Prelimiary Task New

Eastenders Influence

Here below is an influence that had an effect on our ideas to make our opening sequence better. This is part of our research section. This is a different type of reasearch in contrast to the rest because it is not a film its a video having the same aspects to some extent.

In the opening few minutes we have the main character Amira sitting down looking in front of the mirror. We would like to use this in our opening sequence as it may show how our character may reflect on her life or as she may dream sitting in front of a mirror wanting to become the famous dancer as she so has dedicated herself for.

Another reason why we have used this is because the use of the props. In the video we also see Amira surrounded by different props such as Mirror, hairbrush, lamp, perfume, scarfs etc. In this video it is used to reprent her feminism and how she is a princess in which as you watch further down in the video her dad spoils her rotton. We could interpret this into our film by using the same props not because she is spoilt rotten but wants to be spoilt rotten but her mum just gives her what she wants because she doesn't really care for her hence we will try to show this through her body language that she is a young vulnerable girl.

Photo story board

Before planning and starting off our shooting schedule we have to plan throughly but taking pictures of the actions that will take place for our opening scene so therefore I have used my phone to take pictures of our location reece which basically was needed for us to do after we setted up our location reece because of the time limit and the changes we had to do from other location reece,so here is the slideshare

Photo story board

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Question 6

Question 6- What have you learnt about technologies from the process or constructing this product?

The equipment in which I used in order to make the construction of my film:

• Camera (Canon xha1)        

                   

• Battery ( Portable and charge pack )    

• Tripod (with bag)

• Recording tape

Editing Software

• Adobe Premier- Is the program in which was used to editing the film

Once everything was set, luckily our equipment set was already presentable with on the table in which all we then had to do was set everything out ready for filming.  Luckily we didn’t have to travel far as our set was built in the studio. Although we had originally decided to do our filming in the leisure centre but due to the location being unavailable the TV studio was our back up .We then were given roles individually in the group as director, camera man and continuity scribe in which we assigned in the group. However in the end we did not actually stick to this we kept swapping over to gain experience in how to use the camera and also we were being marked individually so each of us had to participate otherwise we would have been marked down. And resulting that it wouldn’t be fair if one person did all the work and then the rest of us shared the credit. We found that this was a successful method in which we then used for the editing process

Once everything was assigned we then went over to equipment in which we were lectured as a class on safety procedures in which we were told were very important, especially based around the tripod and the camera.
The first step was to set up the tripod in which we then took of the camera bag and released the legs of the tripod. Next had to untwist the grips at the bottom of each leg and extend to the highest length, then tighten the grips securely to prevent it from falling or slipping. We did this because we were given a health and safety talk before filming to ensure all equipment were safe as if any were broken we would have to pay for it. So throughout our project we tried our hardest to follow all of the safety rules as none of us wanted to pay for the damages. Once we knew this was safe we then did for the top half adjusting the height of our first shot. We were always told that if we wanted to change/adjust the tripod then we had to take the camera off in order to prevent any damages etc in which we successfully obeyed our teacher and completed all the shots used to the best of our ability.
We then brought the camera out holding the camera firmly by the handle. We were also told to double check if the shoehorn was loose, we used a coin tighten it  Next the camera was slid onto the tripod, it was then locked and tested as she shaking to see if it would move in then we knew it would be ready to start filming.

All that was needed to be checked the spirit level in which was used to help to make sure that our shots were straight and made it more accurate when it came to the filming. We then checked this by the circle sat within the middle circle making the camera level. All that was needed to be checked the spirit level in which was used to help to make sure that our shots were straight and made it more accurate when it came to the filming. We then checked this by the circle sat within the middle circle making the camera level. The battery was placed in space in camera. I put the tape in and then released the viewfinder and turned on the camera which then automatically turned on. We were ready for filming.

Production (What we learnt)

Use of different shots (Safety)

Shooting the same shots from different angles was one lesson that was essential as it gave us a lot more variety of shots to use when editing. As we used safety shots in which were used if we forgot to film or the shots weren’t good enough we always had a back up shot that we would use of that particular shot or shots. For example in our opening sequence we used 2 safety shots as one was used to run through the whole sequence and the other one was the same shot but from a different angle. This added a variety of shots when it came to editing we could add shots or replace them with the shots which would look more creative and appealing to our audience.

Rule of thirds

The rule of thirds rule is a concept in video and film production in which the frame is divided into nine imaginary sections. This creates reference points which act as guides for framing the image. Therefore we knew from studying that this makes shots look more interesting and effective to use in our film. For example in our film we used the rule of thirds shot as the sister opening the door on the main character. So we used the camera in a way that we used the LCD which is the screen monitor on the camera and did many takes until we got the sister point perfect or near enough to do this shot. Also the rule of thirds were used in our opening shot of the pan shot down to the house where in which caught most of the house in line in the rule of thirds as was displayed to us on the monitor. We were actually surprised that on our first take we got the shot near enough in line in which we were happy with.

Continuity

Continuity is how accurately one shot flows to the next shot when in production and post production. As said before in our group we were assigned different rules roles in the group and one of these roles was to check for continuity. In charge of the role for this was Rachel. Her job was to check if we moved anything in order for the next shot to be exactly the same as if it wasn’t it wouldn’t tell the story and would just look unrealistic. For example especially for the first two shots where they were panning shots of all the objects we had to check for continuity. We solved this by taking a picture on our phones as back up encase we had moved anything we could refer back to this and change it. Also we had continuity sheets gave to us which was a record of what shots were the best and what ones were not in which were really useful in post production the editing process.

