Wednesday, 22 April 2009

Institutions

After studying who are target audience would be all that remained would be which distribution company would most likely be used if our film was to be made.
I looked at seven films that are of similar genre to ours and looked for a distrubution company that would come up more than onece the films i looked at and the distribution companies were.

Lock Stock and Two smoking barrels-Summit
Rock'n'Rolla- Warner Brothers
Layer Cake- Columbia
Get Carter- MGM
The Long Good Friday- British Lion Film
Sexy Beast- Film Four
Snatch- Columbia

All of these films are well known Brit gangster movies which star actors like Bob Hoskins, Ray Winstone, Michael Caine and directed by the likes of Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn.
If we were to pitch our film to a distributor then the most likely distributor to use it would be Columbia who have also done films like "Casino Royale", "Tommy" and "Quantum of Solace".

Tuesday, 21 April 2009

Evaluation of student comments

The overall review of our film from other students was excellent. However there was certain areas in which we could have improved, such as: dialogue, sound, props, and some camera shots. These were minor problems that could been rectified easily.


Sound- Most people commented that sound was used very well, it linked in with the shots nicely and that it created tension was needed. "Good use to music, it cut at the right time, creating even more tension which was needed for this genre. Very good."Some Students said that our asynchronous over powered our dialogue, "the sound of the chat between the four people could be louder. for example, when the word "traffic" is said, it isnt very clear." While we were editing, the volume of our soundtrack could have been lowered whilst the conversation took place.

Props- Costumes was one of the most important things we had to think about, to create verisimilitude all the characters wore suits. This was one of the ways we revealed the genre. "The costume used is brilliant! I love the suits, as they really emphasise the gangster genre of the film." However, students noticed that when we opened the briefcase that there was nothing inside, which made it a bit mysterious. "when the briefcase is opened and you cannot see whats in it, creats an element of mystery."

Camera Work- To keep the audience interested, we used a variety of camera shots and the length of the shots. Repetitive shots bores the audience as it feels like they are watching the same thing. "You have used a vary of different shots and we think they all work very well together in the final product." A few students commented that we should have used more camera movements and that some shots were to long. As its a Gangster genre it has to have high tempo action, quick shots and more camera movement could have given perfect match on action. "There was quite a range of shots in the intro, but could have done some camera movement, going from one action to another would have created exciting action."

Overall I am overwhelmed with our final product. After having a few misunderstandings on our other 2 pieces, the group overcame these problems and worked extraordinarily well for our final piece and created an excellent film.

Evaluation of comments

We received very constructive comments from our fellow students on our film. One of the comments was that the dialogue wasn't very clear, "the sound of the chat between the four people could be louder. for example, when the word "traffic" is said, it isn't very clear". We could improve this by using an external microphone on the camera to improve sound quality. We got lots of comments saying that the genre was obvious and was very well indicated, "The shots were well linked and they show a good variety of shots. I also think it portrays the gangsta genre very well". Camera angles were also highlighted as being used very well and also helped to indicated the genre, "One particularly effective shot, in my opinion, was the low angle shot of the two gangsters getting out of the car, which helped to heighten the tension as it suggested their great power and influence. The composition of one of the shots, when two of the gangsters frame the shot and the other two gangsters are centre shot, quite a distance away, is reminiscent of a western film". The comments also said they approved of the mise-en-scene, "The costume used is brilliant! I love the suits, as they really emphasise the gangster genre of the film" realism was one of our main goals and we think we achieved this "I loved how you could hear other people in the background, as this creates a realism".
We were lucky with the weather as it heightened the realism and created an eerie atmosphere "I really thought that the snow worked well with the gangsta genre". Props were used effectively such as the guns and the use of the cars created realism. Editing was used to create a flowing film, "We think that your editing was very clean-cut and continuous and flows very well" this helped to make the film flow into different scenes.
Overall I am very happy with the finished product and think it reflects the effort and talent of the group as a whole.

Final Evaluation

This is my final evaluation of our final piece, 'Once Upon a Time In London'. I will look at every aspect of our film and analyze feedback gathered from other media students.


