· the title of the film,
· the setting,
· costumes,
· camera work and editing,
· font and style
· story/narrative
· genre and suggestions of it
· Characters
· Special FX
Write an explanation of each of your choices.
1) Title of the Film:
We've chosen the title, Days of Heaven for our media movie, as we think it has quite a nice ring to it. It is eye catching, yet not too bold therefore giving an indication of our genre as it does not emit a feel of horror or drama. We also found this title quite ironic, as the protagonist is blatantly not experiencing 'Days of Heaven', but quite the opposite, as the love of her life has just passed away, therefore perhaps triggering the audience to really think about the movie, thus absorbing it better. It is also an indication of the love she feels for the boy who has died, as she keeps recalling the times she has had with him, living in the past and experiencing the "Days of Heaven". Finally, we believe it added a bit of an interesting twist and irony to the movie, as the use of the word 'Heaven' hints to the passing of her boyfriend, as he would now be in heaven, yet the days she experienced with him were just as sweet as paradise, therefore emitting a sort of dreamy essence, as if her memories were too good to be true. Although perhaps quite tragic, we found it effective as it is very moving, thus allowing the audience to experience the feelings that that protagonist is going through, really involving them in the piece.
2) The Setting:
Although this clip essentially feats two different settings, I've decided to publish a picture of the protagonist in her bedroom, as I feel it is more important to the movie than her flashbacks that occur in several different places outside, since it represents the reality of her situation. The scenes in the protagonist's bedroom were intentionally dimmed, to create a moody atmosphere. The room is made up of dark browns, greys and reds and the light is weak creating dark shadows. This was used to represent the protagonist's mind, dark and glum and negative as she is in mourning for her boyfriend. The clothes she wears are monochromatic and of neutral tones, used to reflect her disinterest and indifference to life in general. The room itself was made to look quite lived in with , indicating that she spends a lot of time cooped up and blocking life out from within her bedroom. Photos are also tacked up on the wall, used as a reminder that she had once had a life with friends and family. However, they are quite scarce suggesting that these memories are perhaps fading away now.
The scenes shot outside are considerably brighter, as we were very careful to film in good light and altered the saturation and contrast once the clips were uploaded on the computer. These scenes represent the flashbacks of the times with her boyfriend she is having, giving the audience a feel of how happy these times were for both of these characters. The fact that it is shot in nature is an indication of how natural the relationship was for them, again a reminder of the love they shared for each other. Although, the scenes emit a joyful feel, the brightness of them is meant to come across as sort of a dream to indicate that these days are memories of moments that have been and gone.
3) Costumes:
The only full body shot I managed to get that displayed both characters' costume shows the clothes from behind. However, I think it gives the audience a good enough view of what the actors are wearing. Anna's jeans and emerald green cardigan combined with her wellington boots are simple and casual giving her a down to earth feel. However, they are just bright enough to indicate her happy mood. With this outfit, we were careful not to depict her as a typical girly teenager, but attempted to keep quite a cool and down to earth essence.
Paul is equally as casual, just wearing jeans and a hoodie. We did not want him to conform to the stereotypical 'pretty boy'. However, we did want him to come across as quite hip and effortlessly cool, with a simple yet trendy style. Both the colours of these costumes are quite natural, suggesting that they are not attention seeking and do not aim to stand out in a crowd, like many teenagers nowadays, but are just happy being themselves.
Anna's grey t shirt and pajama pants during the indoor scenes are meant to give her a worn and tired complexion. The neutral and monochromatic colours of her clothes indicate her indifference towards life as she no longer takes care of her appearance. This costume is also a suggestion of how much time she spends in her room, as it consists of ratty sleepwear, indicating that she no longer emerges to socialize and such, choosing to spend her time sleeping instead.
