Welcome to my Blog!

Welcome to Deep Sea Productions

This blog will be updated with all things to do with my main task such as my research, planning, questionnaires and evaluation. These will be updated regulary and posted as soon as I can.

I have 3 different blogs, one for my case studies, one for my main task and one for my other work including my preliminary.

http://deep-sea-productions.blogspot.com/ - THIS IS FOR MY MAIN TASK

http://deep-sea-productions2.blogspot.com/ - THIS IS FOR MY CASE STUDIES

http://deepseaproductions3.blogspot.com/ - THIS IS FOR MY PRELIMINARY WORK AND OTHER WORK


This is for my AS Level Media project so I hope you enjoy my blog and enjoy the future of filming which is Deep Sea Productions...

Thank you
Dale Stewart

Evaluation

· In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
With our film, we went for a British cockney gangster type of film so we used some ideas from films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Trainspotting which were our inspirations. We use different ideas from both films such as the voice over to explain the story, running down the stairs (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), freeze frames (Trainspotting), and the whole chase idea which we were inspired by from both of these films. We thought of these two films as we made our film as our film replicates what these films are about. They are both British made films which is what we have also gone for. How we have developed these ideas further is by merging the two ideas from both films together while adding our own bits such as the story and we have represented youth instead of adults because our film deals with teenagers that don't take life seriously and get into trouble. We have the cliché characters with the voice over explaining who each character is whilst simultaneously hinting at what part of the story they have a play in. for e.g. Adrian (Addy) is a rough character with a short fuse and he loves himself. So you can imagine he is the one that will probably get the group into trouble and Danny Boy as the main protaginist and leader naturally has to find a way out of the trouble. The way we challenge different films is by tackling the story straight away to get the audience involved instantly with what is going on so they feel enticed to watch the rest of the film. But while using these two films as our inspirations, using youth culture challenges the typical drug using adults. Using youth, it has more important to their lives as they are young and have their whole lives to look foward to so it has more of a dramatic effect.
· How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product represents young people in the sense that young people are the main focus of the film. They are school kids that have all been kicked out of school and have got themselves into trouble which is bigger than them. It shows morality that kids that cause trouble can end up in life and death situations for something as stupid and reckless as sleeping with a girl that you didn’t know who happens to be a mob bosses girl. This film is a British gangster film with younger people who are only 16 or 17 so essentially not even adults yet so it is bound to represent and attach to social groups such as young teenagers that do the wrong thing and it always has bad consequences in the end. Our film represents youth culture obsessed with sex, drugs and violence which as our film states is “…not necessarily the right thing.” So I think our media represents youth in school the most. While other social groups may be interested, i think that because we have decided to make this film a 15 certificate for teenagers and above and the film represents youth, then it is more likely to be popular around that age region.
· What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I think that a small, British publisher will probably sign up our work as our film will only appeal to a British audience as British gangster films have never been popular off shores. So I think that a British publisher would be suitable as they will be more likely to publish a British made film, especially a gangster film. Also, it would have to be a small publisher such as Celador or Film4 as it is a new product with unknown directors and team so a big publisher would be unlikely to invest into our film. While the film will be small scale, i think a film like this can be very popular and I think that many small British based publishers would be interested in investing in our film.
· Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience that we have targeted is the British audience as we don’t think that people outside of Britain would be interested in our film as it is British based gangster film and as I have said before, they have never done well outside of Britain. I think that teenagers 15 years and over would be interested in our film as it would relate to them the most. It would also attract young and older adults who would be interested in seeing how youth can be in Britain, but as our film has a 15 age certificate, this is the age that we are centralising round and trying to attract.
· How did you attract or address your audience?
We attract our audience by first off selecting our characters as teenagers that have been kicked out of school. We show this by having flashbacks in our film to show the background of each main character to show why they have been kicked out. Each character that is featured in the opening of the film has their own specialised characteristics. Adrian is the angry guy with the short fuse that likes to get into trouble and loves himself, Tez or Tezza is the guy that deals around and cons people. He is a good talker and is very persuasive, he also likes to think he has a way with the ladies. And finally Danny Boy who is the leader of the group and is very clever which naturally makes him the leader but also is quite mouthy and thinks himself above people. These characters have very strong personalities and stand out from the crowd and are alos very funny. Using these characters, we hope to attract our audience. To attract the audience by other techniques, we started off our film with a chase scene to it would grab the audience straight away as young people would probably get bored with a slow start to a movie. This way, the audience is immediantly captivated by the film and feels enticed to watch the rest of the film. We also have techniques such as freeze frames, close ups and a wide variety of different camera techniques used. The freeze frames added humour because as we showed people the movie, a lot of poeple laughed as those bits so we thought the freeze frames were a good technique to attract our audience. We used Kasabian – Club foot as our song because it is fast and goes with the chase well. We also have Eminem – ‘Till I Collapse at the end of the song as youth like Eminem and the name of the film is called ‘Till I Collapse so it goes well when the title comes up, the song starts as well. we also added humour into our opening such as the freeze frames with extreme close ups on our face and the voice over also had humour in it which would attract the teenage audience.
· What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt a lot on technology on the making of this product and i think my skills have definitely vastly improved. Before this project, I didn't know how to use Adobe Premiere Elements but now i can do things on it which i never thought i could of done before such as fading in the music on chase scenes and then fading them out on talking scenes. I have learnt some useful editing techniques as well of making the cuts looks consistent and fluent. I have also learnt how to use a HD camera for the first time in my life and while we didn't get into too much detail on the effects of the camera, we could adjust the sound, zoom, blur, etc. I also learnt how to use the tripod and how to set out the camera and the tripod correctly so we could do a variety of shots and so that the camera was safe in our shots. We also used the radio room to record the voice over so i also learnt how to use the computer and the radio station to to record our piece. So my knowledge of technology has grown on both pieces of hardware and software and i think these techniques will help me in the future.
· Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product
From my preliminary task, I have progressed so much on camera techniques, editing as there was so much more that you could do with an opening to a movie. With the preliminary, it was very restricted to what you could do as their were guidlines to what it should be such as walking across a room and having a conversation which limited the situation of the piece extremely. The opening was much more broad as you could choose a age group, have any situation and create a good opening to what you envisaged it to be. The switch from the little camera to the HD camera was much better as the quality was much better and the difference showed so much. The tripod was also much more bigger so we could actually stand up with a fixed shot rather than have the tripodon higher ground. Another annoying thing with the little camera was that you could hear the camera make a noise every time you stopped recording so each cut is interupted with a little noise which made the scene not semm as natural as the opening of our movie. Also, I felt that i could use the HD camera to do tracking and quick shots without blurring up like the little camera did. I think when you have more minds working on a project, it helps a lot more as someone can offer a second opinions to what they think is best and you can merge ideas together which is what we done. Otherwise, with the preliminary video, it was me that chose what happened but if I had other people creating it with me, it owuld have been much better. I had lots of research up to the making of the opening to our film such as questionnaires and focus groups so I could really understand what the youth audience really wanted so it would have a better reaction to them while the preliminary task did not have any research prior to the task. The finished movie product is a mixture of what we all wanted to achieve individually and ended up agreeing on and I'm extremely pleased with the finished product. With the preliminary with just me working on it, I had less opinion and therefore it wasnt as good as the main task. The editing techniques used in our main task was really good and i didnt have no editing in my preliminary apart from straight cuts as i didnt know how to do things such as freeze frames. As i look back at my preliminary video compared to our main task, the difference shows and i think i have progressed hugely. The ideas, camera work, editing and music is all better than my preliminary task. My favourite part of the movie was the beginning where the music starts exactly when the voiceover finishes and we open the door and the end where the main character gets punched and blacks out. I am extremely pleased with the finshed product of the main task whereas with the preliminary task, I was only satisfied and I think that shows the difference between the two most of all.

