Question 7:

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

When we were given the objective of filming the preliminary task, we were asked to film a walking scene which leads to a conversation in the restricted area of our school (Norwich City School). The planning was really quite simple. We had to create a floorplan which involved each the positioning of the camera in order to get the right camera angles and also to write a short script for the two characters. Then after filming we had to edit all the scenes (Cut the scenes) and put them together to create a continuous short clip. We also had to keep in mind not to break the 180-degree rule when filming the conversation and that concludes the preliminary task. 

Floorplan 1

Floorplan 2

Whereas when we were filming 'Kremlin' our thriller opening we had to research and prepare thoroughly. First, we had to come up with some kind of a story subsequently, and most critically,  we needed to decide what we wanted to establish in our opening. Genre, characters, plot, theme , tone/mood or location. Therefore, we needed to conduct a great deal of research of different real media clips to see how they had established and how they achieved the result. We then had to come up with character background information and think of the mise en scene and props and different camera techniques in order to properly establish our characters. Furthermore, we decided that we needed to establish the location that would ensure the audience believed this was a British gangster film. This resulted in us needing to visit and select from various locations to ensure we had the best chance of success. Choosing the right floor plan was a 'must' because we needed to know where we would position our camera in order to establish a certain something either the character or the transaction of the plot devices. When thinking of camera angles and positioning we had to keep in mind where and when we would place our titles, and in order to accomplish this we had to research a few films and note down at what time of the sequence and how they had placed their titles. After successfully filming the scene. We need to choose the correct font that would connote and establish the gritty violent genre of our opening.

Shot reverse shot

Overall I have learned various camera techniques such as shot reverse shot when filming a conversation this technique created the smooth continuity between two people talking. Also the 180 degree rule was something I have never heard of before, but when learning about it I realised the significance of the camera positioning and how important it is when trying to film a conversation. When breaking this rule the scene instantly starts to look disoriented and not just not right, the position of the characters change when breaking it and in order to create a sense of understanding of the position of the characters in set 180 is highly important. I also clearly understood that when filming a scene the critical importance of using a variety of shots , as it creates a totally different meaning depending on what type of shots and angles you may use. For example, lower angle shot of a person instantly creates a sense of power and authority or perhaps how close-up make the scene seems much more intense. The variety of shots and how you present them by itself can establish the tone, pace, and narrative of a film.

180 degree rule

Furthermore, it made me understand how important team work and detailed preparation are, especially when working with a group because then you need to bring maximum efficiency to the table and when time is limited that is exactly what you need. A good example would be when Conner and I were editing the final cutI we gave each other precise objectives with deadlines;

for example, he would take care of the titles whereas I would edit the sound. We gave ourselves specific jobs to do which meant that we both knew exactly what we had to do and it saved us a lot of time. However, there are also disadvantages when working with a group because then you have to rely on your team mates and if somebody for whatever reason forgets something or is late the whole process and production can be put on hold and of course in a professional production 'lost time= lost money'!.

TEAMWORK IS KEY!

Question 6:

Question 5:

There has been some kind of an error when uploading my word document onto "Issuu" and it has failed to display the two shots that I have chosen from my real media examples. These are supposed to be on my evaluation.

Pulp Fiction - Suitcase (Macguffin) 

Inception - "Totem" (Cliff hanger)

Question 4:

Who would be the audience for your media product?

In order to discover the audience for Kremlin, I had to check the rating and reviews of similar films with either a gritty violent gangster theme to it or a political thriller subsequently the marketing could target these 'groups' resulting in higher exposure/sales revenue. My research reached the conclusion that primarily men aged 18-26 may enjoy the Kremlin because of the gritty violence in the movie along with the conflict between British gangsters and the Russian corrupt government and its involvement with the head of Russian mafia. Which will give them the thrill that they may be seeking. However, it may also be very popular with a much older male audience. This is due to the history of the cold war and an almost obsessive interest many have in any film that includes the 'mysteries' of espionage particularly conducted by the  CIA , KGB or MI5 . However even though the film will heavily relate more to the male audience females may want to enjoy the film because of the love affair between Chantelle and her boyfriend who is a member of the British mob. 