4) Camera Work & Editing:
Although you can't see it, this shot is actually of a scene featuring several jump cuts. As well as editing techniques such as jump cuts, we used several different camera angles like the tracking shot, hand held shot and over the shoulder shot. This video featured a lot of jump cuts, throughout both the flashbacks and reality scenes. I think it is subtle, yet quite effective as it not only allowed us to cut down the time the clip lasts but is visually quite appealing to the viewer, drawing attention to the scene. I also found that it is a subtle hint towards how fast time sped forward when the protagonist was with her boyfriend, suggesting that they were so happy that they literally lost track of time. However, the jump cuts that feature throughout the 'reality' scenes where Anna is sitting in her bedroom are an indication of the depression that she is feeling, as she loses track of time as if it didn't matter anymore. It is also an implication of how monotonous her life is, as it doesn't matter whether moments are skipped as long as her boyfriend is no longer there.
The tracking, hand held shot featured when Anna is carrying Paul up a path is quite reminiscent of a home video. This was intended, as I thought it was more personal, as the shaky movement of the camera reflected the clumsiness of their actions, depicting how joyful they were at the time. The final over the shoulder shot is quite powerful I find, as it gives the audience a different view on Anna as she observes herself in the mirror. I found this very effective combined with the use of the mirror, because it was almost as if the audience was in Anna's shoes, observing herself for the first time without the love of her life.
5) Font & Style:
We used very simple, 'typewriter' font in a shade of light green throughout this movie, as we did not want the titles to disrupt the course of the clip. The fact that this font is not embellished and in it's simplest form is meant to be a reflection of the rawness of the movie, as it presents the protagonist in the most vulnerable and stripped down state of mind, after suffering a huge loss. This shade of green is meant to reflect nature, as it compliments the outdoor "flashback" scenes. Combined with the font, the colour is also aimed to emit a bit of a retro feel, reflecting the characters trendy style.
6) Story/Narrative:
It was difficult choosing a shot that portrayed the storyline of this clip, as the movie essentially takes place in two different places, the "reality" indoor scenes, and the "flashback" outdoor shots. However, I chose an indoor scene, as I believed it to be more important as it portrays the present reality. Throughout this clip, the setting alternates from the protagonist's reality as she wakes up to a life without her boyfriend and a series of flashbacks, where she is reunited with him, throughout the process of waking up and getting ready for the day ahead. The fact that the leafing through photographs in this shot, triggers a series of flashbacks to occur suggests that she is remembering the past before the death of her boyfriend. There is not much going on during these two minutes, as we wanted a very simple clip to reflect the rawness of the protagonist's emotions. However, we believed this to be quite powerful, as it allows the audience to see the process in which the protagonist's brain works, as she can not keep her mind off the past, thus really allowing the viewer to fully understand and absorb the clip.
7) Genres:
To represent the genre of our movie brief, I merely picked the opening shot of the clip. The dark tones, and muted colours are a clear indicator right from the start that this movie does not possess the happy and bright tones of a typical 'romantic comedy'. The protagonist is also a suggestion of this difference in genre, as she is very natural looking, with long dark hair, wearing a simple grey t shirt. This is a huge contrast to the characters in typical teen movies nowadays, as she does not relate to the feminine and bubbly personalities that are found on TV. Instead, she is quiet and contemplative, already suggesting that she is quite different to the outgoing girls featured on 'rom coms'. The simpleness and calmness of this scene immediately negate any implication of a horror or thriller movie, as there is no striking rise of action, but instead a plain and honest shot featuring a quiet girl slowly waking up.
I don't believe that this scene implies any type of genre, as it is original and not conforming to any stereotypes. Therefore, I think it is quite suited to the Independent genre, as it does not reflect any of the openings that are scene in movies nowadays, and is quite striking in a simple way, able to stand on it's own, as opposed to relating to others, as a movie brief.
