Liam Brady 12MHI

AS Media Final Production Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

As our selected genre was a hybrid of spy and action films, we divulged into both of those genres by viewing film openings relating to them. After watching the selected openings, we imagined how we were going to implement these two genres into

one that still represents both the qualities of spy and action films respectively.The film openings we watched were The Other Guys, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Despite The Other Guys being a comedy, it still represented many qualities of action films – such as car chases, gunshots, stunts etc. This effectively helped us have a contrast on how action can be conveyed in films, with the latter productions (Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace)

being arguably more serious and featuring more hands-on action like punches, kicks, assassinating etc.Having that contrast of how action can be implemented was vital to our research, allowing us to be open-minded and be aware that some action can be slapstick, tongue in cheek or generally gritty and crucial. And with our production being spy-action, we

had to ensure it was serious. So viewing these specific openings were undeniably prevalent in guiding us to the right path.The opening sequences we viewed didn’t just offer a contrast on action, but also, metaphorically speaking, an album of action moves/motions. Watching these openings filled our knowledge with a flurry of action moves, so when the occasion arrived to film our own, we had a variety to choose from. The likes of combat moves such as punching, kicking and stealth-orientated

actions like neck snapping, suffocating etc. were all apparent and contributed to the variety we had. Watching the real media products did help us significantly with our opening, as we decided to use a neck-snapping scene, which is elaborated on further

in the next slide.

The neck snap from AGENT ZERO.. Casino Royale Quantum of Solace

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

- CONTINUED – Moving on from the action and how it contributed, the spy aspect was also pivotal to the final production. This time the focus was on the latter film openings, Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. We had already covered the action component, but we needed to cover another fundamental part – the plot.Having the films about spies/agents, our production related heavily to these, and therefore would help effectively to the final production. The plot aspect is undeniably one of the crucial parts of a film opening, as it helps the audience gain some sort of understanding about the film no matter how deceiving it may appear. Knowing how important it is, we ensured we viewed the openings with great detail, so we could extract as much information as possible.From watching both the openings, we realised inevitably the plot contained an amount of death and combat – something our opening would have in some quantity. Watching scenes like James Bond brutally killing his enemy in Casino Royale (3:19-3:50) really gave a feeling of grit and ruthlessness to our viewing, and also showed a plot component in the form of Bond’s vengeance. This is something we were passionate to emulate in ours, and in order to replicate the grit and power that scene had, we included Agent Zero snapping the guard’s neck (0:43—0:47) which showed a brutal edge to Agent Zero’s character plus the grit of executing an enemy with no mercy whatsoever.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

- CONTINUED -

Other than death and combat, we gathered that the products we watched (mostly Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) contained several technical aspects which are crucial when producing these projects. We witnessed a lot of close camera shots and angles which were exclusive to the viewing in these openings, like close-ups, extreme close-ups, low angles and many more. Elaborating on how they were ‘exclusive’ to the viewing, these shots/angles are very close to the action in the scene, and don’t provide much distance from the

viewer to the subject on camera. Also the camera angles mentioned give an unorthodox experience to the viewer, allowing them views on the action they’d be unable to have personally. These certain shots and angles make a unique predicament for the recipients, and fail to

restrict them from anything being offered – resulting in a surreal experience which can excite and please the people watching.With these being a strong foundation of the production, we used these technical aspects in our opening so it did match the real media

products we witnessed. However, we did challenge the genre in a way that would give our production creativity and unique quality. And that was to give our protagonist obsessive compulsive disorder, resulting in a highly raw idea of a character in which the OCD would be a

burden on him and his job. We of course intensified the OCD aspect in the opening by providing close camera shots and revealing camera angles on Agent Zero cleaning his hands with hand sanitizer.

The real media products also revealed other conventions available to extract and analyse, like music, props, setting etc. However we had already planned in advance the music, props and setting so we were confident on those matters.

To conclude - watching the openings we selected provided a lot of help and guidance for us, which in a positive manner, would influence how well we produced our opening. It is safe to say that extracting and divulging into the action, plot and technical aspects the three

openings offered stood us in good stead. (Pictures of the camera shots and angles relating to our opening and other products are available to view on the next slide, and

references of the things mentioned are below this text.)

