Film Four Ideology

LOOKING FOR ERIC

Within this film, the audience witness a character suffering from schizophrenia who is stuck in a very negative lifestyle in which his entire family lack respect for him. His family contains underclass children whom sponge off of other's money and get involved in gang crime, and he also has his wife who left him to live a 'better' life. These characters are very believable in terms of characteristics that can be seen in real life. The characters also have the mundane life that Film Four tend to showcase. The storyline represents, like many Film Four films, an unfortunate lifestyle for a not so successful person is portrayed, in which violence and a not so positive ending occurs. For the location of this film, Film Four have decided to place it in Manchester, a very typical and unvarnished place in the UK. Again, as a way of the institution displaying a real image of life as the underclass in the UK, the producers have decided to locate the film in Manchester, a worn down area, as opposed to a much more richer one like Westminster.

SUBMARINE

This film portrays the life of a teenage boy in secondary school whom faces the troubles of non-intimate parents, a crush on a hard-to-get girl and school bullies. The ending of this film is very tragic, like many other Film Four productions. The boy is in a relationship with his crush, but, although he tried to help her and his parents at the same time, he ends up being dumped by his girlfriend after she finds out that her mum is okay and will not die. This film is set in Wales; nowhere fancy, nowhere where A list actors are running about, just South Wales. The choice of this location is a very great example as to where Film Four tend to shoot their films. As South Wales is not exactly a very economically powerful place, the social realism can be highlighted by simply looking at the location of the characters, which is exactly what Film Four want to portray. "Submarine" tends to use many British cultural references such as the use of "gay lord", Primark heart glasses or the heavy Welsh accent. These three attributes all add up and present a typical example of life in a British area, and with other aspects like accent, location etc., comes the social realism.

FOUR LIONS

Four Lions is a film that displays the lives of four Jihadists in a British society. The foursome embark on an adventure of the troubles they face in Britain due to their race. This sticks to the typical Film Four ideology as it has many typical aspects of it. This includes: 

• An unfortunate ending - all four main characters die
• Negative views on particular groups of characters - the Muslims are portrayed as terrorists
• Not so nice events - death.

The locations are in Spain and England, in particular, Almeria and London. Although the film does not particularly mention how they are in 'Spain', it has been decided to be there as it was a gritty enough location that would fit in with the negative aspect that Film Four wanted to portray. London, however, was chosen so that the comparison between the classes could be made. As the location had people from upper and lower classes, viewers can understand the London is a very mixed area. As Film Four's goal is to create the most realistic view possible, this aspect, personally, has been achieved well as it is exactly how it really is. Many British cultural references occur such as the use of the word "bruv", British styled houses that would not be seen in a Hollywood production and a British song, "Dancing in the Moonlight".

HUNGER

Within this film about a man going into prison and forming a hunger strike, Film Four elaborates on the hardships of prison life. We see some not so nice aspects such as bruises, fights, cuts, swearing and more. As seen in many other productions from this institution, this film is "based on a true story", meaning that a sense of realism is likely to occur. We are also given signs of British cultural references as the guards are in a typically British uniform and the accents are based around Wales. As the point of Film Four productions is to supply the audience with an understanding of British social realism, having cultural references to Britain are very key. The characters within this film all seem to be living very mundane lifestyles. Of course, as prisoners this is exactly what most cultures contain within their personalities, but to express the actual attitudes, Film Four decide to keep it as realistic as possible.

ATTACK THE BLOCK

Attack The Block, unlike many of Film Four's productions, is aimed at a teenage audience. With references to British teenage aspects such as Fifa (a successful video game that teenagers play). The characters can also all be uniquely identified with teenagers these days. With the modern relation with technology that many of them talk about, it is clear who the audience is. As well as age and cultural references, a typical storyline seems to not occur. Film Four tend to not be able to afford the CGI etc that this film has, so the fact that these are included are different already. The area is located in London, so the audience should expect some form of modernised and up-to-date with technology attributes. 

THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE

As a British film, this movie has references to the culture, such as the use of the term "CV" as oppose to "resume". The location is London, a place that is economically powerful, so we, as denoted, should expect the characters to be at least working class, as seen with the four boys in the trailer. However, many people from London are also quite un-classy, and this is connoted by when the characters use the terms "minge" and "pussy". These are words to describe a female body part which many people would deem as unnecessary. The storyline is not typical to Film Four movies as it is about a group of young boys trying to have a good time, as well as being a "joyful" film, something that many Film Four Productions are not.

