Production Log ONE

This week I have looked at previous candidate's work, other film's opening sequences and evaluated both of them by noting down how this may entice or dissuade viewers from watching the film.

By looking at the mark scheme, I have realised that marks are awarded for more than just a typical piece of work; I have realised that things I did not realise were important, such as titles/font, are quite important in order to raise my level. I have also realised that they take things quite seriously, as seen in the results of what other candidates have received. For example, one member's coursework was a really good scene ("Wasters" from last year) but I found that because of the fact that it felt like more of a trailer, it was brought down by a few marks. Also, one candidate's work that I did not feel was all too good ("Written Syria" from last year) had many conventions that are typically seen in an opening sequence. As an opening sequence should not contain a lot of things happening in it, this was noted to be a good piece of work.

This will have an impact on my production as it has enabled me the understanding of what is in an opening sequence and what isn't. I will try to focus more on having less as oppose to adding a lot into it.

Conventions of an Opening Sequence [Struck By Lightning, 2013]

I had chosen this film as it is an independent film and I believe that I could find many good conventions from it that I could also use in my own sequence that I make.

What is British Social Realism?

'British Social Realism' (typically shortened down to 'BSR') is a specific genre of film. It is usually shot in British locations and includes typically British situations, such as drug use, violence, guns, swearing etc. They involve their characters being put into sticky situations that can end their life, whether it is in prison or under the ground. The budget for these films are usually quite low. The low budget emphasises of the 'realism'; with special affects and fancy mise-en-scene, the presentation would not be quite as realistic as the directors would intend for it to be, so a low budget helps with the cheap designs. There are many different kinds of BSR films such as:


 

Previous Candidate's Work - Further Analysation

Looking at other pieces of work similar to yours is an important part of the process of film making. Without this attribute of the research, it can be quite difficult to find out what the target market wants. In the previous post you may have noticed that I had displayed my notes on all seven trailers created last year. In this one I will analyse two of them and tell you how I would improve certain aspects or how well they have done them already.

WRITTEN IN SYRIA
This film seems like one that has a guy from Syria that is now in another country and is writing about his new daily life.

The sequence opens up with the production company's logo; this simple design is very affective and looks quite believable as the background of the logo matches the background of the video. In many other pieces of work that I have seen from plenty of different occasions, the production company's logo does not match the background at all.
Also, as many films start up with this kind of a beginning, this work has met a great convention of an opening sequence.

The first scene denoted in this sequence is a mid shot of a male character sitting on a chair with signs of blood appearing over his body/vest. We can immediately assume from this denotation that this individual has been captured and tortured. From the slur and accent within his speech it may be possible that he has been kidnapped from another country, most likely Syria, and taken into another one. I believe that this was a very bold choice of an opening scene to the sequence as it immediately allows the audience to question what is happening.

Throughout the scenes of this character being tied up, a few short takes of other objects/people occur. This includes an image of pliers and rope. This use of mise-en-scene gives the viewer a little more knowledge of what has happened; it is evidential that this individual may have been tied up to this chair through a vigorous process that included the equipment seen in the frame. After just two shots the viewer has been given many clues and questions.


With the font of the credits, I believe that this has been chosen quite wisely. As a film just begins, most directors, especially the ones that create independent/serious films, would not want their audience to be too distracted by the names appearing on the screen and would much rather have the crowd focused on what is happening within the scene itself. This piece of work has done this quite well as the font is not distracting at all due to it's height and thickness. It is readable as well as unnoticeable if wanted to be.

Another great aspect of this work is the lighting; as you can tell from the framing displayed, the candidates have used a spotlight to allow the camera to focus on just the male character tied up in the chair. This use of mise-en-scene allows the suspense to kick in further as well as allowing the attention to be focused on just this individual.





The next scene in this opening sequence denotes a close up of another male character with a black eye waking up in a bed. This shot is particularly affective as it establishes how the audiences have been shown the ending of the film before the beginning, automatically allocating questions and clues in the minds of the viewers. I quite like this idea as it allows the users to find the film more intriguing as their interest level is is raised due to this technique.

