Preliminary Task

Using the 180 degree rule, I had to complete a small project of a subject walking through a door, lift, archway, to cross a space and have a conversation with other subjects. I then uploaded it onto my youtube channel.

Final Film

Evaluation Activity 1

VOICE OVER SCRIPT

In many different ways my film develops and challenges forms and conventions of a real media product. To begin with, I think that my title does follow typical drama conventions with the title ‘Nine Lives’ as it is short yet effective and relates to my movie well. It is representing the suicidal attempts that my character has done, resulting her to be in the position she is in during the opening sequence of my film.

The location of my film is another convention that has been followed, as in a typical drama there is always a location that is significant to a climax of a film. The film that I was inspired by, ‘It’s A Kinda Funny Story’, also had a similar aspect to their opening, as the character was filmed cycling to his location, which was on top of a bridge. These shots I have cut from their opening are very similar to shots I have filmed in my movie. I have some examples of some of the clips I included in my film here. I have also included an establishing shot of the mental hospital, which, whilst my character is speaking over the top, is a location she has previously been.

The costumes and props used, such as the hospital gown and makeup used on the actors were obeying typical forms and conventions of a drama film through the emotions and storylines following them. On my main character Beth, she wore a hospital gown representing her mental health and also has bruises on her neck and a scar on her wrists from previous suicide attempts resulting her in the outfit she is wearing. The actor playing Beth’s brother, Max, also had make up on his face and neck showing his beaten bruises. Other smaller props consisted of drugs and alcohol, which are defiantly following drama forms and conventions.

The special effects and editing I used in my film are a cross between drama and action conventions. Been inspired by the film Bourne Ultimatum, explored in a previous post, I decided to create a similar effect to make sure that my audience would understand that this section of my film is flashbacks of the character, also similar to Bourne Ultimatum. Using After Effects, I created the flashback effect and Final Cut Pro I duplicated the edited clip and overlayed both versions together to represent the confused mind of my character, still following typical drama conventions.   

Evaluation Activity 2

To evaluate how my media product represents particular social groups, I have compared two characters from my inspiring film and my main character. The image above is comparing the character from the introduction and my character.

Similarities include:

·         Both the same age

·         Have similar background and lifestyle issues

·         Similar role in the film

Differences include:

·         Different sex

·         Different costumes

·         He has never attempted suicide before this stunt

The image above is comparing the main character in the rest of the film ‘ It’s a Kinda Funny Story’ and my main character from ‘Nine Lives’.

Similarities include:

·         Both the same age

·         Both the same sex

·         Attempted previous suicides

·         Similar role in the film

·         Same reason admitted into hospital

Differences include:

·         Different mental stability

Evaluation Activity 3

My film having the genre of Drama, I researched production companies who focus on producing drama media products such as a television series More on Drugs Inc. I think that this would be appropriate for my film as I also have issues such as drugs and alcohol featured in my film. 

Information about Wall to Wall

For more than 20 years Wall to Wall has been at the cutting edge of innovation, re-inventing factual genre with television series like The 1900 House and the global hit Who Do You Think You Are? and delivering high-rating, acclaimed primetime drama.

A second media institution which might distribute my media product is Tiger Aspect. They are a huge production company who also focus on drama films and have produced some of the top rated movies in the country.

Information about Tiger Aspect

They are one of the UK's leading TV and film production companies, Tiger Aspect works with top writers, performers and program makers to produce great programming. They create genre-defining, ground-breaking and most importantly popular quality programming for all the UK's main terrestrial and non-terrestrial broadcasters and for major international markets. The company has been producing hits for over two decades, working with the UK's best talent.

However, even though these film production companies have worked with some of the best television entertainment there is, I decided for my film introduction to create my own. My production company is called Shapshot Productions. Below is my Production Company Animation.

Evaluation Activity 4

As I changed my ideas and plans for my final film quite late in the process, I previously created a target audience demographic for the previous film. As my questionnaire for my previous film was very similar to the new one I created I have decided to just use the results from the previous questionnaire shown on a previous post. I have been working on a new one since I have changed my mind and it is shown below. 

I think that this person (who wanted to stay unnamed) would like to watch my film because all of the answers she gave me I was thinking about whether I had them in my film, things such as favourite scenes, characters etc. I did have most of the required elements in a classical drama, however my demographic target audience proved my answers correct and I know that I am on the right path to a successful drama opening. 

Evaluation Activity 5

To attract my audience I have made sure that I have tried to follow typical drama forms and conventions so that my audience understands my genre and why the plot is the way it is. It also means that my audience knows what to expect if they saw the rest of the film, and from watching the opening sequence they know what and who it will be about. I think that my opening gave lots of information about the main character, as she is speaking about her feelings, acting and also having flashbacks of her past. I think that if the character is introduced well then the audience will find it more interesting to watch her in this movie.

Sound was another big part in attracting my audience, as I wanted it to be as dramatic as possible. Whilst playing around with a track I made on Soundtrack Pro, I decided that sound alone wouldn’t be enough, so I recorded my actress and a woman to play the Good Samaritan through a hand held voice recorder.

I also think that good special effects draw in the audience, as it is original and fun to watch. I like how I have incorporated special effect editing on my flash back scene, inspired by the film Bourne Ultimatum and also through my earth zoom. I created these special effects using After Effects. This is also where I created my titles for my film, which are clear and easy for the audience to read and understand. 

Below is an interview I had with a demographic member of my target audience. Her name is Charlie and she is 22. I asked her questions about my film to receive some feedback and whether she it was exciting to watch. 

The video conferencing software I used was slightly slow whilst i was recording it, using a screen recorder, so her speech is slightly faster than her actions. 

Evaluation Activity 6

From day one of this course, I have been constantly learning new programs and features, which is making the work I have been producing become more and more exciting. Cutting and arranging footage to create a flowing clip and creating effects on the raw footage I have shot with a camera is just some of the basic skills I have learnt through the year. I have been using software such as Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, After Effects, iMovie and Blogger. Most of these programs have been new to me from the beginning of this course, however once I had a few experiments and practised some of the key skills I would need for the future of the course I got to grips with them and started to enjoy using them. I have been very lucky to have amazing equipment provided for our use at school, for example I have used Apple iMacs and also 7D Canon Cameras.

I have included some screen grabs below of myself using some editing functions in the software programs Final Cut Pro, After Effects and Sound Track Pro. 

This screen shot below is myself applying a filter to the shot of the hospital in Final Cut Pro.

Here I am editing the filter settings to suit what i want.

This is another shot editing the video filter, here changing the speed setting to slower.

This is myself using the program After Effects. I am here creating the effect on the flashbacks inspired by the movie borne ultimatum.

I am using After Effects again to produce and create my production company animation.

This is another After Effects shot of when I created an animation of an earth zoom.

This screen shot it showing the editing of the sound for my final film in the program Soundtrack Pro. A lot of it was dialogue which I recorded in a quiet room, so I needed to add some effects to it to make it sound like my character is outside.

The iMacs have been great to use in Media as the level of quality and the speed that it can produce for the user is incredible. It also proves to be easier to use software such as After effects for example as it is originally designed for Macintosh operating systems.

The 7D Canon Cameras shoot HD footage and stills. It is an amazing camera that suits almost every need. I used this camera when I filmed my final film to give me the best quality I could get. Having such a technical camera to use has been a great advantage as it has been able to shoot night scenes really well which does feature in my film most. I have also been using the tripod mainly with this camera as most of my shots I have needed to do haven't required much movement. 

Below is a small screen recording of myself using some of the software mentioned above.  

Evaluation Activity 7

Below is a video of myself answering the question and also includes a screen recording of some frames on the preliminary task and mundane task that I liked and wanted to talk about. 






Below here is my whole preliminary task and mundane task videos.

Health and Safety

Health and Safety Issues

During the filming for my introduction, it involved shooting my main character at the top of a pier wall. This wall is very high and does have rocks and the rough sea below, even though it was dark when filming. To make sure that my character was 100% safe whilst she was standing on top of that wall, I had arranged with the coast guards that I would be doing this, and I asked if the rescue boat on duty at that time could be docked at the bottom of the section of the wall I had planned for my actress to stand on. On the boat, they had the equipment to save my actresses life if she had fallen as they had a safety net to catch her, as well as the medical equipment for her help also. 

Furthermore, I had 3 adults with us on the set where they were just out of visibility of the shot, but ready to stop the actress from falling by catching her. I had explained all the risks and precautions I had planned before we started shooting and she gave me her verbal consent that this would be ok. 

Earth Zoom

Whilst editing and looking over the film that is starting to come together, I have found that I don't have a good start to the opening. Doing some research for ideas on how to start it, I thought of the idea of doing an earth zoom in after effects. I did some further research and found some tutorials to guide me through the basic steps. Below are screen shots of me producing this animation in after effects and then the finished out come without being put into the film.

Construction Post 2

Editing Research

From watching part of a scene from Bourne Ultimatum, shown below, I really liked how their interpretation of the main characters flashbacks have been edited and are very clearly presented as flashbacks.

From 1min 18secs in the flashbacks start with the music becoming very dramatic and exciting for the audience.



They have used Adobe After Effects to create this effect and I have researched tutorials to teach myself how to adjust my own footage to look similar for my flashback sections as I don't think that they are very clear as to what they are with out the effect. Below are some screenshot of myself creating this effect and will also show what I have produced from this.

I have created a short clip of my two edits of the flashback scene and compared them both.


I have realised that some of the clips with the effect are too bright, for example when the exam paper is shown it is completely white, I have noticed early so I will adjust that to make sure it is clearly visible.

Filming myself on the set

As I was shooting my film at night, the quality on the lower resolution camera used to film myself using the good equipment for the production, has made the film slightly grainy as I have resulted to raising the contrast, brightness and exposure on the clips.

After Effects

I have also decided to create a second after effects sequence before my film production. Using Adobe After Effects, I have successfully managed to create an energy wave effect when introducing the studio name. This is my final production and screen shots of me creating it.

Final outcome below.

Editing My Film

This screenshot is of me editing the footage on final cut pro of the flashbacks for my short production.

Actors auditions in costume

Below are some audition tapes I created of some of the actors.

Props, Costumes and Locations

My main character is a mentally ill patient, and I will start to shoot at a hospital, showing nurses and my main character (Beth) within the hospital. This will involve Beth wearing a hospital gown or an outfit shown with examples below...

These costumes are both white and the simplicity of the costumes deeply represent the mental stability of these people. Using a straight jacket shown in the left image could be possible, however, my character will be escaping the hospital so I could be making it harder for her to get herself out of a straight jacket. An ideal costume for her is the white gown or top and trousers shown in the top right image. However, when she is running I might get her to change into her own clothes, wearing simple outfit such as leggings a top and a cardigan. I will make the final decision at the shoot.


The extra characters I have in my production are only shown in a short clip as flashback shots, and is telling the story about her home life and family members, so they will be in their own clothes that look natural to what they would normally wear in the house hold. For example, Beth's little brother will wear jeans and a t-shit, whilst her dad in his tracksuit bottoms and sweater as these are normal for them to be wearing. I have chosen to do this because I wanted the flashbacks to look as natural as possible.

I am also going to be using lots of makeup in this film, as my actors do not already have any bruises or self harming scaring. So I will be using a range of products such as dark blue, grey and dark beige eye shadow, for bruises, red pencils and lip products for any bleeding or scars, as well as natural skin powders to make it look more realistic. Here is an image of the face makeup I did on the younger actor Laurie.

Props which will be used will include pills, spirit bottles, beer bottle (when the dad is beating his son), a marked exam paper, a suitcase (when Beth's mum leaves) , fake blood (made with red food colouring, water and flour)(used when Beth has found her dead brother lying on the road).

Locations of my film will include the inside of a hospital, showing the bedroom, hallways and the outside of the hospital. When Beth has escaped then I will be filming her walking to the pier at the harbour, including lots of different areas within the island as she is making her way. The pier at the harbour is the main location and most important as it will be leaving the audience with a cliffhanger. The pier is the islands local harbour and is very dangerous because it isn't the highest but is filled with sharp and ragged rocks at the bottom and is a serious suicide spot for islanders.

 This image to the right is the view of the main highest wall from a different perspective. If I needed a long establishing shot I will keep this location in mind to use as a different angle.




The picture below is from the main harbour building where to the left is the high wall, however I wanted to photograph this place because of the dangerous rocks below which are just covered by the sea making it incredibly dangerous.

The two images below are a very dark and cold area of the harbour with two different possibilities to commit suicide. I have circled these two posibilities in red on the image on the left, and the image on the right is a closer look of the best possibility from the left red circle in the first picture. 

 This was the third location I visited and I think it is  the best place to shoot. It has a good amount of light, but also not too much that it looks happy. It has the cold and spooky edge that I was looking for.








This is an image of the wall from behind where I can get good shots of my actor standing on the wall.

The shot above is the main location where the narrative begins. I will have an establishing shot at the beginning of my film to show where my character has been. I will also be adding a voice over explaining my characters situation and story.

Drama Opening Research

As many of my previous research is very similar to the research i have been looking up since I have changed my opening idea, I have added some different scenes and clips.

Its A Kinda Funny Story

This next clip is from the BBC's production of Sherlock, where Sherlock himself is committing suicide. 

I like how here Sherlock's face has been shown in a shallow depth of field closeup, as even in just this shot, in the background is the top of a building which makes me think that he is high up. Also, from looking at his emotions, I can tell that he is about to do something nervously or is looking at something scary or upsetting. In this case this would be the road below.

This establishing shot of Sherlock at the top of the building has great composition and really shows that he is so close to death. The fact that there is cloudy and dull weather also comes together nicely as if it was a sunny happy day then the vibe would not be as strong to the audience. This has made me think about the weather for my production quite a lot.

This closeup shot of Sherlock's foot is hanging off the edge of the roof is building up the tension and excitement for the audience as well as being prepared for death and sadness. I would like to include a shot such as this to have the same affect with my audience.

This establishing shot is really dramatic and I like how Sherlock is being filmed jumping off the building as many television series or movies cut from the top of the location to the land at the bottom. I think that because Sherlock was such as loved character from many series of connecting with him, it was right to see his whole death.

This shot is great from a pedestrians view. It is a very scary shot as a bystander on the side of the road would be petrified to see this man falling out of the sky right in front of your face.

Here Sherlock has fallen to his death on the side of a road with many people surrounding him. Even though this is very dramatic and exciting for the audience to see, I don't think that I want to do the same as I want my character to jump to her death off of a pier. I will not even show the audience whether she jumps or not to add some suspense and mystery.