Evaluation Speech 'Paid In Full'

Originally, I recorded a speech to go alongside my presentation, but due to technical difficulties it would not upload. Therefore, I have written out my speech that accompanies my Powerpoint Presentation of my evaluation of my media product.

Alexis Still AS Media Evaluation

Evaluation Of Main Task- 'Paid In Full'

'Paid In Full’ Evaluation

AHEM Productions

We needed to create the name for our supposed production company for our film, so decided to combine the first letters of our first names (Alex, Hannah, Emma, Mary) to create the acronym of AHEM Productions. We used a local barbershop quartet to sing the word 'productions', and it created an effective and professional sounding finish to the film. However, it was fairly comical and we were not sure if perhaps it undermined the serious content of our media product.

Name Of Our Film- Ideas & Final Decision

To begin with, we brainstormed a variety of names that could be potentially used and that wee suitable for our film.Here are the original names we discussed:
-The Exchange. This name is fairly bland and uninteresting, and only suggests one aspect of the film. We decided this would be a bad name as it made the audience focus on a less important aspect of our film.
-The Afterparty. We were quite keen on this idea as all the thriller action occurs after the original party shot at the beginning, so was sensible and fairly clever. However, it did not fit perfectly with our plot line and did not get very good reviews with potential audience members, so we decided not to use it.
-Paid In Full. We were very keen on this name as it left ambiguity as to the content and made the film mysterious. The 'paid' aspect of the title is in reference to the exchange but then in how the boy paid for his actions with his life, a very 'full' payment indeed. Potentially, as the film continues, this name could still be relevant as we see the exchange mans idea of justice in his world.
-On A Knife Edge. We did not deem this idea as particularly suitable as it gave the idea of a prolonged chase of some sort within the film, and nobody within out film was in fact 'on a knife edge' excessively, although you can see aspects of this within the 'protagonist' as he nervously looks around,fearful of being followed.

We decided the name 'Paid In Full' would be most suitable for our film production as it is mysterious yet gives off the right impression in that it is quite a dark name that is sinister and begs a question in its name to lead the audience on to be more interested.

Certification Guidelines-BBFC

There are several aspects of my film that must be considered when deciding its classification.
-The consumption of alcohol
-The consumption of drugs
-The murder itself.

Therefore, out film would either be considered a 15 or an 18 in its classification.The guidelines are as follows:
Drugs
No work taken as a whole must promote the misuse of drugs and any detailed portrayal of drug misuse likely to promote or glamorise the activity must be cut.
Horror
The use of frightening elements which might scare or unsettle an audience is part of a long tradition in film making.Many children enjoy the excitement of scary sequences, but, where films are targeted at a younger audience, classification decisions will be taken into account such factors as the frequency, length and detail of scary scenes as well as horror effects, including music and sound, and whether there is a swift and reassuring outcome.
Violence
Works which feature the following are likely to receive more restrictive classification:portrayal of violence as a normal solution to problems, heroes who inflict pain or injury , callousness towards victims, the encouragement of aggressive attitudes, and content which depicts characters taking pleasure in pain or humiliation. Sexualised violence or works which glorify violence will receive a more restrictive classification.

I think, therefore, that our film would be a 15 classification.

As we do not dwell on the violence and it is not sexualised I think that it is not necessary for the film to be classified as 18. Also, we don't want to cut out a potentially vital target audience for our film. It is aimed at around 15 upwards in content and therefore giving it as high a classification as 18 would cut out a major part of our audience.