The use of transitions is a great way to emphasise on time moving on and to speed up the pace. The creators of this opening sequence have done exactly that. In order for the audience to get the sense that this character has gone through a long and rough process, they have metaphorically represented this through the use of transitions happening within the same shot. I find this very affective but as an opening sequence, I would not do this as it seems to be moving slightly too fast.

The film title suits the storyline; it has a handwritten designed font with a white background, to symbolize the paper. I am quite fond of this, however, I dislike the fact that they have also got a black background behind the logo, which makes it look quite unprofessional. I would much rather prefer the entire screen to be white, as oppose to just the logo.

The exceptional use of this high angel shot is particularly great as it captures the weakness that this character is feeling. As the audience are at a more advantaged stage than this individual, it is almost as if we have obtained more power than him, enabling us to understand his low position at the current state. This judgement that we are given can allow the audience to want to see what disadvantages he may have coming his way within the rest of the film.


CYCLE

The opening to this film begins with a hand-drawn design of the production company logo. I appreciate the typical use of presenting the company's logo first, however I am on the fence with the fact that the design was hand-drawn. On one side I dislike it as it does not show any signs of technology being used, however, it can also be a good thing as this also exemplifies the budget of the typical BSR film genre.

The next scene denotes a guy jumping over a pole and then running. As this is the first time we have seen any characters in this film, immediately an act of suspense occurs amongst the audiences of the film. I quite like this shot as it is so sudden and allows the viewers to think more. Also, the fact that this character felt the need to jump over the obstacle instead of going around it emphasises on how much of a rush he may be in, which again, creates thought and suspension within the viewer(s).

The only sounds we hear in this shot are those sounds that are diagetic. There is no soundtrack being played, just the sounds of this individual's footsteps running. The use of this so early on in the film may allow the viewers to wonder what is going on. However, I would say that I dislike this as it does not make me, personally, feel a great form of suspense, as there is no pace being raised, only the noticeable character running away, which does little for me. Although, it is quite early on in the sequence.

The next few shots are ones that go by quite quickly. One of the first ones we see is a denotation of a group of youths in tracksuit bottoms and hoodies; a very stereotypical outfit for teenagers. The costumes showcased in this production are very accurate for a British Social Realism film as they represent the true presentation that is apparent within this genre. This allows the audience to get a sense of what age group and what kinds of people this age group is.

Another shot that we get is one of a police van; this immediately connotes trouble, especially after being shown right after a shot of youths in their stereotypical clothing. This long shot shows the van moving whilst also picking up the pace of the music. The non diagetic sound allows the situations to be sped up due to the fast pace that the sounds have within them.

We then see more moments where the character in the first shot is continuing his running. This continuity is great as it connotes that he is in a rush and this is what the film is likely to be about. On the other hand, the use of camera language is very poor. I understand that the producers decided to use a hand-held shot to create the shot, but the camera is not being held very correctly; it is quite shaky which takes away any credibility which could of had been rewarded.


The font used for this piece of media text is not very creative, in my opinion. As this is the default font used for the editing software 'iMovie', I find it hard to believe that the editors put much thought into choosing the font that would display the right connotations. Although, on the other hand, credit font is not as important, as well as the fact that this may have been chosen as it does seem quite 'urban', so in some ways it could of had been quite a good decision.

One of the next shots includes quite a long take of a group of friends entering a house and listening to music whilst talking. As independent films have low budgets they tend to present audiences with many long takes, as "time is money". This shot exemplifies this theory and is exactly why I agree with the use of it. Also, there is a lot of diagetic sound used so there are no awkward pauses due to lack of dialogue.



The use of lighting in this opening sequence, if I do say so myself, is not very great. We are presented with one scene of the group of friends in a room during a time of day that looks like it could be the morning or afternoon. However, the next scene that are presented with seems to be much later on in the day, yet the dialogue seems to flow from one shot to the next. This is quite a bad example of continuity as it denotes now flow whatsoever. However, due to the tight schedules and all timing problems that do occur during production of independent films, it may cost a lot of money if the scene takes longer to film. As independent films would much rather film in one day as oppose to three, they tend to try to get it done as soon as possible. If I were shooting this scene then I would make sure that the curtains were closed from the very beginning of it so that the issues of continuity could be reduced.


