Evaluation

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of media products?
We have tried to incorporate generic conventions of a comedy film. One convention of a comedy film is that a lot of the humour has got to come from the main character, just take films such as Bean, Step Brothers and hangover for example. In our film, the main charcter is a bit of a waster that doesn't do anything with his life apart from go out with his mates trying to have a good time. We have tried to emphasise the character's traits in the opening of our film, we have done this by showing him in bed surrounded by beer bottles.

When Jim wakes up and makes his way downstairs he straight away lays down on the sofa and starts watching t.v and later starts playing a games console. This also emphasises his laziness as he as only just got out of bed and he is already laying back down. We took influence from Step brothers for this idea.




We have also emphasised this by making Jim's brother, Craig, total opposite of Jim. The film cuts from Jim, in bed, to Craig who is getting ready for college. Both brothers in our film are total opposites but in the film Step brothers they are very alike, we have tried to challenge and develop the generic conventions here.
In my opinion, the conventions that we have used are very similar to conventions in other comedy films and you can definitely tell that we have taken influence from films such as Step brothers, School of rock and Superbad.



We got the idea of having two brothers in our film from Step brothers. Both brothers in our film are totally different and this creates an element of humour. We took influence from Superbad for the scene in the solicitors office where the solicitor is reading the 'lads mag'. In our film something good happens to someone who is pretending to be someone else like Jack Black's character in School of rock.



The music we used is upbeat and has a light hearted feel to it. This also follows the generic conventions of a comedy film.

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our film represents working class teenagers that haven't got a job and don't go to college. There are a lot of teenagers that have finished college and don't go to work, in our film we have exaggerated the stereotype that students are always going out drinking and they don't do anything in their lives. I would say that the main character has been represented in a stereotypical way. I think that teenagers would be more likely to go and watch this film as it is representing their social group.



3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think our film would suit a distribution company like Warp films. It is a British comedy film and Warp have been successful in distributing British comedies such as Four lions.



The main reason why i think it should be distributed by a low budget institution is it doesn't have a big enough target audience. I think the film could be released in to cinema and it would be suitable to release on DVD. Our film would not have the same opportunities for merchandising as a big hollywood film such as Batman or Harry Potter but i think there is the odd thing that would sell. The poster above Jim's bed could be sold as merchandising as this gives the audience the opportunity to style their bedroom like Jim's.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience of our film would be 15-30 year olds as the characters in the film are of the same age. Males would be attracted more to the film as the characters are mainly male although females would still be likely to watch the film. Our film is similar to step brothers so we would expect a similar audience. The style of comedy in step brothers is immature and this may be the reason why it doesn't attract the older audience. We did some research in to the audience of our film before we started filming. Here it is, below.

The people we interviewed were all aged between 17-19 which is the audience for our film. We got a wide range of results but one that came up more than once was that they liked slapstick comedies. This is an immature style of comedy which is the same as the film Step brothers, which we took influence from. I think that our film should be classified a 15 because the storyline would not be suitable for anyone under the age of 15.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/

5. How did you attract/address your audience?
Our film would be classified as a 15 because anyone below this age would struggle to follow the storyline. Our film is about a 17 and a 19 year old so we would expect teenage audiences because they can relate to the lives, personalities and traits of the characters as they may know someone like the characters or they may be like the characters themselves. I think this would appeal to the audience. Most of the shots in the film have been shot at eye level so you can see the expressions on the faces of the characters. At one point in the opening sequence the camera is looking over the shoulder of the solicitor as he reads an adults magazine. With the camera in this position you can see what the solicitor is seeing although it is not a point of view shot.

The audience can now see what the solicitor is reading, this tells the audience that he is not very professional in his job, it also makes the audience think that Jim will get away with pretending to be Craig to claim the money.

6. What have you learnt about technologyfrom the process of constructing the product?
I have always been a big film fan but i had no previous knowledge on how to use a camera or even set up a tripod. Once i got used to using this equipment i found it simple enough. Before we went out and started filming we had some lessons in class on how to set up white balance so you got a natural light. We also went over a few rules such as 180 degree line.
We encounted a few problems that we managed to resolve. We had a few problems with the lighting in some shots that we managed to sort out by just refilming and adjusting the light.
When it came to editing our film we used final cut express. We edited our film on a few occaisions using this programme, one thing we did was apply the dip to colour dissolve effect after the title sequence. This faded the colour between the titles and the film. One of the scenes in our film is a telephone call between the solicitor and Jim. We applied the high pass filter which made the voices sound like they were coming down the phone when they were not been shown in shot, i was impressed at how well this turned out. Another thing we had to change about the audio was the volume of peoples voices as they were inconsistent. This was easily done, i was very impressed by Final cut express.
We also used Mozilla Firefox for research, youtube to upload our video and blogger to present our work.

