characters, 2 henchmen, bossman as well as the witness. The opening is dominated by the 2 main characters and henchmen, you see the bossman rarely and never a full face shot which is similar to the witness who you only see in the second to last shot of the thriller opening.

Victims / Main Characters

Sarinca – Leading Female Role – 17 years old – Clothes are Tatty linen trousers and shirt

Raphel – Leading Male Role – 18 years old – Clothes are jeans, shirt and also has a shoulder bag.

Both the main characters are related by blood, brother and sister, and have come to the country for money to improve their standard of living as immigrants. They are the only family each other have left for unknown reasons which are explained later in the thriller.

Villains

Ben – The Bossman – 47 years old – Clothes are an suit jacket, formal shoes, white shirt, jeans, with a marriage ring on the right hand.

Daniel – A Henchmen – 41 years old – Clothes are similar to Ben's' with no rings or jewellery.

Adam – A Henchmen – 35 years old – Clothes are similar to Ben's' with no rings or jewellery.

The villains consist of Ben staring as the Sex Slave driving mastermind who had organised young people to come across from foreign countries, he is rarely seen beyond a darkened shape within the opening scenes. The 2 henchmen Daniel and Adam are both heavily involved in the business with Ben and rarely are seen without him. All 3 are related due to being involved in the same criminal activity, however Ben is clearly in charge.

Extras

Witness – Unknown age, presumed 18-25 years old – Clothes are a heavy rain coat jacket, trainers, jeans, scarf, with no rings or jewellery visible.

The extra character is the witness who you see in the 2^nd to last shot of the opening, you don't learn that much about them however you clearly see they saw everything that happened, and ran away about it. Adding another layer of thought to the thriller itself.

Casting

We have come up with a few names so far to fill in most of the positions.

Sarinca – Sara Novak.

Raphel – Andy Drane

Ben – Ben Howard

Daniel – Richard Jordan

Adam – ?

Witness - ?

We are currently having discussions about who to caste for the other parts.

Location

We have decided to set the thriller opening in Yarmouth docks at Night, which is a generic unglamorous and dodgy setting which will add quite an amount of tension. A few photos are provided below taken by another member in the group.

Sound

The majority of sound within the opening scene will be Diagetic apart from the first few shots with the title / actors on and a few other scenes with music similar to a heart beat. We want to build tension up with a lack of sound, not to much of it.

Props / Objects

The props include the Car – BMW with a custom number plate of “B3N” for the Bossman character and the Should bag for Raphel to carry. Objects include such things as the crates and boats around the docks.

Equipment List

Under revision

Questionnaire

1. What was the most recent thriller that you’ve seen?

2. What is your favourite thriller?

3. What actor do you think of when you say “Thriller”?

4. Why do you like thrillers?

5. Which do you prefer: thrillers over Comedy, Action, romantic?

6. Do you prefer seeing thrillers are a cinema or at home?

7. What would your preferred escape vehicle be?

   1. Car / bus

   2. Foot

   3. Tank

   4. Helicopter

   5. Train

   6. Boat

   7. Other

8. What is your preferred weapon of mass murder?

   1. Knife

   2. Tank

   3. Gun

   4. Explosives

   5. Other

9. If you were stranded on a dessert island what item would you take? E.g. FHM Magazine

10. If you had the choice would you be villain, hero or victim?

The above is my finished questionnaire, I asked quite a few people to gain some useful opinions. I found that the most relevant and interesting information came from questions 5 and 10. The results are displayed below in the form of 2 graphs.

Question 10 was clearly dominated by most people preferring to play as the victim and none wanting to be the villain. To implement this into our thriller opening I tried to keep as much camera time on the victims themselves as possible to make you feel more as if you were there.

The 2nd graph, or question 5, was also quite interesting due to the fact most people preferred action over all the other 3 options, comedy didn't even get picked once which surprised me. To try to bring this into the equation of our thriller opening we decided to add in a small "push-contest" to add some action to our 2 minute shot.

Overall I found the questionnaire quite interesting, however I think I put to much "fun" into it with question 7 and 8.

Prelimery Advert

My advert was designed to be aimed at young(ish) men of the age of around 16-26, rather than aim at the main-stream I decided to go for more of an individual approach whose looking at pushing into the frontier, to go as far as they could. However that’s a bit deep let’s first start from where the idea came from.

The original idea came from seeing my aunt jumping from a plane for charity, sky diving, which made me think of the phrase of “Look before you jump”, but to get anyway you just have to take that leap of faith otherwise you’ll never have that lucky break. So with the name in mind I then went about looking through previous pictures I had collected from holidays (been to some very good destinations), you may ask why I didn’t try to get a new photo or one from my aunt jumping, I realistic said to myself I would not get the picture I wanted around my area or within quite a large vicinity, so I used an old one.