Overall, I would say that both opening sequences do display many conventions of British Social Realism films. They both contains conventions such as drug use and violence, both of which are seen in many BSR genre films. Although the 'Written Syria' trailer, in my opinion, was produced and edited much better than the 'Cycle' one, they both contain a group of positives and negatives.

Previous Candidate's Work [My views]

I have viewed several videos from previous years of Media Studies AS that have done the project that I am currently doing. Below is my list of strengths, weaknesses and predicted grade for all of them.

Battered & Bruised
Strengths
- Continuity was great.
- The font of the titles was very relevant to the genre.
- Stuck to the genre well
- Good transition of beginning music and clips

Weaknesses
- The camera language/work was very poor.
- Disliked how the silence occurred
- Felt more like a scene out of the film rather than an opening sequence.

Overall mark
- 24/60

Written Syria
Strengths
- Good camera language/work
- Appropriate soundtrack
- Was not over the top at all

Weaknesses
- Felt slightly like a trailer

Overall mark
- 52/60

Cycle
Strengths 
- Costume was very appropriate
- Storyline stuck to the BSR genre well

Weaknesses
- Lighting (especially outside the window)   changes throughout the scene.
- Camera was very shaky.
- Lacked in camera language.
- Copyrighted music

Overall mark
- 17/60

Straight Edge
Strengths
- Relevant music
- Language used is very good for a BSR.

Weaknesses
- Bad camera work

Overall mark
- 33/60



Wasters
Strengths
- Relevant soundtrack
- Correct use of language

Weaknesses
- Bad camera work at points
- Credits at the end make it feel like a trailer

Overall mark
- 33/60

Molly's Lips
Strengths
- Leaves you wanting to know more
- Starts off with good camera technique

Weaknesses
- Towards the end the camera technique level decreases
- The radio is hard to hear at times

Overall mark
- 30/60

Black Arrow
Strengths
- Good use of voiceovers
- Contained a few good shots

Weaknesses
- Slightly feels like a trailer
- Music felt too upbeat for the situation
- Most of the shots were quite shaky.

Overall mark
- 24/60

Presenting Fish Tank [Case Study]

The British film 'Fish Tank (2009)', written and directed by the multi-talented award winning actress, writer and director, Andrea Arnold tells the story of a young girl with an aspiration to become a professional dancer. She lives in an unfriendly household with her mother, younger sister, and throughout the film, her mother's cheating boyfriend. With a gross in the UK of £103,180 this film has evidently not achieved much praise in the world of the cinema.

THEMES AND SITUATIONS

'Fish Tank' is a very unique film that expresses the hardships of being in a troubling household and neighbourhood whilst having a dream of escaping. The leading character Mia (played by Katie Jarvis) evidently hates her home life and has no friends whatsoever. We see scenes where she is being hit by her mother, sworn at by her younger sister, sorrowfully watches groups of friends walk across the street/dance together and more. Each of these express how she does not exactly have the most ideal lifestyle for a teenage girl. Arnold cleverly uses this to her advantage as it engages the viewers into a messy situation; we see this leading character in which the entire story is based around go through so much struggle that it enables us to root for her.

This clever use of social realism not only displays what life is actually like in this particular location (Barking), but also denotes an interesting character that the audience will like. I may incorporate this into my film as having characters that the viewers like is a great tool 

to having a successful film.

REPRESENTATION

The main character in this film is an underprivileged girl that aspires to become a professional dancer. This character exemplifies the typical Essex girl that does not have a great home life. She talks in a not-so-posh accent and wears the same tracksuit bottoms, hoodie and vest throughout the majority of the film. Although this stereotype is represented quite fairly, as it does denote the typical Barking girl, she does have another side to her. This terrible home life has been presented in the film as a form of motivation to succeed as a dancer. Arnold has decided that in order for the audience to understand a possible reason for Mia's aspirations, we must see the differentiation between her behaviour in both situations. This character is seen with signs of grief and aggression when being held in moments like the scrapyard chase, however her mood transforms into a lighter and free one when she is dancing. This film easily connotes a breaking of the stereotype that even those that seem to be miserable all the time have their reasons and also have moments when they are not.