Match on action

This is where action is played in a shot and it is then reacted into another shot. For example the most common one is when a person opens a door and the person inside says hello or something. This is match on reaction. Match on action was present in our film in the shot where the sister opened the door on our character. In which we then saw the sister react by smiling. We learnt when editing that it was essential as it decided where the cut was made. We then overlapped the shots and merged it together and on top to shorten the length of the shot.



Weather

While recording the procedure I have to be fully aware of the weather .If the weather was bad it would cause a hazard to the equipment such as the camera as it is electronic. It would also disturb our shot as we see in shot 1 the pan down into the house. We learnt that we had to check the weather forecast in advance if there were any problems to think of a backup plan

Editing (what we learnt)

Transitions/effects

One transition effect that we used the most in post production editing was opacity. This allows us to fade into different shots having in which it merges into different shots or finishes our film .We learnt that it was a very effective way to mix with different shots and also more creative for the audience. Yet again this was present in our film as it was used to mix the opening shots to be seen a transparent in which resulted into a good blend and our shot was very effective. Also we used contrasts to make our film much brighter etc. Moreover as our opening credits we used a fade in effect which quickened up the credits screen and which allowed us to change the starting point in which we dragged to the ending point. We did this for the effect that as the panning shot was moving the credits were also moving in the same direction in which we were told that was a good way to start our film.



Cutting/ Splicing

This was the most important tool we used to edit the sequence in which allowed us to shorten shots that we didn’t need. There are two types cutting and splicing. Cutting is the expansion way whereas we would drag the shot back and forth and either shorten and lengthen it into the next shot. In addition the second type of cutting splicing is using the razor tool and cutting it where to stop. We used splicing when the tape was uploaded onto our Lacie in the very beginning where we need to separate the shots and put them into the correct order. However towards the end we used cutting as it was easier and less time consuming. We used cutting in nearly every shot to pick the best of all the shots that we had. For example when the sister was coming up the stairs we kept on cutting back to show the reaction and also the sudden rush that Emma needed to clear everything away before her sister came in. In which we learnt that cutting is very effective.



Bin

This is where each of our projects where stored and saved the work. This could be visible while we were editing encase if a problem were to encounter we could look back at the previous work been saved and edit the original to make sure it’s correct. We also learnt that all the way through the repetitive pressing the button of ctrl+s was very important from saving our work. It was very fundamental to us as we knew from our preliminary task that adobe premiere was unreliable in which the site kept crashing, so therefore we saved constantly to avoid losing work.

Problems

·        Location of the bedroom -Since our location was set in a media room we had a lot of problem trying to get the shots that didn’t include the things that was needed such as the fire extinguisher, computers, stage lights and other things. Therefore we had to try and get the shots that didn’t include any of these objects which limited our selection. 

·        Staircase-we used the staircase of the media block to try and make it look like an actual staircase of a house .Yet again of shot selection was very limited as we had one bird’s eye view shot which was very good but we had to delete it because the tables we visible underneath. So we had to get the shot of the handle and half of the space of the railings so it doesn’t look real. Luckily the wallpaper was all white and plain in the sense that if it wasn’t it would have been another problem. Also we had to try and move the camera in many positions where it will be suitable to record this shot which was very time consuming as it took us ages to figure it out

Question 5

Question 5 – How did you attract/address your audience

Our first step for our target audience to generalise our opening sequence which our group had to create an film poster and analyse in what different ways this foreshadows events in our film. In which is present below;

 

The main colours used in this posters are blue and Black. Black is the most eye catching colour, in this poster and it could emphasise dark actions which may foreshadow in the rest of the story through black it could also represent death in which will occur in some part of the opening sequence, in which how Emma will overcome this will be essentially significant in how she deals with the negative reacting to positive. It will also represent to the audience that all the celebrities have a rough patch in their lives in order to complete their quest to be the greatest which motivates the audience and also our character.  Anybody who likes sporty based in films will be drawn to this poster and may feel to find out more about this film as it may be different for the rest in which the idea of dance is underused in creating short films.

The woman is in the front of the frame in the middle in which can show that clearly all the attention is meant to be upon her, and you can see through the way she is dressed, that it has something to do with ballet or some sort of association with the hobby which is what the obsession is based upon. The location where she is represents people are watching her in essentially the spotlight is on the main protagonist in the short film leading to the location to be some sort of stage. The use of the spotlight beaming towards the characters suggests again that she is the main attraction in this poster in the sense that she is the unique selling point which will sell for teenagers or and anybody who likes seeing these things in movies will be interested in this film. The genre of the film is obsession which relates to the young generation which will inspire them to follow through in their dreams which in a sense can yet again relate to anyone, but mainly targeting teenagers going through adolescence.

There are both visual and textual messages used all over this poster, the visually messages given by the slogan is ‘Film that changed dreams '.My poster is trying to attract a young audience of around the age below 20 as we hope they will be attracted to this sort of film, because of the genre the colours and images represent.
There is a lack of symbols on this poster as there was no need to give everything to the audience straight away as a stereotypical film would bore them. Music will definitely feature in the film in which the poster alerts us of this in different colours for effect.  The poster has all the right conventions for it to inform us about it being an 8-20 year olds film.

