Brief Analysis of Similar Products x5

Analysis of Documentary Introductions

BBC Documentary 2015 || How You Really Make Decisions - BBC Science Documentaries

BBC are renowned for their well-choreographed documentaries. This is the view regarding both the style and also the content within the documentary. What I noticed from this introduction is the utilisation of the narrator to create an effect of an 'all-knowing' power which automatically makes the viewers focus on what the voice is saying as they cannot see where or whom it is coming from. They also utilise the techniques of voice-over. This helps to create a faster pace about the intro to make it seem like time is in fact moving faster, forcing the viewer to take notice and to engage with what they're watching.

Top Boy

Top Boy is a British television crime drama series that was first broadcast on Channel 4. It is set on an estate in Hackney, East London, the series follows the lives of a group of people involved in drug dealing and street gangs. The series aims to provide an insight into life in London estates, and how drugs affect everyone living there. This was a very successful production and was especially popular among teenagers – our main targeted audience.

 Power

The series follows James St. Patrick, nicknamed "Ghost," owner of a popular  New York City nightclub . In addition, he is a major player in one of the city's biggest illegal drug networks. He struggles to balance these two lives, and the balance topples when he realizes he wants to leave the drug ring in order to support his legitimate business. This again was very successful which is why it is now in the process of creating a third season. Our film has many parallels; most noticeably the idea and transformation from a life of crime to a legitimate successful life.

Ill Manors

Ill Manors is a British crime drama film. The film revolves around the lives of eight main characters, and features six original songs by Plan B, which act as a narration for the film. Ill Manors is a multi-character story where everyone is fighting for respect. The film focuses on eight core characters and their circles of violence, as they struggle to survive on the streets. Again a British drama, this interrelates with our idea of the ‘streets’ and the need for respect to survive. The film generated ‎£453,570 in Box Office sales which shows the success of the film.

Kidulthood

Kidulthood is a British drama film about the life of several teenagers in an area of inner west London. The majority of the characters in the film generally behave in a violent manner. They are portrayed as being reckless young people who commit crimes such as petty theft and serious violence. This was a great success which even resulted in a sequel 'Adulthood'. Another British drama, this was the catalyst for many other gritty dramas especially based in London. It generated £1,203,319 in Box Office revenues.

Interview/Focus group

Structured interview questions

Q1) What was the last film you watched in the cinema?
The reason I decided to ask this question was because I wanted to get an understanding of what type of films are popular at the moment in order to try and create a trend between the films and see what they have in common that makes them attract so many people. The type of responses I am expecting will be either Spectre or The Hunger Games.

Q2) Why did you watch that particular film?
Similar to what I previously said, the reason behind this question is again to establish whether or not there is a trend in the reasons for why people are watching these films. For example maybe it is one film in a chain of films or even because they were attracted to it by the trailer.

Q3) What is more important to you when deciding a film? Trailers or friend's feedback?
The reason for asking this question is I am wanting to see what effects people in the choices of a film. The trailer would show parts of the film which in a way is similar to a film opening but slightly more dramatic(depending on your style of film opening). Whereas a friend's feedback would be more subjective which would show an overall opinion of the full film. The type of response I am expecting would probably be the trailer.

Q4) What is your favourite film genre?
The reason for asking this question is simple: what film genre attracts most people. I want to see what film genres are most popular. This could possibly impact what type of film I'm looking to create in order to attract the most people. The type of response I am expecting will be very varied, I wouldn't be surprised if the responses were "action" or "comedy". I would be slightly more surprised if I heard "sci-fi" as the most common response; but it's not unexpected.

Q5) Do you often watch films as: a group, a couple or by yourself?
The reason for asking this question is to see how films often attract people. I want to get a feel of the makeup of the audience, whether it is split up individually or in groups. I am expecting the responses to be "as a group" because it usually makes the experience more enjoyable and gives you someone to whisper too throughout on what you think is going to happen next!

Q6) Is the opening of the film an important part for you?
This question is asked because I want to know how much of an impact the opening of a film has on people. This is in order to see how strong my film opening needs to be in order to keep viewers interested as some people can often be put off by the start of a film. I know I have. I am expecting varied responses.

Q7) What do you feel should be the strongest part of a film: beginning, middle or end?
The reason for asking this question is to see how balanced a film should be. Usually I would expect that the middle is where a film tends to slow down in pace, however the beginning and end usually tend to be the most exciting parts of the film to keep viewer interest and in order to give the lasting and initial opinion of the film positive. 

Target Audience Questionnaire

Target Audience Questionnaire

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Target Audience

Target Audience

Our film's genre is more of a 'feel good' action-thriller. The action and thriller will come more dominantly at the beginning and through the middle of the film. The 'feel good' description is in relation to the ending and outcome of the film.

With taking that into consideration we as a group believe that our perfect audience are: early to mid-late teens, even stretching out to people in their early 20s or university. The reason we believe this is because we feel that the film will appeal to the youth more than any other age group because our characters will be around the same age. Furthermore I think the whole story-line will intrigue the younger audience, as many people either come from or know people who don't come from the strongest background, and to be able to see the journey of a boy and his friends in whether they can reach the top or not will really appeal to them. Most of these teens will be of the male gender, due to the high crime and action, however we feel females will also be very interested and they're not excluded from the market we're trying to reach.

