Welcome to this blog! Sources I've used...

film Guardian, 

media Guardian, 

DB cinema, 

DB sample blog, 

Coursework blog 

ScreenDaily

Guardian UK box-office

Guardian Global box-office

Guardian USA box-office

YouTube playlist of film openings I have analysed (or their trailers):

Wikipedia links: 

Hot Fuzz

This Is England

Johnny English

The Worlds End

Southcliffe

Partisan

The Final Cut

Below is the final cut for my film opening "GODLESS" (it looks best in full screen and at the highest quality):

This opening 2 mins and 20 seconds is the final cut of our production, GODLESS, being an action-heist hybrid genre following a kind hearted and unwilling driver for a heist boss throughout his adventure dodging the police whilst fighting for redemption and revenge. 

We have taken key influence from Baby Driver along with other films such as the Oceans films and other films in similar genres.

Our primary audience is males aged 15-24, and our secondary audience being females aged 15-24 and males aged 24-40. We would expect our film to get a BBFC rating of 15, as this was the rating given to Baby Driver.

The Davinci Resolve timeline (does not include separate timelines for the idents and other parts): 

Changes since last rough cut:

• minor improvements in audio
• more ambient sound
• more active flow 
• fixed minor rendering errors
• improved vocals in song
• removed small amounts to shorten it

CCR Q4 integrated technologies

CCR Q4 integrated technologies

Creative critical reflection
On completion of the product, candidates must creatively reflect upon their work. Candidates may use any digital format, such as director commentaries, a presentation with voiceover, podcasts or screencasts. Candidates may use a different digital format to explore each of the compulsory questions. The creative critical reflection should be produced and presented individually.
Candidates must explore the following compulsory questions:

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

I used a YouTube Video with B-roll 

A vlog style video I also made:

Equipment I used:

Panasonic lumix DC-GH5L camera:

A great camera, by far the best camera i have ever used.

amazon basics monopod:

We found it useful, but we still had too much shake with it.

a tripod:

we found this much better then the monopod, but it was harder to use, and less maneuverable.

DaVinci Resolve:

This is the main editing software where the videos were edited.

FCPX (Final Cut Pro X):

FCPX was used sometimes as it was faster then Davinci Resolve, especially when it comes to Stabilization.

SanDisc SD:

We used this SD card so that we could get 10 bit video at 4k.

ZOOM Handy recorder:

We used this recorder to record the audio, and it did a phenomenal job at it.

Amazon basics camera bag:

We used this bag to bring the equipment with us.

Stabilizer Tool:

We used the stabilizer tool to stabilize further the monopod shots and the hand held shots.

Blender (3D art software):

I used blender to make two of the Idents (Studio canal and Eds'up).

GarageBand

I used GarageBand to make songs for the video.

Video I used that helped me learn what to do:

D4Darious is my favorite cinematographer, but there are many i like including Corridor Crew, and Curtis Jud.

a

CCR Q3 skills development

CCR Q3 skills development

Creative critical reflection
On completion of the product, candidates must creatively reflect upon their work. Candidates may use any digital format, such as director commentaries, a presentation with voiceover, podcasts or screencasts. Candidates may use a different digital format to explore each of the compulsory questions. The creative critical reflection should be produced and presented individually.
Candidates must explore the following compulsory questions:

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

How did my production skills develop throughout this project?

VIDEO:

POWERPOINT:

IDEAS:

• we thought more about a wider secondary audience
• we relied on natural lighting
• we shot at night and found that we did not like it because it was very difficult for lighting purposes 
• having previously considered the  Proppian narrative theory we took a more sophisticated approach by including an antihero
• the footage was very shaky - then we used a monopod and stabilizer, errors in the stabilizer are visible, so we should have used a tripod.
• we included intertextual references (or other postmodern elements) to widen our audience
• we created idents including some in 3D art software
• we used an external mic
• we downloaded multiple font and installed them
• we looked at micro-detail titles, and fonts, editing styles, and characters and how they are portrayed in several films
• for titles we experimented with multiple fonts and FCPX effects
• we had detailed storyboards
• we did multiple pitches
• we developed a screenplay
• we did re-shoots after seeking feedback
• we researched the genre and its audience, sampling film openings and budgets, box office and marketing; reading up theories like Mulvey's male gaze and the Gant Rule
• we used a basic shot list
• we did an animatic
• we had a questionnaire to test out our ideas on audience
• we used all manual controls 
• we tried out the greenscreen, but it did not work with our plans
• we combined actual industry names with our own for titles, which had a very specific order and use of language, reflecting concepts such as the auteur theory (we had "Christian Zmuda" as the auteur in this case, which meant he was in the titles twice)
• we had lots of panning and tracking shots
• we went location scouting and took practice footage to test out our ideas
• we shot a lot of coverage, shooting everything multiple times; looked for useful cutaway shots and interesting framing opportunities
• we used mise-en-scene more for exposition, especially in the church scene
• we shot handheld, and regretted it, so resorted to a monopod often
• we recorded replacement sound as Foley ambient sound, and overdubbed a sigh
• we found issues with sound, then used a specified sound recorded
• we gave cast detailed instructions on clothing and look
• we considered theories like the uses and gratifications model whilst planning
• 1st time I used Lumix Panasonic DC-GH5L camera
• we sought out audience feedback
• we did a re-pitch
• we considered narrative theories, specifically Todorov/Propp, Barthes, and many more

