AS Media

Overall I feel that our production had come off really well. I feel that the camera shots used along with the editing really engage with the audience which makes them want to carry on watching. The overall quality of the film was quite good however from the different days we had filmed the lighting was a problem as sections of the film the lighting is all different but wasn't a major problem but a factor to consider that this doesn't happen in the future we would perhaps consider filming on particular days in which we know that the lighting won't have a major effect or cause any problems.

The story line of the film as a whole was very effective which had involved a sense of revenge that Tony owed to Johnny but wasn't directly planned it had just occured which had taken both parties by surprise. In this sense Johnny had became the victor once again taking down Tony's newest recruit; Vinny however there is still unsettled business between both Tony and Johnny. The way that our group had portrayed this I felt was very effective and had worked very well in order of getting the overall message across to the audience.

The part I enjoyed most about the film was the introduction. The introduction had involved the characters pausing at particular parts of the film and introcuing their names midway through the film. I felt this was very effective as it portrayed the characters in that instance and had defined the chase in the sense of how it is fast paced and had given the audience a sense of the story line whilst introducing them.

We had the title 'Counterplay' for our film. This had portrayed the scene throughout and had shown how the character Tony was considered the dominant force but twice in a row Johnny had gained the edge over Tony and had come out ontop and had defined Counterplay. We had this title come up at the end as Johnny is walking off as it had fit in really well with his dominance and when he walks off it leaves the audience on the edge of thinking what could happen next.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Our group as a whole had researched thoroughly into action/thriller films and particular chase scenes within the films, this had help us develop knowledge of how camera work, editing, mise en scene and soundtracks had blended with the movie. We initially wanted to create a fast pased chase scene throughout but due to our setting we couldn't do so as we noticed it had got boring so we had decided to film one main scene as a fast pased chase scene and cut into the final scene as a more of a suspense and tension addition. For the chase scene we had used the soundtrack; Netsky - The Magic Russion Bottle, this soundtrack is very fast paced and worked very well with the introduction as well as throughout it went with the editing and camera work. However for the final showdown scene we had used a vary of self created suspense music which had created the tension towards the face off between Johnny and Tony which was long awaited, we considered this to be quite similar to the Casino Royale chase scene as it had sections where James Bond wasn't considered the dominant force.

This was our opening shot to the film which had enticed the location of our film and the establishing shot in which it had panned had portrayed the setting and scene as a slightly gloomy one along with the soundtrack which had created the tension to build up.

The shots within our film had varied of mainly long shots and mid shots to emphasise both the chase and setting. These shots are slightly similar to the inspiration we got from Casino Royale on a small level but the jumps in between had help us develop the chase in order to keep the audience pulled in and to ensure we are creating a fast paced chase scene.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product represents particular social groups in many ways. Firstly the three of us that are in the film are stereotypically considered as 'chavs' or modern up to date gangsters this is due to the clothing that the characters are wearing, for example; I was wearing jogging bottoms and particular trainers that would be considered as a chav and especially because of the way I was talking in public. However this wasn't considered in the other films so the un-professionalism within our media product here was noticed and we hadn't thought this through clearly, this wasn't neccesarily common in the films we had researched. The common stereotypical film that would have related to our media product that had involved 'chavs' would have been Kidulthood this is a very good example which relates to our media product. A sense of the stereotypical of gang violence would also be considered due to the two characters chasing the one which also relates to Kidulthood in particular scenes.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our media product 'Counterplay' would be more likely to be considered by particular main stream companies in apposed to independent distributors, but is known that major production companies do distribute films from independent institutions. The reason to this is because of the conventions that our media product convey is very typical from main stream productions. These are within the film, such as; the conversation at the start of the film was the starting point of the chase and then the flashbacks along with the soundtrack had worked well to portray that the chase was going to happen. This is also demonstrated in the vary of shots that are used and how they move from one to another keeping the fast paced chase moving.

A main stream company that would look at considering our media product would probably be Universal Pictures due to the amount of films that they distribute within a vary of genres. However smaller companies such as Revolver Entertainment as they have distributed films such as Kidulthood which was a very popular British gang drama when it was released and Metro Columbia Pictures who have distributed Casino Royale and our media product partially relates to this film.

Another considered method of distribution can be done through popular social networking sites; Facebook and Twitter and very popular video sharing website Youtube. Videos can be shared on Youtube and then linked onto both Facebook and Twitter in which can lead to the general public viewing the video which will then promote and the views may slowly tend to grow. Advantages considered within this involve that it is free of charge unlike traditional distribution companies which charge you and this leaves the producers of the media product to make a profit. The reason I have considered these as distribution opportunities are due to their enhanced popularity which is growing vastly everyday and that it is completely free.

Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our media audience would mainly be aimed at teenagers and young adults with an age range of perhaps 17-19, this is due to the explicit content that is involved which would be scenes of violence and the use of bad language. I had come up with this age range due to the characters identifying themselves clearly with the setting as well as it is set in a park the characters within the film aren't neccesarily portrayed as adults they are portrayed as teenagers and young adults. The audience would also agree with this because of the way the characters are dressed, how they act and becuase of the setting that is used. Our media product would appeal to more males within the market instead of females due to the male dominance within the film, this is another example of stereotyping that males are physically more dominating than females.

The main soundtrack that we had also used would also appeal to this particular social group. Because of the fast paced beat within the song this entails that this can appeal to particular social groups within this age range as it gives off a feeling off excitement and keeps the audience on the edge as the fast paced chase scene involves stunts and accidents which shows they would like to know what happens next.

How did you attract/address your audience?
In order for attracting and addressing the audience we had engaged them by making them feel familiar with our media product so in this instance this would benefit more people watching our media product. Due to the task only being a film opening the group as a whole wanted to make the scene as interesting as we could and as appealing to the target audience as possible by using a vary of shots at different angles, making the editing to fit in well with the shots to make sure it is fluent and the soundtrack had engaged the audience. The setting that was applied was also realistic for the audience as well, this was the setting that was considered for people of the public to be in that category of 'chavs' and people that were low in the social factor. In conclusion I thought the production as a whole was very good and interesting, we had tried to make the product to be as appealing as possible by using various aspects of the media language in what myself as an audience would also look for in this particular chase scene and to also engage with the audience.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Before we had undertaken the task I had a brief knowledge of the video camera anyway, I had only used the camera when required to do so but I wasn't filming the whole video as a whole. I had a broad knowledge of the settings and functions when connecting to the computer in order to undertake editing at hand. Within the process and time that we had to film my knowledge has broadened increasingly so to undertake a relevant task would be very beneficial.

For our preliminary we had edited through iMovie on Evano's iMac. We had encountered many problems through this and had come to terms that for us this software wasn't so user friendly, throughout the research we had come to considering a new software which was; Sony Vegas Pro 10. This sosftware was much easier to use and was much more user friendly offering various features which iMovie didn't. Throughout this stage I had broadened my knowledge when editing with partner Matt when creating all the drafts the knowledge had involved general uses of the editing processes to consider before making the video perfect. Which had also benefited the editing was the fact that the software was on general Microsoft software based computers instead of the Apple software which I wasn't used to and I didn't feel this was particularly user friendly. Along with the soundtrack as a whole me and Matt were in charge of this to achieve the perfection along with the video.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
From looking back at the preliminary I had learnt from the mistake of not progressively doing research throughout and time management mainly. For the preliminary we hadn't done a lot of filming sessions in comparison to the preliminary as we only had brief knowledge then but from progressing and learning from mistakse we have managed to produce a much better media product, within the preliminary we hadn't improvised as much in comparison to the main. For example, some of the script was improvised in the main task in order to develop the film as a whole and acting in order to get across to particular social groups which we felt was involved. Also the costumes and props I felt had contributed to the realism of the film which relates to the stereotypical 'chavs' and modern day gangsters.

Audience Feedback
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndSQpxu7FFY&feature=plcp

For our audience feedback we had recieved two types of feedback, these were; a video shoot of what people had particularly thought about the film, any improvements that they thought would benefit us and any things that they didn't really like and an e-mail screenshot with a list of improvements that could benefit us in the future.

Within the feedback of this video we had recieved a positive reaction with a number of comments which were positive and throughout this video the people we had interviewed had overall liked the video involving comments which relate to the start of the video to the end. However some criticism was involved when we had asked "what would you improve" they had suggested that we could have used particular costumes such as; suits to entail the more mafia gangster approach instead of the 'chav' and modern gangster stereotypes. The particular thing that they didn't like when he had asked them this they said the only thing that they could criticise throughout was the fact that the actors hadn't put on any form of accent which they felt would have been more effective throughout the film opening.
But overall I felt that this media product has taught me a lot in the process of media language and a film opening as a whole. The feedback I have recieved will definitely help me in the future when considering this.

Below is also a screenshot of the e-mail we had recieved regarding feedback:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Px0kyInkU&feature=relmfu

After continuous filming and editing unfortanutely we still wasn't at the point to where it was perfect according to feedback that was developed. We had to make changes left, right and centre which was involving many features, we had done the voice over which had worked perfectly, we was also asked to re-change the flashbacks to make it look more modern instead of using the flashbacks that were filmed in classrooms which was also considered a major improvement. There was a part within the film in the previous drafts we were asked to remove the extra because it had looked to unrealistic which we had done and this was a definitely an improvement that was worth taking. Another change which was developed was at the ending in which we had shown Evano suddenly dissapearing to appear behind myself which was considered a continuity so we had removed this completely along with the suspense music which was changed. The text was also not considered so we changed this to a typewriter font which worked much better from recieving feedback. And the ending as a whole was completely changed in a new set along with more developed and effective camera shots.

Changes - This was considered the continuity and was changed to completely remove it.