Evaluation

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

For our opening sequence we used conventions that any rom-com use, except we changed and developed this to give our own unique style. In a rom-com/romantic comedy you have to make it obvious who are the main characters, as they will be the main focus of the film and you will be concentrating on them the most. Naive City is the title of our film and we think this works really well for a Romantic Comedy because at 17 you can be very naive about love, and the city to me can be a romantic place.

We pretty much knew how we wanted our opening sequence to be, and as a group we decided that doing it in split screen was the best thing for it, though none of us have ever used this tool and we were slightly scared it would look like a thriller or a action film, but this is what we really wanted and I’m glad we used it. In most Rom-Coms you would expect to see amazing sunshine, expensive cars and large houses; ours has none of this (not by choice) and looks very urban, the weather is quite grey and the houses and cars are pretty average, though for our generation it is more realistic. The titles took some time as we had to decide what we were going for, so again we thought of the genre and who would be watching it and decided to go with a traditional title that are very gender specific; we decided that the colours would be blue-boys and pink-girls. This matched very well with the film and we very much like it. We then as a group decided on the transition the title would appear as, we chose one that made the titles appear on the screen and fade out, again we liked this and as a group really could see it coming together. The song was the main concern for the title sequence and we became very frustrating as we couldn't use the original song as there is copy write restrictions and we were in a bit of despair if we would find another song that would work so well like the original one would, so as we started to look around for solutions we thought to record our very own version of the original song; at first we were worried as it was different but after a few tweaks we think it fits with the regular codes and conventions of any Rom-Com. Our version of the song we had a soft guitar riff playing over and over again and It personally creates a happy vibe for our opening piece. This overall developes the codes and conventions, I think.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

teenagers would be the particular social group, we placed the teen element using the two main characters getting ready on a typical morning also by setting up these enigmas like a guitars in the corner and photos of friends on the wall, though we were careful not to offend anyone as we want the people to relate to it. The people that will relate to it the most would be in the age bracket of 15-19 and hopefully will relate to the two characters, whether it is similarities, to themselves, clothes, whether it be saying they like the outfits or places they have been that we have shot in; we feel as a group that we have made it very relatable.

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

This decision was rather easy as we knew that Nickelodeon would be best distributor for our film. The reason this decision was made is because Nickelodeon has distributed alot of rom-com romantic films like, Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging, Yours Mine And Ours, also most of Nickelodeon's films are targeted for teenagers so this was a easy choice and we feel that it was a good one as it suite our genre and target audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

We decided the audience for our film would be 12-19 year olds, the reason we decided upon this age group is because we felt we wanted teens as well as young adults would want to come and watch our film. We also decided on this age group because we didn't want to create a film that we wouldn't go to watch so we catered it to our own individual taste.


How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract our audience we wanted to really relate to what most teenagers are like and what they do, so through our two main characters we thought of starting the film with them getting up to start a typical day, as most teenagers could probably recognize part of themselves in the two main characters and how they get ready, also we've used places most common to teenagers e.g. Shopping Centre’s and taking public transport (bus) hopefully teenagers will be able to address this situation and really see themselves.


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

As I mentioned earlier we used split screen and that none of us have used this tool before, well that was called Final Cut Pro, and because none of us had used this particular editing programme before we were overwhelmed and some of us found it frustrating, but we soon got the hang of it after edited a few scenes together. Another programme I haven’t said that we used for the first time was, music maker, although none of us used this programme we found it rather easy also it took us the shortest amount of time and it only required one of us to manage everything and it helped us allot to record the song for our title sequence; although I didn’t edit as much as others I learnt that too many people trying to do one thing can be very difficult and also how to use new programmes.

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

Preliminary task has shown me that storyboarding and organisation is very vital in producing an excellent media product. The task itself took us a hardly any time at all though i would say we underestimated what lied a head in completing the other larger part of the coursework as we really relied on a lot of things maybe too much, hopping no one would interrupt the footage, and that everyone would arrive on time and that the actors would be ready and nothing major would come up to ruin our plans, also the weather could of ruined the entire thing. The Mac suite was most day over booked and we would have to change our plans entirely, though shockingly we managed to everything on the dead line still leave us time to change things if needed.

