Monday 29 June 2009
CD Cover Ideas
These are two sketches of ideas for our CD Cover.
They are just ideas that popped into my head which connected
or reminded me of 'love'. The roses represent love in many ways
as they are a flower which you give to someone you love or you
recieve them from a fellow partner. The clouds and sunshine are
just to fill the cover with happy, meaningful thoughts.
The title and author are spread around the cover where possible and
where it looks good to fit in an appopriate place.
Friday 19 June 2009
Music Video Analysis
Lady GaGa -- Poker Face:
This music video is all about Lady GaGa hiding her face behind a mask. This shows her putting on a poker face when playing the game, which is all about keeping a straight face and not showing any emotion. The video seems to revolve around a poker game with people concentrating and keeping a straight face, but without Lady GaGa's mask she doesnt have a poker face unlike everyone else. The video also seems quite sexual, as she wears different types of sexy clothing and dnaces around into different positions, its almost as if she is a sexy commentator, watching the moves through her mask.
Dizzee Rascal -- Bonkers:
This unique video is shown exactly around the title. For example Dizzee Rascal has a sharks head on, which is seen as crazy or as in this song, Bonkers! The video is alot of crazy and unique stuff put together randomly to show the audience what they want to see from the title. Which means the producers have worked from the title to build up a random but yet significant video to catch the audience's eye and keep them happy. The video overall is good and keeps to the title making the whole song and video 'BONKERS' from start to finish!
Akon -- Beautiful
This video revolves around Akon being in the centre of many different 'beautiful' women. For example at the start of the video there are different camera shots of different women in different outfits and in different pose's, there is then a camera shot of Akon obviously watching the women as more camera shots come in of even more women. This lasts for the first 17 seconds of the video which may show that these women are ment to be shown as 'Beautiful' and Akon is the one singing about them! Through the video there are another two lads who join the song and also join the women as they dance round the three of them. If its not a shot of Akon and the other two then its camera shots of the women. So overall the Video conveys exactly waht the title says once again but towards the women and how men can be respectable towards them.
This music video is all about Lady GaGa hiding her face behind a mask. This shows her putting on a poker face when playing the game, which is all about keeping a straight face and not showing any emotion. The video seems to revolve around a poker game with people concentrating and keeping a straight face, but without Lady GaGa's mask she doesnt have a poker face unlike everyone else. The video also seems quite sexual, as she wears different types of sexy clothing and dnaces around into different positions, its almost as if she is a sexy commentator, watching the moves through her mask.
Dizzee Rascal -- Bonkers:
This unique video is shown exactly around the title. For example Dizzee Rascal has a sharks head on, which is seen as crazy or as in this song, Bonkers! The video is alot of crazy and unique stuff put together randomly to show the audience what they want to see from the title. Which means the producers have worked from the title to build up a random but yet significant video to catch the audience's eye and keep them happy. The video overall is good and keeps to the title making the whole song and video 'BONKERS' from start to finish!
Akon -- Beautiful
This video revolves around Akon being in the centre of many different 'beautiful' women. For example at the start of the video there are different camera shots of different women in different outfits and in different pose's, there is then a camera shot of Akon obviously watching the women as more camera shots come in of even more women. This lasts for the first 17 seconds of the video which may show that these women are ment to be shown as 'Beautiful' and Akon is the one singing about them! Through the video there are another two lads who join the song and also join the women as they dance round the three of them. If its not a shot of Akon and the other two then its camera shots of the women. So overall the Video conveys exactly waht the title says once again but towards the women and how men can be respectable towards them.
Tuesday 16 June 2009
Prodigy -- Music for the Jilted Generation
This album cover seems very weird but matches the headline of 'music for the jilted generation'. It shows the dead / horrified head at a 'jilted' angle, and the death of the head may convey the generations to come for prodigy. The album cover seems quite eye catching and random, and the picture shows what type of audience will be listening to the CD. From the Cd Cover it seems as if Prodigy has a Hardcore, Rock style. When if you listen to it, it mostly is a Dance, Hardcore, Trance style. So the picture shows exactly what the audience want to listen to.