REFERENCES Filmography - The Other Guys (2010) - Adam McKay - Casino Royale (2006) - Martin Campbell - Quantum of Solace (2008) - Marc Forster

Websites – Action Films – AGENT ZERO – Film Opening – Obsessive Compulsive DisorderBibliography – N/A

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

EXTERNAL IMAGES

The OCD aspect intensified via close camera shots and revealing camera angles in AGENT ZERO.

Close shots used to give an exclusive view. (Collectively from Casino Royale and AGENT ZERO.)

How does your media product present particular social groups?From watching our film opening, the product clearly shows two social groups with significant contrast from one another.The first social group is represented in the form of a rather youthful, clean cut, formal male. The male (played by Jordan Harrison) is a secret agent who has solely focused his time on his arch enemy, and intends to find and kill him. Being a secret agent, he can be potentially deceiving – so inferences from his appearance may not be correct or accurate. However, the male’s attire is predominantly black, consisting of a black coat, a black pair of trousers, black shoes and a white suit shirt with a neatly done tie. In terms of dialogue in the opening sequence, there is no communication exchanged. This results in no possible way to gain an understanding of the male’s age from his voice, as how he speaks could suggest his maturity. The male could have an adult’s deep voice, or a generally high pitch child’s voice. In fact the only way to get some sort of clarification of his age is from his facial appearance, which is that of a young adult – no facial hair or wrinkles. Having this uncertainty reiterates just how deceiving this character is, which opens a lot of doors to assumptions of what type of person he is. All these aspects of the male can lead people who don’t know him personally to be arguably intimidated or sceptical of him, as he doesn’t reveal too much emotion or expression. Just a stern face. This concludes that this male stereotypically represents a social group of a secretive, isolated young male who has potential problems in his past which leads to him trusting nobody or showing his emotions. This person however does seem to be sophisticated and important, which is suggested by his formal clothing. The male’s clothing also finally suggests that his job is important, as low-key clothing gives a hint of seriousness, plus a dark personality due to his ability to snap an enemy’s neck with true conviction.

How does your media product present particular social groups?As for the other social group presented in our film opening, the product shows another male with different characteristics.The other social group shown is a laid back, informal, casual-dressed young male. This other male (played by Daniel Faithful) is a thug who is hired as a guard for Agent Zero’s nemesis, and performs the ‘dirty work’ (fighting, killing etc. when ordered) to make ends meet financially. The guard is a smoker, and is seen spending his downtime smoking a cigarette which can potentially stereotype him as scruffy or dirty as smoking can be deemed unhygienic. He can also be stereotyped as informal or in a lower class than other people (richer, wealthier people) – hence his job isn’t the most prettiest or safe. The guard’s type of dress consists of dark attire, with a black wool hat, black casual jacket, grey trousers and dark trainers which is informal as opposed to Agent Zero. The choice of colour, which is low-key, also reiterates this person’s dark, unfriendly character of being a thug/guard which inevitably brings violence.Once again, this individual doesn’t speak or be involved in dialogue during the opening, most likely because he gets killed by Agent Zero. The uncertainty of this person’s character crops up again, as the inability to hear him speak (like the first social group) gives a sense of mystery to the viewers. It can also imply the lack of importance of the person, as he is just one of Agent Zero’s enemy’s guards, and not someone significant. Which is why his presence in the film doesn’t stay for long, and the fact he is desperate for money and is willing to take on an illegal job.To conclude – this male is a stereotype of a social group that consists of criminals, thugs and hooded gang members that perform illegal acts to earn money. These individuals are mostly intimidating to society and are the least successful in life which results in them being tied up in crime or the wrong situations.

How does your media product present particular social groups?

REFERENCES(To state, some information documented derives from my own knowledge.)

Filmography – N/A

Websites – Secret Agents – Thugs/Henchmen

Bibliography – N/A

What kind of media institution might distribute your product and why?A media institution is an organisation that is responsible for the production, marketing, distribution and regulation of media products. Institutions are pivotal in ensuring the media product is able to be established to a good extent, with funds, publicity, promotion etc. provided by the help of the institution.

