blogger problems

During the making and construction of my A2 Media Studies short film and blog i have experienced a great number of difficulties and problems with the 'Blogger' site and technical faults with with the camera. This has seriously damaged my project and will no doubt affect the grade I will eventually receive.

Blogger has repeatedly not allowed me to upload certain photos and has consistently refused to allow me to upload videos, usually displaying a page like this when attempting;

The problem has caused me to delete my blog twice and start over from scratch, giving me an increasing work load and giving me a shorter and shorter period of time to work in.

I have included this post simply to express my great disbelief at how much blogger has held me back and halted me from getting the grade I would probably receive had there not been so many problems.

Synopsis:The Initiation is a short film about joinging a gang to feel safe in a rough north london neighborhood.

Tommy Woods, a 20 year old living in Camden Town is walking home when he witness' a pedesrtian being beaten up. He is tired of feeling defenceless.

My Review Page

When I started constructing the review page, I decided I wanted to use the same colours as I used on my poster for continuity. I felt the black background creates a powerfuly sense of fear and darkness which are central themes to my film. I was also told by a Graphics Designer graduate from Middlesex University that the combination of black and red adds 'drama' to the page. The colour red on the title of the film suggests blood and danger. I chose a picture of Isaac where he is looking away from the camera. I feel this is a striking image as it challeges other review pages where the protagonist is shown catching the reader's eye. The smaller photo on the right is important to the films narrative as it is this boat which sets the film in motion. I felt my initial choices for my review page helped the readers udnertsand more powerfully what my film is about and the themes in it.

Once I had the basic structure of my review page I could start adding the other elements needed to make it look more realistic. On the top right hand side of the page I added the logo of my magazine which I chose to be called 'The Link review'. I felt this suggested an inside link to the film world which readers could be involved with.

I also added the date and the page number at the bottom of the spread to add authenticity and realism.

Furthermore, I included something common in magazines such as Empire - a short outline of the film including the film info (e.g. release date, actors, certification) and at the end of the review I added in the star rating which is something else common in film reviews. I gave my film 4 stars out of 5.

Finally, I could add the print on my spread. I pre-wrote my article on a Word document so my media teacher could check it through. Then I added it onto my page making sure to keep the gutter between the colomns the same length. I used a centralised paragraphing so the width of the text was even throughout the colomns.

I also included a pull out quote in the middle of the body of the review as this is a common technique used in other film reviews.

I feel the overall effect of my review page is realistic and authentic and I have recieved positive feedback about the construction of my page.

Stills from The Initiation

This long shot appears near the beginning of the film and is a significant shot in many ways. The garage door can be said to resemble a gated prison door which highlights the danger of the world Tommy is going into. Furthermore the gate also acts as a barrier between the risk free outside world and the unpredictable gangster lifestyle. Through the mise-en-scene of the lighting these ideas are further realised; the light of the outside world connotes freedom and the darkness of the garage implies danger.

This over the shoulder shot of Tommy riding off is another important shot in the film. This is the resolution of the film as this act marks the rest of Tommy's life. After having stolen the boat, he has completed his initiation task and is welcomed into the gangster lifestyle.

This long shot is important as through the mise-en-scene of the prop which is the boat, the audience realises that this whole short is centered around this object. It symbolically acts as the key which Tommy needs to enter his new life. We can comtrast this shot to the long shot of Tommy behind the garage door as he has now transgressed the life of freedom and has dived head first into one of danger and uncertainty.

Final Poster Idea

This is my final poster idea. I have chosen to use three colours as it is a common feature of posters to only use three colours. My choice of the colours red, black and white are significant as these three colours are often used in other gansgter film posters such as The Godfather.
The contast between the black and the white Isaac on either side of the poster is striking as it symbolically represents the 'two' Isaacs. The first Isaac who is free of violent ties at the start of the film, and the second Isaac who can stolen the boat and completed his initiation task. The splashes of red on the poster connote blood and danger - two common features of the gangster genre.
Isaac's gaze is not focused on the audience which I feel is a convention I have developed from the traditional film poster. This sideways glance distances us from him which stops us devloping an emotional attachment to him.
Common to real film posters I have included a website to the film as this adds realism.  I have also constructed my own production compnay logo to further make the poster look professional.

Pictures of Isaac Woods for my poster and review page

Before I created my poster and review page I needed to decide what image I wanted to present my film. I chose a simple yet effective idea - a photo of my protagonist Isaac against a brick background. I felt that this background connoted a more urban lifestyle which is a key theme in my short.

Through the mise-en-scene I also managed to portray the sort of character Isaac is - his Ralph Lauren jumper connotes a gangster image and makes him appear young and tough. Isaac's facial expression is interesting - he looks as through he is thinking about the task which is to come. In all the photos I took I wanted to make sure I kept this image of him.

Shooting Schedule

• 28th December 2011-2nd January 2012: main shooting days.
• 28th-30th 2011: The land scenes and house scenes
• 1-3rd: The boat scenes
• Location: Camden Lock, Isaac Wood's house, both mine and Isaac's garage.
• Props: Boat, Letter that Isaac opens, gun
• Equipment: Sony AV1 camera and tripod. 
• Crew: Felix Beard, Lara Businaro
• Cast: Isaac Woods, Darsej Gjakiu

Health and Safety

• Boat is licensed and anyone can drive it, so my actor didn't need a licence himself.
• While I shot the scenes in the boat, I had another person with me to help make sure the camera didn't go overboard. I also wore a life jacket to give me extra support.
• I used a tripod while filming on land to make sure the camera was safe and steady so there were no accidents.

Film Magazine Deconstruction

I focused my analysis on Empire Magazine because I liked the style of their review pages.

EMPIRE

Industry info: Commercial magazine; for the general public. Mainstream publisher.
Audience: General public; 18-24 is the demographic audience. Mainly men.
Quantity of film coverage- Lead review: Kiss Ass and Clash of the Titans- lead reviews. Wide variety of films are reviewed ranging from a two page review, to half an A4 review. 

Film Review Deconstruction

The entry point is the large photo of DiCaprio and Ruffalo from the film, and this takes up the majority of the space- perhaps even three quaters of the spread. This is something that I will consider when making my film review- I like the idea of having one large photo which can sum up the film. The title of the film, written on the top left hand corner of the review, is written in turquoise, it is bold and capitalised yet does not take up a large amount of space on the page. The slug written beneath the title is done in what looks like Times New Roman (black italics) and is significantly smaller than the title. The use of different fonts and font sizes here differentiates the title and the tag line and encourages us to focus on the title of the film first.
What makes the layout more interesting are the little effects it includes, such as the pull quotes from the main article; this is written in white capitals and is framed in a box the same colour as the title of the film. Similarly there is a bleed on the right hand side of the spread where a text box covers a picture; it says 'Look Closer'; we are told that the two actors in the film worked with eachother previously. I think this small bit of information is a great idea as it takes us away from the film for an instant and informs us about the actors. I think it would be a good idea for me to include a bleed on my review page perhaps giving the readers some facts and figures about match.com- I feel this would interest the people reading the review.

Storyboard

Poster Idea

After having produced a number of different film posters, I have decided to use this one. I was greatly influenced by the poster for the film 'Mr. Untouchable' as I like how the main character was dupliacted as it linked to the theme of the film - the protagonist starts off as a boy angry at continually feeling frightnened in his neighbourhood and so by the end of the film, through the process of his initiation, he has become a strong man who can now protect himself. The use of the colour on the film poster is very deliberate; firstly, the use of the three colour white, red and black is a common combination in many gangster film posters, even in the famous film 'The Godfather'.

 On my poster, the  colours white and black used to highlight my protagonist aims to highlight his former defenceless self who is more niave and innocent - the colour white here has strong connotations with innocence and purity. Whereas the transformation to the colour black is striking as it suggests a change in the character- he is now just as powerful and ruthless as the other gang members - the colour black connotes danger and fear. The occasion splashes of the colour red in the poster are vibrant as they highlight the two most important pieces of information on the poster - the red line beneath the title of the film highlights this more powefully and the use of red font to make the actor, Isaac Woods stand out is also striking.

This is not the final draft of my poster as I have yet to add the industory information but I feel I have succesfully grasp the main theme in the film through the poster.

Script Drafts