The photo on the left is what I started with for my advert. I decided that some parts would need to go such as the other hand, the feet in the water, the ladder and the cable stretching right in the middle of the picture.

I did this by using the clone stamp tool to remove all of them. The procedure is quite simple, all you need to do is press “S” then hold “Alt” and select the location you want to clone and away you go with the brush.

I then decide to also crop the picture to a more bearable size, I did this by using the Crop tool, and I then ended up with the 2nd image on the left.

To explain why I decided to actually use this picture is quite simple. This was the first time my brother had dived into the sea, and he was the first one to do it off the entire boat. He took a leap and down he went. It is also a nice picture apart from how dark it looks, but that was quite easy to correct by using the contract/brightness level tool in Photoshop Elements, not as efficient as in Photoshop CS but still worked to the level I wanted it.

The image now had a vibrant rich feel to it rather than the dullness it began with as well as making the centre of the image more distinct.

I then decided to work on the bottle. Sadly most of the aftershave I have or any bottles were no what I was looking for, so I decided to mix and match a few images until I got what I wanted.

After searching for 20minutes or so and mucking around on Photoshop I came up with the bottle I wanted, which is on the left. I felt that this bottle was good because of it’s unique dimension of the average bottle, most are normally quite tall and thin and circular in shape, I decided to go with this wide and more square shape to target my audience a bit more, I also used it because of it simplicity to changed and mould on Photoshop.

I then wanted to add it to the image, I first started off with a black circle underneath the bottle to bring the eye to the image, but I decided that would distract the person from everything else which wasn’t the idea. So rather I then decided to merge it with the background as though it too was diving into the water. I did this by using the sponge tool on the image and finally came up with this final affect, which was quite affective on the final image.

After having designed the parts of the image I needed I then went about putting it all together, the first hurdle I came to was where to put the bottle itself. I felt that going down in a stair/arc fashion would be good. I set out with Title > Main Image > Bottle.

I image that came out was very busy and didn’t really allow you to absorb the entire image. So I then went about trying to make it simpler, yet keep as much complexity as I could. The 3 images below show you my trail of thought. I decided to curve my slogan in a diving fashion to unite it with the diver, this way your eye goes all away across the advert and absorbs as much of it as you can.

I decided to change from future to desire because desire is more of a cosmetic word than future, and it makes you think that with this cosmetic you will be able to dive into the world of desire which is generally what they are for, attracting the opposite sex in a desirable way. It also meant I had alliteration between depths and desire making it roll of the tongue more affectively while also making it stick in your mind more. I curved the text by simply rotating multiple different words, I found this far more effective to get the curve I wanted rather than the Word Warp tool available in Photoshop Elements.

I then further went to change the name of Leap to Dive. Leap came from how my aunt leaped from the plane, however diving was more relevant to my image and also brought about my desired idea of taking that jump of faith. Dive was also still related to my aunt skydiving.

Overall the image isn’t the best way to bring the name of the cosmetic across. If possible I would have made the bridge less dominant in the picture while also being closer to the shore to allow the breath taking scenery is more see able. However I felt the image is quite effective and the wording / name of the cosmetic would be something many individual males of the age 16-24.

Advert Explained

The Advert Explained, as in noted upon. Sadly this wouldn't copy and paste properly across so I've decided to use a picture instead!

In the previous post I have analysed this picture.

Advert & Analysed.

The advert for “Believe” perfume suggests that buying this product shows your individuality and belief in yourself to do anything as well as showing that you’re an expensive good looking young woman.

The advert features a medium shot of Britney facing towards the camera while displaying a confident woman, the confidence is further enforced by the sheer way Britney is standing with most of her body displayed to the world. The pure individuality of the picture also shines through with the belly piercing and colouring in the name of the perfume. The “i" is easily seen by the contrasting colour to the clean & pure background of green and white with the vibrant pink bringing it across, this all points towards individuality and belief in “I”, as in yourself. Individuality is empowered more so by the free bird perching on Britney’s hand as thought it was a ring, this brings across a type of freedom compared to the other birds which are stuck in a cage symbolising Britney as an unmarried women. The slogan “The greatest freedom is to believe in yourself” also brings across a powerful image since belief in yourself is confidence and the ability to go against the flow which clearly directs the targeted audience towards “Individuals”.

The way the perfume bottle is displayed in a diamond shape brings across wealth and power and an item that, generalising, most women would dream of having. Due to the fact Britney herself is also a celebrity, and a huge one at that, it attracts another audience which are “Aspirers” because of her large success and influence in the world down to her famous music career and infamous private life. The slogan above the bottle just cements this further with “My New Fragrance” which clearly shows Britney herself endorses it, ticking the box of status.

