EVALUATION QUESTION 4 integrating technologies

How did you integrate technologies - software, hardware and online - in this project?
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What I cover in this post:

• Different software/online resources used (blogger, FCPX, Instagram, youtube, slideshare etc)
• How we engaged with audiences online
• Different hardware used (cameras, tripods, etc)
• Disruption, digitisation and convergence
• Web 2.0 (UGC, applied examples we took influence from)

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Creative use of technologies:




  I chose to make 2 vodcast covering hardware and software to answer this evaluation question creatively. They cover all the different software and hardware we used, throughout filming an pre-production.
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Digitisation, Disruption and Convergence:

• As technology is constantly advancing, production, distribution and exhibition are becoming increasingly cheaper and more accessible to more people - expensive reels no longer have to be bought to make films, and even our production has been made digitally.

This allows films with micro-budgets to have a greater chance at distribution - Le Donk and Scor-Zay-Zee is an example of this, with a micro budget it still managed to have a theatrical trailer and then a straight to DVD release. Professional equipment used was extremely limited.

An example which took it even further is Hinterland, which had a budget of only £10k, filmed using a 15 year old camera and then released in indie cinemas with director Q+A sessions. The film was never released on DVD, but given a simultaneous release on iTunes. The film definitely achieved some successful distribution, as it made it onto a top indie films of the year list.  

As it is so easy now for anyone to make their own films relatively inexpensively and self-distribute them, the term convergence is used to reference this: the line between producer and consumer is blurring as cheaper technology becomes available.

The importance of Netflix and Amazon Prime in this disruption cannot be overlooked, as they offer films directly to audiences, without theatrical releases, and are still massively successful. This threatens theatres, as if people are able to watch Oscar winning films such as Roma at home on Netflix, there will become increasingly less need/want for people to go to cinemas.


Although this disrupts conglomerates, it can be beneficial for indies, who are able to market and sell their films completely online, like the example of Hinterland, which did have a mall theatre run, but the majority of its marketing was one online through twitter.

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Web 2.0
Web 2.0 describes how the internet has become driven by users, converging the line between producer and consumer. An example of this is user-generated content, like the fan-art that was made for the Cornetto Trilogy, or the poster for Hinterland which was also fan-made. This web 2.0 theoretically allow indies more of a chance at achieving successful distribution online, by setting up twitters, instagrams and being able to engage with audiences directly.

Screenshot form my PowerPoint on distribution (from eval q2)

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Screenshot form my PowerPoint on distribution (from eval q2)

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Screenshot form my PowerPoint on distribution (from eval q2)

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FCPX
I made a youtube FCPX tutorial series called TechTips, a friendly guide on how to use different elements of one of the most critical pieces of software we used. I integrated this software with online resources (youtube and the blog). Here is the links list:

• TECH TIPS episode 1 - FCPX basics
• TECH TIPS episode 2 - FCPX sound effects, transitions
• TECH TIPS episode 3 - FCPX green screen
• TECH TIPS episode 4 - FCPX titles and transitions

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Communication
using social media (facebook messenger) we got more involved in sharing ideas through calls and messages, and a group chat was made with the whole cast in it so that we could make sure everyone had all the information they needed (including costume, time/place, scripts etc.)
This is one of the earlier versions os the screenplay which we shared with the cast (also making print-offs), and as it was updated we could email them the new versions to read over before shoots:

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(SAM'S WORK)
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This is Sam's vodcast on the same topic
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ROUGH CUT 2

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This is the second rough cut put together

Changes made:

• Sound
• the music has been changed to give it more variation, the last recording was a bit repetitive (the update post is here)
• ambient sound of cars going past, dogs barking, and hospital background noise has been added for verisimilitude  
• the nurse's voice has been recorded over for better sound quality
• the music playing in the car has now been fixed so it doesn't overlap with the jogging scene and make the continuity confusing
• audio-bridges are also being used now
• Editing
• Now the training scene is cross-cut with the packing scene, this speeds up the pace, which was too slow before
• Titles
• the titles have been completely changed, both in wording, order, position, transition effect, size, capitalisation, names, and wen they appear on screen
• this is to make it more resemble the genre conventions we noted in other examples, particularly Withnail and I and Journeyman
• The film title card is now also included

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Music update

A review of the second attempt at the packing scene showed us that we needed different music - the music we were using was very repetitive, but got the tone right.
Using the same chords, but a different finger picking pattern, I created this music to use in future cuts



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SAMPLE SCENE 2 Packing scene - 2nd attempt

This is the 2nd attempt at filming the scene where the tennis player's partner (Cathy) is leaving him



CHANGES

• Much more set dressing:
• tennis equipment is placed throughout the room
• photos of the couple and the tennis team have been added for verisimilitude
• female beauty products and jewellery were placed on the surface in front of the mirror
• stereotypically female books were placed on one side of the bed, and stereotypically male ones on the other
• the wardrobe was changed so that there is a clear divide between men's and women's clothes
• a larger suitcase that is more realistic for a permanent move
• Character creation had more detail:
• we prepared a business suit (black trousers, smart shoes with modest heel, shirt and a blazer)
• and a long, smart looking coat for when they leave the house
• a watch, something teenagers do not usually wear
• modest make-up (lip gloss and mascara)
• More directing for the acting:
• there was more demonstration of the actions (e.g. wiping the tear away)
• there were issues in following direction with the actress previously playing the tennis player's partner (saying she felt uncomfortable in front of the camera) so a change in cast was a good idea
• new shots:
• close-ups of the set dressing
• shot of the suitcase being slammed onto the bed so that we can attempt an almost match cut from the joggers foot landing on the ground
• 
  

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FEEDBACK

• Genre/target audience:
• the people we asked all though it was aimed at teenagers, though one though the target age would up to 20 - this could be because the lead of this scene is played by a teenager, though we have gone to a lot of effort to dress the character so that they seem older
• Improvements
• the sound editing has clear issues - make the ambient sound quieter and the music louder
• the lighting got mixed reactions - one said it seemed good, the other not realistic
• we did use the lighting to create some shadow on the face of the lead as she wipes a tear to show the gloominess, but the rest is the lighting we had available, which is the natural lighting of the room
• Positive feedback
• everyone said that the music fit
• there was no confusion as to what the narrative was - it was clear that she was leaving
• no one said the set dressing seemed posed or unreal - it fits in
• the genre guess was never far from accurate, but we did not expect teenagers to be able to guess if it was a social realist film

• on recording audio (google details) - noise reduction in FCPX - reduce background hiss
• dutch angle, varying focus and set dressing good (first shot)
• trim hand opening cupboard door - pauses unnaturally
• maybe trim door and keys in post box
• maybe quicker cross cut between crying bits to make it more convincing as you can't see tears
• do not want to lose verisimilitude. Maybe get 2 shots of her wiping face, not continuous shot - loses convincingness as its continuous
• slight continuity breach between hand wiping face in the 2 shots
• start music when she is holding the picture
• ring, earrings and office clothing good (power point embedded to show all things added)
• lighting is bad, lense might have been blurry. quite dark except for bright zones
• maybe try some non-linear editing? or don't as in rough and final cut all is cross-cut with jogging
• focus work - some is bad some is good
• about blur - see if sharpening tools in final cut
• maybe shorten takes or transition/cross them over to disguise
• maybe film a drop of water falling onto picture, very tight focus, to show tears
• maybe bring clang in earlier when she drops the keys then trim take slightly 
• trim unnecessary movements so time
• for second instrument ask music teacher what instrument she thinks is the second one in Tyrannosaur 
• ask if students play is
• direct them to record long, sad notes and then record

MAIN ISSUES:

sound and out of focus shots

music could be better - the music is a little dull - look at Tyrannosaur and spacing between notes and pacing, use 2 instruments - better simulacrum 

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Music update

A review of the second attempt at the packing scene showed us that we needed different music - the music we were using was very repetitive, but got the tone right.
Using the same chords, but a different finger picking pattern, I created this music to use in future cuts



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GENRE EG5 '71 (Warp, 2015)

'71 is a 2014 British historical thriller film set in Northern Ireland. For our mock exam we analysed the opening of this film under timed conditions in a style similar to the summer exam format - I have embedded the essay (after typing it up) at the bottom of this post as it has lots of relevant points (many of which have been extracted and put in the bullet point format throughout this post).

