Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Finishing our film opening
We are finally on our last editing part on our film opening this consists of the main title being drawn by me, Kim and Vicky and speeding up the video to make a professional and quick paced effect. We got a plain black A3 sheet of paper and decorated it with love quotes, phrases, pictures of Jay and Lucy and foam love hearts adding some glitter at the end. This is most definitely highlighting our Romantic part of the hybrid genre and the particular girly side to it as well as we are a girly group. Overall our filming and editing has been successful we have put the time and effort into finishing our production and feel very happy with it. We have continuously stuck with our main idea and most of the time worked well together and created something to be proud of.
Evaluation Question 7
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
In our preliminary task we learnt the basic shots and use of a camera. We learnt shots such as shot reverse shot, match on action, 180 degree rule, over the shoulder shot, mid shot etc. Our preliminary task consisted of performing a small sequence with two other people, taking various shots to show the small conversation they shared. The main thing that was introduced to us was how to set up the tripod and camera and use its functions properly. In practicing with this task this gave us experience and knowledge to use the camera confidently when it came to our AS Film Opening 'I Can Explain'. We also learnt how to use the boom/microphone correctly, not getting it in the shot that was being taken and how far or near to hold it to the person to get the right sound needed.
Using the boom in our preliminary task was extremely helpful when coming to the main production, since quite alot of shots involving Jay and Lucy in particular were taken outside, the weather affected the sound so we had to use our own knowledge to try and get the best sound quality by experimenting with the boom before hand which we also did in our preliminary task. using the camera in the preliminary task made us all alot more confident using it in our film opening, i particularly enjoyed using the camera most to experiment with shots and positions etc. In the preliminary task we were show how to record, zoom, blanace the camera on the tripod and tilt it into different positions, this was brilliant first hand knowledge for our film opening so we all knew what we were doing and how to it best.
During the preliminary task the most easiest part was taking the shot itself once it was in position and pressing record and pause until the next shot was prepared. However getting in the right position so that the boom was not in the shot and that we weren't breaking any rules such as the 180 degree rule, this proved quite difficult as you have to think of several things before you actually take the shot itself. Getting your actors/actresses to speak clearly and loud enough throughout the production proved quite difficult so you could tell what they were saying, we then had to make awareness of this for the main production to make sure the sound was clear. Also in terms of shots we had to make sure we were applying the 180 degree rule to every shot we moved around with so that our production wouldn't lose marks for a negative shot.
In terms of the evaluation process, knowing about all the shots, functions, computer software etc. that we used throughout the preliminary task and our main production task it was very easy to explain exactly what we did and used after having used the software and equipment ourselves.
It was important that we all had a turn at using every bit of equipment involved in the production so that we all found a skill in each part of filming.
Developing some of these skills meant playing with the shots in using the camera, for instance in the shot of Lucy walking down the drive putting on lipstick, we walked with the camera to create the effect of being in a rush, this was developing a mid shot of what we had already learnt about and making it into a more fitting shot for our film opening. Other skills I learnt over the process from doing our preliminary task to finalising our main production werehow to edit effectively on the computer software, I first learnt the basics during our preliminary task and my confidence and knowledge grew throughout doing the editing for our main production piece. For example using music, lighting, foley sound, production logos, titles....these were all skills our group progressed with in doing our main production piece.
The process and progression from our preliminary task to the final piece we have created for our film opening has been successful and our group as a whole have become more confident in using the equipment and technologies that are essential for making a film/movie/clip.
In our preliminary task we learnt the basic shots and use of a camera. We learnt shots such as shot reverse shot, match on action, 180 degree rule, over the shoulder shot, mid shot etc. Our preliminary task consisted of performing a small sequence with two other people, taking various shots to show the small conversation they shared. The main thing that was introduced to us was how to set up the tripod and camera and use its functions properly. In practicing with this task this gave us experience and knowledge to use the camera confidently when it came to our AS Film Opening 'I Can Explain'. We also learnt how to use the boom/microphone correctly, not getting it in the shot that was being taken and how far or near to hold it to the person to get the right sound needed.
Using the boom in our preliminary task was extremely helpful when coming to the main production, since quite alot of shots involving Jay and Lucy in particular were taken outside, the weather affected the sound so we had to use our own knowledge to try and get the best sound quality by experimenting with the boom before hand which we also did in our preliminary task. using the camera in the preliminary task made us all alot more confident using it in our film opening, i particularly enjoyed using the camera most to experiment with shots and positions etc. In the preliminary task we were show how to record, zoom, blanace the camera on the tripod and tilt it into different positions, this was brilliant first hand knowledge for our film opening so we all knew what we were doing and how to it best.
