Final Cut: Life, Death & Other Consequences

My Final Cut:

My A2 Evaluation:

A2 Media Evaluation

View more presentations from Graham Forward

Final Film Review: Complete

Final Poster: Complete

Here is my complete final poster:

In Bruges: Analysis Of The Oppening Couple Of Minutes And Comparison Of Genres

I have said how I looked at The Good,The Bad and The Ugly in order to allow me to create my film a sub Genre action western film, however it can also be argued that my film is an Action/Crime/Gangster film. This is due to the similarities between my short film and the feature film In Bruges. I analysed the oppening couple of minutes of the feature film to look at the similiraties and differences. This is due to a similar plotline of the feature film where a boss sends two hitmen to a city and betrays them by turning on them. My short film fits into similar codes and conventions of the action/Crime/Gangster genre. Below is an analysis of the oppening of In Bruges which I have analysed the similarities between my final production to see how it can be compared to a crime/gangster action film.

Link To the Oppening Of In bruges:(unfortunately I was not allowed to embed) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ilO75OmtUo&feature=related

Camera: The director uses a variety of mid shots and close ups to introduce the two spies and the confusion as to what they are there for In my short film I used a variety of mid shots and close ups to introduce my spies however I used a lot more longshots than In Bruges did midshots. Oppening titles are in black and white similar to my colours cheme however the Font used is of normal Arial and the titles are located at the bottom left of the screen where as my font is a bold serif style font and my titles are located on the centre of the screen. Finally the director uses a montage of images to introduce london and the location of the two hit men, in my film I have simply just oppened at a location without explaining where the film is set.

Editing: Constant cutting is used to add pace and tension to the scene particularly when the hit men are shown walking out and about in the town and whenever the two men are having a conversation. A fade in is sued to introduce the titles and the film just cuts into action once the titles have finished. In my short film I used a lot of cutting to introduce the spies and the meeting with the boos especialy where he gives them their packages. However this film focuses on the two hit men working together where as my film shows three different hit men put against each other therefore there are going to be a lot more differences in terms of editing.

Sound: The sound used in In Bruges compared to my short film is probrably the most contrasting aspects between the two types of film where In Bruges relies on very little digetic sound other than the characters speaking as well as focussing more on non digetic sound which is of a calm piano and calm music to present peace in the oppening of the film. In contrast however my short film focusses more on digetic sound and the non digetic sound that I have used is contrasting to In Bruges where I have used Rock music to represent the chaos the three spies are put into.

Mise En Scene: The mise en scene between In Bruges and my short film have a lot of noteable similarities, an example of this can be seen in the characters costumes where both hit men are in smart clothes and coats similar to my short film where I have used smart clothes and coats on my spies in an attempt to present the idea that this is a long mission. Similarlythe directors choice of location is very similar to my short film where the director of In Bruges has filmed in a more urban location, using crowds of people in a variety of shots which is what I did in my short film which was filming in an urban location and using the public in a variety of shots. Finally a contrast between the setting used in In Bruges where the director has filmed in a much older looking town such as York and has set the spies main location there. Where as in my short film I set my main location to a more up to date technological advanced town, this can be seen in In Bruges with the use of the horse and cart etc.

Graham Forward Media Coursework Rough Cut Second Draft

My Second Rough Cut: Only Tiny Improvements To Be Made:

Casino Royale & Mission Impossible 2: Boss Giving the Mission

As stated in my evaluation I looked at the opening to Casino Royale and Mission Impossible 2 to see how the main characters got their missions and information as well as how they kept in contact with the spies (particularly in Casino Royale with the character M). I wanted to change this and give The Boss little contact with the spies where he only texts them once apart from giving them their packages.

Casino Royale M(Unfortunately there Wasn't A Video Of Bond Being Given The Mission):

Mission Impossible: Boss Giving Mission:

After Effects: Bullet Effect Tutorial

Here is an After Effects tutorial that I am using to help me add in a bullet effect to help end my short film.

Evaluation Questions First Draft:

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


My short film uses media products such as cameras, apple Macs, Adobe premier pro and adobe after effects and adobe Photoshop software’s to edit and help create my final piece. 