'71 poster

PRODUCTION CONTEXT/HISTORY
PRODUCTION: Crab Apple, Warp, Film4, BFI, Screen Yorkshire, Creative Scotland

DISTRIBUTION: Studio Canal; 11 territories

BUDGET: £8.1M

BOX OFFICE: $3.2m
BBFC: 15

This production is a Warp production, but it had a much higher budget than the majority of their films. It did receive grants form the BFI and Film4 - typical of indie productions. This ensures that films with more diverse/controversial representations are still made and the industry is not monopolised by conglomerates.
This film lost a lot of money, and it was a big risk for art to have such a high budget in the first place.

The hybrid aspect of it being a historical thriller/action/social realist film did give it a higher chance at being commercially viable than the majority of Warp films, and though Studio Canal is a well-established distributor it did not put much of a gamble into the film and marketing was limited.

The film did have a week long theatrical release in America (to qualify for the Oscars), showing the ambition o this film in comparison to Warp's other productions, but the amount of territories it was related in was still a low number in compassion to WT films (and there was no distribution in China).

No. of territories (BoxOfficeMojo)

Company list (distribution) (IMDB)

The 15 rating form the BBFC is interesting, as This is England got rated an 18 mostly due to cursing and the violent scene at the end (which is relevant to the moral values the film condemns), but '71 has extremely graphic and violent scenes throughout (when his friend is shot in the face when they arrive in Belfast, when a bar is later blown up with a child inside, the homemade stitching done o the protagonist etc.). This is an examples of how more commercially acceptable films are given more chance for commercial success than more controversial ones.

Although the film was ultimately a commercial/financial flop, it was nominated for BAFTAs, BIFAs, and O'Connell won the EE Rising Star award. This shows how although the film was not a financial success, its' critical reception proved it to be a success in ways that many other Warp films are.

IDENTS/COMPANIES

• Studio Canal
• distribution and production company (mostly distribution)
• Subsidiary of NBCUniversal (one of the Big Six)
• co-production financing (that way risk is spread if the film is a flop)
• can be part of meaning (has worked with WT and Warp)
• shows range
• Film4
• tv channel (UK)
• denotes low budget
• BFI (British Film Institute)
• gives grants to low budget indie films they think require subsidy (which do not need to be repaid)
• government funded
• previously known as UKFC (UK Film Council)
• Screen Yorkshire is a regional branch -  the film was not shot on location, and the extensive creation of the streets with houses in varying states of destruction show where much of the budget was spent.

TITLES

• informational words are smaller than company names
• small serif font (white on black)
• signifies serious drama 
• 'presents'
• production and distribution
• co-production between Crab and Warp
• the Warp logo is also on screen - larger contributor

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MISE-EN-SCENE FOR EXPOSITION

• blood, sweat, costume, hair
• all wearing green military costume
• all sweaty (including those not fighting)
• all crew cuts (functional, military)
• creates high level of verisimilitude
• on the bus:
• is not a sports car
• signifies poverty
• man wearing a flat cap and smoking
• connotes Yorkshire
• signifies film is set in the past (cannot smoke on busses now), hence the name '71
• in the café
• is not a fancy 5 star restaurant
• run down, cheap looking place
• signifies poverty
• Is very similar to the sudden cut to the unappetising, greasy food in Withnail and I 
• Though not in the opening, when the locals bang their metal bin lids on the ground
• metal bins are now out of date, so signify the time period (maintain verisimilitude)
• preferred reading: it was a warning that police/army were approaching
• signifies target audience (older, native to the uk/Ireland)

