1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
My assignment for the media studies class was to make an opening scene of a film on the genre of your choice. I chose the Genre that of an Action/Thriller movie.
The opning scene starts off with the name of the first production company by the name of Starfall productions.
This follows with the names of the other two production houses. The names of the rest of the Cast and crew along with the names of the producers, director and actors feature slowly as the scene develops. The opening scene does not show any action scenes however there are some codes and conventions used in the film that may be featured in an action movie such as gunshots, rage and sadness depicted by the main actor.
In terms of Costume, the actor is topless in order to show his body which is in fact stereotyping as many action films do show the hero or even the villain to show his muscular body. While the other actor wheres a football jersey and shorts to show that he is a kid.
In terms of editing, the conventions of an action film were used which show sudden cuts, suspenseful music, shaky camera movement etc. All these codes set the perfect setting of the opening scene of a Thrilling Action film with a deep, sad and action based plot.
The props used in the film were really important as they help set the theme for the film. They were chosen really carefully and included items such as guns, newspaper clippings and cigarettes etc.
It is typical that in an action film there will be shooting and there will be guns. So following that I also used guns in my opening scene.
In order to show some anxiety in the character I showed cigarettes on his nightstand which shows that the character is a smoker and is dealing with stress or sadness.
2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
In order to engage with the audience I kept the videography really simple. In my opening scene you will find a lot of emotion which is developed by the emotions shown by the actor and the music used. In my experience I find that the audience although loves a lot of action scenes in an Action movie they find the movie better and more interesting if it has intense plot as well. In my opening scene you find a guy sleeping while having nightmares which shows his son being murdered, as his child is killed the guy wakes up and in the following scenes we can see so his emotions which show sadness and heartbreak caused by the loss of a loved one. Everyone has experienced the loss of someone in their life and therefore can connect with the character on an emotional level. The movie is based on Vengeance for his son and the opening scene shows that the character is really dedicated to finding the killers of his son and I believe anyone in his situation would feel the same rage and thirst for vengeance if their loved one is murdered. The intensity of the plot is created in the opening scene which I believe would keep the audience interested in watching the movie. I used a Canon 60D to achieve the best possible result for the audience to enjoy.
3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
In the beginning of this assignment I had little knowledge of editing but somewhat an idea of filming a scene. I had earlier used the Canon 60D to shoot shortfilms and music videos but on a much simpler scale. Shooting this video was a new challenge for me which with my little experience I handled quite well. In order to shoot the perfect opening scene for an Action/Thriller movie i had to first research and learn the different codes and conventions of an action film. I learned about different camera angles and movements which are used in an action film and the reason behind as to why these are used.
I learnt that every shot has a reason behind as to why it is taken that way for example a long shot is used to show the area or the setting/location or a close up shot is used to show the emotions and reaction of someone etc.
We were also given a prelimenary task in which we had to shoot a film scene in which we practiced the over the shoulder shot, two shot and the 180 degree rule which has helped me prepare for the final assignment.
Through out this project my editing skills have improved a lot. In the beginning i had no knowledge on how to use Adobe Premier Pro however over the course of the project i have learnt the software a lot. I learnt the software by watching clips on the internet and by the help of my media studies teacher.
I have also learnt that in order to produce a film research work and pre production work is essential. You have to decide location, costumes, props and the time of your shooting beforehand as it helps with better shooting and gives you more time to shoot you film.
4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?
All of my film was shot on a Canon 60D DSLR Camera. I took various shots some with the 18mm-55mm lens and some with the 50mm lens.
For the wider shots in which I wanted to show more of the setting i used the 18-55mm and for the shots which required more attention on the details of the room i used the 50mm lens.
I used the Computer provided to us by the school in media lab to do all the editing and research.
For the editing of the opening scene i used the software Adobe Premier Pro. In the beginning i had absolutely no knowledge of how to use this software however by the end of the project i was really familiar with the software mostly due to its user friendly interface which was easy to get used to.
For the inspiration of my film i looked at various short films on vimeo and even went through a lot of movies and carefully observed their opening scene and researched on the codes and conventions which make a proper opening scene.
After a lot of hardwork, research and commitment, here is my final project:
https://vimeo.com/138245152