This is where I have also developed my use of real media products as I am using software to take one media product (camera footage for example) and using it to develop my work to fit conventions of a real life media product.

An example of this is the genre of my short film, an action short film after researching the conventions of a short film I have found the inclusion of the following things: lots of cutting, more than one or two characters and often a variety of special effects. 



This is what I have been aiming for in my short film where I am using media products such as adobe Photoshop and after effects to use the conventions of an action film. 

I am also using the camera to fit the conventions of an action film by shooting shots and angles to fit the conventions of an action film.

The way in which my Short film challenges and develops forms and conventions of real life media product is my idea to attempt to create a sub genre film.

 What I have tried to do is create an action film however with a western sub genre because of my scene shot inspired by a scene from the good, the bad and the ugly where I have challenged the conventions by following a similar pattern in terms of filming.

I have also developed the forms and conventions by changing the dialogue and adding in a few more shots once again to not only fit with the conventions of an action/ western film but to attempt to add a tiny bit of variety to my short film. 

I have also challenged the forms and conventions by using two blonde haired actors against the typical darker haired actors which are more common in films.


How effective is the combination of your main and ancillary texts?



I feel that the combinations of both my main and ancillary texts are very effective.



Both of which were inspired by the research I have done into short and feature films and how they are presented to the public on cinematic release.



I attempted to use skills that I have picked up over the previous year from editing in programmes such as Adobe Photoshop to create an effective poster and film review.



I also looked into movie magazines such as Total Film and Empire magazine to formulate ideas and a template before actually creating the final poster and review.



I researched short films and how they were created and the effects they can have on audiences.



I researched the conventions of an action/ western film posters and film reviews.

I tried to make all products as accurate to fit forms and conventions of existing products e.g. I did not create any drastic changes to my final products only added in a few more shots or a bit more editing in places.





What have you learned from your audience feedback?


How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?



I used new media technologies all throughout the planning stages, creating and evaluating stages from Photoshop for drawings and sketches.



I used apple Macs and the internet with websites such as blogger and Google to help with my research stages.



I used YouTube to look up short films and the ending scenes of action/ western films.

I used cameras, Imovie/premier pro to edit my Rough Cut and Animatic. This was to give me inspiration for the narrative of my film and I used the softwares and cameras to edit the footage that I have shot and to edit the clips to the forms and conventions f an action/ western.



I used cameras, tripods Macs premier pro I movie, YouTube and Blogger to manage and create my final project.

I used presentation software’s such as PowerPoint and slide share to create and upload my evaluation.



I used websites to teach me how to do a split screen effect in premier pro with tutorial videos of how to make these effective.

I used a variety of company websites to look at short films and how they were created.



I used after effects to create a bullet effect

 for the ending in which the boss ends up dead.

From The Chikara Center Back To The Office

After attempting to film the oppening scene to my short film in the Chikara center i found that the building was a bit too random to place the oppening there as the offices are a bit too big. However i have found an office in Slough trading estate and shall be going there with all of my actors this coming Sunday (20th March) to hopefuly fully shoot my oppening and possibly move onto Gerrards cross to re shoot some other scenes.

First Draft: Rough Cut

Here is my initial Rough cut, I still have quite a bit of filming still to do however this gives an idea of what im aiming for.

Third Filming Session: Footage

Here is my third lot of footage edited together:

Second Filming Session: Footage

Here is my second lot of fotage edited together:

First Filming Session: Footage

Here is my first filming session footage:

24 Style Splitscreen Demonstaration

The following website shows a variety of demonstration videos of how to do a 24 style split screen effect in premier pro. I shall be using these guides to help me in my final project.

http://www.videoforums.co.uk/adobe-premiere-premiere-elements-after-effects/147-premiere-split-screen.html

Filming Session:

Wednesday/Thursday afternoon I will be filming the opening to my short film. Unfortunately only two out of the four actors can make it however I shall return with the other two soon. I will upload both edited and unedited footages to show my development through this project and critically analyse my work. i tried to do this at the weekend however i had a few difficulties such as the camera not having the right charger, not having a tripod so I would have had to film it all from hand meaning that it all ended up too shaky and unusable and finally again a couple of actors could not make it meaning that it was quite hard to succesfully complete filming with all of these obstacles.

