Branded - Final Draft

Feedback for Branded

Above is a screenshot of the link to our Media film on my Facebook wall. As seen from the comments and the amount of likes, people seemed to have a positive view on our footage.

I showed the film to some individuals and asked them for their opinions, and these were their responses:

Hannah Emery
I enjoyed watching your film opening, as it created alot of questions and made me want to see the rest of the film. I found that the lighting in your film was very effective, as it created the tone of the rest of the film instantly. I liked the location you chose for filming, as it seemed quite remote. However, I think it would have been good for the audience to see more of your character.

Edward Stow
Your film definately made me want to find out what happened next in your story. I like the newspaper cuttings and pictures, and how quick the pacing of the editing was. But I think that perhaps you could have made the news report a bit shorter, as it could make people get bored of long dialogue.

Miranda Amess
I thought that your film was very interesting! The mise-en-scene and set design was very well done; I particularly liked the panning shot of the tools on the desk, it really gives an insight into how violent the main character in your film is. I like how the character was mysterious, as the audience did not really see much of him. The effort that you put into your filming is evident, as the film looks professional and well-put together. I can't really think of anything you can improve on!

Conclusion
Overall, I am very pleased with how our media film turned out. I am pleased that we had to refilm it numerous times, as it means that each time we improved the quality of our footage until we were happy with the final product. The music, cinematography, editing, lighting, set design and colour all work together to create one opening with great effects both visually and audibly. I am very pleased with the consumer reaction to our media project, as it proved to be very popular. We put alot of effort into this product, researching the type of people which would want to go and see it; what kind of production company would distribute it and what to include to appeal to our target audience. Taking all of these different views on board, we created our film, which I feel targeted it's audience effectively. We ensured to stick true to our chosen genre, and include various mise-en-scene and prop elements to show this to the audience, as it needs to be clear what kind of film we are making. We also ensured that we had to create a whole story to the film, despite only creating the opening, to add a sense of realism, which I feel we did so effectively. We also all worked well as a group together, all helping each other at various stages throughout the production of Branded.

Looking back at your preliminary tasks, what do you feel you have learnt in the progress from it to full product?

Above is our continuity editing task. The first task we had to do was match on action. We done this by having the girl walk through the door, and then showing a different shot of them walking into the room and closing the door. These two clips had to be edited in perfect time together to create the desired effect.

The second thing we had to do was a shot revere shot. The camera had to show the two characters having a conversation, but by using two different shots. The shots had to stay the same on both characters as otherwise the character positioning would not make sense.

Overally, doing these tasks did help us when creating our final project. It got us used to using the cameras, and helped us to ensure that all of the footage made chronological sense. It also got us used to the editing software, Adobe Premiere, as the clips had to be put into a timeline and edited together. This got us used to using the software when it came to editing our film. The match on action preliminary task was extremely helpful and productive to our film. This is because there are numerous shots which required this in our film; the character opening and shutting a door from two different perspectives, and the character throwing the cross on the floor from two different perspectives. The tasks greatly helped us when it came to shooting and editing these particular scenes.

How did you attract/address your audience?

Above is the final draft of our media project, Branded. On this video I have annotated various key shots and spoke about how they are used to create meaning. I also focused on numerous other mise-en-scene elements. This addresses the audience as it allows them to see the themes which are in our film.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

We used multiple different products to produce our film. To film it we used a small digital camera, which did not produce the highest of quality images, although it was small and compact, which was an advantage as it was quite a commute to get to our filming location. When we first filmed it, we did not take a tripod, and noticed that the footage was quite shakey and unstable. The correct this problem, we re-shot the footage and ensured that we brought a tripod to make sure that the footage was of a higher quality standard.

Once we had shot the footage, we uploaded it onto an Apple Mac in the school Recording Studio, as shown in the picture above. It was easy to upload as all we had to do was connect it, upload it and ensure that we made a copy incase anything happened to the footage.

Then, we uploaded the footage onto Adobe Premiere to edit it. We placed all of the footage onto a timeline, and then rendered it, which was quite a long process. We cut and edited various parts of the footage until we were happy with the final product. Adobe Premiere was extremely easy to use, as it was quick to cut, edit and change any piece of footage.

Then, we converted the footage uploaded our final piece onto YouTube. Uploading it onto YouTube was quite difficult, as it kept encountering errors during the upload. However, with some help from our peers we managed to overcome the problem and upload our footage so that we could get feedback. We also found our music on YouTube, checked that is was not copyrighted, and used an online video converter to get the footage onto Premiere.

I learnt alot of informaton throughout the whole filming and editing process, including:

1) The importance of tripods when filming, as although certain camera's are good without them, to get the best footage tripods are important

2) How to upload the footage onto Adobe Premiere.

3) How to add effects onto footage in Premiere, including fades, dissolves and more.

4) How to add titles onto the footage.

5) How to add titles next to the footage.

6) How to import music.

7) How to important video footage.

We also used iTunes to import our music, Google to find out various information about our chosen genre and target audience, Blogger: to record our progress, YouTube: to watch various other openings to other thriller/horror films, and also to upload out final product. We also used Facebook to share our film with a diverse range of people, and to get their opinions on it. I also uploaded our footage onto the website Tumblr, to see people's opinions on our footage.

Who would be your audience for your film?

This is Jim Cowan, a twenty-five year old man. He lives in the capital of London, and is a lover of film and television. Ever since he was a child, Jim has known that he has wanted to go into the area of film as a career, and is currently studying Film Studies as a degree at University. He enjoys watching films for both leisure and also to analyse.

He enjoys a range of activites: being with friends, visiting the cinema, football, playing the guitar, surfing and playing video games. He finds a balance between having a good social life with his friends and also ensuring that he has time to catch up on the latest films. He tends to buy films, as opposed to renting them, as he likes to have them added into his collection.

His favourite genre of film is thriller. This is because enjoys watching a film which grasps his attention for the whole duration. Thriller films offer this experience, as you are constantly in a state of worry as to what is going to happen to the characters. Some of his favourite films in this genre include Saw, Paranormal Activity, Final Destination and The Crazies. However, he also enjoys films outside of this genre, like Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Back To The Future. He has recently been to the cinema to see the new Scream 4 film, as he has followed the franchise for many years. Some of the music which he enjoys listening to are bands like Fall Out Boy and Lostprophets, both of which are rock bands.
Our film is targeted at people like Jim, as he is the most likely kind of person to see the film. However, it is important to remember when marketing not to focus too closely on one kind of person, as this can alienate other potential viewers and prevent them from seeing Branded.

What kind of media institution might distribute your film and why?

We created our production company, Unearthly Productions to produce our film. This involves all of the creating and funding of the film. The types of films that they produce are horror/thriller, and use a mix of cinematography and mise-en-scene to create a reaction in the audience.

Distributors of horror films:

Lionsgate films have distributed the Saw franchise in the USA. They were very effective at doing this, as represented in the success of the films and their sequels. They are also a well known distributor of the horror genre, this will mean that our film will become more well known if it has a good distributing company.


Paramount Pictures distributed Paranormal Activity. They done this very successfully, and marketed the film in such a way to grasp audience's attention. They showed audience's reaction to the film in the trailer, which immediately made potential consumers interested.


The distributor Dimension Films distributed the film 'Scream', which is an iconic horror film.

The distributing company which I think would distribute our film would be Lionsgate films. They have produced numerous iconic films over the years that the company has produced, and they all seem to be of the highest quality. The films which they distribute share similar themes with ours: death, pain, suffering, and ultimately result in scaring the audience. Lionsgate can also distribute a range of films, from mainstream blockbusters, to independent films which are targeted at a more niche audience.

How does your product represent particular social groups (gender, age, ethnicity, class, religion)?

The character of Laverick is 31 years old. He used to be a successful millionaire, with a wife and two children, until a fire broke out in his mansion. The fire tore through his home, burning everything in it's path: including his wife, his children and his business. He was left with nothing. Consumed with revenge, Laverick believed the fire to be an arson attack, he began killing people mercilessly, who had any kind of connection to the fire. The back story of Laverick emphasises the divide between classes, the upper and the lower, even in this modern age, and it shows how easy it is for a person's life to be changed instantly within just a few minutes. For the age group that Laverick belongs too family is very important in modern society, and our film reflects this. When family is taken away people can react in terrible way, overrun by grief. Laverick's family was the most important thing to him, and through the acts of certain people, they died. Our film also shows that although alot of killers and muderers in this world are evil, they usually have had something happen to them in their life to make them act in such a horrible way.

There is one shot in our opening sequence of Laverick throwing a cross on the floor. The scene symbolises Laverick's loss of faith, and has been revealed from our audience research that it is very powerful. Laverick once believed in God and Christianity, but since the death of his wife and children his faith has been very neglected. This is representative of what can happen during one's life; although faith can be a good thing and give people hope, it can also make one think of why there is suffering in the world.

We took inspiration for our character from the film 'Saw'. The antagonist of the film is a man named 'Jigsaw', a man who commits numerous evil deeds over his life time. He puts people in terrible situations to test their will to survive. However, the character is not just a mindless killer. He was driver to his deeds, as revealed in the third film, due to the death of his unborn child by a robber. Ever since then, and his cancer, he has wanted to test people to see if they can pass his cruel tests. He is a very mysterious character, and nobody knows his true identity. He is extremely isolation from everyone else in society, which is very similar to Laverick. On the other hand, Jigsaw does not actually kill, he merely puts people in terrible situations and watches them die. This is unlike Laverick as Laverick actually commits his crimes.

Below is a picture of Jigsaw from the 'Saw' films.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The close up of the lamp turning on emphasises revealing: it is revealing the truth to the character. It also emphasises the fact that he is isolated from the rest of society, due to the fact that it has a shot of unnatural lighting, which is in contrast to the outisde shot, with natural lighting, showing that he is seperate.

The shot of the barred windows emphasises that he is seperated from society and that he is perhaps dangerous. The rain immediately sets the mood of the film: negative with heavy undertones. Rain is a typical horror genre convention, as it immediately lets the audience know the tone and setting of the film will be.

Another example of a way that our film uses the conventions of the horror genre is with the use of shadows. Shadows can emphasise numerous things: vulnerability, mystery, danger. In this case, it represents Laverick's mysterious personality. This puts the audience on edge, as shadows give the impression that somebody is behind you.
The name of our film is 'Branded'. This is key to the horror genre, as when we researched into names we noticed that the name had to be to the point of the film. Examples of this are films like 'Saw' and 'Scream'. Both of these names gives the audiences clues as to what the film will be about, but not too much.

The narrative of our film is a key convention of the horror genre. It involves violence, revenge and a killer. These three aspects are key to the success of the film. It is important to keep the motive of the killer fairly hidden until the end of the film, thus to keep audiences interested. It is important to drop a few hints in the film, however, so that audiences can begin to piece together some parts of the information and guess themselves the motives of his actions. We done this in the opening of the film, by panning across a few key words in newspapers.

The title of the film/Title font and style
The title of the film, 'Branded', appears at the end of the sequence, as the door slams shut. The loud bang of the door slamming allows the audience to know that the name of the film itself will be very important to the plot of the film. The title font and style are the same for the Production Company (as seen in the top right image), the title credits and of the film name. We felt that this use of consistency in font and colour let the opening sequence flow more easily together, and linked all of the shots together perfectly. The font itself is quite Gothic, seeming fairly sharp. This introduces the audience to the genre of our film. The use of the black and white colours are fairly bland and depressing, which helps set the tone of the film. We took inspiration from this from title sequences such as 'Final Destination' who used the same font and style in both the title credits and the name of the film itself.

Setting/location
The location of the film is extremely effective. It is quite worn-down and seems secluded from the rest of society. The shot of the barred windows really emphasises this point, as it shows that Laverick is seperated from everyone else; almost like a prisoner. This is representative of his mental state - he feels like he belongs in a seperate place than everyone else. Inside of the workshop in which Laverick hides, there are many tools and weapons layed out on the desk, showing the strong violent themes within our film, which would continue if we were to make it as a feature film. The colours and lighting in the workshop are subdued and dark, representing Laverick's character.

Costumes and props
The costume of Laverick is quite plain and simple. We purposely chose to dress Laverick in such a way so that the audience would be reminded that Laverick was once just an ordinary man, who had his whole life changed in an instant. The shot of his muddy trainers show that he has been out of his workshop recently, allowing the audience to ponder on why this would have been.
The props in our opening sequence are also used to great effect. The shot of the blood on the knife truely emphaises this. There is one key shot of the radio which is highly important. This is because you can see Laverick lift up a knife in the reflection of the radio, as the news report plays overhead. This particular shot shows us the connection that Laverick has with the rest of society - violence. He only seeks revenge.

Camerawork and edting
There are numerous editing techniques used to portray meaning. The shot of the production company name fading into the shot of the radio is one, as it connects the titles to the rest of the film, allowing them to seem like they belong with the actual footage. As the opening sequence progresses, the editing picks up pace, and becomes more and more unsettling for the viewer. This is particularly shown in the shots of Laverick crossing out people's faces in newspapers, and underlining key words which have relevance to him. In some shots, we purposely made the camerawork appear to be slightly shakey, thus to represent Laverick's mental welfare - unstable. However, in our first draft we overused this technique, so we corrected it in our final piece and only made the footage appear to be slightly shakey in certain scenes. The camera is also positioned in such a way so that the audience never get to see too much of Laverick's body - thus adding to the mystery of the character.

Story and how the opening sets it up
The story of 'Branded' is about a once successful millionaire. He lived in a luxurious mansion with his wife and two children, before it was horrifically burnt down in a terrible arson attack, in which his wife and two children perished. Laverick went missing for two years, and mysterious murders started happening around London, all of whom were connected to the fire in some way (the police men, the judges who released the arsonists, the arsonists themselves, the fire men etc.) Laverick becomes consumed with revenge, and kills all of his victims in a certain way (but slitting their throat and by branding their skin with an emblem of fire. Can the police stop the deranged killer before it's too late?
Our opening sequence has strong links with the story of our film. The scene begins with a news report being played on the radio, all of which are to do with the murders which Laverick has commited. There are also newspaper cuttings which depict everyone connected with the fire, and show Laverick crossing them out - suggesting their impending death. As the opening sequence end, the audience see Laverick exit his lair after marking an 'X' on a map, showing them that he is going to commit another murder. This leaves the opening in such a manner that it would be easy to pick up from if we were actually making the whole film.

Genre and how the opening suggests it
The genre of our film is horror/thriller. Numerous techniques are used in our film to portray this.
One convention of real horror films which we drew inspiration from was the idea of weaponary. Weapons, such as guns, knifes, swords, nails and more are always used as one of the main props to promote that the film belongs in the horror genre. Weapons are what is used to do damage to people, thus it induces fear into the audience. One particular shot which shows this is the one of the reflection of the knife in the radio. The camera is positioned in such a way so that the light from the lamp bounces off the knife. This shot, I feel, particularly emphasises this point as the short is quite brief, which makes the audience unsure to what they have seen. We used a panning shot of tools on a desk which are organised neatly, showing the violent aspect of our film. This shot also shows that Laverick only cares about his weapons, which is quite disturbing.
Another key shot in our film which portrays the horror genre is the one of Laverick wiping blood off a knife. This strongly hints at gore, and shows that this character will stop a no lengths to get his ultimate revenge. The blood on the knife strongly emphasises the horrofic side of our film, as it strongly hints to violence.
The use of lighting is a horror convention which we drew upon. We purposely dressed the set in such a manner so that in any shots that Laverick appears, shadows will be cast across the wall. This adds a sense of mystery and enigma to the whole scene.

How characters are introduced
Laverick is introduced with him opening a door. However, you only see his hand and a small proportion of his body. We continued to do this throughout our whole film, and only showed certain parts of his body. This gave the film a sense of mystery, making the audience wonder as to what Laverick really looks like. This also keeps his identitiy hidden, which makes the audience wonder who he really is...