While filming we had to remember the many rules of filming including the conventions of continuity. We made sure that we followed the 180 degree rule to ensure the audience didn't become distracted or disorientated. By following the rules our film flowed smoothly and created tension at the same time. Also we had to think about what the audience would want to see from a Gangster film so we satisfied the audience with the use of violence.

Representation plays a part in our film through out. We were representing Adult men involved in crime set in modern day London. We included just four characters in our piece as we thought this would be easier to create tension rather than having lots of characters crammed into the scene. The form of realism we constructed were the use of English accents as the film is set in London. Also a deal between Gangsters would normally take place in a dark secluded area, as it did in our film. Mise En Scene, acting, dialogue and music all played a part in the construction of verisimilitude. A few of these were the acting of the characters as they were very blunt with each other, as this would be in a real exchange. Institutions which might of distributed our films could of been Warner as they have distributed films such as the Departed which is similar to ours.

The main target audience for our film were the young male audience. We decided to choose this audience
because as our group is made up of four boys we thought we knew what this age group would like most. We all did lots of research into what kind of specific areas of action we were going to attempt to include in our film. I analyzed the film 'The Departed' which helped me get a better idea of what aspects of the gangster genre i thought should be included. The meaning we wanted to give to the audience during  the film was a feeling of suspense, hence our choice of non-diegetic music. Our research we completed prior to filming helped give us ideas on how to keep our film full of suspense through camera work and dialogue

The response we got from people that viewed our piece was an overall good response. Many people felt the snow helped add the element of mystery into the film. Another point made was the good use of camera shots. These included over shoulder shots and low and high angle shots to show power of characters in scenes. The target audience seemed to like the film ( Nilesh's and Mirzo's comment), which was our aim. All comments for our film can be seen lower down the blog page.

The use of technology we had helped us hugely. The most important bit of technology used was the digital video camera. This nifty camera was light and easily transferable helping us transport it safely around our filming set. The group became used to using the camera and filming wasn't a problem. Another part of technology we used was the editing software on the P.C's. This software enabled us to be able to cut and edit bits from our footage and put it into our desired sequence. Our non-Diegetic music was placed in at this point too. After the long process of editing had been completed we used the same software to burn our film to a DVD disk and upload the film to the blog page. The only obstructions we encountered with the use of technology was access to computers was occasionally limited and also the video camera always had to have enough battery to be able to film.

I feel our group has progressed massively from our first preliminary exercise. Our knowledge of media has increased which enabled us to produce a much higher standard of work. Time management was much improved during our final piece also aiding us in keeping up a high standard of work. We learned from mistakes made in the preliminary such as poor editing and shoddy camera shots, helping us make a much improved final piece. 

My final verdict is that the film we
produced was of a high standard. From the knowledge we gained during the course and research into several films we managed to include several different camera shots. Also we though about Mise En Scene to try and give a certain feeling to the audience with the location and costumes worn. If we had a chance to improve our work i would choose to shorten certain shots and replace them with different angled shots to give more variety to the film. I think we all work well as a team and had a good laugh in the process. 

Comments

These are all the comments left by the other media students in our class.