The way the advert is also only done in pure clean colours brings across further individuality with the way it goes against most other perfumes which are there to attract the other gender in a sexual manner, this shows a woman who is confident and more than strong enough to go out there and get a man herself. She is not the passive or defenceless woman needing the protection of a man. The fact she is also very good looking and more of herself is bare to the camera than not brings across confidence and beauty while not doing it in a shameless way. With the vial also being in a green colour which normally represents calmness it further enforces the purity of the perfume.

Overall it appears that the perfume is targeted towards the “individual” as well as “aspirer” who are looking for a confident yet pure perfume which is not one showing the woman seeking a male for protection but rather a free one who believes in herself.

Media Studies Questionnaire

Media Studies Questionnaire

NAME: Matthew Tyrrell

GCSE RESULTS: ICT(Dida) = A(a), Maths, History, Statistics, English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, ICT (Dida) = B(b), English Literature, Religious Studies = C(c), French = D(d).

HOBBIES: Gaming (PC/Xbox etc), Reading, walking the dog, building computers, mild drinking, paintballing, going out with friends when I have the money.

MEDIA INTERESTS:

Radio Media:
I listen to “Radio 1” in the morning to wake up. This is mainly because they are well known and generally play decent music.

Music Industry:
I listen to Indie, Rock & Alternative mainly.

The music industry doesn’t influence my dress, attitudes or aspirations, it’s something to allow you to zone out to not to enable you to be brained washed into thinking everyone sucks or that you’re beautiful…

Video Games:
Favourite video games are either FPS (First-Peron-Shooter) or MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). FPS are terrible real life examples since all you do in them is shoot other people, which doesn’t help you mature or grow in any shape or form and you rarely socialise at all on them.

MMORPGs on the other hand have their own social standards which you are expected to uphold. If you are weak in the mind or slightly retarded you can find yourself becoming more intoned to the gaming environment than real life, but realistically it is northing more than a hobby such as a chat room which has 3D graphics where you do objectives together.

Females in gaming are normally the “perfect curve” type of women with huge tits, nice ass etc. Basically the geek dream of a woman, however recently that’s changed and you’re getting more realistic women characters, which is good due to graphics now being at the stage where you can fully create an accurate 3D object.

New Technology:
I have access to the internet, I use it to socialise over MSN and Facebook as well as playing games and for doing homework.

The technology today has had a rather balanced affect on society. It’s enabled you to quickly find any information you want about anything as well as increased the need to be the “attention whore”, as you can see by loads of 12year olds on places such as Bebo adding hundreds of strangers. It’s also added a new level of security and paranoia to the world; you get the fanatics who think they’re always being watched even though realistically it helps catch more terrorists and paedophiles than any other median of communication on the planet.

One problem with technology however is the fact it’s now promoted the language known as “text talk”, which is where nearly every single word in existence has been cut down to the smallest amount of characters possible! Just look at Hello, it went from Hello > Hey > Hi > Lo which is all to save space and time for those finger bashers on the mobile or msn.

Television:
I watch what ever movie is on ranging from Thriller to Action. I do not enjoy watching horrors or romantics unless it’s in the right environment, not things I watch by myself.

I prefer watching movies at home or at a friends house since the cinema just costs so much and really you don’t gain anything anymore due to most people now having surround sound and 30”+ size televisions.

Cinema is good if your going in a small group since you can socialise easily in there and get a drink/food and go to the back and enjoy yourselves. It’s basically a day out, you have to get there and book the ticket which is normally in the city so you can then do other things. I would never go by myself it is defiantly a social environment.

In Conclusion:
The most offense media is probably the new technology such as the internet since people can get away with racism, anti-Semitism, being sexist and more when you know if they did that in a street they’d get a slap round the head and a shouting at.

However it is also the most interesting since it offers everything and more over the other median types. You can listen to music, watch tv, read magazines and more on the internet.

I think all media alters you in small ways, I can’t pick one out of mid air but if you look at a piece of art and think “Wow”, it’s touched you in a small way which may nudge your opinion of a certain thing in a different direction.

I’ve chosen Media over mathematics (dropped it), due to it being an interesting subject which looks enjoyable and something that I’ve never done before as well as being more a different type of learning curve due to it not being based on formulas like a science.

I would use the computer to construct a text based around the “Attraction of Russian Brides” or something amusing like that. I’d probably communicate the misconceptions of it and try to change peoples understanding.

Well I’ve moved 4 weeks late into Media and after my first couple of lessons over the past week it defiantly looks good, hopefully I can pick up quickly what I’ve missed!

Wooo

The blog works.

Woo.