This is the final cut of our film opening The Journey Changes since the last rough cut: the audio has been levelled, and more ambient sound has been added The idents were also added
Sound:
different cars driving by sound effect
using the volume levels to keep it even
foley sound of panting
camera whir sound removed
dog barking sound added more successfully
dialogue at the end matches with the visuals, and the "good afternoon" was cut for verisimilitude
music in the car volume has been fixed
dialogue audio is quieter now
the phone ringing is also quieter and less jarring now
audio fade at end
Titles:
there was a wonky title at the start, that has now been fixed
the film title has been put after the car crash before the light flare - look better. Also made longer so looks less like an inter-title
Editing:
more match cuts in the first cross-cut scene, this adds more meaning to the scene, showing the connection between the 2 characters
trims were made so that it is closer to the 2 minute mark
reactions to the news he will not play tennis again are shown
HARRIET'S WORK How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues? ... 1A How does it use or challenge conventions? I began research on general conventions looking at these films:
To summarize each convention, we made vodcasts ... General Conventions 1: Idents, companies, production context ...
...
short audio visual clips played before films
first thing to see at a film opening
one of the simplest area of film openings
showing their brand to the audience
usually 3 company idents to spread the risks
usual to be 1 - 5 secondslong per ident
idents for conglomerate or subsidiaries are longer than indie idents
a lot of production companies competing
Big Six are dominant both in distribution and production
... General Conventions 2: Titles research ...
...
a method where film credit production companies
about 20 - 30 titles
there can be exception, in the Mexican or The Wicked Man there we only see under 10 titles
at high end tentpole movies everything is pushed to the back so the titles start after the movie
usually about 3 mins long
in title sequence you find a lot of signifiers
exposition what the genre of the movie is going about
different positioning
different size font for titles
... ... General Conentions 3: Sound, genre signification ...
...
audio bridge between titles (eg Bride of Chucky, Baby Driver)
ambient and Foley sound for verisimilitude (The Mexican, The Quiet Place, Baby Drive, Chucky)
music can be diegetic or non-diegetic - often used to signify genre/target audience (eg Baby Driver and Chucky)
music is not usually continuous - fades in and out (eg Baby Driver)
sound can signify setting (eg Submarine)
Can be used to build tension/narrative enigma (eg The Mexican, Drive and Chucky)
Institution aspect - OSTs
... General Conventions 4: 1st shot
... ...
balance between exposition and narrative enigma (eg The Mexican, This is England)
Mis-en-scene for exposition (keep brief)
Setting/period (This is England, Submarine, Spectre)
ABC1C2DE?
incorporate elements of the narrative (eg Baby Driver)
framing (anchoring, rule of thirds, eg L4yer Cak3)
inter titles (break up panning shots, exposition, signify genre)
conventionally and challenging convention (Spectre)
... General Conventions 5: Central protagonist and narrative ... ...
Uses & gratifications theory - identification (Submarine)
Todorov 5 point narrative (Submarine)
Counter+stereotypes - realistic representation (eg Molly Pretty in Pink)
Binary opposition (eg Bridget Jones Diary)
Archetypes (Bond)
Narrative enigma + voiceover (Bond, The Mexican, Drive, Baby Driver)
Amount of time the camera spends on protagonist/first character introduced - cutting back to protagonist - reactions, rule of thirds(Drive)
iconography as part of narrative (Baby Driver)
establishing/panning shots + tracking (Bond)
Todorv's 5 point narrative (from DB media blog)
... General Conentionss 6: Mise-en-scene for exposition ... ... General Conventions 7: Transition to main film ...
...
represented from Todorov's Narrative theory
it suggests that it follows a 3 part equilibrium structure
this equilibrium is disrupted by something (binary opposition)
then reaches a solution when equilibrium is restored
... General Conventions 8: Other points ..
......
... Genre Conventions After doing all this research on general conventions, we came up with our film idea, and made a pitch We decided we wanted to make a social realist film, and so did genre convention research case studies on these films:
... I saw/ I did A large part of social realist films is to portray darker themes of real life with accurate representation - this in itself challenges more conventional aspects of studio productions, which are created to make as much money as possible. However, we aimed to follow most of the conventions of the social realist genre. As the creative part of this evaluation question, I recreated Vogue's 73 questions interview, like this one This is my creative input ...
how you engaged with AUDIENCES how might it achieve DISTRIBUTION ... ... HARRIET'S WORK
How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
... Creative use of technologies:
For creative use of technologies I recreated an episode of the game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?", where I appear on a celebrity edition as the director of an upcoming indie film The Journey. ... 2A How does it engage with audiences?
"Film distribution is the process of making a film available for viewing by an audience. This is normally the task of a professional film distributor, who would determine the marketing strategy for a film, the media by which a film is to be exhibited or made available for viewing, and who may set the release date."
(Wikipedia) Some of the different types of distribution:
Theatrical
Television
Personal home viewing (DVDs, Video on Demand, Download e.g. iTunes)
... The Big Six: Although this is debated (Disney recently sealed the deal with 20th Century Fox, and Lionsgate is sometimes included) the Big Six are all present in the top 10 distributors of 2018 list. They are the largest conglomerates of the film industry in both production and distribution.
Buena Vista (Walt Disney)
Warner Bros.
Universal
Sony/Columbia
20th Century Fox
Paramount
top 10 distributors of 2018
Their films typically use the tentpole model (costing more then $100m), and the majority of their films are extremely commercially successful - you can see that collectively they own about 80% of the market in shares.
Wired episode with Ryan Reynolds
Marketing campaigns are often extremely expensive, and the star names which usually feature in their films are a large part of this (star billing): trailers are made for national and international audiences, cast and directors appear on chat shows, but cheaper more inventive methods are also used by conglomerates similar to indies. Youtube videos, with cast members are often a popular way of raising awareness of a star featuring in a upcoming film: for example Ryan Reynolds appeared in an episode of Wired a little before Deadpool 2 started being talked about .In the game celebrities see the web's most searched questions about them - these videos are cheap to make and don't take much time to produce/consume. ... Indies: Indie companies like Warp don't even make it near the top 10 lists when it comes to distribution, but there are ways they achieve distribution:
Arthouse cinemas
Direct to Itunes
Direct to stream
Straight to DVD
Self-distribution (e.g. through social media)
The main reason indie films often don't even get a wide release or even a theatrical release is due to budgets being too small. Even though the BFI offers out grants to many indie films for production and distribution, it is difficult to generate interest in small budget films when films like Black Panther, with extensive SFX and large action sequences, are also showing in the cinema.
Some other reasons though may be more to do with the actual content of the films: controversial topics that may include darker themes are not as commercially viable as films do not have political or controversial themes, making it difficult to generate interest in a film, drawing in only niche audiences.
This is England - an example
This is England takes the point of view of a young boy who joins the skinheads in the 80s. There is cussing throughout (C-word and F-bombs), and the climax involves a violent race-based assault. Although the message of this film is condemning this kind of violence, the brutality of it would be too difficult for a 4 quadrant audience to digest.
... Digitisation:
As technology is constantly advancing, production, distribution and exhibition are becoming increasingly cheaper and more accessible to more people - expensive reels no longer have to be bought to make films, and even our production has been made digitally.