Kat Leigh said...
WOW........that is amazing! well done!I like the fact that you have a change to film in the snow, and it looks amazing. I also like the wide range of shots that you have used in the film.I will comment so more later!
27 February 2009 23:43
Emily Harries said...
Good film:) I liked the fact that you had loads of shots and they all connected really well. It looked really good in the snow. However i think you have shown us a main part of the film instead of the begining. i enjoyed it though:)
04 March 2009 11:37
nilesh patel said...
nice work team mitpatarpot. There is a good use of non diegetic sound to create suspence through out the film. I also like the camera work which has been used. Especially the opening of the boot and when you see Jinesh get out of the door with Andy and Greg blured in the distance. Maybe to improve on your film, the sound of the chat between the four people could be louder. for example, when the word "traffic" is said, it isnt very clear.nice one!
04 March 2009 11:43
HannahRoyall said...
I really thought that the snow worked well with the gangsta genre. The shots were well linked and they show a good variety of shots. I also think it portrays the gangsta genre very well.However i feel that some of the dying scenes didnt seem very realistic.Good Film :)
04 March 2009 11:44
Greg Potter said...
The scene started with a short exchange of dialogue talking about a gun this straight away gave the idea that it could be a gangster film, at this point the music is just starting up and it erupts into action along with the film itself, the mixture of shots was good but i felt there could have been use of panning or tracking.
04 March 2009 11:57
abbie&cat said...
This is a really good beginning, we especially liked your use of high and low angle shots. For example, when there is a low angle shot and the guy steps out the car he looks important and possibly a threat and then when theres a low angle shot of Greg at the end, it shows hes now in control.We also liked the use of over the shoulder shots which shows a good conversational style. plus when the briefcase is opened and you cannot see whats in it, creats an element of mystery.Overall we loved all the shots and how well it was all put together!! =)
04 March 2009 18:58
Mirzo said...
Well done!!I have really enjoyed the intro i thought it was great the sound, the lighting, costumes used, props and most importantly the location. I thought that the music kicked in at the right time. The choise of music was very good. However, you could have used some transitions like fading in and out would have looked even better. There was quite a range of shots in the intro, but could have done some camera movemenet, going from one action to another would have created exciting action. Overall i think you did a fantastic job and it was realy interesting watching it.
08 March 2009 21:48
abbie&cat said...
I thought that the use of the intense soundtrack throughout increased the tension and urgency of the opening film. And the use of the more lighthearted music towards the end suggests the victory of the situation.The dialogue was quite humerous and i loved how you could hear other people in the background, as this creates a realism.The costume used is brilliant! I love the suits, as they really emphasise the gangster genre of the film.The setting is great, because it seems like a typical open space late at night. I think that although the snow was unplanned, it worked really well with the scene because as the snow fell, it increased the tension, it got in Nilesh's eye, it seemed to make him even more angry.I think that the use of street lighting created a naturalistic effect, allowing verisimilitude and thereby makeing the opening a bit scarier, as it was easier to relate to.camera shots- you used some really original camera shots that were highly effective and helped to emphasise the film genre.One particularly effective shot, in my opinion, was the low angle shot of the two gangsters getting out of the car, which helped to highten the tension as it suggested their great power and influence.The composition of one of the shots, when two of the gangsters frame the shot and the other two gangsters are centre shot, quite a distance away, is remeniscient of a western film. This increases the intensity of the film quite effectively, and i thought it was done very well.The mid shot, (when both groups of gangsters walk towards eachother and meet in the middle of the screen) is also very effective, as it could suggest the emotional distance between the two groups and emphasise how they must negotiate by stepping towards eachother. I also liked the close-up shots when in conversation, the over the shoulder shots, (hich allows the focus to be on greg) emphasising his leadership, and the close-up of jinesh, as it allows the audience to understand the seriousness of the situation, shown by his angry facial expression.The over the shoulder shot of the briefcase is excellent because it ensures that the audience cannot see exactly what is in the briefcase, increasing the mystery of the gangsters.The low angle shot of greg when threatens jinesh with the gun emphasises his power and influenceAlthough this was a really excellent film opening, i think that some of the shots were a bit too long, the shot of the approaching car, for example, could have been a tiny bit shorter.But overall, this is great, and you can tell that a lot of work went into it, so i hope you all get good grades for it! Cat
10 March 2009 10:38
Zoƫ Benjafield said...
First of all, thought the very first shot was great, of the gun and then using that to lead into the story. The mise-en-scene was brilliant, it really made you feel like somewhere out of england, like real gangster movies.Good use to music, it cut at the right time, creating even more tension which was needed for this genre. Very good.
10 March 2009 21:16
Rachel, Lucy, Nikki and Helen said...
We liked the realism and professional aspects of your film. We think that your editing was very clean-cut and continiuous and flows very well.The snowy weather is great.The music is very good as it builds up tension in the film when it reaches a climax. Then when the ganster died we liked the change of the music to create a diferent, sad mood.Our favourite shot was the one behind the barrel of the gun. You have used a vary of different shots and we think they all work very well together in the final product.
24 March 2009 10:17