Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Monday, 6 April 2015
MASON O'NEIL-EVALUATION
Main Task- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGceDox-BbI
Preliminary- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8rr3Msp3Jw
1) in what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (e.g. comparison nine frame analyses of your film and an influential film)
James Bond- Casino Royale (2006)
The frames left to right so top row are 1-3, 4-6 middle row and 7-9 bottom row
Frame 1: In frame one they have Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM). Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, is an American media company, involved in the production and distribution of films. A lion’s face is illustrated within the MGM logo, whilst it is upon the screen the lion’s head starts to move as well as there being a roar in the background with no music at all, the use of this lion make you intrigued and makes you want to watch this. Therefore the use of the lions resembles MGM as anyone that knows of MGM will instantly think of the lion and its roar. The titles are visible so the company is easily advertised and therefore knows who distributed the film, and the titles are easily readable as it is a quite plain simple font.
Frame 2: Frame 2 changes to “Columbia Pictures” with a straight cut transition from the previous Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM) frame. Columbia pictures is an American film production and distribution studio of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The font used in Columbia Pictures is easily readable so therefore allows easy access for the viewers to read and know what is upon the screen. Also the sound in the backing on the frame builds up atmosphere for the statue to come onto the screen.
Frame 3: In frame three it is a frame of the location of where Casino Royale is set within the opening scene. The title used within this frame “Prague, Czech Republic” gives the viewers a clear understanding of where the opening scene is shot. Also the use of the Black and white in the opening sequence of the film gives it a dark gloomy effect to give the impression that something bad has/is going to happen shortly after or within the opening with there being the sound of a car within the background and nothing else is seen on the screen. Also the shot of the office block gives it an intense effect as it looks dark and gloomy, and this is given the further impression as there is nothing within the shot except the building.
Frame 4: In Frame 4 it illustrates a lift within the building from the previous frame, but the lift is moving which indicates something is happening. The dark gloomy effect is still used and gives it a mysterious effect as the lift is moving in the frame. Also the camera work used in this frame is a tilted camera angle which looks up at the lifts.
Frame 5: In frame 5 it is a medium close up of the actor who plays the role of a villain in the opening sequence. The use of the medium shot allows you to identify features of the actor and allows the viewers to examine his facial expressions which he looks like he slightly worried with what he is about to do. Also the high shot of him looking up implies that he is in the lift and explains why the lift is moving so therefore we as viewers know that he is in the lift from the previous shot. Also the transition from the previous shot is a straight cut which allows the viewers to easily understand what is going on.
Frame 6: In frame 6 it goes from a straight cut transition to a very long shot of the character walking through the building, in which you are able to see what the character is like at a distance so therefore you are able to identify what he is wearing. Whilst the man is walking through the building there is no noise what so ever except his footsteps which Is all you can hear within this frame, this then add to the effect of the dark gloomy colouring on all the frames which adds the intense atmosphere. Finally the transition from this frame/shot to the next shot/frame is a straight cut transition
Frame 7: This shot from the film Casino Royale that I have decided to use as frame 7 is a shot of a door opening. I have chosen to add this as it relates to the effect of something being dark and gloomy as by opening the door you’re not expecting what is going to come next. This shot is introduced by a straight cut transition from the previous frame whilst the only noise is the door handle when pushed down to open it and the door squeaking when it is opened.
Frame 8: In frame 8 it is an over the shoulder shot of the villain looking at the main character who is James Bond played by Daniel Craig. This shot has no sound to it just the footsteps of the character but when the camera goes onto James bond there is then sound of the rotation of the chair and dialogue from him saying, “Em don’t mind you earning a little bit of money on the side’ the use of this short dialogue implies that he is up to no good, this then sets up the story for the rest of the film
Frame 9: In frame 9 it is a medium shot of James Bond who is the main character whilst he is talking to the villain. In this frame the dialogue between the two characters is that James Bond says ‘If it wasn’t selling secrets’ which tells us that the villain is up to no good. From this frame you are unable to really see what he is wearing but he is wearing an all-black outfit but is smartly dressed which implies that he has a high status role.
Frame 1: In frame 1 we decided to use the MGM logo but added our own twist to it, as we used it with a humorous affect as we used one of our actor’s heads instead of the lion head, but we kept the lions roar in it. We decided to keep the MGM logo as it a known company worldwide and also because it was used in the James bond film which was our inspiration so therefore we added our own little twist to this. Besides adding in this humorous effect we still wanted to take the rest of the film serious. We also decided to keep the same font in the titles logo and it is easy for the viewers to read but we added colour to ours instead of using black and white unlike James Bond Casino Royale.
