4.0 - My Evaluation

For this course, we were put into groups of 3. My group consisted of Me, Luciana and Nomad. We were asked to produce an opening sequence of our own film. The genre was up to us, so my group decided for the genre to be Thriller. As we were doing a Thriller film, we were asked to analyse 1 or 2 films of the same genre, before we started to film. The one I done was called - "Flight Plan"- Starring Jodie Foster. (See blog post 3.2 - 3.2.4) However through out the period of completing all aspects of this coursework, including the basic tasks and various activities like for example, scripting, scheduling, blogging, filming and editing, I believe that there were strengths and weakness that we had as a group, during this production work. I will be using the results that I got back from the questionnaires that I handed out to 10 people - (to my target audience) , to help me write this evaluation and to help me to identify the areas that needs improving in the production that we have created.

I feel that the media product I have presented has both strengths and weaknesses, however I feel that between the two films I previously looked and analysed (See blog post 3.2 and onwards) were V for Vendetta and Flight Plan, but I do not necessarily feel that the similarities are as strong as, our production work.

However when considering representation of social groups, the overall product represented a young women in her 20's - working class. From the results of my questionnaire the majority were aged between 16-17. From the questionnaires, I had some positive and some negative feedback, about our product. 8 people answered yes to the question - Do you think the film is interesting and thrilling and 2 people have said no - but it was interested but it wasn't thrilling. Overall I do not feel the group has achieved what our original plans were, when it comes to the representation and the actual product as a whole, so this is something I will need to take into account and improve on, in future projects.

I feel that personally, it is likely that an independent cinema would distribute my media product in comparison to a multiplex cinema, which is more incorporated with Hollywood and films with higher budgets, and also an art house cinema, as I don't think it is a particular art filled film. Although I feel that my final production is good, and due to the circumstances where we had lost our work, and had to re-capture everything and edit from the beginning even though we could of done more to to improve it, I still think it was a good attempt. Personally I still feel it represented a low budget film -
as the target audience for this media, agree, 10 out of 10 people saying the film would be a low budget film.That is not likely to make a big impact due to the lack of famous actors and big production companies, and money overall, meaning advertisement would also be limited, meaning people are less likely to know about the existence of the product.

There was no specific age group that we targeted for this film. Our audience for this production was aimed for anyone who enjoys/likes watching thriller films. The target audiences responded positively as some responded negatively. For this question - What impression does my opening sequence give you as a audience? e.g. Would you like to continue watching the film? 6 people have answered yes - and have said the following:

1. The words on the screen have been chosen carefully to capture the audiences attention
2. Gives me the impression that something bad is going to happen
3. Gives me the impression that its going to make us audience do a sudden jump, whilst watching the film
4.Something had happened - but can't figure out what has happened until we see the flashbacks
5. A sign that something is about to happen
6. I'd like to continue watching the film because the shots, and way it was filmed has been planned carefully , although there could of been a number of different shots been used.

And 4 people had answered no and said
1. The film was good but could of been better in terms of the uses of shots and camera work
2. I am not a fan of thriller. I like to watch comedy films, but the sequence was alright- but could of been better - like the camera work and the locations
3. It wasn't good
4. Camera work was not good, I didn't like it because the location where the opening sequence was filmed could of been a better location.

Our group filming had a balance between positive and negatives, simply because of the difficulties we faced throughout our filming.
The opening sequence of our film and the opening sequence for "V for Vendetta" had a lot of contrast. One of them was the way in which sound was used, there were a lot of non-digetic sounds used in the opening sequence for "V for Vendetta" for example when the fire accompanied the flame title of the letter "V" In our opening sequence apart from the digetic music accompanying the sequence, the rest of the sound was digetic, for example when the two characters - Maddy and the police man are having conversation in the police officers room- (in the interview room) One particular thing our group wanted to do was to put in non-digetic sounds for the flashbacks, however this didn't happen simply because there was complications during the editing process. In the opening sequence "Flight Plan" there were some similarities with our opening sequence, for example the audience is given information about the film, by the text that is shown on the screen, followed by the mysterious creepy background music. From the feedback I have received from the target audience, 3 people said that the audio and the screening quality could have improved.