I am very happy of the overall sequence and though we did have our differences in the group, I think we worked very well and really spent time and allot of effort to make a title sequence we can be proud of.

FINAL opening

This is our final cut for our open sequence, i like the out come allot and i really think it fits to what we wanted, though i think the music is a little distracting it still fits in with all genres that are most likely to watch it.

Audience Feedback

we screened our opening sequences on the 24th of February in our media class and then to our family and friends; the audience feed back will determines what we need to change or that is good and can stay the same.

comments people have said.....

Balinda Raji: "looks good guys, but shame about the music".
leanne whittaker: "right now the music is letting it down, change that and its very good".
Katie Banham: "It reminded me of Its A Boy Girl Thing, it works really well in context with your genre."
Laura Debourde: "I Love It".
Nancy Compopiano: " It was really good i have nothing bad to say about it the music is really good very catchy just a shame you couldn't use the original song but yeah i loved it all"
Emily Dann: "It was really good I loved it all"

Sean Roberts: "I cannot believe you made that it looks like an actual opening sequence to a real film.I didn't really know what media studies was but it looks fun if your making stuff like that, i really like it"
Stephen Wright: " Looks good I don't really like rom-coms but if this was an actually film I'd go and watch it well done".
Rob Mcdonald: "Wow it looks so good well done.

Audience Feedback Via Youtube

ColeshillMedia

I like the idea of the spilt-screen and you've sustained it really well. The shot of the bus arriving on the male side is really nicely framed. I thought the camera shots towards the end when both characters were walking towards the shops were a bit jerky - and as it was both of them, it was pretty distracting. Good sense of the two characters though. Want to know more...

Research And Planning-Analysis Of A Old Title Sequence "To Kill A Mockingbird"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP5MutuPVxk

The opening sequence for To Kill A Mockingbird is wonderfully made and exciting to watch. The main focus of the film is innocence and the fact that the main image of the opening sequence is of a child drawing really captures the essence of innocence that the film represents.

The fact that the titles are in black and white really add to the effect of the film. There is no colour this requires the audience to use their imagination especially in regards to the image of the child drawing as it makes us think what are they drawing and what is the significance to this drawing.

The way this title sequence is different from so many modern ones is its simplicity the fact that the titles work so well in context with the film itself if the titles were over complicated it would take away the true meaning of time film.

Research and Planning- The Song For Our Titles Take 2

When we originally planned our opening sequence we wanted to remix the song, She's Got You High By Mumm-Ra. However when we remixed it we felt it didn't really go with the edited footage so we then came up with the idea of recording the song with just the guitar riff and perhaps the underlying bass riff. once we recorded it the guitar was played with the edited footage, as a groupe we thought it fitted really well and we all felt very excited.

ACTORS

Jack Lowe Plays Josh, he features throughout our opening sequence and would be one of our main characters. Jack would be playing alongside Laura Debourde who is also a main character.

Laura Debourde Plays Poppy in our film and features throughout our opening sequence, she would be one of our main characters; and would be playing alongside Jack lowe who is also a main character.

filming our open sequence

changing the titles-research and planning

As we were filming our opening sequence we deicided that our idea for having the titles interlinked with the scene was too difficult to execute because most of our shots were outside. As a group we have now decided to have the titles displayed on each half of the split screen. For example on the half of the screen where "Poppy" is we will have the girl's who will be staring in our film and who were part of making the film and on "Josh's" half of the screen we will have the boy's who will be staring in our film and who were part of making the film.

Research and Planning-Treatment

TARGET AUDIENCE: The target audience for our film are mainly people around 13-20 year olds, the reason we have picked this age bracket is because the two main characters will be able to relatable and they will maybe in some cases mirror young people’s lives. The gender we think will mainly come to watch our film will be women because the main themes of the film will mainly relate to women.

MEDIA LANGUAGES: When it comes to editing our opening sequence we are going to edit it in spilt screen, this choice of editing has been influence by films like Freaky Friday and Mean Girls. The shots that will be within the split screen will be shots of the main characters (Poppy and Josh),going about their normal everyday business. Within these shots the audience will see how these two characters are different but have qualities within them that are very similar. Another element that will be embedded within the titles will be clues as to what things these characters are into. As a group we plan to set up enigmas in order to show that there will be an element of comedy within the characters. For example in Josh's bedroom there will be something like a skateboard to perhaps for shadow an injury that might happen involving it, this element will also be used for poppy, example photographs of her with her friends perhaps on a night out showing she can have a good time, the enigmas will also introduce the characters personality. we have decided that Poppy is a very artistic girl so in her bedroom there will be cameras, photographs and art books on her shelf and for Josh we have decided that he is interested in music so he will have guitars on his wall and lyric sheets on his desk.

