Q4. How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Q3. What have you learned from your audience feedback?

POSTER FEEDBACK

ROUGH CUT FEEDBACK

MAIN TASK FEEDBACK

Q2. How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?

              Overall, I am happy with what how my main and ancillary tasks have turned out, I feel they work successfully to follow the conventions of Film Noir and create interest for the audience in the story and in the professionalism of the outcome. The archetypal characters are developed well in the narrative and hinted to in the poster and review page. I feel the poster images especially help to give the potential audience a taster for the themes of the Noir genre as well as the specific themes of the film. The toning of the film and ancillary tasks is more suggestive of a niche genre and help to attract the right kind of audience (the target audience). Cigarette smoking and themes of crime and romance also help to bring the production closer still to the codes of the genre as do the poster and review page.

                Our organised planning processes’ helped to keep our discussions productive and were key to producing a narrative which we hope is interesting and easy to understand. Singularly, regarding my ancillary tasks, I feel I made the correct decisions and managed to capture the feel of the film well enough to encourage the potential audience members to watch it.

THE POSTER:

            I was certain that I really wanted to use a shot from one of the two photo shoots we’d done but found through audience research but also due to my own preference, that the poster looked too contrived with one of these shots. I decided to use a shot actually taken on set to use in my poster as this looked a lot more real and gave more of a sense of what the film is actually like. I made some mock up posters with the photo shoot images to compare the two uses of images and check that what I had chosen was the right thing to choose.

            The next decision I had to make was the font type, I tried out various fonts such as ‘courier new’, and elephant. I decided that ‘courier new’ looked too cliché so went with ‘elephant’ but even found that to be not quite what I wanted so managed to lengthen it vertically using photoshop. The positioning of the text came naturally really as I just tried to fit it around the key focus’ so as not to distract from them. I think having it positioned centrally helped to keep the poster simple and clear to potential audience members.

THE REVIEW PAGE:

            The review page required more decision making. The actual written review turned out to be one of the easiest aspects of the review; I tried out a fair few designs before finding something which I felt looked professional enough. The placement of everything and even the colour scheme became difficult to decide. I knew I didn’t want to have a layout totally reflecting the style of the film because reviews are usually written independently from the film and so a style reflecting the film would be unnecessary.

            Taking inspiration from sources such as The Verge and Empire I managed to find a layout I was happy with. I didn’t want to create the review for an existing magazine as I wanted to create something original, not just something almost copied (in style) from an existing review. I liked the modern, graphic sort of feel to The Verge but liked the text layout and caption style of empire magazine so ended up taking a bit from both with screen shots from the film making sure the themes of the short were captured.

LINKS TO THE MAIN TASK:

            I feel that the poster reflects the essence of the Neo-noir genre due to the image used, its alternative colour scheme and the central layout. It follows the key conventions of film posters with the credits positioned centrally and towards the bottom, and the highest paid Actor’s name positioned in the top left hand corner. The pale colour scheme, I think, is what distinguishes it as a poster for an alternative/ indie film. As for the review, I feel it captures the core of the film through the screenshots and also would work as an advertisement if it were to be published due to the nature in which it is written. Again, it follows the conventions of review pages well with the star rating, photo captions and subheadings. Overall, I think it looks very professional and works well to create a good image of the film.

Q1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Feedback From Screening

We invited peers to come along to a screening of our film at break time yesterday and asked then to write down some feedback. The results were mainly positive and some comments were really nice to hear after the amount of time spend on it, we also got some comments on the youtube video! Below are our findings:

YouTube

Screening

FINAL FILM

Editing - Day 9

This was the last possible day we could edit so we knew it needed to be done, we invited some people to a screening at break time for some feedback as we were just that confident that we'd get it finished! We did have to come into school at 8:00am in order to finish but we managed it and have been given some really positive feedback (after some time/technical issues) from the screening which is fabulous! 

Music Idea's

 

I've had to upload this video straight onto blogger in a very low quality because youtube, yet again, has told me there are copyright issues with the music. This brings me on nicely to the permission element of music gathering, having emailed record companies for permission and received no reply we are using copyrighted music on the grounds that we are a non-profit organisation using the music for educational purposes. These idea's work quite well but I will wait to collaborate with the other group members tomorrow before we make any final decisions.

Possible titles and Production Logo

Titles

A selection of idea's for the title shown at the beginning of the film, all of our fonts were different for the poster task so we decided it would be goo to go with something completely different, here are some possible idea's; we will try them out tomorrow and see what looks best over the film:

I prefer the black background; If we are going to have the
title as a separate shot I think there should be a black
background as the white would be too big a shift
from the colouring of the rest of the film. 

I like this font as I feel it introduces the theme
of the newspaper and it is very clean and
crisp looking.

At first glance, I wasn't keen on the colour thinking
it looked too horror like. But I think it could be effective
to use colours other than black and white, however it
does look slightly flat and and as a result, quite
unprofessional.

I think this colour is far too dark against the dark
background but if we are going to have it over the
action, it could work well and be less harsh than
a black title.

FINAL - my favourite, at least

This is the same as the previous red title but with a drop shadow, I think this improves it greatly. The drop shadow really adds weight to the title and works to make it look much more professional. Again though, I feel it looks too horror-like against the black background and so I think it would work better over some action perhaps at the beginning of the dialogue between The Boss and Robyn.

Production Logo

We've decided to keep our production logo simple, plain text would seem more professional than our attempts at a production logo. LACE (lauren.amy.charlie.ellie) is our production team, and this is our production logo:

Editing - Day 8

We did plan to completely finish editing today but disaster struck! Some of our sounds got overwritten which took us back about half an hour and then we had a power cut, another group using the same mac as us lost about 2 hours worth of work so needed to use the time we were planning to edit, to get back what they had done. As a result we didn't finish, we still have music to add and a title to put in and some evening out to do. Also, I had some feedback last night which was not positive, some people didn't understand the narrative and we are beginning to think we have taken the ambiguity a bit too far! We are hoping the music should add some clarity but if not we may have to add a voice over.

Production Company Research

Rough Cut Feedback

The Correspondent (Rough Cut)

I have decided to embed this youtube video from Ellie's account as we have managed to get some audience feedback from peers in the comments section.

Editing - Day 7

Today was an extra long editing session, we were in the room for around 5 hours on and off and we finally have finished a rough cut which we have posted to youtube and asked people to watch and give feedback so we can make any alterations if necessary! We will continue tomorrow with music and colour correction. Final Cut did crash at one point meaning we lost a fair amount of work, we also are having issues with the length and the background noise but we hope to finish tomorrow!

Ancillary task - Final review page

Click on image to enlarge

Overall, I am really pleased with my review page, I feel it succeeds in both looking like a magazine double page spread and also looking modern enough to feature on a website. I haven't chosen an existing magazine for my review to feature in because I don't feel the style is similar to any existing film review magazine's however I did seek inspiration from Empire magazine and TheVerge tech review website. 

I don't think the layout is over complicated, I think it is easy to read and doesn't contain too much text. The images used are successful in showing the film at it's best and also in explaining the narrative effectively.  

Ancillary task - Final poster and evaluation

What people thought:

          As a result of this feedback I have decided to change some aspects of the Poster. Although there wasn't much negative feedback, one suggestion was to include the release date which I had actually completely forgotten about. I decided to put in the date and this helped make he poster look less like a DVD cover and more like a promotional poster. Here is the revised poster:

I am really pleased with my final product, I think it looks really professional and well laid out. There are strong links to other film posters through the use of larger and smaller text but I think the image itself is unique in composition, colouring and style. I think this was a helpful activity as it made me think more about the visual quality of the actual film.

Editing - Day 6

I wasn't able to make the editing session for day 6 as I was helping at a charity event, however, I have been briefed as to what was done. My groups managed to finish Scene 5 and move onto the handover scene but they did have some issues with background noise and the fact it is meant to be a night scene and we filmed in the day time.

Ancillary task - Review page idea's

Editing - Day 5

This session was very productive, we finished editing Scene 3 and made some real progress on Scene 4. We didn't run into many difficulties at all so were able to work swiftly.

Editing - Day 4

The aim of this session was to finish editing Scene 2, the reason this scene took particularly long was because we were trying to create voice over style dialogue to make it sound like an actual phone call. We have had to cut a lot of footage from Scene 2 as we had a multitude of shots as we did end up filming over about 2 hours!

