Textual Analysis

Hey Guys!

Here's a textual analysis of an AS Media Studies film called 'Captive' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93fH1fUQ-Lw

Enjoy

Audience Task

Hey Guys!

So, myself and Dan planned on conducting an audience task in which we would pitch our film to people within our target audience. Unfortunately I couldn't be there so Dan came to the rescue and ended up doing the pitch himself. So, here's the link to the video:

Daniel Haywood AS Foundation Portfolio: Audience Task

So as always, bye for now

Storyboards for Payback

Hey Guys

So here are the original storyboards we created for Payback. As you can see, not all the scenes are there. This has been the main reason for me not uploading these images sooner. Myself and Dan had already decided on the shots we wanted but didn't end up having time to draw them down. Some shots in the film even came to us at the time of filming as we were in the moment at the time and instantly were able to visualise what we wanted. So, these shots never got drawn down beforehand as we didn't visualise them until last minute so we apologise that a lot of shots are missing from these storyboards.

The film at the moment is complete and should be soon heading to a blog post near you. As always, bye for now!

Titles for PayBack

Hey Guys

One of the last things we need to finish off is the titles themselves; what ones we are going to have and how we are going to have them shown, such as on top of footage already playing.

I decided to watch the openings of a few films simpler to that of the crime thriller genre we are aiming to convey. Examples of that include Taken and Jack Reacher.

To my surprise, many of them differed in what titles they showed in the opening sequence. Take 2014's Non-Stop. The only title within the opening sequence is literally the title 'Non-Stop', not even the directors name or any actors names popped up.
Jack Reacher however seemed to follow the traditional lay out of titling by highlighting names of key actors, producers, writers, the director and other key associates. As expected, each film began with a shot of the film company's logo that made it, such as 20th Century Fox and Lionsgate. In our film we have done the same by placing our Twin Gun Entertainment logo as the first thing that appears on screen.

Personally, I have come to respect Non-Stop's use of simplistic titling as it can be used to symbolise a theme of mystery and the unknown in some aspects. I believe that this simplicity and its symbolisation can help evoke the crime/mystery genre that me and Dan are trying to achieve with PayBack. Ultimately, we'll have to see how this goes and see if we end up doing this or something different.

Brace yourself for more posts coming your way soon and, as always, bye for now.

Update

Hey Guys

Just to let you guys know, we've just about finished everything except for a few titles and music. We should be finished by Friday (hopefully because that's when the deadline is haha).

See you guys later

Binary of Opposites

Binary Opposites from AlexHunter98

Update (again)

"Another update post! You must be joking."

I'm guessing that's what all you guys are thinking. But it's a video this time! Exciting!

Update

Hey Guys

Just a little update, we are gonna start filming tonight! Whilst getting the footage we're also hoping to take some pictures to post on here in the mean time.

So as always, bye for now

Narrative Codes

Hey Guys

 

Sorry for the lack of blog posts but I'm back on track (for the second time haha). Basically this video that I found on YouTube talks about a French critic called Roland Barthes and the five narrative codes he devised when analysing media.

 

See you guys later

 

Credit for this video goes to GeorgiaJonesASMedia

Update

Greetings!

Just a quick up date, at the moment we are still working on our storyboards and hope to start filming soon. Can't wait.

Bye for now

Facebook Page

Hey guys!!

So me and Dan have decided to create a Facebook page for our media project where we will post content and updates to do with our filming and any posters we make as well as right here on blogger. So please like the page.

Bye for now


https://www.facebook.com/Payback-Media-Studies-1518504151786889/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Film Poster

Hey Guys!

So I've just had a bit of spare time on my hands so I just thought 'hey, I might as well practise making a poster for our film'. After throwing some stuff together on Microsoft Publisher I ended up with this. I think it turned out pretty well for a first attempt so I've decided to share it. Enjoy.

Risk Assessment

Hey Guys!

Before we start our filming, myself and Dan have to fill out a risk assessment for where we want to film. This is to just basically outline any hazards, like cold weather or shark attack, and to say what we are going to do in order to prevent these. As you can see there is nothing extreme but our filming does involve us cross a road a lot at night so we got to be aware of that.

I just decided that it would be worth posting this on the blog.

Quick update!

At the moment we are whipping up our storyboard so expect that on this blog soon.

Location and Practise Shots

Location and Practise shots from AlexHunter98

One Page Pitch Video

Hey guys!!

Here is mine and Dan's official pitch video of our thriller opening.

Audience Theories

Hey Guys!!

Here's some stuff about audience theories (I don't know what's up with the paragraphing on this presentation software I'm trying).
The Audience - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

Criteria

Hey Guys!!

Alright, sorry I haven't done any blogs in a while but now I'm back on track.

Basically the other day we watched a few thriller openings filmed by other AS media students like ourselves. We judged them against an exam criteria, much similarly to the ones that real examiners would use. The first one we watched I thought was amazing. Good use of sound, creative variation of shots, nice editing. I assumed that this one would be well in the top marks ban of 48-60. Turns out it was, unsurprisingly, achieving a number in the 50s (I don't really remember what number to be exact).

The next one we watched, and I don't want to be too harsh since I've never made a film and this is their first attempt, I felt was a little bad. Sound volume drastically increased or decreased in random areas, the mise-en-scene to me didn't exactly say 'thriller', neither did the use of high-key lighting throughout. The white font on the titles didn't match well against a white wall too. However, I was then surprised to learn that this film too achieved very high marks.

Next, we watched a couple more. Each had what I thought were massive faults that would lead to low levels such as poor camera work, generic shot-types and overall material that didn't suit the target audience originally aimed at. However, one after the other I was shocked to find how harshly I had judged these as they all achieve decent grades.

Overall, watching these has made me more confident about making our films and has given me a insight into what I believe works and doesn't work. I should hopefully be back on track with posting regular content so stay tuned for more.

Character Theories: Vladimir Propp

Hey

Here's at look into Vladimir Propp's theory of characters in media.

Character theories from AlexHunter98

One Page Pitch

One page pitch from AlexHunter98

Lighting Practise #2

Hey Guys!

Sorry this is late but I just thought that I should upload a couple more images to practise lighting.

The purpose of this shot was to experiment with tinting the light red. The effect of this use of colour conveys a feeling of danger and creates a tense environment. This is something that would be used in a horror. Secondly, the origin of the light source, behind the door, provides the viewer with a suggestion to where their focus should be directed.

This image was used too in order to experiment with tinted lights. However, this was used with the contrasting colour blue. As you can probably tell by Santa's presence, the effect of this colour is to create a cold, wintry atmosphere. In addition, I decided to edit a foggy white border around the image to help enforce a chilling tone.