Our group could have achieved more by improving, the way in which the scenes were shot and also the sound effects, and the use of titles within the sequence, so this is something that I would have to work on next time I come to work in groups. We addressed the target audience by trying to make the production realistic, so that the specific audience could relate. Some of the target audience thought that more visual effects could have been done to improve the quality, while others as a whole thought that the words have been chosen carefully to capture the audiences attention, and others said they would of liked to hear voice-over reading the texts on the screen.

Through the technologies I have learnt a range of things,both on Final Cut Pro and E-blogger. During this project I have learnt how to edit a film by capturing by using a camera, cutting clips and adding effects. Blogging was also a new learning experience for me, as I had never blogged before. I learnt how to add a variety of images/ videos if i needed to illustrate a point I was making, and to show my technological skills. Overall I feel I have become more confident in dealing with most aspects of media technologies I used.

Looking back at the preliminary task I have learnt a lot of techniques such as different shots and camera angles, there is still no limit to the number of angles you can use in order to portray a number of point of views. The preliminary task had helped me to develop my confidence in front of a camera, as I was a camera - shy person before.

Overall during the production of this product, it has helped me a lot and given me a better understanding that some times everything will not run smoothly, and that you have to be patient, at all times whilst working with Final Cut Pro, and the Apple Mac's as sometimes things can go wrong. However relying on other members of the group was difficult - As in the future projects team work is something I will need to improve my skills on.

Shots of our opening sequence:

This is the titles for the opening sequence, which tells the audience what has happened to to Maddy - the main character- by using words on the screen. We used the fading technique so that it would seem more realistic, but could of been better with a voice-over reading the texts on the screen.

A shot of Maddy and the police man - questioning Maddy. The props used in this scene was a table, lamp and a tape recorder - As you can see highlighted with red and a red arrow pointing at it. This made the audience realise where Maddy - the main character was. An over- the -shoulder shot was taken, because we wanted to hide the identity of Maddy- until the flashbacks. This is because so the audience can start to wonder why Maddys identity has been hidden at the start, and makes the audience stay in suspense. A cutaway is used to show flashbacks of the night of the incident.
(See screen print below of some of the flashbacks in our opening sequence)

Below is a extreme close up shot on the chasers eyes, this shot is done so that the audience could see the aggressiveness and the anger of the psycho chaser.


Here, below is a shot, of an close-up followed by a extreme close up of Maddy's face expression- stating the fear of her face whilst being chased by the psycho chaser.

3.10.3- Results from the questionnaires

I have previously created my groups questionnaires for our target audience - which is people who like watching films in the genre of Thrillers- Requesting personal answers from my audience, helping me to discover areas of both improvements and strong points, and also our groups weakness and strengths during this practical production, and also helping me to evaluate my work for the evaluation section.

The questions I asked were:

1) How old are you?
2) What do you think about the film? You are in our target audience- Do you think the film is interesting and thrilling?
3) Did you like the opening sequence of the film? If not - Do you know anyone who you think might be interested in watching the film, more than you? - Why do you suggest them to watch the film?
4) What makes the opening sequence professional or not up to professional standards?
5) What impression does my opening sequence give you as a audience? e.g. Would you like to continue watching the film?
6) What else would you like to see/hear in the opening sequence that would encourage you to watch the rest of this film?
7) Do you feel the sequence could be improved?
8) Did you have a particular scene that you liked?
9) Do you like watching thriller films? - If not what is your favourite film genre?
10) How much money do you spend on watching films?
11) Would this be a Hollywood, Art House or a Low budget film in your opinion?
12) Please state any other comments below

After asking 10 people of my target audience, the results I received from the questionnaires were:

1) How old are you?
16- 17 = 6
18+ = 4

2) What do you think about the film? You are in our target audience- Do you think the film is interesting and thrilling?

Yes = 8
No = 2
Any other comments for the question above= 10

3) Did you like the opening sequence of the film? If not - Do you know anyone who you think might be interested in watching the film, more than you? - Why do you suggest them to watch the film?

Yes = 10
No = 0

4) What makes the opening sequence professional or not up to professional standards?

10 people said = The background creepy mysterious music so it makes it professional because it goes along the film and, makes us want to carry on watching it, because it drags the viewers attention into the film, and the fact that the interviewers face and the main characters face is kept hidden until the flashbacks

5) What impression does my opening sequence give you as a audience? e.g. Would you like to continue watching the film?

