Our film was a standard science-fiction plot whereby human cloning is made possible in a world that we, the producers, created. We showed this by having the creator meet his cloned double face to face.
On a technical level, we used many editing and filming techniques to abide closely to the standard conventions of the Science-Fiction genre. We kept continuity throughout the film by using the correct editing techniques. We used match on action in the scene where Alpha has changed and the corridor he runs down in his escape. He gets changed in a set which is filmed in our Science Technology building first aid room whereas when he leaves his confined room, it is set in the main college building half a mile away. However, with match on action we could have an authentic-looking hospital room set away from the escape set. We obeyed by the 180 degree rule in our whole film to make it clear to the audience where the characters were correctly positioned. One major example of the rule is the confrontation scene between Charles Preston and Alpha 7. The 180 degree rule as extremely vital in this scene because if it were broken then the cloned characters would switch positions and because it is the same actor you would lose track of who is who. We also used shot-reverse-shot to effectively turn an unnatural conversation into a natural one.
The language of film used allowed us to tell the story using editing and filming. We created a lot of temporal editing to show passages of time between scenes and major events in the film. The reason for this type of editing is to tell a story that lasts longer than five minutes but is only shown in a five minute presentation of the story. An example of this in our film is the crossing between the cafe scene and the return to the headquarters.
We used different shot sizes to create different feelings in a given shot. One example would be when Alpha is running towards the headquarters in the very beginning; it is an extreme long shot of him running which displays a metaphor for how he fits into modern life successfully and shows the size of his life in the way he feels.
We also used jump cuts to show a fast pace action scene over a little longer than displayed. It makes a shot short and sweet instead of it dragging along. We have two points in our film that use jump cuts. One is when Alpha 7 is getting dressed and the other one is Mr Cooper and his wing man marching down the corridor in pursuit of Alpha 7.
Our film reflects the conventions of the science-fiction genre
very well by looking at the subject of human cloning and futuristic technology which is adamant in science-fiction.
Our film has detailed documents displayed in the title sequence
to establish the genre of our film. We show medical points, personality traits,
published papers, creation blueprints, etc. Many of the items shown in the
title sequence reflect the conventions of a science-fiction title sequence.
One of the main features in a
science-fiction genre is that it is set in the future, whether it is near or
far future, it is still the future. Our film is set in the early end of the
year 2016 to show that human cloning could someday happen soon or would stay
just a theory.
The biggest point that we
tried to bring across was the severe consequences of trying to ‘Play God’ and
how some things are left for nature only. This view is portrayed in many
popular science-fiction films.
Our first example of pastiche in our film is that in the film
'The Island' the story is that clones are created as insurance for clients if
they need a compatible organ or compatible blood but the clone of one man finds
out the forbidden truth and escapes from the complex to confront his double.
They end up confusing the henchmen and they switch positions so that the clone
can live the life of his double instead.
Our film is similar to this because Alpha 7 learns the truth of
his termination and runs away from it. He later realises that he cannot run
away from it ever so he decides to go back and confront Preston. They switch
personas and Alpha 7 lives on whereas Preston does not. Both films hold a
confrontation between the man and the
clone where the similar thing happens to all four characters; the bad men are
taken away and the good men take the original personas of the bad men.
We also replicated an idea
from the Schwarzenegger film ‘Commando’ (Lester 1985) and in one particular scene he is
gearing himself up for action and there are a series of jump cuts showing his
progression and it creates a fast pace action building sequence. We wanted to
replicate this in the scene where Alpha 7 hears of his termination plans and
gets dressed before the action of his escape builds up. We used jump cuts
showing him get ready for the big moment and the fast pace editing creates a
growing sense of suspense towards the action.
We looked at a French film
called ‘400 Blows’ (Truffaut 1959) where at the end of the film the boy looks at the camera and
the shot freezes and zooms in on him in greyscale which creates a good effect.
We wanted to use this effect because it created an effective way of emphasising
the main character. Alpha 7 is running in the start of the film and he looks
behind him when the shot freezes and zooms in. The voice over on the top adds
to the effect.