Frame 2: We decided to use a man playing a saxophone and named the company “Crabtree” the reason for this as we used this in our preliminary task and as a group we all liked it and decided to use it within our main task. Also the lighting used in this frame is the light given off a lighter so therefore we used natural light to give it this effect. Also the font we used illustrating ‘Crabtree’ is a basic readable font so the viewer’s can easily read what the company is which is similar to our influential film.
Frame 3: In frame 3 we have a lower shot of the main character who is ‘James Fong’ we used this so the main character in our opening can be easily identified, therefore the grey tuxedo, black shoes makes it clear to who this person is and therefore can easily be identified. We used a tracking shot of the character walking in this as it makes the viewers think who this person is and want to see more of the character as we only show the lower half of the character. This is similar to our influential film as it gives a closer view of the main character (frame 9 in the influential film) but instead of using the top half of the character we added our own version to it by using the bottom half and adding a bit of camera work to it.
Frame 4: In Frame 4 we have one of the names of the people within our group that created the film with us. We have the names appear on a black screen which makes them easily readable as it appears in a white font. The font which illustrates ‘Harry Young’ is very plain and basic like the font in our influential film and we also use white writing like frame 3 in our influential film. Every time one of our names appear on the screen it is a straight cut transition to the next shot within our film as in our influential film, ‘James Bond, Casino Royale’ they use alot of straight cut transitions so therefore we was inspired to do this.
Frame 5: in frame 5 we have a close up of the top half of the main character within our film opening as this leads on from the previous frame of the lower half. We decided to use this as it was used in our influential film in frame 9 as we wanted the viewers to get a clear image of what the main character looks like as we use a tilt shot of this scene as we started with the camera tilted down then finished with the camera tilted up to see his face. The use of this adds to the key features of the main character as you are now able to see his face and other features such as the white shirt and the bow tie which again relates back to previous frames. The music we use in this builds up a lot of tension and kind of gives away what genre the film is going to be.
Frame 6: In frame 6 we have James Fong entering his location in style, this frame is similar to frame 3 in our influential film as it shows the location. The location shown in our shot shows an area of importance/value as there is a lot of high maintenance security as high metal corrugated fences, also a pin code to get in which is not shown within the frame, so we adopted a very different approach to our influential film in showing the location.
Frame 7: In frame 7 we have a close up of the villains suit, we decided to use this in our film as it allows the viewers to easily identify who the villains are within the play, so the black suits, red tie, white shirts which is very different to our main characters outfit. In this shot we used the studio lighting so we can have the shadow effect in the background and the key features can be easily seen. We decided to use a change in the music in the villain sequence as it adds/creates a bad image of the character when they are viewed, this was intended as a group we sat down and decided what music change should take place to create this impression. Also this is just one of the villain shots as they are just brief images of the villains up close but there is all different angle shots of the villains such as high, low but when they change it is a straight cut transition like the ones used in James Bond. Also this is very similar to frame 5 in our influential film as it uses a medium close up to show the character which is not shown for very long.
Frame 8: in frame 8 we have used a medium close up of James Fong catching the villains at gun point, the editing we used in this is that the background is slightly out of focus but the translation font is not. We used the same idea of our font throughout our filming of it being plain and simple but keeping the white colour, which is all very similar to our influential film. We had to incorporate the writing in this as our main character speaks to the villains in Chinese and not everyone can speak Chinese, James Fong says ‘ Daddy’s back’ which creates humour like the rest of the film.
Frame 9: Finally in our last frame we have the Title of our film appearing up on the screen with a black screen, we used the same concept again of the same plain font with it being white as we can keep it consistent all the way through. We adopted a different approach to our influential film as we had the title of our film appearing up with a straight cut transition, unlike our influential film which does not have the title of the film appearing.
- a distributor is generally an organisation who handles the theatrical release of a film in a particular country as well as the marketing and circulation of films for home viewing (DVD, Video-On-Demand, Download, Television etc) a distributor is an individual or organisation who will represent your film at festivals and markets around the world and who will attempt to sell it.In our influential film James Bond casino royals it had 2 distributors, metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and Columbia pictures. MGM was founded in 1924, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. it is One of the largest and most glamorous of film studios. Columbia pictures was founded in 1918,mColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. (CPII) is an American film production and distribution studio of the Columbia Tristar motion picture group, a division of Sony picture entertainment a subsidiary of the Japanese Sony It is one of the leading film studios in the world, a member of the so-called Big six. It was one of the so-called Little 3 among the eight major film studios of Hollywood's golden age.