7.Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full project?
When it came down to planning our film, the first thing we needed to decide on was what the genre was going to be. As a group we decided that we was going to do a comedy for two main reasons, one being that we all enjoy comedy films and the other being that it was something different from the other groups. We then needed a storyline, we knew that our film would not be exactly the same as our first idea but at least it would give us a path to follow. We took inspiration from films such as Step brother, The secret of my success and School of rock when deciding on a storyline. Once we had an idea for our story, we put it in to a storyboard. This helped us decide what shots we needed to capture and also what order to edit them in. When it came to filming the storyboard was used a lot, it made the process go a lot smoother.
When planning what shots we were going to include, we, as a group, decided that we were going to include some match on action shots as we wanted our film to stand out from the other group's. I feel that since our preliminary task, we have improved massively. We are now a lot more comfortable with the camera and we are a lot more confident when trying new ideas such as match on action. If you compare our preliminary task with our final film you will see a huge contrast in the quality of lighting, sound, camera work, mise en scene etc.
I feel that our finished film has fulfilled the task well enough. As a group we would have liked to have more time so we could film more shots as a few of the shots don't flow as well as we would have hoped but overall i am really pleased with our final film.

Thank You Uncle Norman

The finished film.

Analysis of a Film Opening (The Hangover)

The Hangover is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips. It stars Bradley Cooper , Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Justin Bartha and Jeffrey Tambor and was produced by Legendary Pictures on a budget of thirty-five million dollars. The plot follows four friends who travel to Las Vegas for a bachelor party, only to wake up the next morning not remembering a thing and missing the groom, whose wedding is scheduled to occur the next day.

The film starts with a medium shot of a woman lifting a bunch of flowers out of a van, the camera is focused on the flowers. There are titles on every shot at the start of the film. The text is in an italic font and has a romantic look to it. This shot then fades into the next shot which is a close up of a wedding cake, the camera is slowly zooming out and it eventually reveals the whole cake. The shot with the cake then fades into a shot of a wedding dress and then that fades into a shot of the venue of the wedding. Throughout the opening shots there is some non diegetic music running over it, the music is slow paced and has a romantic feel to it. On top of the music you can hear a number of voicemail answer machine messages, this gives the viewer the impression that something is wrong.

The next couple of shots are of the bride's mother and the bride herself. They both have panic on their face, this is emphasised as the camera shots are a medium close up and a close up.



The next shot is of the brides father who is trying to reassure his daughter that her husband to be would not be late on his wedding day. By this point, the music has just faded out.
The brides phone rings and the bride is very quick to answer, this also shows that she is panicing. The person on the other end of the phone is Phil. Phil plays a charcter who went on the groom's stag in Vegas and he is pretty unreliable in the eyes of the bride. It then cuts to a medium close up of Phil who is stood in the middle of the desert looking dirty and tired. He also has a cut on his lip which shows they have got into some trouble. In the background you can see three other charcters stood round a beaten up car.

Phil and the bride have a conversation in which Phil explains to her that they have lost Doug (the groom). He then tells her that the wedding is not going to happen, the camera then tilts up to the sky and the title of the film appears on the screen. At this point some non diegetic music starts to play. The main instrument used is an electric guitar. The song has a slow tempo, a man then starts to sing. His voice has a hint of soul. The opening credits then start to appear in white text on a background of different parts of Las Vegas. The backgrounds are videos that have been speeded up, this gives the audience the impression that time is passing. This links in with the storyline of the film as it shows that they're running out of time to find the missing groom.

When the opening credits have stopped playing you see a shot of the same house that you have previously seen the bride in. The camera slowly dollys through the gates and zooms in to the house. The next shot you see is of a family portrait, the camera then pans round to one of the main characters, Alan, who is getting a suit fitted. At this point the music stops as the dialogue is about to start. In the background you can see the groom's reflection through a mirror although the focus is on Alan. Alan then comes out with a comment about the suit tailor getting too close to his "shaft". This will make the audience laugh, it also lets the audience know that he is going to be a humourous character. At this point in the film some text comes on the bottom of the screen saying "two days earlier", the audience at this point realises that these events are happening before the trip to Vegas.

Throughout the first 15 minutes of the film the characters are dressed very smartly and their hair is very neat. The audience have already seen some of the characters at the start of the film when they have lost doug and they are all messed up, this makes the audience want to know what has happened to the characters to get them in this state. The audience think the same thing when they see the car that they're travelling in. The car is an old classic Mercedes and it is the father of the bride's car. The audience know that it is not going to come home in the same state. Below are too close ups of Phil, one before the trip to Vegas and one at the end of the trip to Vegas just to show the comparison.



The settings used in the first 15 minutes of The Hangover are location settings, this means there was a lot of natural light in the shots. The lighting is bright at the start at the film, this gives the film a very positive feel at the start.

At the start of the film the edit has a very slow feel to it which gives the audience the impression that everything is relaxed. The fades at the start of the film add to this. When they are in the car on the way to Vegas a hip hop song comes on and the cuts start to get a bit quicker, the shots fit in well with music. The song is non-diegetic. The song is about money which is appropriate as they are going to vegas. Thirteen minutes and forty-four seconds in to the film, the film quickens up as if it is being fast forwarded. The film does this to make the journey to Vegas seem shorter, it is what's known as eliptical editing.