Sound Effects- Ideas & Final Decisions

At several points during our film we thought it necessary to add sound effects during editing to make the film more effective and interesting. We wanted to add sound effects when:
-The 'protagonist' is in the bathroom. In this scene, we can still hear the music of the party, although now dulled via editing. The boy is washing his face and, as he looks up, he sees the figure of the murderer in the corner of his eye behind him. As he sees this, the music of the party fades out and we decided to cross fade it out with the sound of a high pitched violins to add suspense coming in. This creates a feeling of fear amongst the audience for the 'protagonists' safety. As he looks behind him to see if he is correct in what he is seeing, he realises there is in fact nobody there. He turns back to face the mirror and shakes his head at his foolishness, the music of the party in the background fading back in to bring the audience and characters back to reality.
-The stabbing scene. As we see the shadows of the protagonist being stabbed by the murderer, the scene then slows and we decided, to enhance the drama and intensity of the scene we would layer a heartbeat sound effect over the top. This we then gradually slowed to represent the young man dying. This was effective in increasing the tension and drama of the scene as it gets the audience fearful of the outcome of the situation and seems to draw out the events of the scene.

We sourced sound effects from various free sound effects websites such as:
-http://www.stonewashed.net/sfx.html

-http://www.a1freesoundeffects.com/

And these were perfect as they had many different options for one sound and they were copyright free.

Visual Effects Used In Editing Of The Film

During editing, we decided to add transitions and effects to make the film a more complete and mature production.


Cross Fade
-We used this as the protagonist walked through the streets to meet the exchange man. This created a more fluent set of shots as one merged into another and showed the character's continual movement to his destination.

Cross Dissolve Of Shots
-This was used after the exchange man sends a text to the murderer. We decided to cross dissolve a close up shot of the exchange man's face with an upwards pan towards the streetlamp. This shot of the streetlamp focused on the light of the lamp and we zoomed in upon it, until it consumed the screen. When we layered these shots it created an efect that the exchange man's head was almost splitting open, his mind flooding the screen with blinding light and consuming the scene (including the protagonist and his actions in contacting the murderer) behind him. This was the desired effect as it showed clearly the secretive and sneaky nature of this character, betraying the protagonist by setting him up and sending him to his death.
-We used cross dissolve once again during the stabbing scene to show the uncaring outlook of the murderer with a low angle shot of his shadowed figure shown through a shot of his victim as he falls to the ground. This transition was effective as it showed the contrasting characters in the 'predator' and his victim, and the cold and calculated killer merely looking on as the other man dies.

Slow Motion
-We slowed down particular scenes in the film to enhance the action in the scene.
-The Party;Cocaine Scene. The shot of an extra taking coaine was shown and the following effects of the drug were shot. We slowed down the shots of the effects of cocaine to enhance the 'trippy' and disillusioned feeling that the character then experiences.
-We greatly slowed down the stabbing scene also. After the shot of the shadows as the 'protagonist' is stabbed, the following shots are slowed to allow the audience to take in the action and intensify the scene. This was very effective as it allowed the audience to focs on the expressions of the characters.

As the 'protagonist' dies, we get a point of view shot from him. As he lies on the floor, we used a dutch angle shot to watch the murderer walk away with the package. We cut in and out of this shot to darkness to create the effect of the blinking and going in and out of consciousness of the stabbed man. Gradually, the 'blinking' slows as he gets closer to death, and as he finally dies the shot cuts to darkness as the credits roll.

Stabbing Scene-Influences & Research

We decided first to create a poll of the most effective stabbing scenes in existing films. We got a focus group of ten people to vote on which stabbing scene was the most convincing and effective:

-Saving Private Ryan
-One False Move
-Psycho
-Halloween

With 70% of the vote was Saving Private Ryan and so we decided to study this scene to gain inspiration for our own media product.


SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
Saving Private Ryan is an epic 1998 American war film set during the invasion of Normandy in World War II. It was directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. It follows Tom Hanks as Captain John H. Miller and several men as they search for paratrooper Private James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), who is the last surviving brother of three fallen servicemen.


The stabbing scene in this film is between an American-Jewish infantryman Stanley Mellish and a German soldier. Mellish is fighting alone against the soldier and the German slowly gains the upper hand. Mellish pulls out a knife, but the German is too strong, and pushes Mellish's hand backwards, pointing the blade towards the American's chest. Mellish starts to beg.
The German slowly pushes the knife into Mellish's chest, quietly whispering something in German.We hear nothing else in this scene but this whispering, and this creates an extremely intense movement as the knife is pushed further and further into Mellish's chest.






This medium close up shot shows distinctly who is the victim in the situation. The length that the camera has been placed away from the scene allows us to get a fuller picture of the action yet still easily see the facial expressions of the men. The lighting is dim and natural, reinforcing the dirt and filth of the scene and emphasise the blood of the action of the room. As a war epic, the production team have tried to make this film as realistic and true to history as is possible, so the costume, setting and 'grime' of the scene is true to life, and not 'sexualised' in any way to show the glamour of a Hollywood film.




This close up is a perfect shot to show both the action in the scene and the expression of the character. The lighting, as it is still natural, shows the character as shadowed which creates a more intense and fearful scene for the audience and highlights the characters anguish in his tense mouth in a defiant yet fearful position. The dagger in the foreground is where our eye is next drawn and its size in comparison to the shot is also a cause for tension. It is clear to see the tip of the knife pushing down onto his chest, and this is a greatly uncomfortable scene for the audience, knowing that the German soldier only has to push to kill the other man. The fact that the shot is in close up is key to creating the tension, along with the use of light to show a darkened effect that enhances the anguish and fear of the situation.

The Stabbing-Original Planning & Filming

Originally, we went straight into the stabbing scene without much planning, and this greatly hindered the final product. The shots we filmed were, although well composed, short and made the overall scene ineffective. We wanted to create an intense and realistic scene that looked convincing as a murder. In our original scenes we did not focus enough on the reactions of either the 'protagonist' or the murderer and did not create a slow and gradual build up to create tension for the final event.
Therefore we decided to do further research into intense stabbing scenes in existing films to get inspiration for our film.

Location Scouting-Stabbing Scene

This is the location we decided on for the stabbing scene in our film. We had always intended to film this scene by or in a dark alleyway, so this rural lane was perfect.
-It has a streetlamp near by which we could use for lighting and would effectively produce shadow for when the murderer is in the scene.
-It is mysterious as you cannot tell what is down the lane or where it leads to, creating a sense of unease and uncertainty within the audience.

The Exchange-Planning & Filming

The main scene that follows the party scene is the exchnage of the package between the 'protagonist' and the 'exchange man'. After the 'protagonist' leaves the party, we follow him through the streets with different shots as he goes to meet the other man. We used a variety of shots for this to show the characters continual movement and also his fear of ebing followed or watched as he goes. We used tracking shots, panning shots, shots theough trees and high angle shots as the character walks past the camera to create this impression.
As he meets the exchange man at the chosen location, we used a point of view shot to see the other man exit from behind the trees, then a switch to a medium close up taken from the floor to show their feet meeting. We then used over the shoulder shots and shot/reverse shots to establish their relationship; one which shows a lack of compassion and no real recognition between the men.
The protagonist then leaves and we use a point of view shot to show that he is continuing to watch the other young man.
We show him taking out his phone with an over the shoulder shot, but we make it unclear of the content of the text until it is recieved by the other party.
The final shot of the exchange man is a close up of his face, and we decided to add a cross dissolve on this shot with a shot of the light of the streelamp.
LIGHTING:
For these shots we relied only on the light of streetlamps to illuminate the characters. Originally, we were unsure of the clarity this would provide, but it in fact enhanced our shots as, with a combination of this and night mode, we produced shots with an almost sepia tone that increased the feeling of threat to the character and emphasised his vulnerability in this dark night setting.

Location Ideas- Exchange

This is an area near the village hall.It is, unfortunately, not suitable for the exchange scene for several reasons.
-There is no access to lighting in this area so, as we have to film at night, we need lighting to be able to shoot effectively.
-There is little space surrounding the area in which we could film. Although a secluded area, it is fenced off and therefore shots would be difficult to compose and film.
-The inclusion of the building in this area may also have unwanted connotations as it may lead people to believe there is some significance in it, therefore meaning we needed a more secluded area with no buildings.