Our distributors within our film
VOICE OVER
4) Who would be the audience for your media product? (e.g. focus group video and audience profile)
Marcus Longadong
Gender: Male
Ethnicity and cultural background: Christian
Education: 12 GCSE’S all A*-C, college level 3 science
Religious and political affiliations: Marcus Longadong believes that god created the earth and once he believed this he realised god backwards spelt dog so therefore he now believe a dog created the earth. Marcus strongly follows UKIP and has Nigel Farage as one of his main role models.
Economic status: At this moment in time Marcus is at sixth form hoping to study science at Uni and further his career within science
Employment: currently at school still studying but hoping to get a job in the science industry.
Sexual orientation: Marcus's sexual orientation is within women and he enjoys going out with the lads to local night clubs seeing 'What talent is on offer' in his local area.
Family background: Marcus is one of 5 siblings he has 3 sisters and 1 brother, his mothers family originally originate from Uganda, whilst his fathers side come from the Netherlands.
Marital status: Currently single looking for a girl
Here is a filled out questionnaire that we managed to get filled out:
-What is your favourite genre of film?
Action spy films
-Do you watch our genre of film?
Yes, I love your genre of films
-What character types do you identify in James Fong?
Male spies with male villains
-What themes do you enjoy?
A gripping story line which grabs the viewers attention-Do you prefer British or American films?
I prefer American action films but I do like a British film like James Bond
-Do you prefer action driven films or character driven films?
I like a bit of both
-Have you seen our influential film? Do you like them?
Yeah I have seen your influential films, I’ve seen casino Royale and from Russia with love
-How do you like films to start?
Slow build up which leads to the action-Do you have any preferences to whether there should be music at the start?
Should be at the start
-When should titles be seen? At the end
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Another piece of technology that we used in the making of our main task is using the headphones. We used headphones in our task for many different uses such as listening to what music fits best with our film and its genera to using them to listen to make sure we can hear little sound effects in our filming such as someone walking or even the beeping of the buttons when James Fong entered the code on the electrical gate we used them to see if they can be heard upon the filming.
In the making of the film we used this lead which was one of the most vital pieces of equipment that we used. The reason for this is because without this lead we will be unable to upload our footage to the computer to piece all together and to even edit sequences of the videos so without this we would not of been able to complete our video. This lead had no other purposes like the camera which we used for photos and videos we only used this lead to get the videos of the camera and onto the computer.
Whilst we was using the camera for filming purposes another piece of technology that we used when using the camera was a tripod. We used the tripod in the filming stages of our opening as the tripod allows us to keep the camera still whilst filming which prevents any movement such as if we was filming by hand. Also the use of the tripod allows us to carry out different types of camera work such as a tilt or pan which we then can use within our filming.
Another vital bit of technology that we used in our filming was the use of the memory stick as this allows us to save our work so no work can be lost. The memory stick allowed us to store a variety or video and pictures that we can/will be incorporating in our opening of our film. Also the memory stick allows us to take the work around with us wherever we go so work can be completed in a range of places and therefore not just on the computer that it can save to. The memory stick also allowed us to save any music or sound effects that we can use within our production and from the use of the memory stick we learnt that you need to have a high storage memory stick as some of the features that we saved onto our groups one takes up a lot of space so therefore work may be lost in this process
This piece of technology that we use is the making our our main task is the system unit this system unit allows us to upload anything we want onto the computer, download a variety of this such as editing sorcerer which is all kept upon the computer. This system unit has a lot of memory as a lot more needs to be stored on the computer than on a memory stick. Without this piece of technology we are unable to complete the film such as putting it together, e.g Sony Vegas as we will not be able to complete any of this without it being stored on the system unit.
We used a monitor/computer screen as one of our technologies which allows us to visualise what we are doing and watch back what we have done. Without the monitor we cannot do anything as we will not be able to see what we are doing so therefore will not be able to piece it all together. Also the use of the computer screen allows us to watch back what we have done to allow us to see where there needs to be any improvements.
Finally the last bit of technology that we used in the making of our film is the use of Sony Vegas. Sony Vegas allowed use to put the film together so it all flows, not only did we use this to put it together we also used it to add any effects/transitions from shot to shot so therefore used it as our editing software, this was mostly used by our editor so therefore was a vital bit of software for him but for the making of our film and so without this our film will not look as good as what it does already.
