Video production feedback

Title credits are carefully edited using an effective font. The audio is of a pack of cards being dealt and a gunshot and this has been sourced and edited with the title to create meaning.    Text then indicates meaning in the first frame identifying items used in the game. This provides an enigma as the audience is intrigued to find out what the objects mean. An audio track provides further layer of meaning indicating a conversation in the room, diegetic sound. Not supposed to be like that as meant to be a conversation in another room. Leads to confusion. Buzzing sound of a fluorescent light is added to create the ambient sound of the room. The harsh edits are meant because the effect wanted is of an amateur video recording the items.  The narrative moves to the room where the game is taking place and then to a flashback of what the character is discussing and the events that give rise to him arriving at the club.

Ambition is shown in choice of shots. One successful shot is from inside a drawer with appropriate props. There are cuts of shoes from under the bed which are edited to show passage of time.

Shots of the character outside need white balancing, and the shots need to be steady. Use lighting when shots are dark. The audio indicates what is happening but selective editing is needed.

The card game is set up using a good location and the conversation is edited with audio linking shots, sound bridges. Good use of mise-en-scene and a range of shots are used.  The shot of the card turning over are experimental is ambitious but does not quite work as the edit after is too jarring. Another shot attempts to evoke the camera being a bottle. Although ambitious and creative more conventional camerawork would allow the narrative to have clarity. A point of view shot works well. A final shot uses a slow zoom edited with black pace and an industrial soundscape as the character waits for his doom. I advise that the rules need to be learned before they are broke and for this task we are looking for technical skill to be demonstrated.

The narrative remains unclear and re-editing or responding to feedback may allow clarity.  Technical skills are sufficient to allow level 3 as proficiency is shown in editing audio with images with some imagination.

Some focus issues could be addressed, white balancing. 28/40

Final Master Production - A2 Media Short Film - "Snap, Snap, Bang" - Movie

Final Master Production - A2 Media Movie Poster Print Product - "Snap, Snap, Bang" - Poster

Final Master Production - A2 Media Movie Review - "Snap, Snap, Bang" - Double Page Spread

Task 13 - Evaluation Question: 1 - In what ways does your media products use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The Script:
In my A2 Advanced Portfolio, specifically on my blog, I uploaded several posts discussing the ideas to implement a specific scene from Gia Coppola's “Palo Alto” (2013). In seeing the Coming of Age style movie, the monologue of the character Fred around the topic of a girl who tends to get too drunk and promiscuous at parties gave me great influence for the 1-2 minute opening flashback, for the character of Contestant 2.

Personally, what I felt Coppola achieved in Palo Alto was the juxtaposition of the dialogue, demeaning this girl, against the on-screen visuals of her being on a swing-set and playing in the garden. Comparatively, in my production Snap, Snap, Bang, I feel as though the ominous presence of the “Club” is dauntingly built towards; as the character of Contestant 2 hopelessly walks around a graveyard, late at night.

In my research stages of my A2, I looked in Lady Gaga and specifically her videos: Paparazzi (2008), Bad Romance (2009) and Born This Way (2011). Initially, it didn’t seem possible to tie the music industry hypocrisy and prejudice into either my AS or A2 but the subtle allusions to a higher or Supernatural power, were incorporated in both the Demonic Antagonist in my AS, and again in my A2 with the looming feel of the Club and what it represented in my 5 minute short film.

A fair amount of research was dedicated to the understanding of B movies, such as Sharknado (2013) or Birdemic (2010). Focusing on Asylum Studios for my A2 blog which I wrote various essays on surrounding how I wanted to create an authentic, cheap, B-movie feel to my thriller-flick and not have it appear to be cheesy or untrue to the convention.

In creating my first few drafts for my A2 script, I had a particular shot in my mind and drafted out on paper. The shot would essentially consist of following Contestant 2 going down the steps, down through the layers of concrete and underground tunnels, portraying both his journey to the “Club” and the passage of time. This idea spawned form what I believed came from Carter Smith’s The Ruins (2008), leaving the shot of the Amazonian party life and tracking down to a woman screaming and crying inside an underground bunker. Despite the imagery haunting me when I felt saw it, I could not specifically source where the scene came from and it proved to be too aspiration within eh time constraints; and so was scrapped.

My main goals in creating an authentic “underground club” was to ensure it sounded and felt like a real underground bunker. In doing so, I sourced footage onto my blog from David Fincher’s Fight Club (1999). The saw I embedded was the character of Tyler Durden first establishing the rules of Fight Club. Taking influence from the décor, I also sourced sound effects that felt like echoes – thus enlarging the room audibly. I went as far as to spray olive oil mixed with water onto the walls to create the feeling of damp on the walls – an idea which spawned from the production of The Ruins to simulate sweat.

 The emotional anchor and protagonist Contestant 2 in Snap, was designed based on the research I conducted through my target research. The decision here was to not only create a sense of familiarity between the audience and the character but to allow for easier emotional connection. The familiarities in characteristics also allowed for some believably in the choices to which the Contestant 2 made, further adding believability and making the character less of a blank slate. 

