Group at Work

During our production time as a group we learnt many things and learnt how to use different softwares and technologies to produce our opening. Individually we mastered and became accustomed to all these new technologies.

Paul Screen Grab

Channan Screen Grabs

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

I will be analyzing two different scene shots from our British Social realist film Brother. I will be explaining how different elements and aspects of to screen shot in relation to our film help us portray and conform to the Genre. In modern Social realist films the audio used tends to to go against previous social realist films which used diagetic sounds/audio. Modern Social Realist now tend to use Non- Diagetic music and go against this convention of diagetic audio.

Shot 1
This particular shot has the conventions of the use of a hand held camera shot. We chose to use the effect of hand held shooting because it will make the audience feel like they are walking with the character, thus it showing to be an over the shoulder shot. The audience has not yet been introduced to this character, they have yet to see the characters face but are shown the back of the characters head. By looking at the character there are conventions to how the modern teenager is seen today via the character earing headphones, having a rucksack and waistcoat, all of these things are seen to represent the youths of today. In terms of Mise en scene the location is made evident from the sign (Boxed in red). Despite using a middle class character we tried to set our opening in areas that will conform to Social Realist films and so choosing to film this shot in this location really had a emphasis on this. The audience gets more of a view of the location and as shown in a red box there is a light at the end of the tunnel, this could easily be seen as a positive aspect but instead we used it as a distraction for the audience.

Shot 2
This shot has many conventions to that of social realist films, such Long shots. This Long shot shown in the image below could not be planned and so the actor had to improvise many time sin order for us3 to gain an authentic and real effect. In terms of the location we tried to show the locality of where our opening was taking place. Most openings are filmed in known places to the audience and this is what we took heed of when shooting in the train station, the train station was Tulse Hill which is fairly known. The location is in contrast to that of the character. the character is made to stereotype the youths of today fairly related to gang culture and the different aspects into how the audience and people how relate to this characters portrayal.


The characters isolation is shown evidently with no one else surrounding him. Conventionally these aspects are in relation to the working class of today and we challenge this because we focus on the characters individual. We stick to the general conventions though with location having the graffiti on the walls. We develop this shot by having many other contrast as well such as the lighting in the shot. On the left hand side it seems more lighter but on the right it reveals to be a more shaded. Overall for these two shots I think we manipulated these conventions into our own to portray the Genre and relation to the aduience.

Adeel Screen Grabs

Snap Analysis

I will be analyzing two different snap shots taken from our British social realist film: Brother. In this piece I will be identifying various elements which help portray the genre and feel to our film.

To begin with here is a snap taken of a long shot of Kasper played by Olly Merson. I believe this is a very powerful shot as it shows Kasper rising up the stairs in a black hoody, this automatically gives our character a sense of importance, as he is the only individual in the center of the shot. This shot conforms to the British social realist genre in many ways, for example we have chosen to give it a very cold and gloomy look through the use of using a blue filter this helps us set the mood of the scene- the mise en scene helps depict negativity. This can be seen by the characters dark clothing, this represents the character to the audience as a dark and isolated individual-this is also evident due to no one being within the environment where he usually is. The characters dressing sense also conforms to the stereotypical representation of South London Youths, this was done in order for a wide range of young audiences to relate to the character.

The shot was taken in Tulse Hill Station, London – this works well for the genre of our film as it is an area which is used by members of the public, it is not a high class area or glamorized in any manner therefore contributing to the realism for our film. Some of the locals can relate to such an environment and for those who are not familiar to this British environment this shot helps portray the real urban side of London.

Below is another shot of the same character, as he is walking through another train station. In comparison to the shot before it is evident that there is now more lighting - this is mainly due to the fact we want the audience to be aware of the environment as the next scene is going to be quite powerful and intense. The intensity of the following sequence is supported by some of the things portrayed in the mise en scene, for example, Ollie is yet again in an isolated area - the clock which is in the center of the shot, is within a red frame; the colour red itself has connotations of danger therefore warning the audience as well as symbolizing the arrival of something threatening. For this particular shot, what really conforms to the conventions of our film would be the isolation of this character - we have used a long shot to almost exaggerate the fact that he is so isolated in such a big train station

Hector Screen Grabs

Shot 1:

This still from our opening 'Mon Frere', is an example of conformity to the genre of British social realism. In terms of mise en scene, the use of a blue filter generates the atmosphere of being depressing, dull and real which is a technique often used in social realism's, for example 'Nil by mouth'. The camera shot only exposes part of the scene which limits what the viewer can see making them uncomfortable. The use of a close up makes the shot graphic and by using graphic features it makes the opening feel more real. Generally speaking the costume is effective when attempting to conform to the stereotype seen on different cultures in South London, especially the urban culture. When representing the youth culture in London, using clothing and the way they wear it for example hoods up can be used to intimidate the viewer and build tension, like this still image. Props like the train in the background is clearly representing the urban culture and furthermore, British urban culture.

Olly grab.

Shot 2:

This still taken from 'Mon Frere' helped our film conform to our chosen genre of British social realism. It conforms in more technical terms like filters and shot type rather than mise en scene. We used a blue filter which if often used in used social realisms to create the depressed, quite atmosphere. In Gary Goldmans 'Nil by mouth' and Jo Carnahan's 'Narc' the use of a blue filter is used to represent isolation and when referring back to the close up in our film its evident this atmosphere is being portrayed as its a close up showing only one character.

The cast chosen was vital in order to represent the British culture and what stereotype he's conforming to. We aimed for the careless, young adult stereotype and did this by carefully selecting features like haircut, facial features, clothing. His shaved head conforms to this stereotype as it shows he's not capable to controlling a styled hair cut and makes him look more urban and rough. We used Vicks under his eyes to make his eyes slightly swollen and make him appear tired, rough and clearly show he's distressed. Referring back to our genre, British realism's document the lives of real Brits living in poverty or domestic violence which of ten puts the character under severe stress and has to portray them in this way using several techniques.

Conrad grab.

Final Screening- Brother

After making changes from our previous screening we have come to our final screening.

This screening was a way in which we could gain feedback and comments in relation to the film and mostly the changes we made. Yet again we had problems saving but we managed to over come this problem.

We produced a short Questionnaire based upon our footage and the changes we made based upon our last questionnaire we filled out.. We asked general questions from which we could gain the audiences opinon and also their critiscism. In our Questionnaire there were questions.

Verbal Feedback:

Written Feedback:

Good

Liked the foot transistion and the sound effect at the end. (fight scene)

The beep noise and the fight sounds creations

The arguement between the two guys good

Conrad scene showed pretty well in comparison, the blue fiulters and white flashes yet again makes it effective in portraying the character

The fade of music into different scenes was good

Reshoots were effective

Use of similar characters

Title fade to black

Bad:

Confusing as to what character is who.

Continuity was slighlt lacked

Flashes were not continous but cold have been longer

Title could have flashed in rather than fade in , to make it cointrast the white flashes

The train sequnce is not as striong as the first sequence, hard to differriate

Lack of lighting could ba a problem...

Filming Day 3

We decided that we would go back and re-shoot some of our scenes based upon the feedback we gained from our first screening. A major change we made as introducing a new character to the sequence. W introduced Olly into the sequence in order to make the two scenes we have merge. We ensured that we made Olly slightly similar to Will. With this change our storyline kinda changes as well. With this character we tried many of the same shots as only but reenacting them as a mirror effect. The benefit was that we caught the same lighting as the Will shot and so they Were not too different. We say this change as a positive aspect as we all chipped in and really engaged in making the sequence better that before.