During the preliminary task the most easiest part was taking the shot itself once it was in position and pressing record and pause until the next shot was prepared. However getting in the right position so that the boom was not in the shot and that we weren't breaking any rules such as the 180 degree rule, this proved quite difficult as you have to think of several things before you actually take the shot itself. Getting your actors/actresses to speak clearly and loud enough throughout the production proved quite difficult so you could tell what they were saying, we then had to make awareness of this for the main production to make sure the sound was clear. Also in terms of shots we had to make sure we were applying the 180 degree rule to every shot we moved around with so that our production wouldn't lose marks for a negative shot.
In terms of the evaluation process, knowing about all the shots, functions, computer software etc. that we used throughout the preliminary task and our main production task it was very easy to explain exactly what we did and used after having used the software and equipment ourselves.
It was important that we all had a turn at using every bit of equipment involved in the production so that we all found a skill in each part of filming.
Developing some of these skills meant playing with the shots in using the camera, for instance in the shot of Lucy walking down the drive putting on lipstick, we walked with the camera to create the effect of being in a rush, this was developing a mid shot of what we had already learnt about and making it into a more fitting shot for our film opening. Other skills I learnt over the process from doing our preliminary task to finalising our main production werehow to edit effectively on the computer software, I first learnt the basics during our preliminary task and my confidence and knowledge grew throughout doing the editing for our main production piece. For example using music, lighting, foley sound, production logos, titles....these were all skills our group progressed with in doing our main production piece.
The process and progression from our preliminary task to the final piece we have created for our film opening has been successful and our group as a whole have become more confident in using the equipment and technologies that are essential for making a film/movie/clip.
Thursday, 17 January 2013
Evaluation Question 6
What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Through out the process of researching, preparing and creating our film production we have used several types of technologies which includes software and equipment.
Doing our planning and research for our film, we mainly used familiar Rom Com films that we were already aware of and liked using DVD's and Televisions.
We used some research on Google to find out what the top selling Rom Com's were and why, also to find the best film distrubutor to distrubute our film. We used Youtube to find film trailers, other AS Media Film Openings and any other scenes or clips to help with research towards our film opening. The most major technology we have used through out this whole process has been Blogger. Blogger has helped us blog all our major transitions in filming, focusing on our editing updates, all details about our film icluding cast, characters and our group and their jobs. We have also used Prezi for our blogs several times this has helped make our blogs be at its highest standard.
During our construction process we used the more technical equipment for our product - this was majorly for filming so this included:
For the technical equipment we used, the camera etc. was very easy to understand and use having used one before this made it easier for us to use. After filming for three weekends and after school on a few occasions we managed to get some lovely shots and scenes that we were happy with to create our film.
Arren used for photoshop in our group this was used for our logo which created ourselves - Ginger Nut Productions. Using photo shop showed how much we had developed in our editing and Arren used this with ease and simply. This technology takes our production to the next level as it showing the boundaries we have taken to make our film as best as it can be.
In terms of technical aspects for our film, grasping how to use and adjust the lighting, sound, editing, diagetic and non - diagetic music and so on. Adjusting these elements and adding extra to our media product was simple and easy to understand, cleverly we learnt how to adjust the sound by making it louder and quieter in the necessary scenes. Adding the titles in the correct format which was using slide left, in white and using the font Lucinda Calligraphy - this proved quite difficult to space it out evenly in our film, in the correct places on the screen so that it looked professional and in the same place on the screen to show continuity. Also with the colour of the titles being white in some places on some scenes it was hard to see, so adjusting it to the right scene in the right place proved quite difficult and time consuming.
Using the fade on the editing process was a really useful technology for our film especially for the titles it makes them look more professional and more classy, also we use a very significant fade in after one scene to show time has passed, this works really well and focuses are point of time passing perfectly. The sound was easy to adjust we technically learned how to move sound around and adjust sound to a particular environment, we moved sound around on the fade where time passes using Lucy's voice while the screen is black creating a nice effect, also we used a different type of technical element with the key hole shot, we used a muffled sound to show that we can hear Jonathan's voice outside and then contrasting by hearing his voice inside afterwards. The lighting we adjusted with a new element we learned about on the last shot of our film opening when Jay says "Errrr....I can explain!" We adjusted the lighting to match the previous shot, as we filmed it in a more darker spot and in a shadow we had to contrast the final scene to make it slightly lighter, this worked well although it is slightly distorted but the lighting works well.
Overall learning and progressing with all the technologies we have used through out our film opening I think they have worked really well and taken our film to the best it could be, considering the time we have had and the equipment we had access to I am happy with outcome we have.
Through out the process of researching, preparing and creating our film production we have used several types of technologies which includes software and equipment.
Doing our planning and research for our film, we mainly used familiar Rom Com films that we were already aware of and liked using DVD's and Televisions.