This allows films with micro-budgets to have a greater chance at distribution - Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee is an example of this, with a micro budget it still managed to have a theatrical trailer and then a straight to DVD release. Professional equipment used was extremely limited. An example which took it even further is Hinterland, which had a budget of only £10k, filmed using a 15 year old camera and then released in indie cinemas with director Q+A sessions. The film was never released on DVD, but given a simultaneous release on iTunes. The film definitely achieved some successful distribution, as it made it onto a top indie films of the year list. As it is so easy now for anyone to make their own films relatively inexpensively and self-distribute them, the term convergence is used to reference this: the line between producer and consumer is blurring as cheaper technology becomes available. ... How we would distribute our film:
Self-distribution would be a good method for the distribution of our film for some of the following reasons:
Do not have the budget for a theatrical release
No star billing
Digitisation has made it easier for creators to use innovative methods to cheaply promote their films
Darker themes as possibility for a high age rating significantly lower audience interest, making it more of a niche audience film
As we have a micro-budget for our production, it is unlikely that a large distribution company would be willing to help distribute our film. Due to the accessibility of social media however, getting in touch with a film festival has been shown to be possible, which would get the film viewed by critics and journalists who could generate discussion of the film in the press. We created twitter and instagram pages to promote our film, similar to Hinterland or the Cornetto trilogy, and the example of Coz Greenhop showed how successful a method this can be in generating interest in a film.
Making deals with arthouse cinemas to do director Q+A sessions which would be mutually beneficial, accompanied by a simultaneous Video on Demand/iTunes/digital release of the film has shown to be a successful method in promoting a film and achieving distribution (Wandering Rose, and Hinterland).
DEVELOPMENT of production skills throughout the entire process
...
...
HARRIET'S WORK How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
... Preliminary exercise One of the earliest productions we worked on was a preliminary exercise in continuity editing. Our early production skills were very basic, and this was an introduction to more ways in which we can create meaning in a text using different editing, directing, camera and acting techniques
Task
Practice continuity editing by filming someone walking down a corridor, entering a room and interacting with someone in it
Techniques we practiced using
shot reverse shot
match on action
180 degree rule
whip pan
focus push
panning shot
tilt
basic lighting techniques
we also made a brief shot list
dutch angle
What we didn't have
call sheet
script
tripod/monopod
dolly
props
stabiliser
microphone
mood board
What I learned
body language is as important as dialogue
director needs to be clear/may need to demonstrate
shot lists make it easier
shooting in reverse order
continuity (eg turning out lights) must be payed attention to
how to use manual focus
get lots of footage (often of the same scene) from different angles/distances
always try and jump at least 2 shot distances (eg extreme long shot to close up), other wise it looks like a continuity error
see what footage looks like with and without lighting
a script would be helpful
...
Continuous editing v. Discontinuity editing
Continuity editing uses techniques which immerse the audience in the media text, make it smooth and show events as they happen in chronological order. Discontinuity editing however makes the audience acutely aware that they are watching an artificial textwhich has been constructed, and uses techniques such as jump cuts and the breaking of the 180 degree rule which take away from audience immersion.
...
Early sample scenes
Our first sample scene was very short, it was of our protagonist jogging and playing tennis.
...
How our technical skills developed:
a lot of footage was shaky - thought to bring a stabiliser next time we would film
for more shot variety, use a GoPro to get POV shots of the protagonist (using accessories to attach it to his head)
get more shots and more shot variety next time
record sound of things like panting and feet running whilst there for verisimilitude
get even more involved as a director to show how you want things to happen - the running in this scene is very unrealistic
bring a shot list/call sheet for future shoots
think of things you could do once you're their - e.g. getting some training shots of him warming up would have added to verisimilitude
...
Our second sample scene was shot inside, which brought more issues with it. This is the scene where the protagonist's partner (Cathy) is leaving him.