If we were to choose an institution for our product, it would be in the name of Paramount Pictures. Paramount produces/distributes both film and television products, and has a stable position in terms of being ranked as one of the top-grossing movie studios. They are also part of American media conglomerate, an institution that owns many companies in mass media, Viacom.Paramount is the fifth oldest existing film studio in the world, and holds a lot of heritage, which is a positive for media products distributed by them as they are well known and highly regarded in the world of media. They’re also a member of the MPAA, the Motion Picture Association of America, which would persuade people who aren’t aware of Paramount that they are in fact well established. Paramount also celebrated their 100th anniversary in 2012, a statement that reiterates just how important they are in the film and movie industry.As of 2011, Paramount recorded a revenue of $1.2 billion, and an operating income of $300 million. In Sterling (British Pound), this would amount to £791.4 million and £197.85 million respectively. These figures shown reinforce the fact that Paramount could support us financially and help us produce our product to a great quality without any restrictions.Since 2010, Paramount Pictures’ films have consisted of many action titles, such as Iron Man 2, Thor, Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol etc. Having these titles being part of Paramount shows that our production would fit perfectly within the institution, and would be of the type they regularly distribute. So to conclude, Paramount Pictures would be the best institution for our product. Reason being, they’re highly regarded, very popular, financially positive and they release similar products to ours.

REFERENCES(Some content derives from personal knowledge.)

Filmography – Iron Man 2 (2010) – Jon Favreau Thor (2011) – Kenneth Branagh

M.I – G.P (2011) – Brad Bird

Websites – Paramount Pictures – Viacom - MPAA

Bibliography – N/A

Who would be the audience for your product?In terms of our target audience for our media product, our film’s age certificate is 15+ – which inevitably means our target audience is from young adults to mature adults (15-25). The age is selected due to violence in the opening and throughout the film, something which isn’t suitable for younger years. The violence and action in this film is more serious and real, which is better for people of 15+ as they can handle the experience without being affected as opposed to a younger person witnessing bad predicaments like violence. Having the film younger would also prevent the action from being more gritty and powerful, something our film desired to have.

Also, people aged 15+ tend to enjoy action films a lot, which is part of our genre (spy-action). The action involved in the film varies from intense, fast-paced scenes like combat, execution etc., which tends to generally enthral and excite the viewer due to the wild nature of the scene they’re watching.

Another reason our film is certificate 15+, is that action films of this age preference (and higher) can be very successful financially and also highly acclaimed. Films like Looper and The Expendables are both rated 15+, and in the box office earned $166.5 million & $274 million respectively from a considerably low budget compared to other films. However, despite earning $274 million in the box office, The Expendables was generally given a low rating. Sites like IMDb gave the film a 6.5/10 rating, which is arguably low. This shows that these types of films are popular as an action title can be given a bad rating but still receive a good return in the box office, because action films can entice people to see them based on positive past experiences of similar productions.

Concluding on this, we aim to create a product that is preferred by the more mature audience, as having an older audience allows us to fulfil our desire of creating a gritty, serious and electrifying action title with not many restrictions.

REFERENCES(Some content derives from personal knowledge.)

Filmography – Looper (2012) – Rian Johnson

The Expendables (2010) – Sylvester Stallone

Websites – British Board of Film ClassificationIMDb

Bibliography – N/A

How did you attract/address your audience?In order to attract our audience, we felt having gritty, serious action and a unique character type in the form of an agent with OCD would be the catalyst to that. As mentioned before, with our audience being 15+, we were granted the ability to project critical, real and enthralling action. This action was in the form of neck-snapping with true conviction, execution, hands-on combat, pursuit and high quantity of adrenaline. All these aspects compiled together will make a viewing experience that people will remember, as it is exciting, powerful and gets them on the edge of their seat with surprise. What the audience will see, will make them want to see more.

Elaborating on the unique character type, which was the secret agent suffering from OCD, we felt this was very unique and unorthodox. Being a secret agent in a film, this inevitably involves combat – which suggests it isn’t a clean job with the likes of blood possibly spilling on his attire. The OCD aspect can intrigue viewers, as they will anticipate how the character will cope with it hindering his objective and whether or not his mission will falter due to it. They will also be clueless as to whether the character will react badly to dirt, and whether he may have to pause his pursuit to calm his urge of being clean. This situation will cause the viewers to ask a lot of questions and bring uncertainty to them too, making them unaware of what to expect and resulting in them being fully engaged to find out.

Finally, we believe our unique character type and realistic action will attract the audience, and conclude with pleasing them after watching the film. Also, if we were to create a trailer of our film, the qualities of the production would shine brightly and persuade people to watch it.

REFERENCES(Some content derives from personal knowledge.)

