Saturday, 8 May 2010

Evaluation

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

Our two minuite piece is classified in the genre of an action comedy. As a group we decided that action films were best suited to cramp a bunch of camera shots into various scenes but as a low budget shoot big explosions and bloody scenes were not on our shopping list. This is when we then decided that an action comedy would still allow us to catch the camera shots and angles we need but also automatically reduce our budget.


Q. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The piece is based on three ametuer "gangsters" preforming a number of interagations and a kidnappings, there alomost the typical minorties in which have faced constant rejection in society throughout their lives and have resorted in "crime" but with slight comical adjustments. For the two minuite piece we've purposely hand picked people of different ethnicities to try and create humour for a wider range of audience. The audience we believe this will attract are the younger generation ageing from teens to mid aged people of all backgrounds and genders.


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

I would like to believe that institions such as film4 and fox serch light would invest in such film as both have previously worked on british comedy films such as Bend It Like Beckham and Four Lions both major hits.


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

Honestly I believed that this project was common sense and was going to be a walk in the park, but when it was anything but. I slowly realised that media is present everywhere and this course helped me recognise this.
The editing software wasn't so straight foward at first but eventually after a few lessons and pointers from the teacher and other students b as a group it became as second nature to us and easier to use. iMovie is an amateur film editing software that helped us with specific areas such as the freeze frame, a technique we were worried that iMovie wouldn't have. But for our credits at the beginning it was done on Final Cut Pro.

Not only has this course helped me understand more clearly about the media world, It's shown me that 110% is needed in everything you do and everything you do can be improved in many ways, One of the most pivital things in the Media course is teamwork because we had to plan days due to each person in the group may have lessons and other things they may be doing so we had to work around that, also communication was vital, when we had to communicate with each other on a time and place when we would do the filming and who will be editing, Zach was a pro at editing, Alaa managed to arrange a time and place for us to use the car and contribute consistently to the group in the editing part of the course, Yousef was vital in our Script without it we wouldn't have gone anywhere and myself, I was a catalyst in arranging how the acting and contributed towards directing aswell as everyone else.

DVD cover

Below are two images produced by Yusif proposing the DVD cover.





This is the cover we have choosen.

A discussion of influence


Above is a snapshot from Quentin Tarantino's ground-breaking "Pulp Fiction" (1994). The shot has a distinct name, the 'trunk shot' and is a camera shot trademark of his. I believe this shot spawned the actual idea of Stolen? and would play a prominent role in this film.

Script for 2 Min film (Changes)

In order for the filming to be just under 2 minutes the script needed to be modified. Various scenes had to be moved forwards to the start of the film and many other scenes had to be completely removed.

We had to remove the "Man with no name" scene which is seen posted on our personal blogs because the timing was essential to our group gaining successful marks and by including the 'Man with no name" scene, otherwise the film will be forced to go over the time limit.

Certain dialogue was also changed in order to make scenes quicker and progressive. We also added various quick interrogation scenes to help build up towards the kidnapping and build suspense. We had to place the interrogation before the actual kidnapping because we did not have access to a car in time

Script for 2 Min film

It took several, frivolous hours on Microsoft word to compile a script. With great difficulty and vast knowledge of script writing, it made a a difference. Here is the script:

[Yousif is seen walking down the street.]

[Camera glances at his shoes then tilts up. Yousif is seen reading a book or listening to music on his MP3 player. Introduction to Yousif’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]

[Establishing shot of car on the side. Some form of audio should emit out of the car speaker system]

[Inside car, Zac is pointing camera pointing at Ashwin who is in the driving seat (recommended).]

Ashwin Oh my God! Are you stupid?!

[Introduction to Ashwin’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]

Ashwin No wait… don’t answer. You’re too stupid to answer that question.

[Camera is held by Ashwin pointing at Zac who is riding shotgun.]

Zac Ah you’re the stupid one.

[Introduction to Zac’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]

Zac You watch way too many movies.

[Camera returns to Yousif. Camera continues to follow his movements, perhaps at a different angle].

[Back to car, camera is placed on the bonnet pointing at Zac and Ashwin who continue to argue.]

Ashwin American girls don’t want you for you. They want your money!

Zac Since when? They have virtually no self-esteem, which is why they’re mostly bikini clad!

Ashwin Oh my God…

Zac What about you? Why Swedish?

Ashwin Why do you think?

Zac Get this through your head! She will never go out with you if she had to pick between you or Frankenstein’s monster!

Ashwin Is that a fact?

Zac Yeah!

[Ashwin turns to face Alaa who is sitting in the back seat behind Zac.]

Ashwin Yo amigo…

[POV shot of Ashwin pointing camera at Alaa.]

Ashwin What do you say to his quip?

[Introduction to Alaa’s character. Freeze frame, his chosen name appears on screen briefly. The freeze frame is in black and white. Back to colour.]

Alaa Don’t get me involved.

[Camera is back on the bonnet facing Ashwin and Zac.]

[Alaa points at the windshield.]

Alaa There he is!

Ashwin & Zac together Where?

Alaa Right there!

[Switch to POV of Alaa. Yousif is clearly visible in the shot.]

[Back to bonnet shot].

Ashwin Showtime.

[Zac and Alaa exit vehicle].

[Mid-shot of Yousif oblivious to Zac and Alaa’s presence.]

[Entire shot of Zac and Alaa walking towards the camera. Black and white freeze frame. Brief appearance of the phrase ‘The Moroccans’. Back to colour.]

[A close in on Yousif’s reaction.]

Yousif Oh no.

[Yousif belts it. Mid-shot of him running off. Camera pans to The Moroccans and then quickly pans back to Yousif. Camera then pans in K’s direction. The Moroccans walk into the shot.]

[Camera moves downwards showing The Moroccans first, then K. The Moroccans make a grab for him.]

[Series of shots depicting K’s fear and The Moroccans’ stoicism. Switching between shots of Ashwin in the car and back to the action. Perhaps a POV of Ashwin when The Moroccans take K to the boot.]

[POV shot of one of the The Moroccans pointing the camera at K who is in the boot.]

K Eh? What?

[Freeze frame in black and white. Introduction to K’s character and a single phrase appears on the screen: Snitch. Back to colour.]

Snitch No!

[Boot door slams 4 times in succession. In each of the slams, a separate shot is used. POV of one of The Moroccans, then mid-shot of the The Moroccans from the left, then right, then trunk shot respectively.]

[In the Drama studio, treated as an interrogation room, Ashwin sitting opposite the Snitch. The Moroccans on either side of the table.]

[Over Snitch’s shoulder shot of Ashwin.]

Ashwin So, tell me what I want to know.

[Over Ashwin’s shoulder shot of Snitch.]

[Snitch is afraid and nervous].

Copyright


Due to the fact that the track we are using is a recognised song by a popular artist there are issues with Copyright. Therefore we have written a letter to the Copyright holder in order to gain their permission for the use of the track "Next Hype"