 The fonts also add an immature perspective to things as the stars are hand drawn to emphasise the films age group in which again will foreshadow what may encounter in this certain age group. We gather certain ideas from this whether she may be in school or not or whether she is just a young adult with disability problems etc, which keeps the audience guessing. Bold headings, such as the title 'Let's dance' we know that the audience are in for a jam packed intense film which would also excite the audience. The title is located at the bottom because it is in a sense a pan shot as you would then have to analyse the to half of the poster to the bottom half , in which this way it would be more memorable as they are seeing this. Also it is at the bottom emphasising the last reminder not to miss out on our film.

As I saw in many films that simple camera tricks or techniques created a mood or want for more. We were advised to watch as many film openings as possible in our to interpret similar ideas in our own opening sequence and adding our own shots to these also and what would these elements have in an Teenage music based drama.

Starting with the camera work from researching the obsession teenage musical drama genre we used the panning shot in the opening part of the film as we panned to the props such as the teddy bear, the pillows etc. We did this by we brought in our own props as we needed our set to represent a girls bedroom in which I think was successful. Also the use of the audience a clear idea of where the place is set which was a girl’s bedroom and what type of person Emma will foreshadow which would leave the audience guessing through the sequence as of what characteristics a person that these props would include. For example a young girl with pink pillows and a teddy bear would come across and quite young and isolated. Even vulnerable to a certain extent as she may not be allowed to express her freedom in which would belittle her age. Also most importantly immature. Moreover adding to a feminine side with the colours would also emphasise what type of person she is. This made sure that her identity was shown to the audience. A slow pan would be used to familiarise the audience in of her age and also enabled the audience to slow down and analyse each photo due to the slow speed.

Another camera shot in which we used a close up shot of her flicking through the pages of the magazine emphasising her quick transformation from being comfortable to suddenly being off-edge reacting to her sister was coming up the stairs .We see this used in all types of movies and TV programmes for effect. We had to edit the flicking through of the magazines as it lacked continuity in the original shot as we then had to replace it with the previous shot of her running into her bed. The use of the magazines could represent again her involvement in wanting to become famous relating to the ‘idols’ in the magazines and her feminism. This then up to this point was very action packed in which it allowed the audience to slow down and significantly knock reality back into their heads in which it may be used as a fantasy given as the mood of the opening sequence changes often. To engage young audiences we used props that they can relate to .Then we used a long shot of her looking to her sister and giving a fake smile by showing these aspects will represent how the girl is trying to keep her secrets thoroughly. This then was a very good shot as it looked normal and didn’t give very much away as to a certain extent nothing had changed adding to the reality secret in which the rest of the family do not know about. As evidently the audience know this by the different types of shots that we use to portray these methods.  .

We wanted the audience to feel as if that what they were watching in a reflected a realistic stetting, so it was important for to make our setting look as if we were actually filming in a bedroom in which was Emma’s place to practice which would show suspicion. We had a plain and empty set , which are visible are on our location Reece and we brought our own props in such as posters to the set. This came up well on screen and added realism to the scene. If the audience feels as if they are watching a real life story they may develop more emotional links to characters.

We used a cutterway shot as it is most commonly used in dramatic cases are to adjust the pace of the main action, to conceal the deletion of some unwanted part of the main shot, or to allow the joining of parts of two versions of that shot in which were relevant to our opening sequence of the character picking up the wig from an very awkward camera angle. We used this to show the audience in this case the wig was significant as it allowed the character to pretend to be someone that she is not, preferable to her reality as being her is painful. We decided to take it from a different camera angle to make the shot look more interesting and engaging for the audience to watch instead of the old boring normal cutterway. Also from this angle we could see that the wig was superior towards the other props on the table. and to some extent highlighting to the audience the wig may be an important object in the characters progression in practising.

Throughout the opening sequence the dialogue was kept to zero because we felt that we could show the message behind the story better visually in comparison to verbally. Therefore we used sound effects and music. The sound effects we used a fast paced music mainly opera which were played as soon as her sister comes up the tempo of music increases. This was vital in presenting the audience the idea that the tempo changing will foreshadow an event afterwards. Also it creates a disturbing atmosphere up until this point leaving the audience puzzled as of whom, why, how, and when the music changed and will the character get found out or not as she will need to quickly hurry back to her normal positions in order for her sister not to suspect anything .We used a high tone with the violins (Beethoven) to also add suspense to the music being changed and the tempo increased. As this was present in a film in which we used as inspiration was The Streetcar Named Desire in which music was added for expressionism and symbolism for the characters Blanche and also as the play progressed the music symbolised significant events. Our feedback from another person in the class indentified that we successfully mastered this by the music we had chosen from of was a copyright free source.

Our research on the prior knowledge in which we would expect our audience to have on our genre proved essential in order to build our opening sequence around this. We had chosen this genre due to watching previous year groups opening sequences and seeing that this genre was the most unknown genre as this genre hasn’t made enough short films. Also it can be shown towards the audience easily particularly having an ambition/dreams etc which is what we wanted, in which our group felt that we could adapt to those kinds of situations as they are all around us. Focusing on this particular genre, we had to have in mind the typical conventions of the genre that we had to include in our film depending on the cultural context of the film, but they can include proms, alcohol, illegal substances, high school, parties and all-night raves, relationships, social groups and American pop-culture .The classic codes and conventions of teen film come from American films and social groups. The wide range stereotypes most commonly used include film such as

·         High school musical

·         Misfits
 

·         Step up

In which these all have an element of the conventions above in which is what the audience expect from the genre. These significantly will be used in our film as many teenagers read magazines which are what the character does in the shot where she is flicking through them in which she wants to be famous just like them. We also get a further insight of common music very lively and bubbly in which we would also expect the audience of a teenage film based. So we continued searching and our ideas developed and grew to reach the expectations. Our group then decided and started looking on films based around the obsession and what was most common to our primary audience of girls. We came to a conclusion that ballet would be quick, easy and a simple way to present our message across. We researched character such as Billy Elliot and the different types of things he had to go through in order to become who he is now and also Mise en scene in his films and used some elements of this in our film. Having a build up and keeping the audience in suspense throughout the film was a priority for us as it was the easiest way to show this in our characters reality.