Issues:
the hand opening the cupboard has lots of short takes, so fast that you can't really make out what is happening, and it takes away from audience immersion because its so disorienting
include a master shot or ELS
shots of the partner leaving and getting in the car would help with verisimilitude
nowhere near enough set dressing, the space in the room wasn't used nearly enough
Mise-en-scene missing:
include tennis equipment in the background (racket, bag, water bottle)
passport (shot of it being put in the bag)
photos of the couple together and the team (have partner pick them up then put them down again, angrily)
panning shots of props
in wardrobe have clear split of his/her side
have a larger suitcase, get a shot of Cathy grabbing everything from one side of the wardrobe and putting it in the suitcase
There were still issues with directing, so more demonstration was needed next time
Progress since the last sample scene:
This time we brought a call sheet and shot list
we used a stabiliser for the panning shots
we improvised some of the shots looking at the space we had and thinking of ways to be more creative in it
a lot more shot variety to choose from in editing
... Later sample scenes This is the 2nd attempt at filming the scene where the tennis player's partner (Cathy) is leaving him. ... Progress since the last attempt:
There was much more involvement as a director, demonstrating to the actress what I wanted her to do
even more shot variety was used
a call sheet and shot list was used
much more set dressing:
tennis equipment is placed throughout the room
photos of the couple and the tennis team have been added for verisimilitude
female beauty products and jewellery were placed on the surface in front of the mirror
stereotypically female books were placed on one side of the bed, and stereotypically male ones on the other
the wardrobe was changed so that there is a clear divide between men's and women's clothes
a larger suitcase that is more realistic for a permanent move
manual focus was used in some shots (varying focus push/pull)
There were no overwhelmingly disorienting short takes
Issues:
There are sound issues with this sample scene
slight continuity error - the hand pauses on the cupboard door
The lighting was difficult to work with, but there wasn't any more we could do to improve it
... Flexibility and issues faced one of the key skills I had to work on throughout the production was flexibility: actors cancelled on shoots a lot, the weather was sometimes bad so filming had to be pushed back repeatedly. We had to find ways to overcome these difficulties. Cast:
Originally the partner of the protagonist was going to be another man, because we wanted to include non-heteronormative representation, taking influence from films like My Beautiful Laundrette, or Withnail and I. But because we had already cast the protagonist and filmed several scenes with him, it would be practically too difficult to reshoot these all again with a different actor, as he did not want play the role if the character wasn't heterosexual. We had to change the casting of the partner to a female, because we had not filmed any scenes with them yet.
with the actress initially playing the role of the partner, there were issues with following direction, and said she felt uncomfortable on camera, despite agreeing to film. This lead to a cast change, and a reshoot, which was frustrating, but definitely the right decision as the second attempt at filming the packing scene was far more successful than the first.
Sometimes the actors had trouble following direction: in the car crash scene, we had to reshoot the protagonist's reaction countless times, demonstrating repeatedly the way he should react without making it look too fake or awkward. After about 45 minutes of this, we decided to change the shot to a close-up reaction, and showing the car wheels stopping suddenly.
For the hospital scene, we asked the nurses at our school if we could film in their office, and they were really helpful and enthusiastic, offering to bring in their old work clothes and move the beds around the room. They also helped us edit the script to make it sound more medically accurate. But filming in the school nurse office was difficult, as at lunch times we had to repeatedly cancel because it was too full, but we eventually filmed after school.
Set dressing:
at the start we forgot to bring in bits of costume and set dressing, which took away from verisimilitude
to overcome this we made detailed plans for each shoot (linked below)
because one of our scenes involves a car crash we had to make risk assessments to avoid injury
To make sure no one actually got hit by a car, we made clear markers on the road for where the jogger should stop, and where the car should. The car wasn't going faster than 10km/h. If an accident were to occur, the nearest hospital was a 10 minute drive away, as a safety net.
seatbelts were worn at all times
there were no injuries or accidents which occurred
... BTS We made behind the scenes videos for some shoots to show evidence of directing. As time goes on our directing skills improved as we became more clear in our descriptions and demonstrations for the actors ... Final Cut Pro X This is a demonstration of how our initial basic editing was done using FCPX
importing footage from a portable hard drive
creating libraries, events and projects
inserting clips to the timeline
cutting, detaching audio, other basics
saving
publishing to the web
... When we started editing more scenes we used some more advanced effects
inserting Foley sound
sound effects
transitions (cut to black, fade to black)
audiobridge
music
...
When I filmed my evaluation question 2 creative 'who wants to be a millionaire' I used a green screen and needed to se even more technical effects in FCPX
green screen
screen recording
keyer
position of clips
layering
... Whilst editing another rough cut, I had some difficulty with adding transitions to titles in FCPX