Citizen Kane Analysis

Citizen Kane

The film stats off with a black drop screen. The production company is then faded into the shot. The black background is ever-present throughout the start of the opening film. The company production and director is then replaced by the film title 'Citizen Kane'. This takes up the whole space of the screen which draws the attention towards the viewers. Also the promotion of the film company and director is a simple title credits convention which is used to show and advertise well- known actors and/or producers/productions.

After the title fades away the music is then introduced. This is introduced around the same time of the sign reading 'No trespassing'. The sinister nature of the music sets the mood of the film right from the very start.The sinister music connotes some of mystery or horror will follow; especially as the setting is in grey mist. The clouding of the scene connotes more mystery and suspense as the audience cannot quite make out the setting.  This carries on with the camera moving constantly higher to give a sense of prowess or intimidation.

The music is ever-present within the film opening as the pictures on the screen change. The lighting is very dull and gloomy with the only colours shown being grey or black. These colours also connote the sinister nature of the film that correlates with the music.

Throughout the opening credits there is a prominent use of fading in and out of images. The blending of the scenes further demonstrates the mystery behind of the settings as again the whereabouts of the film are not quite clear.  The mist  then fades with the gates of a massive establishment; this gives the next clue of where the film is based but then is quickly faded out with a scene of a lake. This lake may play an important role within the film as in the reflection of it you then see the whole exterior structure of the house . This may connote some sort of insight or knowledge that can be associated with the lake.

The next few scenes uses the technique of establishing shot. This does what its namesake suggests; establishes the surroundings within the shot. We now see the house from more angles which begins to grip the viewers as `the scenes now are becoming clearer and the expectancy is to now next see more of the household. This becomes reality when the film introduces its first piece of light. The light is very dull, however due to the fact of the prior and constant bleak colors there is a clear contrast which is very attractive and draws attention and intrigue from the viewers. Especially as the light is almost instantly turned off as soon as you notice it it creates suspicion as well as possibly fear of what is to come next. The light then almost instantly reappears again as the camera begins to zoom closer to the room,  but again that image is faded before the viewers can make a clear conception of what they have seen. It is replaced by an insert shot of a blizzard which would confuse the viewers as these wasn't present a few moments ago. The master shot then shows a snow globe but with the snow still being present outside of the globe. We then hear the first form of speech in the film with a close-up of a man uttering what sounds like a name. This further connotes mystery or may be a clue of what the plot includes with the name being a possible protagonist or even antagonist of the film.

Finally, we then see the man drop the snow globe and it break. The next seen shows a nurse coming in and pull a cover over a man's body. This would connote that a man is dead and in fact the dropping of the globe was due to his imminent death. Again it is possible that we as the viewers heard the character's first and last words with the only word he mustered out being cemented in our minds as we believe the man's death has something to do with the name he said.

Lastly the title opening ends again with the light on in the dark room which would connote that maybe there still is life in the room. Even more suspense...

Preliminary Task Evaluation

1.At a micro, technical level, how well did you observe the conventions of continuity and the language of editing?

Our scene involved two people conducting an interview opposite each other whilst being sat across a table. We demonstrated match on action when my character( the interviewee)  opened the door to enter the scene. We cut from a POV shot of him pushing open the door to a wide shot from inside the room of the door swinging open. These two shots appear to flow seamlessly. We also show this in the first scene where the camera is focused at Jordan's character's watch then it cuts to an over the shoulder shot of my character walking in.  

  We demonstrated shot reverse shot again in the early stages of our film Before the interview was conducted we cut from an over the shoulder shot of my character to a reverse shot of Jordan's character beginning to conduct the interview. Furthermore we managed to stick to the 180 degree rule by making sure to always film on the left side of my shoulder, therefore from the right side of Jordan's shoulder.

2.What were you pleased with? What seems to work well and why?

I feel the best part of our short film was the match on action. Nat zoomed in on me opening the door then the scene cut to the door opening from the other side; it flowed so well and looked like a Hollywood ish camera trick! Very smooth. Also I believe the editing was also very good and we paid close attention to detail in order for the film to flow as seamlessly as possible.

3.What mistakes did you make? What would you have done differently? 

Well I don't think I have enough time for this question! As it is known, we did make quite a few mistakes, none bigger than being able to meet the film criteria. I think that fundamentally from the start our mindset wasn't right and we took the task for a joke slightly. I believe that in the end we made a pretty decent film and that if we had focused from the start and taken everything seriously then we could have had a very high quality piece of work. However I believe in the end we pulled through, but I would just say not to leave the work so close to the end next time.

4.How did you manage the group dynamics, equipment and resources?

Even though eventually the delegation of roles changed, it was always was quite easy and swift to change. From the start I knew I wanted to act, and my group didn't object to that. Initially Jordan was on the camera, however after our first attempted smile, we decided to change and put Nat on the camera, and that's how the roles ended. Equipment wise the tripod was very useful to keep the camera steady; also it was pretty light to carry which was a plus when changing locations.

5.What problems did you encounter logistically?

This ties in mainly with question 3, however the problems were more so regarding the aspect of handling a camera and being able to incorporate all the techniques in order to meet the criteria. Saying that I feel the biggest problem was the cliche of 'ourselves'.