MEST 2: BRIEF

1st prioritised topic:

Foreseen - Urban Life, genre -  Casual man who has been affiliated with gang members in the past, and suddenly one day mercenaries sent and are from the gang are sent to kill him without discretion. Every opportunity to killing him is seized and potentially exposed by the public crowd. In his previous history, he has done wrong to notorious and powerful gangs, and now his family is at stake. Knowing his wanted status among killers, he aims to remain anonymous in public and seeks help from family, friends and the police. 

Group: Darnell, Lele

  

Preliminary exercise evaluation:

While working in a group, our initial thoughts of a film that includes exchanging dialogues and sitting on a chair opposite of another character would easily spring to mind of an interrogation plot film, and that's exactly the idea we went with. Our brief plot consists of a company scientist that is minding his own business, but what we don't know is that his past history has affiliations with gang members, and it has ultimately caused a stir. 

Regarding the criteria, dialogue obviously didn't have anything specific to be aimed towards, so the script was an easy area to work on. However the shotlist and storyboard came in more useful as it helped organize and break each scene into detailed segments. 

My role in the group was to plan out the shotlist and edit the film. Our strengths in our film I think was the lighting - using a darkly lit room for a silhouette effect was very conventional and fitting for a mysterious interrogator. More conveniently was also the well ventilated area, allowing no static or any other disturbances of sounds that a microphone can easily pick up. Shots wise, we came up with a number of different camera angles, from side, to front, to back. We also used an over-the-shoulder shot which allowed us to do lots of reverse shots from different angles. Editing wise, non-diegtic sounds of a somewhat happy music that you wouldn't normally associate in an interrogation film was used, just to create a juxtaposition, a sudden strong contrast as a kidnap interrogation is probably not what the audience were expecting. The colour correction used was also supporting this effect as it was very bright in the beginning, but once the kidnap scene had started a very dark, greenish colour would be instead applied. Effects such as the shakes and distortions made were used to suture the audience while viewing a POV shot to ultimately make as if the audience was the victim himself. In addition too, the dialogue sounds were modified to create a more muffled and deep sound in order to again, make it more mysterious for the antagonist. We were also able to wrap up the production in a very short amount of time - about 45 minutes to record and 30 mins to edit, however the short time did kind of reflect its finished quality.

Our weaknesses as said shortly before were primarily from lack of organisation and communication it seems. People were needed in inconvenient times and this ultimately forced us to rush the whole production, and also because it underwent during lesson times, some rooms that we initially wanted were in use. I also personally think that the dialogue and acting needed improvement on my behalf as in my eyes it sort of let down the ending and the climax of suspense. Another thing to add while in production is to also not expect literally what you see in the preview playback, a problem we faced was that in the preview, lights were completely in level, not too dark or not too light, but when it actually came to editing the video, it turned out to be way darker and didn't define the silhouette effect much.        

Preliminary exercise evaluation:

preliminary task:

·     -   Medium-long shot from behind of laboratory worker walking

·       - Close-up of peaking kidnapper’s face

·        -Reverse shot, medium shot of laboratory worker walking, again

·        -Medium-close up, camera in front of worker’s face, tracking shot

·        -Low-angled-long shot on kidnapper dragging the worker’s body

·        -Sudden close-up of kidnapped person in a dark room   
      -POV shot of kidnapped person

MEDIA AWARDS HOMEWORK TASK:

My first, favorite Y12 film choice would be 'The Experiment' because I think it covers all elements of film making that we've learnt in AS-Media. 

The short typography that we see in the beginning made the film seem more professional to me, as well as the Channel 4 intro. Editing was also done well, the buzzing tv simulator transition was well fit for the genre of the film, and ultimately complemented it. Continuity editing was also obviously demonstrated, and the montage of the character's childhood and happy memories, combined with the straight cuts to danger (her being chased) I think creates a significant contrast between the two and an overall good effect and use of editing.

Cinematography was also well used. Both variations of panning and tilting of the camera were used appropriately to create suspense and pace. Long-shots were also used effectively to give us an impression of the setting, such as the skyscrapers, denoting that it is a city. POV shots with some shaking were also fit perfectly to make things more realistic, we see this when the character enters her abandoned house. The tracking shot focused on the running was also very well executed, because it maintained and sustained the shaking and stabilized it, with keeping up with the speed which was impressive.

Sounds were also very effective in particular scenes. Non-diegetic and parallel sounds emerged such as eerie music and the narrative coming from the character herself, on top of clips of her being chased. These elements put together have created a building up of pace and suspense. Also to mention the muffled effect applied to the assassin's walkie talkie was great, and sets with the conventions of a murder/kidnapping scene.

The mis-es-scene was also very well fitting. Wearing a tracksuit with a backpack was conventionally right for someone escaping, running away from the murderer/kidnapper.

Overall a really good film, and criteria wise, excellent.    

My second Y12 film choice would be 'Labrat'. I really liked the camera work of close-ups and medium shots of the landscape, that consisted of grass and tree branches. The narrative was also very linear - story was not complicated and was understandable. The mis-en-scene was greatly demonstrated, for example hoodies to connote something anonymous, and the makeup bruises were remarkable too, and again making the film more impressive in the costume department.

Sounds were also parallel to each appropriate clip we see, in the beginning we hear the diegetic sounds of chittering birds during closeups/medium shots of the outside nature landscape. Then non-diegetic music played over each clip that were shown to be the character's encanting of potions, and works well with the cinematography to create a nice aesthetic, and sutures the audience.

Moreover extreme closeups of some sort of gooey, unknown substance used in the character's experiments may rise some enigma codes to whether the things the character is mixing are dangerous or recreational - it questions whether the labrat is a mad scientist.

An overall excellent film, but more impressively exceptional with the cinematic towards the end.

What Makes a Good Practical Production:

I think the main appeal to the audience would be the visual aspect of films, probably because conventionally to a normal viewer, it's all that matters and interests them at first glance. However art house cinema audiences would be the exact opposite - they would look at films more with more knowledge about them, and with a more appreciative understanding of a film maker's work. With this said, generally a good practical production should have: good editing, good story that makes sense, very aesthetically pleasing cinematography, good dialogue, and sound and music - all these factors are really effective in suturing the audience to the film, making them really engaged and interested to follow on. Narratives on the other hand play a bigger part in films, in my opinion. Narratives should always be very interesting, because for example if one scene of it is boring, and it disinterests the viewer, so will the next scenes by assumption (as thought by the viewer), so it is very vital to keep all attention awake. Another more important factor would also be the mis-en-scene. Having a sword fight with a wooden sword and aluminium wrapped around it, or a gun fight with a Nerf toy gun would be ridiculous.     

Media Awards homework task:

My two favorite Y12 productions: