1 IN WHAT WAYS DOES YOUR MEDIA PRODUCT USE, DEVELOP OR CHALLENGE THE FORMS AND CONVENTIONS OF REAL MEDIA PRODUCTS?

I have uploaded an annotated version and an un-annotated version of the film to YouTube. 

Unannotated on the LEFT and Annotated on the RIGHT.

Here are my annotations with further reflections:

Ident Every production company has its own personal company ident. We created an Ident that was simple yet effective. We used a toy sports car and we printed out our logo 'Speed Media'. The sound effect of screeching tyres made this memorable. The main software used was iStopmotion and we used a Hue Webcam to capture the Ident.

Soundtrack  Our film opens with a 1940's Inkspots song I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire that creates a sound bridge from the opening tracking shot of the anxious wife walking with determination along an old-fashioned corridor towards the detectives closed office door. The music surges in volume as she opens the door, creating the impression that we too have entered. The sound is key to establishing both the period feel (early 1950s) and the character and work ethic of the detective (initially lethargic and uninterested in taking the case). The dramatic moment of the wife slamming shut the lid of the detective's record player stops the sound abruptly and shows her furious determination to get the detective's attention.

Mise-en-scène is always key in establishing period and genre. We went through enormous trouble to source period artefacts: a 1950s typewriter and record player, a soda syphon, period newspapers, Quink ink, an ashtray, a whiskey tumbler and contemporary playing cards. The detective is first seen wearing an original 1950s felt hat tipped down over his forehead. The half empty whiskey tumbler, the interrupted card game and the strewn newspapers establish him as more interested in anything but his work. We were trying to drawn on the genre of detective played by Humphrey Bogart and depicted in the novels about the private eye Phillip Marlowe, with a film noir vibe. Another extremely important aspect of the mis en scène was the choice of location: we sourced a mansion that could stand in for an enormous government facility with echoing corridors, damp cellars and dark tunnels.

Title Credits We used titles and credits to acknowledge all of the people involved in the film opening and in the making if the film opening. This was a very long process as when editing these titles in we spent a very long time making sure that every single title was the same size and in the same font. We also spent a considerable amount of time making sure that the titles were framed well and didn't cover anything import in the moments when they pop up and fade away. Titles are used to give credit to the most important people involved with the film. 

Opening Scene (1) I chose to have the the camera as central as possible in this corridor to try and capture the full walk down. There is muffled music playing to give the effect of music playing in a different room. (Not yet completed: titles will be appearing all throughout the movie opening)

Office Scene (2) In this integral scene of our movie opening I chose to have the camera in the corner of the room filming at a diagonal angle towards the detectives desk. I think that the positioning works really well because it captures all of the office and all of the props that we have gathered to create a very authentic looking 1950s office. Everything that the audience needs to see to help them understand the period of the opening. We used two sets of studio lights to light the office. We used these because of the poor natural lighting of the room. Unfortunately the lights make it seem a bit unnatural and a bit too staged. I think that the lack of movement with the camera helps to convey the lazy attitude of the detective.

Flashback within Office scene (2) We used this flashback to show the audience that the woman's concerns about the husband's whereabouts and the work he used to do are real and that there is something mysterious happening. I timed the flashback to appear when the woman says “this is proof” because it reveals to the audience the covert work that her husband was doing.

Continuity Editing Continuity editing is a style of editing where the editor creates logical coherence between shots. We used this type of editing for our film opening because of our need to display chronological order of events. This made it a lot easier to edit as the first thing we were able to do was put all of our footage in the correct order and then edit the clips separately.

Detective entering the asylum 1 (3) This scene is used to show the detectives lack of interest in the case and how he doesn’t care about the outcome of the asylum visit. This is shown by his slow, sluggish movement. But at the same time it shows a slight curiosity in the character as he is still looking around and observing his surroundings whilst going into the asylum.

Hidden POV shot 1 (4) We use several shots like this to give a sense of danger. I filmed this holding the camera in my hand and purposefully shaking to try and create and POV shot from a dangerous enemy hiding in the shadows and trying to stay still.

Hidden POV shot 2 (5) This is a very similar shot to the first one but I used a different breathing sound effect and different angle/location to show the audience that there is more than one person/thing watching and pursuing the detective.

Hidden POV shot 3 (6) This third POV shot is the nail in the coffin when it comes to display an imminent sense of danger. The breathing in this scene is heavier, louder and more intense than the other two this really helps put the audience in the shoes of the pursuers as the breathing reveals that an attack is coming soon.

Detective entering the asylum 2/Detective exploring room  (7) In this shot we decided to have the detective closing the door behind him instead of showing the whole entrance sequence because there is a lot of just moving and no action in this movie opening so we tried to cut down on the sole movements. The pan shot is used to try and create a sense of exploration instead of constant cuts.

Fighting flashbacks (8) These flashbacks are used to show us that the detective is trying to figure out what happened and how he is thinking about the possible situation that the womans husband might be in. These flashbacks can also be interpreted as the actual events that took place down in the dark tunnels.

Finding blood on the wall (7) This is another scene which represents an imminent danger towards the detective. Whilst he is exploring a room within an asylum which he believes to be completely abandoned he finds wet blood. We included this this scene because it adds action to the movie opening, it gives motive for the detective to be there and to assume that he is not alone. This is also the moment when he hears a sound coming from the direction he had just come from. Out of curiosity he goes to investigate the noise.

Hidden POV, from behind (9) This is a POV shot from yet another stalker within the asylum. This again creates a sense of danger. This is the main threat to the detectives life and it is increased even more now that the audience knows that there are at least four pursuers and that the detective is completely surrounded.

Detective exiting room (10) The detectives slow movement in this scene is no longer coming from lack of interest, it is now coming from fear as to what s beyond the doors he has just come through.

Detective in the dark with lighter (11) In this scene the is a slow build up of music which hasn’t yet been added but will be there in the final version of the movie opening. This music build up and get louder and louder until the lighter is blown out when the music peaks and the title explodes into the screen.