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Overall, I would say that Film Four are consistent when it comes to portraying the real image for their movies; they include stereotypes as well as unfortunate storylines, curse words and gritty locations. As the parts of Britain that this instituion is presenting are not exactly the nicest areas to live in, I would say that Film Four portray it extremely believably.

Edit Workshop Evaluation

Use of techniques

To create my continuity video exercise, I was assigned the use of three aspects that I needed to put in my work. This included:

• 180 Degree Rule
• Rule of Thirds
• Match on Action

With the 180 degree rule, I had incorporated this by filming two versions of either side of the conversation. This consisted of the camera facing one actor, and then once the entire dialogue and acting of the scene was finished, the camera moved to the opposite side and recorded the same thing again, but from a different perspective. After I had both copies of the scene, I had to edit them as if they were all a part of one moment. This rule has been made for the sole purpose that without it, the audience may become slightly confused as to which character is on which side. By sticking to this rule, there is an obvious denotation as to who is talking to who and what position of the room/screen they are situated in.

The way that I had included the rule of thirds was by double checking the position that my camera was in. I had imagined where my guidelines would be and had placed the eyes of the actors in those particular sections of the screen; this allowed the viewer of the video to understand how the two people in the conversation were talking to each other due to the fact that their eyes were at the same level of the screen. This technique can be seen in many different shots of my work, for example, the scene where the two characters meet. The close up of character 2 (Muhammad) contains his eyes right on the level of the viewers, and so does the other scene where they finally see each other. By looking at the two scenes, we can easily denote from this that they are looking at the other person, meaning that the technique intended, has worked out.

'Match on action' is a technique that denotes continuity throughout a total of two or more scenes. I had incorporated this within my work by using it at the point where one character is opening a gate; here I  displayed how within one shot, the gate was being opened, and in the next shot, it was still in the process of opening. I was asked to put this into my work so that my viewers have an understanding of what is going on and do not see any noticeable mistakes. The use of 'match on action' means that a continuous flow in movements is displayed, and this is exactly why I had intended to include it. As oppose to having the gate just being opened and then immediately being completely open, which is highly unrealistic, I had chosen to change shots whilst still displaying an act of continuity. This made the viewers understand that it was all happening at once, even though I had recorded it as two separate scenes.


Challenges during production

When filming the video, I had faced quite a few problems. This consisted of lighting, shadows, people in the background and camera positions.

When it came to lighting and shadows, this had caused quite a few problems; one of these problems being the fact that production had panned between the length of two days. The fact that production was not filmed on just one day meant that the lighting would most likely have changed on the second. I had found this as a slight problem as when I compared the shots from the first day to the shots made on the second, the screen seemed a little bit different. If I were to film again, I would schedule all of the scenes to be done at a set time and to do them very quickly but also precisely. By sticking to this, the scenes that I would need to record would of had easily been pulled off as if they were recorded on the same day. Another problem with the lighting was that it sometimes recorded shadows. At one moment the camera's shadow was appearing in the shot, so I had to move the camera back and zoom in, so that the shot was perfect. This situation had occurred particularly in the shot of the shoes; as the scene was so low and close up, the screen had needed to be situated in that position. Unfortunately, it was impossible for the actual camera to be placed in that certain section of the setting, so, like I have already mentioned, I had to move the camera a few steps back, and zoom in.

Also, there were a few times when I tried to record shots that displayed continuity; at points, this was a tough situation as when I recorded one part of the scene and watched it back, I realised that there were people in the background who would not be in the shot any more, meaning that the viewers would easily tell that the shot is not continuous. As the location of my filming was in a local area (outside a park) there were bound to be people in the shot that were not initially supposed to be there. I did not realise that they were in the shot much until after viewing the video, but this was solved by the simple solution of re-recording the entire shot. Yes, this was time consuming, but when it came to editing, it made things much more believable.

A final challenge that was faced during production was deciding on where to put the camera in each shot. At certain points of the production, my group and I found it hard to put the camera in a suitable position that would record what it needed (sound and picture) as well as following the rule of thirds and 180 degree rule (if necessary). The main part where this was a major problem was during the scene where the first character is walking and the camera is behind them (over the shoulder shot). This was particularly hard as it was quite difficult for the one person to move at the same time as the camera man, whom, had to hold the camera steadily whilst walking. After a couple of attempts of going faster, slower, changing positions etc., we had finally reached the correct shot.
This was also a problem during the conversation between the two characters. I had faced this situation as it was hard to record an over the shoulder shot where the two characters were particularly close to a wall. For the position of the camera, this was quite awkward as it was difficult to hold the camera in place and record the correct sound and image. To solve this situation that my group and I were in, we had decided to not use a tripod and to hold the camera very steadily. If I were to re-film, I would change the storyboard so that the characters do not meet by a walk, and so that they are in a good position for both the camera and the actors.

