Evaluation part 8

Production Stage

Referring back to my preliminary task, I can confidently say that, it allowed me to gain editing experience and also the whole media experience of creating an opening sequence and including camera and editing conventions. During the production stage there was various conventions we had to include and also rules we had to adhere to such as the rule of thirds and 180 degree rule, in this case nothing changed, as we had to include all of the same codes and conventions and also stick to these two rules, in order for us to maximize the quality of our opening sequence. When it came to our preliminary task, we took full advantage of the brief and created a very unique idea, without the influence of any other films, contrary to this in our British Social Realism opening sequence we were inspired and influenced by other films however we introduced our own creativity for it. Our production for our preliminary task, was that Stephens identity was stolen by Keshav, and Keshav acted out as he was Stephen himself, which created intensity and enigma. For Pre Production we had to research and understand the camera and editing techniques so we could include this in our preliminary work and also implicate this later on for our actual British Social Realism opening sequence. However at one point we did go against the 180 degree rule, in our preliminary task, but this allowed us to learn from our mistakes and improve this in our actual AS level task, this was seen at '0:33-0:46', this relates back to the progression of our final work, as we were able to make changes. In our preliminary work we used match on action very well at the beginning where we see Stephen entering his house at '0:07- 0:13', this was efficiently used in our prelim work, as it created more enigma and tension for the audience, as they are questioning what will subsequently happen. In our BSR treatment we discussed all of the editing conventions, seen here.

Technology

When referring back to the technology we used for our preliminary assignment, there was a slight difference, in the fact that the editing software we used for our preliminary work was 'IMovie' but for our British Social Realism opening sequence we used 'Final Cut Express' I found that, IMovie was much easier to use and edit in comparison to Final Cut Express. IMovie allowed us to match all of our shots easily and simply, without having to worry about how to use the editing software, especially when creating match on action shots, which is a camera convention. In terms of our Camera, they were both used in technical senses similarly, as they were both used to film, and to stop and start shots. For both prelim and BSR work, we used an SD card to save all of our work, so we could import it onto the editing software's, so we could edit the footage, the only problem we faced with this, is simply some lessons we forgot it, as it is very small and easy to forget, this was in both our preliminary work and BSR opening sequence task, so this gave us a slight delay in editing. Another use of technology, was our blogs, i personally think this was used effectively, as we recorded and noted down all of our production work, and it allowed us to keep track, by giving detailed explanation of what we were currently doing in terms of our preliminary work. Using our blogs for our preliminary work, allowed us to become much better at using it, as we gained more technical skills, in terms how to embed videos, and upload images, which in essence gave us more opportunity to this for our BSR task. In terms of actual progress from our preliminary work in reference to technology i can say, that as a group we handled the individual types of technology much more professionally as we gained experience.

Blog posts

Skills

In terms of skills, we found that the preliminary task, expanded our knowledge and understanding on all of the media aspects, especially in reference on how to edit, how to function the video camera and also how to use the IMac effectively. We learnt how to match shots and sounds, and also how to add transitions when editing, which enabled us to create our final footage. Also the preliminary task widened our skills and knowledge in terms of camera techniques and different editing styles, to cover all the conventions for our later opening sequence task, for example we included tracking shots at '1:15' in our BSR opening sequence rivals. This is a camera skill we did not use in our preliminary work, however preliminary research allowed us to adopt this skill and use it in our BSR opening sequence. Research such as watching other BSR films such as 'Sket' where tracking shots were also included, we found that these tracking shots , allow the audience to feel as if they are in the scene following the characters. We also spoke of these examples of camera shots in one of our blog posts seen here:. Overall we were able to develop all of our current media skills, into more advanced, technical ways, to increase the full effect of an opening sequence, creating enigma, and in a whole, creating that smash mouth opening we intended to have for our BSR task.

Tracking shot at '1:15'

Evaluation Part 7

Evaluation Part 5

Camera, Angle, Shot movement and Position

For our film 'Rivals', we intended in representing all of the characters under the stereotypical view of what is known as the 'working class', in order to gain the full effect of what a British Social Realism film looks like. Especially because of the fact we explored the themes of 'violence' and also touched slightly on 'the corruption of youth' as our opening sequence involves gang rivalry and violence. In terms of camera angles we intended in making the three main gang members appear as dominant as possible through the camera shots, including various mid shots, which show the characters body language; at ';0;09' we can see the three gang members walking through the field with their hands in their pockets, with straight faces, not showing any emotion or sense of weakness, this connotes the seriousness the characters are enforcing when, going to attack George later on in the opening sequence. Furthermore this dominance suggests that these working class teenagers hanging around in gangs, think they are powerful, and above the law, as they resort in violence when they do not get there way. In terms of establishing shots, these were used to show the council estate flats, connoting the working class area. Council estates, are used a lot in contemporary British Social Realism films such as; 'Kidulthood', 'Adulthood', 'Shank' and 'Ill manors', this is typically where these teenagers hang round and cause trouble. These variations of Mid shots that we used; allows the audience to view and analyse the individual gang members costumes, seen at '0:53', here we can see that two of the gang members on the left Keshav and Matthew, both have their hoods up, suggesting they do mot want their identity to be revealed, especially Keshav as he keeps his head down, connoting that he has a bad reputation and has some sort of notorious gang background. 