From now on all filming posts will be located to the right on my shooting schedule

Change Of Location: From The Office To The Chikara Centre

Originally i wanted to have the three spies walking upstairs in an office, however I have been looking around and offices either won't let me film or are too far away to film in. I have potentially found a building in Langley to use depending on whether or not my actors can get there and whether it is open. I will either do this or slightly change around my idea where rather than goinbg upstairs of an office I will shoot in my house where The Boss (a.k.a James) will open the door and invite the spy into his "back room" however I am hoping that I will be able to quickly film in the Chikara centre as idealy it is the perfect place to film.

Critical Analysis Of First Draft Film Review:

I feel that my first draft of my film review was successful due to the amount of research I did into what makes a good film review, where I checked a variety of film magazines and online reviews and articles and looked at the positive and negative aspects of them (things that I did and didn't like). Then I tried to apply these to my first draft things such as editors ratings, image captions from the film and films the audience may also like really appealed to me, however the main thing that didn't appeal to me was most companies graph of prediction where they created a graph on how well they predicted the film to do. I tried to take into account all of these features and use what I felt were the better ones to make my film review look authentic.

In terms of how my film review looks I am very pleased with the way that my film review turned out. The format is probably one of my favourite features as I feel that the review looks professional and could pass for something you would read in a film magazine or online. I am pleased with the ratio of picture to words as I feel that if you have too many words you can loose the readers attention quickly, the same with using too many images. However I felt that using one main image to draw in the readers attention was particularly effective. In the same way I thought that positioning the text around the page made for a more interesting read rather than traditional left to right format. I was pleased with the variety of fonts I managed to use as I wanted the article to be clear to read. I felt the size of the text was suitable for the target audience to read easily and I thought that keeping the text colour simply black was the best idea to reinforce a formal feel. I used a variety of other features such as editors rating and films the readers may also like to try and engage with the readers more because I feel a successful article engages a lot with the reader and makes them want to read further on.

Ansilary Text 2: Film review: Complete First Draft

Here is my complete first draft of my film review, the order of the page and the text sizes/fonts may change depending on whether I need to add or take away information.

Ansilary Text 2: Film review: Complete Text: First Draft

Here is my first draft text for my film review. I have looked at a variety of film reviews and all seem to point towards the positive and negative aspects of a film and then give it an overal rating and a predicted rating of how well the movie will perform in the box office. this is what I have tried to apply to my film review.

Let me propose a situation to you, your boss calls you in for a meeting with him and you only. He places a letter on the table in front of you and says "all you need to know is in here", what would you do? Would you merely accept the envelope and be on your way? or would you demand to know what is inside the envelope. that is the infamous scenario in Life, Death & Other Consequences.

You're allowed to leave and so go outside for a ciggarrette to try and calm your nerves down and open the package... Inside is a note and a photograph of a smartly dressed man, you read the note it says you have 4 hours or else... And then you realise.. your boss is after you so what do you do? Thats what lead actor Daniel Parslow has to work out...

As far as action films go there are not many like this as this is an action western hybrid that tells the story of three spies who are forced to either kill each other or get killed by their boss. the film uses a variety of unique shots, humerous dialogue and a variety of sounds to keep you on the edge of your seats as nowhere is safe anymore...

The cast line up shows an interesting choice by the director as he has chosen a limited number of actors to be in his film but nontheless they give a good all round performance especially James Hall whose role as "The Boss" shows both a humerous and serious side to the situation. Admitingly the acting could be better in some places by the cast however these are only minor details that do not seriously affect the films performance.

The director Graham forward shows an interesting variety of shots and effects especially the final stand off. The plot could possibly be improved a tiny bit to allow the film the possibility of it becoming a feature film. the budget of the film is around average and locations arent terrible which allow the film to tell the plot in a relistic environment. This Brit flick (James Bond meets the Good, The Bad & The ugly) has the potential to do well with audience members worldwide.

Although the film doesn't have a to be continued aspect to it there are some twists and turns throughout the plot that may still shock and suprise you, We can reccommend this film for film fans who like a not too complicated storyline but yet a not too simplistic one either.

