The Black Widow; Final Film

This is the final cut for our AS Media studies thriller opening: The Black Widow.

Evaluation Question 7:

Looking Back On Your Preliminary Task, What Do You Feel You've Learnt In The Progression From It To The Full Product? 

First off, here's the task that Charlotte, Daniel and I made called 'The Broken Friendship' back in October:

We then had to do a short evelaution of how we felt after the task: http://www.lasmediagwhs2014.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/preliminary-task.html

Then the process to make our final film began, we learnt alot of things along the way for our final product. That in my opinion turned out pretty successful. 

Alot of planning and preparation went into the final product (Months Worth) from writing scripts and story boards to improving shot types. With our preliminary task we had scripted it and planned shots in 5 minutes to get on with filming and editing. The planning of our final product really helped out alot, by the end of the planning we had a clear vision of what we wanted and what the product would look like. Alot better compared to the foggy ideas we had about the preliminary task.

Mise-en Scene was a big hurdle for us to get over after our original product before the re-shoot, as we actually used the same location as the prelim. We then thought it would defiantly be better to re-shoot in a much more realistic location.

We also learned a big thing that made up our film and that's lighting and colour correction. In our preliminary we had no lighting and we had no idea what a colour corrector was! Now look at us, masters of the colour correcter (well i'd like to think we are) as every scene we did we wanted it to be dark and eerie so we learnt ourselves the wonders a little colour wheel can do. 

When doing the match on action for our final product, it went alot better than what it did previously too! Our actor Ryan didn't have to keep repeating actions as much and the editing was alot smoother. The sound editing too was alot more advance in our final film, adding levels, music and sound effects which is alot more than the prelim, which we just added some music to the start and end of the film.

                                          

Initially our group of Robbie, Charlotte and I got on really well and all our ideas worked really well together. However as we decided that we didn't like our original film Robbie wanted to keep it, so we lost a member of our group so two of us had to share the work load. I've learnt that everyone has to have equal workload so its fair on everyone, especially with the amount of work it takes to produce the product. I also think we learnt alot about time management and how to keep to schedules, where as in the first task everything could be done in the time given with some left, this on the other hand took alot of time with the blogging going on too.

You also have to learn to be very cooperative with the other members of your group as you may not all have the same ideas. Everyone has to be willing to have their ideas made or shot down, either way you must accept it. It also helps if you all get on well too, if you have no relationships with the other group members then you will find it hard to get your ideas across and understand theirs'. I think we were very lucky in that aspect that we were all friends.   

                                        

Overall I'm very proud of what my group have managed to produce of our final film. Looking back at the preliminary task I can defiantly see clear improvements from when we first began till now in alot of areas from planning to filming and editing.

Hopefully in the future I will look back on this and think my skills have improved further. Well I hope they will anyway.

Evaluation Question 6:

What Have You Learnt About Technologies From The Process Of Constructing The Product?

For to create our product we had to use both software and hardware technologies to make our film the best it can be.

Software: 

• Final Cut Express
• Soundtrack Pro
• Adobe Aftereffects
• Adobe Photoshop
• Celtx
• Microsoft Word/Powerpoint

Hardware:

• Sony HD HXR Camera
• 3 Point Lighting
• iPhones/iPads/Tablets

To present all our work collected, we used online software and websites to produce and distribute it:

• Blogger
• Scribd
• YouTube
• Facebook

Despite all this, I believe that the method we now use in the modern day is alot more efficient that old methods of editing used. When linear editing was used you had to edit from start to finish, with our method we could edit whatever part freely giving us a more creative output. Back in the day, you had to cut and stick film together really where as we just have to press 3 keys on a keyboard and if we want to just nudge a clip along we just use a 'roll tool' to do so. 

Modern filming and editing, defiantly has its advantages over the old style. Yes there are some limitations and problems (That Rainbow Wheel!) but there's nothing that you can't, not do. I am definitely glad that I have acsess to all this technology and really were all very lucky too!

Evaluation Question 5:

How Did You Attract/Address The Audience?

