Thursday, 31 March 2011
Task 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?
This is an image of what i imagine our target audience to look like. They are teenagers/young adults who would be middle class. 
‘Blitz’ is a film based inBritain United States
The majority of the people going to the cinema to view my film would be middle/upper class as they can afford the tickets and confectionary, also people still in education as you get the special ticket prices/offers. The film would be given a 12a certificate, so young children would not be able to see this film. The fact that it is a 12a means that some tweens would also be able to see the film in the cinema and not have to wait until it was on DVD. Adults may go and see this film with their teenage children. Others who may not usually see the film may see it because there is a special offer on like Orange Wednesday.
‘Blitz’ is a film based in
The primary audience is very likely to still be in full time education or further education therefore we would need to make the film interesting to them solely. Many young people are unable to afford a ticket to the cinema so the main audience would probably be on DVD purchase two months after the release in cinema.
The sole audience would definitely be British as the film centres around Britain America
The majority of the people going to the cinema to view my film would be middle/upper class as they can afford the tickets and confectionary, also people still in education as you get the special ticket prices/offers. The film would be given a 12a certificate, so young children would not be able to see this film. The fact that it is a 12a means that some tweens would also be able to see the film in the cinema and not have to wait until it was on DVD. Adults may go and see this film with their teenage children. Others who may not usually see the film may see it because there is a special offer on like Orange Wednesday.
Task 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
'Blitz' is a low budget, British made film of the 'thriller' genre. After looking at many film distributors like 'Lionsgate', 'Paramount', 'Film Four' and '20th Century Fox’ we decided that ‘Vertigo’ would be the best match for our film ‘Blitz’. We are looking for a low budget distributor as it is our first film and we are not likely to be in the cinema for a long time there for the company will focus on a DVD release. A British film distributor (Vertigo) would be ideal as our film is aimed at a niche British audience.
Vertigo Films is a UK Media company founded by Allan Niblo, James Richardson, Nick Love, Rupert Preston and Rob Morgan in 2002 to create and distribute commercially driven independent cinema. Creating such films as ‘Street Dance 3D’, ‘Monsters’ and ‘The Cove’. ‘Vertigo’ films are often in the thriller genre and are made solely of British money. ‘Blitz’ seems to fit the idea of ‘Vertigo’ films perfectly.
We are going to use all British cast and crew, British money, even our idea centers aroundBritain
Monsters is a film distributed by Vertigo.
They are likely to be interested in 'Blitz' as it is a low budget independant film made with British cast and crew and locations. There is no other film like 'Blitz' out in the industry today. We have a strong target audience so Vertigo could use that fact strongly to advertise our film. 'Blitz' is a one of a kind film that would be entirely British to represent the era and location of our film, also it would be cheap and easy to film as the locations are few and simple and the cast is small and unknown so would be cheaper to hire.
Vertigo Films is a UK Media company founded by Allan Niblo, James Richardson, Nick Love, Rupert Preston and Rob Morgan in 2002 to create and distribute commercially driven independent cinema. Creating such films as ‘Street Dance 3D’, ‘Monsters’ and ‘The Cove’. ‘Vertigo’ films are often in the thriller genre and are made solely of British money. ‘Blitz’ seems to fit the idea of ‘Vertigo’ films perfectly.
We are going to use all British cast and crew, British money, even our idea centers around
Monsters is a film distributed by Vertigo.
They are likely to be interested in 'Blitz' as it is a low budget independant film made with British cast and crew and locations. There is no other film like 'Blitz' out in the industry today. We have a strong target audience so Vertigo could use that fact strongly to advertise our film. 'Blitz' is a one of a kind film that would be entirely British to represent the era and location of our film, also it would be cheap and easy to film as the locations are few and simple and the cast is small and unknown so would be cheaper to hire.
Task 2: How does your product represent particular social groups?
When trying to represent particular social groups within our sequence, we had to look at our two pivitol characters in our opening thriller sequence.
