Group Evaluation:
What Kind of Media Institution might distribute your media product and why?
We have based our product mainly on the work of Guy Ritchie amongst other sources and the distribution companies he has used would be most the most likely institutions to deal with our film. His films have been extremely successful, particularly in the British film industry so it would perhaps be beneficial to follow a similar template regarding distribution methods and companies.
Ritchie has distributed his earlier films (i.e. ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking barrels’) through PolyGram Filmed Entertainment who merged with Universal Films in 1999. However, his later film, ‘RocknRolla’ which we drew inspiration from was distributed by Warner Bros. Because of Ritchie’s success, major film distributor would perhaps be willing to approach a product that follows similar conventions, especially since his films were relatively successful and benefitted enormously from the support of these institutions.
Although these distributors are not strictly British they would know how to best market a project such as our own according to its conventions and films similar to it, so it would still remain true to its genre.
Ritchie has distributed his earlier films (i.e. ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking barrels’) through PolyGram Filmed Entertainment who merged with Universal Films in 1999. However, his later film, ‘RocknRolla’ which we drew inspiration from was distributed by Warner Bros. Because of Ritchie’s success, major film distributor would perhaps be willing to approach a product that follows similar conventions, especially since his films were relatively successful and benefitted enormously from the support of these institutions.
Although these distributors are not strictly British they would know how to best market a project such as our own according to its conventions and films similar to it, so it would still remain true to its genre.
Looking Back… What Do You Feel That You Have Learnt?
Generally, whilst filming a project, an exceptional attention to detail is required and obviously as a project becomes more complex: featuring more actors, more camera shots and multiple locations, the level of intricacy and astuteness required increases alongside it. It is also interesting to note that a filmed sequence very rarely turns out exactly as expected even when working closely with the planning material like storyboards et cetera.
Also, the editing stage was a sharp learning curve for the entire group; many of the shots that we recorded were found to be inadequate when they reached the editing stage. The reoccurring issue was that shots did not follow on from one another very well or they didn’t last long enough to be properly comprehended or another shot was required in order to achieve smooth continuity. This was a source of frustration and often slowed production slightly, as we needed to re-shoot certain elements or incorporate new shots that we hadn’t previously thought to be necessary. Also, typical film mistakes were discovered during the editing stage; for example leaving filming equipment in shot.
Also, the editing stage was a sharp learning curve for the entire group; many of the shots that we recorded were found to be inadequate when they reached the editing stage. The reoccurring issue was that shots did not follow on from one another very well or they didn’t last long enough to be properly comprehended or another shot was required in order to achieve smooth continuity. This was a source of frustration and often slowed production slightly, as we needed to re-shoot certain elements or incorporate new shots that we hadn’t previously thought to be necessary. Also, typical film mistakes were discovered during the editing stage; for example leaving filming equipment in shot.
The importance of sound and music was also another interesting element to making the project, getting matching music and appropriate sound can entirely change the nature of a film project and add a professional air to it.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
As our media product is a British crime film it should pose interest in Britain as it of contains aspects of British culture. As we used the taboo language ‘bollocks’ this should be aimed at an older age group. In the con group there are two girls and one boy so our film isn’t gender specific therefore men and woman could both enjoy it. Also the plot of our opening scene is a con, therefore the audience should be able to understand what’s happening. We used aspects from the programme hustle and ideas surrounding Guy Ritchie films so their typical audiences should should show interest towards our film.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
As our film is based around a con we have used ideas from the British programme hustle. They use glamorous ideologies of the criminals therefore we interpreted this and made our cast wear smart clothing such as a shirt and tie. In one of the scenes our cast wear casual clothing to make them seem more personable in the film. In our filming the conners show hints of smiles this is to show they are pleased and unashamed with their work. All the characters are a young adult age group which makes a change from the middle age group usually found in British crime films. The target was a character with a lot of money and comes across nosey and pompous in our clip. With created him with this personality as those with a lot of money are classed as ‘snobs’ which makes him the perfect target for the ‘common’ criminals. We used public places as settings such as a café as these are common places that different classes go to.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?
We had access to a high tech computer which we had never used before and because of this we learnt how to use iMovie and other programmes on them. This helped as we were able use them to develop our skills that we used in order to make our project.
We also learnt how to useiMovie and all of its elements allowing us to upload and edit our project. On iMovie we found out how to do the type of edits we wanted to do and how to make it all look as we wanted our product to.
GarageBand was another feature that we used which is what we produced all of our music on. We were able to choose the different sounds and put it all together to produce the music that we included in our project.
We also learnt in the very beginning how to use the cameras properly in order to get our desired effect and it allowed us to experiment with different angles and shots.
GarageBand was another feature that we used which is what we produced all of our music on. We were able to choose the different sounds and put it all together to produce the music that we included in our project.
We also learnt in the very beginning how to use the cameras properly in order to get our desired effect and it allowed us to experiment with different angles and shots.
