Preliminary exercise

Film Analysis

 George and I recently made a film named "When Things Turn Ugly". It's about two men named Egbert and Cuthbert who are good friends and have been for a long while. We see Egbert enter the room and Cuthbert greets him with a "Yo!". They then shake hands with a very difficult handshake that looks as though it's taken years to manoeuvre and then take a seat with everything generally looking ok.

 However, they struggle when Cuthbert tells Egbert that he saw his girlfriend and thought she looked really good. Egbert reacts badly when he is told this and Cuthbert tells him to "pipe down" (be quiet). Egbert says "come at me bruv" and is then pushed by Cuthbert which ignites a fight. Little did he know that his good friend was the former heavyweight champion of Essex. Cuthbert throws a dodgy punch after having avoided Egbert's earlier attempt, and then finds himself on the other end of Egbert's wrath when he is punched square on the nose. We then see Cuthbert sprawled out on the carpet not moving a inch. This leaves the audience wondering "What on earth could have happened to Cuthbert?" It is a bombshell considering the closeness of the two of them shown early on in the film.

The Hypnotist Media Film

Our Final Film



AS Media Q7

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

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AS Media Q6

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

http://popplet.com/app/#/1724415  

AS Media Q5

How did you attract/address your audience?

 Our thriller holds the audience's attention because it constantly misleads the audience with the unanticipated story line. One second it is a story about a patient going to a doctor to get help due to mental health issues, and the next minute, it turns into a completely different story where the antagonist is the doctor and he is hypnotising patients and causing them to kill people. It's an unusual story and one that may intrigue audiences and encourage them to come along and watch it. The audience would want to continue watching my film because the opening scene ends on a very unexpected cliffhanger. They could continue watching and find out any number of things that they didn't expect to find. For example, is Mr Jones the only patient that has been hypnotised? Does the murder spark a police investigation which leads to speculation as to who may be responsible?
 For my film, I ensured that I used very hypnotic-sounding music and I specifically chose the music in the film as I wanted the music to match what was happening on screen. For example, when there was uncertainty as to what was happening, I wanted music that sound mysterious, and when there was fast-paced editing, I wanted the music to become slightly faster and perhaps have a change of tune. In my opinion, this worked and was fairly effective in my film, for me personally, it made me feel on edge and  very uneasy.
 In cinema, there are many famous cliffhangers such as: North By North West, The Birds, and Cliffhanger. We hope that our film will be as successful and entertaining as these classics and leave the audience wanting more.

 We carried out a fair amount of research before shooting the film and came to the conclusion that we would follow the trend of a male antagonist and make it unclear as to who would be the protagonist and whether it would be a male or female character, however, I wanted to leave it down to the audience's interpretation as to who they felt would be the hero at the end of the film, or if the antagonist would get away. I know how the rest of the film would go but it is interesting to hear who the audience think will proceed to save the day or if the doctor would prevail and continue his work despite the protagonists' best efforts. The opening scene that we recorded is the catalyst for the rest of the film so it gives the audience the opportunity to guess what could happen after this. I feel that this low level of understanding and surrounding confusion will cause the audience to make a lot of premature guesses and possibly entice them as this is something new to them.
 We filmed the doctors room at my school as my schools standards are very high and our rooms look immaculate and I thought that we could pass the one I eventually chose as a very professional doctors room, given the correct props and lighting. The scene in the alley was filmed not too far from my school as it is incredibly rare to see anyone walk down it so I thought that it would be an ideal location as there is very little chance of our filming being disrupted.