Yes = 6 - And have said the following:
1. The words on the screen have been chosen carefully to capture the audiences attention
2. Gives me the impression that something bad is going to happen
3. Gives me the impression that its going to make us audience do a sudden jump whilst watching the film
4. Something had happened- but cant figure out what has happened until we see the flashbacks
5. A sign that something is about to happen
6. I'd like to continue watching the film because the shots, and way it was filmed has been planned carefully

No= 4
1. The film was good but could of been better, in terms of the uses of shot
2. I am not a fan of a Thriller, I like to watch comedy films, but the sequence was good - but could of been better like the use of locations
3. It wasn't good- could of been better
4. I didn't like it because the location where the opening sequence was filmed could of been a better location

6) What else would you like to see/hear in the opening sequence that would encourage you to watch the rest of this film?

1. A voice over would of been good- reading the texts that appear on the screen
2. Would of liked to see a use of different camera shots would of been interesting to see
3. The location where the opening sequence was filmed could of been a better location
4. The interviewer, the police mans face would of been good if we could of seen it in the shot
5. Would of liked to see a shot of the police station - so we know where its set
6. A voice over would of been good- reading the texts that appear on the screen
7.Would of liked to see a shot of the police station - so we know where its set
8. A voice over would of been good- reading the texts that appear on the screen
9. Nothing - I would of still liked to continue watching the film
10. A voice over would of been good- reading the texts that appear on the screen

7) Do you feel the sequence could be improved?

Yes = 10
No = 0

8) Did you have a particular scene that you liked?

Yes = 7 people said they liked the scene when the victim was being integrated and the scenes where the victim begins to have flashbacks
No= 3

9) Do you like watching thriller films?

Yes= 7
If No please state = 3 = Comedy, Romance and Horror

10) How much money do you spend on watching films?

£0-£5 = 0
£10-£15 = 4
£15-£20= 3
Over = 3

11) Would this be a Hollywood, Art House or a Low budget film in your opinion?

Hollywood = 0
Art House = 0
Low budget = 10

3.10.2 - Specific Questions for Target Audiences

(a) Do you like it? If no, do you know anyone who you think might like it more than you? Why do you suggest them?

(b) I was trying to make this film appeal to target audiences that like watching films in the genre of thriller/horror - 3 things I did to address this were:

1. Use of mysterious soundtrack
2. Use of high paced flashback effects
3. Use of over-the-shoulder shots to create attention

Do you think these were good choices? If so why? - Please state

(c) What impression does my opening sequence give you? - Does it interest you or does it cause you to lose interest in the film?

(d) Would you buy the T-shirt? Could this be a Hollywood film, Low budget film or an art house film? What makes you say this?

3.7 Analysis of the opening sequence "Hide and Seek"

Analysis of the opening sequence Hide and Seek:

"Hide and Seek" is a opening sequence under the genre thriller. The sequence is about a young women in her 20's called Maddy, who is continuously being chased by a psycho. However at the beginning she can not remember, exactly what had happened at the night of the incident, as everything seems blurry to Maddy. However during towards the end of the interview between Maddy and the Police man - She slowly starts to remember seeing particular features of the police man.

Lighting- The lights were dimmed out to create a atmosphere of the interview room at a police station

Sound- Mysterious music is being played in the background while the film begins - Which makes the audience intrigued simply because they are waiting for something to happen

Mise-en-Scene- A table, 2 chairs with a lamp on the side of the table and a cassette recorder

Editing- Effects added to create the flashbacks. Transition from black screen then fades out from black into the scene where Maddy is in the police station- in the interview room talking to the police

Shots - Extreme close up on Maddy's face- especially focusing on the eyes, as it is stating the fear of Maddy's situation. - Close up on particular scenes - such as the scene where Maddy's face is shown being terrified and worried.

Actors & Actresses: Adam (Police Man) , Luciana (Maddy)

Who is the target audience for "Hide and Seek?"

"Hide and Seek" is for people who enjoy watching films in the genre of thriller/horror. It is also set for people who enjoy the feeling of suspense.