8) Characters:
We were very particularly when it came to choosing our characters for our clip, as we did not wanted to use people that were too mainstream in their appearance as well as their style, in order to compliment the 'independent' genre. We found Anna to be ideal, as her dark hair and natural, down to earth style was not reflective of the 'dolled up' girls in teen movies. Her individual style was actually inspirational to us, as we found that it suited the protagonist perfectly. Much like Anna, Paul was ideal for his part as his casual clothes reflected the down to earth character that he was portraying. His dark hair and pale complexion did not relate to the stereotypical 'pretty boy', which was perfect for our movie brief as we needed more individual male role. The fact that Anna and Paul were already quite close friends when filming this movie brief really created a believable performance as a couple, since they were already familiar and comfortable with eachother.
9) Special FX:
Since this movie does not possess a hint of thriller or action, we did not use a great deal of special FX. However, we did find a scene where using 'ghosting' would be very appropriate. The 'ghosting' takes place in a 'flashback' scene, as the protagonist is reflecting upon the times she and her boyfriend had shared. We found this special effect very suitable, as the fact that there are literally ghosts of the main characters following them, it reflects the change they have gone through since the lead male's roles death, as they are merely ghosts of the people they used to be, the passing of Paul stealing their identity as they can no longer exist without eachother. The ghosting is also a very strong implication that this is taking place in the past, as the haziness suggests that the memory is so distant in the protagonist's mind that she can no longer make out the details of the thought.
2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
TASK: Take a picture of a character from a film in the genre you have worked, and a picture of your leading actor in costume. Show how your mise-en-scene is similar to a ‘real’ product. Write about how you may or may not have conformed to stereotypes.
Anna Stoss
Kristen Stewart
Although our movie is not directly linked to Twilight, which plays a lot on the supernatural featuring vampires, it does relate to Days Of Heaven as both pieces revolve around relationships. Both, Anna Stoss, the actress portraying our protagonist and Kristen Stewart, playing the lead in Twilight, are dependant on the presence of their boyfriends. In a way it could be said that they are incredibly vulnerable, as they are very shy and quiet, suggesting that the roles of the men in their lives are to protect them esure their comfort.
Using this uncanny resemblance to our advantage, we used the mise en scene as great inspiration for our movie brief. Much like Bella Swan's costumes, we kept the colour palette for our costumes very simple, reflecting earthy tones of grey, green and dark blues. Keeping Anna's hair loose and natural and her face bare of any make up, we found that it reflects a very down to earth character, contrary to most made up high school girls that are featured in 'Rom Coms' these days, thus suiting more to our independent genre. The particular costume used for Anna was also intended to suggest how vulnerable she feels, as it does not present embellished clothes and style, indicating how raw and stripped down she is since the passing of her friend.
Much like in Twilight, we decided to keep the mise en scene very natural, shooting outside as much as possible, yet again to reflect the easy going ways of the main characters. The fact that they are shot in nature may also be interpreted as a suggestion of how natural their relationship is, as they are shot in the simplest environment. These scenes are also considerably brighter, depicting how happy the days were when they were together. Anna's room in this clip, much like Bella's, doesn't reflect the stereotypical girly teenagers' in that it isn't covered in obvious femininity. Instead, it is depicted in quite dark shades of greys and blues, intended to reflect the mood in which she is as she reminisces about the past. The photographs on her wall, as well as the letters she leafs through as she wakes up are meant to remind the audiences that her mind is constantly with the boy she has lost, as she thinks about the times they had experienced together.
We have attempted not to conform to the stereotypical teenage image of the feminine, popular high school girl. I think we've done quite well in negating this assumption on our protagonist, however this does not mean that she does not conform to other stereotypes. She still displays the typical teenage 'moodiness', although it is not over dramatic as her loss is real and the situation she is facing is incredibly difficult.
3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
TASK: Record a director’s commentary on your choice of logo and production company name, why production companies are important, how distribution works and how your film is attracting certain production companies. Edit this onto your film and post the ‘director’s commentary version onto your blog’.
4. Who would be the audience for your media product?
TASK: Create your perfect audience member, give them a background, a picture, a ‘tribe’www.uktribes.com and www.findyourtribe.com, what music do they listen to, what TV do they watch, what films would they go and see? (Use the post from earlier in your planning, but this time discuss how you have attracted them in your finished film).
Having used the website http://www.uktribes.com and a bit of my own intuition I pieced together what I would expect to be the perfect audience member for our movie. According to the website the ideal person to watch, understand and enjoy this particular type of film would vary between the equally alternative "Hipster" and "Indie Scenster". These categories are meant to represent teenagers that are always on the cutting edge of everything, whether is be style of music, books or movies. They are very original and not afraid to "think outside the box". This combined with their natural intuition of what is hot and not, proves to be a very effective quality when it comes to trend setting involving fashion, music and movies.
I would expect the ideal audience for this movie to be mainly young females, as the protagonist is a young teenage girl. I feel that adults may have a harder time relating to a teenager, as they may not fully remember the hardships of adolescence, especially combined with the tragedy of the death of the protagonist's boyfriend. Even though it is not a stereotypical 'Rom Com' and absent of cheesy lines and such, it does reflect an incredibly emotional topic, which might cause boys to feel uncomfortable. The lack of action and violence also eliminates a large majority of the teenage male audience, as they may feel that the film is 'boring' as it does not possess any nerve wrecking action scenes. Therefore I feel girls would appreciate the meaning of this movie more, as they are more likely able to relate to the protagonist.
Judging from the assumption of UkTribes I would expect our audience to have a very liberal and original take on fashion, as they would never be afraid to experiment with clothes to develop their own trends and styles, wearing anything ranging from nerd glasses, to floral patterned skirts. Then again, they might wear very simple clothes, not necessarily because they are disinterested in fashion, but because that is their personal preference in style, as they are not afraid to be original in order to be themselves.
When it comes to preferences in relation to movies, books and music, I would expect our target audience to admire the greatness of classic bands, books and movies, while still keeping an open mind and appreciating the art and meaning in new and upcoming medias. Our audience, in my opinion, whilst enjoying classics such as Psycho and Casablancas, would be greatly interested in other movies distributed by Focus Features (being the distribution company we chose to support our movie) such as Lost in Translation and Brokeback Mountain. Although these movies are very different, I do believe that they have elements in which they are similar, as the protagonist is placed in an unknown and frightening situation and unsure of who she really is. As well as other Focus Feature films, I think they would quite enjoy Sofia Coppola's movies, such as Somewhere and Lost In Translation as they are incredibly simple and delicate but very beautiful. I expect our target audience to be very preceptive and attentive, and therefore I believe they would enjoy the simpleness of this director's movies.
In terms of books and music, I believe their taste to be quite similar to the one they have in movies. Whilst appreciating the classic playwrights such as Oscar Wilde, they would also appreciate new and upcoming books that are more daring. Much like this previous assumption, I think our audience is very respectful of the 'golden oldie' bands such as The Beatles, but just as interested in music these days, often looking up Blalock's Indie/Rock Playlist's website in order to find the newest tunes.
Most importantly, I believe our target audience to be very liberal and open to anything new and appreciate the 'art' that comes across, no matter how strange or daring it may appear to be.
In order to appeal to our target audience, we've incorporated a number of varying elements that we feel would attract a particular group of people. Anna and Paul's simple yet trendy style would appeal to teenagers interested in fashion, whilst the tragic storyline could relate to a number of people. The gender and vulnerability of the protagonist is aimed to attract a more female orientated audience, and the instrumental piano soundtrack is intended to appeal to people with an interest in classical music or anyone who appreciates different genres of music in general.
5) How did you attract/address your audience?
TASK: Upload your video to YouTube and use ‘tags’ to annotate how your video attracts your audience. Alternatively screen grab areas of your film and annotate them using a photo editing package.