Viewers Response

Adam Westbury - That was absolutely amazing. I think the humour that is introduced is done extremely well and I am impressed with the editing involved. My favourite part of the opening was the beginning adn end as I felt they were executed perfectly. The music also went very well and the story was very good.

Joseph Taphouse - When I was acting for this film, I didnt think it would turn out like this. It turned out much better than i thought it would and the opening of the film made me want to watch the rest of the film. When you going to make the rest of the film? (laughs) Seriously, it was really quirky, well edited and acted if I may say so myself and altogether a great opening to a film.

Ryan Butler - Yeah, i was really impressed with it and it was really funny. It also sparks up on what teenage life can be like and is a good representation of teenagers around Britain. I dont have any criticisms as it was just really good overall.

Tina Rugiwa - Wow, that was really good. I just laughed all the way through it because the freeze frames on their faces was hilarious.

Mark Bates - It was a really good opening and was well done, i thought the music and voiceover went very well with the movie and chase scene. I like it how the movie is called 'Till I Collapse and the music goes with it as well. Its very consistent and the flashbacks was a very good idea.

Melissa Fernandes - I really enjoyed it and it was very funny. The best shot, without a doubt, is the one where you are holding it up facing yourself as you run where the freeze frames are. It was cleverly done and looks very realistic. Another good thing about the movie is that it is believable that they are being chased.

Jonathan Mahon-Daly - Wow dude, that was brilliant. Congratulations to all of you, it was really good and i enjoyed it. I couldnt take my eyes off it.

