media studies 2009-2011

Click here to watch our annotated film

This image shows me operating the photoshop programme , this was another programme we used in the editing process to create still images. This was another very helpful tool in the making and editing of our film , the freeze frame motif we establised in the film was only possible due to this programme , therefore showings its importance to that feature of the film. the photoshop programme has taught me how to edit photographs therefore meaning it has not just aided my film making qualities but has also taught me a skill which may be valuable in other subjects in years to come.

The preliminary exercise we did earlier in the year prior to this main piece was a short film only about 20 seconds. The aim of that exercise was to get us to grips with all the equipment , such as the camera and the editing aspects of the film making. As a group we did nt put much effort into the preliminary exercise and approached it with a laxydaysical type attitude. Another feature of our preliminary exercise was that there was no planning prior to the exercise and we basically made it up on the spot. The editing in the preliminary exercise was poor and resembled a holiday film with some poor continuity. There was no consideration of making the exercise look proffesional so things like lighting and sound were not even though of. the 2 images above are from the preliminary exercise , they are 2 chronological shots , the one on the left is followed by the one on the right , as you can see , the charcater has shifted location in the space of no time , this is an example of poor continuity.

 In a complete contrast the final project was something which we spent so much time planning and every detail was thought through. There was a range of planning we had to get through , such as animatic storyboards and opeing titles analysis’s of existing films in our genre and others. Every shot and angle were examined closely so that it would look proffesional and make a really good film. My group members , ellie and jack , were very focused also on making a good film in order to get a good grade.

All in all the main difference between the preliminary and the final film was the group i decided to work with , the group for the preliminary was immature and had a lack of drive to actually work however my group for the final film was the complete contrast , we all contributed equally towards planning , editing , and the actual filming , plus the film was not just one persons film but everyones , we all identified things to strengthen the film and due to the confidence we had in one another , executed those things suggested.

This image shows me using the editing software , adobe premiere pro . this software is a very good tool to have and we are lucky as students to be using something which proffessionals also use. The software is very easy to use due to the simple layout etc , this was the programme we edited the whole film on and did things such as , freeze frames , cross dissolves and fades. By using this programme when filming i have learnt so much in the editing process which will prove valuable to me if i was to make a film again using this software.

This is a picture of me operating the camera we used to shoot the film , this image shows the camera fully set up showing it on the tripod , also set up by myself. The camera is very easy to set up due to the fact only the battery needs to be assembled on to it to get the camera working , the tripod is very important due to the fact it is holding a very expensive camera , if the tripod is not tightened up , there may be a large risk that the camera would topple. the advantage of this camera is that it makes life so much easier when making the film , due to the fact it is so proffessional and high quality

This is a print screen from our editing process , the programme we used was adobe premiere pro . Adobe is a very expensive but professional tool , it is a very good system and is simple to use after you are initially inducted to it. Our film required a lot of editing due to the fact for most of it the 2 charcaters are walking , this required continuity editing to be very sharp , also the editing in of the narration meant that it was possible to keep the viewer entertained whilst watching the characters walking. Our film was filmed in the 2 blocks , the first block was filmed around february , this was the first half of the film , all the way up to the handheld sequence , this was so we could edit the first half fully before shooting the second . we filmed the second block by the end of march and edited that so we had our complete film. We then looked back over the film and added in transitions such as , fade to blacks , cross dissolves and freeze frames

A major factor in making a good football hooligan film is having a stereotypical leading man , ours is in the centre of this picture. The basic biography of him is , brought up fairly well in a village just outside Middlesbrough but wanted the town life , left school at 16 where he found a proffession in bricklaying waiting for him , many run ins with the law , or ‘old bill’ as he would call them , only a criminal on saturday afternoons though and likes a pint , and several more. As a character he is very reminiscent of other leading men in firms from other movies , the main one that comes to mind is the character ‘pete dunham’ in Green Street played by Charlie Hunnam , both having a cheeky sense of humour , a glint in the eye that appeals to men for the arrogance and women for that toughness but underlying sense of feeling ,  and the way they both love their clubs , Pete loving west ham , ours loving middlesbrough. Our character wears the stone island jumper and burberry cap in our film , this is visually making him look tough however guaranteeing him respect from his peers and foes , the burberry cap is his USP and throughout the whole film wears it for every match.