In order to predict the audience for Kremlin, I had to search for very similar films and look at the ratings and reviews. For example 'The Constant Gardener' is a perfect example as it has a similar theme to Kremlin. Summary of the film is "A widower is determined to get to the bottom of a potentially explosive secret involving his wife's murder, big business and corporate corruption" it is put under the genre of 'Political thriller' which is part of the overall theme of Kremlin and plus with the love story in the background.

As you can see the majority of the audience are males 73,535 our of 92,870 votes on IMDb rating report. The dominant age group is 30-44 of 48,924 votes which is to be expected because the political side of the story is more favourable to the older group. However because it is a thriller and a number of the audience may also enjoy the political theme from the ages 18-29 also enjoyed the film and are the second highest age group with 29,398 votes out of 92,870. This can tell us that Kremlin may favour the males in general and perhaps favour the older males ages 30-44, due to it being a political thriller. 

M/F/A Ratings The Constant Gardener

However because Kremlin also has British and Russian mobs involved the audience will most likely defer to 'The Constant Gardener'. Another film which is similar to Kremlin in a few aspects is 'The Godfather' because it is solely about Gangsters and Mobs which is a big part of the theme in Kremlin. Summary - The aging patriarch of an organized crime dynasty transfers control of his clandestine empire to his reluctant son. I chose this film because I want to find out the likely audience for a film involving 'Gangsters and Mobs' and therefore, because 'The Godfather' is the greatest film which surrounds the topic it would also be a perfect choice to analyse the audience ratings and statistics.  

A majority of the audience are male 798,274 out of 912,180 clearly dominating the number of females in vote ratings on IMDb. The males also enjoyed the film more average ratings of 9.2 as opposed to females with  the average of 8.9. The film appealed more to the age group of 18-29 with 428,848 number of votes, however not by much as ages from 30-44 who also voted a high percentage with a total of 365,022 votes. This gives us further confidence that Kremlin will appeal heavily towards the male audience, but the age group will be quite extensive as Kremlin's theme involves both politics and the criminal world of gangsters and mobs. On the basis of this I see that the audience's age group will most likely be males aged 18-44. 

M/F/A Ratings The Godfather

Mark - Age 22

Mark is a 22-year-old that loves films involving the mafia or gangs. He enjoys them because he knows that the criminal world is indeed out there and these type of films can show the life of a British gangster that live among him. He also enjoys them because absolutely anything can happen, the plots are usually very interesting and great, he also never knows what to expect as every day may be the last for the characters.The stories from the underground/criminal society are almost unlimited. The violence, the twist and plots give him the thrill that he wants. When watching a gangster film he usually gets to know the character very well and for mark it is almost as though he is place in their position and he has the opportunity to experience the hellish end or the survival of it, from the characters point of view. 

Peter - Age 44

Peter was fortunate to be brought up in an area of London where he has easy access to some 4cinemas. Additionally going to the cinema each week had been part of his normal family life for as long as he could remember. But his real interest, which almost developed his hobbym in any films with an espionage related flavour especially those linked to Russia. this started with a student exchange when he was 17 and his school played host to student of the same age from a school in West Berlin. Peter spent many hours listening to stories of how people escaped either under or over the Berlin Wall. Later with the fall of the wall in 1989 he visited both East and West Berlin and met up with the same students. The addiotional 'fuel for this hobby' was that he was intrigued by the assignation in the heart of London of the Bulgarian dissedent by the KGB with a poisoned umbrella tip and more recently the murder, again by the FSB (old KGB), of Alexander Litvinenco plus, over the coming years there were some 12 James Bond films released that became a 'must see' films. 

Peter was also an avid reader and a fan of Len Deighton's books based on the MI6 agent Harry Palmer played by Michael Caine in The Ipcress File, Billion Dollar Brain and Funeral in Berlin. All of this plus his admiration for the gritty and violent crime thriller 'Get Carter' which also stated Michael Caine makes Peter and many other males of his generation an ideal target audience

Question 3:

Thriller Opening Final Cut

Question 2: