Out of Sight

Welcome to my blog.

I hope you find my blog both enjoyable and informative, containing my work on G321. My work centres around the making of a fictional thriller film opening called 'Out of Sight'. I worked alone for the duration of this task. Please select one of the tabs above to see my 7 evaluation questions.

Out of Sight Film Opening

Click here to see my film opening for Out of Sight

Evaluation Question 1

I decided to answer my evaluation question 1 by means of commentary. I recorded my voice with the use of Garageband '11.

Evaluation Question 2

'Signs' (2002)

 I decided to compare the main character in my thriller  opening 'Out of Sight' to Mel Gibson in 'Signs' (2002).

Both of them are supernatural thriller films. My protagonist wears morning clothing similar to Mel Gibson, suggesting that strange things can occur at anytime. It helps the audiences identify the conventions of a thriller.

The setting of both the films are similar. They were both filmed during the morning of a normal day. With particular focus on the screenshots above, both my characters are standing centre of frame focusing on something in the distance. We, as the audience, are intrigued to see what they are looking at.

My protagonist, in 'Out of Sight' is the same age as Mel Gibson in 'Signs'. My character represents a the same social group as Gibson. There is also a clear domestic scenario in my opening in which the typical audience would be able to relate to. This particularly applies to 'fathers' who find themselves in the same situation of having to wake up and protect their child/children all the time. Furthermore, the house in which i filmed in was middle-class and so this film should relate to the middle-class parents in particular.

The social group represented by 'Out of Sight' is aged around 18-40+ middle aged people, both gender but mainly male. 
People around that age would watch TV and films like Danish TV drama (The Killing and Borgen), Sherlock Holmes, that includes elements like crime, heros, dangers, etc. So audiences will likely to be engaged and interested in my film 'Out of Sight'

Evaluation Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why? on Prezi

Evaluation Question 4

I started making outline notes about what my target audience for Out Of Sight was like:

Age group: 18-40+

Gender: probably more male than female (central character is male), but would have broader appeal to women (casting an attractive male; Sleepless in Seattle approach)

Danish TVdrama (The Killing and Borgen), Sherlock Holmes,

Cinema: Shame, Cache (Hidden)

Costa coffee Starbucks; Pizza Express, Jamie Oliver's, Cafe Rouge

Clothes: River Island, Hugo Boss,

Groups: Coldplay, Adele,

Media: iPhone, Blackberry, Mac Air

Evaluation Question 5

Lewis

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Evaluation Question 6

Here is my evaluation question on the new technologies in the form of slideshare:

Preliminary

This is my preliminary task. I composed this video with Louis and Ben (two other classmates who i decided to work with) as it seemed more time efficient. Myself and Louis acted while on camera and Ben ordered the angle positions. The prelim contains the typical structure of a tv series/film scene. This composed of an establishing wide shot, followed by a series of two shots. This is also accompanied by over-the-shoulder shots employed in the shot-reverse-shot technique. It is important to notice how the 180 degree line remains constant for the whole duration of the preliminary video. 

Addressing My Audience

Today I started to research into other films and see how they attracted their audiences. I looked into other films such as Insidious and although the film's plot is rather different, the techniques the film uses for distribution and popularity is very similar to what i have done. I therefore started by looking to see what their front page of their website looked like and how they enticed their audiences.

As i looked at the website for Insidious, i notices they presented the genre very clearly. For example, in the picture above you can notice that the genre of horror/thriller is being conveyed which is shown by the sinister facial expression of the boy and the dark colours used as a whole. The creators made people attracted to their production from the use of iTunes and Facebook allowing them to keep the public aware of a film status and progression of the production. Cleverly, they have included 'actual' paranormal sightings/encounters to almost make the genre become reality.

On the left is my homepage to my website for my film, Out of Sight. Rather differently, i opted for a trailer because viewers are automatically drawn into a visual representation of the film as they click on the website. Similar to the Insidious website, i have attracted and addressed my audience by using social media such as Facebook and Twitter as the popularity and use of these media groups are expanding at a rapid scale. I had also come up with the idea of creating tabs at the bottom of the website such as 'About' and 'Media' where the audience can become informed of the plot and media, such as screenshots and more trailers, is available to view. If the viewer clicked on more, then he/she could enter a competition in which 5 tickets to see Q&A at Curzon Cinemas lead by Director Lewis Harland would randomly be won.

Another way in which film makers address their audience is promotion through Facebook. As of February 2012, Facebook has more than 845 million active users. Film makers therefore see this as an opportunity to expand their ways of distributing their productions. As a result, i used the same technique by creating my own Facebook page based on the movie. I found out that creating a page on Facebook allows the creator to find new members and to create adverts further promoting the film.

Choosing My Distributor

I was given many distributors to choose from but i had to think of why i would pick a particular one in relation to my film. After careful consideration, it soon became apparent that Artificial Eye would suit my production the best. Artificial Eye is a distributor in the U.S. and UK, specialising in foreign-language and art house films.

The company is associated with the Curzon chain of cinemas in London.

The logo for Artificial Eye

Considering that my production is low-budget and independently made (the opposite of the typical blockbuster), i realised that Artificial Eye would appropriately distribute the art-house genre in which my film possess.

Such films distributed by Artificial Eye are Michael (2012), The Kid With A Bike (2012) and We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011).

Interestingly, whilst at Curzon cinema Soho today, i saw many feature films due to be realised by Artificial Eye and they all seemed to relate to my film. Whilst The Kid With A Bike (2012) revolves around the story of a father who abandons his son, Michael (2012) follows a middle-aged man with some quite rare and distasteful characteristics.

Not everything is spoon-fed to the audience

'The film is not merely a chilling insight into the day-to-day banality of evil, but also an unbearably suspenseful and tense drama.' - Peter Bradshaw, the Guardian.

In this perspective, my film very much follows the conventions of this thriller/drama. My film seeks to tell the audience that 'day-to-day' situations holds a 'banality of evil'. Not everything that you see in art-house thrillers is obvious and i want to, like these films, portray a dark and very surreal world.

Shifty (2008)

Director: Eran Creevy

Writer: Eran Creevy

Stars: Riz Ahmed, Daniel Mays and Jason Flemyng

 

IMDb.com

Shifty, a young crack cocaine dealer in London, sees his life quickly spiral out of control when his best friend returns home. Stalked by a customer desperate to score at all costs, and with his family about to turn their back on him for good, Shifty must out-run and out-smart a rival drug dealer, intent on setting him up for a big fall. As his long time friend Chris, confronts the dark past he left behind him, Shifty is forced to face up to the violent future he's hurtling towards.

In 2008, British writer/director Eran Creevy made a name for himself with his debut film Shifty. The independently made, gritty crime drama marked the arrival of an important new presence on the U.K. film scene. The feature even ended up being nominated, despite its insanely low budget, for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer at the BAFTAs. Unfortunately, the young talent went up against Duncan Jones' Moon, so Creevy ended up empty handed.

  Shifty was distributed by Metrodome and so i looked further into what the company has worked with in the past. Films included were: Cherry Tree Lane (2010) and The Last Seven (2010)

 

The Evaluation Questions

The Seven Evaluation Questions:

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Who would the audience be for your media product?

How did you attract/address your audience?

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Look back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

Evaluation Question 3- Distribution

Distribution is explained on Screenonline by David Sin

Distribution is a huge piece of the puzzle- "Our personal understanding and appreciation of film is shaped by our experiences at the cinema. The exhibition of film is a commonplace, shared cultural activity highly visible in every city and town in Britain, constantly feeding the popular memory."

It is often not recognized and appreciated- "By contrast, distribution, the third part of the film supply chain, is often referred to as 'the invisible art', a process known only to those within the industry, barely written about and almost imperceptible to everyone else."

Other factors are involved in a film's popularity- "Yet arguably, distribution is the most important part of the film industry, where completed films are brought to life and connected with an audience."

A deeper insight into industrial cinema- "Distribution is about releasing and sustaining films in the market place. In the practice of Hollywood and other forms of industrial cinema, the phases of production, distribution and exhibition operate most effectively when 'vertically integrated', where the three stages are seen as part of the same larger process, under the control of one company"

A more local approach- "In the UK, distribution is very much focused on marketing and sustaining a global product in local markets."

First Day Shooting+Colour Correction

After shooting the opening scene in two days, i decided to waste no time in importing my clips to Adobe Premiere where there is endless possibilities in adding and editing effects to your clips. I knew, looking back at the original clips, that some appeared too 'ordinary and lacked that cold feeling which would suit my opening very much.

As you can see the original clip shows my character's face in a normal outside light. The problem with this is that lighting can determine emotions and interpretation of a scene is very important. Therefore i decided that editing using Curves and Tint would be ideal. Since being very familiar with the very simple iMovie software I had to quickly learn the basics of colour correction and FXs.

I imported the clip into the timeline of Adobe Premiere and selected it for effects. I clicked on colour correction where a wide range of selections were possible including glow, glamor and brightness and contrast. After selecting colour correction i chose tint. My friend recommended that it is standard to normally set it to 40%-50%. The effect takes away strong colour and makes the overall look much more subtle. After applying this effect, i then used curves to bring up the following window:







All colours are fundamentally made up of red, blue and green and so changing these on the curve line presents very different results. In the top left you'll see the curve line which can be manipulated to vary the visual effect. For example, a steep line leading to the top right corner of the graph will result in darker colours dominating the picture. however by lifting the top half of the line towards the top to give a more steady line will help bring the lighter colours become more visible. The result of the combination results in a stronger, more vibrant picture- the wooden bridge stands out more against the lighter snow.

First Day of Shooting

Putting sellotape on the back of the photos to stop them from soaking up water.

A few weeks ago, i began the process of shooting for my thriller opening, Out of Sight. After completing this after 2 days, i decided it was important for me to write a post about the progress and numerous problems i encountered.

Notice how the face and the hands are too red

 With one of my shots, i needed my protagonist to enter a hallway, turn the light on and simply walk down. Ironically, it is these simple takes that can produce the most complications. Firstly, on the left on the hallway is a spare room and further on is a bathroom. Both doors were open producing too much light for my scene as it is set for early morning. After re-taking the shot, i noticed that the environment, even when the light was turn on, was too dark. The red became even more red and all the light seemed artificial. The camera was set to a lower exposure setting and so it takes in less light, making the picture seem dimmer and shady. I decided that changing all the sots in colour correction would be too hard and it would be better to re-shoot the next day and have much better looking original clips.

The fast moving arms and hands created the unwanted 'blur effect'

Another problem which quickly became apparent was motion blur. For my quick action shots, when i played back my clips on the camera all seemed fine. It was when i uploaded the clips onto the big screen that i could see some blur created by the fast moving protagonist. I can only come to the conclusion that the frame rate wasn't ideal for fast paced movement. I would therefore have to correct the motion blur using tools video effects in Adobe Premiere.

My actor providing guidelines and advice for each shot

On a more optimistic note, i found shooting on he whole to be very successful. My protagonist seemed very keen to convey a more subtle but meaningful story in less than 3 minutes, adopting my storyboard simultaneously. My actor, from a professional point of view, was incredibly helpful as problems such as continuity errors were pointed out before he acted out a particular scene. For example, we filmed a scene with a bedroom door open wide whereas in the previous scene (in storyboard order) the door was closed shut. It is vital that errors like these are discovered and eliminated before any shooting takes place to avoid unnecessary hassle and re-shooting.

As Media Studies Call Sheet

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Dwelling into the genre further

Today a revolutionary website took my attention. Scoop.it! allows users to compose a 'magazine topic' using suitable websites and images based on what your topic is about. Scoopit! enables you to use keywords such as 'thriller' and 'film titles'. However there is a second way in which you can publish websites onto your topic. 

Users can enter URLs and websites can be directly imported onto the topic in seconds. This allowed me to include important websites such as screenonline.org.uk and makingof.com. Both are useful in determining the history and past conventions of the thriller genre and insight into creating the thriller movies themselves. Users are also able to write about each post in their topic and customize the post picture to whatever they desire. 

Scoop.it! very interesting, and modern way of sharing ideas.

Camera Angles

Trying Green Screen

I made the following video in iMovie'11. The song is called Nara by E.S Posthumus.

Thriller Films- The basics

I conducted some research to gain a better understanding of the genre i'll be focusing on. I summarised the key conventions through the applications of keynote and Slideshare.Conventions of the thriller genre

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Using green screen in iMovie

Object is isolated in front of green screen

Today, i investigated the possible filming and production skills which i might use, such as the green screen effect, which as years gone past has been made very simple and easy. In my story, the wife drowns in the river on a day lovely day out with her husband. 

Now since its 2°C at the start of January and making a character submerge into cold water to give the effect of a drowning can be quite difficult. I therefore used the advance of technology to help me. Since i will use iMovie for the basic editing, i decided to perform some research on YouTube and other websites so i could learn the basic techniques required for a green screen effect. I began to see how easily this could be performed with great effect.

Background is chosen to replace green screen

Firstly, an object (in my case, the wife) has to be placed in-front of a relatively large green screen. I record my wife lying down for the effect of drowning and her head beginning to submerge under the water. The wife's hair could be wet to start with so when the water is added as the background, the effect will be more realistic.

Secondly, i would need to place a suitable background to replace the green screen. As a photograph would not work, i would have to record the flow of the river from the bank where, theoretically, the wife would be. I would import the clips from the camera through the camera USB into iMovie.

The two put together...

Thirdly, i would drag my clip of the green screen over the clip of the river. iMovie then gives me the option to choose 'green screen effect' which when clicked it, the flow of the river should replace the green screen. Furthermore, i would need to check the timings of both clips and make sure they work together accordingly. Further video adjustments and editing can be made once the green screen effect is up and running.

Using Modern Technology for Pre-Production- Celtx

For the scene which involves my protagonist enter his son's room, i have decided to one close-up shot placed at position 1. and a wide shot of the room at position 2. The latter would give a point of view shot (the father observes the empty room). The set will be lit up naturally by the sunlight through the window but to ensure there is a substantial amount, i will have another source of light pointing to the bed and across the room.

                                    
                                      Bathroom scene
                                 

The scene set in the bathroom will be very complex. I therefore made sure i knew where to place my cameras and lighting before i began filming. As the storyboard states, the protagonist will enter his bathroom and immediately see a glimpse of his wife at the sink. Camera position No.1 will show the wife at the sink as the father enters but then the next shot will be from camera position No.2 where another take without the wife will be shot. This gives the effects that the wife has disappeared and it was only the father's imagination playing tricks.

When the father himself is at the sink, he will be filmed from a similar position to camera position No.1(close-up) This is so we can clearly see his reaction for when he hears the distant scream. There will be lighting from behind the character from both windows and lighting from the ceiling.

Sky Media - Crime and Thriller

Today, i performed research into the genre of thriller and the typical audience that frequently watch it. I used Sky Media to find my research and the website explains what kind of movies are watched by specific audiences. I was presented with many types of genres such as indie and family etc.

Sky describes its thriller / crime channel in this way: 'This is a channel dedicated to intrigue, murder and suspense. From whodunits to gritty noirs and gangster sagas, this channel is all about edge-of- the-seat plot twists and gripping tales of the underworld. Full of mystery, murder and tension, its always worth investigating.'

When researching specifically in the crime/thriller section i learnt that:

• Viewers of Sky Movies are generally more upmarket than the average viewer
• Monthly average audience is approximately 9.9 million individuals
• It reaches both male and female audiences
• A great place to reach all the family - 16% of viewers are children
• Attracts a younger audience -  35% of viewers are 16-34

More intriguingly, I further found out that SkyMovie viewers are more likely to:

• Be owners of new technology products such as Xbox and an IPod
• Have broadband access
• Be interested in fashion, music and clubbing
• Take regular holidays/breaks
• Have health and life insurance
• Go to the cinema regularly

Out of Sight- The Storyboard

The video above was created in imovie '11 and the images of 'Death of Ophelia' along with 'Signs' were taken from Google images.

My Storyboard

After the treatment, I composed my storyboard over Christmas. Again, I hope to express the themes of mystery and the paranormal.