final video

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

from the preliminary and main task i have learnt that time planning is key to the project and that sometimes you have to improvise with what you have to make the story work. it may not necessarily be able to follow the story precisely. also the level of skill and time needed for the main task compared to the preliminary was very different as the main task was very time consuming needing more task was very time consuming needing more angles and shots rather then the continuity scene which could be shot in one day.  

What have you leant about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

things that have been learnt about technologies is that they cannot always be reliable and that they can fail on you. also technologies that are being used have to be thoroughly learnt before you begin to use them so that you know what you want to get from it and what type of product you want to create. we overcame this problem by using tutorials that showed us how to get desired things that we wanted from the technologies that we were using. 

How did you attract/address your audience?

we attracted our audience by using surveys and other research methods such as market research to then base our product around. also we researched factors of other films that were similar to our genre and saw what made them successful and then used some of these factors and manipulated them into a way that was original and unique to our own product. 

In what ways does your product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real products?

our product develops forms of conventions as it follows recent patterns that have become popular over the recent years in films such as shank and kidulthood. our product develops the conventions of these films as it follows the same genre and filming styles also with the use of location and characters as there is a main protagonist that faces a problem and has to resolve it. 

Who would be the audience for your product?

mainly teenagers from the ages of 15-19 would be our main audience as the story is mainly based around their age group and issues that their age group has to face within present day British society. Also it would be made for this age range due to things within the film such as the slang used. Also as this film is more of an independent film that would not be released very widely the main audience would most likely be within big city areas as this would relate more to teenagers that are living in these areas rather than those in more rural places.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A media institution that would be likely to distribute our product would be revolver. they would be a likely to distribute our film as they have distributed films that are similar to ours such as kidulthood which means that they have experience which niche market British urban films. another reason why they would distribute our film is that they usually help to distribute low budget films as they generally do not have the funds to get their films notices through things such as advertisement therefore they help to solve this problem. 

How does your product represent particular social groups?

Our product represents a certain social group which is urban teenagers through the aspect of mise-en-scene and also the music and location that were used. the typical hoodies and bandannas were used to portray this type of social group so that it could be communicated easily from the screen to the audience. Also the use of gang culture was used as it is a current problem within London so people will be able to relate with it and would therefore understand what is happening and how to react to what is happening on screen. 

first draft opening scene

continuity scene

Audience Feedback

This is the audience feedback that we got with the first draft of our opening scene.

With this feedback the things that we thought we should change were:
-shorten the walking scene
-make credits less crowded and change colour of credits
-have more steady shots
-produce more cut in shots
-cut it down to 2 minutes
-take out most of the POV shots

Equipment

During production we had to organise and inform our teachers about the dates we wanted to film this was a crucial factor as camera renting had to be done during school hours and we had to have suppervision from an adult.
Also we had to inform and organise dates for our main protagonist to be on set during prouction.
During these dates we also had to have back up cast just incase certain characters were unable to attend on the filming days set.

We also used this camera (canon 500D) to film our add on shots that we had to put in after our audience feedback in order to rectify and improve our opening scene. This camera belonged to one of the members of the group and also shot in HD so was a good substitute for the other camera.

Production Scheduling

Production meeting notes

These are notes that were taking down during one of our production meetings

Treatment

The product 'Untitled' is a urban action drama set in South London, 2010. The plot follows the protagonist, Malakai, through a year of his life in a violent gang and how it affects him both physically but more importantly, psychologically. Over the year tension builds up between two gangs in the same area and it's not until somebody's whole family is brutally killed that the characters re-evaluate their lives. 
The film opens with Malakai walking from his Grandma's house when he is confronted by members of an opposing gang. They chase him into an alleyway and beat him up. The camera flashes between the chase scene and the 'battle' which commences the day after as Malakai aims to get revenge. The music will be grime and classical and the credits will be black and white in a bold font.