Ancillary task - Poster idea's

Second Photo shoot

           Yesterday we finally managed to complete our photo shoot to help with poster making, Scott was able to attend and we planned to shoot singular and group shots of the three main characters. The shoot was really successful and I managed to take quite a few strong images fit for use in our posters.

Scott

I like this photo as a simple character
shot, as it shows the costume well,
I think that the shot would be better if
was taken at a higher angle.

I think this shot has a lot more to it in terms of the story,
it gives more hints as to what the narrative is about with
the concerned facial expression and more close up.

Scott and Robyn

I like this shot, it could be used in
the poster as there is enough space for
the text, it also insinuates some sort of connection
 between the two characters. 

This is more representative of the state
of things at the beginning of the film
with Robyn pleading with Scott. Therefore
it doesn't show enough of the narrative
and wouldn't work in the poster. 

This shot is really effective, the positioning was Ellie's idea and I think it works well
to show the style in the shadowing and also the narrative.

Scott, Robyn and Jade

I think this is really strong, it does look really set up but i think this is okay for a concept shot,
and means it would work well on a poster or DVD cover.

Again, this shot looks really set up but would still work for the purpose we need it for,
these posed shot remind me of the DVD cover of LA Confidential as it looks staged butis still effective in the Film Noir style.
 

Day 3 of editing

During day 3 we managed to make a start on editing the first phone box scene which was rather long, we had to play around with some of the dialogue as it wasn't matching up completely but other than that the session was successful and we have started to make serious progress!

Ancillary task - Review page research

For my review page, I have chosen to not only look at film magazine's/ websites but also look at tech website's reviews. I think my layout as a mixture of the two could be quite interesting.

Day 1 + 2 of editing

Day 1 of editing was mainly watching through all of our shots and getting rid of everything we didn't deem usable. Day 2 was when we set about putting everything in order on our timeline. We only ran into one issue, the static background noise was worse than once thought, we  may have to fix the sound later in editing.

Audience profile

Ancillary task - Poster research

I have decided to look at Film Noir and non-film Noir posters to try and take what  can from each, I want to create something new and original:

Script

SCENE 1 - CREDITS AND PRESS OFFICE

Improvised scene with very little dialogue, setting the scene and introducing the situation.

SCENE 2 - PHONE BOX #1

   

Mid shot from outside: Robyn stood in phone box talking to suspicious character…

Robyn

(Mid-close up of face shown pleading with unknown character)

I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Give me another chance to sort this out, I’ve found someone…

Mid shot from outside: Robyn places phone back then picks back up and dials number of Press office

CUT TO

Close up of ringing phone before Long-mid shot of Scott walking towards phone

Scott

(Close up/ Dutch angle of Scott picking up phone)

Hello?

Robyn

(Voice Over mid shot of Scott – Press office)

Scott?

Scott

(Mid shot)

Robyn? Are you alright?

Robyn

(Voice over continues)

Scott, I need your help, I’ve got myself into something…

Scott

(Mid shot)

What is it? Has something happened?

Robyn

(Voice over continues)

Listen, I owe a lot of money to some people and I need some help, it’s too big for me to deal with by myself…

Scott

(Close up of face)

What do you need me to do?

Robyn

(Voice over continues)

I need you to come and meet me right now, I’m at *Park View* and please, do not bring anyone else with you

Scott

(Close up of lips)

But Robyn I-

Robyn

(Voice over continues)

- Please Scott, I need you…

Scott

(Mid shot)

Okay, I’m coming now.

Close up of Scott putting phone down then mid shot of him walking towards the door of the Press office

CUT TO

Long shot of Robyn leaving phone box and walking away

SCENE 3 – THE FIRST MEETING

Long shot of Robyn walking towards lamp post

CUT TO

Mid Shot fragmentation of Robyn switch focus to long shot of Scott in background walking up behind her

Robyn

(Close up of face with Scott out of focus behind)

Thank you for coming, this just means so much to me…

Scott

(Focus switches to Scott but no camera movement)

Are you okay?

Robyn

(Mid shot of both as Robyn turns around to face Scott)

I didn’t mean for things to get this bad, I’ve been under so much pressure from work to get this story and I’ve just got in too far. They’re asking me for money, I have it, but I can’t go myself it’s just too dangerous. I need you to help…

Scott holds Robyn; close up of his arms around her, camera pans around to see Jade walking past seeing the two together

Scott

(Over the shoulder shot of Scott embracing Robyn)

Robyn… It’s fine, look I’ll help you. What do I need to do?