We used some research on Google to find out what the top selling Rom Com's were and why, also to find the best film distrubutor to distrubute our film. We used Youtube to find film trailers, other AS Media Film Openings and any other scenes or clips to help with research towards our film opening. The most major technology we have used through out this whole process has been Blogger. Blogger has helped us blog all our major transitions in filming, focusing on our editing updates, all details about our film icluding cast, characters and our group and their jobs. We have also used Prezi for our blogs several times this has helped make our blogs be at its highest standard.
During our construction process we used the more technical equipment for our product - this was majorly for filming so this included:
- Panasonic Camera Recorder
- Boom/Microphone
- Foley Sound
- Computer Software - Sony Vegas
- Photoshop
- Recording Equipment - For Recording Music
- Camera
Arren used for photoshop in our group this was used for our logo which created ourselves - Ginger Nut Productions. Using photo shop showed how much we had developed in our editing and Arren used this with ease and simply. This technology takes our production to the next level as it showing the boundaries we have taken to make our film as best as it can be.
In terms of technical aspects for our film, grasping how to use and adjust the lighting, sound, editing, diagetic and non - diagetic music and so on. Adjusting these elements and adding extra to our media product was simple and easy to understand, cleverly we learnt how to adjust the sound by making it louder and quieter in the necessary scenes. Adding the titles in the correct format which was using slide left, in white and using the font Lucinda Calligraphy - this proved quite difficult to space it out evenly in our film, in the correct places on the screen so that it looked professional and in the same place on the screen to show continuity. Also with the colour of the titles being white in some places on some scenes it was hard to see, so adjusting it to the right scene in the right place proved quite difficult and time consuming.
Monday, 14 January 2013
Evaluation Question 5
How did you attract/address your audience?
To begin with, to brainstorm ideas on how to attract and address our audience in a successful way we held an interview with different types of female age groups as well as two similar age males. In this interview we aimed to grasp what our primary and secondary audience are looking for in a Romantic Comedy, what they like and dislike and what they would like to see in our Romantic Comedy film.
The questions we asked included:
Using this information, as well as some target audience profiles we managed to create some ideas that we thought would meet the answers given to our audience questions. We pitched these ideas to the rest of the class to get feedback, critical and positive to decide which idea would appeal to our audience most, as these are people of our age which is also our target audience our class were the best people to decide which idea would work.
The general feedback was how Rom Com's are generally quite successful in the film industry - this lead to the class vote for idea 1 which just so happens to be our final film opening now. Pitching to our potential audience like this shows our thought and planning into our film and also for me and my group to find out the response and the general interest which would lead onto knowing if our film is going to be successful or not.
So going on the general feedback and suggestions we got from particular people and audiences helped us produce our film to coincide with their opinions this included:
Romance <3
One of the main themes in Romantic Comedies is Love, Romance - some of our target audience suggested how the would like to see plenty of Romance, so to appeal to an audience we have added this, traditionally to our Rom Com.
Comedy! :P
As the second part to the hybrid name, this is essential to a romantic comedy, and appealing more to our secondary audience which are males, they suggested there being more comedy than romance. So to appeal to our secondary audience as well as our primary we have added the comedy theme, traditionally in Romantic Comedies.
Although our male leading role is no Robert Pattinson or Hugh Grant, he is still a very attractive looking lead for our main star role in our Rom com. Some feedback in our interview hinted on being appealed to films by the main actors/actresses being attractive, or having traditional British looks. So for these opinions we have picked a British, attractive young male to star in our film, hoping this will appeal to all kinds of audiences who are possibly appealed to our film/ Romantic Comedies in general.
As well as for our female audience, we have chosen an attractive and beautiful young lady to star as our main female leading role. This will hopefully help appeal to our secondary target audience of males. As well as this, teenage girls like having female role models and in doing this having an atrractive, fun loving, kind hearted character will provide this for that particular type of audience appealed to Romantic Comedies.
This video found on Youtube interviews some audiences as they walk out of the cinema just after they have watched the film 'The Ugly Truth' one of the few films we have taken inspiration from to help develop our own. This gives us feedback on just some of the stereotypical things and points and audience is looking for in a typical Romantic Comedy film. Videos like these provide background information on primary and secondary audiences into whether they would enjoy a film similar to 'The Ugly Truth' amongst other films we have used to create our own - hense giving us the impression of what we can add to our film to make it appeal just as much if not more.
As well as this video amongst the target audience interview we under took on video, the films they have seen have generally been seen in a cinema and then they have been bought on DVD or downloaded to then watch at home. This then shows that the multiplex cinema is the most positive outstanding place to promote our film so that all our audiences whether teenagers or male/female adults can watch and enjoy on the big screen, this then determines if they enjoy it enough whether they will be willing to go out and buy the DVD - making this a successful promotion destination for our film.
