Research into Casino Royale

Final Cut - Grip (Unfinished)

Question 6: what have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

When it came to researching and planning for our thriller, it was all done on the internet. with the internet being so vast with everything and everyone we were able to find films, things about them, how they were made and just being able to find anything. IMDB was a great place to start as it has millions of films from all genres at our fingertips, with all these films we were able to watch films we liked and get alot of ideas and thoughts going for when we came to do ours. IMDB is also really easy to use and understand as for example, it has films that are related to the one you are currently looking at, so its not hard to find things you. YouTube was also a big part of the research as we were able to see people short films, reviews about bigger films and even trailers and how they present the film to get more to watch. the idea that anyone could make a film and put it on YouTube so simply is great as your able to share your creations and get feedback, its also a great way to get involved with some experience on film making. Furthermore, Blogger was a great way to get information we needed simply with the fact that you share everything on a blog, meaning that you can share ideas, opinions and feedback. Also, as all the coursework we have been doing over the year has been open, with have been able to take feedback from teachers and people enabling us to improve if need be, which is great as it helps us learn and develop our skills.

When it came down to the editing, i had never used Adobe Premier Pro before so i had a lot to learn for when i had to edit. the first time i tried it was the edit of the preliminary task and in my opinion it came out alright. although the edit wasn't as extreme as the thriller edit, i still feel it went smooth. one part i felt went well wasn't getting the timing of cuts right so it looks like the shame shot still with a smooth transition to a different angle. i didn't really find an easy way to do this apart from having the the second shots first frame on the preview screen, then flicking through the frames of the first shot and finding a way  that makes it look smooth to cut. Another thing i learnt was using multiple layers of audio to get the right sounds, for on one layer using diegetic sounds such as cars and birds. Also adding in layers with maybe breathing we Edward runs etc. Furthermore, the use of titles and the brightness/contrast settings were alot of work, but was very interesting to do as it was all based on experimenting with all the option available to get things right. getting the colour levels took alot more time as getting the right mixe between brightness and contrast was tricky without making it to bold. Getting the right titles wasnt too hard as during the planning we were able to find fonts we wanted from a website called Dafont to use and download them ready for editing. the website is great and easy to use, with fonts very much organised in style and genres making it really easy to find the right ones for our film. getting the position of the title at times was hard as wanted to use the empty spaces in shots without putting them over anything that might distort the text.

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

The film industry audience is a hard one to please as there can be alot of variety when it comes to films, specifically when it comes to different genres. If one person likes rom-coms for example, they are most likely not going to like horror films maybe which makes it hard to come by. When it comes to what the audience wants, you can break it down into five categories genre pleasures, representational pleasures, style/aesthetic pleasures and narrative pleasures. In terms of our thriller, i feel that people would pick our film for the narrative and style/aesthetic pleasures as it has alot of variety in shot types, has very strong editing with lighting and fast pace cuts and the fact that most of the films story is left unanswered which leads to it being very enigmatic. With the bag being very mysterious and the story behind Edward doesn't reveal much, it builds up questions that i fell would keep the audience and want them to continue watching the film. With the main part of the enigma being the prop, it leaves a variety of questions flying around with what is in the bag, why it is so important and why would a teenage boy risk his life for it. in my opinion, that would keep alot of people watching on as there are some many things to learn from just the first two minutes of the film. Whether or not they get told straight away is also a mystery, with the story continuing, it could just go back to the being and so you learn later on the story with the end being the opening. Another strong area in the hopes that people continue to watch the film would be the story behind the main character. While not alot of the character is told in the first two minutes of the film. You do learn just by watching that he is very much an average boy that hasn't chosen to be in the situation he is. You can also see that he is very scared and has a sort of fragile mind in terms of fear with him getting thoughts of what might happen and being scared by just people walking down the street. with that in mind, i feel that it will make the more narrative pleasured people watch on and be interested in the whole film.

At the time of getting feedback for our rough cuts of the thrillers, mine was very much incomplete due to computer problems, but with what i did have i got some positive and negative comments back about things to improve and things that went well. One piece of positive feedback i got addressed the shot with Edward running down and around the corner and while doing so, placing his hand of the railing. When i came to editing that piece i knew from the start i wanted that to look smooth and to have the timing perfect, also i feel that shot reverse shots are a great way to break up shots and to add more variety which is what that scene needed. They also went on to say the shot with Edward walking back into the corner with nowhere to go, the shot was an interesting one as at the beginning of the shot Edwards figure and face is quite blurred. Obviously this was not planned, but i ended up using the shot and it worked out really well. following Edward into the corner was also interesting as we didn't use a dolly and so it was purely hand filmed, which help build on the effect of Edward stumbling back into the corner.

One piece of feedback was that the sound was quite bad in some places and that the wind levels were very loud over the natural sound of everything else. On several occasions i was told that the sound was the main problem and again mainly due to lack of progression because of the computer problems, but also from the wind. In response to several points about the sound i spent more time trying to fix it then i did editing because of how bad some of the recordings were. Luckily when filming, we had two cameras which meant while filming we could also get some sound with a microphone we had also brought. So to fix the problems, i had to take audio footage from clips and replace with others, i also had to overlap sounds sometimes. One piece of feedback said that when fixing the sound problems, try to keep in the raw sounds, which i did with most shots particularly with the bag shot. When it came to the shot of the bag with Edward gripping on to it tightly and opening, i had to take the good bits of the sound and mix it with other recordings we had done to get it right.

Question 3: What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

the audience for our thriller film would consist of older, more mature teenagers from about 16 and above, other ages would include around mid 20's and some even in the late 30's. The film could also have a small grouping of older viewers around 40's as the way it is film and edited with the colours and flashbacks give it more of a mature look, which works well with pretty much all older audiences. The gender for a thriller would be purely male orientated with maybe a few females, this is because of the amount of male characters that are in the thriller leading to me being interested. That being said, its also to do with the fact the the films is based around the idea of crime and violence which isn't commonly enjoyed much by females.

The Powerpoint below included some examples of some thrillers that are very common to ours, which would share the same audience. The graphs show the ratings different users on the site (IMDB) have given it with also clear understanding of what the ages were that rated, the graph also has a section for male and female and shows the different ratings from them.

Target Audience Research

Question 1: In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products

The ideas and themes around the planning of our thriller came from a variety of thrillers from gangster heavy films and classic noir. When it came to the planning we would pick out things we liked about these films and even things we didn't like, then focused on trying to implement these things and avoiding them. in terms of editing, a main influence of the use of flash forwards came from Bourne Ultimatum, but throughout the film they use flash backs instead to create a sense of the character already being in that place, or remember things from his amnesia. The way the produce the flash backs i find to be very accurate with the shaky cam and the use of very heavy affects to make it look like a blur in his mind. The way his facial expressions are made were also a huge influence as it shows the struggle to remember and in our chase the sense of danger in the events to come. Bourne Ultimatum was definitely my biggest influence when it came to editing and so i wanted to pick out the details i loved most about how those films were made. Looking at the flash back the sound used from them is done in a very blurry background noise with key speeches and sounds that show he remembers more parts than overs. Taking that into consideration when it came to the flash forwards i used the sound of the crowbar being picked up as that is a very distinct sound from the actual clip. The thing i like about my flash forwards are that those shots after being show are actually played out later on.

When filming, some of our shots came out perfectly with the use of the natural sunlight in the area, for example when the protagonist pauses against a wall after being chased the lighting comes out very well against his face and the surrounding area. Filming this shot, we had no intentions of the lighting coming out like that because the place we filmed was under a car park and so the lighting coming in was a reflection from a puddle which made it strong and slightly rippling. The use of the lighting in both of these shots show the sort of bad sides to both of these character. For James Bonds (From Casino Royale) he's sitting in a pitch black room with only the light from a street light outside, its effective as it be seen as two sides to the character and for Bond its correct as he is seen as an anti-hero in the recent one. Taking this influence into ours, its shows that the character really is just an average teenager with a normal life, but from unfortunate circumstances has been pulled into a life of crime which leads to punishment and maybe death.

The best thing about our film is definitely the location as it just looks prefect for the mood, situation and genre. The dull colours and overload of grey concrete buildings looks great with the miserable cloudy sky aswell just made it a brilliant place to film. Researching through alot of thrillers gave us an idea of a common location for films like these and the one that caught our eye the most was Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. A large majority of the film is set in quite rundown and nasty looking areas like for example in the opening, with the two guys selling stuff down an alley, to then later be chased around near some industrial looking areas. the shot also fits with the fact that they are being chased into a dead of nothing but trouble, but in Lock Stock they get away. The two places look very similar with the puddles and dull colours, which is sort of what we were going for.

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

The change from the preliminary task to the actual thriller opening was a big step up as we were able to put a lot more time and effort into it to make it more how we wanted to, with the planning of such jobs as location finding and fonts we were able to make it more personal to how we thought it should be. With the time we were given we were able to go research potential areas in which we could film in rather than just in and around school. This made it able to also get a wide range of different shots types as well, using long alleys or high up places like we did in the shot going up stairs. with the final location ending up to be Anglia Square, we were able to look around and already plan shots we would take before we even started filming, which was great help when planning. More time meant we could also go into more detail with areas such as casting and props, with casting we could get people from school who we knew were talented in acting. Sam was a key example because he is currently taking A-Level Drama and was able to create some fantastic emotions which look perfect for the effect we were trying to create. With a bigger area to film in meant we could get a lot of variety in are shots, we could also start to use small details of the location to really create excitement and variety in the film. To do this, I added a shot reverse shot of the protagonist running down a ramp to the subway and coming round the corner of a railing. While running down he places his hand on the railing and shortly after, the shot returns to him.

Shot reverse shots are a great way to keep variety in a scene when there's not much else you can do, they also help to build on the tense the scene might have, for example by showing just how tight he's holding onto something and maybe if he's shaking etc. shot reverse shot is also used at the beginning where it shows the terror on his face, cuts to the tight grip of enigmatic bag and then back to his eyes. Shot reverse shots are very commonly used and are very smooth if done correctly, an example of a brilliant shot reverse shot comes from Double Indemnity with the insurance rep Walter, starts flirting with Phyllis. Alot of the research we did come from various thrillers and noir films including Double Indemnity which was very influential when thinking about lighting for the thriller, for example with the use of the sun coming through the venation blinds into the dark gloomy room.

When we first started the planning for the thriller opening, it required alot of team work to organise and prepare the things we needed to do. Although at times it was hard to get things right and agree on things, it made the whole thing very much easier and making anything is always better when done by more than one person. In terms of my edit, i think overall it went alright, in the early stages i was getting feedback all saying sort of the same thing which was to fix the sound and remove any wind you here and i very much agreed with it. the wind was a huge problem when it  came to editing as nearly every shot had loud pieces of wind recording in it which was very of putting when watching, when planning though we decided to bring a second camera which we would use a microphone with to record background sounds and non-diegetic recordings to crisp it up. i think overall the most important thing i have learnt when filming and editing is how to keep an interesting  fast and exciting pace in it. With the edit i did, the whole opening was basically a chase and so keeping a good pace was key to making it intense and wild. I think the way mine does it by having alot of movement in the shots and even using a shaky cam effect in some shots as well as tilt shots.

Thriller - Rough Cut (Unfinished)

Actors (Unfinished)

The actors we got for our thriller opening are perfect representations of the characters we are trying to create, and so it wasnt hard to find actors we needed. We also only require a couple of actors for our opening so it wont be any trouble.

Sam Todd (Edward)

Sam Todd will be great for our opening as in school, he is taking A-Level drama, which means he'll make our opening look alot more real as he can create perfect emotions to represent the character he'll be playing. the style of clothing he wears also fits the character with hoodies, skinny jeans etc. Meaning that he will also ressemble him well in person.

Fonts

Fonts by

Animatic

Problems With Shooting

Problems within shooting

Shooting Schedule

Chosen Location

Anglia Square

the chosen place for our thriller opening is going to be Anglia Square, the reason for this is because it is ideal for tight chase scenes and run-down dodgy areas which help understand the story. Anglia Square is the place we are shooting in because it would be the perfect place for a 'deal' to happen as its already quite shady, but it is not a common nice place for a average person to visit. the first shot requires a large open area which can provide a lot of variety to the shots as it focuses mainly on the expression and loneliness of Edward. the car park area of Anglia Square is great for this as it has a long road which is very wide and not to busy with cars, the are can also be shot from behind several fences which will look great when trying to present him as if he is trapped in this situation. the graffiti wall behind where the character will be is also effective as it builds on the rundown feel and will look great when filiming in a wide angle.

The area also gives us a variation in terms of height with places such as this staircase, which we will be able to continue the chase up and again get more variety for the opening. the top of the stairs is great as we will be able to get birds eye veiw shots from the top which will look good when being chased. the stairs also gives us the chances to give more variety in the locations meaning that we can take the chase to different parts of Anglia Square easily.

 The rest of Anglia Square is just ideal for our whole shoot and we will be filming over the whole place and even down by a near by subway area which we able us to continue the chase to different areas, Anglia Square also has a loading bay for the shops which we will use for the final shot we do by capturing the character in a dead end. the scenery around is also perfect as on a cloudy miserable day the buildings look grey and dull, which we can use to help bring out the feelings of the characters and mood. 

Possible Locations

ASDA (Whiffler Road industrial estate)
One place we are considering to film in is near Asda, we have been considering it because it looks like a run-down and dull place which would be a great place for a thriller as the are not nice and colourful films. The area is very concrete intense and has very minimal bushes and trees, the area is also surrounded by tall steel fence which look great to make a jail like feel which again fits with thriller films with jail and crime etc.  As the streets are behind main roads and residential areas its very deserted which is a great place to start a thriller with a shady deal with the boy and the contents of the bag. The streets are fairly wide which will be interesting when it comes to filming as we can get a variety of shots including the shots we need.

Thorpe Marriott

Thorpe Marriott was another place we chose to look at as it had a lot of great areas which we could use when filming, like for example tight alleyways and back roads which would look great in a chase scene for claustrophobic shots and shot variety. The area also has wide open areas for the shots that require alot of different shots to pick out the surrounds and put you in the scene. Although the places gives out alot of shot vairety the place it self looks abit freindly for the type of scenes we require such as shady deals with gang members and the cornering of the character and being beaten up doesnt fit the area.

Mousehold
Mousehold was also a place we have considered as it gives a lot of areas to film with a wide area, with plenty of good looking rundown places with fences which would be great for are first scene behind a fence. Further on past mousehold there is also a great place to film the final scene where Edward gets cornered and is forced to give up. The little building estate area would be great as it shows the grimy and dull area they are and the situation Edward is in, it also doesn’t get much sun which would be good to capture the struggle and darkness in him and the past of the character to what he has done to get in this situation

Characters, Costumes, Props