Kings of Leon -- Only by the Night
This album cover shows the title very well as the the title is 'only by the night' and the picture is of a human and a barn owl mixed in 4 different corners. This is good as owl's dont come out in the day there only out by the night. Which means the picture for the album cover covers the the title in every-way possible as there is nothing else the picture can say about the the title. So once again the picture has been worked on from the title, it's also obvious that the title was thought of before the picture. This is because Kings of Leon aren't really signified by a barn owl, therefore they wouldn't really put one in their album cover unless they had a title like this one.The Beatles -- Abbey Road
This album cover is unique as it wasn't actually going to be called 'abbey road'. The Beatles' photographer had only 10 minutes to take this photo, which is why one of The Beatle's, McCartney, is out of step and time with the other three. The picture for this is so easy, but yet so significant towards the album as the road is 'Abbey Road' and to this day is a popular destination for fans of The Beatle's. Also this particular album cover is one of the most famous and the most imitated in recording history. So easy, correct, quick, imaginable and simple but so famous!Wednesday 18 March 2009
Evaluation 4
How did you attract /address your audience:
One of the main ways in which we attracted our audience was by using actors of a younger age in order to try and attract the same aged audience. Another way we attracted our target audience was by using themes that our commenly used in films of that age range.
What I've learnt about technologies:
One of the new technologies we have learnt about is the imovie program. We had to use this to edit all of the shots together. We also used it to add any other little bits of editing we used such as titles and transactions. Another form of new technology we have used is the digital video cameras for filming the opening film. We realised that the cameras were capable of much more than we first realised, there were settings on the camera that enabled to change things such as brightness which enabled us to change the lighting appearance for certain scenes where we couldnt get the lighting right in the factory.
One of the main ways in which we attracted our audience was by using actors of a younger age in order to try and attract the same aged audience. Another way we attracted our target audience was by using themes that our commenly used in films of that age range.
What I've learnt about technologies:
One of the new technologies we have learnt about is the imovie program. We had to use this to edit all of the shots together. We also used it to add any other little bits of editing we used such as titles and transactions. Another form of new technology we have used is the digital video cameras for filming the opening film. We realised that the cameras were capable of much more than we first realised, there were settings on the camera that enabled to change things such as brightness which enabled us to change the lighting appearance for certain scenes where we couldnt get the lighting right in the factory.
Tuesday 17 March 2009
Evaluation 3
Lighting:
Because we were a low budget company we didnt have the money and resources to create professional lighting so we used our knowledge of the layout of lights in the factory to create what he had envisioned. The low key lighting creates fear and tension as in the dark, people become very vulnerable as they are unaware of their surroundings. The shot where the character walks from darkness to light creates a silohette, a clever shot used in many thrillers such as when Freddie Kruger is introduced in 'Nightmare on Elm Street'. It creates a feeling of a mystery about the situation as you can see the character but not clearly, a metaphor for not seeing the whole picture.
Who would watch the Film?
The film was aimed at people aged between 15 and 24 years, this was mainly because of the themes that were involved in the plan for the film. Films that are aimed at this particular age group usually contain themes such as comedy, romance, horror, murder etc. Most of the the themes we used fell into this category. Therefore we decided to aim it at this age group, also that group is the most popular cinema going group.
Media Institution Distributions:
As we are a low/no budget company it would be proposterus to think that it could achieve the same status that higher budget films achieve such as cinema showings and DVD's. It would be much more realistic to assume that institutions such as 'MySpace', 'Facebook', 'Bebo', 'YouTube' and other online sharing sites would distribute our thriller on their pages. Many people post short films on the internet and though not earning money they are still earning recognition which can then lead to actual filming jobs. The sites would be perfect for our film as it costs nothing to post a video on the internet, so our non-existant budget wouldn't be affected.