CCR Q2 audiences (engagement), distribution

CCR Q2 audiences (engagement), distribution

Creative critical reflection
On completion of the product, candidates must creatively reflect upon their work. Candidates may use any digital format, such as director commentaries, a presentation with voiceover, podcasts or screencasts. Candidates may use a different digital format to explore each of the compulsory questions. The creative critical reflection should be produced and presented individually.
Candidates must explore the following compulsory questions:

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

Video:

IDEA:

I chose to follow a style of a YouTube channel called "Corridor Crew", who make videos where they go over how a film was made with different experts, and show their insights towards the film, here is a link to the YouTube channel, and a link to the specific video i got my idea from:

channel: Corridor Crew - YouTube

idea: Stuntmen React To Bad & Great Hollywood Stunts 28 - YouTube

SCRIPT:  

Not all the scripts was used because the video would have been too long, but there is more information in the script about the video and more of my thoughts

...

Eduardo ccrq2 script from DB3igs

...

DISTRIBUTION:

Our film would hopefully be distributed in CD format, and we would consider using online Web 2.0 methods to additionally distribute our film, we do not expect the film to be in theaters, but if it is, it would only manage to get into arthouses and not many of them. We hope for a 15 age rating which would help our chances for distribution in general and would allow are target audience, who are young males and our secondary audience, young females to watch our film.

TENTPOLE OR BIG 5 PRODUCTION:

Global and high budget film distribution is primarily dominated by 5 companies, these being Disney, Warner Bros, Sony Colombia, Paramount and NBC Universal.

Disney is the leader of the 5, and is said to probably be purchasing Paramount soon, to more strongly establish its position of dominance over the entire film industry. 

These companies will often employ the "Tentpole/Blockbuster" strategy, which was a term invented by Anita Elberse, an economist whom wrote multiple books on the economic side of the media industries. 

her theory is that large conglomerate companies focus their efforts on large 100s of million dollar films which are called "tentpole/blockbuster" films. The companies cannot afford for the large films to fail, especially not one after the other, that's why it is often suggested that they should focus on more less expensive films which could help the industry thrive and survive in case of worse occasions like currently with Covid 19. 

THE GANT RULE/DYER/FRANCHISE:

The gant rule is a theory made by Charles Gant, saying that American films make 10x the box office of British films.

Dyer believed that the most important aspect of marketing having an A-Star celebrity in the film so that the audience can watch it because of the actor such as the borne films and green zone, a replica of those films though there are also contradicting films such as Star wars which had no A-Star celebrities abut still succeeded massively.

CHINA:

China is the second largest distribution market but it has a quota: only (currently) allows 42 non-Chinese films to be shown in china per year. Some films such as "the high note" got around this by using the fact that it was co-produced by a Chinese company (perfect world pictures) to get distribution in china without counting towards the 42 films. Films that don't show china as being a good country are certainly not going to be allowed, and some actors who started in films that considered Taiwan as its own country were even blocked from entering the country simply for acting in said film.

IMAX SCREENS:

Imax screens are very large screens that are in also very higg definition, where you can see a film in an massive scale trumping over large TV screens for home cinema, making sure that the audiences still go the the cinemas to watch films.

CCR Q1 conventions, representations

CCR Q1 conventions, representations

Creative critical reflection
On completion of the product, candidates must creatively reflect upon their work. Candidates may use any digital format, such as director commentaries, a presentation with voiceover, podcasts or screencasts. Candidates may use a different digital format to explore each of the compulsory questions. The creative critical reflection should be produced and presented individually.
Candidates must explore the following compulsory questions:

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
2. How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?
3. How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
4. How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

1. How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent groups or issues?

VIDEO:

SCRIPT:

Eduardo ccrq1 script from DB3igs

DEFINE CONVENTIONS OF 'FORMAT'

The average amount if idents per film is 3 ident  

The average length: 14.9s  

The average length of indie companies:  8.1s

we have a 3 idents:

STUDIO CANAL:

EDS'UP PRODUCTIONS:

BANDIT FILMS:

• In our opening shots we provide to too much exposition, and don't let there be enough narrative enigma.
• there is an audio bridge between the last title and the film
• the opening shot is a close up of feet
• in Todorov's narrative structure we are still at the original equilibrium

Soundtrack

"Godless" SOUNDTRACK:

INDUSTRY:

Its common in the film industry to use a films OST as a way to help market the film and earn extra revenue, most notably this was done with Baby driver.