ANALYSIS OF EXISTING PRODUCTS - MARKET RESEARCH

KIDULTHOOD

The target audience of this film are urbanites and teenagers who are able to relate to the film content and text. The film represents the not so glamorous side of West London and highlights the key issues that take place day to day. Kidulthood also represents black youths who are often miss portrayed negatively in the media.The main genre of this film is Urban Drama which involves a narrative with a city backdrop usually dealing with crime, drugs and other bad issues that go on in society. Clothing worn by actors are common clothes worn by teenagers in London e.g hoodies, trainers, jewellery.Music used in this film falls into the genre of hip-hop and grime which attract the target audience.
FISHTANK

The target audience of this british film are young british youths who are deprived and may live in less developed areas in britain and also middle class people. This film is an gritty Essex drama which involves a main character named Mia.The stereotypes explored within the film include the working class ‘chav’ and their attitudes to family and acts such as smoking and drinking. For example the main character’s little sister smokes and she drinks regularly and in that society it is seen as normal. Also the culture shown is a very typical northern housing estate in which there are many young children and teenagers littering the streets regularly, this adds an element of danger to the film. The overall theme of the film is the idea of ‘Broken Britain’ in which it shows how unemployment, youths and drinking and smoking etc are a very common occurrence. Also the mother’s new boyfriend is seen as a potential father figure to Mia and her sister and so brings excitement and happiness to their lives when before it was very tense and up tight as it’s a dangerous area and you have to be vigilant.

SHANK

This British film has interpreted ideas from the film Kidulthood as it has many similarities. This film is a drama-triller. It involves a lot of violence and potrays the future South London as 'a gang ruled concreate playground'. Shank represents young teenagers and their struggles in urban London.
 A number of urban drama films being released they remain popular as they attact a certain audience which are young people, this has a dramatic effect on the number views and responses as young people are more likely to watch such films and are the future generation so meanings and ideas that are portrayed in these urban drama films will have an effect on society. As many of these films show the negative side to teen life it will motivate teenagers to not live  in that particular way.

Script

Script for: Untitled

Opening scene

(Just as Malakai is leaving his Grandmother’s house)

JOAN: Take care of yaself darlin’, Don’t get into trouble!

MALAKAI: Alright Grandma, see you soon.

End of dialogue for opening scene.

Market Research

Since the film is set in South London and is focused on gang culture, we have undergone extra research about this topic. 
Here are some examples:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6446232.ece
an article about teen mobsters who make £1000 a week from crime and how they are enticed to join a gang.

Location shots

These are the locations that we were shooting our opening scene in. 

Mood Board

character profiles

shooting script

00:00 Pan shot of buildings and surrounding environment

00:10 Low angle shot, then slow pan

-show the members of the gangs

Close up pan across the faces of gang members

00:15 Close up shot

-show the emotionon the protagonists face

00:17 Extreme close up

-reflection of rival gang in the eye of the protagonist.

00:18 Cut away to

-earlier that day of two shot with the protagonist with his grandma

00:20 Tracking over the shoulder shot of protagonist

00:22 Jump cut to POV shot of protagonist

00:25 Wide angle POV shot

-protagonist's view looking at rival gang member.

00:27 Wide angle three shot

-view of three more gang members

00:32Cut away and flash effect

-flash back of protagonist from earlier that day to present time

00:42 Over the shoulder shot

-protagonist deciding which way to go

00:47 Jump cut to POV shot

-protagonist seeing suspicious character

00:50 Close up over the shoulder shot

-protagonist looking behind himself in a paranoid state

00:55 Flash effect to mid shot

-shows gangs again

00:57 POV shot

-protagonists POV

01:00 zoom

-zoom into alley he is going to go down

01:05 Close up with crab tracking

-protagonist's feet as he is running using match on action

01:08Over the shoulder tracking shot

-protagonist running down alley

01:12POV shot

-protagonist's view of seeing gang members at each end of the alley

01:15 Flash back effect to mid shot

-showing gangs facing each other again

01:20High angle shot

-protagonist beaten up.

01:25 Camera then pans down to his eye level

-showing emotion on protagonists face

01:28 Zoom

-close up of the protagonist's face.

01:35 POV shot protagonist's POV- camera then pans up to a low angle shot

-shot showing the surrounding buildings.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard that we will being following for the creation of our opening scene of a fiction film.

page 1

page 2

page 3

Response to brief

The genre of my film opening is going to be Drama/Action so it is going to be refered to UK films such as Kidulthood, Shank, Fishtank and 4321. The conventions will include troubled characters, a tricking plot and will appear directly to the target audience which are young teenagers/adults

IDEAS FROM DISCUSSION:
-Plots which involve fights
-Genre- Action/Drama
-Urban issues
-Target audience teenagers
-Simular to kidulthood

Analysis of audience