The man in the picture above is Pete Dunham out of green street , previously mentioned in the above paragraph. Dunham is the leading man in the film , like jamie byrom is , and they both have the same style and substance in their roles , leaving nothing to be imagined due to the purposeful acting they both create when in the roles. The key thing about the similar styles is that they are arrogant , this is the key qualtity  pete and jamie both have and the way in which they have the sudden respect from their peers in the films. The picture shows pete dunham in a stone island jacket , the same brand as our character is wearing. The main difference between the 2 is that pete dunham leads the best firm in the country whereas our character is leading a decent firm but nowhere near as good , and is trying to reach those heights. another difference is the regional accents , pete dunham is the stereotypical cotney , using all the rhyming slang throughout the film whereas our charcater is a from middlesbrough and has a strong teeside accent which appeals to people of that area whereas everyone seems to enjoy hearing the cotney accent.

The man on the left of this picture is matt buckner played by elijah wood in Green Street , this character is a complete contrast to our main man however is the main character in the film , Buckner is an American who got kicked out of college in the states after being stitched up , he then came to england to visit his sister who was married to pete dunhams brother , hence pete dunham met this scrawny american and before long befriended him to the point where he took him along on saturday afternoons to fight. The way in which buckner is taken under someones wing is a contrast to our character due to the fact ours would never allow anyone to dictate something to him , also buckner is american and very well educated whereas ours is from teeside and not so well educated . The only similarity between the 2 is that when fighting they both have that passion for the club and will never give up , they live for the saturday afternoons and that comes accross in the films.

Frame 1 – This is the company ident and the opening shot to the whole film , around 2 seconds into this shot the audio begins , the song used throughout the whole opening.

Frame 2 – This screengrab here is from the ending of a long walking scene in which the 2 main characters . will banks and jamie byrom are introduced to the audience , also just before this shot has happened the narration begins , delivered by the main character jamie byrom and the content includes key factors which provide a good introdution to his character and potential goings on in the film

Frame 3 – This shot of the train is very minimal in length however could be seen as one of the most integral shots in the film , the train is meant to indicate travel and therefore is the conclusion of the introduction to the characters , when the train passes there is a cross dissolve to indicate time difference and  the fact they have arrived in a new environment , hopefully illustrated by the urban feel of th shot prior to the train.

Frame 4 – This shot is from the rear of the characters aiming to create the effect that they are in control and leading the audience to the next stage of the film . The sequence behind the 2 characters is handheld , aming to create the audiences impression that they are right behind the 2 actors walking and feeling as if they are a major part of the film.

Frame 5 – This shot is once again in the urbanised environment used setreotypically in these films , the use of this shot down the alleyway helps create a more rugged environment and the single formed nature of the walking from the characters seems regimental and hierarchical in terms of the fact the lead character is in front. this is also where the narration temporarily stops.

Frame 6 – this shot here shows jamie byrom and will banks being joined by more charcaters after a brief stand by themselves , this shot is stationary so it allows the introduction of the friends to be more unpredicable and climatic.

Frame 7 – this is the introduction of the rival firm who are lead by their leader in the camoflauge coat , presumed to be the villain in this particular scene , the firm all have steretypical hooligan clothes on , fitting in with the stereotype of the football hooligan film.

Frame 8 – this is shot is a point of view shot from the view of the rival firms leader , the shot shows the main character identify his target , then begin to swing for him , there is then a freeze frame where the narration proceeds then after the sting from the narration the shot follows through and the punch is swung resulting in a black screen.

Frame 9 -This shot is the final shot and is the title of the film , it is a nice piece of continuity editing from frame 8 where the black screen that shows after the punch has the film name projected onto it , ‘violent conduct’ in a white font , used mainly so the audience is drawn straight to the contrast of the white font onto the black background.

This image shows the location of our final scene in the film , the fight.  It is a local subway in town near the college , the grubbiness and graffitti on the wall gives the urban feeling and a stereotypical real crime environment. The major problem we had with this was the lighting something which in our film became a hindrance in the final scene and unfortunately could not be overcome

The genre of which our film conforms to , real crime , or more specifically , football hooliganism which due to its film popularity in recent times could even be its own genre has an easy target audience to pin down. The audience is people who have an interest in football hooliganism and have aspirations of being involved in hooliganism yet dont participate , this is because these films are known for showing football hooliganism as a different dimension to not only a football fans saturday but their life. Many people make the mistake that the audience is football hooligans themselves however this is completely wrong , football hooligans strongly condemn these films as a glorification of violence and not an accurate.

The audience for these films is predominately male however women can also enjoy these films due to the usual female character in the film which the women can relate to , another way to categorise the audience is by the certificate on the films , ’18′ , this means the audience is an older one yet these films still are enjoyed by people who are in their older teens such as myself.