Because we were a low budget company we didnt have the money and resources to create professional lighting so we used our knowledge of the layout of lights in the factory to create what he had envisioned. The low key lighting creates fear and tension as in the dark, people become very vulnerable as they are unaware of their surroundings. The shot where the character walks from darkness to light creates a silohette, a clever shot used in many thrillers such as when Freddie Kruger is introduced in 'Nightmare on Elm Street'. It creates a feeling of a mystery about the situation as you can see the character but not clearly, a metaphor for not seeing the whole picture.
Who would watch the Film?
The film was aimed at people aged between 15 and 24 years, this was mainly because of the themes that were involved in the plan for the film. Films that are aimed at this particular age group usually contain themes such as comedy, romance, horror, murder etc. Most of the the themes we used fell into this category. Therefore we decided to aim it at this age group, also that group is the most popular cinema going group.
Media Institution Distributions:
As we are a low/no budget company it would be proposterus to think that it could achieve the same status that higher budget films achieve such as cinema showings and DVD's. It would be much more realistic to assume that institutions such as 'MySpace', 'Facebook', 'Bebo', 'YouTube' and other online sharing sites would distribute our thriller on their pages. Many people post short films on the internet and though not earning money they are still earning recognition which can then lead to actual filming jobs. The sites would be perfect for our film as it costs nothing to post a video on the internet, so our non-existant budget wouldn't be affected.
Evaluation 2
Music:
The music we used in our production was used to build up tension in the piece and to emphasize certain key parts in the thriller opening. Rather than the fast paced music of such thrillers, such as 'Speed', we opted for the more mysterious thought provoking music heard in openings like 'The Interpreter' and 'Silence of the Lambs'. The reasoning behind this was simply because it suited our piece more as it wasnt fast paced, therefore fast paced music would not have fit aswell. Also as we were a low/no budget production company we used the internet source of http://www.freesound.org/ to obtain music and sounds for our piece.
Character Representation:
The first two characters we see are the owner of the factory and a worker of the factory. The first one we see is the owner who ends up being murdered. The first character, the victim, is dressed smartly to show he is higher status over the other character and that he also owns the factory. He is the one asking the questions about the business and shipping their stock out. This represents this character as the one who's in charge and making sure the audience knows that he is higher up in the ranks for the business. The other character is dressed in a normal working mans uniform, which is mainly just casual clothes. We did this to show the difference from the status and to show which characters do what for the business.
Social Groups:
The minor character of the factory worker represents the working class. Stereotypical factory workers wear low budget clothing such as tracksuit bottoms and/or sports gear. This is why the character of the factory working was wearing such clothing as it creates a feeling of verisimilitude. The factory boss is represented in the way he is dressed and in his actions. He is dressed in a smart sweater and a collarred shirt combination with black trousers, instantly making him seen as an authority figure. As he confidently strides round the factory and is also working his way to lock the factory up he is no standard worker. In many thriller films alot of the tension and suspense is created in not knowing who the killer is or what his face looks like such as in 'Halloween' and 'Phone Booth'. This is why the killer's identity in our piece is concealed as it creates suspense and in lehman's terms keeps the audience guessing. This represents a typical killer in a thriller film.
The music we used in our production was used to build up tension in the piece and to emphasize certain key parts in the thriller opening. Rather than the fast paced music of such thrillers, such as 'Speed', we opted for the more mysterious thought provoking music heard in openings like 'The Interpreter' and 'Silence of the Lambs'. The reasoning behind this was simply because it suited our piece more as it wasnt fast paced, therefore fast paced music would not have fit aswell. Also as we were a low/no budget production company we used the internet source of http://www.freesound.org/ to obtain music and sounds for our piece.
Character Representation:
The first two characters we see are the owner of the factory and a worker of the factory. The first one we see is the owner who ends up being murdered. The first character, the victim, is dressed smartly to show he is higher status over the other character and that he also owns the factory. He is the one asking the questions about the business and shipping their stock out. This represents this character as the one who's in charge and making sure the audience knows that he is higher up in the ranks for the business. The other character is dressed in a normal working mans uniform, which is mainly just casual clothes. We did this to show the difference from the status and to show which characters do what for the business.