We have decided to use this location for the exchange scene. We decided on this area as:
-It is secluded and not clearly near homes and buildings.
-There is a streetlamp which would be used as main lighting
-We could make use of the trees surrounding the location in our shots and positioning of the characters.

Misfits- Research Into Representations Of Social Class Within Youth Culture

Misfits Presentation-Research Into Representations Of Social Class In Youth Culture

Bathroom Scene- Planning & Filming

This scene is one that took alot of planning and preparation. We used the bathroom at the village hall, but had to film separate shots of the 'protagonist' entering the bathroom as, of course, we had to film him walking into the male restroom, but, for the actual shots of the scene we felt the women's was better as the mirror and room were larger so better for filming.

We decided to include this scene as we believed it would create a perfect amount of tension and fear amongst the viewers of our film to make them worry about what was to come later on.

It was hard to negotiate the filming of this scene as we had limited space in the room and the positions of the characters needed to be consistent and well placed so as to create the desired effect.

This scene was integral in showing the 'protagonists' fear of the other character and building up the fear in their relationship before he is actually murdered.

It had to be perfectly done to be effectual and so several shots were taken before we decided it was right. The figure in the background had to be only seen for a split second, so much so that, along with the character in the film, we also doubt what we have seen in the film.

Commentary of the party scene

Music Ideas For Party Scene

After editing all the shots for the party and adding transitions, we needed to find a soundtrack that fit with the shots. Of course, limited by Copyright laws, we could only gain influences from existing artists,but we decided to focus on dance, grime and dubstep artists so that we could remix via a DJ. Artists we took influence from were:
-Borgore
http://www.last.fm/music/Borgore/+wiki
-Rusko
http://www.last.fm/music/Rusko
-Kid Cudi
http://www.last.fm/music/Kid+Cudi
We took inspiration from these artists to create the soundtrack for our party and create a different feeling for each scene. We needed an upbeat track to play during the dancing of the party, but a change int he sound when the murderer enters and we see him in the party. We chose dance beats with a strong rhythm that would be typical of a youth party. The strong bass beat meant it was easy to coordinate the cutting rate of shots and also the zoom shots of the party guests.
For the murderer entering, the shots of him within the party and the 'protagonist' leaving, we needed a lower, more bass heavy track with Dubstep influences. This created a feeling of imminent attack and threat to or from the characters. As we see the murderer later when he receives the text, we will use this track again to show a clear return to him in the party scene.

Cocaine Taking Scene- Party

This scene was visually edited to enhance the drug-taking effects on the character. We slowed the scene down and blurred the edges after he took the drug to create a spaced out and 'trippy' effect.
This use of editing via Final Cut Express was effective, however we believed we focused too much on this character, and it made an impression upon the audience that he was a central character and important to the film. We dramatically cut down the shot afterwards for our final film to counter this impression and showed less of the characters face to make sure it was clear that he was merely an extra and not an integral part of the scene. We also cut down how long he spent snorting the 'cocaine'.

Letter Sent To Potential Locations For Permission To Film

This is the letter which we sent out to several Village Hall Committees requesting the opportunity to use the hall for filming:

12th December 2009

Dear Village Hall Committee,

My name is Emma Brookbanks; I am a student who attends the Marlborough School in Woodstock, at which I am currently undergoing my AS levels which includes Maths, History, Geography and Media Studies.

For my Media Studies final I, along with three other girls in my class, Alexis Still, Hannah Green and Mary Beadle, have been set the task of producing a short 4 minute opening of a film, within this we have to simulate a party scene. We were hoping that we may be able to use Bletchingdon Village Hall as the setting for our short production; however the main issue is that we do not have a budget for this and we were hoping that there may be a chance if we would be able to use the Hall for free for one evening. We are well aware that this is a large favour to ask you but we hope that you consider it.