The Thriller genre over all, takes an approach to make the audience think and fill them with suspense. I believe that our film does these things which in hand attracts the audience. When we first began looking at thriller and the conventions they have we came up with theses:

I feel like our film opening does alot of these, maybe only leaving out the ideas of puzzles and tasks. I think it follows the main ones like 'Suspense and Tension' and 'Cliff Hangers' as our film has an obvious cliff hanger at the end. We also used the actors ages to our advantage both of them teenagers that would appeal to our target audience as they would see similarities between the two in themselves. The way they look too, can also appeal to some viewers with the style of clothing also giving them a personality that intrigues the audience.

We asked a few people in the age range of our target audience to watch our film opening and give their opinions about elements of the film. Here are some of the answers to our survey:

As you can see, we received a majority of good feedback from our questions were positive showing that the film and the content was appealing to the target audience. Some people questioned the ending and why Crimson was doing what she was, however I had to stress that this was just the opening of a film and that it is a cliffhanger.

With the evidence to back up the attraction to our film, I believe that we attracted them well with the typical thriller conventions. Alot stated the 'Cliffhanger' at the end makes them want to keep watching and know what happens after, attracting them to watch the full version of the film (if there was one).

Evaluation Question 4:

Who Would Be Your Audience For Your Media Product

The BBFC film classification for our film would be a 12A due to its use of violence and scary nature. However it will not have enough of it to justify a higher BBFC rating. The nature of the film on a whole however, would be more appealing to those of an older age with a mainly male demographic. This would pattern the 'average veiwers' of a thriller movie. Here are a couple of examples from Pearl and Dean:

If you look at the demographics for these movies you see that it is a largley young adult males who

enjoy these types of movies. Giving us the basis  

for our demographic we aimed at.                      

Target Audience Profile

Simon Davies is an 18 year old male is currently in his last year of sixth form at Hydesville Tower School (Private School) in Walsall. For two years he has studied Media, Drama, Business Studies and English and is set to achieve high grades to allow him to continue his Business Studies at the University of Edinburgh. 

Simon currently lives with his parents but is hoping to move away when he leaves for university and live in an apartment in which his parents will pay for the rent. In his spare time, other than playing cricket and rugby, Simon likes to go to the cinema with his friends to see films of the genre, comedy, horror, thriller, action adventure and Sci-fi. 

The most recent film Simon has been to see was Gravity with his mates from school. However he prefers the old school thrillers such as Psycho (the original) and Vertigo. Even though his parents are rather rich, Simon has to work on Saturdays and Sunday at the local shop, stacking shelves and serving customers. His parents don't always give him everything so he has to earn some money for outings to the cinema and buying DVD's when they're on offer at his local ASDA. Simon also has to get himself places in his Black Mini which his parents got him for his 17th Birthday; he only recently passed his driving test after failing first time round.

When he's not watching films at the cinema or at rugby training, Simon likes listening to his music, especially Indie, Rock and some Pop Bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Fall Out Boy and Linkin Park. Simon's friends don't agree with his music taste and so has to socialise with his mates about films and games consoles. His friends love the film genres he is into and so they all go to the cinema in their free time; mostly Wednesdays.

Evaluation Question 3:

What Kind Of Media Institutes Might Distribute Your Products And Why?

This little video is my opinion of Question 3, we both had different views to how our product would be distributed if it was to go out. Here's mine:

Evaluation Question 2:

How Does Your Media Product Represent Particular Social Groups?

The two characters in our film are representative of todays teenagers, how they look and act. Due to the idea we had about the 'Hidden Identity' the representation of our female protagonist changed from one end of the personality spectrum to the other. The relationship between the characters is also very stereotypical of modern media with the pairing of a 'Good girl and Bad Boy' relationship seen in films such as Grease, Warm Bodies etc. This is actually subverted too, at first you do think that Crimson is a good girl and Luke is a bad boy. As the story progresses the relationship is revealed to be the other way round.

The sound and dialogue in our film really helped to emphasis the story and who the characters were and how they were represented. The music through out our film creates a very dark and eerie feel to the product. The music and dialogue used as Luke enters the house is used to make the audience believe that he is the bad guy. The tone of the music, being very drum and bass centered  often gives the audience a sense of uncertainty, added with the dialogue and the way the lines are portrayed by the actor they do believe that he is the bad one of the two of them.