EDITING

• fight scene:
• no ELS (establishing shot)
• fast-paced editing, short takes
• action genre
• cuts closer to protagonists face and cuts to see his reactions
• anchors protagonist
• centrally framed protagonist
• Training montage:
• quick fade from black (ellipsis)
• longer takes
• hand-held camera
• documentary style of realist genre
• sticks to 180 degree rule
• morning scene:
• almost a match cut done through the audio (the sound of the gun is similar to the lights turning on)
• fade-up from black
• shows ellipsis
• Café scene:
• fast-pan to reveal brother's face
• shot reverse shot in the conversation
• continuity editing
• 180 degree rule is used
• match on action with the fork and food

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CINEMATOGRAPHY

• fight scene:
• no long shots (M/MCU)
• no fade-up
• cuts straight to action
• impact
• shows brutality
• whip-pan and hand-held tracking shots (realist)
• Barthes action codes
• low-key lighting
• brutal/grim
• natural lighting?
• shallow field of focus
• protagonist in focus (and foreground), but can still see detail in the background
• anchors protagonist
• cuts back to protagonists reaction (and centrally framed)
• Training montage:
• ellipsis (there is an overall ellipsis, not just here)
• tracking shots of protagonist
• cuts back to protagonist
• anchorage
• morning scene:
• begins with tracking shot of superior officer
• becomes MCU
• long take
• lighting as man steps forward (lowkey and shows shadow on half his face)
• signified as villain?
• establishes power dynamic
• protagonist is in the edge of the frame
• sets up equilibrium with protagonist having very little power within his situation

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SOUND; GENRE SIGNIFICATION

• Fight scene:
• audiobridge over titles
• sound is unclear: basketball? fighting? shouting and hitting noises
• creates narrative enigma (Barthes)
• audio does not fade up - cuts in
• impact
• brutality
• diegetic sound
• ambient sound (crowd shouting and hitting)
• only coherent speech is coming form the coach
• Northern accent (Yorkshire)
• all for verisimilitude
• Morning scene:
• audiobridge fade-up
• music is sinister
• foreshadowing

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CENTRAL PROTAGONIST/NARRATIVE

• Anchorage:
• the camera repeatedly cuts back to the protagonist to show his reactions
• the protagonist is the first character we see in an MCU
• As the fight scene comes to a close there is a tracking shot of the protagonist, form an MLS to an MCU of his face, showing the blood and sweat on it (verisimilitude)
• Todorov's narrative theory:
• the protagonist's equilibrium is established almost entirely through the editing of the opening:
• he is established as the protagonist by repeatedly cutting back to show his reactions
• in the training montage, there is always an establishing shot of the area, with the troops training, then it cuts to a close-up of the protagonist's face - this shows him as indiscernible from the rest of the men (a 'cog in a machine')

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MOCK EXAM ESSAY


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CONTRASTING STUDY: Grimsby (Working Title, 2016)

Grimsby poster

This is NOT a social realist film! We are, however, using this comedy (spy/action satire) to help us clarify the characteristics of social realist films: we'll contrast the media language of this with what we've observed is conventional for the social realist genre...

PRODUCTION: Working Title, Big Talk, Village Roadshow [US partner] +2 others
DISTRIBUTION: Sony (UK), Colombia (UK); [no China] 36 territories
BUDGET: $35m
BOX OFFICE: UK $7.5m, US $7m; World $25m

BBFC 15, MPAA R (quite high)


SOME CONTEXT: An example of the impact of the changed, reduced status of WT within its parent big six conglomerate, NBC-Universal. WT had been receiving $600m funding every 7 years, with clearance to greenlight any project up to a $25m budget - but that has been reduced to a 'first look' deal, meaning Universal can decide whether they want to 'pick up' a WT project or not. In this case they didn't, Sony (and its subsidiary Colombia) did ... and maybe Universal were wise, as it failed to even recoup its budget, never mind the 2-3 times budget generally accepted as needed to move into profit.