Mid shot, showing characters costumes (0:53)

Mise en scene & Sound

Costumes and props were used when making our film. The reason for this is because it reveals the personality of the characters. Most BSR films use ordinary people in their films in order to make it realistic as possible. So when filming our BSR opening we want our characters to come off as realistic as possible by wear normal everyday clothing that people in the particular location we are setting it in would wear. This represents particular social groups, manly young teenagers that a still in secondary education.  This is typically clothing that isn’t fancy or expensive. They would be wearing clothes like jogging bottoms, hoodies, body warmers and trainers.

The type of music we are going to use will probably be rap / RnB since that is what these characters would typically listen to. This then makes the audience more interested since the viewers (who are mainly 15 - 25 year olds) would listen to this type of music so they can relate thus making them more engaged. The music will also be played as non - diegetic sound as gang is breaking into the house. The rest of the film will mainly be diegetic sounds as well as scenes where music would be playing through the radio.

Style and Iconography

Throughout the production of our film we knew we were going to enforce stereotypical views of teenagers. We did this through the use of the style and iconography. This is the science of identification, description, classification, and interpretation of symbols and themes. We felt challenging stereotypes would be too difficult in terms of relating the characters to our target audience. The main characters can clearly be seen as being the archetypal gang members through there costume mainly. They are wearing tracksuits and hoodies which are typical of gang members as they do not want their identity to be known. This supports the stereotype that is associated with teenagers in general and especially with gang members. If we were to of challenged the representation of this social group, we could have chosen for the characters to dress smart and classier. This would be similar to organizations like the mafia or people like the Kray twins, instead of dressing in cheap tracksuits they dressed in suits in order to show power and wealth as well as self-respect. But then this would not have represented the working class which is a convention of British Social Realism, so again another reason why we stuck to the stereotype.

In terms of representing the characters as being working class, this was mainly seen through the location we used to film. It was a block of flats situated between a main road and allotments. We feel this gave of the impression of little in terms of money. Flat blocks are a typical location seen time and time again in BSR films ( 'Kidulthood', 'Fish Tank', 'Sket 'etc.) so we felt it was appropriate to use them in our opening. We couldn’t really challenge this as it would not be conventional of a BSR film

Evaluation part 4

evaluation part 3

evaluation part 2

Evaluation Part 1

What brief were you working to?

My group and I were given a brief to work towards, it had to target 'British 16-24 year olds' and also our opening sequence was to be roughly 2 minutes short. The opening sequence had to be from the 'social realism genre' and all of our audio and visual material had to be completely original and music had to be copyright free. In reference to targeting 'British 16-24 year olds' my opening sequence successfully did this as we kept to the smash mouth opening creating a fast paced opening sequence intriguing the audience, which generally appeals to this age range. Also the actors themselves were of the age 16-18, so the audience can relate to this. My opening sequence for 'Rivals' ran at 2;10, this was acceptable as the brief stated that we could be 12 seconds above, so this was no issue. In the brief no exact gender was mentioned, however this may have been a problem for our opening sequence as no females were included therefore i feel it would mainly appeal to males.

Explain the title and what happens in your opening sequence making reference to the treatment?

The title for our BSR film is 'Rivals' this connotes the rivalry between the characters seen in the opening sequence, and also the violence that occurs in the film.The typography we used for the title was an urban jungle style font, this connotes the urban feel of the film, relating to British Social Realism, as most contemporary BSR films are set in the urban parts of Britain, in this case East London, for example one of the films i researched was 'My Brother The Devil' which was set in Hackney. The general story to the entire film is; a large gang in the Romford area were controlled by 2 brothers (David and George) who had lost their mother at a young age and were dragged into the gang by members of it who they befriended. Due to David's girlfriend cheating on him with George, a separation between the members occurs due to both brothers fighting.. Eventually David decides enough is enough, and targets the girl who tore them apart while he is not home. The opening sequence only showed David breaking into George's flat with 2 of his other gang members, this is seen at '1;20-1;39' here you can see them breaking into George's flat, by kicking down the door. The intervention between the brothers allows the audience to see the corruption found in British society. Our film 'Rivals' was heavily influenced by other BSR films such as; 'Shank', 'Kidulthood' and 'Ill manors', at '2;03' the audience can see the character attempting to kick down Georges door, this relates back to violence, which is another element heavily used in the likes of those films mentioned.

Explain how it explores the themes of BSR referring to your research

The main theme we were intending to explore was violence, this is evidently seen in our opening sequence, as the audience can see at various times where physical violence was present, for example at '2:07' when David pulls out a flick knife, clearly connoting the theme of violence as the weapon itself connotes this, and also at '2:08' when David pushes George up against the door and holds the knife above his head, portraying the theme of violence. All the characters were represented as stereotypical British teenagers, conforming to typical portrayals such as gang violence, this is seen through the costumes of the characters, typically being tracksuits and black jackets. In reference to research, my group and I watched various other BSR films and opening sequences, which also explored this theme, from the likes of; 'Kidulthood', 'Adulthood', 'Ill manors', 'Shank' and many more. For example, in particular this was seen in 'Kidulthood', when Jay, Trevor and Moony break into Sams flat and beat him up and push his mother down the stairs, this scene connotes violence.

David kicking down Georges door connoting theme of violence.

David pushing George up against the door, connoting violence again.

Prop; Knife connotes violence and war.