Firstly the young girl is shown to be a middle class town girl during the Second World War. This is portrayed through her period costume. As the nightgown in long, white and clean, we are able to see that our young girl is middle class. Her hair is neatly plaited and she has a blanket and a bed to sleep on.
Another fact that makes our girl middle class is the fact that she is writing, this shows that she is educated unlike many of the children during that era. She must also be rather wealthy as she has her own bomb shelter rather than a public one, in the shelter is a type writer and a large desk, and radio, these were expensive items which show that she is not working class and must come from a wealthy family.
The fact that she is an only child also helps us identify that she is middle class as her family did not need to produce workers and have children as an economic asset.
The shot of a man (whom we presume to be her father) coming through the door to the shelter makes the little girl frightened. The father is made out to be middle class as his shadow shows that he is smartly dressed with a hat on.
We wanted our little girl to be like the charater of Lucy Pensive in 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe'. Lucy would be of around the same age and class as our girl. The movie was also set in world war two so Lucy seemed like a good character to base our character on.
Our second character was the archeologist. Although we cannot tell much about him we are able to see that he is educated, as he has a job. His clothes suggest that he is from the modern day. His clothes are clean and ironed, they are smart casual which supports the fact that he works as an archeoligist.
He seems to be looking for something which tells the audience that he is on a job and is not just there our of interest but needs to find something.
We based this character slightly on Indiana Jones as he seems to be looking for something. But also on a character from Jurassic Park. These seemed to have the same class and job as our charater, and allowed us to gain some information as to what this character would be like.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Task 1: in what way does your media product use, develop or challange forms and conventions of real media products?
When inserting the titles to our sequence we had to look at many forms of opening sequence to see what order to put the names in and also to see how we could challenge or uphold these conventions.
This is our first title. It is of the distributor, this conforms with existing title sequences because we placed them first. They are responsible for funding the film so have invested the most money into it the making of it.
Our second shot conforms as it shows the production company who are responsible for the porduction and post production of the film. They are second in terms of importance therefore they come after the distributor. We came up with the name 'Brickwall Production', this idea came to be after we decided to use brick wall set.
Thirdly we placed the title of 'A Marley Gordon Jones Film'. We challange existing sequences here as Marley is not the director of our film. He would have helped throughout the film and also funded alot of it. This may have been a partnership between the director and Gordon-Jones which could have come to be from a lack of funds.
We now come to the creative element of the film production. Firstly we listed the director of photography, this person is responsible for planning the film shots and angles for the feature film.
Then we listed the editor. He is responsible for cutting together the final cut of the film. Commonly there will be a team of editors, conforming to current productions we placed the head of the team in the title sequence.
We then added the name of the producer. He comes just before the director as he helped make the film, he would have invested money into the film and also been around during the making of it to see how it was turning out. He would have a say in the final cut.
Our director comes just before the name of the movie. This is because he was the person most involved creatively in the film and is the person with the main vision. He would have said how he wanted the film to turn out. He would have directed the actors into what they should be doing, and also the camera angles to get an idea of what the final cut will look like.
Finally we placed the title of our movie. This comes last as it concludes the title sequence. It also attracts the attention of the audience and shows them that the movie is about to begin. By conforming to exsiting films we placed the films name in capitals and make it much bigger than the rest of the credits. This will make a much larger impact upon the audience. By only having one word, the title is more catchy and this will help with advertising the film.
This is our second most important cast member. Commonly, the rest of the principal cast are listed from now, eispecially the well known names.
This is our first title. It is of the distributor, this conforms with existing title sequences because we placed them first. They are responsible for funding the film so have invested the most money into it the making of it.
Our second shot conforms as it shows the production company who are responsible for the porduction and post production of the film. They are second in terms of importance therefore they come after the distributor. We came up with the name 'Brickwall Production', this idea came to be after we decided to use brick wall set.
Thirdly we placed the title of 'A Marley Gordon Jones Film'. We challange existing sequences here as Marley is not the director of our film. He would have helped throughout the film and also funded alot of it. This may have been a partnership between the director and Gordon-Jones which could have come to be from a lack of funds.
We now come to the creative element of the film production. Firstly we listed the director of photography, this person is responsible for planning the film shots and angles for the feature film.
Then we listed the editor. He is responsible for cutting together the final cut of the film. Commonly there will be a team of editors, conforming to current productions we placed the head of the team in the title sequence.
We then added the name of the producer. He comes just before the director as he helped make the film, he would have invested money into the film and also been around during the making of it to see how it was turning out. He would have a say in the final cut.
Our director comes just before the name of the movie. This is because he was the person most involved creatively in the film and is the person with the main vision. He would have said how he wanted the film to turn out. He would have directed the actors into what they should be doing, and also the camera angles to get an idea of what the final cut will look like.
Finally we placed the title of our movie. This comes last as it concludes the title sequence. It also attracts the attention of the audience and shows them that the movie is about to begin. By conforming to exsiting films we placed the films name in capitals and make it much bigger than the rest of the credits. This will make a much larger impact upon the audience. By only having one word, the title is more catchy and this will help with advertising the film.
This is our second most important cast member. Commonly, the rest of the principal cast are listed from now, eispecially the well known names.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Post Production Evaluation
We applied many different Techniques and skills when filming and editing "Blitz" our Thriller task to when we did our prelim task. We made a few mistakes while filming the prelim task but learn't from these and made sure we perfected them in the thriller task. We also spent far more time planning and filming "Blitz" than the prelim which allowed us to focus on detail and make sure everything was prepared for shooting (props, costumes, set, storyboard, continuity e.t.c).
We used a wider variety of shots in the thriller task than with the prelim task. We only used static shots in the prelim task whereas we experimented more with the thriller task. We used a tracking shot, panning shots and also a crane shot. This provided us with a more interesting sequence with variety and movement which helped move the sequence along.
When editing for "Blitz" we wanted to create a cold and dark atmosphere especially in the second half of the sequence. We did this by using dim lighting when filming and also by shooting alot of dark shots to disorientate the audience.
We used a wider variety of shots in the thriller task than with the prelim task. We only used static shots in the prelim task whereas we experimented more with the thriller task. We used a tracking shot, panning shots and also a crane shot. This provided us with a more interesting sequence with variety and movement which helped move the sequence along.
When editing for "Blitz" we wanted to create a cold and dark atmosphere especially in the second half of the sequence. We did this by using dim lighting when filming and also by shooting alot of dark shots to disorientate the audience.
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| Use of dim lighting to disorient the audience |
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Account Of Shoot Day "BLITZ"
We arrived on set around 9:00AM where we met our actress called Zoe who was going to be playing the young girl in "Blitz". We explained what would be happening through the day to her and then we rehearsed with her for around a half hour. We had decided previously that we would shoot the opening sequence in the correct order which made our day easier but did also help with continuity. After rehearsing we got Zoe (young girl) to get into her costume.
Once everything was set we started to prepare for our first shot. This was an establishing shot which was shot using a crane. The crane was lifted above the set looking onto the black. We then prepared the ladder directly above the camera for dust to be dropped to give the effect of an air raid. We did a few takes of this shot as it was tough to get the right speed, right frame but also the right ammount of dust being dropped at the right time. The crane slowly decended and slowly revealed the 1940's bomb shelter, this should create the illusion of going underground.
After the establishing shot we decided to do the tracking shot later but before we destroyed the set. We decided to do a few close ups and mid-close-ups of Zoe writing in her diary. While shooting these shots we recognized the loud fan which was being captured through the mic. Becuase of this we decided to record that sound to help with the continuity of the sound. We got an extreme close-up of the diary, when shooting this we had to think about the continuity of where she is writing on the page, once we had got this right we then did the same for the close-up and for the mid-close up.
