Comparing the preliminary and main task

The preparing for the main task compared to the basic preliminary task was a lot more in depth and complicated as it required you to take more care and attention into detail of every aspect of your sequence.  Regarding sound for example, in the prelim task we didn't need to pay much attention on what lighting we used for what effect and we didn't consider changing it during our filming.  In our main task however, we spent a lot of time on and off set, thinking of ways in which we could possibly use lighting to create a tense and gloomy atmosphere.  In the prelim we had to follow a set storyboard whereas in the main task we had to write our own storyboard with dialogue and choose our own costumes.  Consequently, much more planning was needed as we had to think about what we wanted our sequence to look like and how we wanted to represent it, instead of following a set guideline.  Much more planning was needed as in the Prelim Task, in terms of mise-en-scene, there was nothing but in the Main Task, we had to sort out costume, sound, camera work and editing.  As well as planning, mise-en-scene was also important as it made our Main Task look a lot more professional and sophisticated compared to the Prelim Task.  It also left a lot of problems on the shoot day our group had to figure out:  the main Russian didn't have the correct shoes so we decided to to film his feet and the set looked boring and unrealistic on camera at the start so we found Russian posters and symbols to put up on the walls.

I found storyboarding quite tedious as it took a lot of time to choose what shots best fit with the dialogue.  I wanted to use certain shots that would express the contrasting characters and their different moods instead of just representing this in the dialogue, which we did in the prelim task.  In the main task, we had to develop our basic prelim brief of wide-medium-close to a sophisticated sequence with a visual narrative where we used more advanced shots such as high and low angle.  In our main tasks we cut between different shots during one action such as when Simon gets punched at the beginning of the sequence.  This was a lot more sophisticated in contrast to our prelim task where we only cut to different shots between dialogue.
Example of match on action in Main Task

Consequently, since our prelim tasks I have developed and improved my skills on camera by using more advanced shots.  I also found the main task easier to film because I had the experience in the preliminary task where I learnt how to shoot basic shots and how to set up the camera.  Since the prelim task, I have payed more attention on what shots I would use to express the characters in the way I intend to present them and make sure I presented a attractive visual narrative, which will appeal to my target audience.  In the main task I used close ups of the Russian men and Simon to show their different emotions. Furthermore, this presented the Russians in a more evil and aggressive way in comparison to Simon, which is how I wanted to present them to my audience in my planning. 

The more advanced shots I used in the Main Task demonstrated my developed skills since the prelim.  An example of this is a high angle shot of Simon getting punched:

In the Basic Preliminary Task, no sound effects were added when using Final Cut Pro so dialogue and ambient sound was only used.  In my Main Task however, my use of sound had developed as sound effects of punches, water and a heart beat were added as well as backing music in the opening sequence.  By the Main Task, I payed a lot more attention to details, such as sound in comparison to the prelim task, which recquired a lot more work in editing.

I found my ability to master new technology when using Final Cut Pro quite good as I found it very interesting.  Therefore, I improved my skills in cutting between shots and learnt a lot of new ones, such as adding/editing sound.  Looking back at the Preliminary Task, I can see that cuts between shots are jumpy and unpleasant to watch as an audience.  In my Main Task however, I improved on cutting between shots by spending more time in editing and using 'cross fade'.  Consequently, the cuts between shots are a lot smoother and more natural to watch.  Another new skill learnt in the Main Task was to extend and withdraw shots, making them longer and shorter for the audience to watch, which helped fit them in between other clips and as a result, also sometimes helped cut between shots.  An example of where we extended a clip was when Simon is being dunked in the water.  Originally, that clip was only a few seconds long, but this was doubled and put in slow motion during editing for our Thriller to create a better effect (more fascinating for the audience to watch).

Audience Feedback

We first asked, "What do you think the basic plot of this thriller is?" and our response was:

• A story about Russian bad men, who caught a man as he knew something they needed
• Man being tortured for information
• A Man who was being tortured for information and then they brought in his wife
• Terroists interrogating a man and getting his wife involved in the struggle
• A hostage
• Spy being tortured
• Man being held hostage by Russians, they bring in his lover so eventually he will have to talk in order for them not to hurt her
• Torturing because they want a code

We then asked, "What do you think are the key strengths of this thriller and why?"

• Very convincing, good editing and actors
• Props and setting were very convincing
• good use of sound
• the atmosphere and speaking russian
• blood in the water
• good acting
• editing very good
• good music that creates suspense and good effect with the accents
• water shot of Simon
• different types of camera angles
• effective lighting - water relecting on the wall, make-up done well
• punching realistic

Finally we asked, "How do you think this thriller could be made even more effective and why?"