Social Groups:
The minor character of the factory worker represents the working class. Stereotypical factory workers wear low budget clothing such as tracksuit bottoms and/or sports gear. This is why the character of the factory working was wearing such clothing as it creates a feeling of verisimilitude. The factory boss is represented in the way he is dressed and in his actions. He is dressed in a smart sweater and a collarred shirt combination with black trousers, instantly making him seen as an authority figure. As he confidently strides round the factory and is also working his way to lock the factory up he is no standard worker. In many thriller films alot of the tension and suspense is created in not knowing who the killer is or what his face looks like such as in 'Halloween' and 'Phone Booth'. This is why the killer's identity in our piece is concealed as it creates suspense and in lehman's terms keeps the audience guessing. This represents a typical killer in a thriller film.
Evaluation 1
Mise-en-scene:
The location of our thriller was actually at my dad's sock factory, but we filmed the actual piece in the storage section of the complex. The use of boxes arranged in rows with little room for movement conveys the idea of claustrophobia and tightly closed spaces. This was good for a thriller as playing on the fear of a phobia creates tension amongst the audience. Also as the set was owned by my dad we didnt have to pay anything to use the space needed. For props we decided that if someone was to be murdered it needed to be from a more physical up close and personal weapon. This is because they tend to strike up more fear than a weapon like a gun. Also as a hammer is used in industrial settings it raises many questions as the victim was supposed to be alone in the factory at the time and he's been killed by a weapon associated with his line of work.
Choice of Actors:
Because are group was a low budget production we had to use actors that would be free to work with. We used two of the members of our group, one of them being myself. We also chose to do the two actors that had acted in previous tasks so they had better experience of how the filming works or who do drama and know the basic acting skills. The two actors were also chosen because as they were in our group, which means therefore they would have to follow the shooting schedule anyway, this would make it easier to film and work as a team.
Choice of Colours:
The use of drab browns and greys in the piece was honestly just how the factory was set out. It helped as in the dark spaces there were barely visible colours. Also the dark colours could convey the darkness of the piece but in all fairness we didnt set out to show this so if that is how the audience interprets it then its a bonus for our groups work.
The location of our thriller was actually at my dad's sock factory, but we filmed the actual piece in the storage section of the complex. The use of boxes arranged in rows with little room for movement conveys the idea of claustrophobia and tightly closed spaces. This was good for a thriller as playing on the fear of a phobia creates tension amongst the audience. Also as the set was owned by my dad we didnt have to pay anything to use the space needed. For props we decided that if someone was to be murdered it needed to be from a more physical up close and personal weapon. This is because they tend to strike up more fear than a weapon like a gun. Also as a hammer is used in industrial settings it raises many questions as the victim was supposed to be alone in the factory at the time and he's been killed by a weapon associated with his line of work.
Choice of Actors:
Because are group was a low budget production we had to use actors that would be free to work with. We used two of the members of our group, one of them being myself. We also chose to do the two actors that had acted in previous tasks so they had better experience of how the filming works or who do drama and know the basic acting skills. The two actors were also chosen because as they were in our group, which means therefore they would have to follow the shooting schedule anyway, this would make it easier to film and work as a team.
Choice of Colours:
The use of drab browns and greys in the piece was honestly just how the factory was set out. It helped as in the dark spaces there were barely visible colours. Also the dark colours could convey the darkness of the piece but in all fairness we didnt set out to show this so if that is how the audience interprets it then its a bonus for our groups work.
Friday 27 February 2009
Title Research
Many thriller films fall victim to being given in many opinion's awful name titles. Having a poor title can really put people back from seeing a movie especially when from a low budget production company such as ourselves. This is why rather than think up a name for our film ourselves and run the risk of an awful name that we were too blind to see we decided to do a questionaire where we showed people out thriller opening and got their suggestions on what we should call the film. After the questionnaire the names suggested were as followed;
-Night Shift
-The Factory
-Lights Out
-The Chosen
-In The Shadows
-Betrayal
-The Phantom of the Factory
-The Hammer
Instantly we could see some ideas that were strong so we compiled a list of these names and passed round the list and the previous viewers ticked which name they thought was the strongest of the bunch. With names such as "Lights Out" and "Betrayal" getting a few votes, but there was a clear title that got the most votes, this was "Night Shift" that had just under 70% of the vote. It was obvious to us that with such as huge percentage of the public vote "Night Shift" was the new name for our thriller.