For the lighting in the film we would like to use very natural light, we have decided to use natural light to show the independence of these two characters and also the innocence of the two characters. We plan on achieving this by filming outside in a location like a park. We also plan on achieving this by shooting throughout the day at different times in order to get different lighting throughout the opening.

Research and Planning- Production Name

For Our Production Name We Had A Few Choices To Choose From They Were:
• Cow Chow
• G-Jam
• Love Bug
• Moo
The production Name We Ended Up Choosing Was G-Jam. The reason we decided upon this name was because we wanted all of our names to be combined within it somehow, and thats what G-Jam Represents.
G=Gemma
J=Jason
A=Aimee
M=Molly

Research and Planning-What Should Titles Include

opening sequence is vital to any film but whats equally as important is the title sequence. As a group we decided we to have the titles as part of the surroundings so they look as if they are naturally there.

Staring-Laura Debourde and Jack Lowe
Also Staring- Molly Baxter,Beth Thomas, Chalotte Dexter,Sean Roberts,Micha-Rose Trespeuch,Stephen Wright,Christina Lester, Emily Heath,Emily Prestidge,Connor Marchant,Sam Rochester, Jamie Flint.
Director-Sam Foster
Editor- Gemma Banham
Costume Designer-Jason Summerfield
Dirctor Of Photography-Aimee Rawlinson

WHAT ORDER WILL THEY GO IN....
Nickelodeon Pictures
A G-Jam Productions Film
Directed By Sam Foster
Staring (names of actors embedded within th setting)
Editor- Gemma Banham
Costume Designer-Jason Summerfield
Dirctor Of Photography-Aimee Rawlinson
Ending With The Name Of The Film -Naive City

Research and planing- kyle cooper

Kyle cooper is a 41 year old title sequence director. He is the most successful modern designer of motion picture title sequences, he has designed the opening credit sequences of Seven (1995), Arlington Road (1999), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), Flubber (1997), The Mummy (1999), Zoolander (2001), Spider-Man (2002), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Godzilla: Final Wars (2004), Superman Returns (2006), Across the Universe (2007), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Tropic Thunder (2008); and the video games Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001) and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004)."

Research and Planning- Music for our titles

This is the song we as a group would like to have behind our opening sequence. UNFORTUNATELY we can't use the song as it was originally produced due to copy write infringements. So as a group we have decided to Re-mix the song so it isn't how the band originally produced the song.

Film Ratings-Research And Planning

The British Board of Film Classification rates both motion pictures and videos this also includes some video games. Local Authorities are responsible for accepting and enforcing the BBFC's recommended ratings for cinema showings. Whereas those for videos are legally Binding.



What Does Film Ratings Mean?

U(Universal)-Suitable For All Ages However The Board States That While They Cannot Predict What Upsets A Child, a "U" film should be suitable for audiences aged 4 and older.

PG (Parental Guidance) - General Viewing But Some Scenes May Be Unsuitable For Young Children.

12 A (12 Accompanied/Advisory)- Suitable For 12 Years and Over No-one Younger Than 12 Can See A "12A" film without an adult.

15- Suitable Only For 15 years and Over. No-one younger than 15 can see a "15" film or buy a "15" video.

18- Suitable Only For 18 years and Over. No-one younger than 18 can see a "18" film or Buy an 18 video.

R18 (Restricted 18)- To be shown only in licensed cinemas or supplied in adult video shops. No-one younger than 18 can see or purchase these films.

Reconnaissance

Here are a few photos of Bexelyheath these are the main places we will be shooting in Bexleyheath (the center).

Animatic

Research and Planning-What Should Titles Include

As well as the opening sequence being vital to any film whats equally as important is the title sequence. As a group we decided we to have the titles as part of the surroundings so they look as if they are naturally there.