• Sound effects
• poor lighting - difficult to see
• include more torture shots
• acting wasn't good
• swearing is bad
• need more convincing ending
• title could have been more effective
• cleaner cuts
• made the girl looked more roughed up

To conclude, I am quite pleased with the Main Task, however, there are a few things I would amend if possible.  In my view, I think more care should have been taken over the storyboard as on the shooting day, a lot of things were changed, which, as a result made the beginning of our sequence quite abrupt as it starts immediately with Simon being punched.  Furthermore, you don't get a sense of the set or the characters until half way through the sequence, which is quite confusing for the audience.  The feedback supported this by saying that the ending could have been improved however, it seemed that most people understand the storyline quite well according to the answers in our first question.  In addition, something I didn't consider that was pointed out in the same question was the girl as many people believed it was Simon's wife and not her daughter.  Therefore, if I were to redo this task, I would use a younger girl to amend this or change the storyline and use an older woman and have them bring his wife in (similar to the Spooks episode we studied).  In my view, I believe a key weakness, which wasn't pointed out in the third answers was the dialogue, which was quite boring at some points, such as when the Russian repeats 'still being a tough guy' in between the water-dunking scene. However, in the the third answers, it is pointed out that the swearing wasn't good, which I do agree with to an extent as swearing in some points was appopriate but there was a bit too much of it.  I think that the main strengths of our project was our set, the use of  lighting, the Russian dialogue and some camera work, which seemed to be the most popular in the feedback also.  I think the reflection of the water on the walls in the background worked very well in the mood we were trying to present.  Furthermore, after editing, I believe that the water-dunking scene was very successful on screen and was our best shot in our sequence.

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

How did you attract/address your audience?

How Did We Attract Our Target Audience[1]

The Editing Process

On our first editing day, we went through all our shots and marked the ones we preferred most for our sequence and shots we preferred not to use.  Some shots we didn’t like included punches that looked unrealistic, dialogue that wasn’t said properly and awkward shots where the actors hadn’t played their role properly.  We wanted to create meaning for the audience by using tense shots where the Russian men were serious and intimidating towards the spy.  We also wanted our sequence to be as realistic as possible, so discarded shots that looked too overtop or unrealistic.  Our film followed the conventions of a thriller as we used suspense and tension as our main elements, which give the audience a high level of terror and anxiety. 

We used continuity editing devices in our sequence by cutting between different shots and in some cases, by using ‘cross-fading’, which made them smoothly join into a sequence together that worked and made sense.  For example, at the beginning of our sequence, a Russian punches the spy in the face and we cut from a wide shot to a close up to emphasise this.  This cut helped the audience see the real pain on Simon’s face and the force of the punch, which would bring a tense mood to the atmosphere.  We used short reverse shot most commonly between the main Russian and the spy during their dialogue so the audience could see the contrast in moods between them:  the main Russian is aggressive towards the spy and the spy is terrified but still tries to be brave and somewhat aggressive in return.  Most of the camera time in the diegesis is focused on the main Russian and the spy, as they are the main characters, therefore most of the close-ups and mid shots are of them.  We used slow motion at one point when Simon is dunked in the water to bring a tense and anxious feel to the audience as everything is quiet and there is an anticipation of what will happen next. 

The main difficulty our group found when editing our thriller was that the pace, especially at the beginning seemed to be too fast and jumpy between cuts.  Therefore, to slow down the cuts between each shot we used ‘cross fading’ and slightly extended our shots over each other and as a result, the pace slowed down.  Particular attention was made to the beginning where the spy is punch and the effects of that as each shot individually was cut very short so a lot of cuts had to be made in a small space of time to create this one moment.  We decided to discard some shots from the beginning also to make it more simple and easier to watch for the audience, as it was less jumpy and confusing.  We did this by cutting out unnecessary shots, such as an extra wide shot of the room. 

We wanted to show the Russians to be more intimidating and threatening, so we created this perspective by dressing them in black and differentiated them by having them speak in Russian between one another at some points in the sequence.  This made the spy look like an outsider and a lot weaker as he wasn’t in control of the situation.  This was also supported by the fact he was tied to a chair and was wearing much more casual clothes.  He also has a wound on his cheek, which shows they have tortured him for a while and that he has a lot less power as they have no cuts or bruises.  Consequently, in this opening sequence we made the Russians stronger and bad, and the spy weaker and good.  This idea of the Russians being cruel is again reinforced when they bring the spy’s daughter in and threaten to kill her as well as him. We also showed this by using close up of Simon’s face to show he is suffering and comparing it to close up’s of the main Russian, which represented him to be punishing, violent and serious.  The close up’s of the Russians face also show that he isn’t even effected by the violence taking place in this room that he truly doesn’t care about how this spy is treated.  Evidently, this makes the audience favour the spy as he is affected and does have feelings, which are depicted when his daughter enters the room. 

We used a background sound throughout the whole of our opening sequence, which represented how it was in the middle of nowhere and emphasised the tense mood in the isolated room.  We also used punch effects in our thriller to make it more realistic and believable that the spy was being tortured.  I found this process of matching up sounds to actions quite hard because I wanted the audience to really be shocked and affected by the man being tortured so I wanted them to believe it, which made me take a lot more care in assuring the sounds were perfectly matched.  Sounds of the spy screaming were used to create meaning but once we were in the editing suite, we realised at the end of our sequence, the screaming was too loud and over top.  Therefore, we made the volume of his screaming quieter and cut out sounds of him screaming in other shots.  This was much more effective as, I believe the audience would be more affected and shocked by a scene where they truly believe the man is petrified for his and his daughter’s life. 

I really enjoyed the editing process and I found once I learnt how to use final cut pro after the first two sessions, I found it quite easy to use.  However, I found assuring the cuts weren’t jumpy quite challenging at points when a lot of action and different camera shots were happening at one specific moment, such as at the beginning of the sequence.  This took a lot more work than other parts in the sequence but because I understood what I needed to do to make the cutting more effective, all it needed was time to perfect it.  I also found putting all the shots together to make the opening sequence work quite challenging at the start as various punches and dialogue needed to be cut out to make it more understandable for the audience.  As a group we also discarded shots that didn’t look realistic, which were key for some action to happen in our open sequence.  Therefore, we had to make sure we were able to cut them out and still create a successful piece of film, which was thrilling and made sense to our audience. 

If I would do anything differently, I would have used less dialogue so more non-diegetic could have been used, as I believe this would have been a key technique to attract the audience and make the mood even tenser.  During our editing process I noticed at some points there was too much dialogue and not enough action so not much sound could be used.  However, with the story our group chose, we had to use dialogue otherwise the storyline would have been too confusing for the audience to comprehend. 

I enjoyed editing because I found the process exciting and interesting.  Furthermore, I loved the idea that I was able to create my own piece of work and make my own decisions that I thought would be best for a thriller.  I also enjoyed learning how to use final cut pro and from the beginning of the process, I was able to work well on my own. 

At the beginning of the editing process, I thought we worked well as a team when choosing what shots we liked best and what shots we would use in each order to create a successful storyline.  However, I found when the task became more vigorous and more attentiveness was needed, I took a lead role.  I believe I worked consistently throughout the whole process and therefore, took part in all the possible roles needed in editing:  marking and editing shots, cutting, sound and perfecting our final opening sequence.  However, throughout this process, the whole group still took part in these roles also and contributed in parts.  I believe I worked well during this editing process and contributed a large and important amount towards our opening sequence.

I feel this process was a lot easier and more exciting than the preliminary task as I was more confident with the camera and editing so I was able to work on it harder and take more time in making the sequence as effective as possible to create a successful thriller, which an audience would enjoy.  In addition, it was harder editing the opening sequence than the preliminary because their was a lot more detail and shots that you had to concentrate on, which made the process a lot longer.   

Through this experience I have learnt that the whole process of filmmaking takes a lot of time, concentration and care to create something prosperous.  During this experience of editing on final cut pro I have overcome challenges of working with sound as before I found it a lot more difficult to figure out how to edit it correctly.  Furthermore, it was difficult to add sound efficient enough to work well with our dialogue to make it sound like a thriller and appeal to our target audience. 

Target audience for Thriller

I believe that our target audience for our film would be ages 15-25 because it contains suspense and action, which most suits this age range.  The audience would be attracted to the 'action' in our thriller also, mainly males because through research,  this is the most popular type of genre for them.  People aged 15-25 would normally go to the cinema on the weekends or be out with their friends.  However, in the day, our target audience would be studying, which means that our Thriller would be best released during a holiday, preferably in winter because the cinema would be even more popular then.  Our secondary audience would be 25-35years.  They might like this film because it is based on the Chechnya War, which they can relate to more than our younger target audience.  Our genre of film would be more likely to attract a more male audience as it involves violence and action but it's not so brutal that a female audience wouldn't be interested because its emotional also (when the spy's daughter is brought in).  Therefore, our film is aimed at both a male and female audience.  For example, the film 'Taken', which inspired our idea of our thriller was an action thriller and contained violence but it was still very popular towards a female audience because it had the emotional attachment of the man's daughter being hurt and taken from him - similar to our thriller.  



Example of a member of our Target Audience

 

Name:  Merlin

Age:  17

Interests:  Boxing, cars and playing Xbox

Favourite Movie:  Taken

Favourite game on Xbox:  Call of Duty – Modern Warfare

What institution would make your film?

•   Fox Searchlight would want to make my film because it specialises in independent and British films and is variously involved with the production and/or distribution of these films.  We would choose them because we feel our film would appeal to a global audience. 
• Films that've been made similar are:  'Street Kings' and 'never die alone' - both action thrillers.  Street Kings was also released as a game, which could be a distributing factor used for my film also.
• Fox Searchlight is a company, which distributes many low budget films, such as Juno and Slumdog Millionaire that have become very successful in the box office.  Therefore, the company does fit in the egos of the institution as my film is a low budget film. 

• I believe Fox Searchlight wouldn't release my film to cinemas as there is too much competition with big-budget Hollywood action thrillers. Currently 9 out of 10 films at the cinema are owned by multi-national conglomerates. However as Fox Searchlight has the backing of its parent company 20th Century fox and Newscorp it would enable opportunity for my film to gain a wider distribution into more countries than just the UK. Fox searchlight are part of the horizontally and vertically integrtaed conglomerate and therefore our film would have the benefit of their distribution. This means that rather than rely on selling our film for distribution in other countries Fox seachlight have their own measures ion place to make our film a success or at least guaranteeing some return on their investment. Therefore eeven if our film failed to make the box office in Britain and the USA which is likely there would be a market for  it on DVDs and on BluRay.  They would also make money out of my film by the word-of-mouth buzz, similar to films, such as 'Napoleon Dynamite'.  Fox Searchlight  may still promote our film at films festivals, like 'Napoleon Dynamite' in the Sundance Film Festival.   But this would be to gain publicity and popularity.  Fox searchlight have proved that they are willing to take a risk on relatively unknown directors such as Ivan Reitmann who's first film was Thank you for smoking. Fox Searchlight has its own marketing and distribution operations and International distributions are controlled by Twentieth Century Fox that helped make this film a word of mouth success and although it was a relative slow burner and wasn't a global rel;ease at the cinema it's dvd sales enabled it to be a success on dvd and blu-ray sales.  
• The company produces small specialised films in genres, such as comedy, drama and horror.  
• I believe my film shows real emotion, like many Fox Searchlight films and attracts to American audiences.  

How does your product represent particular social groups?

We wanted to represent an idea of a Russian Mafia in our film, which are agressive and cruel.  Therefore, they conformed to dominant ideologies and were the stereotypical Russian type.  This was an idea similar to one represented in an episode of Spooks that we studied where binary opposites between the evil Eastern Russians and the Heroic Westerns were established.  This conformed to dominant ideologies of the Russians being corrupt and was a typical drama plot, which we put in our Thriller.  The agents represented in this Thriller were similar to how we represent the agent in our Thriller:  caring/considerate, has a family and feels responsible for their country:

Agents in Spooks

Fiona was very loyal, both to her family and colleagues but she struggled with the conflict of espionage and motherhood.  She loved her son Wes but would never leave the MI5 willingly.

Fiona's husband, Adam was a hard worker but always dreamt of sharing a stable home life with his wife and son.  However, Fiona was shot while trying to avenge her previous life in Syria.  Consequently, Adam went into denial at first but eventually realised that focussing on his work was the best way for him to handle his loss.

Danny was a young and sharp agent who lost his life for his country (in the Spooks episode that we studied).













In contrast, the idea of the Russians being opposite to the agent in characteristics is similar to how Russians are represented in the film Eastern Promises:


Images in the News in Russia in particular, represent how this idea of masculinity is represented for the stereotypical Russian in the media.  An example of this is an image of Putin hunting with his top off, presenting the 'Alpha male' type: 'The Telegraph'

In contrast, our agent in our Thriller is represented to have more feelings and is more caring, such as when he starts screaming in horror once his daugher gets brought in.  Consequently, this represents English men in a much better light compared to Russian men.  You could relate Simon in the Thriller to characters in films such as James Bond where the English man is presented as the 'Hero' and the more appealing person to the audience in comparison to foreign men, such as Russians:

The dunking scene in the opening sequence of James Bond relates to the slow motion clip of Simon being dunked into the tank in our Thriller

However the difference between James Bond and Simon is that Bond always escapes or seems to be in control of the bad situation he's in.  In our thriller, it is very unsure to the audience whether Simon will actually survive or not.  Furthermore, this is why it gives a exciting feel as unlike James Bond where the audience know he will always survive, the audience have the anticipation of what will happen next.