You can see they offer the OST as a vinyl, probably as a nod to the films more retro style. This is a good marketing move as the people who are the most likely to enjoy retro music are older, so this was done to target an older demographic who are more likely to own a vinyl player.

You can also see how the OST was used in the marketing, you can see in this poster how the phrase "All you need is one killer track" was featured on the poster. This shows how music was used as one of the main draws of the film.

OVERVIEW OF MUSIC WE USED:

Track #1; Classic Rock

We observed how in baby driver the first track was rock with heavy blues influence. For this reason we chose to recreate "Sympathy for the Devil" by the rolling stones, not only because it had a lot of grove making it easier to dance to but because we thought it would play well into the antihero theme. 

Original:

Our Version:

Our Version With Vocals by Amelie Marchand:

We used this song as an audio bridge in the opening. 

The creation process/Use of technologies:

For this song I used the software Ableton Live 10, I then used and layered multiple percussion samples including one that was recorded for this project by a music teacher from our school. Then another teacher from our school generously helped us with the "woo" parts in the song.

I then added a bass line with the free plugin "Ample Bass guitar II". This plugin simulates a real electric bass guitar which is what was used in the song.

Then Bitsonics "Key Zone Classic" plugin was used for the piano chords as it simulates an acoustic piano, this is again in order to be faithful to the original song.

 

Track 2 and 3: Incidental music + Choir

We also created some incidental music, this music is very intense compared to our version of sympathy for the devil which helps the viewer feel the tone switch better. We then also created a Gothic sounding choir to create some verisimilitude in the church scene. The choir and incidental music were made so that they could be looped. The choir is also meant to be dietetic. 

Our song: (The incidental music is labeled "Riser" in the video) 

The Creation Process/Use of technologies: 

The software used was Ableton Live 10 agian;

The violin was created with the stock "string section" plugin from the software Cakewalk, this plugin is capable of simulating an acoustic violin/cello/double bass and comes free with the Cakewalk software making it almost essential for this project.

The percussion part was a stock "Tom" preset that came with the software which I found worked well in the track if you add some reverb.

The third aspect of this riser or piece of incidental music as a very simple synth I made which was made to imitate a brass instrument and played the same notes as the violin at a much lower frequency. The synth also had a very high attack, this was done to simulate a build up (or to have the volume steadily increase from zero).

 The choir section was done primarily with a plugin called "Spitfire LABS" which is a free preset loader that came with a choir patch, which simulated a choir singing in a church. Although the software was very good and we ended up with a result we were both satisfied with, it had some limitations as the sound it produced already had effects so it was almost impossible to edit or shape the sound in any way.

LABS Plugin:

WHY WE USED THESE SONGS:

Sympathy for the Devil remake:

• Sympathy for the devil is a title that is very fitting for our film as our protagonist is an antihero and even if he is a criminal, the audience can sympathize with the fact hes being forced into crime
• The song is very upbeat and accurately sets the tone for the first scene, the tone being happy and playful
• Sympathy for the devil is a very rhythmic song making it easy to dance to, and it makes it easier to make cuts in sync with the beat.

 

Incidental Music:

• Helps build tension when the tone switches (when baby picks up the phone)
• Reflects Babys emotions when he hears he has to do another job

Choir:

• The choir plays in the church in order to add verisimilitude to the scene
• It is also meant to signify that the church is occupied while the scene takes place 
  

ROUGH CUTS:

FIRST IDEA:

First draft: 

For this one we were particularly focused on having a cut made so that we could better understand and show the flow of the idea, in a better way then with storyboards or other means of explaining the idea.

At this stage we were missing a many shots (noted with titles in the cut) and music.

Second draft: 

I did not upload this as the 3rd draft was very similar, but with minor improvements

Third draft: 

For this one we were particularly focused on building on the previous sample scenes and improving in general the entire edit, fixing issues that were rushed earlier and trying to see if this idea worked as we had originally planned.

At this stage we were missing a few shots and music. 

SECOND IDEA:

First drafts: 

For this one we were particularly focused on re-recording and re-editing it using previous footage and the footage of the re-recording to try and build a better edit then in the older versions.

At this stage we were missing a many shots and music. 