 The types of films that leave audiences wanting more is clearly thrillers and the fact that I have made a film that is from the rare genre of psychological thriller is encouraging as it gives me the opportunity to combine success with a unknown genre and perhaps change people's opinions' of the different genres within thrillers.
 When I carried out the audience research, I was met with mixed reactions. There were a few people with mixed feelings about the film who said that it was an unusual film and one that's' genre they were unfamiliar with, and the majority said that it was a brilliant film that was very well constructed and left them wanting more. I would say that they film as a whole was very well received and had positive feedback in general. There was roughly 10% of the audience that said that it was confusing and not something they were interested in, but 90% of the audience saying they enjoyed it is a positive sign. The audience feedback was helpful as if ever there is a time that I have the opport
unity to film another film or anything like that, I have been given criticisms and advice to help me on my way. 

AS Media Q4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

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Media question 4 from conorlusted

AS Media Q3

What kind of media institute might distribute your media product and why?

 There is only a limited number of ways that I could distribute my film because it is very low budget. In a dream world, I would like to have one of the "Big Six" distributing my film. However, I have had an extremely small budget for making this film and Hollywood films traditionally have enormous budgets of hundreds of millions of dollars. For this reason, it is fair to say that it's immediately apparent that it is not then going to fit into the category of the "Big Six". The "Big Six" are the most well-thought of distribution companies in the world of film and my film is the first one I've ever tried to make professionally and I've had no real experience prior to that. Therefore if it didn't do as well as some may expect a "Big Six" film to do, it would go down as a "flop".
 A small independent film company could distribute my film as they could be encouraged by the idea of my story line. Due to the fact that the story line is so unique, they could see this as an opportunity to make "big" money. However, an independent film is more likely to take on a film that has cast and crew who have previously been in or worked on a film. As my film has no big stars and no big crew members, they will probably choose not to invest in it.
 Another company that could possibly distribute my film is BBC films. They are a company within the BBC that fund small films and distribute them in different ways to get the film out and about. However, they tend to distribute films that have big names in the film. For example, "The King's Speech" is a BBC film that has stars such as: Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, and Geoffrey Rush. In my film, there is nobody that stars in my film who is already known within the film industry. This means that they are incredibly unlikely to take on my film. Although, they are not all about profit as they are always thinking about promoting young British talent. There is a slight possibly of my film being distributed by them.
 Film4 is a good company to look at for distribution of my film as they are fairly well-known for distributing low budget films that have a good story line. My film is an extremely low budget film that has an incredibly intriguing story line. They managed to very effectively distribute "28 Days later", a low budget film at just £5,000,000 to make and raking in over £50,000,000 in the box office. I think it's fair to say that it's unlikely that my film will make that much money but in terms of what it cost to make and the profit margin, I believe that it could be a success. Film4 are possible distributers for my film and are ideal.
 To release my film straight onto DVD would be a bad idea. It costs roughly 15 pence to produce a DVD and then a few thousand to actually release it. Due to the fact that there is not enough funding for my film, I will not be able to advertise my film in order to tell people what it's about and they will not be interested in buying it. Therefore this would be a bad idea as a way to distribute my film.
 If I were to put my film on the internet and try to get it known amongst the public, there is a big chance that I would receive good feedback and it would be considered a success. Should I upload it onto YouTube, I could put the link on Facebook and perhaps start a page, advertising my film for the public to see. Or I could put it on Twitter and get it trending so that it would be viewed by a large audience and I would be able to listen to a lot more feedback. I think realistically, the best way to get my film views would be to upload it onto the internet and reach a wider range of audience.