Overall we have given this film 3 out of 5 stars but thats not to say that it is definately worth the watch the plotline puts the audience in a difficult position and keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting more where some aspects do let the film down however thats not to say that this is a gem of a brit flick.

Around The Page Features:

I am going to use my catchphrase right in the middle of the page "What Would you Do If Your Boss Was After You?"

Certificate: 15

Actors:
James Hall
Jordan Smith
Daniel Parslow
Lewis Harvey Mott

Director/Writer:
Graham Forward

Films You May Like:
Casino royale (2006)
Quantum Of Solace (2008)
The Good, the Bad & The Ugly (1966)

Shooting Schedule update:

I have updated my shooting schedule as to when I hope I will be able to film, the link is on the top of the page on the right hand side >>>

Ancillary Text 1: Film Poster: Critical Review

I feel that my first draft of my film poster is a good first draft as it has given me a rough idea of what I want my final draft poster to look like. I feel that I will have to change the size and layout of the poster and the font of the text in order to achieve synergy with my Final film review and short film, however the images that I have used shall be re-sized and reused. I felt that the ammount of research into film posters in general really helped me in terms of imagery and taglines to be used. i looked into blockbuster film posters as well as short film posters to understand the conventions of each and how I was going to apply those conventions to my poster.

In terms of how my poster looks I am pleased with the balance of text to images as this is key in a poster as if there is too much text people won't bother to read. However i feel that my text deffinately needs improving especially the font as not only does it not go with my other fonts therefore I am not achieving synergy with my other pieces, but also the fact that it is too small and hard to read. I felt that everything else was fine it is just those small changes that should be changed for my final draft

Ancillary Text 1: Film Poster:Rough First Version

Here is my initial, basic idea for a film poster, it is a good start however i need to make the poster stand out more, at the moment it does not look like a film poster that you would see advertising a new film/short film. The trouble with my poster at the moment is that it is very basic. As stated I have attempted to use the 24 style split screen effect in my poster as it is an important effect that relates to the story line.

My Initial 1st Draft:

24 Effect For Poster And Main Project

The T.V. show 24 has a really cool split screen effect that I hopeto use in my poster advertising the film and in my actual short film itself. Origionally I had planned to do a three way split screen with a line separating each part of the screen however instead I have decided to do a 24 style effect. Below is a clip to demonstrate what I mean. If I get time I shall also try to encorporate this effect into my short film as well.

24 split screen effect:

Tag Lines For My Short Film & Final Decision:

And You Thought You Were Having A Bad Day?...: I like this tag line as it is humerous and still relates to my short film and it is one of those tag lines that everyone can relate to were they have had a bad day and feel like it is the end of the world to them whereas it could be for the spies.

What Would You Do If Your Boss Was Out To Get You?...: I like this tag line as it takes a more serious apprach to the plot and puts the viewer in the position of my main character and really makes them think about what they would actually do in that kind of situation.

Three Men, One Package, One Life Changing Opertunity...: This tag line is really good as it really sells the short film as an action fast paced piece rather than a slow hard to get into confusing storyline piece. i like this tag line as it really shows the importance of the package and how it changes the spies lives when they open it.

Overall: I think my favourite tag line is What Would You Do If Your Boss Was Out To Get You? This is my favouritre because of the humerous side to it as well as it not giving away to much detail about the plot so the audience will not know what to expect or how to feel about the short film until they watch it.

Name Ideas For My Short Film & Final Decision

The Package: I thought of this title because of the whole basis around the plot is what is actually inside the package (a photograph of the other spies) this title also does not give much away about the storyline or the characters involved.

Life, death And Other Consequences: I really like this title as it is one of those titles that does and doesn't match my short film. The reason it does match is because the spies are all trying to kill each other to live and in the end the boss pays the consequences for betraying them. The reason it doesn't match is because the title does not give the film a western feel.

An Average Day: This is my least favourite title however it is probrably the best fitting for the short film, I don't like this title because I feel it is to plain and not interesting. The reason this title fits so well is because the idea is that what the spies are doing (going out killing each other) is exactly what an average day is for them.

Overall: My favourite Title would have to be: life,death and other consequences. I like this title as it is bold but yet slightly confusing at the same time.