Shooting Script

Shooting Script

For the shooting script, follow the dialog with the storyboard numbers by the side of each storyboard. For e.g. Shot 1 + 2 + 3 means a continuous dialogue across all 3 storyboards as they are the same shot with no cuts.

Shot 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 (19 sec) - Have you ever felt like life was just passing you by? Like every day was another grain of sand down the egg timer? Each breath a closer one till your last? Well I have, and I tried to do something about it. I fought against the established regime. I rebelled. And now I’m going places, meeting people. Generally making something out of my life. Although, it’s not necessarily the right thing.
Shot 5 (3 sec) - (Running scene)
Shot 6 (3 sec) - (Running scene)
Shot 7 + 8 + 9 (4 sec) - (Running scene)
Shot 10 + 11 + 12 (4 sec) - (Running scene)
Shot 13 (9 sec) - (Running slow motion scene)
Shot 14 (6 sec) - (Running slow motion scene)
Shot 15 (5 sec) - (Running scene)
Shot 16 (4 sec) – (Running scene)
Shot 17 (6 sec) - That’s me, Danny Boy to some, asshole to most. I started my rebellion at the best place, school.
Shot 18 + 19 (24 sec) - And so what do-
Prick
Excuse m-
Prick, sir. You’re a prick.
How dare you, I’ve never heard such ab-
Shut uuuup.
Why I should-
Shut up. That’s what you should do.
I’m warning you Danny.
The hell you gunna do about it?
Hey man, why don’t you just sit down and sh-shut up yourself.
Shot 20 (12 sec) - Simply put teachers weren’t too impressed and chucked me out. Best thing to happen to me really. I was in control of my own life now. These two are the closest thing I have to family, we’ve always looked out for each other and we’re there through rain or shine.
Shot 21 (6 sec) - That’s Tezza, or Tez for short. He’s somewhat of a dodgy dealer, not drugs though; we don’t dabble in that shit.
Shot 22 + 23 (29 sec) - Come one come all, come closer dear you smell nice. Enough flirting, down to business and boy what a business I have for you. Here we have a webcam with 20 mega pixels; it’s so strong you can literally see inside someone’s head. Not nearly as much fun as ‘being’ in someone’s head but still an amazing gizmo, I’m sure you’ll agree. Now one for the ladies, nah not me I’m afraid but this beautifully craf-
OI!
Shit, thus ending today’s show.
Shot 24 (2 sec) - And this…
Shot 25 (3 sec) - Is Addy, or full name Adrian.
Shot 26 (11 sec) - He’s a tad bit aggressive and acts purely on impulse. Just never mock his name and you’ll be fine.
Hey Adriaaan, Adriaaan. Hahahahaha.
It’s not worth it man.
Shot 27 (7 sec) - It took four teachers to get him off that kid but left him with a right mind never to fuck with Addy again.
Shot 28 (4 sec) - Now you’re wondering ‘why the hell they running’ and the answer is simple;
Shot 29 (10 sec) - for money, for our lives but more precisely because this prick couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. Of all the people Adrian could have made infertile, he had to choose one of the most infamous mob bosses girls.
Shot 30 (4 sec) - This ladies and lads, is Francis ‘Frankie’ Cullins,
Shot 31 (5 sec) - business man, father of four and most notorious fucking gangster this side of the pond.
Shot 32 (3 sec) - Those are his girls, Amy
Shot 33 (7 sec) - and Sam, this is the one Adrian contaminated. Now Frankie may seem a top notch bloke but give him a minute and his colors will show.
Shot 34 (10 sec) - There, now imagine that cold dead bastards situation but times it by a ton of shit and that’s our current predicament.
Shot 35 (10 sec) - So here I am shitting my pants, running like a bloody Kenyan and I can’t help but think I’ve never felt so alive. And I’ll be fine as long as it doesn’t come to an abrupt…
Shot 36 (2 sec) - (Running scene)
Shot 37 (5 sec) - (Title comes up)

Main Task Contents

Main Task

For the rough planning, all 3 of us participated in comin with the ideas and rough sketching the stroyboad, script and just our main ideas. All of us also participated in the making of both the Location Report and the screen tests on camera.

Dale – Storyboard, Shooting Script
Daniel – Script, Risk Assessment
Amy - Props and Equipment List, The Planning Stages Presentation

Shooting Schedule

Shooting Schedule

We are planning to film most of our movie on Tuesday 17th February 2009. We will be filming the chase scene and most of our flashbacks on that day. We will be filming Jon’s scene on another day, maybe when we come back from Half Term depending on when we can get the facilities available. We will definitely be filming most of our film on Tuesday 17th February and we might even have enough time to film Jon’s scene that day as well but if not, then sometime after Half term.

Tuesday 17th February 2009 – Running scenes, flashbacks
Monday 23rd February to Friday 6th March 2009 – Any other scenes that we don’t finish on the Tuesday.