Staring-Laura Debourde and Jack Lowe
Also Staring- Molly Baxter,Beth Thomas, Chalotte Dexter,Sean Roberts,Micha-Rose Trespeuch,Stephen Wright,Christina Lester, Emily Heath,Emily Prestidge,Connor Marchant,Sam Rochester, Jamie Flint.
Director-Sam Foster
Editor- Gemma Banham
Costume Designer-Jason Summerfield
Dirctor Of Photography-Aimee Rawlinson

WHAT ORDER WILL THEY GO IN....
Main Stars
Other Stars
Casting By
Music By
Music Supervisor
Visual Effects Supervisor
Associate Producer
Editors
Production Design
Director Of Photography
Executive Producers
Produced By
Screen Story and Screen Play By
Directed By

Research and Planning-Production Logo

This image is the Production Logo for our film. It took some time before we decided on a logo, as we had different ideas, but also did not want it to be boring. we finally decided on a logo because as a grope we thought it would suite the theme of the film well.

Research and Planning- Shooting Schedule

DATE OF FILMING: The date of our filming will be the 23rd of January 2010.
LOCATIONS OF FILMING: For the locations of our filming we will be using 4 places, the places will be.

The House Of "Poppy"
The House Of "Josh"
Danson Park (Bexleyheath)
Bexleyheath Shopping Center
TIMINGS OF FILMING:

We will begin filming at 10am, we will start filiming in the house of Poppy we will be done filming the inside shots of Poppy at 11am. At 11.15am we will begin fliming in the house of Josh and we will be done filming the inside shots of Josh at 12.15. From 12.45 we will be filming in danson park where the majority of Poppy's shots will take place and a small amount of Josh's will take place. From 2.30 we will be filming in Bexleyheath Shopping Center where the majority Of Josh's shots will take place and a few of Poppy's will take place. The shots inbetween the main location shots we will have shots of Poppy And Josh Walking and Sitting/waiting for a bus ect. We aim to get filming finalised by 4pm this early finish and early start will give us time to re-shoot if we need to.

Organizing The Shoot.

Organizing The Shoot.

Who's In charge Of What?

Costumes; we decided Aimee would be in charge of what the actors playing will be wearing, Poppy (Laura Debourde) and Josh(Jack Lowe) on the day of the shoot. This was a group decision, For the actress playing poppy we decided wanted her to where a floral pattern dress with a cardigan something that is similar to the image below, we feel that this will give an "indie" feel to poppy but also make her look arty and we feel that this type of dress achieves this.



For the actor playing Josh we decided again as a grope we wanted him in a nice but simple outfit looking "indie" again.
But we don't want him to look like the typical top man shopper. We decided we wanted Josh in jeans and perhaps a grey coat and cardigan, something similar to this photo but more suited for cold weathers outside.



Setting: When we were looking for locations we put Molly in charge of finding the perfect setting for our shoot. As a group we wanted somewhere where the two actors could blend in but subtly stand out. Molly then came back to us and suggested Bexleyheath shopping center and as a group we got really excited the reason for this excitement was because Bexleyheath welcomes a variety of people and sometimes you notice those few people that just happen to stick out and this is exactly what we wanted for our characters.


Organising Actors: When it came to organising the shooting schedule we had to work out times that we were shooting each of the actors because of the fact we were editing it through split screen we had to shoot both actors on the same day at a different time;As a group we decided myself and Jason would be incharge of this and we have decided to organise the actors in two halves (Jason organising Jack and myself organising Laura) and we think this will work out really well. We decided to film the shots of "Poppy" first because that way we could work out how to shoot "Josh's" shots and how to fit them in so they flowed nicely on the screen.

Research and Planning- Se7en Opening

The opening credits colour scheme is black white with red, these colours are often used because it catches people’s eyes and they make more of an impact to the audience. It is during the credits we get introduced to the third main character, the ‘killer’. This is when you get an idea of the theme of the film and although we never see the killers face, what we do see of him/her (though it looks like a ‘him’ from the look of his hands) removing his finger tips to change his prints and cutting out disturbing images and putting them into a book. this keeps the audience watching because we want to know why he has to change he is fingerprints, and why he is putting these things in this book of his and why he keeps a book of disturbing and, what is its relevance? The music within this scene is quite creepy to start with, which may creep the audience out, but then it goes to a more of a rock tune which may give the audience a rush of adrenaline, this may make the people watching keep watching the film to see how the this ‘killer’ is going to interact with the two police officers, Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt.