Task 13 - Evaluation Question: 2 - How effective is the combination of your main product and and ancillary texts?

The Script: 

The idea to base my protagonist’s characteristics off of my target research was conceived early on in production. Suitable to movie theory, any audience of any genre will feel more emotional and attachment to character’s if they can natural project themselves onto that character. Sensationally having my protagonist be my audience made this subconscious process very easy. Through the character’s MES and on-screen decisions, after audience watches the film, they will see that the protagonists are featured to be very isolated and alone through their journey of the Short. This is presented simply and clearly in the movie poster. 

 In creating my movie poster I took influence from a movie from 2013 called Black Mask; in which a young girl is possessed by a demon and seeks to terrorise her family. The image keeps the poster simple and coherent with drawing the audience into a central image, to which I have achieved with my character of Contestant 2. In being a short film also, it was suitable to not overwhelm the poster with information about production companies, distribution credits of such, simply the title, the actors and the title of the movie – in which I believed I reached a similar approach to the minimalist style of editing on my poster.

Having the protagonist centre frame not only naturally draws the audience’s eyes to the character, but it also emphasise the empty space between the character and the border of the poster. What I have conveyed through various shots in my short is the concept of Absence, and subsequently having characters either fill or leave the shot; thus creating or diminishing absence. 

Across my Movie Review Article print product, the colour red is simply used to connote violence and blood – both suitable to the Thriller genre. However in choosing to tint my Short in complete black and white showing no red throughout the entire film, I wanted to convey a sense that although this Thriller has violent themes it doesn’t explicitly show the violence to which it alludes to.  Thus allowing the audience to associate the colour and conventional connotations of violence in Thriller to my product. As I have stated various times on my Blog, during the pre-production stages I wanted to leave the final Act very much up to the interpretation of the viewer – allowing their own imagination to decide on an ending for the character of Contestant 2. This envisioned ending can be completely filled with red, staying true to a Thriller ending in which the antagonist subsequently gets the big payoff; or there could be no red, in which the protagonist narrowly escapes the ordeal and has grown from it, completely their character arc.

In taking great inspiration of colour schemes from movies such as Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson), or even Her (Spike Jonze)  it became important to me that the colours and MES evoke certain psychological feelings among audience members. As referenced earlier, the Red was used in my print products but was absent from my main product – thus conveying violent themes to audience members who see my print products; to which the idea of violent themes lingers in their mind and the anticipation of the violent acts renders them in suspense of the imagery on screen.

The style of clothing for both my lead characters in Snap both connote the Thriller genre. In the protagonists wearing a grey hoodie, it suggests the stock character of the Underdog or even the down on his luck character. This character type further being suitable to attach emotion to as it is established early on that the character is a lonely person. This same feeling is expressed through my Poster again in being central of the poster and on his own.

In choosing to use a Sony HD camera to take the photos, as oppose to a professional camera, for both the poster and the movie review article, it adds authenticity to the feel of how a short film should look throughout all ancillary texts. I felt it important to emphasise these points as it helps aid the narrative, the premise and overall believability of what is possible of these characters. For example, the movie review article does exhibit a little about what “The Club” does, further expressing words from the director about how the idea came to fruition. However most of the audience’s expectation and thoughts about “The club” come from the perspective of Contestant 2. However it emphasising these points on the Product being a short film, the audience is less expletive of a clearly developed and laid out a plot for them to be able to follow. This allows me to create certain ambiguities throughout and leaps in character development – for the purpose of progressing the story, without jeopardising the integrity of how a Short film should be presented and structured. 

Task 13 - Evaluation Question: 3 - What have you leaned from your audience feedback?

The Script:

How I received Feedback?
After publishing my first draft of my A2 short on Blogger, I received feedback immediately from fellow classmates and tutors. Each student would publish their draft to the Media YouTube channel, and in turn, each student would have their Media product watched and reviewed on. Each student would then give themselves open-ended questions to ask fellow students. For example, a few of mine were; What is the narrative? Are there any major issues with editing? or Do you understand the basic premise of "The Game"?

What did I learn from my feedback?
By the end of November, I had over 35 Blog posts showing my overall progression. The November feedback was more tutor based, the key points for feedback being; too confusing and not cohesive enough of a story. In an attempt to rework the editing process as to why it was fragmented in pace, I did come to realise that the overall narrative and premise was confusing too.

Towards the end of September I received feedback on my initial pitch for my A2 product; which was initially going to be a documentary looking at the harmful effects of viral challenges on teenagers. However I was encouraged to follow where my early efforts had been put into, which was creating a short 5 minute movie. I was further encouraged to keep up to date on where I was in production, thus showing clearly on my Blog my "creative journey". In total completing around 45 Blog Post by the end of my A2 Product. In being too late to rework the premise as this would further affect my ancillary texts, I recorded some scenes from my first initial draft which outlined clearly how "The Club" works . I was cautious of including this exhibitions into my short as I wanted to make it overly ambiguous - keeping to Thriller convention. However, this dialogue was very much needed and so it was edited into the final cut of the Short.

The Link: https://prezi.com/lwypwpfczhhl/evaluation-question-3-/