 

Overall, our film has successfully addressed and attracted our target audience using the different conventions in which the audience know what to expect of our genre based film through camera, sound, editing and Mise en scene.

Question 4

Question 4) Who would be the audience for your media product and why?

Primary audience profile

Gender: Female

Age: 8-20

Any ethnic background as It will apply to all females of different race etc..

Ideal lifestyle and interests of the above age group would include a various activities such as dancing, youth clubs, watching music videos, TV which may include soap operas such as 'Eastenders', 'Waterloo Road', 'Emmerdale' etc. Also national dance programmes such as 'Strictly Come Dancing'. Main activities that a female of this age group would associate herself is fashion such as going shopping, hair and make-up, nails, hair etc. Often tend to go the cinema with friends, parties, going round each others house and boys. They often tend to eat quite a lot of food which is worrying! Music videos genre is normally pop, R&B, hip-hop, etc.


Secondary audience profile

Gender: Male


Age: 8- 20


Same again any ethic background as it will apply to all races


The secondary audience is males as the majority it will not apply to but stil has the same characteristics of which the age group of 8-20 which encounter the same problems starting from a child to progressing to an mature adult in which we all hide things to protect our identity but it is not as high projected as much in a male.





Why did you choose this target audience?, What would attract them to watch your film?

All of the previous will help in a sense build up in what a stereotypical female will be portrayed in which you as the audience will expect to see some features in our opening sequence film. The reason that females are our primary audience profiles are that women most encounter these problems rather than males as research shows that women are more insecure when adolescence is at is peak in which we tried to discover how in the sense that it is affecting them and how would the individual deal with these problems if they encounter. In which in our film it is about a girl who hides her private hobby from her mum which is a typical and common situation and also we are surrounded by school environment in which we can relate to and also take advantage and use these ideas in our short film. We also chose this story idea because it is unique and different from the stereotypical horror and violence genre which is overused over the years in the media department, in which a secret hobby unexposed has a low percentage in short films as they don't usually make them in which our group wanted to stand out and be different. The main reason in which we chose this idea in that it may be a unisex trend that keeps developing over the years, for example boys tend to also hide things and they are scared that they will be laughed at in which also may feature in this short film. However boys tend to go on with their dream and it is morally accepted by everyone in whom a girl wants to do something different there are many 'eyebrows raised'. So gathering from this we could also show if we were to do two short films we could show a contrast in which this topic would be good for the audience. As the end result we want our film to capture the audience in how the 8-20 age group hide and deal with their emotions.


What would you need in your poster to attract this audience?


In order to attract our audience we need a poster colours that can is applicable to both gender, costume has to reflect the story, big bold headings in order to grab their attention. We also need a striking image characterising the film in so that they know what it is about.
Also slogans from many newspapers add to the immensity of the film as if other top newspapers rate the film it would then lead to the audience trusting their judgment and conforming also to watch the film.
What other films would the target audience may have seen in the last 6 months?

Here you will notice that each of these films share the same elements, scenes in the two dance films, and keywords such as striving, determination, and success which adds to our universal genre of an Obsession of an particular activity.

• Step up 2

• You got served

• Billy Elliot

• Bridesmaids

•  Goal

Question 3

Question 3 – What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Since that now we have made of our film in which consisted of three stages: Pre-production, Production and Post-production. This then is taken to a distribution market and then exhibited.

• The first stage from all of these stages is someone has an initial idea for the film
• Then, they create and outline of the story and go into further detail
• The film is then approved and made by the participants
• The film is completed and sent to the distribution market where they will make a licensing agreement to the company, determine how many copies of the film to make and also the screening represented to the buyers of the film (trailers).
• The buyers then negotiate on the movies in which they wish to lease.
• Prints are then sent to the cinema a few days before the opening.
• The cinema will then show the movie for a couple of weeks
• Then the audience will pay to see the film
• Finally the cinema will then send the prints back and makes the payment on the lease agreement.

A distribution company in which I have researched upon is called Next wave film. Next Wave Films was established to support emerging filmmakers. While we can only furnish financing to a limited number of filmmakers, they ‘provide information to many independent filmmakers through phone calls, e-mail, articles, and public presentations. We can see this is an upcoming business looking into many different types of media to distribution films

http://www.nextwavefilms.com/

Next wave films say that for many ‘independent filmmaker’s information is more important than money’. The articles on their site helped catalyze the ultra-low budget feature movement. The new model of production they present empowered many independents to make features.

’We hope the content of our site will help free filmmakers from the belief that they must have the permission, approval, or resources of 3rd parties to make their films’.

’Our site will evolve as ultra-low budget filmmaking does. When new tools and techniques come along, we will let you know about them. When new distribution routes open up we will give you a no-nonsense view. And when Next Wave Films launches a new initiative, we will announce it on the site’.

Straight away by their quotation marks they make extra low budget independent films with using English language features globally. This is useful to us as we can interpret our film into many different forms which will make our film more efficient and better. Next films also say that ‘independent filmmakers information is more important than money’ ,this is how we know that I can put my faith and trust in these distributors as they have our best interest at heart in which they are not trying to make money off us they are trying to spread the passion of film making.  In addition to this they also offer information through different types of media which may be useful to all of its distributors and support in how to make our film better advertised.

The second distribution company in which I done my research on is called York Entertainment which is an organisation which has been established for over 20 years. The services in which they provide are DVD, promotional campaigns and videos. This has the objective of to develop a successful business model that would create massive global sales specifically for Independent Films. With the ultimate goal of providing escapism and the best possible entertainment experience for movie lovers from all walks of life. York’s enormous library of Action, Urban, Horror, Drama, Comedy and Thriller films provides the diversity and selection necessary to continue to satisfy today’s market demands and to power the digital video revolution for years to come’

So therefore if I were to present my film to York Entertainment given the main objective as my film doesn’t fit the category for any of the films but mentions ‘to provide escapism and the best possible entertainment experience for movie lovers’ in which presents that if our genre was distributed by York Entertainment this could be the start of an exciting era for the teenage based genre. This excites my team and I and would relish at the chance of doing business with the opposing party.

http://www.york-entertainment.com/index.html

Another distribution company in which I had familiarised myself with the position before is called Left films. They are ‘a dynamic based film distributors who are very passionate about films and film making’. Their currently specialise in many horror, sci-fi, action and comedy genre. The reason that I chose this film distributors company as they are a very modern company which is essential to our target audience and how we distribute in a way suitable for ‘teenagers’. However as they don’t specialise in our genre we can maybe persuade them and give a detailed argument as of why we think our film should open up a new genre for Left Films. But I would be willing to present my film to them as it is for building for the future and what the teenagers in adolescence want to see in the extent that they are the biggest market and easiest to approach. Lets Films offer a range of services such as DVD services which may be a problem as it is very limited.

http://www.leftfilms.com/

Facebook is a prime and most common social media site with the biggest still growing number of registered members estimated around 42 million. It remains the 18^th most visited website around the world and is the 7^th most popular visited website in the US. Using this media as a method of film distribution having the selection of films advertised simply through the scheme of ‘Becoming a fan’ which has many elements pros and cons. This page has links to relevant websites promoting the film, follow inform of when the date will be released before and after marketing can be issued. Also it can attract a vast majority on the facebook news feed which can be visible to many other people increasing the amount of viewers when advertising this to the audience. Another advantage of using Facebook ‘Be a fan page’ is that when added to the group if I were to make a page I could ask for suggestions and feedback of what the audience would like to see in the film for future preferences which would be more efficient for the film makers

http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

 

Another site that would be useful is Youtube. Youtube is also one of the most popular sites visited in the world if not one of the top 5. So just like Facebook if we were to publish our film on this site we could hopefully attract and audience. However being that Youtube  is one of the most busiest sites there may be a question that is anyone really going to look into our film being with more striking headlines and media displayed all over Youtube being more convenient to our generation. However, if successful likewise with Facebook feedback can be accessed through reviews and suggestions to improve. Also ratings are a key factor to distributing to the audience out of 5 and how we may improve. If we were to do this I would do a test run as we are able to see if the public would approve in which either way we are not losing neither gaining money

Question 2

Evaluation Question 2 – How does your opening sequence represent particular social groups?

In our opening sequence likewise to many other opening sequences only has a direct focus of a main character. Our character is called Emma Jenkins and has an ambition of becoming a world famous dancer, despite keeping it a complete secret from all her family. Especially her mum in whom we don’t see in the opening sequence but wants her to focus on her education rather than ‘dancing’. As the story progresses we see the Mum is a secondary character, her sister and school associates. Therefore we represented our social group as young vulnerable teenaged female who has ambitions in life but gets held back a lot due the environment in which she is in.

In the case of the film 'Goal' 2003, which is about a young boy called Santiago Nunez in which has an ambition for playing football which he quotes ‘is all he has ever dreamed of’ to play for one of the biggest football clubs in the world .Santiago is brought up in the rough streets of Mexico with his Grandma, Little brother and his Dad. His mother passed when he was young leaving a part of him missing throughout the duration of the film we can clearly evidently see this by the kissing of his chain to emphasise eternity. Meanwhile his dad doesn’t want him to become a footballer he wants him to become a carpenter such as his profession, until one day Santiago is spotted by a local school game by a scout from Newcastle FC in which the story will similarly portrayed as a positive outcome in which we tried to show this in the opening sequence of our film ‘Let’s Dance’ in which the two characters are very alike. Likewise can be similarly demonstrated in both genders

This lead on to our character profile;

·         Any ethnic background female                                              

·         An isolated child very alone most of the time

·         Very open-minded despite criticism

·         Psychologically strained her mother treats her different towards her older sister. Her older sister often laughs at her as she has seen her dance before in which concluding was not very convinced that she has any talent. Leading on to the constant tension of Emma alert and looking around to see if anyone is coming up the stairs. The rest of the families bedrooms are downstairs to show she is isolated and that they don’t care about her that much hence why she has a colourful bedroom to keep her happy.

·         Magazines are her entertainment hence her only way of interaction and up to date news she can relate to. Her source of inspiration as it enables her to look at other people in her same position and how they dealt with a situation similar to Emma’s

·         Leading on she came obsessed with dancing due from an early age it just clicked with Emma mainly because it allowed her to come out of her own comfort zone and express who she is through her moves. Dedication has also been her strong point mainly because once she has learnt something Emma is the type of person to instantly want to further and better herself as it allows her to improve which should foreshadow success.

·         Occupation- Emma currently goes to school but doesn’t like it. She constantly dreams all day about dancing adding to her lack of concentration in which she feels that if she fails school then maybe her family will allow her to do as she pleases. We see that she is a school or education based through the props in which we use such as folders, calculators, books etc. This adds more realism and also more common affairs to the audience in which these kinds of things always happen in every day to day life without parents mainly knowing what goes on in their children’s head.

Our main protagonist Emma is fuelled by her neglectful mother and sister and just wants them to believe in her as she feels left apart from most of the relations. We see throughout the opening sequence her desire and practice in order for her to get better and better without the family knowing. The character constantly is looking behind her to see if anyone is watching as she is paranoid as she doesn’t want her parents to find out. Also the use of the prop of the ballet shoes are hidden under her bed, a good hiding place to emphasise the comparison of Emma that she is always hidden in the family and the only time when the shoes are brought out is occasionally which can portray Emma’s role in the family. Another comparison to another character is 'Billy Elliot' where in the film we see that his family are all poor and his dad wants Billy to become a boxer as his father wanted him to go far in life and become the ‘big hotshot’ in school from his dad’s experience. Later did he find out that Billy didn’t like boxing until one day in which he found a poster in the gym about Ballet dancing. He was very reluctant at first in case people at school would call him ‘gay’ and a ‘wimp’ and make fun of him. He went to these lessons until his father found out and stopped it etc. 'Billy Elliot' also teaches our character many different ways in which he was in the same position in Emma and how he dealt with them connecting with the audience through his dance skills. He also taught us that if you favour a certain hobby persevere within it and see where it may take you, which is applicable to our character.

The cast in the opening sequence were essential to what the character was going to be portrayed as in which Rachel chose Emma (Jess Kamanda)  in which I think that we successfully mastered the characteristics through Mise en scene etc. We needed to show a very isolated girl whom has an ambition in which we needed a normal girl to be very quiet and fragile through her facial expressions and body language in which in the opening sequence Jess masters her character.

The costume is very important to the character, in which represents what the main character’s obsession is. The white T-shirt that may portray and highlight attention she has craved all through her childhood.  Also the black leggings in which she wore represents her life in which as we associate the colour ‘black’ with pain and darkness. Or it may also highlight that she is confused and lost as she may be dreaming. We would hope for the audience to have some sort of sympathy towards Emma and in which we felt when watching movies such as ‘Goal' and ‘Billy Elliot’ whether or not they would have been caught out or not due to the clever use of camera angles, movements, effects and the use of sound similarly would influence our attempt to duplicate this in our opening sequence

 The prop the ballet shoe were very vital to the opening sequence showing a battered up pair of ballet shoes as were given to her to childhood in which she treats preciously and hides them in unknown places to the audience, in which this may be the only thing someone has ever given to her which may make them special towards her. Also the shoes are run-down to show that her family don’t care about her that much in which she is an inequality in the whole family hence the fact that they are too small for her as she feels trapped that she cannot ask her mum for new shoes as it will give her obsession away .The body language/facial expressions and movement of Emma was very tender and fragile for things such as the prop again the Ballet shoes as it allowed her to be free, this is shown by the different camera angles varying from close ups, mid shots and many different angles to show the different ways that she can express herself within her room. Body language is shown in most of the opening scene. It is shown in most apparent in where towards the end of the scene when the sister is coming up the stairs she runs everywhere in panic and calmness about her. It presents to the audience as if it is almost routine for Emma in which may familiarise herself in these types of positions before etc. The last huff and puff also gives it away in which she may have done it before almost to say that was a ‘close one’ as she was in time with her sister coming up the stairs or she may just be really fast. The audience are put into her perspective in which the tempo of the mood and of the film changes every time when she is almost caught out effectively as the audience are always involved. After when he sister leaves the room she is still walking with soft steps in which she knows and also the audience know that he sister may be waiting any time to peak in which is commonly used in many different films etc. This is to inform the audience that the tension and tempo of the sequence has changed .The audience feel engaged in the story in which it is a common topic to relate to which is why we had chosen this type of genre because we had a lot of different elements to common activities.

The setting of our opening sequence was the media production room. Our main aim was to find a plain room and then would be collaged with props. We achieved this by posters in which a girl of this age would have for example music groups such as 'JLS', etc. However to add a common perspective of our target audience we needed to add props of which a girl of this age group would have in their room. These would be things such as school books etc, these are presented to the audience in the life that other people want to follow on in life in which he doesn’t have any relation to which is why they are pushed to the back of the tables etc. In comparison to the shoes that what she really wants in life are hidden and stuffed to the back of her bed. We collected a chest of draws and painted it flowery in order to add some sort of life in the character and also the music shows this as well. The chest of draws may also emphasise her character she is trying to become as she is trying to evolve into this dancer but is constantly belittled and that her dreams are artificial. Also the draw looks quite precious to emphasise the little precious things she has in her room. We neatly arranged everything over the chest of drawers and the table to emphasise that she is a one minded person and that she knows what she wants in as the equipment is all direct. It may also foreshadow that she just keeps everything structured as she doesn’t want her family always up in her room to discover what they may find?

The use of lighting didn’t occur to often in the sequence as we just tried to show a normal girl in a normal bedroom. However the lighting was very bright which foreshadowed that all the attention was to be focused on the main character as we felt the bedroom to be a calm and basic atmosphere. In comparison in the lighting in the first exterior shot were cloudy days almost adding pathetic fallacy to some extent as this then foreshadows something to encounter later in the sequence.

Throughout the opening sequence of 'Lets Dance' the character never gets caught out by her family in which we know this by our use of sound effects and music. In the first half of the opening sequence the music is very cheerful and bouncy which sets the mood in which the audience can clearly interact with the character. Then as she is practicing the music changes pace as it is more fast to emphasise how everything is moving so fast around her as she is practicing in a sense she is dazzled. Then as her sister alarms up the stairs reality is knocked back in her head as the music picks tempo even louder to call attention to the audience that something with the Emma’s mentality not correct may occur. The use of the camera angles and different directions such as the teddy bear shot with the bear in focus and Emma in the background blurred was used as an close up to emphasise a fantasy in Emma’s world. It is blurry to show that she is still searching as this dream has not yet become a reality. She is constantly engaged with this ballet obsession in which the audience can see through different type of camera angles etc. 

To conclude the representation of 'Let’s dance' and the character’s social role and group match the universal genre of an ‘Obsession’ through a range of Mise en scene elements in which the way we used them portrayed this to our audience and how they were used in other types of media in order to better our opening sequence

Question 1

Question 1- In what ways does your media product USE, DEVELOP or CHALLENGE forms and conventions of real media products?

Our film ‘Let’s dance’ is based around the teenage drama genre. The opening sequence follows a young girl, who is dancing in her room, initially for which we do not know why. But as the sequence continues, we see intentions for the character that she maybe wants to be famous through mise en scene we have used. Then a further insight is acknowledged as we see that she is trying to hide her hobby. We constructed our opening sequence like this so in the short period, that we had the audience would grasp that our film and hopefully the target audience may similarly relate to their surroundings. We did this by using typical conventions of this genre which made it easily recognisable as a teenage drama.  We knew that there have been many films in this genre but we didn’t want to just copy their ideas although, we didn't want it to be like every the other Psychological thrillers which tend to make the most short films as we wanted our movie to be unique as we could make it having fit the codes and conventions of a teenage drama

After researching our specific genre, we realised that in our opening sequence we want the audience to see our clear themes of:

·        Romance

·        Jealously

·        Friendship

·        Self belief

·        Neglect

·        Obsession

·        Success

We wanted to pull out a variety of different themes which would bring out the best aspects of our film in having a variety makes a film more unique and more engaging. Also these films could be considered  as most girls are very interested in these prospects and also the ambitions in which many films told that they are not good enough in their ambition for example as these are the types of films that lead or result to the themes above to the audience more effectively.

Form of the opening sequence

The opening shots of the film shows the aspects of where the training and also the sport gives us the intention that the girl is interested in ballet through props. Close up shots of each prop that is being used by the character to give hints to show that she is dedicated to a chosen hobby which in our film is ballet. We see this in our film when she breathes a sign of relief as her sister doesn’t find out what she is doing. We did this to see her body language and how much she is dedicated and wants to be a ballet dancer. It follows the form of the opening sequence, this is similar to ‘Sister Act’ of where the character Lauren Hill is trying to keep her secrets from without letting her mum find out about the dream she wants to fulfil instead of education which is the same storyline as in my film. We see the camera work from Lauren playing the piano in her school as she is witnessed by the nuns in which they feel that she is really good. We see the close up to emphasise she is so relaxed and fitted when it comes to singing in comparison when at home the close ups of her are shown in a negative way in which follows the conventions and themes of our genre . It challenges the conventions by different locations as Emma the character in ‘Let’s Dance’ is at home in the opening sequence and Lauren it at school when she is discovered. Also the age Emma is a bit younger and doesn’t understand as she is portrayed as a vulnerable through camera, whereas Lauren is more bold and dominant through camera through the different shots of her in different locations.

In our first shot we panned down to the house outside in which the lighting was daylight. We did this to add significance to where the setting of our film is, but to also add normality and local presence to our film. We looked at ‘High School Musical 2’ where the opening sequence which their opening shot is also a panning shot of the school in daylight. It adds normality again and emphasises local locations such as a school, house that the audience can relate to. In which we have followed the conventions by doing this. Also the lighting suited the happy and exiting atmosphere where it’s all peaceful and relaxing where Emma is practising. This is similar here  again to ‘High School Musical 2’ as the lighting is sparkly bright almost as if the film is ready to burst into life, in which we then see fades to different locations such as the canteen, cafeteria etc. Similar to our film we have fades of the different props we have used such as tables, mirrors etc. We then researched the film and found out that the opening sequence is too predictable being about normal school teenagers and decided to do something different such as include family members to add a more personal and blood aspect to her life.

                                                                                           Lauren Hill

Characters

The character was the main important aspect of our film and also of how we present this character in our opening scene will enable the audience to understand what sort of character he/she is. Our character Emma has the obsession of dance while her mum wants her to focus on her education. This is similar to main influence of our film which is of ‘Billy Elliot’ which has the exact characteristics but instead of education it is boxing. Billy had the obsession of become a ballet dancer, however his father wants him to become a boxer therefore this gave us the similarities. So we have challenged the conventions of the film by changing the gender adding more of feminine perspectives in which we see films such as ‘Billy Elliot’ and ‘High School Musical’ they all have a masculine role overpowering the main character. In which we see leading to our primary target audience of girls by challenging the gender, however it applies to all genders to our target age group with the inspiration of these two films etc.

