Film Opening (First Draft)

Targets & Evaluation

Despite this being my first year in studying Media Studies or anything related to filmmaking, I started this project with setting a variety of targets that I expected the product to reach by the end of the production process. We had a certain vision of how we predicted the outcome to look like, and needless to say, they were high hopes. For example, shooting took significantly longer than we planned it to, teaching us to prepare for the unplanned. By the end of the first day of shooting, we had only managed to shoot a limited amount of behind-the-scenes footage due to the time it took to set up the equipment. 

As for the actual first draft however, we had high expectations for the editing in particular. Our targets included a slick, smooth flow of editing, quick and abrupt to evoke panic and fear when appropriate or involving long takes to linger on a shot or establish a scene/setting.  We mostly achieved this although the pacing can be improved, for example some cuts are too quick because we were unfamiliar with editing softwares resulting in trimming large chunks without intention. Getting more familiar with how to use editing software in order to produce an effective sense of pacing is a vital target for our final draft.

As we were inexperienced when it came to making our own music, we disregarded the notion of producing an original soundtrack and opted instead for royalty-free music, which we expected to be exciting and innovative. However, royalty-free music is quite generic and mediocre, therefore it was extremely time consuming to find a suitable and decent choice of soundtrack. We intend to find a more appropriate choice for the final draft.

The mies-en-scene played a key element in our film opening as we intended to place an emphasis on props and the visual aspect of the film opening, heavily influenced by the grandiose stylised world of Mad Max: Fury Road. Stylistically, the film draws on elements from George Miller's latest film in terms of the run-down, metallic chrome aesthetic appeal apparent in the movie. Our props were all hand-made which added to this weared-down quite effectively. I don't personally think the props or costumes need any adjustments or improvements. NVC is relatively limited as well as the dialogue which makes it difficult for the audience to relate to the characters on a more personal level, however our aim was not to establish an emotional connection as most of the characters get killed off. We wanted the focus to be on the action display and the aesthetic components of the scene, which was sufficiently achieved in my opinion. 

Despite the amount of time it took for us to set up the equipment, the desert setting was ideal for our film opening; the action carried out by the characters fuses seamlessly with the panic the characters are implied to feel, working simultaneously together to result in an overall realistic and heart-pumping action sequence.

Finally, camerawork was complicated. We expected the movements to be smooth and sleek, but the coarse nature of the desert made it tricky to set up the tripod without it slightly budging, resulting in many failed takes with shaky, amateur-looking footage. In our final draft we intend to reshoot the scenes with a more stabilised look. Most of the shots on the shot list however were eventually executed well, albeit after several attempts.

Overall, the target was to fuse all the elements of filmmaking we spent hours previously analysing to create our own enticing product that engages and appeals to a large audience in its elements and attention to detail, not pandering. Some improvements need to be made in the logistics area and editing, although generally we believe we achieved our targets efficiently.

Behind the Scenes (Video)

BEHIND THE SCENES COMPILATION

This is a compilation of all the behind-the-scenes footage we have gathered, most of which was filmed by me. The video itself was made and edited by Pablo, then uploaded to the Sand Haus channel (our production channel). The video stars Jack, Pablo and Nikita along with other crew members.

Deconstructing First Shots (TBC)

Shot #1:

This was done via Powerpoint.

Editing Process

iMovie

Final Cut Pro

Adobe Premier Pro (The Final Product)

Exam Question (Cross-media Convergence & Synergy)

“Cross-media convergence and synergy are vital processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences.” To what extent do you agree with this statement in relation to your chosen media area?

Cross-media convergence and synergy are both successful and popular methods in promoting a media product to a wider scope of the target audience particularly employed by major studios, although some semi-successful independent companies may utilise these strategies albeit on a significantly smaller scale. The key difference between cross-media convergence and synergy is that cross-media convergence revolves around the merging of two different media mediums in order to promote their product(s) resulting in an agreement that often benefits both companies/mediums. This can happen at any of the stages of film-making: production, distribution or marketing. Conversely, synergy is about one company simultaneously releasing a variety of of products that are closely and clearly linked with the use of distinct branding. For example, when Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) was released, the collector's edition soundtrack was released along with action figures that are distinguishable due to the logo of the franchise, the colour scheme, the font, etc. Synergy however often happens during the distribution or marketing stages. Due to the fact that there is potentially a high risk for both strategies, I agree with the statement to some extent in that they are important processes in the successful marketing of media products to audiences, but not vital.

There are many factors to be considered when evaluating the importance of these two processes, for in some cases they can be extremely beneficial or potentially detrimental/one-sided. Ultimately this depends on the budget of one (or both in the case of cross-media convergence) company/companies. For example, if two companies with different media status or budget merge together for the marketing of each's products, this can prove to be more beneficial for the media company with lower budget/status and disadvantageous for the company with the higher status. In the case of synergy, a company attempting to use this strategy with a low budget may find a high chance of risk and low chance of success, resulting in inconsistent or unsuccessful marketing patterns. A low budget in synergy could result in a lack of distribution formats, unsuccessful advertising strategies (unpopular trailers). A low budget for cross-media convergence could mean merging with other low budget businesses which may not be advantageous for either medium.

However, with a high budget and large rate of consumers, cross-media convergence and synergy can be extremely successful. Advanced and developed technology makes these processes easier to carry out or initiate, for example cross-media convergence can be initiated and promoted via the internet between two companies to sell a successful media product to a large audience. A quintessential example of successful marketing using synergy would be the recent Ant Man (2015) which was produced by Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of one of the major media conglomerates in Hollywood (The Walt Disney Studios). This gave them the ability to use higher budgets to produce, market and distribute their products efficiently. Through synergy several products were released simultaneously, such as the Marvel Ant-Man Deluxe Collectible Figure Set or Wasp action figures linked together through branding, or the DVDs released soon after in different formats (DVD, Blu-Ray, CD, etc). Another example is Jurassic World (2015), one of the highest grossing films of all time and thus highly successful. This was because of the high budget ($150 million in total) used towards all the stages of film-making, including distribution; the film was distributed by Universal Pictures to over 66 territories worldwide. As for marketing, Universal spent a total of $34.9 million on TV advertisements for the film. As a demonstration of cross-media convergence in real life - various partnerships helped with the promotion of this film, including Kellogg's and Dairy Queen. This clearly highlights the importance of the role of cross-media convergence and synergy in successful marketing.

Overall, both cross-media convergence and synergy are remarkably useful processes that notably improve reception and effectively promote media products through numerous methods, provided that all risks have been taken into account and efficient funding has been used. However, they do not play a vital role in successful marketing as illustrated in the previous paragraphs. 

Full Plot Description

The film starts out with several characters introduced on vehicles, as if they were distributing items.

This falls into the 'equilibrium' stage of Todrov's narrative theory where opposing forces are not established or in this case, not in conflict yet.

The plot revolves around two main opposing forces: the transporters (first introduced) and the snipers (in red rags). Since the transporters were introduced first, this may lead to the viewer siding with them or viewing them as the 'good guys'. This is perhaps emphasised in the following scene where the transporters get shot (passive) by the snipers (active) which is a common delineation of the victim-aggressor relationship. (Disruption stage)

The transporters then proceed to drive faster after one of their crew members die. This suggests that they have recognised the disruption.

There is a fair amount of violence in the plot considering the desert setting and post-apocalyptic action genre, which are often associated with themes of survival leading to fights/violence.

These two opposing forces live in a post-apocalyptic world where each individual is on their own and must fight to defend their right to survive. Our film opening explores humans' primal and visceral instinct to survive even in the most extreme and brutal of situations, particularly when challenged in a competition outlining the age-old phenomenon of the 'survival of the fittest'. This is the characters attempting to restore the equilibrium by fighting back.

The fight that ensues results in many deadly consequences, with the loss of several characters that were just recently introduced. This may leave an impression of unpredictability or erratic consistency on the viewer, which may make it difficult to establish a personal character-viewer relationship. However, this is of no inconvenience to us since it isn't our goal to make the characters relatable. Our goal was to entice and thrill the audience.

The audience is left to decide which side aligns with their moral standards the most. There is no distinguishable 'good' or 'bad' side in our film opening, there are two incompatible energies with the sole selfish objective of living - or rather, continuing to live. Both sides being especially relentless and determined, this results in a vicious battle for either group. Who will make it out alive? 

The final shot displays two characters facing off and both firing a shot, but whatever follows is off-screen. This is left to the audience's interpretation with our ambiguous cliffhanger ending, as the viewer is left with their own imagination to fill in the void in the plot according to their personal desires and preferences. Therefore, it is not clear as of this point whether or not equilibrium has been restored.

Plot Summary

Distribute the goods. Get out in one piece. That's the transporters' goal.

But a team of snipers have other plans... Will they make it out alive?

*According to Wikipedia, a plot summary should be concise and have the right amount of detail without being too long or too short as both are equally unhelpful to the reader. The writer needs to be careful and selective in what information should be included and excluded. The main of the plot summary is not to detail the events or represent the emotional impact of our work, but rather simply explain the events, especially if the story is experimental or original. 

Our summary clearly explains the main plot branch or event taking place: conflict between two opposing forces and the battle that ensues. It is brief and concise to add an element of thrill to emphasise the element of a "heart pounding, adrenaline-releasing ride" so vital in action movies to entice the viewer. Post-apocalyptic action movies tend to have short taglines or plot summaries in comparison to other emotionally-invested genres like drama or romance. The curt abruptness of the sentence reflects the 'hit-and-run' sense notable in our film opening. The ellipses add a hint of mystery without being too vague.

One convention often employed in post-apocalyptic action movie summaries is subverted in ours in the sense that the genre tends to add character names/actor names in the plot summary to either flaunt or focus on the main character which is often a 'lone wolf' who can hold their own. Our film opening deviates from this as there is no specific character mentioned since we have a wide range of characters and there is a subtle inclination towards 'running in packs' instead of being the lone wolf.