3 ways in which the opening sequence address the target audience:

1. The opening sequence addresses the target audience by the film starting straight from the police station - where Maddy is being interviewed by the police man - This grabs the audiences attention - (who like to watch thriller/horror films) making them wonder why Maddy is in the police station - being interviewed by the Police man
2. The mystery's music at the beginning of the opening sequence addresses the target audience as the music makes the audience want to continue watching the sequence.
3. Before the opening scene starts, the audiences is given some words on the screen describing what is happening during the scene - black-background
   

3.6.1. Call Sheet

3.6. - Time Management Strategies - 3.6.2

During this production work, in order to ensure the filming of the sequence was on time and to ensure everyone included in the filming and editing process of the sequence was aware of what was happening, my group and I felt it was incredibly vital to ensure a filming schedule was in place to tell us what was happening at all times, and that when a member of our group was missing, we had a guidance, and something to look back at, to take on the next step. This was very useful to our group.

3.6.2 - Shooting Schedule & Editing Timeline

(Below is our groups schedule)

3.5. and 3.5.1. Script & Storyboards

This is a link to Lucian's blog where she has uploaded our groups script and storyboards


For the storyboards click the link below:

http://asmediacwluciana.blogspot.com/2009/05/35-story-boards.html


For the groups script click the link below:

http://asmediacwluciana.blogspot.com/2009/05/351-script-to-accompany-storyboard-hide.html

3.10. and 3.10.1 Questions to target audiences

(1) How old are you?

16-17 18+

(2) What do you think about the film? You are in our target audience - Do you think the film is interesting & thrilling?

(3) Did you like the film? If not, do you know anyone who you think might be interested in watching the film more than you? Why do you suggest them to watch this film?

(4) What makes the opening sequence professional or not up to professional standards?

(5) What impression does my opening sequence give you as a audience e.g. would you like to continue watching the film? Yes/No - (Circle the one applies to you)

If yes please state:


If no please state:

(6) What else would you like to see/hear in the opening sequence that would encourage you to watch the rest of this film?

(7) Do you feel like the sequence could be improved? - Please state below

(8) Did you have a particular scene that you liked? - Yes/No (Please circle the one that applies to you)

If you have answered YES to the above question please state why?

(9) Do you like watching thriller films?

If you have answered NO to the above question , what is your favourite film genre?

(10) How much money do you spend watching films? (Circle the one that applies to you)

£0 - £5 £10-15 £15- 20 Over

(11) Would this be a Hollywood, Art House or a Low budget film in your opinion?

3.9.- Successes During Production

10/03/2009 - We have successfully planed the date of when we will be filming and decided on our characters for our filming

19/03/2009- Finally we have started our filming!! But we have not fully complected our filming, we still need to shoot 3-4 shots and then we are ready to move on to the next stage of this assignment which is the editing process

02/04/2009 - Today we had finally finished filming, but we still have to edit our film

3.8- Problems in Production

3/3/09 - Nomad was absent today which meant that me and Luciana were unable to discuss the script and the storyboard

10/03/2009 - As a group we had planned to film but Luciana has forgotten to bring in the script and Nomad has forgotten to bring in the storyboards

16/03/2009- Both of my group members was absent today, and I was the only person that managed to make it today because as a group we was meant to be filming today, but unfortunately Luciana(Off Sick) and Nomad was absent which meant that as a group we were unable to film.

30/03/2009- We were planning to continue our filming in today's single lesson with Ms. Flavell but Adam, who was one of our actors were unable to film, because he had to help out his own group for filming. This meant that we now have to organise a time where we can film Adam to finish of our filming completely in order to start editing, as we as a group are behind with our production work

31/03/2009- We was planning to capture and edit our footages that we had taken so far but the systems were slow so we could not edit and capture our footages

27/04/2009 - Our work is lost- Unfortunately so we had to re-capture our footages and edit our footages from strach

3.4 - Shot list of your opening sequence

1) Establishing shot of the house/work place whatever we plan later when we come to the planning & story boarding process.

2) The young women speaking to another actor – Medium close up/ shot reverse shot during the conversation between the two.