The dialogue also aids us in this portrayal in the phone call scene. Crimson is very fearing of Luke and what he's doing, surely if he wasn't bad then she wouldn't fear her own boyfriend. However she shows her naivety when she still lets him come to her house, another classic portrayal of a good girl.  

But I believe that our representations are stereotypical of the social groups we have represented but they are successful stereotypes of the groups. However I believe we could have showed a more clear change between the two personalities. 

Evaluation Question 1:

In What Ways Does Your Media Product Use, Challenge or Develop Forms and Conventions of Real Media Products?

For our first question we though doing a video to explain the question would best suit it, this should explain our ideas behind our product and how it fits and challenges conventions of films in the thriller genre. Lets hope we didn't forget anything after we scripted it!

Black Widow Final Cut

After months of hard work planning, filming and editing, The Black Widow is complete! We hope you enjoy the film!

Ident Production

For our film production, we had to use idents to complete our film. So we began to look at templates to reflect (pardon me) our production company name. We then put it into 'Adobe After Effects' to edit it into how we want it to look. We also made one for the associated production company 'Rocket Films'.

New Rough Cut

After re-shooting our footage, we have done a new edit of 'The Black Widow'. The only thing that needs to be done now is the ident and the film title that are currently in production. But here is the new rough cut of our film, by Charlotte and I. 

Actor Release Forms

As part of the process our actors must sign a form so we have creative use of their identitties. Here is what they sign for, and if they're under 18 their parents.

Our actors Ryan Bickley (Aged 18) and Ryma Picken (Aged 16) have signed their forms and Ryma with parents permission to follow the terms and conditions:

Original Final Cut

After our feedback, we worked out some kinks in our film and editing. However, two of our group were still not happy with the film (Charlotte and I) so this is our original final cut that Robbie will use as his final film. However Charlotte and I will be posting a second final cut that we will use for our final mark.

Target Audience Feedback and Review

Our target audience we have a range between 17-24 from the feedback we gathered some points that stuck out were:

• Shot of the stones is too long. We get that it is stones and I can hear you have included a SFX but simply pause then within a second Ryma steps in, would be more effective. 

• Almost a jump shot to when the hockey stick is introduced. Feet seem to be in a different position and the cut alludes and tracts attention towards the error.

• 0.35- shadow on the wall. Although not a vital importance, this could also show lack of 3 point lighting technique. Obviously going to be some shadow from normal lighting but this is too much. 
• Phone call SFX- Volume is too loud doesn't sound like a mobile phone. 

• Cut Alex during phone call is too quick. Change cut. 

• When Ryma picks up the teddy to be-head it, we lose the top of the teddys head in the frame. We partially miss the point of focus on the teddy. (i.e. to pull its head off), because of the framing. 

• 1.10 Jump MOA. Alex walking throughout he door, is not smooth. 

• Voice over doesn't mae sense. it is too much like he is actually talking and his lips are just not moving. You need to add effects to the voice ego try and convince us that it is a voice over. 

• Looks as if alex is speaking when he is in Ryma's room, but unsure whether it is the voiceover or alex actually speaking aloud. His lips don't move then they do a little bit- IT"S CONFUSING!"

• Alex picks up the picture of him and Ryma, don't pan to the picture.

Some of the feedback we received, we cannot re-do like (e.g the re-filming) due to our actor not being available to re-film. However over the past few days we've been working on the sound, re-colouring and re-edit of the film. Hopefully it will all work out and be worth it.

Rough Cut

After three weeks of intensive filming and editing we have a rough cut of our film. Alot of hard work has gone into the filming process to get a rough cut done:

We also got some people of our target audience to assess the film and give feedback:

Hopefully the feedback that we have received, will help us create the perfect final cut for our film. Helping us achieve what we want to achieve in our coursework.

Editing of Footage and Sound

Final Cut Express

To edit the thriller we used Final Cut Express to edit the footage together, change to colouring of the images and adding titles to the film. As you've seen in a previous post we turned day into night with the  software this was also a similar process for the colouring to make the film look darker. Here's a screenshot of us editing the film:

Sound Track Pro

To edit the sound for the film we used Sound Track Pro. Sound would appear in different tracks so they could overlap or be edited individually. We added production music and sound effects to the sound that was already present in the film (That would also be edited itself).