In What ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
As our media product was a British crime film’s opening scene, we watched a range of different crime movies from not only Britain but America as well. We were able to point out the similarities and differences between them and we decided that the majority of our opening scene would incorporate the typical British crime film features.
Our media product uses conventions of other real crime films as it includes many different elements that we saw in a range of crime films that we looked at. We used the voice over for our product which is a common feature in crime films, especially the Guy Richie film “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”, as it is makes the voice seem like it has control over what crime is being shown. We had the person who organized the con in our opening scene as the voice over as she is the one who had come up with the con and therefore has more power. However, in real media products, the voiceover is typically male with a strong accent, we used a female in order to challenge the stereotype that comes with real crime films which tend to include little or no women in the crimes let alone organizing cons. In the group of the conners there are two girls and only one boy which also differs from other crime films.
In almost every crime film we saw, the incentive for the crimes was money, with the criminals wanting to get rich and to do that they need someone wealthy to get the money off. In our media project, we had all of them working together in order to con a wealthy man. Usually in crime films though, there are many more people involved and the wealthy person would have people surrounding them and working for them. We decided not to use that in our opening scene as it would complicate it too much and we thought it may confuse our audience.
In the British TV series “Hustle”, they used a range of different camera angles. We used a medium close up that is used in the series when the conner and the person being conned are striking deal to show that it is an important part of plan. We also made sure that the camera angle showed the conner when the ring is found and valued to show that he is paying attention, like in “Hustle”. The men in “Hustle”, and in many of the other crime films we watched, all wear smart suits and look wealthy whereas the women in the opening scene wear casual clothing. We used this as the con-artists look more like the characters they are pretending to be.
The majority of the projects made by other students in our group centered around drugs and violence, we tried to create a more original storyline for our movie opening.
Our media product uses conventions of other real crime films as it includes many different elements that we saw in a range of crime films that we looked at. We used the voice over for our product which is a common feature in crime films, especially the Guy Richie film “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”, as it is makes the voice seem like it has control over what crime is being shown. We had the person who organized the con in our opening scene as the voice over as she is the one who had come up with the con and therefore has more power. However, in real media products, the voiceover is typically male with a strong accent, we used a female in order to challenge the stereotype that comes with real crime films which tend to include little or no women in the crimes let alone organizing cons. In the group of the conners there are two girls and only one boy which also differs from other crime films.
In almost every crime film we saw, the incentive for the crimes was money, with the criminals wanting to get rich and to do that they need someone wealthy to get the money off. In our media project, we had all of them working together in order to con a wealthy man. Usually in crime films though, there are many more people involved and the wealthy person would have people surrounding them and working for them. We decided not to use that in our opening scene as it would complicate it too much and we thought it may confuse our audience.
In the British TV series “Hustle”, they used a range of different camera angles. We used a medium close up that is used in the series when the conner and the person being conned are striking deal to show that it is an important part of plan. We also made sure that the camera angle showed the conner when the ring is found and valued to show that he is paying attention, like in “Hustle”. The men in “Hustle”, and in many of the other crime films we watched, all wear smart suits and look wealthy whereas the women in the opening scene wear casual clothing. We used this as the con-artists look more like the characters they are pretending to be.
The majority of the projects made by other students in our group centered around drugs and violence, we tried to create a more original storyline for our movie opening.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We wanted to keep our opening scene believable and we did this by using a fairly straightforward con in the beginning. We wanted the audience to question what is going on and feel intrigued enough by “the plan” that is talked about in the beginning to keep watching. The answer isn’t really clear until the con starts and by using a con, you have to wait a while to find out what the con is and how it all fits together until the end thus ensuring that our audience is not bored and is interested in what is happening.
We used a range of different camera shots and angles to entice audience. We didn’t overdo the camera shots as we thought that the audience would get confused easily due to the rapid change of the camera.
In our crime film opening, we had music that would attract to our audience and it changes throughout our opening. We tried to keep it to sound ‘old school’ British crime instead of using modern music. We used local settings such as a café where people would go everyday. This is to seem more realistic and the audience can relate to the characters/film.
We used characters of a young adult age with might attract more of an audience such as the same age group. As the audiences recognises that there is a small con at the start this will eventually lead to a bigger one throughout the film but the opening scene shows what the characters can do and then the audience then has an understanding.
We used a range of different camera shots and angles to entice audience. We didn’t overdo the camera shots as we thought that the audience would get confused easily due to the rapid change of the camera.
In our crime film opening, we had music that would attract to our audience and it changes throughout our opening. We tried to keep it to sound ‘old school’ British crime instead of using modern music. We used local settings such as a café where people would go everyday. This is to seem more realistic and the audience can relate to the characters/film.
We used characters of a young adult age with might attract more of an audience such as the same age group. As the audiences recognises that there is a small con at the start this will eventually lead to a bigger one throughout the film but the opening scene shows what the characters can do and then the audience then has an understanding.