The opening scene of Seven focuses in on a man (played by Morgan freeman) doing his daily routine before he heads out to work, the man takes his time getting ready and is very precise where things should go; which could suggest he is a very clean and then puts on a suit, which suggests to the audience he is in a job with high importance. Diagetic sound is used in this scene to create a naturalistic setting, this scene is also very straight forward, because in reality this scene shows just a man getting ready, but when you break it down and really look at all of the details; It is quite complex in what it is representing.

As the movie progresses we see this man go into an apartment were a murder investigation of a young woman is taking place, suggesting that Morgan Freeman is playing the part of a police officer. This gives us an incite as to what the basis of this film will going be about. During this scene we meet two more characters, one of which is played by Brad Pitt; the way Brad Pitt's character is introduced the audience you can immediately see the difference in the two characters. For example Morgan Freeman's character seems firm, facts and collected. This is shown through what he is wearing, a suit that is all pristine and nothing is out of place whereas compared to Brad Pitt's character as he is laid back, go with it and cocky. Brad Pitts character seems unaware of his status at his work place, the fact that his outfit is all scruffy, the shirt hanging out and the looseness of his tie and the chewing of his gum while talking, suggest he's not to fussed about this what’s happening and just wants to get it over and done with. This could also be interpreted by the way Brad Pitt's character is talking to Morgan Freeman's character, not listening trying to tell him what will be going on from no on thinking that Morgan’s character works for him.
As the characters leave the crime scene apartment, the camera cuts to a shot of them on a city street, even though the audience isn’t told what city it is the diagetic sound we hear suggests it is a busy, suburbs which works very well in setting the overall place of the film.

We are then brought back to Morgan Freeman's character apartment at the very beginning; with him lying in bed. This scene again is very simple because all he is doing is lying in bed but it’s what he does after that that makes the audience understand his character more, as he turns the television off he turns on a metronome, the ticking noise of the metronome could be perceived as a comfort noise to him, this could foreshadow his characters actions for the rest of the film or to drown out the noise of the busy street outside.

Shot list

shot 1 of Josh: his alarm clock is going off and there will be a close up shot of his hand turning it off.
shot 2: Josh getting up out of bed and picking his jeans up and then walks to the bathroom.
shot 3: Josh walking into his bathroom
shot 4: Josh coming out of the bathroom and then walking down the stairs.
shot 5 of Josh: him walking into the kitchen and getting somthing out of the fridge, the camra will be placed in the fridge so we can see him.
Shot 6 of Josh: Josh walking out of his house (shot reverse shot) then starting to walk down the road
Shot 7 of Josh: Josh walking to the bus stop (mid shot)
Shot 8 of Josh: Josh sitting at the bus stop then the bus coming down the road (long shot)
Shot 9 of Josh: Josh getting on the bus (mid shot)
Shot 10 of Josh: Josh getting off the bus and starting to walk through bexleyheath. (long shot)
Shot 11 of Josh: Josh walking through bexleyheath and into starbucks (this will be the last shot of Josh) (Long/mid shot)

Shot 1 of Poppy: Alarm clock going off and just a close up shot of her hand turning it off (close up) Shot 2 of Poppy: Poppy getting out of bed then looking out of her window.(Long shot)
Shot 3 of Poppy: Poppy (similar to Josh's) looking in her wardrobe looking for an outfit.(Close up/mid shot)
Shot 4 of Poppy: Poppy walking out of her room and in to the bathroom (long shot with the camera panning)
Shot 5 of Poppy: Poppy walking out of the bathroom and into her room to continue getting ready. (Midshot)
Shot 6: Poppy walking out of her house (shot reverse shot) and walking down the road.
Shot 7:Poppy waiting at the bus stop (mid shot)
Shot 8 of Poppy:Poppy sitting on the bus as the bus is moving.(Close up)
Shot 9:Poppy getting off the bus (long shot)
Shot 10: Poppy walking through bexleyheath (mid shot)
Shot 11: Poppy walking into Starbucks (Long shot) (through a different entrace) like Josh this will be the last shot of Poppy.