Turning Day into Night

For our film, we need to make some outside shots of our film look more like night time. So we began to look for tutorials and we came across this handy video:

This taught us how to colour the film clips into making it look like a gloomy night time scene. Giving a completely different look to the clips that we filmed.

Shooting On Location Day 2

Reflection studios filmed two scenes with our actor Alex. One in Crimson's bedroom and the phone call outside.

We first set up the equipment in the bedroom area due to the bad weather in hope that it would clear up. We briefed the actor to make sure he knew what he was doing. We gave him some time to read over the script and practice his movement and the we set the camera rolling.

We filmed the 'Discovery' scene and then we moved the camera and a reflector outside, only to discover that it was still raining. We all had a discussion whether to go ahead with the filming or not. We all knew that we had to get the filming done, the weather did actually have a positive affect on the filming giving more of a developed atmosphere to the scene.

So that's what reflection studios filmed, only one more day to go!

Shooting On Location Day 1

Today Reflection Studios filmed the 'Wasteland' shots for the thriller opening. This is when a mysterious character is seen walking through the empty area of land with a hockey stick and leaving, never revealing the identity of the character.














We set up all the equipment, waited for our actress to arrive then began the process of filming.Before even considering to film, we ensured that our actress knew exactly what was going to happen and when by showing her the storyboard and animatic of the scene we were about to film. After watching the animatic and explaining the storyboard images we walked our actress through the route and timing of her movement in the scene. 













After all the preparing, it was then time to start filming. The first shot we filmed was the establishing shot of the wasteland to show the audience where they are and set the scene for our thriller before any character enters. This shot took a few takes until we were happy with the smooth pan of the shot.
















Next up was the close up of the gravel followed by the entrance of the mysterious figure. We again walked the actress through the route and timing then ran the camera for the first time.













This shot was then followed by a close up of the feet and the entrance of the hockey stick. This allows us to add suspicion to the figure however we still won't see anything other than the feet at this point. The feet then exit the shot; this was repeated many times to ensure that the feet and the hockey stick were in the exact same shot as the previous one as this will be match on action.














We took a break due to the bad weather then went back to record the last few shots of footage for this location. The last shot filmed today was the hooded figure walking off into the dark alley way, still not seeing the face of the character. The night was drawing and so the 3 point lighting allowed us to brighten up the darker alley we were filming in. 













Once all the film footage for this location was filmed all that was left to do today was collect the location sound. We needed a gravel sound that could be dubbed over the top of the characters feet when they were walking and so we got the actress to repeat the movement she did in the actual scene, making sure she walks at the same pace as she does in the actual film shot.



So that's day 1 of our filming complete so next up is day 2 with the interior and exterior shots at Crimson's house.

Shooting Schedule

So now everything is done and ready for filming. Just one last thing before we start to film: The Shooting Schedule!

Filming Schedule

Risk Assessment

When we go out filming, it's obvious that there is going to be a number of risks when filming. Some of our film is shot in an unused garage area so there are risks filming there with it being untended to. But other than that our locations are pretty safe and secure!

Here's the risk assessment:

Thriller Risk Assessment

Animatic Feedback

So we showed our animatic to our class to be assessed by them on what was good and what could be improved. Here is some feedback that we gathered:

• "Clear narrative, a little confusing to start but a good story all together"
• "A wide variety of shots were used and alot of detail was put in"
• "Sound track supports the images on screen well"
• "The heartbeat is a little cliche"
• "Lacks key frames but all in all a good opening"
• "Titles and Idents were present, could do with a little work"

So overall we had pretty good feedback in general just a couple of little things to work on, but most people said that we we're ready to begin the production of the actual product!

The Black Widow: Animatic

What is an animatic?
An animatic is often the step before filming. It takes the images from the storyboard and dubs the soundtrack.

Professional Example:

This is the animatic for film 'The Worlds End' it shows how it compares to the real, end product. Soundtrack and all.


So I guess this really where we begin to envision what the final product will look like, with both visuals, and pictures. It's all coming together now and it really has given us confidence to go out into the locations and films. Now to start the filming!

The Black Widow Storyboard

So What is a Storyboard?

A story board is basically a plan of each shot you have in the film using illustrations. These should include the type of shot, any sound used and the action being filmed.

Here's a professional example from Harry Potter:

How Does a Storyboards help the filming?