Narrative

The narrative for a teenage drama would be set in a popular place where in most films we see that there are different types of groups such as the ’pretty’ people, nerds etc.  Normally set in a public area such as school or college. There tends to be romance between two unexpected people that both like each other but just in denial.  Such as in ‘High School Musical’ the basketball player falls in love with the smart girl who can sing.  In ‘Step Up’ the dancer falls in love with the uneducated boy who has ambitions of playing basketball but finds dance more appealing. There tends to be secrets which unravel during the story. There is always an authority figure overpowering the characters in which we see this is ‘Goal’ and ‘Sister Act’. There also tends to be an undiscovered talent in which a big event will occur and will take everyone by surprise. In my film they definitely have some elements of what a teenage drama narrative would include in which not many will be revealed to the audience in the opening sequence. In the way we have followed the codes and conventions of the narrative structure in different films but different mise en scene aspects using colour, props, hair and makeup, sound, camera work etc. The main film of this concept is to present a girl who has the passion and the destiny of achieving her dream of becoming a star having the fame she always wanted. There are many films that has similar aspects where someone has the dream which they as films like ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory’ in which he dream was to go to the chocolate factory and ended up owning it, ‘Sister Act’ – Lauren’s dream was to sing in which she eventually did without her mum’s permission but paid off and ‘Karate Kid’ he wanted to win a trophy in which so long he had been training for in, in which with practice he became triumphant.  Similarly all these films always include a conflict that may occur between the route towards the dream they are pursuing and in this matter this is why we have changed this type narrative idea where a girl chases her dream of becoming a ballet dancer instead of the usual local issues.

Sound

The sound was going to be the most vital piece of equipment when coming to post production editing as using sound sets the mood for our opening sequence. At first it was very hard deciding what music to use to represent our characters emotions and the theme of our film which is obsession. Our initial music choice that we used for our film was too gloomy and feedback said it made our film come across as a psychological thriller which is what we didn’t want. Also as part of our feedback was said that our group should add more of a vibrant and happy vibe in the opening sequence to emphasise that she is in her own world in which would show the music matches she is happy with what she is doing. ‘Billy Elliot’ used opera type music is peaceful and created a relaxing atmosphere in which we decided as a group this would be the type of music that we wanted in our sequence. Also in the ‘Black Swan’ when the character is practising this type of music is also played.  At some point in an opera or ballet type music there is always high toned moments which add tempo towards the music. We then thought of Beethoven as this ballet opera copyright source free to use when the sister is coming up the stairs to show the sudden panic in which Emma reacts to would be a good way to end the scene.  By using this style of music I have followed the codes and conventions of a stereotypical ballet related film. I have also challenged the conventions of using different music that related to theme obsession by I haven’t used this type of music all the way through the sequence I have added more of an lively and vibrant music to add a more informal and hostile perspective which would relate to more teenagers instead formal music which would come across as boring.

Mise en scene

Make-up

This device was only used for our main character as she normally would of had to of worn eyelashes/mascara and also foundation cream etc. In addition we felt that we didn’t really need this because she was only practising in which the audience would see through her props.  However these make-ups are usually related to films that add feminism ‘Sister Act’ where we see the cast wearing make-up ready to perform on the stage in the closing scenes of the sing off between the other schools. This will later foreshadow in the later parts of the film but not in the opening sequence as it is not used for effect.  So in this film of aspects this challenges the convention of make-up where we only use no material.

Colour

In our film colour is used to presented by colours that belong to the feminine point of view so therefore the bedroom was used as bright colours to fit the gender and genre of the film so bright colours such as orange, pink, purple, white to add femininity .This can be displayed throughout the scene such as starting from the first shot from outside as it is very dull then fade in shots to the different props such as the pillows, teddies etc. Also further colour is used in our credits to emphasize the gender yet again. Before feedback we had plain subtitles in which our group was told to change because it wouldn’t get us that many marks to a dance movie such as step up the colours are used to match the film. We have challenged you may say that we haven’t used a variety of colours which may be bias to one target group instead of both audiences.

Costume

This was also an important material that was needed to use for our opening scene where Emma dresses up with leggings, ballet shoes and a plain white top. This is similar to ‘Billy Elliot’ where he always worn the same dress code when practicing which the audience get the sense that Emma will be the same.

 We challenged this by adding a prop of the wig to emphasize her immaturity in which she imagines herself being famous, as you know adults don’t usually tend to wear wigs for fun. As she is in her own world we can see from the different types of camera shots that she does as she pleases. 

Body language

 We used body language when Emma is stretching and practicing her ballet moves as can be seen by the different types of shots that are used and over props to show the type of person she is and how she reacts to them.  Also Emma’s body language can be shown through her eye movement. Throughout the opening sequence she is constantly looking around incase her sister see’s her. Therefore this film is also related to ‘High School Musical’ when Troy the actor misses basketball practice for the singing audition, in which we see very various close ups and medium close ups how he is reacting playing basketball and singing at the same time in which also he is constantly looking out encase he is seen which will therefore downgrade his reputation. Apart from that we have not really challenged the conventions of a teenage drama film we have followed them.