The football hooligans fashion is something they pride themselves upon , and similar to any other fashions has evolved over the years , in the 80’s , sergio tacchini , fila , and kappa were worn , full tracksuits with adidas trainers were innovative and made a good impression . The general hooligan nature which has died down vastly since then now involves predominately ’stone island’ clothing , something which we aimed to show in our film by having the 2 main characters dressed in stone island and many of the other characters in the fight scene. The music is usuallty british i.e. the smiths,  and reflects the mood throughout the film , dance music is also used in these films to create an 80’s retro theme. the music in our film is fairly reminiscent of what you would hear in these films however due to complications regarding copyright , we were not able to find a stereotypical song by a proffesional artist to make the film even closer to the genre and in turn appeal to the target audience much more.

The tv shows which these people will watch are on channels like ‘bravo’ with examples such as ‘danny dyers deadliest men’ .  There is also the old comedies such as ‘only fools and horses’ which were set in the 80’s hooliganism era. Another unthinkable area which these people have an interset in is current affairs , so the news may also appeal.

ipad

1a) video , internet , music , books , it is identical to the ipod touch but with 4 times the display of it.

1b) big touch screen makes pushing buttons much easier for the elderly and obesely fingered

playstation 3

a) the sony playstation 3 plays blue ray , lets you experience the internet and stores music.

b) the relationship is that you can stream iplayer through the playstation 3

c) sony films and sony music can be bought to be used on the playstation 3

The football factory

The opening credits start with the name of the production comapanies , ‘Rockstar games’ and ‘Vertigo’ , these names last on the screen for around 4 seconds giving the viewer just enough time to see it and then move on quickly without boring the viewer immediately into the film. There is then a montage image before the films directors name Nick Love , comes on the screen and that is followed by a further montage of pictures befored the main actor in the film Danny Dyers name is shown , the titles sequence then continues for a furter 1 minute approxiamtely showing minor actors names and also producers names and other peoples names from behind the scenes. The title sequence is fairly basic and conforms to getting the information across and showing a montage of images of football hooliganism which gives the viewer an insight into what the film is going to involve. The music is instrumental and is almost a continuous tone throughout , the main colours used in the title sequence are , red , black and yellow all used for the majority of the time.

Green Street

In the opening to this film it is very much different to the football factory and immediately shows the story of the main character Elijah Wood , he is the first name to come up and he is the first person the viewer see’s , the whole opening titles are following him in an airport whilst in the bottom left coner of the screen the information about all the people involved in the making of the film comes up in a basic white font. The problem sometimes with having the story going on in the background of the opening titles is that the information shown is not really paid attention to as the story is the main attraction. The music in the piece also differs from that used in the football factories opening sequence as it is a song , ‘only when i laugh’ by Ken Jones. in my opinion this form of opening titles does not work as it distracts the viewers eye from the text information to the story instead.

RockNRolla

The opening titles of this film are very advanced with a lot of CGI , it starts with a very fast pan across what looks like a deserted warehouse before revealing the warner brothers company logo , before showing a cartoon like montage of the production company , the directors name ‘Guy Ritchie’ and then it moves into real life and a man is stood stationary for around 25 seconds while there is a voiceover from a cotney man explaining what a rock and roller is , then after the 25 second voiceover period , music is then played , ‘im a man’ which is instrumental and also lyrical, and once again the cartoon montage of the characters image aswell as their names begin popping up one after another and then to end the sequence the final cartoon of one of the characters morphs into the real life version of the character resulting in the opening of the film. this opening title sequence was very advanced and showed the film had a hugh budget however it is a very good opening titles sequence and ultimately works to portray the information and also the theme for a gangster film.

The preliminary exercise is a piece of work we were required to produce , and had to follow a specific brief of the exercise. As a group we followed the basic criteria of the film and in turn just produced a basic film consisting of the hand over of a briefcase. The major good point of the piece is the close up on the hand pulling the chair back , this shows a fairly decent level of camera work and helps the piece flow from one mini sequence to another. The major bad point of the video is the editing in which the characters jump occasionally when walking which shows a poor editing skill level from the group as a whole however countered with that there is a very good fade to end the piece which i believe is executed well and smoothly rounds the film off.

This is a continuity task linked in with filming and editing . The film has to consist of 3 stages :-

1. character opens a door
2. character crosses the room and sits down in a chair opposite another character
3. they exchange a small amount of lines in dialogue and then an object i.e briefcase

This task is meant to demonstrate a match on action , a shot reverse shot and also has to implement the 180° rule.

This contains tools for editing clips in the timeline. When you select a tool the mouse pointer will usually change to the tools icon to represent it , a tools behaviour can be changed by holding down the shift key.

selection tool – used to select clips in the timeline

track select tool – select all clips on a track from a given point

ripple edit tool – adjust an edit point and move other clips around

rolling edit tap – adjust an edit point between 2 clips

rate stretch tool – change the duration of a clip whilst changing the speed

razor tool – cut a clip into 2

slip tool – move a clips in and out points by the same amount simultaneously so the timeline is not  affected

slide tool – move a clip back and forth in the timeline while adjusting adjacent clips

pen tool – create control anchor points

hand tool – drag the timeline view left and right

zoom tool – click in the timeline to magnify the view or drag and select a rectangluar area to zoom into

This tutorial provides an insight into the features of adobe premiere workspace.

the workspace is divided into 5 panels:-

1. the project panel – where you the store all the elements which make the edited video

2. the monitor panel – where you view video clips and results of your edits

3. the info panel – shows info about the selected panel

4. the timeline panel – where you arrange the elements of your videos in an order

5. the tools panel – where you can use various editing tools to use in the timeline

This is a programme which can be used by amateurs and proffesionals due to the fact it can be bought alone or as a part with other applications such as photoshop.

How does it work?

it works by importing videos from a tape onto the hard drive then enabling you to edit it and then export it back onto the tape

How good is premiere?

Iis a very popular package as it enables you to edit , broadcast quality production and make high definition video however other packages are more popular with high quality producers. It has a nice clean interface meaning it is accessible to all skilled users.

what can it do?

It can do numerous things such as , 1. import video , audio and graphics in a wide variety of formats , 2. edit , manipulate and arrange these elements in a visual timeline , 3. add effects , filters and titles and 4. export your video in a variety of formats , including video tape recordings.

What cant it do?

Apart from its obvious advantages , there are also some bad points , 1. the title maker is not as advanced as it could be , 2. serious sound editing needs a specialist sound application  and 3. the range of transitions and special effects are average in proffesional standards.

cost?

It is a mid range product with a fairly reasonable asking price , there are cheaper versions for people who are money concerned however there are also very expensive systems which are much better than adobe premiere. on amazon you can buy the system for $550.00

In summary it is a very adequate system for all users and therefore is suitable for the job it does.

Editing is the process of manipulating and rearranging video shots to make a new work. It is part of the post production stage alongside titling etc. In non proffesional instances the word editing is used to describe all post production wheras editing can mean anything from :-

-rearranging , adding or removing sections of video and audio cilps

- adding colour correction  , filters and other enhancements

- creating transitions between clips

The main goals of editing are :-

removing unwanted footage -  getting rid of bits which are wrong

choose the best footage -  choosing the best takes for the final piece

create a flow -  to make sure the piece flows in a simultaneous fashion

add effects , music or graphics etc – improvment by adding extra elements

alter the style, pace or mood – the use of visual effects and music does this

give the piece a specific angle - tailor the piece to support a particular view point or send a message

linear sequence – where the editing is in time order .

non linear  sequence – a sequence where it is not in order , and in some cases is where the parts of the sequence go away from the action and then return after.

montage -  a collage of images using sound andphotomontage.

microphones :-

People are most likely to use microphones every day in some cases without knowing as they are used in things such as telephones and computers.  it is very rare that people think about the microphone when they are on the phone however when proffesionals use microphones they make sure they are perfectly aware of what they are doing. Using a microphone is not easy in fact it is a skilled technique due to the special features it inherits.  The microphone is one of the most critical pieces of equipment on a set due to the fact a good microphone will lead to a good audio and simarlily a bad microphone leads to a bad audio

Audio monitoring:-

Audio monitoring is where you use a visual display to monitor sound. This is beacuse it prevents sound degradation and and the consistent audio signals . The two most common types of measuring meters are :-

volume unit meter – this is used to measure the colume of the audio

peak programme meter -  this is much the same as teh VU meter in the fact they carry out the same    function

Both types of meter are available in various forms including stand alone units , components in larger units and software appliances despite this they both need 2 important characteristics ;-

- the scale which defines which unit is being measured

- the ballistics of the meter which determines how fast it responds to sound

1. In 1895 the lumiere brothers were the first people to project a film. The film was a very small production but very innovative for the time and was showing a train coming into a station, this apparently made people run out of the cinema screaming when they first saw the film. Their most famously known for their cinematograph camera which uses a claw movement to help films advance quicker. The cinematograph is still being used today.

