2. Conventions My final piece is conventional to the typical action/thriller movie genre, in that the storyline, is typical of what may be expected of this genre with the protagonist in this case being a secret agent , who fights to stop the enemy. I choose to do this, as wanted to create the typical enjoyable action flick, that had a quick energetic pace and created tension. However my film is different in some ways to the typical action blockbuster, in that the Hollywood action films are usually made with a huge budget, and full of special effects. My piece is different to this in that I was faced with the task of creating the same tense atmosphere with no budget at all, to do this, rather than use intense visual action, I focused mainly on using music, sound and sound effects to create the atmosphere. Referring back to the film ‘The Road” that I used for my research, that film creates a tense setting with the music used, in that film, when the characters are hiding, something as small as the sound of footsteps can put the viewer on edge. I selected the music for the opening scene as I felt that it was a tense sounding piece that was atmospheric and suited the scene very well. Other ways in which I used sound were the sound effects of the explosions and the battle noises such as gun shots and later on a siren. I felt this was necessary as it expressed to the audience the danger that the characters were faced with, and this was the best way to put this across, because, for obvious reasons I could show real explosions and/or battle scenes. Another sound I decided to use in my piece was the sound of my breath when I ran with the camera, initially I was going to take this sound out, but I later felt that it added a more humanistic feel to the scene and expressed a sense of fear and high adrenaline to the audience, as they gave better sense of what the characters were seeing. For the choice of costume, I choose to use average clothing that someone of that age group may wear, as I feel thatt it creates a more realistic setting, also it will make it easier for for audiences of that age easier to relate to the characters. I wanted to use simplistic bold text, much like the font used in the films the road and law abiding citizen, the films that I used for my research. I feel that It creates a sense of seriousness.
3. Camera Techniques The camera techniques I used when filming the piece are conventional in certain areas, such as the shot reverse shot technique which I used when filming some of the dialogue, this is a typical camera technique used in this situation. Also, another technique I used which is conventional, was the use of mid-shots sometimes, when I was filming the characters talking. However, I also used a few techniques that were a bit different, such as I used zooming in on the characters faces to show emotion at the point of realisation. Also I used shaky shots in the running scene, as I felt this use of unsteady shot was necessary at that point, as it made it more realistic and made the audience feel more involved. For the title sequence, I wanted to use a small amount of simple shots rather than trying to cram in every different type of shot possible, as I wanted the audience to focus more on the story and the characters, rather than being swamped in flamboyant camera work. I choose to walk down the corridors of the school, as I feel that instantly lets the viewer know where the film is going to be set. The characters are than introduced as the camera follows them walking through the school yard, and the sounds of their voices can be heard as they walk through the school and the camera slowly catches them up and turns to face them using a mid shot. This continuity of the two shots flowing into one another, I feel makes it more fluent.
4. Distribution I feel that my piece would be suited to be distributed in mainstream i.e. the cinema and then to DVD, as I feel that the genre and setting would pull in a broad audience that people of all ages could enjoy, I believe that a film of this style has the potential to be a blockbuster, however I feel it would be suited better to a smaller film company due to the low budget.
5. Audience I intended to target a very broad audience with a film that would appeal to the masses. Although it hard to accurately pinpoint, I believe that an audience between the ages of around 15-50 and a mainly male audience will be attracted by this film, as my aim was to create a stereotypical action/thriller movie that can be enjoyed by most. And I feel that the genre of the film will attract a large audience as an easily viewable, enjoyable action flick. However, it could be more likely popular among younger audiences perhaps between the age of around 13-20. This is due to the setting of the film being in a school, and the protagonist being around this age. This would perhaps attract teenage viewers as they could relate to it more as the audience. The characters used reflect a particularly young, mainstream social group. Younger audiences can relate to this. I made sure that the meaning of my text was instatly apparent to the viewer, as the film begins with a black screen and text that gives the obvious impression, that the film is set in a school, and is an action/thriller movie.
6. Technologies Over the process of creating my piece, I have used a number of different technologies. Such as the video cameras them selves and practiced using different types of shots and filming techniques, the editing software I initially started with pinnacle, but after problems with the software made it very awkward, I switched to adobe premier elements. Other software that I used includes DVD shrink to select the clips from the films I was researching. Audacity to edit the audio for the film. And WINFF to convert the files to FLV format in order to post them onto the blog, also to convert youtube videos to mp3 files to extract the music. Others include slideshare to show my evaluation as a slideshow to others and obtain feedback. facebook, to share ideas with friends and e-mail to arrange with actors filming times etc.
7. What I have learned This project has allowed me to develop my skills, in story writing, filming and editing. I have previously had little experience of these. But this project has let me expand my knowledge of creating projects like this, and taught me about techniques and conventions used within this genre. I have increased my knowledge of the film industry and the process involved when creating films, and the programs used to edit video, sound and much more.
8. Conclusion Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome of my project, I feel that I am left with a product that is true to my original idea, in that it is an enjoyable piece that creates a tense atmosphere and action on no budget, that would attract a broad range of viewers, who I feel would enjoy this film. I believe that the piece does have a few weaknesses that I feel I could have improved, such as in some scenes I think that the editing could have been slightly more fluent. However I believe that overall I have accomplished the task in hand to a good standard, and my final piece was a success.