The Gant rule obviously doesn't apply: its a very British film - so much so that the title had to be changed for US and international markets as the place name Grimsby has no recognition and is essentially meaningless and confusing outside the UK (unlike London). 

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IDENTS

• Sony ident is the first
• Big Six production
• Very unlikely to see a Big Six name on a social realist film
• Columbia
• subsidiary of Sony
• Village Roadshow Pictures
• US production partner
• virtually unheard of for UK social realist flick (unlike for comedy
• WT did not get an ident
  

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SOUND

• Begins with famous song (R Kelly)
• small indie companies do not have the budget to get copyright licenses 
• non diegetic well-known commercial track as an audiobridge over idents to main scene
• social realist films do not usually start with music (often have incidental music)
• lyrical music is also uncommon for social realist
• e.g. Tyrannosaur, but This is England has some
• OST features Ed Sheeran!

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FIRST SHOTS

• Not ELS establishing shot

  

  MCU -back tattoo, sweat, beer can, football shirt

• unusual choice of MCU
• no fade-in (black screen before shot after ident 4)
• Close-up of huge back tattoo ('ENGLAND' and 3 lions) 
• football tattoo
• sweat
• beer cans visible in background 
• Master shot
• reveals scene to be a bed shop
• Tightly framed shots for the opening sex scene are made comic by use of a master shot revealing the location
• poverty is being signified by massive sale posters hanging all over the shop ('lowest prices in Grimsby')
• very low prices $89.99 for a double bed

master shot - low prices, sale

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REPRESENTATION

• Stereotyping begins immediately

  

  MCU (cropped) - facial hair, scruffy look

• overgrown hair and facial hair
• sideburns
• ridiculous tattoo
• football top
• beer can
• and then reveal of moronic antisocial behaviour
• Comparison to social realist:
• The realism of social realist films can lead to showing antisocial behaviour
• e.g. Tyrannosaur protagonist is violent, racist and unemployed
• e.g. This is England swearing throughout, violence, underage drinking etc. 
• Immediate heteronormativity 
• opening sex scene
• idea of male provider (the male protagonist is the one to say "we'll take [the bed]")
• though this also signifies that he is the protagonist as it cuts back to his face/reactions

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Is very short for an opening scene - contrast with This is England and Tyrannosaur etc.

just 30 seconds into the opening sequence which is then followed by another famous commercial song (Blur)

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TITLES

titles

• Serif font
• shot 1 is typical of a social realist though
• grim street red brick terraced houses, heavily graffitied
• many houses are loaded up
• Mise-en-scene
• contrast to This is England - Shaun leaves his bike outside showing the community of the working class neighbourhood as he trusts it won't get stolen
• Grimsby only shows the decay (harsh 2 dimensional stereotype of working class)

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SAMPLE SCENE 1 bad jogging and tennis

(SAM'S WORK)

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Here we see how I recorded and created the background music for our film opening. It's a melody on the guitar with notes that are several seconds apart just like in Tyrannosaur.

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(MY WORK)

Review notes:

• The jogging is not realistic (takes away from verisimilitude)
• get involved as director and demonstrate
• Use stabiliser 
• See if actor can grow a beard to make him look older
• Add sound of heavy panting for running
• POV GoPro shots of running
• Add water to make it look like sweat on the protagonist (for verisimilitude)
• Bring towels to show tennis player wiping sweat off of himself
• Try and film the final cut before the end of autumn (colours show up nicely on camera)
• not enough shots
• not enough shot variety
• bring water bottle to make Tanay look sweaty
• create a coach character - verisimilitude
• get sound of tennis balls 
• create dialogue
• get shots of Tanay warming up
• see if you can get someone to play tennis with him

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GENRE EG1: Tyrannosaur

(SAM'S WORK) - input by me in green
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Budget: £750k
Box Office: $299k (Worldwide) / $22k (US)
Ratings: 84% (RottenTomatoes) / 7.6/10 (IMDb) / 3.5/4 (Roger Ebert)
Production Companies: Film4, UK Film Council, Screen Yorkshire, EM Media, Warp X, Inflammable Films
Director: Paddy Considine

IDENTS:

No Idents.