We then came up with an idea of having a wide shot showing the shadow of a man opening a door which would be thrown over Zoe. We got a door frame and positioned it, we then got a Blondie (studio light) and positioned it so that the light did not leak out of the frame but also to get the man's shadow projecting over Zoe. This took a while to get the right positions but we thought it paid of in the end. After doing a few takes of this wide shot we then decided to move onto the tracking shot.
We started to set up the track in a straight line from the bed to the shelves.
Once everything was set we started to prepare for our first shot. This was an establishing shot which was shot using a crane. The crane was lifted above the set looking onto the black. We then prepared the ladder directly above the camera for dust to be dropped to give the effect of an air raid. We did a few takes of this shot as it was tough to get the right speed, right frame but also the right ammount of dust being dropped at the right time. The crane slowly decended and slowly revealed the 1940's bomb shelter, this should create the illusion of going underground.
After the establishing shot we decided to do the tracking shot later but before we destroyed the set. We decided to do a few close ups and mid-close-ups of Zoe writing in her diary. While shooting these shots we recognized the loud fan which was being captured through the mic. Becuase of this we decided to record that sound to help with the continuity of the sound. We got an extreme close-up of the diary, when shooting this we had to think about the continuity of where she is writing on the page, once we had got this right we then did the same for the close-up and for the mid-close up.
We then came up with an idea of having a wide shot showing the shadow of a man opening a door which would be thrown over Zoe. We got a door frame and positioned it, we then got a Blondie (studio light) and positioned it so that the light did not leak out of the frame but also to get the man's shadow projecting over Zoe. This took a while to get the right positions but we thought it paid of in the end. After doing a few takes of this wide shot we then decided to move onto the tracking shot.
We started to set up the track in a straight line from the bed to the shelves.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011
'Blitz' Set Photos
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| This was a shot of the desk in our set |
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| The monitor we used to see what the camera saw |
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| Rehearsing our actress |
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| Taking our opening shot up in the genie |
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| Charlie capturing the sound |
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| Shooting the tracking shot |
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| Our set once the bomb had hit |
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| Rehearsing our actor |
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| Our actress writing the diary |
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| Our actress who played Hattie |
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| The propaganda posters |
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| Shooting Hattie writing in her diary |
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| A picture of the set |
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| Some of the set |
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| Rehearsing our actress |
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| Rehearsing our actress/ destroying the set |
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| Destroying the set after the bomb had hit |
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| A shot of the ending of our sequence |
Dressing the Set for 'Blitz' (day before shoot)
The day before the shoot we collected all of our props and started to build the set. We started off with a square12 Metre by 12 Metre brick wall.
We then spent the afternoon dressing it with all of the props. We managed to get a large antique desk from the school and also a few old looking wooden chairs. We had also managed to get hold of a old wooden bed frame from one of the boarding houses which we then stuck a matress on top. We had a good idea where everything was going to go but we still experimented with the placement of certain props.
When dressing the desk we tried to make it look busy we accomplished this by having a large newspaper spread across then place letters, cards, pens ontop with a typewriter and clock on the side.
We then started to dress the shelf above the desk. We managed to get hold of some old food and drinks and an old original painting which was painted in the 40's. There was also a photo of a soldier similar to the one on the desk.
To make the set look more cramped and chloestrophobic we added a table and draped a white sheet over it. We then started to stick up posters and leaflets over the wall. We created a small area next to the girl's bed which consisted of comics and pictures.
We also scattered old toys, sweets and photos on the floor.
While doing this we were considering how the set would look trashed and destroyed and had an idea of piercing the porridge and scattering it over the room. This proved to be succesful.
We were really happy with how the set looked in the end and feel that the placement of the props were well thought through.
Collecting Props for 'Blitz'
We wanted to make the set as realistic and accurate as possible. To do this we focused and researched on items and styles that were around in the 40's. While researching and looking forsuitable props we fortunatly stumbled across the 'National History Museum' shop which stocked WWII Blitz replica packs which were perfect for what we needed. We ordered them up immediatly.
We started to write down a list of props which would be appropriate for the set. These included
-Food
-Radio
-Photos
-Clock
-Wristwatch
-Bears
-Old fashioned toys
-Posters
-Typewriter
-Pens
(and more)
Planning Idea's for our Thriller 'Blitz'
Our idea has dramtically changed from when we first met as a group to discuss the theme of our opening sequence. We originally planned to set it in an old mental asylum in the 1900's. We found a location for filming and emailed asking if it would be possible to film at Cane Hill Asylum for a day:
From: Charlie MANTONSent: 25 November 2010 09:47To: sickbritain@googlemail.comSubject: Cane Hill Asylum
However we heard no reply from Cane Hill, so moved onto other mental asylums. After phoning many of them up, we rang the Surrey County Council who told us that there would be too many insureance procedures to complete if we wished to film in a derelict building.
>>> Sophie GREIG <Sophie.Greig@hurtwood.net> 08/12/2010 17:45 >>>
From: Charlie MANTONSent: 25 November 2010 09:47To: sickbritain@googlemail.comSubject: Cane Hill Asylum
Dear Sir/Madam
We are currently in the process of planning our AS Media studies coursework Thriller Sequence at Hurtwood House and while searching for locations we stumbled across Cane Hill Asylum. We researched it and found this website and were wondering if you could give us the details of the current owner as we were wondering if there was any chance we could possibly be able to use it as a film location for a day in January. There will be profesional teacher supervision aswell.
Many thanks in advance for any information you can give us.
Regards,
Charlie Manton, Sophie Greig, Catherine Ward Thomas
Hurtwood House
Radnor Lane
Holmbury St Mary
Dorking
RH5 6NU
However we heard no reply from Cane Hill, so moved onto other mental asylums. After phoning many of them up, we rang the Surrey County Council who told us that there would be too many insureance procedures to complete if we wished to film in a derelict building.
At this point our idea once again took a turn as we decided on a plot change. Instead of setting it in Victorian times we moved forward 50 years to the era of World War 2 and took our young girl to a tube station. After contacting Aldwych Station we discovered that it would cost £250 p.h which we could not afford.
Our idea took another turn when we thought about other locations to film in and came up with the idea of using an exibhition at the Imperial War Museum:
>>> Sophie GREIG <Sophie.Greig@hurtwood.net> 08/12/2010 17:45 >>>
Dear Sir or Madam,
We are currently studying for our Media AS level and need to produce a 2 minute opening sequence of a horror/thriller movie. We came across your 'Blitz Experience' exhibition and fits our theme perfectly. We were wondering if it would be possible to film there for a day in early January. We understand that it costs £150 p.h, however as we are students we cannot afford a morning's worth of filming there. Would it be possible to reduce the price to allow us filming there for around 4 hours.
We have been planning an opening sequence revolving around one 8 year old girl who has lost her mother in a bombing, we would like shots of her wandering around the bombed streets of London after the bombs have dropped. Is there any way of getting these shots without paying the full price? After our exam we would be happy to offer you the footage we shot and the finished sequence if it is any use to you.
Many thanks,
Sophie Greig
Media Studies Dept.
Hurtwood House School
Radnor Lane
Holmbury St Mary
Dorking
Surrey
RH5 6NU
We are currently studying for our Media AS level and need to produce a 2 minute opening sequence of a horror/thriller movie. We came across your 'Blitz Experience' exhibition and fits our theme perfectly. We were wondering if it would be possible to film there for a day in early January. We understand that it costs £150 p.h, however as we are students we cannot afford a morning's worth of filming there. Would it be possible to reduce the price to allow us filming there for around 4 hours.
We have been planning an opening sequence revolving around one 8 year old girl who has lost her mother in a bombing, we would like shots of her wandering around the bombed streets of London after the bombs have dropped. Is there any way of getting these shots without paying the full price? After our exam we would be happy to offer you the footage we shot and the finished sequence if it is any use to you.
Many thanks,
Sophie Greig
Media Studies Dept.
