Evaluation of the Main task- Media

Evaluating the main task- opening sequence

Ideas

Our task was to create a 2min opening sequence for a film

We first disgusted in our groups and decided that we wanted ours to be a Thriller/ Drama.

So we then needed to think of what our story/plot was going to be.

We then thought about a using the Steve Wright murders as a story.

Steve Wright is an English serial killer, also known as the Suffolk Strangler and the Ipswich Ripper. He is currently serving life imprisonment for the murder of five women who worked as prostitutes in Ipswich, Suffolk.

After looking up about Steve Wright and decided to show the uprising of him and his victims. This will not be a documentary, it will be as a film representing him

We began looking at news reports and videos on the internet about the Steve Wright murderers.

We found a old TV news report on youtube.

Target Audience

Our target audience would be mostly teens and anyone would likes films based on real stories.

At first we wanted to have snapshots of gloomy and eerie places around Norwich e.g. The Cathedral, Castle etc. At first we didn't decided of which to show these places either as photos or film with slight movement. Then we would show the victim running away, to create the sense of murder.

We decided that there would be photos instead of video of the location (woods), as that is all we needed. This could be seen as shots of the crime scence that the police investigators would take.

We began looking up for eerie music for our piece but notice that there are some restrictions due to copyright reasons.

We then thought f having a news report into the sequence. This was because if we just had photos and the victim running, it wouldn't be appealing to our target audience. It would also tell the audience what the film would be about.

We also thought of using a old news report, but this also couldn't be done due to restrictions. So therefore did our own. (Me as a newsreader interview people.)

Once we decided on what our piece was going to be about we then looked at silmar films (with the same genre) and looked at there opening sequences.

I looked at 3 films: Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, DeathNote and Sleepy Hollow.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

Sweeney Todd: [holding up one of his razors] At last! My arm is complete again!

Sweeney Todd is a musical Thriller based on a true story based in London. The story is about Benjiman Baker (aka Sweeney Todd. Who seaks revenge after been taken to jail

This video is also the trailer to the film as the film is a certificate 18 and is not availiable.

Opening sequence of Sweeney Todd

On the opening sequence, the colour is all dark (e.g. black and grey etc) and there is a srteam of blood that moves around and the music in the background goes with the movement of the blood flowing, which is fast and is eerie to go into the ideas of a thriller.

Sleepy Hollow

Is based on the Washington Irving story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Directed by Tim Burton, starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Sir Michael Gambon, Miranda Richardson, Casper Van Dien, Jeffrey Jones, Ian McDiarmid, Michael Gough, Richard Griffiths and Christopher Walken

This film was also directed by Tim Burton. The curse of the headless horseman is the legacy of the town of Sleepy Hollow. After the head of a horseman is stolen, the horseman returns from hell to take the head of the people of Sleepy Hollow until its own is returned.

The video is just a trailer as the opening sequence is not availiable due to copyright reasons.

Opening Sequence

At the opening of the film, smoke appears from the bottom as tittles apear and fade in and out with all the different people involved with making the film such as: ditrubritor/production/director and cast. then is cut to a scene where we see melted wax hit the envolope which at first could be seen as blood because of the colour. Then cuts to a couple holding hands and have a close up of a letter, and we then see the camera moving as though it is reading it. Bird eye view of somone writing a letter and dipping in a pot for ink.

I believe that this is linked to our idea, as this is also about murder, but not just one type of person.

Research into 3 other films in the same

Genre

DeathNote

Basically the plot is about Light Yagami, a young man. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note", lying on the ground. This "DeathNote's" instructions claim that if a person's name is written within it while picturing that person's face, that person shall die. Light is initially skeptical of the notebook's authenticity, but after experimenting with it, he realizes that the Death Note is real. After meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a shinigami named Ryuk, Light seeks to become "the God of the New World" by passing his judgment on those he deems to be evil or who get in his way. After months of killing criminals, Light is dubbed Kira by the public and some believe him to be righteous about killing criminals. But then "L" steps on the scene, who is known as the best detective in the world, L has solved many cases with his assistant Watari. The race begins between L and Light to discover each other's identity, and a game of cat and mouse ensues between the two geniuses.

Opening sequence for Death Note

The film opens up with a establishing shot of the city during the night as there is a dark sky. Then camera then zooms in as though it is flling fom the sky, and stops at a section of the city then moves again and stops at another area. We see the city at night time, and therefore is dark, which gives the idea of something scary may happen.