2. The jazz singer was a film which was first shown in 1927 and was an american musical. The film was amazingly innovative at the time it was made for the sheer fact it contained something never been seen before speech and dialogue and inturn created a problem for other hollywood studios as they needed to respond with films involving speech as this was the new thing in fashion. Many film experts say that without the jazz singers innovation of speech and dialogue films today could still not include either ,therefore meaning in the short term it posed porblems for hollywood but in the long term changed the face of films.

3.  Vertical integration is the controlling of the 3 stages of film making, the first  stage is production which is the making of the film , the second stage is the distribution which is distributing the film around the country/world in order for it to be sold and the final stage is exhibition which is actually showing off the film e.g at cinemas etc. The reason vertical integration is used is because it cuts outside costs therefore maximising profits and also is much more reliable to the studio as they are doing everything.

4.  During the 18 year perioid between 1952 and 1970 the cinema eindustry hit an all time low and nearly resulted in bankruptcy.  The reason for this was the invention of the television , this enabled people to watch films in the comfort of their own home and not rely on going to the cinema. Another cause of the cinemas downfall was the legislation introduced to stop vertical integration meaning studios could no longer control all 3 stages of the film making.

5.  Today it is argued that after the director the producer is the most important person when it comes to making a film as they hold the most important roles within the film making . They hold the responsibility of maintaining film conditions , writing the script and also most importantly choosing and then recruiting the cast . The responsibility lies well within the producers arms.

There is a basic requirement of all video , film and televison companies to name all shots and provide guidelines to common types of shots , framing and picture composition. Below is the list of most common shot types :-

1. extreme wide shot – often used as an establishing shot , is so far away the subject is hardly visible

2. very wide shot – the subject is just visible but it is still in the environment

3. wide shot – the subject takes up the whole frame in most cases

4. mid shot – shows the subject in good detail but still shows the environment around

5. medium close up – half way between a mid shot and a close up

6. close up – a feature of the subject takes up the whole frame

7. extreme close up – to show extreme detail

8. cutaway – a shot of something other than the current action

9. cut-in – shows some part of the subject in detail

10. two shot – a comfortable shot of 2 people , framed like a mid shot

11. over the shoulder shot – looking from behind a person at the subject

12. noddy shot – refers to a shot of an interviewer listening and reacting to the subject

13. point of view shot – shot from a persons perspective

14. weather shot – the subject is the weather mostly the sky

Camcorder’s do almost everything automatically however professional cameras have such a minimal amount of automatic functions and as a result operators of them barely ever use auto focus etc.  The two main reasons for proffesional cameras requiring lots of manual work are :-

1. Despite being useful , automatic features can not cope with all situations e.g bad lighting conditions therfore providing unusable footage so manual work is much required.

2.  The camera does not know what you want so auto funtions are best not used if you are after specifics.

The main manual features of cameras are:-

zoom – this is the ability to  take a closer image whilst static

focus – the parts of a shot/image which stand out the most

iris – the way in which the images brightness is tampered with

white balance – the amount of colour in the image

The key to a filmed sequence is planning which is done before the shoot and not as a last minute thing just before filming begins. The main thing a director has to take into account when planning a filmed sequence is audience , purpose and probably most importantly location. The  reason location is so important is down to the fact it could effect the whole filming process for example things like weather could be an issue if you are filming outdoors scenes so somewhere where the weather is suitable is imperitive.  After these have been considered a shot list should be constructed conspiring of such things as angles and sizes for all shots in the sequence . After all this has been done you can then focus on the filming schedule which is centred around , location once again , cast absenteeism and

storyboards are used to ,in effect put the producers ideas into practice . The storyboard allows the creator to plan their work in terms of camera work , dialogue and other technical instructions such as lighting and characters positioning etc. The advantge of a storyboard is that the actual physical piece of work that comes after the storyboard is planned through it therefore creating minimal confusion and maximum efficiency in terms of delivering the physical piece. the disadvantage of storyboarding is that it can be used as an easy exercise and therefore can take the elemant of seriousness away from it.

wordpress is a good way to follow other peoples work and therefore aid yourself by picking out the other peoples weaknesses and using their mistakes to improve your own blog.  wordpress is also a good way to show your work off easily to other students and also the teachers. Another major advantage of wordpress is that it is economical in the sense no paper is being used as the work is accessed over the web by the teachers marking it , the process from the student doing the blog to the teaching recieving the work is also very efficient therefore means work is marked and feedback is given much quicker than if the blog was handwritten. A disadvantage of wordpress is that other people can look at your work and use your ideas and pass them off as their own. Another disadvantage of wordpress is that at first it is hard to get to grips with as it is fairly complicated before you eventually get used to it.