Hurtwood House School
Radnor Lane
Holmbury St Mary
Dorking
Surrey
RH5 6NU
The museum replied with this email:
Dear Sophie,
Thank you for your email, as filming would take place outside Museum Opening Hours (before 10am or after 6pm) we do need to cover costs to keep the Museum open, including staffing costs. Our standard filming rate is £450 per hour which we reduce to £150 per hour for students and we would not be able to reduce this costs any further.
Please do advise if you would like to go ahead with the filming and I will be happy to investigate available dates.
Best wishes,
Debbie
Debbie
Debbie Dowden
Events Officer
Imperial War Museum
Lambeth Road
London
SE1 6HZ
Tel: 020 7416 5393
Events Officer
Imperial War Museum
Lambeth Road
London
SE1 6HZ
Tel: 020 7416 5393
Once again, the price was too high to be able to film at this location. So we settled for using our studio at school and placing our thriller sequence in an old bomb shelter, in both the past and the present day.
After these many attempts of finding a location to film in, we came up with our final idea 'Blitz'.
'Blitz' Shot List
Tracking shot of bunker
Close up on posters
Close up on foods
Tracking to desk
Close up on newspaper and leaflets
Close up on chair and gas mask box
Cut to bed/feet Panning shot up girl’s feet
Pan up her body
Pan up to her head and over her shoulders
P.O.V shot of her writing
Extreme close up of diary
Wide shot of girl looking around
Close up of her shuffling back to bed
Cut to black
Medium shot of breaking through of bunker
P.O.V shot of torch sinning round
Close up of propaganda poster
Close up of books
Wide shot to see ghost
Medium close up of bed
Close up on diary
Over shoulder shot of man reading diary
Cut to book falling off shelf
Cut to over shoulder shot of man reading diary and ghost appearing in front of him
Cut to extreme close up of little girl
Cut to over shoulder shot of man reading diary and ghost appearing in front of him
Cut to extreme close up of little girl
Cut to black
Black frame
BLITZ.
'Blitz' Shooting Script
BLITZ Shooting Script
INT: Tracking shot: Dimly lit: The frame focuses on an underground cellar like bomb shelter in 1940. We track across various props from the era, for example, we see some shelves filled with tinned food, cereal boxes etc. We track across to propaganda posters on the wall; we pan across to a set of shelves where we track across boxes of food and tins. We pan down to a small table where we see a radio which we hear playing a speech of Churchill, some leaflets, ID cards, letters, ration books and newspapers. We track across the newspaper to see headlines of events that have happened in the war. We then track across to the bed where we see a little girl writing in her diary looking bored, but occupying herself.
Cut to a POV shot of her writing in her diary, this shows the audience the date. We then cut to a shot of the side of her diary showing her hand writing, lots of rough and sketchy pen movement is shown over laying each other to create a jagged and un-settling atmosphere. We hear the sound of distant footsteps getting closer, and then the young girl is seen looking scared and shuffling to the end of her bed, hugging her knees screaming
Hattie:
‘No, No, please no’.
A bomb sound effect is heard. We then cut to black.
A few seconds pass until we hear the sound of someone breaking in to the shelter. A sliver of light is shown inside as the doorway breaks open.
INT: Tracking shot; Lit by torchlight. We see the bomb shelter from the previous sequence covered in cobwebs and some items have fallen off the wall. A man walks around the shelter his torch focussing on certain items. He starts off by looking at the shelves and the books on the shelves, then through the food and down onto the leaflets on the table. He leans over to a shelf to pick out a book and lets his torch hang by his side for a brief moment. In this moment we see the flash of a ghostly figure before he shines his torch around. He passes to her bed where he sees the diary she was writing in. He flicks through some pages before hearing a brief noise and shining the torch around the room. A book is seen to have fallen off the shelf and as he looks back to the diary the little girl appears right in front of his face.
Cut to black. White type writer letters of B L I T Z. Appear against the typing sound effect and some eerie music.
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