The final element of pastiche
we had in our film was a replication of a Torchwood episode (2007) where there are
documents moving saying different things about the character. We had our title
sequence do the same thing whereby the information of the character would tell
the audience important things, the only difference was we played our titles
over it.
When considering theories of audience pleasure there are many theories that state different things. One of the theories that can describe our film is Richard Dyer's Theory of Entertainment. This theory explains how what an audience watches is what creates to them an ideal perfect world; their own personal Utopia, whereby the audience knows full well that its not a real world, yet, for enjoyment, we subconsciously believe it. One of the solutions within the theory is 'Energy' which is the make up of chase scenes, running, dance, fighting, fast editing and camera movements, fast storyline, etc. I feel our film fits very well to this attribute because our film is full of action to do with running, chasing, fast production techniques which is what classifies our film as an action film as well as a sci-fi short film.
Another attribute that can fit to our film is 'Intensity' which means the audience see extremes of emotion; like a melodrama where the emotions are very obvious and forward. Alpha 7 takes out his anger and distress on his 'creation' by hurting Preston and switching personas with him so that he gets terminated instead of Alpha. This is a physical example of his emotions.
Another attribute that can fit to our film is 'Intensity' which means the audience see extremes of emotion; like a melodrama where the emotions are very obvious and forward. Alpha 7 takes out his anger and distress on his 'creation' by hurting Preston and switching personas with him so that he gets terminated instead of Alpha. This is a physical example of his emotions.
We also have the theory of education explained by a moral point to our story which is that trying to 'Play God' is not a human capability and should not be done with anything, especially with human and animal life. It also teaches you to stand up for yourself in a defensive way when needs be.
Overall, I think that our film sticks to the main generic science-fiction conventions in many aspects and we create a great story about the victim of a situation who fights back for the greater good and overcomes evil.
2)How effective is the combination of your main product and the ancillary texts?
3) What did you learn from your audience feedback?
4) How did you use new media technologies in the research, planning, construction and evaluation stages?
Research
During this project, we recognised how important and effective research is. It inspired, taught us, and allowed us to successfully create a film idea that has an unusual genre for a typical A Level film production.
We used Blogger to put all our work on here: Research, Planning, Production and Evaluation.
Using the Internet was the biggest help of all. We could research subjects including; genre, posters, video, radio trailers, BBFC guidelines, advertising, evaluating, planning, filming and editing.
Two of the main sources we used to research with was YouTube and IMDB (Internet Movie Database); They were used to look at film examples and trailers to replicate ideas.
We used YouTube to find short films that included clones so that we could analyse it and learn things from someone else's efforts.
Film Analysis
We searched and studied the Science-Fiction Genre through Google and tried to include specific elements to portray our genre.
We searched and studied the Science-Fiction Genre through Google and tried to include specific elements to portray our genre.
We also used the Internet website belonging to the BBFC to study the BBFC guidelines so that we could give our film a rough guided classification (Which we gave a 12).
We used Microsoft Word and Excel to create questionnaires to print off and produce audience feedback results.
Questionnaire Results
Questionnaire Analysis
We used a digital video camera to film college students in an audience questionnaire interview and edited it using Final Cut Express.
Planning
Last year we did not plan well. Everything was considered last minute and we made up shots when we felt like it. This was far too inadequate to repeat, so this year we decided that we would plan our schedule properly.
Filming Schedule
We wrote the script using Celtx which is a script-writing program in which we could create a professional script with scene headers, locations, action, characters, dialogue and directions.
We also had a scene where we needed extras to come to one location outside of college; so we needed to provide directions. We looked at Google Maps and printed directions so the cast could have them.
Directions to Bethel Community Church
We discussed our individual ideas and each put them on the blog before deciding on a suitable genre and film idea. Our final idea is a replication of 'The Island’ where there is a confrontation between the real man and his clone. We saw the trailer through IMDB which greatly inspired us to replicate the confrontation.
Construction (Production)
Without digital technology, it would have been impossible to create our film.
We used a HDV 1000 camera and a tripod, to create a high quality picture and create smooth shots when filming.