AS Media Q2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

 My film is a film that features middle class people such as the doctor and his partner, and a lower class person (Mr Jones). This may mean that the film appeals to a wider range of audiences but it is not a given. My film represents middle class people as very helpful and respectable people who may have a dark side and lower class people as unable and in need of assistance. My film represents males as uncontrollable with animalistic characteristics. Within the first few minutes, there are only three main characters, two of which are males, and they both either plot the murder or carry it out. As for the female, she is murdered and seems to be helpless in preventing the travesty. As is the case in the majority of thrillers the woman is killed first and is portrayed as incredibly weak and powerless, meaning that my film conforms to this general unwritten rule. As for the age of my characters, the hypnotist is a middle-aged man, the patient is a young man in his early twenties, and the victim is a middle-aged woman also. Generally, the people in society with the most power are those who are middle-class, middle-aged, white males; a very specific category that the hypnotist very clearly falls under. This means that my film conforms with hegemony in the sense that the idea of the doctor who happens to fit all the categories which classes someone as powerful and more dominant, is the doctor who is more in control over people and can decide between life and death. The characters all seem to be heterosexual meaning that once again, they will be more powerful and this agrees with hegemony which states that heterosexual people are more powerful than bisexuals or homosexuals. The doctor and the patient are both Caucasian which is the dominant ethnicity and are the two powerful and dangerous people in the film.
 Within my film, I have very much portrayed the most dominant group in terms of hegemony to be the most powerful people in my film. This is because I wanted to conform to hegemony in my film so that the audience would be given a very subtle clue as to who would be the hero and villain before actually finding out for themselves. I would say that I have been extremely stereotypical in my film because I have carefully tried to use hegemony to hint at what was going to happen as the film went on. This is very deliberately stereotyped as I thought people would find it easier to follow if the story had the general similarities to other thrillers that had the obvious villains and heroes.

AS Media Q1

Created with Padlet

Speed of Editing

Speed of Editing

 This is the amount of shots that a scene consists of. For example, if you were watching an action film and a fight scene came up, you can expect the speed of editing to be extremely quick as the director is trying the recreate the fast-paced action that is happening on-screen in the mind of the audience. This then means that tension is created and a level of uncertainty becomes a huge part of the scene due to the audience's reactions. The frantic action sequence taking place in the film will speed up and get faster and faster and faster and faster until the climax, usually where someone dies, and then the fast-paced editing will come to a sudden halt. After this, the speed of editing will reduce dramatically and stay at a slow or regular pace until the next frantic scene. In the "The Bourne" films for example, there are hundreds of edits throughout the action scenes. However, in a much slower-paced film like a romantic film, the majority of the film will be slow editing. The moments when the characters have a soppy moment with each other will be extremely slowly edited with perhaps 5 different shots in a minute sequence. The speed of editing is a key element in a film as it can create atmosphere very effectively when used correctly.

Style of Editing

Style of Editing

The style of editing is the way that the scene ends and the different shots. For example, in the "Star Wars" films, there are "wipes" at the end of each scene. This means that the previous scene is pushed off of the screen by the next scene. Other styles of editing include 

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Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing

 Continuity editing is the type of editing that ensures that everything runs smoothly within the film and that everything is in chronological order, that is if the film is not intended to be out of order and in irregular patterns. Also, it is vital that there is a blatant transition between the times, shots, and events. We are able to split continuity editing into two groups: temporal continuity and spatial continuity. Temporal continuity is when different shots occur in fluent movements, such as two shots of someone having a fight and throwing a punch we might see it from afar in a long shot, and then, from the same point in terms of where the persons arm was, have a POV shot of the punch. POV is a point of view shot where the camera is like a persons eyes and what we see is what they're seeing. This means that the shot will happen in one continuous shot, with a punch from a long shot converting into a POV shot. Spatial continuity is where there is a 180 degree rule for the filmmaker to consider and carefully watch out for. The way to do this is draw an imaginary line across the set that the camera will never cross in order to avoid confusion and to ensure that the scene smoothly progresses as time goes on. If one actor is on the right hand side of the camera and the other actor is on the left hand side of the camera, then they will have to make sure that they do not switch sides at any point because this will effectively ruin the scene and cause much confusion among the audience. This precaution should only be taken if you are trying to maintain continuity throughout the scene. Shot reverse shot is where two people are talking and the camera keeps going back and forth to each person to get their reaction or to get them talkin. Match on action is when everything flows from one thing to another. For example, walking through a door, filming on one side of the door, and then switching to the other side of the door during one flowing movement.

Mise-en-scene

Mise-en-scene

 Mise-en-scene is the design aspect of the film industry. It is a french term meaning "visual theme" or "telling a story". It is the word that describes anything in front of the camera e.g the props, costumes, sets, lighting and actors. Mise-en-scene sets the mood. Everything that is included in the scene has an effect on the mood. If the props are correctly laid out and perhaps objects that show darkness such as in "Psycho" where Norman Bates is in his office and he is surrounded by taxidermy which is stuffed birds. This is a strange hobby to have and it is a dark one too. Then if you have black clothes then it makes the character look gothic and dark. If the set is in a graveyard then it will work well with the rest of the scene. The lighting is vital as if it's dark then it could be night time, meaning that this once again the scene will come across as dark. Finally, if you have a good set of actors then they will be able to make the scene even darker and influence the rest of the scene.

Ident

We chose "Helios Studios" because Helios was the personifcation of the sun in Greek mythology. This fit in well because he is a god, therefore, big and powerful. Helios is a Greek god which means that there is a very good reason behind naming our production company because we have put logic and thought into the name.  Also, we knew what kind of background we wanted for the logo and this name was incredibly well suited. Helios is a very interesting sounding production name and the way that we have put the type of font on works very well. Also, we put the jingle over the top of the ident which makes it sound very professional and look very good too.