Robyn

(Same shot continues)

I’m meant to be meeting him at *Zeus* in two hours, I can’t go Scott, I don’t know what he’ll do…

Scott

(Lets go of embrace and switches to mid shot of them both)

I can go

Robyn

(Close up both faces)

Okay, you’ll need to go back to the office; a briefcase is there with the money. Wait there until I ring the phone, I’ll ring three times, that’s when you leave

Pause

(Switches to mid shot)

Look Scott, I don’t want you to get involved with anything you don’t want to…

Scott

(Mid shot continues)

I won’t let you go through this alone, Robyn…

Robyn

(Mid shot continues)

Go now then, wait for my call. I can’t tell you how much this means to me, Scott

Close up of Robyn kissing Scott on the cheek

FADES TO BLACK

SCENE 4 - SCOTT OBTAINS BRIEFCASE

Very brief scene showing Scott waiting for three rings and then leaving with the briefcase. Possibly including a match on action of Scott and Robyn smoking.

             SCENE 5 - PRELUDE TO THE HANDOVER SCENE

Jade walks over to bar and places empty Martini glass down, to be replaced by a full on. Does not make eye contact with Scott. Scott looks at Jade with an expression of confusion.

Jade

You don't know what you've got yourself into, Scott.

Scott

What?

Jade

If you have the chance to get out, take it.

Scott

Who are you?

Jade

I was once where you are now. If I had the chance to get out, then I'd take it. Because now it's too late.

Scott

Why can't you tell me who you are? (pause) I don't understand.

Jade 

Just get out, Scott. Trust me.

Scott

But I made a promise to someone... I can't...

Jade

He's ready for you now.

Jade leaves Scott at the bar and walks past the table that the drug gang leader, K, is sitting at.

SCENE 6 - THE HANDOVER SCENE

CUT TO

Scott and K sitting at a table together. Silence. Scott drinks water to compose himself.

K

(Clears throat)...so?

Scott

Oh, um, I'm sorry... (places briefcase on table)

K

(Opens briefcase) You have a lot of explaining to do, Scott.

Scott

What? What's wrong?

k

I'll give you 24 hours and then I want my money.

Scott

But Robyn said it was in there, I don't...

K

Who's Robyn? 24 hours...

Scott

I, I don't understand.

K

Leave, now. 

Scott runs out of pub to phone box, where he attempts to call Robyn.

SCENE 7 - PHONE BOX SCENE #2

Scott runs from pub to phone box in order to ring Robyn. Close ups of money being put in and picking up the receiver. Jade comes into shot from behind.

Jade

She won't answer.

Scott

(Drops phone to waist) How do you know?

Jade

What has she called herself this time, Robyn is it?

Scott

Yes... what do you mean by that?

Jade

It seems clear that I know her a bit better than you do, Scott. Her real name is Sarah Cherry, she stole a lot of money from us.

Scott

You're lying, you're lying!

Jade

No, Scott. She is the one whose lying. She's lying to you, lying to everyone. You won't find her.

Scott

You're wrong, you must be wrong.

Jade

Trust me, please.

Scott

I'm going to find Robyn...

Scott pushes Jade out of his way and hurriedly leaves the phone box- in search of Robyn.

SCENE 8 - SEARCHING SCENE LEADING TO ROBYN'S HOUSE

Scott rushes back to the office to search for anything which may lead to Robyn. He finds her address on an envelope and leaves.

Scott breaks down Robyn's door and rushes to her room to find anything to help him, he finds a ticket confirmation for the eurostar to Paris then hears a car horn.

He rushes downstairs and realises that K is waiting for him with Jade sitting in the car.

SCENE 9 - SCOTT MEETS K

As Scott approaches the car, K signals for him to get in then grabs Scott, shoving him onto the back seat before punching him and then getting into the driving seat.

Shots of disorientation show Scott's delirious state in the back of the car.

CUT TO

Shot of Scott laying on the floor on a grass verge at the side of the road, Jade walks towards him and leans down.

Jade

I tried to warn you! I tried-

K

(Grabs Jade and moves her away from Scott) Jade, get in the car!

K punches Scott for a final time.

BLACKOUT