3) Close up on the womans face – stating the fear as she slowly remembers the past

4)Gets flash backs/ reinforced by a voice over - LS shot on back off the woman moving away (Possible foreground for point of view shot- 1ST Shot can be the feet of the woman running away then the second shot can be showing the young womans face/fear as shes running away from the psycho killer

5)Medium close up of the runner (The Woman)– crouched in front of hiding place

6)Close up on chasing feet (clearly defined)

7)Over the shoulder of the woman looking back

8)Point of view shot from the runner looking back at the danger behind her which in this case it's the psycho killer

9) Close up on the woman's feet running

10) Close up shot on the chasers feet (Clearly defined)

11) Close up on the runners face – e.g. stating the fear of the woman (need an good actor for it)

12) Medium close up on runner getting up – stumbling but no trace in the shot

(We have agreed to use a mixture from both mine and from Lucian's shot lists)

3.3 - 3.3.1- Synopsis of our complete film (Thriller)

In our groups of 3, our task was to discuss the opening sequence of our film. As a group we have agreed that our opening sequence will be under the genre Thriller. The plot of our thriller film is going to be about a young woman, in her early 20's sitting down with another character - which is the police.

The woman (Maddy) is terrified and is explaining what has happened to her. Whilst Maddy - the main characters name- Starts to explain to the police in the interview room, the night of the incident and what exactly had happened. During the conversation between Maddy and the police man - A high paced use of flashbacks will be used to re-enforce what Maddy - the character is saying, and creating a fear among the audiences. The flashbacks itself, will be re-enforced with use of sharp sound effects.

The flashbacks will contain a view of Maddy continuously being chased by someone, which the audiences cannot see the face of the psycho chaser- till the end of the sequence, which the camera only gets the rare glimpse at. However by this stage Maddy slowly starts to remember who the psycho chaser was, while she explains the night of the incident, as it turns out to be the police man. The sequence hopefully will generate fear or at least a wonder within the audience - in terms of what will happen next if the sequence was turned into a film. The main character - Maddy's social status is a young working class woman.

3.2- 3.2.4 - Analysis of the opening sequence of "Flight Plan"

In the opening sequence of Flight Plan, the sequence starts with a mysterious soundtrack at the beginning then the noises turn into a sound of an aeroplane. Then accompanies the noise with the title “Flight Plan” This tells the audiences that someone is in trouble or something terrible is about to happen, then followed by a long shot then into an close up shot of Jodie Foster sitting down waiting for the yellowish train to arrive. The yellowish train symbolises a link to the airport because we then see shots of the airport as well as hearing the aeroplanes noises. The technical construction of the film “Flight Plan” the mysterious soundtracks were probably added to the shots after they had shot that particular scenes.

The director focuses on using natural lighting. He used only one light source form the direct view point of where Jodie Foster was sitting, cinematographer as also he used a blue gel to create the natural lighting effect. However as we continue to watch the opening sequence the lighting scenes are all dark – where no lighting effects have been used. The Foley sounds are continued to be used to help to build up the tension of the film.

The film begins with Jodie Foster having an flash back of her 6 year old daughter and their funeral, and then the story leads on to her imaging that her daughter is going abroad with her on the same aeroplane. When actually nobody believes that their was a child travelling abroad with her. This tells the audience that the story line of the story is fragmented and that it also starts of with drawing the audiences into the plot and wanting them to carry on watching the film.

Production:

The budget for this film was around $50,000,000

Production Company : Touchstone Pictures

Copyright Holder: Sony DADC's new ARccOS Copy Protection

Director: Robert Schwentke

Writers: Peter A. Dowling & Billy Ray

Starring: Jodie Foster - (The Silence of the Lambs)
Peter Sarsgaard -(The Man in Iron Mask & Another Day in Paradise)
Sean Bean - (The Lord of the Rings)
Erika Christensen -(Traffic)

Filming Locations: Berlin, Germany - International Airport of Leipzig Halle), Hollywood - Los Angeles, California USA

Marketing:

Distributed under a variety of certificates in some examples below:

UK (12A) Australia, Ireland (12A) Finland, Indonesia, Hongkong, Netherlands (12) Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, Germany (12) Switzerland, Brazil, Sweden, Czech Republic, Portugal, Iceland, USA

Release Date: 25th November 2005 in UK
Run time: 98 Minutes
Language: English , French, German, Arabic, Italian, Japanese

Website: http://flightplan.movies.go.com/index_main.html

A Summary of how these details impact on target audience:

The film was certificate 12, so therefore if you are under age you cannot watch the film. However people who like high budgeted films may be like to watch this film.People who like the actors in the film, that the actors previously has taken role in for example : Sean Bean - if you liked Lord of the Rings, then this film will be for you. The more distribution team, send the film out to other counties the more audiences, there are to watch the film.

Who is the target audience for Flight Plan?

The target audience for Flight Plan may be people who like to watch films like action/thriller. People who are interested in and likes to watch films that are produced in USA (Hollywood movies)

Discuss 3 ways the opening sequence address the target audience

1. Anyone who’s interested in Action/Thriller Films- which kind of appeals to young male audiences e.g now a days films target young male audiences, even though young women go to the cinema to

2. Anyone who likes to watch challenging/mysterious films
3. Anyone who likes to watch a film that involves an certain character having flash backs of her past etc

3.2.4. Audience (V for Vendetta)

3.2.4.1- Who is the target audience for V for Vendetta?

The target audience for V for Vendetta may be for people who like to watch films related to history e.g. The Gunpowder Plot etc. People who like to watch action/thriller type of films. Male teenagers etc.

3.2.4.2- Discuss 3 ways the opening sequence address the target audience

1. The V in flames in a circle fades in red words: V for Vendetta and the flames in a circle symbolises the Gunpowder Plot, so anyone who is interested in British history.
2. Anyone who's interested in Thriller Films/ War type theme, which kind of appeals to young male audiences
   
3. Heroic as well as Violence - Reason for someone to save people. - Justified coming to see this. Developing character - Verbose language - Where you get an impression that he is a really funny comedian person & intelligent etc.

Improvements made after reading the comment for points 1 & 3

1. The opening sequence addresses the male teenagers because it begins with the V in the flames in a circle which, represents adventure/action/thriller- which male audiences tend to like to watch
2. The opening sequence also uses weapons within the sequence of this film e.g. the swords that Vendetta uses - Which appeals to young male audiences.
   

3.2.3 Studio and Marketing of V for Vendetta

Production

Budget: £54,000,000 (which is the estimated source IMDb.com)

Production Company: Silver Pictures (US) - (The Matrix)

Copyright Holder: Warner Bros. - Entertainment Inc.

Director: James McTeigue

Writers: Andy & Larry Wachowski - (The Matrix)

Starring: Natalie Portman who also played in (Closer & Star Wars)
Hugo Weaving (The Matrix, Lord of the Rings)
Stephen Fry (QI, Gosford Park)

Filmed in London and London Underground of Aldwych Station

3.2.3.4. - Marketing:

Distributed under a variety of certificates in:

UK, Australia, Ireland, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Sweden, Canada, Portugal, NZ, Italy, Argentina, Israel, Brazil, Switzerland, Philippines, Chile, Japan, Colombia, Greece, Iceland, Canada, France, South Korea, USA, Singapore, India

Released simultaneously in conventitionaL: - Theatres and at IMAX

Website: http://vforvendetta.warnerbros.com/


3.2.3.5 - A Summary of how these details impact on target audience:

The film was certificate 15, therefore if your under age you can not watch the film. However people who like special effects so people who like high budget films. People who like the actors in the film, that the actors previously has taken role in. For example- Nathalie Portman.- Star Wars etc. The more distribution team, send the film out to other counties the more audiences, there are to watch the film.

3.2.2 - Deconstruction of the shot sequence

V For Vendetta Continued...

Shot types & Framing -
Extreme close up on eyes . Wide shots of the crowd - Focus pull on the women in the crowd. Over the shoulder parallel shots of Evey- & cross cutting shots. Mid-Shot of the things that are happening.

Mise-en- Scene -
The mask connects to the mystery & heroism about this character. The clothing is the 17th century so it represents to the Gun Powder Plot era.

Lighting -
Opening scene uses minimal (Key lighting with minimal fill to illustrate the 17th century setting of the film.
Brightly lit TV shots taken - Connects and shows that important messages is being given. Yellowish tint applied to the 17th century scene. (To make it realistic)

Sound-
During company logos (American) old style music connotes war. Non-diegetci voice over from Evey, who is one of the main character in the film. Foley sounds added to increase tension e.g. when the guy is fighting before he gets hang.