Shot List

Shot List
Scene	Shot Number	Description
1	1	The opening shot will be a close up of Rupert’s feet approaching his hypnotherapist’s office. This keeps his identity hidden which increases anticipation.
1	2	While gradually moving into a medium shot, the camera will tilt up to reveal Rupert’s full body as he continues to approach the office.
1	3	A close up of Rupert’s anxious face follows as he looks down to the door handle.
1	4	An extreme close up of his hand opening the door further increases tensions as the audience wait for what is to come when he enters the room. It is the first part of the match-on-action shot that will follow. A non-diegetic sound bridge consisting of a clock ticking/pen clicking will merge together the present shot with the following shot for consistency.
1	5	Dr. J. Smith reacts to the sound of the door and looks up from his work. He then abruptly shuts his notepad (as if hiding something) when he notices his patient is entering the room.
1	6	Following Dr. J. Smith’s gaze, we see Rupert completing the action of entering the room (an eye-line match and a match-on-action shot in one). The doctor will say to Rupert, “Take a seat, Rupert. I’ve been expecting you”.
1	7	The fade-to-black represents a passing of time. During this time Rupert has been sat in a chair and Dr. J. Smith is discussing his patient’s current progress in an over-the-shoulder shot. Rupert confesses that his visions have been worsening and the shot reveals Dr. J. Smith ticking a suspicious checklist of Rupert’s symptoms. The over the shoulder shot ensures that the doctor’s face is always concealed which puts attention on his (possible) sinister actions.
1	8	A fade into a close up shot of a glowing candle commences Rupert’s hypnotherapy session. The candle is used to draw a link to the soothing voiceover of Dr. J. Smith putting his patient into a trance. He asks Rupert “In what ways are your... visions worsening?”, to which Rupert sporadically replies in a lethargic slur, “A girl... dark... friend... spying” etc.
2	9	A rapid fade to white presents an over-the-shoulder shot of Rupert spying on the girl he envisions, Angela. The vision is set in a park where Angela is mucking around with a friend in a carefree manner; entirely unaware that she is being watched.
2	10	The shot is repeated but is filmed closer to both Rupert and Angela. The music will intensify at the same time to heighten anticipation- will Angela notice she is being spied on? A glimpse of her stopping and looking over makes it appear as if Rupert’s cover is blown when in fact it is a false alarm.
2	11	This shot shows us Rupert making sure he is pursuing the right person. It is of an eye-line match of him looking down to a torn picture of Angela and a mystery person.
2	12	The image of Angela is shown with a voice over of Rupert saying “that was the day I found her... visions... even worse”. Fade to white into next scene.
3	13	The next shot is a high angle shot of Angela walking down an alleyway; in this shot there is the minimal diegetic sound of footsteps. A high angle shot makes her appear vulnerable and powerless.
3	14	A branch snaps in the next shot this uses diegetic sound. Angela responds to the sound and becomes aware that somebody is approaching her.
3	15	There is a music jump in the next scene as it becomes more intense making the scene more dramatic.
3	16	Angela increases pace as she is frightened.
3	17	Next there is an extreme close up of Rupert’s balled fist to show anger.
3	18	There is a low angle shot first in a direct view and eventually revealing the top half of the body also using a low angle shot. This shot makes Rupert appear more powerful and menacing. The camera then pans as Rupert starts to run.
3	19	The pan in the next shot shows speed and abruptness. This shot shows Rupert chasing Angela.
3	20	A close up shot is shown of Angela’s feet being followed by Rupert’s feet.
3	21	Point of view shot, this also uses Rupert’s voiceover who says, “My cover has blown, the time was right I had to do it, there was no other way.” There is then the sound of Angela’s feet running, using diegetic sound. Angela then pleads, “Please, no.”
3	22	Angela then begins to get tired from running away, there is the sound of panting from running, and Angela gives up and stops running. This shot is a medium shot of the legs and feet.
3	23	The next shot is an over the shoulder shot. Rupert says, “You’re Angela Smith, I’ve heard about you,” as he confronts Angela.
3	24	The next shot is a close up and an eye-line match revealing Angela’s distressed face.
3	25	Angela watches Rupert’s facial expression change into one of sinister excitement and thrill- he is about to complete his task of killing her. At the same time the music intensifies even more to increase anticipation.
3	26	The following action unfolds as the next shot reveals a close, high angle, over the shoulder shot of Rupert’s weapon. The high angle shot applies to Angela to show her vulnerability. The close up of the weapon ensures that the audience know that danger is to come.
3	27	An extreme close up of Rupert tightly gripping onto the weapon is the penultimate point in the build up of Rebecca’s death. We should also include a shot of him flipping it into the air as if playing around with it in order to express his excitement. Using editing, we will slow down the action of the weapon launching up into the air for dramatic emphasis. As it falls back down into his hand we will return to real time.
3	28	Abruptly following this is the first strike- Rupert will pretend to hit Rebecca on the head. As Rupert isn’t actually hitting her, the sound of the impact for this shot will be recorded separately and placed over the film. The diegetic sound will be Rebecca screaming out in struggle.
3	29	A medium shot will reveal Rupert holding the bloody weapon with a crazed expression.
3	30	He strikes again with the bloody weapon, this time he manages to murder her.
3	31	A close up of his face reveals an expression of complete satisfaction.
3	32	The following shot is an eye-line match of Rupert looking down to the picture of Angela one last time. Angela lies dead on the floor in the distance with blood surrounding her.
3	33	A close-up shot of the picture shows George with a lighter about to burn the picture. This action represents the death of Angela Smith.
3	34	The burning picture is placed onto the ground by Angela’s corpse.
3	35	A shot of the burning picture on the ground by Angela’s corpse is the last of Rupert’s visions.
3	36	Black screen. Voiceover of Dr. J. Smith in the present: “This session is almost over Rupert, wake up now...”.
4	37	There is a close up shot of Rupert’s face as he wakes up.
4	38	The close up is continued into the next shot which introduces a murderous and forceful side to Dr. J. Smith as he injects Rupert with a suspicious substance. Rupert, who is slowly returning to normality, cries out, “What are you doing? Why are you doing this?” etc
4	39	Medium shot of a picture almost identical to the one Rupert used in his visions except it is an intact copy in a frame on the doctor’s desk.
4	40	Close up of the picture in the frame.
4	41	Rupert connects the two together says, “That’s you…that’s her!” The music rises in this scene- followed by the film title.