• Helps planning of shots and how you want the film to look.
• Helps prevent any frustrations with shooting scenes.
• Used as a directors aid for creating the film.
• Can help the editors and sound editors when the ques for sounds and cuts are.

Now this is where our thriller starts to come together.

Story Board

Location Research

No film can be quality without a decent location. We use three locations in our short film opening that are a 'Wasteland' area, stairs and a bedroom.

We believe that each location we use should mean something and have a reason of a scene being filmed there. So here is out location  research:

Location 1- Dark gravel filled area- ext.

This location will feature near the beginning of the 2 minute opening. A dark eerie area is needed to represent the mysterious action that is occurring on screen at this location. The location needed to be abnormal and a place you wouldn’t traditionally go to ‘hang out’. 

Existing Media:

This gravel grounded area is an idea of what we are looking for in a location for our thriller film opening. The idea that there are crooked paving stones places within the gravel gives us the impressing of a place that isn’t quite right and not a place you would really want to hand out. The location we chose doesn’t need to be as perfect as this location. This image represents the ideas we have as a production team in what we’re looking for in a location for this opening. It has the feature of the opening we had in mind with the gravel ground and stones lying around.


Real Location chosen: 
 
The location chosen to us is perfect in representing the action that is going on onscreen at the time this location is shown. The location isn’t prefect which represents the idea that the main character Crimson isn’t as perfect as people thing. It gives the message of not judging things by the way they look. Also this location is rather eerie and not a place in which people would wish to hang out at night or be there on their own. The miss placed paving and broken fencing creates an atmosphere where the audience get the idea that only the eeriest and creepiest of people would hang out in a place like this. This then emphasises the idea of a mysterious figure hanging around in this area at night which allows them to draw the conclusion that whoever the character is isn’t going to be up to any good here. The fencing suggests that the figure shown shouldn’t be where they are meaning again they aren’t the nicest of people to be hanging out with. This again emphasises the action that then follows the establishing shot of this scene when a figure comes on with a hockey stick dragging in their hand. With an obviously creepy location such as this one, the audiences can easily put two and two together and work out that the character just shown has been out causing trouble but doesn’t give away to much of the upcoming storyline.


Location 2- Dark Alley- ext.

This location features in the film when the mysterious character walks off with the hockey stick dragging in their hand. This again needs to follow on from the previous location with its eeriness and darkness that doesn’t quite seem right.

Existing media:

 
This is the style in which we wanted this location to be. The alley is narrow and could probably only fit one or two people down which is what we want. In the dark a place like this would have the ‘you wouldn’t want to meet anyone in an alley like this’ look. 






Real Location Chosen:


This location gives us a lot to work with. The over grown weeds within the gravel suggest to the audience that no one ever goes here which instantly gives them the idea that this character that is seen in this location can’t be doing much good if they are hanging around in a place such as this. The gravel floor allows us to create tension though the sound it makes. When you hear the sound of gravel you know someone is coming or is nearby. The fact this loud gravel sound is going to be made and no one has come out to investigate or is around to see who it is suggests that it isn’t a place that people would want to or should go to. The fencing and walls allow us to represent the idea that its blocked off and that no one really should be going down here without permission. With this location the camera work as well as the sound can add to the overall effect and creation of atmosphere.

Location 3- Crimson’s Room int.

Crimson the main female character has two sides to here and so her room has two sides to it. It has this happy go lucky girly girl feel to it and then later on in the film it turns dark and vicious and so through her room we need to reflect this change as well as her personality.

Existing Image:


This image shows the girly girl side of crimson but shows it could easily be a cover up and easily changed to portray the dark murderous side hidden within the character.

Real Location Chosen:

This location will be dressed up with clothes and fairly lights to make it look more like a girl’s room. The size of the room will represent the wealth of her or her parents. Usually the more wealthy have a larger room such as this. The large sofa will be covered in clothes that are of fine materials to represent again the wealth she has and the colours will symbolise the innocence and purity the main character has. As the props list will show there will be many toys around the room such as collectable bear and dolls. They will be perfectly aligned around the room to represent the perfect side of the female as well as show the fact she cares about appearance reflecting the perfectness she shows in the way she looks and dresses. The number of bears and dolls will again show the wealth of this female and suggest that she is in some ways too perfect and wealthy. The lighting of the room will also represent the girly girl side of her and not show through her inner evil until later on in the scene. There will be candles around the room which will be there for later on in the opening.

When Crimson’s personality changes the style of her room changes too; the perfect dolls all around the room now not in line. One set of dolls are taken out and the head has been fetched off the male character and stuck to the female’s hand. This is there to represent the breakdown of the relationship between here and her boyfriend. It brings out her inner evil and the opinion she has on the male race. The candles there were there just for decoration are there to represent a sort of shrine now as they are all lit and lined around the room. They’re there to show the audience the person Crimson is becoming as well as allow them to predict the fate of Luke, Crimson’s Boyfriend.

Location 4- Crimson’s Staircase- int.

This really is there just to allow Luke to get into his girlfriend’s house and up to her room which he doesn’t know is a shrine. The stairs just need to look like a normal set of stairs that allow Luke easy access to Crimson’s private life without permission.

Existing Image:

The stairs don’t need to be too fancy even though Crimson is obviously rich as can be seen from the room Crimson is in. The idea of the stairs being metal and rather normal downgrades Crimson slightly which is what needs to happen in a way.

Real Location Chosen:

The stairs chosen will be decorated so that they look more like stairs in which you would find in a home. These stairs are rather large which still allows the audience to see the rich side of Crimson preventing them from suspecting the inner killer that Crimson has. These stairs represent the pathway to Crimson’s private life and that Luke is in the wrong by entering with force rather than asking and not demanding.

Location 5- The door to Crimson's House- ext. 

The door to Crimson's house where her boyfriend is soon to meet his doom in only appears for a few moments when Luke come storming into the house without knocking. We don't want the door to be too fancy and posh as it would detract from the horror that lies within the house now.

Existing Image:

This is the sort of door we were looking for, a wooden door with windows. With this location we want to start detracting from the idea that she's rich and start to give the audiences hint as to what Crimson is really like inside. 

Real Location Chosen: 
This location is what we are looking for for this scene. Its simplistic yet it does the job we want it to do, look dark and mysterious when Luke is shown storming through it. The door isn't as posh and intricate as the interior but at the point where this door is shown, we don't want the focus to be on how rich Crimson is. The audiences need to start thinking of the other side that Crimson has to her which leads them to the scene that is going to occur in the next shot up until the end of the film. This location isn't in the opening sequence much however it is an important fill shot for the lead up to the events that are about to unfold. There will be a few plants by the door to give the audience the homely feel that a house should have when you enter it which in a way side tracks the audience from seeing the obvious that Crimson is a killer. It distracts the audiences and prevents them from coming to the right conclusion straight away.

Costume Research

We have thought carefully about what our characters will wear in our film. As both of our main characters come from different social classes this will have an effect on what they both wear:

Crimson, the female character in our film comes from a Upper class family, so as she her parents will have an adequate amount of disposable income this will allow her to have a more expensive wardrobe, which could feature designer clothes, bags, accessories etc… However, being as Crimson is first introduced in our film when she is in her house she will be wearing a pair of tight denim jeans, a normal jumper and a pair of pink fluffy socks. She will be in this outfit as she wishes to relax and feel comfortable in her house and as she is alone, she has know one to impress. Although, she is wearing a golden necklace as she is a 'girly girl' and she loves jewelry and shiny things.

Compared to Crimson, the male character Luke, comes from a Working class family who lives on a council estate. He will be wearing a big over sized black jumper, with dark skinny jeans and a pair of Converse.  He shall wear this attire as he is from the 'Gothic' genre and his friends are also Goths. In addition to this, Luke's clothes will not look brand new and they will not look too expensive as he only works at a low paying job and his parents can't afford to waste money on expensive brands.

When crimson appears in the first and last scene she will need to wear similar style clothes to Luke to create this hidden identity of the character.

Props Research

Props

All of these objects are the significant prop used. Most other physical objects we use are more 'location' than props.

And, here is the formal props list:

Props List

The Black Widow Script

So the script has been written, ready for the process to take a massive leap into our final product. There isn't much dialogue in the script but it leaves alot of room for actors interpretation of the script so hopefully it will help us make the best film we can.


The Black Widow