Editing:
Opens with a poetic voice over which describes the plot as a
" Beautiful" thing - Which sets up the romantic deal. Eye-line match of the women. Cross- cutting of V & Evey which is underscored by a sound bridge - (Voice over)
Eye-line match between man being hanged & the women in the crowd. Transition from black screen then fades out from black into the fight scene, where they start fighting just before he gets hang.

3.1 to 3.1.2.1- 3.1.2.2- 3.1.2.3- What I learnt by doing the preliminary exercise

The week before the 15th December 2008 Me, Luciana & Nomad had to complete a task for our Media Coursework Assignment- Which was called the continuity exercise, in which we had to ensure it covered the following areas:

• Match on action
• Shot/Reverse shot
• The 180-degree rule

The filming was based on 2 teenager friends, where 1 of them hides an secret , but eventually tells the truth to her friend - which in this case that role belonged to Luciana. During the filming process we both had to exchange couple of sentences. Nomad’s role was the cameraman & director, however we all were involved in deciding what kind of shot type to use and deciding from which angle would be best, for that particular shot. What I learnt by doing the preliminary exercise was that acting in front of a camera was not easy! However during both filming & editing process I learnt some stuff.

1. Filming is difficult and is not as easy of how it looks from the outside! - Because when filming my group had to re-film the shots that we did not like and we was thinking of doing an voice over because the camera did not pick up me & Luciana’s voice whilst we was speaking. Even though we was speaking clearly. We was thinking to re-film everything from scratch, but we did not have time to do this, as we had to upload our footage.
2. Editing Once we had finished filming as a group we had to upload our footage onto Final Cut Pro. The editing process taught me new things but still for me I think this was the tricky bit, as I am not that fully comfortable with using the software Final Cut Pro. However now I am able to do the basic stuff like cutting clips etc.

3.2.1 to 3.2.1.1- 3.2.1.2- 3.2.1.3 - Deconstruction of opening titles - V for Vendetta

On Tuesday 6th January 09’ with Ms Flavell we looked at our AS Media Studies Coursework Outline sheet - The Research & Planning section. We looked at the section called "Analysis of two opening sequences in your chosen genre from two different studios - 3.2 " We watched the opening of Vendetta. We then went through the task as a class. Where we had discuss the areas (See below)

1. Relationship to sound
2. Symbolism
3. Technical Construction

Relationship to sound - Diegectic - Fire Whoosh. Where it is diegectically intended. At the beginning where there was a sound of a fire - whoosh. Then accompanies flame title with a bold V for Vendetta.

Symbolism - A V in flames in a circle then faded in red words: FOR VENDETTA. Flames in a circle symbolise a link to the gun powder plot, and a phoenix. V is the 2nd reincarnation of the gun powder plot in the Parliament. The red letters emphasizes danger & anger.

Technical Construction - The flames were probably created using CGI -(Computer Generation Image) - A very neat construction.

1.1 to 1.2.3 - Construction Preliminary Exercise

The week before the 15th December 2008 with Ms. Flavell we were given out our AS Media Studies Coursework Outline sheet, explaining the Assessment Criteria and the marks, but before that we were put into groups of 3. In my group it's Me, Luciana and Nomad. We have decided to do horror for our genre.

Our first task was the - Construction Preliminary Exercise - Where we had to film a short continuity task, developing our camera and editing skills. We had to follow the scenario on our coursework outline sheet. Where we had to:

(A) Film and edit a character(s) opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character with whom, she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.

(B) The task had to demonstrate:

• Match on action
• Shot/Reverse shot
• The 180-degree rule

Behind the cam it was Nomad and the characters for (Task A) was me and Luciana. What I learnt by doing the preliminary exercise was that acting in front of a camera is not easy! Also the filming process was a bit difficult because we had to re-film the shots that we did not like as a group, and we was thinking of doing an voice-over because the camera did not pick up me and Luciana's voice whilst we was speaking clearly, or even we was thinking to re-film everything from scratch, but we did not have time to do this because we had to upload our footage and to edit it using Final Cut Pro, so we just kept the footage that we had produced.