We have seen progression in 4 main areas:
-Camerawork
Thursday, 26 March 2015
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Monday, 16 March 2015
RESEARCH INTO SIMILAR PRODUCTS - DEFINITELY MAYBE - HARRY YOUNG
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(40 seconds in) We see the envelope is dropped on the table addressed with the name 'Mr William Hayes'. It is sent from a company composed of two second names, which is usually a solicitors business. We also see that the letter is to be returned to sender, meaning it is most likely divorce papers. The dropping sound is also very loud, reinforcing this thought.![]() (42 seconds in) Here we see Mr Hayes, who the letter was addressed to, sitting in his lovely office high up in a New York tower block. Straight away we see from his formal appearance and his desk and the logos in the background that he is some sort of graphical designer who is quite important to the business he's working for. The cluttered desk of many pens sheets shows that he has a hectic job. In his clothing appearance, we see him to be the normal office worker with a shirt and tie, clean shaven with neat hair. The logos in the background show popular food brands such as Quaker Oats and Cap'N'Crunch and that at some point he's worked with them. These food brands are high profile meaning Mr Hayes is vital to his business. His expression and the constant clicking of the pen in his hand shows that he knows exactly what the letter is and why it's there. ![]() (45 Seconds in) In this frame we see one of Mr Hayes' fellow employees enter to tell him that they are working with a big client. This is obviously big news as they are a large company and would be paying out big amounts. We see from the out of focus background, that the work office is a big sized room with many fancy lights. This again shows that he's working for a top company. We see from the employee that shes quite happy about this account. ![]() (1:20 minutes) Here we see Mr Hayes walking out of the building he works in. We see an immediate change in his uniform as now he has his top button undone and his blazer open, more informal than before, maybe suggesting he couldn't wait to get out of work after the bad news. We that his work building is glass so again we see that is well known and so that everybody can see inside. ![]() As he's walking, he pulls out his MP3 player due to the quote in the scene before. Some sort of rap song starts to play, and this is meant to create humor for the viewer as it's pretty clear that he wouldn't be listening to that genre of music. The music then changes to 'Everyday People' and this is then the background song for the credits. This is good editing as it implements the dialogue to create music for the background. ![]() He then calls the credits song 'perfect' which then allows it to be played through the credits as it's relevant to the character and the start of the film. This song by 'Sly and the Family Stone' was regarded as one of the best songs of the 60's and was different to the funk of the band and stuck more to upbeat pop. The name of the song can also be related to the main character as it seems he has a pretty average life; working in an office, with children and he did have a wife. ![]() Now the credits begin and screens start to overlap one another and the titles go between them whilst the song still plays. We see generic shots of Hayes walking around in New York as we see numerous yellow taxis and famous street signs. Written\Published by Harry Young |
Friday, 27 February 2015
EVALUATION- SCOTT COLLER
1) In what ways does your media product views, develop or challenge views or conventions of real media products?
1. The opening scene of my media product features various similarities and differences as the sequence of events see in this Casino Royale nine frame image, My first frame, similarly to the frame seen in the top left as the nine frame above, features the main character and quickly establishes his whereabouts in the situation, revealing little detail of the character creating suspense and interest in the audience perspectives. This opening frame uses a simple notion of black and white imagery with Bond distinctively seen in frame, similarly to my frame of Fong walking on the gravel.
2. The second frame of this sequence features a distorted close up of an unknown male holding what seems to be a handgun. The black and white imagery is retained from the last frame, allowing the audience to perceive the events in sequence. The distorted imagery creates an eerie and uneasy effect, causing the audience to be drawn directly to question the mystery created in the sequence of events.
3. The third frame is similar to the closing frame of my media products closing scene, this gun barrel scene is present in all James Bond opening sequences and has varied and style and imagery over the years. This gun barrel effect features an animation of a blooded gun barrel in comparison to the realistic gun style features seen in other Bond opening sequences. In my product, I replicated the gun barrel effect used in the most recent Bond release, Skyfall.
4. The fourth frame features an animation of two males composed in an abstract style to revert the audiences attention away from the violence seen in the previous frames. I did not use this animation style in my opening sequence, however I would definitely consider manipulating this style of visual communication in my future media products.
5. The fifth frame features the second animated frame of this sequence, and also displays an important title informing the audience of the film writer and the initial film title. The letters are seen in bold lettering, a contrast to the font style seen earlier in the sequence. I believe there is a vary in font style to highlight the importance of certain titles in contrast to the others.
6. The sixth frame features a double close up gun shot in an animated fashion, the close up camera work restricts the audience from seeing the beholders of the guns. Creating mystery and a sense of unknowing which evolves throughout the opening sequence.