-Night Shift
-The Factory
-Lights Out
-The Chosen
-In The Shadows
-Betrayal
-The Phantom of the Factory
-The Hammer
Instantly we could see some ideas that were strong so we compiled a list of these names and passed round the list and the previous viewers ticked which name they thought was the strongest of the bunch. With names such as "Lights Out" and "Betrayal" getting a few votes, but there was a clear title that got the most votes, this was "Night Shift" that had just under 70% of the vote. It was obvious to us that with such as huge percentage of the public vote "Night Shift" was the new name for our thriller.
Sound Plan for Final Piece
We used our sound and music from the website www.freesound.org , we also used some diagetic sounds from filming as there was machinery around us making alot of noise, we kept this in to show realism of the film. This website will be free to download and copyright free for our piece. Using this site it will give us a wider variety of sound which we could add together to other sounds and make our piece sound alot better rather than just a normal song being pushed in. Our sound was made dark and tense in order to fit in with our atmosphere and mood of the piece. We also used sudden sounds and big hitting sounds to emphasise certain movements of the thriller such as the murder scene or if the killer is seen at any point.
Final Piece Plan
Location:
For our thriller project we decided to work and film in a factory. We decided this as it would give dark thriller effects and sounds. This also gave us a large area to work in which we could then control the lighting alot easier, this gave us the oppurtunity to make good shots at any time of the day. Also whilst filming in private property it made it a safer environment to use any weapons needed in our piece with out the worry from the public.
Planning:
Our planning was done as a team effort, with decisions on location and the general plot of our piece. The planning took longer than expected as we had to think of every little detail and think thoroughly about the murder scene. We started our planning quite early but didnt start filming till this year in January, it then took us a following three weeks to complete the filming including little bits that needed to be added.
Props:
-Weapon, this only included a hammer which could be clearly seen in the dark.
-Costume, this was just a standard working mans uniform and a big coat that covered the murderer from head to toe, so he could not be seen!
-Cellotape, This was used in one scene where a light switch got stuck down to stop it from flickering back on.
Target Audience:
The main target audience for our final piece will be certificate 15. The main reason for this is because there is some violent scenes shown by murders and some bad language. Another reason for this certificate rating is because the themes contained in it are more popular with people aged between 15+. Also this certificate is the main cinema viewing audience so there could be a lot more different age groups viewing our piece ranging from 15 onwards, as if it was a certificate of a lower rating the piece would get rated lower as there wouldnt be much point in violent scenes as they couldnt be shown.
For our thriller project we decided to work and film in a factory. We decided this as it would give dark thriller effects and sounds. This also gave us a large area to work in which we could then control the lighting alot easier, this gave us the oppurtunity to make good shots at any time of the day. Also whilst filming in private property it made it a safer environment to use any weapons needed in our piece with out the worry from the public.
Planning:
Our planning was done as a team effort, with decisions on location and the general plot of our piece. The planning took longer than expected as we had to think of every little detail and think thoroughly about the murder scene. We started our planning quite early but didnt start filming till this year in January, it then took us a following three weeks to complete the filming including little bits that needed to be added.
Props:
-Weapon, this only included a hammer which could be clearly seen in the dark.
-Costume, this was just a standard working mans uniform and a big coat that covered the murderer from head to toe, so he could not be seen!
-Cellotape, This was used in one scene where a light switch got stuck down to stop it from flickering back on.
Target Audience:
The main target audience for our final piece will be certificate 15. The main reason for this is because there is some violent scenes shown by murders and some bad language. Another reason for this certificate rating is because the themes contained in it are more popular with people aged between 15+. Also this certificate is the main cinema viewing audience so there could be a lot more different age groups viewing our piece ranging from 15 onwards, as if it was a certificate of a lower rating the piece would get rated lower as there wouldnt be much point in violent scenes as they couldnt be shown.
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