I can assure you that there will be no alcohol or drugs consumed at all. As we have to simulate a modern party atmosphere there will be alcohol bottles present and fake drugs for example we plan to use icing sugar, however this is entirely for filming purposes only. Also I can assure you that adults will be present as we are only 17, our teacher approves of our plans and we hope you consider our plea.

Thank you very much for your time and we look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Emma Brookbanks, Alexis Still, Hannah Green and Mary Beadle.

Party Scene- Planning & Filming

For the opening of the film, it was necessary to create a party scene in which we would make clear to the audience who the main characters are. We chose Begbroke Village Hall as our ideal location for the party scene, but putting the party into action was the hardest thing. To create an effective scene, it was necessary to have at least twenty people so we could focus on them in one area of the room. We needed:
-at least 20 people to create a convincing party scene
-equipment such as lighting.We decided to use fairy lights to create a room with more mood lighting than harsh illumination. We had to get enough fairy and rope lights so the lighting would be suitable and look realistic.
-Alcohol, but simply for the scene and shots and not consumption
-Something that looked like illegal substances. We decided to use icing sugar and vitamin tablets to create a further effect of a youth party where criminal activity was occurring.
-DJ & equipment. To create a realistic effect of a party we needed a strong sound system, to create the mood of a party for the extras. Although we added soundtrack later, it was important to make it seem as though the music at the party came from an on site DJ with professional equipment.

We had to request the availability of the hall to book ourselves a slot and ask permission to film inside.
We invited thirty friends to help us film as extras, and people to come and help us set up lighting, the DJ, speakers, and begin to compose shots that we desired for our party scene.
-We had particular shots that we wanted to film for the party scene. We decided to do a circular shot, using the handheld camera and arranging the extras around the camera operator enabling the camera to spin as everyone danced. This created a disillusioned effect and made the party look even more 'wild'. In editing we will gradually speed this shot up so the scene is merely a blur before cutting back to a shot of the protagonist to shock the audience back into the action.
-We also decided to use our soundtrack to create shots that move with the bass beat. We started with a medium long shot of the party scene, everyone dancing, talking, having a good time. From here we made use of the zoom function in and out of the scene to show the 'wild' party and use an interesting shot. We also used extreme close-ups of drug taking and alcohol usage to enhance the content of the party. One scene in the party is of an extra snorting 'cocaine', and we plan to slow this scene down in editing and add effects to make it disillusioned and 'trippy', to show the effect of the drug on the boy.

Location Ideas- Party

This is Bletchingdon Village Hall, and we looked at this location to gage whether it would be suitable for the filming of our party scene. There were advantages and disadvantages for this location:
ADVANTAGES:
-The hall has a staging area which could be useful to set up the DJ, equipment etc
-It is a fairly old building which is quite rundown from the outside, so could seem like somewhere where criminal activity and a youth party such as this might take place.
However...
DISADVANTAGES:
-The hall is fairly large, and with a minimal amount of cast members we may not be able to sufficiently fill the hall to create the effect of a realistic party.
-We would be required to pay for the use of the hall, which is impractical as we have no budget for the production of the film so the money would have to be paid out of our own pockets.

We decided therefore that this location is not suitable for the party scene due to the inefficiency of costs and the size of the hall.





Begbroke Village Hall
ADVANTAGES:
-The hall is fairly small on the inside so it would be easy to make it look full with the extras available to us
-There are lots of electrical outlets which will be useful for equipment and lighting
-The hall is available to us for free and had lots of availability, so we could fir filming sessions in easily.
-The outside of this hall would be effective as it had a ramp leading up to the door and a large car park in front which would make filming easier and both of these aspects could be used within the filming.
DISADVANTAGES:
-It is a fairly remote area so extras and cast may find it hard to get there.

We decided that Bletchingdon Village Hall would be the ideal place for our party scene as it is a suitable size and easy to access when we need to.