Challenges during post-production

This part of the work was quite interesting as I had faced a variety of different situations. This included audio problems, continuity errors and lighting solutions.


As I had mentioned in the previous section, lighting was a problem that I had faced when it came to production. As there was not much I could do whilst filming, I had to resolve it within the editing stages. Fortunately, the scenes that were recorded on the second day were easily editable as when I had put them with all of the other clips, with the help of the 'clip trimmer' tool, the scenes went by so fast that it was virtually impossible to tell which scenes were filmed when. The only time where the length of the clip did not help was during the conversation. But thankfully, at this point of the video, the audience would not have a clue whether or not any of the shots were filmed on a different day, so these end clips made no difference either.

As well as the lighting, I also faced the problem of audio. One audio situation was the fact that the wildcat soundtrack was initially much louder than the actual work. This, however, was not much of a problem as iMovie had a tool that allowed me to change the volume levels of each clip. Another audio problem was the fact that, especially in the conversation scene, the sound for one scene contained much more background  noise than the sound in another. After debating on whether or not to just take out sound, or to quieten down particular scenes, I had come up with the solution of using the audio from one scene and placing it on top of both, meaning that as well as the visual part of the clip being continuous, the sound was too.

Another challenge I had faced was the whole continuity problem. Continuity is something that I was asked to do from the brief, so this was a great task as at one point, the second character's phone had switched hands. As the viewer may look at this, they might realise that there is a big continuity error that I have included, so, to stop this from occurring  I had to stop the scene where the phone's position changed right before any noticeable differences were seen. This made me change my initial storyboard idea as I had set that scene to a little longer than it was in the actual video. At the end of post-production, I had found that this did not have much of a negative effect, so I was quite pleased with my end result.

Strengths


When it came to the strengths of my work, I found that there were quite a few. This included an easily understandable storyline, successful lip syncing and a great understanding of rules.

With my video's storyline, I felt that by watching it, it was very easy to understand. Anybody who has seen it would easily be able to tell that it is about one person walking up to another person and asking for concert tickets. This part of the assignment was very crucial as if I could not denote the true storyline behind it, then the requirements for the assignment may not have been met. Thankfully, because of the obvious storyline I have displayed in my work, I can easily denote that I had understood the concept of the coursework. This recognition of what I needed to do was also displayed as I was asked to include some creativity. The uniqueness of my work is denoted as soon as the audience is shown the establishing shot. Immediately, the viewers will understand the location of the scenario, and will easily comprehend how this is much different from the basis of the brief. As the setting is not inside, as seen in many other students work, the creativity is already established. Another aspect of my creativity can be seen at the time 0:15 of the video. Here I have used a cutaway shot to allow the camera to include a mid shot of the character's body, as well as showing him meet up with the other actor. By using this method, I was able to pause the camera and move it in a different position, but also stick to the basis of my storyline. I believe that I did this well as it follows the aspects of a cutaway.

Another strength to my work would be the clever use of digital technology during post production. The device that I had edited my continuity exercise on was an iMac, and I had used the iMovie programme. This newer version of iMovie was very useful as it had many great aspects of it that allowed me to edit my video the way I had initially planned to. For example, there was a great tool that granted me the technique of adjusting the audio. This was very useful as there were times when the wildcat soundtrack was much louder than the dialogue, and also, when the background noise was too much. To avoid these two situations, I simply had to lower the sound and then it was complete. With the audio, another issue that I had accomplished was the lip syncing. Due to the fact that the sound of both clips that included dialogue were different from each other, having them both being included would remove the continuity that was asked for in the brief. To get rid of this problem, the audio adjustment tool took the sound from one clip, removed the sound from another, and played only one of the audio on top of both shots. Also, this programme allowed me to trim the clips so that if one of the shots I had recorded was too long, I simply had to shorten it by using the "clip trimmer" tool. Both of these aspects of the programme were very useful as they gave me the chance to stick to my original storyboard (time wise).

Weaknesses

As well as some strengths to my work, I also faced a fair share of weaknesses. These weaknesses were things like planning that was not quite so apt, an understanding of the allocated time and a lack of creativity included.

As I did include some creativity in the choice of location of my work, that was pretty much the only unique initiative that I had allocated. For example, the brief had asked me to include somebody walking up to another and having a conversation. If you watch my entire video, that is all that happens. There is nothing besides walking up to someone and a small conversation. Although I did include a range of different shots, I feel like if I could redo my work, I would include a much more unique narrative.

Also, when it came to planning, the work that I had put was not as good as they came out to be on camera. When I had drawn out the cutaway shot, I had imagined it to be much more effective and realistic than it looked. But during the production, I felt that the realism and effects intended were not apparent. To solve this I had to include a very sharp cut during post production, but even then, it did not look as professional looking as I had wanted. This weakness was not very big, but it is a great disappointment that I wish to be changed in the future.

A final weakness that I had encountered was the amount of time set. When given my workshop allocation, I believed that this was the only time that I could edit. After finishing this session, I had to include my wildcat soundtrack, but did not know that I had more time. Because of this, I seemed to rush some scenes, resulting in them not being quite as apt as I had wished. But, as I had soon realised that I did have more time to edit, I worked on these scenes and fulfilled the details that I had missed out on earlier.

Overall Improvements

Concluding all of these aspects that I have pointed out, I have realised that to improve my work, I would change quite a few bits.

One of these things would be something that I did not mention already, music. After watching my video a few times, I realised that it was quite boring. A way to remove the uninteresting aspects of this, a great tune in the background may have lightened up the viewer's mood. The wildcat soundtrack, as asked for, seemed to not be enough as when watching it, it does not feel as if it is very apparent. Nonetheless, I believe that my work has met the requirements, but I feel that music in the background could of had helped more.

Another aspect of improvement would be the quality of the edits. For example, the cutaway. I have mentioned this a lot, but if I were to improve this, I would test it out before including it in my storyboard. I felt that because of the lack in quality of the cutaway, the professionalism of the entire video was damaged. If I could take out this edit and replace it with a much better one, then maybe this coursework could be improved.

A final improvement I would include would be the use of dialogue. Although there is not much speech in my work, the ones that I have incorporated in it are not very clear. For a viewer who has never seen this before or known anything about it, they may find that the dialogue is not quite so understandable. If I were to add some improvements, I would raise the audio quality to make sure that it is of the quality that is necessary.

Continuity Editing Exercise Video

Continuity Editing Exercise

For the first part of my Media AS coursework, I had to create a short video clip of somebody moving up to another person, and then having a short conversation. My group and I (Satveer Degun and Muhammad Rahman) were asked to be very imaginative with the project so that our creativity skills could be improved for later parts of the coursework.

There were also some certain aspects of the work that we were attempting to put in our work so that we can try out the new skills that we had learnt; these would come in very handy in later pieces of work, so by having them in our early ones, we could get to grips with them now. These aspects include the following:

• Rule of Thirds: Dividing your screen into nine squares, and including the actor's eyes within the top ones.

• 180 Degree Rule: Keep all actors in a conversation on one side of the camera (one on the left and the other on the right, etc.) so the viewer does not get confused with who is on which side; the only way to break this is by having the camera show the movement.

• Match On Action: To display continuous movement in two (or more) different shots.

• Shot Reverse Shot: To have one shot (shot 1), followed by another shot (shot 2) and then followed by the shot you used originally (shot 1) so that continuity is apparent.

With my grouping, I had found that my team and I had worked extremely well together as we all understood each other's thoughts and views on the work. As most groups were put into two, my group was a three, meaning that we had to split the shots even more, as oppose to having two even sets. This was a challenge for us as we felt the need to create exciting yet challenging shots in all three storyboards yet remain the level of continuity that we were expected to follow as well as the four rules above. I found that we had split the rules fairly and by looking at all of the requirements and what we have done, I believe that it was created successfully. As well as following all of the requirements, we each offered our own improvements to each other which we had discussed through and followed if it were relevant. Overall, I would say that my group and I had worked very well together and I would be pleased to work with them again.

When it came to creativity, the first thing we thought of was the setting. We believed that an indoor scenario that happened in the school building would've been very typical, thus losing the creativity that we initially wanted; taking this in mind, the location that we had chosen was outside of the park, as it was a quiet place that allowed sound to be recorded properly, and this setting was also an outdoor area that was close to the school, so we did not have to go very far to record. Also, the park was not used very much by other students, so we felt that we did not have to worry much about whether or not anyone's work (or our own) would be interrupted, so we could get to work very quickly and complete it sufficently.

With my storyboard, I felt that once it came to filming, I needed to change a few parts of it. For example, I intended to include a 'cutaway' that had a character's arm stop as soon as it covered the entire screen, and move afterwards, leading to a completely different part of the location. When it came to filming this scene, I found that it did not make much sense to include it in that way, so I had turned the camera position around. Other than that, I had not changed anything else from my storyboards.
Below are two images of my storyboards: