Question 2

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

I think that the representation of young female and male teenagers within my film opening is one that I think deals with a rather niche social group. No other characters are used except for teenagers or younger adults. So therefore I believe that this opening sequence would only interest those of that age as well as people of an older generation would not be able to familiarize themselves with none of the characters.

However, when receiving my feedback I thought I should ask a mixture of different people so I had a clear view of who my opening sequence would actually interest. I spoke to Melinda, 56, and she gave her opinion that this opening sequence would interest her as it has a twist to it but however for some other people of her age they might find it confusing and hard to follow. I also spoke to Sarah, 34, she said that she thought it would interest her children Betty 15, and Charlie 18, more than it interested her, she had to watch over my opening sequence twice as she was confused as to what was going on and she thought that Mitch was dreaming and was not in fact a mi5 agent which I did find disappointing to hear. I spoke to her children and they loved it! They believe that it would interest people more of a younger generation as all movies these days always have the same sort of catch or story line, but this is different, they enjoyed the twists and wanted to know what would happen next.

Overall I did receive a mixture of good and bad feedback, but I knew that my opening sequence would interest the younger generation more but I am glad that I got honest opinions and feedback from everyone.

Question 1

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
I thought of the title of my life 'The Last Job' to make the audience understand the man in this particular opening sequence has done something bad because he has been told to not by choice. It throws of that idea to the audience that he could be involved in some type of spy or mi5 job.
The setting was based at Mitch's house (the man played in the opening sequence) and my very own house, I thought that the setting should be in a house so that Mitch can look back on pictures of him and the girls around the house, to show the audience that he actually knew them both and they were not just strangers to him. It was also a good setting as from the girls perspective we can see that this is there house as Mitch looks back on the memories of both of them and that they have been betrayed by someone they love in there own property.  I used very normal down to earth clothing for the actors. Mitch was dressed in very casual clothing, this might been seen as he has dressed himself so casual as he does not want to do this job he just wants to be his own self again. The girls are dressed in pajamas so we can show the audience that this could of been any normal night and they were dressed for a normal night in. I used casual clothing, such as jeans and jumpers for the girls on the flashbacks as I wanted the audience to see that these people were just average normal people we see everyday doing everyday things with there friends.
I found that my camerawork could of been a lot better than what it was, I found it very difficult to film Mitch in many scenes as he is very tall and did not fit into most shots unless I held the camera myself, so in the end only a few scenes were actually used with the tripod which I did find rather irritating. I found editing really fun to do, I filmed many scenes three times so that I could get the perfect one, I enjoyed using many effects to make my opening sequence the best it could be. I did not enjoy how much I had to cut down my opening sequence as I did not think it would make sense to the audience if I did not have all the scenes I planned on having but in the end it all worked out.
I used white and black for my titles, I did not plan on using two different colors but on some scenes the black would not work out with the background and on some scenes the white would not work out with the background. But I did research and looked at many different types of crime thriller opening sequences and I found that they used many different fonts and colors so I thought that I would do the same. I used a very normal, bold font just to show to go with the seriousness going on in each scene.
The story is very different, I wanted a unique story to stand out. Mitch is a mi5 agent, he works for the government and he is friends with these two girls Alice and Abigail. They are best friends, but as his final job he is told to eliminate of them which he is not happy on doing so but he has to as it is his job and if he does not serious consequences could happen. Abigail and Alice have a confidential paper which is needed by the government, the audience do not see what is in this paper but for someone to kill there best friends it must be important, so therefore this will leave the audience wanting to know more. Abigail and Alice come across as very nice, normal looking girls who would not be involved in any type of problem which makes the story even more interesting. Mitch looks very vulnerable and down for an agent, this makes the audience feel sorry for him but yet at the same time mad because of what he has down.

So far with my editing...

So far with my editing, I have managed to put together my opening sequence whilst combining it with music and titles.
My casting had to change as the only day fit for Mitch to film was a saturday because of work and I needed him as he was the main character I had to find another girl to star alongside Abi and that ended by being Alice.

I found editing the shots really difficult as many of the shots were very long and I didn't think I would be able to cut them down and still make sense to the audience. But I overcome that by using effects to help me out.

I found finding the music for my opening sequence really fun because I enjoyed trying to find the exact music I thought would match my scenes. I went through about 40 songs each lesson until i found the two I decided to stick with. Although I do believe the music I chose were the best options, I did want a more dramatic second song to emphasize the memories of Mitch, Abi and Alice.

I messed around with the fonts and texts in each scene, to start with I used the Arial font and I found that rather boring and it didn't fit in with the plot of the story, so I changed the font to Stencil. I also changed the color of the fonts as I used a pink to start with than I later on realized that black and white would look much better.

I spent a lot of time watching many crime/thriller opening sequences on youtube and researching novels similar to my opening sequence to find the best title to click with my film, after a week of researching many I decided to go with: The Last Job. I thought that The Last Job would be a great title as it shows to the audience that he is obvisouly something to do with the government or mi5 and he has had to do this job and it has been one of the hardest things he has had to do in his life as they were friends beforehand.

Overall, I found editing quite easy compared to some of the filming I have done in the past. I think that is because I kept my storyboard alongside me the whole time to make sure I had enough time for each scene and I didn't miss out a single thing.

Risk Assesment

My Final Cast

For my opening sequence I will be needing one male and two females.
From the beginning I have decided the male I will be using in this production is Mitch.
I want to use Mitch as I think he will work well acting and take it more seriously then some other people I had in mind as he is very confident and behaved.
For the two girls needed for my filming my preferences are Abigail Grieg and Ella Wood.
How ever because of work, I have a standby Alice Hall if she is needed to replace one of them.
I have chosen these three out of everyone because I find all three of them very confident on camera and trustworthy to not let me down on the day.

Location of filming:

My opening sequence will be filmed at my house, with the two girls Abigail and Ella. I think that filming in my house is a good decision as it is a familiar area and has each room needed for my opening sequence. In the scene of Mitch driving away will be filmed on a road near mine, The road Quinta Drive is a long steady road so it will be easy for Mitch to drive on and for me to film steadily.

Planning - Digital Storyboard and Shotlist

 I have now completed my digital storyboard and added titles- I will put the final video on as soon as it has been converted. I have also spent time completing a shotlist to help with my organisation and time management as I move towards filming (Dates- 21st Feb- 23rd Feb). I have uploaded a picture of my shotlist below and it will remind me what shots to complete in which locations and the actors and props I should take along.