The feedback we generally got from our interviewees and class colleagues was mainly positive which we were very grateful for and proud of. We planned and brainstormed several ideas and ways to create those ideas into a real film production that would appeal to all sorts of audiences. Overall I feel we have done that to the best of our ability with the equipment and time/appliances we had.
The questions we asked included:
- Their Name, Age and Occupation.
- What would you like to see in a Romantic Comedy?
- What Romantic Comedies do you already like and why?
- What things distract you in a film?
- What sort of actors do you like to see in a Romantic Comedy and why?
- What don't you want to see in a Romantic Comedy? What are you bored of seeing?
Using this information, as well as some target audience profiles we managed to create some ideas that we thought would meet the answers given to our audience questions. We pitched these ideas to the rest of the class to get feedback, critical and positive to decide which idea would appeal to our audience most, as these are people of our age which is also our target audience our class were the best people to decide which idea would work.
The general feedback was how Rom Com's are generally quite successful in the film industry - this lead to the class vote for idea 1 which just so happens to be our final film opening now. Pitching to our potential audience like this shows our thought and planning into our film and also for me and my group to find out the response and the general interest which would lead onto knowing if our film is going to be successful or not.
So going on the general feedback and suggestions we got from particular people and audiences helped us produce our film to coincide with their opinions this included:
One of the main themes in Romantic Comedies is Love, Romance - some of our target audience suggested how the would like to see plenty of Romance, so to appeal to an audience we have added this, traditionally to our Rom Com.
As the second part to the hybrid name, this is essential to a romantic comedy, and appealing more to our secondary audience which are males, they suggested there being more comedy than romance. So to appeal to our secondary audience as well as our primary we have added the comedy theme, traditionally in Romantic Comedies.
As well as for our female audience, we have chosen an attractive and beautiful young lady to star as our main female leading role. This will hopefully help appeal to our secondary target audience of males. As well as this, teenage girls like having female role models and in doing this having an atrractive, fun loving, kind hearted character will provide this for that particular type of audience appealed to Romantic Comedies.
As well as this video amongst the target audience interview we under took on video, the films they have seen have generally been seen in a cinema and then they have been bought on DVD or downloaded to then watch at home. This then shows that the multiplex cinema is the most positive outstanding place to promote our film so that all our audiences whether teenagers or male/female adults can watch and enjoy on the big screen, this then determines if they enjoy it enough whether they will be willing to go out and buy the DVD - making this a successful promotion destination for our film.
The feedback we generally got from our interviewees and class colleagues was mainly positive which we were very grateful for and proud of. We planned and brainstormed several ideas and ways to create those ideas into a real film production that would appeal to all sorts of audiences. Overall I feel we have done that to the best of our ability with the equipment and time/appliances we had.
Friday, 11 January 2013
Evaluation Question 4
Who would be the audience for your media product and why?
For a classic Romantic Comedy, this particular type of genre appeals to a particular sort of target audience. This target audience are particular because of their demographics and physcographics, this includes:
Thes qualities are what make an audience appealed to a genre and there are certain differences that make an audience more appealed to one genre than another which in our film opening case is the genre Romantic Comedy.
This graph above shows that Romantic Comedy films are more liked and watched by Females under 35, with parents and in a Social Class A or B. This makes our primary target audience more simple to narrow down with statistics like these shown. For our secondary target audience it would be viewed and attracted to Males over 35, with parents and again in Social Class either A or B.
This is targeting a different sort of age group, who are in years more older than me and my group, however, we are also appealing to teenagers over the age of 12 as that is our BBFC rating for our film and similarly to people who are of our age group (16/17) range, this way we can relate to what modern humour is appropriate and who and how we can attract our audience.
Another type of targeting for our audience is getting information from this graph above, this graph gives a market overview of estimated levels of film consumption among the general national public. The people who watch more films than others are another type of targeting an audience, they are more likely to want to see a film, if they watch films more often. According to the graph the highest percentage of heavy film watchers were in the age range of 35 - 44 years old.
Thinking about the physcographics and demographics of our target audience using a primary target example:
Demographics
Age - 21
Gender - Female
Occupation - Student
Social Class - E
Physcographics
Attitudes - Happy, outgoing, intelligent, gentle.
Values - 'live every day like it is your last'
Lifestyles - Currently single, with both parents, making her more likely to want to watch Romantic Comedy films.
Opinions - Do what you wanna do, experience as much as you can, its the things that you don't do that you regret.
This is essentially the target audience's attitudes, values, lifestyles and opinions that are likely to attract them to see a Romantic Comedy.
In terms of BBFC classification for our film, we have rated our film ....................................... For this reason this is helpful to decide the lowest age group for our target audience, this also determines our target audience for teenagers. Our film will not be appealing to any audience lower than the age group 12. Also being shown in a multiplex cinema targets more of a mainstream audience.
Another determination for the type of target audience we are appealing for is essentially girls, as me and my group are all girls we targeted our film as to something we would ourselves like to go and see at the cinema. The stereotyped girl 'dream' is that some day 'Prince Charming' will turn up to sweep them off their feet, watching Romantic Comedies gives girls a sense of so called 'dreaming', which me and my group as that age range can relate to. This made it easier to relate to our audience and to what they will like.
The audience for our media product are essentially a varied type, however, our primary audience are for females under 30 and in an A or B Social Class, relating to an audience is done for the teenage range as that is something me and my group can relate to.
'I Can Explain' Film Opening
For a classic Romantic Comedy, this particular type of genre appeals to a particular sort of target audience. This target audience are particular because of their demographics and physcographics, this includes:
- Gender
- Age
- Social Class
- Ethnicity
- Attitudes
- Values
- Lifestyles
- Opinions
Thes qualities are what make an audience appealed to a genre and there are certain differences that make an audience more appealed to one genre than another which in our film opening case is the genre Romantic Comedy.
This graph above shows that Romantic Comedy films are more liked and watched by Females under 35, with parents and in a Social Class A or B. This makes our primary target audience more simple to narrow down with statistics like these shown. For our secondary target audience it would be viewed and attracted to Males over 35, with parents and again in Social Class either A or B.This is targeting a different sort of age group, who are in years more older than me and my group, however, we are also appealing to teenagers over the age of 12 as that is our BBFC rating for our film and similarly to people who are of our age group (16/17) range, this way we can relate to what modern humour is appropriate and who and how we can attract our audience.
Another type of targeting for our audience is getting information from this graph above, this graph gives a market overview of estimated levels of film consumption among the general national public. The people who watch more films than others are another type of targeting an audience, they are more likely to want to see a film, if they watch films more often. According to the graph the highest percentage of heavy film watchers were in the age range of 35 - 44 years old.
Thinking about the physcographics and demographics of our target audience using a primary target example:
Age - 21
Gender - Female
Occupation - Student
Social Class - E
Physcographics
Attitudes - Happy, outgoing, intelligent, gentle.
Values - 'live every day like it is your last'
Lifestyles - Currently single, with both parents, making her more likely to want to watch Romantic Comedy films.
Opinions - Do what you wanna do, experience as much as you can, its the things that you don't do that you regret.
This is essentially the target audience's attitudes, values, lifestyles and opinions that are likely to attract them to see a Romantic Comedy.
Another determination for the type of target audience we are appealing for is essentially girls, as me and my group are all girls we targeted our film as to something we would ourselves like to go and see at the cinema. The stereotyped girl 'dream' is that some day 'Prince Charming' will turn up to sweep them off their feet, watching Romantic Comedies gives girls a sense of so called 'dreaming', which me and my group as that age range can relate to. This made it easier to relate to our audience and to what they will like.
The audience for our media product are essentially a varied type, however, our primary audience are for females under 30 and in an A or B Social Class, relating to an audience is done for the teenage range as that is something me and my group can relate to.
'I Can Explain' Film Opening
Monday, 7 January 2013
Friday, 4 January 2013
Wednesday, 2 January 2013
Evaluation Question 1
Question 1 - In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The traditional film conventions to film openings include the titles, enigma, diagetic and non diagetic music, introduction to characters, establishing the genre, studio and production logo's and shots.These add together to create the conventions of the Romantic Comedy genre which also include the Mise En Scene of Rom - Com's, the iconography, the narrative, the reocurring themes and the sound used in Rom - Com's. To all of these aspects in our film opening we have followed these conventions, using editing, sound, mise - en - scene, props, characters, costumes, locations, camera shots.
For the coventions to Rom - Com genres to our own Romantic Comedy film opening we have used very similar traditional aspects to our film to appeal to the target audience we are aiming at.
In terms of the enigma that appears in our film opening, similarly to main other film openings it ask several questions about the particular couple that most Rom Com films revolve around. Our particular couple create enigma for themselves, as well as the parents involved in our film opening, question such as...why is the Dad so unhappy to meet the new boyfriend? How did Lucy and Jay meet/fall in love? Enigma is essential to a film opening to encourage an audience to carry on watching, most Rom Com film openings include enigma similarly to how we have by creating questions such as in Valentine's Day...
Similar questions can be asked about this couple who appear first in the film opening, how did they meet/fall in love? etc.
The target audience will appeal more to a happy a couple being together at the beginning and creating enigma about the couple so an audience will carry on watching, so we took this technique and used it in our film opening.
So the enigma in our first shot with this couple could be:
How did they meet?
Are they happy/in love?
Where are they going and why?
Why are they dressed up?
Where are they?
The sound in a film opening is essential to making an audience appealed to the film depending on the kind of themes the film takes on, so in terms of Romantic Comedies the music at the beginning of the film is usually upbeat and exciting/intruging...some songs used in previous Rom Com film openings which we took notice of to help us choose our Film opening music which is non - diagetic includes..
This song appears at the beginning of the film 'Friends with Benefits' it is upbeat and relates well to the beginning story as the two couples are breaking up with their partners hense 'Runaway Baby' is a good title song to use. This however is a purposeful song overiding the scenes it was at the time a modern youthful song in the charts, however several Rom Com films use orchestral or backing track music to join the occurring scenes....
This non - diagetic piece of music used in the opening of 'The Vow' is a simple backing track , its a heart warming and fitting piece for the film which is a similar taking of what we used on our film opening, we used a simple backing track which has a slightly upbeat tone similar to the 'Friends With Benefits' opening, but the same type of music as what 'The Vow' uses in its film opening. Here we have developed the conventions of our Rom Com and taken inspiration from two film openings and to help create our own feel to our film opening.
As to the conventions of introducing the characters in our film opening we have slightly challenged this, unlike most traditonal Rom Com's the majority of our main characters appear at the same time especially our key main characters, Lucy and Jay they both appear at the same scene and together producing an equal balance of importance to them both, Lucy's father is introduced to the film before Lucy's mother Bridget showing slightly less importance than Jonathan Lucy's dad. This possibly challenges more traditional trates of the introduction to characters.
In the film opening of 'The Ugly Truth' one of the main key characters is introduced first individually showing what she looks like, what she is like and what job etc. Showing the first problem she is having, the next key character is then introduced creating enigma, and introducing characters in turn of their importance and to show more of their personality and involvement in the film. This challenges our introduction to characters, as we have taken a different approach in introducing them.
In terms of shots, we used a wide variety of shots which commonly appear in Romantic Comedies such as long shot, mid shot, close up etc. We did not use many if any over the shoulder shots which appear often in Rom Com film openings...
This is a close up shot of lucy similar to the one above and similar to the beginning shots seen in 'Friends With Benefits'. This shows us developing shots we have previously seen in Rom Com films and following similar patterns.
Similarly with Jay we have done a close up showing his expression of awkwardness after a question Lucy has just asked him. This is also similar to the Rom Com film 'Friends With Benefits' as similar shots to this are shown for the same reasons, which we are developing in our film opening.
In our film opening we have slightly developed our shots, opposing the inspiration we took from this film 'Love Actually', through out the film opening to this the shots used are all very similar and do not vary very much, in our film opening we have tried to vary our film shots as much as possible, for instance the close up of the footsteps from Jonathan to a mid shot of Bridget. We used plenty of shot reverse shot to show the fast pace of the film.
We developed this shot from the comedy film 'Meet the Parents' for our own film opening as it entaled a similar type of theme and story line to the film we were producing, this shot appears in our film opening similarly to this but with a difference in appearance and facial expressions.
A very similar shot to the film (comedy) 'Meet The Parents' when Greg meets Jack his girlfriends Dad they have a similar approach to how Jay and Jonathan introduce themselves, except we have challenged this shot with a different angle and adding more comical humour with the 'BJ' written on his hand which Jonathan then sees.
The MES to our film opening was challenged and developed and met in various ways, in comparison to media products which influenced us to make our decisions for our own film opening. To begin with the costumes which our characters are wearing was hugely developed and used from other similar Rom Com films.
Similarly to many leading female roles in Rom Com films Lucy dresses and looks similar to your typical film star female. We purposely did this to try and attract males as well as our primary target audience towards the film. Similar to Kate in the Rom Com 'John Tucker Must Die' the curly hair and nice flattering make up is a girly, female look.
The male lead in our film opening also followed the traditions with a typical male appearance in Romantic Comedies, in films such as 'Made of Honour' and 'Friends With Benefits' the male leads always dress in shirts and ties in some scenes, with trousers and smart shoes. We took on board this look, as being part of the Rom Com target audience I feel the male lead has to be attractive and dress attractively to give the film the effect it needs, so we added this to our film. Jay in our film as seen to the right is wearing a shirt at the beginning and hair gelled and slightly quiffed to show his sense of style in the film, a similar look to the male leading roles in popular Rom Com films we have taken inspiration from.
We based the parent characters on these two characters from the film 'Meet The Parents' we wanted a similar appearance to these, the mum looking loving and caring and the dad looking stern and smartly dressed but with a casual relaxed side to them both, we developed the appearance of the these two characters to create our own, in a sense this was our starting point to help with the costume in characters to add to the effect to the MES conventions in our film opening.
The mothering and nurturing look which we have given our mother role to Bridget, she is wearing an apron and wollen jacket similar to the picture above from the parents in 'Meet The Parents', this portrays the type of character she is and uses gender stereotypes to challenge this.
Jonathan is wearing quite casual but smart clothes similar to the character Jack in 'Meet The Parents', this also gives way to his character showing a nurturing but stern look.
The iconography that appears in the traditional conventions of Rom Com films, this inludes - embarrassment between one or both characters', difficulty often caused by the male lead, kissing scene with a big climax and meeting one or both of the parents. We have used all these conventions towards iconography in our film opening - Jay causes embarrassment when he doesn't know the names of Lucy's parents, difficulty is caused when Jay writes 'BJ' on his hand, the climax to the kissing scene happens when Lucy's dad opens the door before there lips have chance to touch and obviously the main type of iconography in Rom Com films, is meeting one or both of the parents. Here we have used and developed this convention to appeal best to our target audience. These types of iconography appear in most Rom Com films....
Kissing scene, similar to the romantic film 'The Notebook' this has a big climax.
The climax moment in the beginning film opening is when Jay and Lucy are just about to kiss but Jonathan Lucy's dad interupts them presenting awkwardness.
Meeting the Parents
The locations in our film opening were challenging towards Rom Com film conventions, we have set our film in the more countryside location, in a light setting with houses and greenery surrounding the characters. The more usual Rom Com location appears in cities at night or in the day....
With the small lights, or street lights representing and connoting romance like candles etc.
In our film opening we are located in a countryside location completely challenging normal Rom Com location conventions and connotations.
This is the beginning of the road where we started filming, which challenges the conventions of a typical Rom Com location.
To conclude, in our film opening we meet, challenge and develop several conventions of which adds up to create an appealing Rom Com. I think we have used all the conventions well to appeal to our target audience and keeping some traditional traits from Rom Com's as well as opposing them to take our own original twist on our film opening.
The traditional film conventions to film openings include the titles, enigma, diagetic and non diagetic music, introduction to characters, establishing the genre, studio and production logo's and shots.These add together to create the conventions of the Romantic Comedy genre which also include the Mise En Scene of Rom - Com's, the iconography, the narrative, the reocurring themes and the sound used in Rom - Com's. To all of these aspects in our film opening we have followed these conventions, using editing, sound, mise - en - scene, props, characters, costumes, locations, camera shots.
For the coventions to Rom - Com genres to our own Romantic Comedy film opening we have used very similar traditional aspects to our film to appeal to the target audience we are aiming at.
In terms of the enigma that appears in our film opening, similarly to main other film openings it ask several questions about the particular couple that most Rom Com films revolve around. Our particular couple create enigma for themselves, as well as the parents involved in our film opening, question such as...why is the Dad so unhappy to meet the new boyfriend? How did Lucy and Jay meet/fall in love? Enigma is essential to a film opening to encourage an audience to carry on watching, most Rom Com film openings include enigma similarly to how we have by creating questions such as in Valentine's Day...
The target audience will appeal more to a happy a couple being together at the beginning and creating enigma about the couple so an audience will carry on watching, so we took this technique and used it in our film opening.
So the enigma in our first shot with this couple could be:
How did they meet?
Are they happy/in love?
Where are they going and why?
Why are they dressed up?
Where are they?
The sound in a film opening is essential to making an audience appealed to the film depending on the kind of themes the film takes on, so in terms of Romantic Comedies the music at the beginning of the film is usually upbeat and exciting/intruging...some songs used in previous Rom Com film openings which we took notice of to help us choose our Film opening music which is non - diagetic includes..
This song appears at the beginning of the film 'Friends with Benefits' it is upbeat and relates well to the beginning story as the two couples are breaking up with their partners hense 'Runaway Baby' is a good title song to use. This however is a purposeful song overiding the scenes it was at the time a modern youthful song in the charts, however several Rom Com films use orchestral or backing track music to join the occurring scenes....
As to the conventions of introducing the characters in our film opening we have slightly challenged this, unlike most traditonal Rom Com's the majority of our main characters appear at the same time especially our key main characters, Lucy and Jay they both appear at the same scene and together producing an equal balance of importance to them both, Lucy's father is introduced to the film before Lucy's mother Bridget showing slightly less importance than Jonathan Lucy's dad. This possibly challenges more traditional trates of the introduction to characters.
In terms of shots, we used a wide variety of shots which commonly appear in Romantic Comedies such as long shot, mid shot, close up etc. We did not use many if any over the shoulder shots which appear often in Rom Com film openings...