For my film I may use this technique of comparison as it gives the film a sort of plot twist; in order to engage viewers into the film, a differentiation in plot would be useful, so to have this unique storyline the films credibility can increase.

MISE-EN-SCENE

The use of mise-en-scene in this film is very small as most of it sticks within the stereotypical 'Essex household' range. This includes things such as alcohol bottles, cheap televisions and two little girls with cigarettes in their hand which they actually smoke. These all exemplify how classy the entire film in general is; the fact that every single scene in this film contains some form of working class objects emphasises on the impact that the film has on the audience. This impact is that the viewers are fully aware of the harsh conditions that these characters are in and can understand their actions (swearing, drinking etc.) much more clearly.

These cheap items would benefit my film very much as they would be affordable whilst portraying the correct social realism that I want to obtain.

MUSIC & SOUND EFFECTS

The audio heard in this film is very typical for a British social realism movie. We get the sense that the characters live rough lives by the use of songs like "Life's a B*tch" by Hip-Hop artist Nas, a song about how life is not a good thing and that youths get high because of it. This one song is an apt example as it is a great example of everything that the film is about; trying to make the most out of a life that is full of hardships. This song is featured at various points of the film, whether it is diagetic or non-diagetic, and is a great example of how the music exemplifies the class of the film.

A song like this would be great for my own film as it is very urban, something that is quite relatable to the social realism impact I need.

CAMERA WORK AND EDITING

There are a few kinds of shots in this film that portray the low budget that it has. One of them is the fast paced one; this is evidential when Mia is running and the camera is in a hand-held position running along with her. As the film could not afford professional equipment good enough to capture the scene, the rough shots are all that they could do with. Although this may be a disadvantage in terms of what the audience can see, it can be seen as a metaphor for the rough scene that is currently occurring.

Another one that I had noticed was the long takes used in the scene where Mia and her family were dancing in the living room. This long take lasts quite a while as it shows the three bonding. The use of this has a great impact on the information of the budget as it shows that as the company has a small budget a lot of short takes would've costed more time, thus meant more money being spent. The fact that this scene had been completed with ease and still portrayed what the directors wanted as oppose to having short cuts connotes how they possibly could of had saved a lot of money and time when producing it.

I would use both of these for different reasons; if the scene I had was a serious one then I would use the long take as it helps creates that sort of a tone. If I wanted to make a tense one however, a rough hand-held camera shot would be very useful.

DIALOGUE

The dialogue in this film is very unique, especially when compared to the ones in a Hollywood film. There are moments where we see little girls swearing, mothers casually saying "f*ck off" to their daughters, yelling within families and more. All of these help to present the un-classy view that the directors were going for. 

INSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND

This film has received funds from big British institutions such as 'BBC Films', a well known British film company and the 'UK Film Council', a widely fund-giving institution. These companies have helped with films such as  "StreetDance 3D (2010)" and "Submarine (2010)". These companies are very well known in their niche markets and do not appeal to a wide audience, hence the reason behind the small appeal that 'Fish Tank' has.

AUDIENCE BREAKDOWN

As I have stated, this film has a niche market, just like its institution. The audience for this film is very clear, those that have aspirations, live in bad conditions and/or those that have big family issues. This film can appeal to them as those aspects are incorporated in the film a lot. Also, those that are fans of music genres like Hip-Hop/R&B may be interested as the soundtrack consists of songs from this area such as "Me & U" by Cassie Ventura.

MARKETING STRATEGY

The lead actress from this film, Katie Jarvis, was said to have been cast for this film in a very peculiar way. She did not immediately audition, she was found yelling down the phone at her boyfriend at a train station in which the casting director had overheard. This great marketing technique can appeal to people as they can see that the film has raw talent, as well as inspiring people to achieve their acting dream more.

Also, the soundtrack contains music from artists such as Jay Sean, someone that has a Bhangra and mainstream following, which can attract more audiences to watch the film.

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.