Death Note is a series of two live-action Japanese films released in 2006. It is based on the Death Note manga (Japanese style comic) and anime (Japanese animation) series by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. It is a phycological thriller. The fillm is released in Japanese (original) and then was made in English by dubbing over the characters. (voices from the anime series was used.)

Here are examples of the English Dub verion from parts of the film.

This film i believe is similiar to our Steve Wright idea, as the character in this film, believes that he is doing the right thing by killing of the criminals of the world, and that Steve Wright also killed certain types of people (prostitues). So therefore this was helpful for our piece.

Evaluation

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

After looking at films that are similar to the genre, we then knew what elements would make a thriller film. We used the opening song from Sweeney Todd. But because of copyright reasons, we would

How does your media product represent parrticular social groups?

Social group are used in media and are easy to identify. We used teachers, student and news reporters and represent them as we see them.

The Teachers were laid back and they wore clothing that fitted the subjects that they were teaching. For the history teacher (played by Nik Jones) he wore plain clothing such as plain brown trousers and a waistcoat. For the P.E. teacher (played by Libby O'Leary) wore tracksuits and and sports top.

The students (played by Jack and Whitney) were just in their normal clothing, as they were just playing thier own age group.

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

When editing our work for the preliminary task, I found it hard as I have never used the software before, so when editing the main task, I found it easier but still I had trouble with the sound etc. I felt as a whole that after more experience with the software, I would then find it more easier. Also technology changes through the years, and so would be useful to have experience.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Our target audience is teen and young adults. So in order to attract our target audience, we used elements from Sweeney Todd (which was also targeted at the same audience) and we used the opening song. We also used teens in our piece, and therefore would attract our target audience.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Since we wanted to target teens and young adults, I believe that also other audiences may be interested such as those who are interested in factual films (films to do with real life events) as ours was about the Steve Wright murders.

What kind of media institution might distribrute your media product and why?

Hammer Film productions would be ideal to distribrute our product as they are known for their horror/thriller films, such as the "Hammer House of Horror" series.

So therefore our product would appeal to them as we are attempting to make a thriller and have a similar target audience.

Another company such as Warner Bros. may be ideal as they distributed Sweeney Todd, which was one of the films I looked into to create our piece.

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

Looking back at the preliminary task, i felt that this was more harder, even though it was only the opening of a film. I felt this because, in the preliminary task all we needed to do was to have someone enter a room with dialogue then leave, and with the main task, we had to create an idea for film and create the opening, which there was more thought and planning to do.

Usually as a memeber of an audience when watching films, you dont seem to notice all the hard work that is put into it.

I felt that we could have done better, as now i have begun to understand how the different media forms come together.

To improve i think that we needed more filming, such as more of the victim running and then lying on the ground dead.

For our task, we were aiming to create a thriller/drama about the Ipswich murders (Steve Wright). For the opening credits and scene, we decided to have a mixture of different media forms (film and pictures). Our opening scene would contain clips of the victim running away, and then it cuts to the news report. The first thing that would appear on the opening credits would be a newspaper article about the murder which would then lead to the film. Also there would be location shots appearing; they would represent the crime scene photos. Our main target audience would be teens and young adults, as it wouldn’t be suitable for younger children, because of violence

We decided to change the opening layout. We will still be using thriller/drama as the genre. We decided to have snapshots of scary gothic places still, but then goes to a live news report, (which i will playing the role of the news roporter) which then snaps to the victim running, (which will be played by Jenni) it will then go back to the new and flash back to the victim again. We decided to do this instead, as we wasnt sure our other ideas was good for time wise.

At first, we had trouble thinking of an idea, as none of us could think of anything. We then decided that we wanted to have ours as a thriller/ drama like Sweeney Todd (2007 film) and looked up about the modern Jack the Ripper (Steve Wright), and therefore decided that this was what our piece was based on. We had to make sure that we didn’t make it look like a documentary. We had some trouble with illness from all of us, and so could film at some points. We also had to rethink the opening sequence as we felt our original idea wouldn’t work. When we first managed to film and go onto the editing stage, we noticed that there were many errors, and therefore decided to redo the whole filming. We used some friends for the interview and used Jenni’s living room as her room was perfect for the news sofa, as her wall was plain.

When editing, i choose to have the title at written over a blood background, as this would go into the idea of thriller straight away to the audience. At first i found it difficult to edit as it was different to the software that i have at home, but i manage to figure it out. I feel that we could have done better in this task, if we manage to be more organise as people were away and this couldn’t have been helped.

Sweeney Todd: "I can guarantee the closest shave you'll ever know."