Similarly with Jay we have done a close up showing his expression of awkwardness after a question Lucy has just asked him. This is also similar to the Rom Com film 'Friends With Benefits' as similar shots to this are shown for the same reasons, which we are developing in our film opening.
In our film opening we have slightly developed our shots, opposing the inspiration we took from this film 'Love Actually', through out the film opening to this the shots used are all very similar and do not vary very much, in our film opening we have tried to vary our film shots as much as possible, for instance the close up of the footsteps from Jonathan to a mid shot of Bridget. We used plenty of shot reverse shot to show the fast pace of the film.
A very similar shot to the film (comedy) 'Meet The Parents' when Greg meets Jack his girlfriends Dad they have a similar approach to how Jay and Jonathan introduce themselves, except we have challenged this shot with a different angle and adding more comical humour with the 'BJ' written on his hand which Jonathan then sees.
The MES to our film opening was challenged and developed and met in various ways, in comparison to media products which influenced us to make our decisions for our own film opening. To begin with the costumes which our characters are wearing was hugely developed and used from other similar Rom Com films.
Lucy wore a white dress for its connotations and as well as this we had seen it in many other Rom Com films such as 'The Ugly Truth'. She also had her hair curly similarly to some female leads in Rom Com films, this is a typical girly type of look and it carried off well, so we developed this from some female leads who have this look in Rom Com films such as 'John Tucker Must Die'.
Similarly to many leading female roles in Rom Com films Lucy dresses and looks similar to your typical film star female. We purposely did this to try and attract males as well as our primary target audience towards the film. Similar to Kate in the Rom Com 'John Tucker Must Die' the curly hair and nice flattering make up is a girly, female look.
The male lead in our film opening also followed the traditions with a typical male appearance in Romantic Comedies, in films such as 'Made of Honour' and 'Friends With Benefits' the male leads always dress in shirts and ties in some scenes, with trousers and smart shoes. We took on board this look, as being part of the Rom Com target audience I feel the male lead has to be attractive and dress attractively to give the film the effect it needs, so we added this to our film. Jay in our film as seen to the right is wearing a shirt at the beginning and hair gelled and slightly quiffed to show his sense of style in the film, a similar look to the male leading roles in popular Rom Com films we have taken inspiration from.
We based the parent characters on these two characters from the film 'Meet The Parents' we wanted a similar appearance to these, the mum looking loving and caring and the dad looking stern and smartly dressed but with a casual relaxed side to them both, we developed the appearance of the these two characters to create our own, in a sense this was our starting point to help with the costume in characters to add to the effect to the MES conventions in our film opening.
Jonathan is wearing quite casual but smart clothes similar to the character Jack in 'Meet The Parents', this also gives way to his character showing a nurturing but stern look.
As another part of the MES which we developed and used from other Rom Com films we had previously seen and been inpsired from were the props we involved. The main and most obvious prop was used by the female lead Lucy, she is walking and talking on the phone in the first scene of the film this is common in Rom Com films including in the opening scenes, we mainly took reference from 'Friends With Benefits' as they begin with talking on the phone, they appear to be talking to one another however it later reveals they are talking to different people. We used this and developed it into our own, with Lucy just talking and showing expression on the phone.
The iconography that appears in the traditional conventions of Rom Com films, this inludes - embarrassment between one or both characters', difficulty often caused by the male lead, kissing scene with a big climax and meeting one or both of the parents. We have used all these conventions towards iconography in our film opening - Jay causes embarrassment when he doesn't know the names of Lucy's parents, difficulty is caused when Jay writes 'BJ' on his hand, the climax to the kissing scene happens when Lucy's dad opens the door before there lips have chance to touch and obviously the main type of iconography in Rom Com films, is meeting one or both of the parents. Here we have used and developed this convention to appeal best to our target audience. These types of iconography appear in most Rom Com films....
Kissing scene, similar to the romantic film 'The Notebook' this has a big climax.
The climax moment in the beginning film opening is when Jay and Lucy are just about to kiss but Jonathan Lucy's dad interupts them presenting awkwardness.
Meeting the Parents
The locations in our film opening were challenging towards Rom Com film conventions, we have set our film in the more countryside location, in a light setting with houses and greenery surrounding the characters. The more usual Rom Com location appears in cities at night or in the day....
With the small lights, or street lights representing and connoting romance like candles etc.
In our film opening we are located in a countryside location completely challenging normal Rom Com location conventions and connotations.
This is the beginning of the road where we started filming, which challenges the conventions of a typical Rom Com location.
To conclude, in our film opening we meet, challenge and develop several conventions of which adds up to create an appealing Rom Com. I think we have used all the conventions well to appeal to our target audience and keeping some traditional traits from Rom Com's as well as opposing them to take our own original twist on our film opening.
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