Filmography – N/A

Websites – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Bibliography – N/A

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?To ensure we created our product to a high quality and extent, we had to have high-end facilities and equipment at our disposal to execute it properly.We as a group had the privilege of having access to state-of-the-art technology, highly professional software and powerful hardware. During the production of this product we used a high definition video camera, a durable tripod and an Apple iMac loaded with professional editing software (Final Cut Express) which would cost thousands of pounds to buy. These facts and figures just show how much quality we had at our fingertips to establish our product professionally.

Exactly what we used, and how we learnt during the use of them, are mentioned below;

• HD (High definition) Video Camera – Using a device like this allowed us to shoot our scenes with extreme clarity, which ensured a good viewing experience of the action. Personally I am aware of how to use technology like this, but for someone learning, the camera was very user-friendly and doesn’t provide much trouble to function.

• Professional Tripod – The tripod is an attachment which enables the camera to shoot/record with stability, and is attached to the bottom of the camera. The tripod we used had three legs, all of which were adjustable in height to allow different shots to be made. The tripod was very durable and professional, enabling shots that excluded shaking and allowed a professional and smooth shot to be made. Having past experience of tripods, I was fine and comfortable using it. However, the tripod is user-friendly too – which gives beginners an opportunity to use it properly with ease.

• Apple iMac with Software – The Apple iMac is an all-in-one desktop computer, enabling users to have a professional experience with its array of features. We had the opportunity of using professional software on the iMac, which were Final Cut Express and Garageband. Final Cut Express allowed us to publish a professional looking production, with great editing features and quality overall. The quality of Final Cut Express is known widely, with many movie makers and television producers using it for their products. Garageband was also a great experience, a music producing software that let us create high quality music for our production without the worry of copyright infringement. Once again, Garageband is a widely popular piece of software used by many. Using these pieces of software were fine personally, as I have experience, but tutorials were needed for some departments as my skills weren’t fully developed. Final Cut and Garageband are inevitably difficult to use, and beginners will be able to use it comfortably with revision of how to use it and tutorials on the internet. The other piece of software we used was Edublogs, a blogging software which allowed us to publish our media work online. The software is very easy to use, and will unlikely cause confusion or problems.

Overall, we were grateful for the quality of equipment we had at hand. All of the equipment used made our production become what it did, and were undeniably vital. We did need some tutorials to polish our skills, but afterwards the process ran smoothly.

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

REFERENCES(To state, some information documented derives from my own knowledge.)

Filmography – N/A

Websites – High Definition – Tripod – Apple iMac – Final Cut – Garageband - Edublogs

Bibliography – N/A

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

Reflecting on our preliminary task, it allowed us to put our research into practice with a piece of media that emulated the vital editing, camera shots and angles needed to make a successful production. For the preliminary task, there were many components to that had to be researched before attempting to record. In terms of research, we had to revise the likes of continuity editing, the 180 degree rule, the shot/reverse shot, the match on action shot and many more.

Full information on the preliminary research can be found on my blog piece here: http://mediablogs.keshacademy.com/liamasmedia/2012/11/01/pleliminary-research

/

To go into a preliminary task without research would’ve been completely naïve, and would inevitably result in a fail or a very poor grade. When researching we had to ensure everything was looked into thoroughly, so we gained a good understanding and could perform the preliminary task to a good extent. From where we were to now, it’s true to say that research was vital and we progressed magnificently to create a preliminary task that was to a suitable quality.

Our group’s preliminary task can be found here:

Without music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_-stR5FLDcWith music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb0S2NWL7Jo

In terms of learning, we haven’t just learned productively from the preliminary task, but from the whole process of the final product too. The process of pre-production, filming, editing and finalising made us learn a lot not just about the equipment and how to use it, but just how difficult and crucial it is when creating a media product like a film opening. It’s safe to say our skills have progressed and improved greatly from the experience of the preliminary and film opening The whole experience has also gifted us confidence to make many more media products with the knowledge to do so.

REFERENCES(Some content derives from personal knowledge.)

Filmography – N/A

Websites – Preliminary Research

Preliminary Task (without Music)Preliminary Task (with Music)

Bibliography – N/A

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

PRELIMINARY PICTURES

A shot/reverse shot in our preliminary task.

The 180 degree rule and how it was situated in our preliminary task. (bird’s eye view of the scene)

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

PRELIMINARY PICTURES

A collection of camera shots and angles from our preliminary task.