TITLES:

• serif font
• white font on black background connotes seriousness and drama
• different sizing between the titles and names to distinguish the different roles 
• the main title is centered and all capitals
• animated titles, fade in and out
• different positioning of titles
• for aesthetic purposes
• duration of title sequence: 00:00:03 - 00:02:04
• numbers of titles: 12
• In the other Paddy Considine film we looked at (Journeyman) there were also no titles before names (other examples had "with" "starring" "introducing" etc.)

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Tyrannosaur credits from harriet Barlow

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SOUND:

• soft guitar sound with notes that are a few seconds apart has an impact on our mood
• it connotes drama / seriousness
• get the serious feel
• makes us calm
• ambients sound of radio to add verisimilitude
• the incidental acoustic music is very conventional of social realist films
• it kicks in just after he has kicked his dog - this encourages the audience to empathise with the protagonist, rather than see him as a villain

1st SHOT:

• establishing shot
• starts with a close up of a male character
• narrative enigma because it's not very clear how the male character looks like due to shadows 
• using natural lights
• lowkey lighting

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CENTRAL PROTAGONIST + NARRATIVE:

• the male character is in every shot
• tracking shot when he is walking back home while having his dog in his arms
• shot variety of him
• he is always in focus
• it cuts back to him
• anchors he is going to be the central protagonist
• he is coming from the working class ( track pants, white and dirty shirt, drunk, is desperate for money)
• The music allows the audience to empathise with him, rather than see him as the villain who just kicked his dog to death in a drunken rampage
• This is quite a controversial and dark theme, something more commonly found in social realists
• the protagonist is an anti-hero: complex an din shades of grey, not a 2 dimensional stereotype
• this is similar to what was found in the New Wave movements

MISE-EN-SCENE FOR EXPOSITION:

•  small room 
•  squeaky floor
• bland colours
• anchors poverty
• The beer cans are used to confirm that he is drunk

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TRANSITION TO MAIN FILM:

• The equilibrium is disrupted when the central protagonist kills his dog
• Todorov's 5 point narrative theory:
• establish equilibrium
• the protagonist is a violent, alcohol drinking, swearing unemployed man
• disrupt equilibrium
• when accidentally injures his dog and realises he has to kill it so that it won't be in pain anymore, he later has a breakdown, and realises he must change something in his life, but has little power to change much
• the rest of the theory is not seen in the opening, but is present throughout the film

Fail or Success?

From the ratings I can tell that the movie was quite a success. Paddy Considine even got an award for the best film and best debut director award. Olivia Colman who plays Hannah in the movie got an award for the best actress.

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However, the movie didn't do well in Box Office. One reason is because it only got a limited screening in America in just 5 theatre. Also, Warp managed to get Tyrannosaur quite widely distributed on DVD and not so much in cinema which the Box Office doesn't count the sales of DVD's.
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It only grossed £299k (only the Box Office worldwide), whereas, the budget is £750k. The movie received a positive reviews and currently has a score of 83% on RottenTomatoes. Stuart McGurk of GQ magazine even called Tyrannosaur  "The best British film of the year". This is very rare for Indie movies to win awards and get good reviews from companies such as GQ or RottenTomatoes. This also indicates that the movie was a success. But still in the UK the movie doesn't sell well due to it's genre "a brutal, frank, and ultimately rewarding story of violent men seeking far-off redemption". 

For our film opening I took influence of the background music. It's a guitar with notes that are several seconds apart. For the font I like the serif font, it connotes seriousness. However, I am definitely including the white font on black background that anchors seriousness and drama.