7. The seventh frame features a duplicated animated image of a poker card, there isn't any information about this image given at this point of the film, however it effectively grasps the audiences attention and interest.
8. The eighth frame features an animated image of a bullet leaving a gun barrel. The red backdrop given to this image evokes a sense of uncomfort and death, allowing the audience to grasp the writers intentions in the opening sequence.
9. The ninth frame holds the most importance in this opening sequence, it reveals the main title of the production and informs the audience of the genre of film, in this case, action.

1. The opening frame of my media product featured my first production company, similar to the production company logo used by MGM. To avoid copyright, I took my own spin on the design and manipulated a short video of actor Yuxin Zhang. I placed the video in the center of the logo to draw the audiences attention to his presence, similarly to that of the Lion found in the well known MGM logo.
2. My second frame featured a short shout to one of my two production companies, Crab-Tree productions. The short piece is lit by a lighter flame, the artwork designed by the well known artist, Harry 'blessed' Young. I felt that the artwork created a certain suspense and well provoked tension, perfect for the opening to a great spy production.
3. The third frame featured a tracking shot of the main actors feet, little detail is given away of the character in this shot, similar to the opening of various other Bond productions.
4. The fourth shot reveals the first sight of the main title design used in my media product. the white, bold lettering on top of the black back drop captures the audiences attention and creates tension and mystery. This font style was inspired by the original font used in from casino royale.
5. The fifth frame features a close up of Fongs outfit, revealing his professional, sophisticated nature similarly to that of Bonds in the 9 frame sequence seen above.
6. The sixth shot, similarly to that of the from the casino royale nine frame, presents Bond in his element, being a spy and looking stylish as he does it. The frame features a steady cam at a wide shot angle, allowing the audience to effectively feel engaged with the scene itself.
7. The seventh shot reveals the first of the villains, the close up shot captures the suit in good detail without revealing the identity or any details of the villain himself. This frame style is great at creating tension and mystery, as manipulated brilliantly in the casino royale opening sequence.
8. The eighth frame features a close up of Fong in the left of the the frame, the gun is pointed at the audience creating a sense of tension and unease. This frame, along with most of the others in my opening sequence, follows the rule of thirds, creating an aesthetically pleasing frame with little distraction from the main subject.
9. The final frame of my opening sequence is a replicate of the design used in Ian Flemming's from russia with love movie. However, similar characteristics are present between the font styles and design in the previous two nine frame sequences.
2.)How does your media product represent particular social groups?
The primary social group represented is the spy/police network. The intimidating yet professional nature of Fong is likely to attract a lot of public service men and women to watch the film, and to relate to his wildly fascinating experiences. Fongs professional nature reflects all those under the queens service, for example army members, police men and women and even members of voluntarily services. This wide group of social interest through representation is likely to attract many individuals to watch the film.
Another social group represented is the mafia industry element of my media product. The villains are in possession of stolen property and are professionally hiding it behind closed doors. The sophisticated, well organised characteristic is common in high society, not just in the mafia, but also in extreme wealth, corruption and general high level of crime. This slightly more extravagant representation is likely to excite and engage the audience, the reason to why i felt it was necessary to dress the villains in three piece suits.
*insert video*
The large percentage of audience would likely to be spy/crime fans of all ages. They are likely to be of both genders, but more likely to be female- due to the main character fulfilling a hunky, provocative nature. However,the intense action nature of the film is likely to draw the attention of the male gender, from typically teenage to middle aged men.
Using the iconic James Bond image I believe that a wide audience of various ages will be drawn to my media product. The Bond franchise is internationally recognised for its increasing level of success over the years coupled with its yearly tradition of film release. The franchise stays true to its audience, this loyalty is a aspect i wished to respect during the production and distrubtion of my media product- this attracting what I hope to be a very wide audience of Bond fanatics.
This is Harry Young, an entrepeneur in the world of fashion. A young man with the appreciation of media arts and film creation who quickly established his name in the world after the publication of his short film entilted "A day in the life of Pablo."
5.) How did you attract/address your audience?
I Before creating my media product I conducted a survey targeting a variety of audiences of ages and genders of typical film fanatics. Below, I have documented the results of the most common to each question from the survey.
What is your favourite film genre?
Spy films
Do you prefer action/drama/thrillers/crime?
Action/Drama
Would you prefer to watch a more subtle, less violent film or a film of an explicit, offensive nature?
Subtle, less violent
6.) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
*insert images*
7.) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Written/Published by Scott Coller
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