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

Directors Commentry on 'Suspect'

A police investigation storyline following a kidnapping suggests a mystery drama genre, we used ideas from films produced such as 1997's 'L.A Confidential', North By Northwest (1959), The Usual Suspects (1995) and many others as these films followed the crime/drama/mystery genre which we as a group are intending to meet.  In order to produce an opening sequence to meet this criteria, we presented the sequence by beggining straight into the story.  We made the the storyline easy to understand by not only positioning the 'stalker' infront of the camera, following the school girl, but also by the voice over, which was used to explain what has happened and how the footage sent into the police station was crucial to finding the kidnapper and the girl kidnapped.

Stalker positioned behind the girl, infront of the camera

The narrative enigma remains unanswered in the opening sequence and in order for them to be answered, the entire film must be watched.  The voice over explains that there have been many kidnappings of the late and with an escaped convict, the police are becoming extreamley worried that the convict is linked with the kidnappings and as a result, is the murderer of the bodies being found around the same area.  The enigma would of been underpinned in the rest of the film as the plot is based on a police investigation.  This therefore is very conventional to an opening sequence, as the narrative enigma is usually unfolded throughout the entire film, rather than given away in the opening as the gripping, attention drawing would be lost before the film has even properly began.

The camera work follows conventional shot sizes and angles throughout the sequence, as we wanted the sequence to be easy to follow.  Despite this, we edited the sequence together quite quickly as following a girl walking down the road became quite time consuming to watch and relatively boring, also, we wanted the sequence to appear as home footage so we used a hand held camera for the following scene.  This is very unconventional to a drama, but not so much for a mystery crime film. 

Variety of different shot sizes included

Through the structure of the sequence, the characters are introduced to the audience as they say goodbye to eachother at the school gates.  The stalker is not introduced as such as he remains unknown through the film, so the back of the stalker is only shown to the audience. It is conventional for the characters to be introduced in an non obvious way through films, however, conventions are broken when the kidnappers face is kept hidden. As he, argubley, is the main character or concept in this film, and is unidentified to the audience.

Kidnapper remains unknown

Characters dialogue is included in the sequence and is heard over the top of a low tempo, sombre music track which was used to create the intense atmosphere of the situation.  It is conventional to have diegetic dialogue included and non diegetic music within a opening sequence, as it allows the audience to begin to identify with the characters aswell as be instantly introduced with the theme and overall atmosphere that the film is produced with.  The voice over is slightly unconventional to this particular genre but it is not completely uncommon as films often use them in the opening sequence inorder to explain previous stories or characters backgrounds in order for the audience to follow the plot easily.

The mise-en-scene of our opening sequence follows the normal conventions as the characters are dressed in believable costume of the story line, the lighting is natural to the location and the character movement is natural.  Characters make up is also conventional.

Characters conventional costume to the setting

The last step made in editing our opening sequence was to position titles in.  It is conventional for a opening sequence to include titles and upon analysing opening sequences of our choosen genre, we matched the titles we used to the same style that they used.  Small, white typography was used in upper case to list the production company, actors, directors, etc, The text was positioned ontop of a black screen, these transitions was included equally throughout the sequence at seperate times. This was conventional to or genre.  We found that small font presented better than large as it looked more professional.

We found through research that small, upper case font positioned on a black screen was conventional for the titles in our genre

Evaluation- Audience Feedback

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=zriilFwMlRU

Final Opening Sequence

Link below will transfer you onto a website in order to view our opening sequence of, 'Suspect'.
http://youtu.be/mZKSK9mFFrQ

Unforchantly, due to a formatt change through the process of compression, the sequence is slightly out of sync.  However, my teacher will send the clip through in its correct formatt.

Post Production

Post Production Report

The first step that needed to be taken in order to edit, was to capture the footage shot onto the schools editing suite.  We then had to watch through the footage many times in order to decide which shots were to be used, we then produced a table for the logging rushes.  In this we listed each clip we were planning to use and the even the ones which we we not.  The description of each clip, scene number and shot number was included in the table.  This activity became extreamely time consuming and relatively frusterating, however the outcome was positive as it made editing run alot smoother and less confussing than it would be if logging rushes were not completed.

The next step was to use the logging rushes to cut the footage to what we was going to use in the opening sequence, then drag them down onto the timeline.  Once the footage was edited together, we included titles in, which listed actors names, our production company, along with the director, etc.  Sound levels were then mixed and an uncopywrite music was loaded onto the opening sequence.  We then asked a focus group to view the sequence and give us feedback.

Production

Production Report
In order to complete our production of an opening sequence to  a film, we as a group had to met to discuss issues which would arise throughout filming.  The location of which we were going to film had previously been decided-  outside Kings Langley School gates, so timing was now to be discussed.  We produced a filming schedual which outlined all the shots in each scene that had to be shot, and distrubuted our free time between each shot.  Timing was difficult as all three of us had lessons at different times which meant that we did not have much time to film, so we agreed to film throughout lunch times also. The position of the camera had to be discussed as the lighting would be natural which could affect the film, aswell as the effect the surroundings would have upon production.

Upon watching back on what was filmed, we decided as a team that the footage was not as good as it should be.  The rules of continuity was not followed and the whole concept of the sequence was confussing as we all had different interpretations of what we thought we was producing.  The original idea of the plot was to film from the kidnappers point of view in the opening sequence, then for the rest of the film to continue in third person of a police investigation.  We decided that this was too complex and can be very misleading, so decided to restructure our sequence.

Following many group meetings in which we discussed exactly what we was setting out to complete this time, and invited many other students to become involved in the filming acting as extras, we refilmed.  While filming this time, we shot each scene from many different angles and distances in order to have a mix of shot sizes and angles which would follow our conventions of our choosen genre. It also granted us the option of choice when it came to editing the sequence together, we could choose which angles we preffered and what we felt looked the best.

Pre Production documentation

Synopsis of film

Our film is based around the concept of an investigation following a man who’s known to a series of kidnappings that have hit the news recently. The plot will cover a group of investigators trying to discover the criminal through numerous traces of evidence and forensics. With the film being introduced in the opening sequence with personal footage from the kidnapper, discovered by police, they are trying to track down the kidnapper- name known, through the use of numerous investigations and suspect interviews. Bodies of young girls and teenagers are found throughout the film; however the murder still remains unfound.

Synopsis of opening sequence

There is footage from a handheld camera that follows two school girls out of the school gates and follows them. It cuts from different footage of the girls. The girls say goodbye to each other just outside of the school and it carrys on to follow one of the girls down the road, it shows the girl walking down the road and the camera is behind bushes and while the footage is showing there is a news report voice over the top and informing what has happened saying that a school has been kidnapped.

The Script

Voice Over: On the 12th of October, a teenage school girls went missing. At approximately 3.30pm, two 16 year old girls, both of which dressed in black school skirts and maroon blazers, were last seen walking outside of Kings Langley School gates. With a strong lead from a local neighbour, we are under the impression that the suspect is a middle aged man of medium build and around 5 foot 11 in height. The man dressed in dark clothing was seen wondering around Love Lane- the road on which Kings Langley School is situated on, looking suspicious with a video camera in his hands. When confronted by the neighbour whose name we are guarding for security reasons, the white male with dark “scruffy” hair dismissed our witness, explaining he was a health and safety investigator who was observing the wellbeing of the school.

With a recent rise in the number of school girls going missing in the Hertfordshire area, the police are urging any witnesses to step forward and share any information you may have. The growing concern over the number of girls being abducted is something that the community needs to be aware of. Bodies are being discovered weekly, within local woods, canals and back streets. Evidence suggests the murderer may have a mental condition, and health records show a patient from the surrounding area, matching the suspect’s description. This mental patient also withholds previous convictions of which we cannot discuss for legal reasons, however, let it be known to all that if you are under any suspicion or feel under threat, call your local police station as soon as possible. This kidnapper is out there, and although the murders may not be linked, it is important for him to be found before further peoples’ lives are put to risk. This home footage was sent to the Hertfordshire police station, showing the girls matching her description.

Crew List

Film Maker: George Cambridge

Director: George Cambridge


Actress One: Lauren Phillips


Actress Two: Charley Britton

Editors: George Cambridge, Lauren Phillips and Charley Britton

Costume Designers: Lauren Phillips and Charley Britton

Individual Pre production report

Final decisions were put into place through the pre production stage.  Following a met with the head of media, we realised that the synopsis of the film as a whole was vague and we all had our own interpretations of it.  The group met together to discuss the final plot and  to divide the tasks equally between the four of us.  We discussed the approriate location of where we would film and decided on the area of our own school as not only would it be easily accessable, it also fits in with our plot perfectly.

Technical detail

· To start off the shooting we will have a long shot of both CHARLEY and LAUREN walking out of the school gates. The camera will be positioned on the opposite side of the road diagonally facing CHARLEY and LAUREN.


· The next shot will go back about 10yards and show CHARLEY and LAUREN furtherly walking towards the opposite side of the road. The camera will track their movement across the road and stop when they do.


· CHARLEY and LAUREN then split and go down different routes. The camera will follow LAUREN for a short amount of time establishing where she goes and then show CHARLEY heading off in another direction.


· The camera will then track CHARLEY from a distance following her movement. The camera will do this a couple of times getting closer with every shooting.


· As the camera reaches CHARLEY we will have a close up of her head turning round and screaming.


The location this will be shot in is outside the school gates we will take the footage when there are a decent amount of people walking out of the gates so it seems like it is the end of the school day. The lighting will all be natural due to the footage being taken outside. There will be no external lighting used. The camera movement will be handheld.

Shooting Scedual

 
 
 
 
 
 
The shooting scedual shows what date we filming, how the shots are going to be grouped together and the location and members of the group needed.

Treatment

Shot List

Storyboard

We did produce a storyboard, however unforchantely we did not scan the document before taking it out to the filming and therefore got lost by one memeber.  This particular member agreed to produce a second story board as a result of loosing it, and promised that it would be done by the deadline.  Unforchantely, this deadline was not met.

Focus Group

Focus Group


We took four people out of our target audience, 2 of each gender and a slight variety in age, described our opening sequence to them and recorded their feedback, the clip above shows me asking questions regarding our choosen genre, audience expectations and what they would expect to see if the opening sequence continued to a entire film, and most importantly we asked whether the plot captivates them, and if they would feel inclined after viewing the sequence, to watch the entire film.

Folowing these findings, the group met to discuss what what said during the focus group.