Audience Research

Risk Assessment

Example of opening credits

The opening credits on our film need to be of a high standard. We have looked at the opening credits on the film step brothers for ideas. The first title you see is the name of the distribution company. Below is a screen shot.
You then see a number of production companies that have been used to make the film. Below are some screen shots.




You then see the title of the creator of the film, this being Adam Mckay. Adam Mckay directed the film, produced the film, did the screen play in the film and came up with the story of the film. Here is a screen shot.


The next titles that appear are the names of the actors. As you can see from the screen shot below, the credits are no longer just white text on a black background. They are now on top of the film.


The next three screen shots are casting by Allison Jones, costume designer Susan Matheson and music supervision by Hal Willner.



The titles fade out before the next title comes on. While the titles are white text on a black background there is some diagetic sound, this then matches up with the film. There is then a soundtrack that plays over the opening titles, this soundtrack is upbeat and has a happy feel to it. When the characters are talking in the title sequence the soundtrack gets quieter so that the audience can hear the dialog.
Below is a link to the opening title sequence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sczh_KjjFNU

Script

Treatment

Film title:
Thank you Uncle Norman

Duration:
100 minutes

Target audience:
We have classed our film as a certificate 15. Our film will be aimed at 15-30 year olds, male and female.

Synopsis:
Craig has been out the night before and is laid in his bed surrounded by beer cans, takeaways, empty bottles etc. He gets awoken by his younger brother Jim, playing music. He stumbles down the stairs with his duvet. He gets laid on the sofa downstairs and puts the television on. his younger brother comes into the room and has a conversation with him and then leaves the house. This is when Craig receives a phone call from a family member who tells him that his Uncle Norman has died and left their family 15 million pound."

Suggested elements:
As the film is a comedy, one of the suggested elements is the humour. The humour comes from the situations that the main character finds himself in and his attitude. You could relate him to Frank Gallagher from the TV series Shameless. He doesn't work or go to college, he is on the dole and he likes a good drink.

Genre

Comedy

Slapstick-
Slapstick is a type of comedy that involves exaggerated violence and activities which exceed the boundaries of common sense. It will often add exaggerated sound effects to emphasize the violence. An early example of a t.v programme that has slapstick humour is Tom and Jerry. An example of a t.v programme that has slapstick humour, that isn't a cartoon, is Bottom. Here is a clip of Bottom.



An example of a film that has slapstick humour is Shaun of the dead. Below is a clip.



Satire-
Satire is usually meant to be funny, its greater purpose is constructive social criticism, using wit as a weapon. A common feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm. Parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve the very things the satirist wishes to attack.
An example of a film which uses Satire is Four lions. Below is a clip.



Character- Character comedy is a method used by some comedians. In character comedy the comedian performs as though he was a character created by themselves. A good deal of comedians have achieved fame from character comedy. Examples are, Kayvan Novak who plays the characters in Facejacker, Sacha Baron Cohen plays Borat, Bruno and Ali G and Rowan Atkinson who plays Mr.Bean. Below is a clip of Sacha Baron Cohen playing Borat.


Cringe-
Cringe comedy is a comedy genre that uses offensive or vulgar material or awkward and embarrassing situations to cause audiences to be repulsed or feel uneasy. The audience will often laugh out of nervousness. Comedians who rely on this style of humor are often described as controversial; however, it is a burgeoning field of comedy, and has been popularized by comedians such as Ricky Gervais and Jim Norton. Below is a clip of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, this film is considered to be a masterpiece of the genre.

Initial idea

Genre
When deciding what genre of film we were going to do for our main task we thought it would be a good idea to do a genre that we enjoy watching. We came up with the idea of doing a comedy. When discussing this with our tutor he basically said that it would be difficult to do a comedy because it is hard to make people laugh. As a group we feel confident that we can make a two minute opening that includes some humour so we have decided to continue with the idea of doing a comedy. After watching a few opening scenes to comedy films, it has reassured us that we can do a comedy.
Storyline
We have a vague idea of what the storyline of the film is going to be. This is that a young boy called Jim Phillips, who doesn't do anything with his life apart from go out and get drunk. He has a younger brother called Craig who goes to college and is expected to do well and move on to bigger and better things.
Their family receives a share of a family members will who has just passed away. This family member though, was a millionaire.
The film is all about how Jim wastes a fair share of his money on cars, booze, drugs etc. He comes to realise that wasting his money on these sorts of things is unfulfilling, this changes his lifestyle massively. He then goes into doing charity work, helping the unfortunate and becoming a better person.
2 Minute opening
Jim has been out the night before and is laid in his bed surrounded by beer cans, takeaways, empty bottles etc. He gets woken by his younger brother, Craig, playing music. He stumbles down the stairs with his duvet. He gets laid down on the sofa downstairs and puts the television on. His younger brother comes in to the room and has a conversation with him and then leaves the house. This is when Jim receives a phone call from a family member who tells him that his Uncle Norman has died and left their family with 15 million pound.
This is only our first idea and is likely to change throughout the project. Here are a few opening sequences that we have looked at for inspiration.