Planning (Questions A - E)

The Organisation of Time & Equipment

My time in Foundation Portfolio was organised in a strong, structured manner. To ensure my Foundation Portfolio reached the conventions of thrillers, I had to plan effectively – my equipment was prepared as I used my own Sony video camera and my own lightweight tripod meaning when I was ready to film, I could reach for them and go. However; what needed most planning was ensuring my actors were all available on the same date. Fortunately, have free periods at the same time as the two actors in the opening of the thriller production meant I could plan that quite easily. With the rest of the production it was imperative the meeting for the filming was done as soon as possible so I could begin the editing stage. I organised the filming times by creating a shooting schedule, which had the dates and times agreed with actors to film. Before this could be done, I had to gain all my knowledge possible of what I was producing and so on my media blog I created a poll for my followers to respond to – it was the title of my film. The feedback being in quantitative data gave a clearer view as to what the target audience would like as the title, and by it being complete the planning was. This was effective as it meant I could move swiftly on to the creation of my Foundation Portfolio knowing my planning and equipment worked and were going to achieve the effect I wished to create: suspension, fear and apprehension.
In my Advanced Portfolio my equipment was the same as my Foundation Portfolio meaning I could again grab my equipment (and also a still frame camera) and film. This year I was launched into doing a music video – something I had never attempted before; therefore my planning and organisation had to be rigorous. My approach in my Foundation Portfolio seemed to work however my music video was split into narrative (stop frame animation) and performance (video) – this involved two settings and so took four meetings by splitting the stop frame and performance in to two meant I could re-record any weak parts to the footage. This was effective as it meant all the footage I gained was strong enough, clear enough and well suited to my music video.

The Efficient Choice and Organisation of Actors, Settings & Props

The actors chosen in my film were all selected from the BTEC Performing Arts actors in my sixth form and so I knew they were all highly talented. I chose my protagonist, the unnamed hit man, because his blond hair connotes innocence and purity and yet he is a paid murderer creating juxtaposition. The nervous man at the start of the production portrayed an unsteady and unstable person very well giving the persona of the hit man as a fearful character before the audience are even aware of what has occurred. By having a stranger running into the hit man emphasises the image and he was chosen because he looks normal, and so would act normal, not like someone you would expect to hire a hit man. The central prop being the mask was chosen so I had the option to challenge the convention of hidden identity. By the character being hidden when the clip begins, it conforms to the convention whereas when it is taken off and discarded it challenges this concept of a thriller film as well as challenge the career of the protagonist. In some ways this is reflected in the setting – a public place is the last place you would expect a hit man; he should be lurking in the shadows as an outsider of benign humanity. This was effective as it may have confused the audience, putting them on the edge of their seat: what you expect to happen in a thriller film. The problems encountered would be the public in the background – the noise was disruptive to the sensitivity of the microphone in the camera meaning the protagonist had to speak louder and each clip involved sound editing after. To improve it, I could change the setting to a more remote yet public area, where it is respectful to be private, i.e. by the public river.
In my Advanced Portfolio I chose my actor because I had used him in my Foundation Portfolio and knew he would be well suited as a flexible actor. My female character was chosen because the general closeness of the characters in reality could be portrayed effectively in my music video. The setting of a house for the stop frame animation suited the lyrics as it was about a meeting of a boy and girl at a house party. The nature of the performance based part of my music video was chosen to add a relaxing element to it – also the autumn colours had to be absorbed in some way, and the brightness of the day added to the protagonist’s persona. The props used acted as symbolism, being signs and banners. Having a purpose behind each prop to convey a message shows improvement as it meant the audience had to watch the music video all the way through to ensure the message was clear – there was no need to switch it off.

Scripting and/or Storyboarding

The storyboard in my Foundation Portfolio was a rough idea – with hindsight, I regret not doing a second draft as I feel on the day of filming it would have gone more fluently if the planning was more precise. The scripting however I was proud of for being quite complex and therefore lulling the audience to know more for the rest of the film. This was the effect I hoped to achieve; despite how strong the script was I felt it would have been highly improved by a more focussed storyboard. A problem encountered would be the noise of the setting which again could have been avoided had I looked for a more peaceful, yet eerie, setting.
There were two drafts for my storyboard: the first was doing before my pitch presentation, the final after. The pitch presentation gave me qualitative feedback meaning I could incorporate my target audience’s view into my final storyboard and so I felt it was stronger than last year due to more precise preparation. The script itself was the lyrics; however I annotated the lyrics to apply Goodwin’s principles meaning I was applying the conventions of a typical music video. This ensured I was achieving what was expecting and left me with a reassured feeling. By doing two storyboards in my Advanced Portfolio shows improvement as I learnt the importance of preparation.

Initial Target Audience Research

To research for my Foundation Portfolio, I vigilantly looked into the typical viewer of a thriller film and managed to retrieve quantitative information in the form of pie charts and bar diagrams. Through this I was able to ensure my thriller film was aimed at the correct demographic – those who love being put on the edge of their seat. Relooking at my Foundation Portfolio it was extremely limited to its gender orientation: being an all male class about a stereotypically male profession screams it was targeted at the male audience. Reflectively, I would edit it so it could reach a female audience somehow, perhaps by adding in a love story concept somehow; layering the narrative.
The target audience for my Advanced Portfolio was slightly easier as I knew the artist, I listened to their music and went to their performances and so I knew the demographic they reached out to. By doing my own independent research by going to a live performance, it meant I had gained first-hand experience into the atmosphere and what I need to recreate in my own music video. This shows improvement as it adds a more personal element to the production.

Existing Media Practice/ Products

I researched into my Foundation Portfolio task by watching numerous amounts of thriller openings. The influence of my product was Layer Cake shown strongly by the unnamed protagonist who does an illegal activity and calls it a career. I also researched into the typical conventions of thrillers and how each film I had looked at applied these conventions: some did it how it was expected, others challenged. This research spurred the creativity in my mind to mould an entirely new product – a topic that had not been challenged in any of the films I had seen: the paradox of a hit man being murdered. The key problem encountered was to maintain this idea knowing there was nothing like it. I feel it was a success overall, despite this.
The song and artist chosen for my Advanced Portfolio was clearly under the indie-rock genre and so my research mainly comprised of looking into music videos under this genre. Again I noted the conventions they contained but mostly I took on board this idea of a narrative and performance based music video, advancing in my mind to the product I created. Instead of challenging the conventions as such, I merely elaborated them. Improvement was shown in emphasising a distinction between the narrative and performance: stop frame animation versus visual video footage.