Second draft:

For this one we were particularly focused on building on the previous sample scenes and providing a more complete narrative cut to see if sample viewers could follow the basic preferred reading and if not, which particular element/s were attracting contested/oppositional readings.

At this stage we were missing a scene and music and titles.

Third draft:

For this one we were particularly focused on the titles and their positioning and styles.

At this stage we were missing a scene and the final music.

THIRD [FINAL] IDEA:

first draft: 

For this one we were particularly focused on building on the previous sample scenes and providing a near-complete narrative cut to see if sample viewers could follow the basic preferred reading and if not, which particular element/s were attracting contested/oppositional readings.

At this stage we were missing a few shots and many needed re-recording.

Here is a sample of the audience feedback we got:

"Alright so the part where he cuts the bread, I think that shot is too long, so it needs to be changed with some variety, I really like the overall flow of the editing though, it is very well paced and is enjoyable to watch."

     

"The video had good editing in terms of music, because the actors were always moving to the rhythm of the song. The change in mood as the phone rang was impact because the contrast showed the threat and unpleasantness on the main characters darker life. However, as the main character exits the room, it is confusing because as he opens the door to leave, in the next shot he opens the door to the church, and it kind of looks as if it was the same door. Some shots were also a few seconds longer than they had to be, like the toast cutting shot. The sound mixing was good, and all the shots looked good. I like how  a lot of the takes in the kitchen are from the perspective of the man eating/being served, especially when the main character gets the phone call, allowing you to place yourself in the uncomfortable position of someone who doesn't want someone close to him to live a life of crime."

 

We strongly agreed with many statements that they said, and we edited some of those edits by the next version, and by the final, all had been changed.

Second draft: 

For this one we were particularly focused on building on using the more content that we had recorded and incorporating it better, we also improved upon the titles and did general minor improvements throughout.

At this stage we were close to the end, now simply making improvements for the final result.

Third draft:

For this one we were particularly focused on improving upon the titles and doing general minor improvements throughout.

At this stage we were close to the end, now simply making improvements for the final result.

Fourth Draft:

For this one we were particularly focused doing general minor improvements throughout.

At this stage we were close to the end, now simply making improvements for the final result.

Final:

And the final one has its own blog page.

Sample scenes

We produced a range of sample scenes before settling on a final cut - testing out ideas and checking for elements that needed tighter/different media language to enable audiences to follow our encoded preferred reading. Each sample scene is detailed below, including information on:

• any focus of that sample scene
• any FX used (differently than before)
• any added media (sound, fonts, images etc)
• evidence of audience feedback
• main points from audience feedback
• our conclusion on what to change for the next sample scene or cut (including any planned new/reshoots + narrative tweaks)

here are all the RAW videos where we put together all the recorded video: 

From here onwards it is very similar to the Rough Cuts Page:

FIRST IDEA:

First draft: 

For this one we were particularly focused on having a cut made so that we could better understand and show the flow of the idea, in a better way then with storyboards or other means of explaining the idea.

At this stage we were missing a many shots (noted with titles in the cut) and music.

Second draft: 

I did not upload this as the 3rd draft was very similar, but with minor improvements

Third draft: 

For this one we were particularly focused on building on the previous sample scenes and improving in general the entire edit, fixing issues that were rushed earlier and trying to see if this idea worked as we had originally planned.

At this stage we were missing a few shots and music. 

SECOND IDEA:

First drafts: 

For this one we were particularly focused on re-recording and re-editing it using previous footage and the footage of the re-recording to try and build a better edit then in the older versions.

At this stage we were missing a many shots and music. 

Second draft:

For this one we were particularly focused on building on the previous sample scenes and providing a more complete narrative cut to see if sample viewers could follow the basic preferred reading and if not, which particular element/s were attracting contested/oppositional readings.

At this stage we were missing a scene and music and titles.

Third draft:

For this one we were particularly focused on the titles and their positioning and styles.

At this stage we were missing a scene and the final music.

THIRD [FINAL] IDEA:

first draft: 

For this one we were particularly focused on building on the previous sample scenes and providing a near-complete narrative cut to see if sample viewers could follow the basic preferred reading and if not, which particular element/s were attracting contested/oppositional readings.

At this stage we were missing a few shots and many needed re-recording.

Second draft: 

For this one we were particularly focused on building on using the more content that we had recorded and incorporating it better, we also improved upon the titles and did general minor improvements throughout.

At this stage we were close to the end, now simply making improvements for the final result.

Third draft:

For this one we were particularly focused on improving upon the titles and doing general minor improvements throughout.

At this stage we were close to the end, now simply making improvements for the final result.

Fourth Draft:

For this one we were particularly focused doing general minor improvements throughout.

At this stage we were close to the end, now simply making improvements for the final result.