I realised other films have their shots moving in some way rather than stood still. The camera was static in our first year which made it look slightly boring. So I decided that I would allow the camera to move ever so slightly and hold the camera on my shoulder when I was shooting Point-of-View shots. This gave the effect of the audience being 'sat in the character's shoes' as he walked.
There were a few voice-overs that we had to do. This was solved by using a Zoom Recorder to record Joseph's voice in post-production and edit them into the film by simple importation and added with the film clips.
We also created 7 confidential shows. This was filmed during production to capture the process behind the film. We used a small Panasonic HDC-HS80 so that it wouldn't add to the weight of our equipment. We edited the confidential shows using Final Cut Express to piece small, yet important bits together.
Throughout filming we used a Boom Mic to record sound in a better quality format and we could pick up conversations better when the camera was far away from the actors. This was a great addition as the sound quality turned out much better.
The editing was done using Final Cut Express. Using it allowed us to piece every shot together with the right fades, cuts and dissolves. We transferred the scenes from the camera to the Apple Mac using a fire wire cable to capture all our images and footage.
It gave us interesting opportunities with the use of key framing, motion, crops, effects, mattes, etc.
We were able to use colour correction to create a blue 'tinge' in our film to give it a more Sci-Fi kind of look.
We could edit the audio to get as much background noise out as best as we could. We were able to create a very effective title sequence and it was very easy to learn how to use.
This is the sound before the editing. It turned out very choppy:
The sound was edited using an effect called Hum Remover and it turned out better.
We also used Final Cut Express and a zoom recorder to create our radio trailer. The zoom recorder was used to record voices to be added in the trailer; we also used the original sound from the film to keep the trailer as realistic and authentic as possible.
We created a poster as a group, however, we also did one individually. I used Macromedia Fireworks on a Windows 7 Laptop. I used tools like Lasso, Fill, Crop, Eraser, all basic to create an effective poster.
Our final film poster was edited on Photoshop Elements:
Feedback and Evaluation
We also emailed a friend of ours who is a graphic designer to specifically ask her opinions of the production, and this is what she said to us:
Hi Joe
The vote was in favour of the first title. Therefore, we chose to use it.
Conclusion
We created film treatments to give a brief overview of the film length, audience, synopsis and suggested elements.
We also had a scene where we needed extras to come to one location outside of college; so we needed to provide directions. We looked at Google Maps and printed directions so the cast could have them.
Directions to Bethel Community Church
We discussed our individual ideas and each put them on the blog before deciding on a suitable genre and film idea. Our final idea is a replication of 'The Island’ where there is a confrontation between the real man and his clone. We saw the trailer through IMDB which greatly inspired us to replicate the confrontation.
Construction (Production)
This was the greatest inspiration: To have the same actor play two characters that interact.It would be a challenge that we were would take on. We achieved this with the use of digital editing software (Final Cut Express). Without it, it was impossible to do.
We filmed both characters separately without moving the camera in between. They were both merged together using a four point garbage matte, a mask feather and colour correction to match up both backgrounds.
We filmed both characters separately without moving the camera in between. They were both merged together using a four point garbage matte, a mask feather and colour correction to match up both backgrounds.
Without digital technology, it would have been impossible to create our film.
We used a HDV 1000 camera and a tripod, to create a high quality picture and create smooth shots when filming.
I realised other films have their shots moving in some way rather than stood still. The camera was static in our first year which made it look slightly boring. So I decided that I would allow the camera to move ever so slightly and hold the camera on my shoulder when I was shooting Point-of-View shots. This gave the effect of the audience being 'sat in the character's shoes' as he walked.
There were a few voice-overs that we had to do. This was solved by using a Zoom Recorder to record Joseph's voice in post-production and edit them into the film by simple importation and added with the film clips.
We also created 7 confidential shows. This was filmed during production to capture the process behind the film. We used a small Panasonic HDC-HS80 so that it wouldn't add to the weight of our equipment. We edited the confidential shows using Final Cut Express to piece small, yet important bits together.
Throughout filming we used a Boom Mic to record sound in a better quality format and we could pick up conversations better when the camera was far away from the actors. This was a great addition as the sound quality turned out much better.
The editing was done using Final Cut Express. Using it allowed us to piece every shot together with the right fades, cuts and dissolves. We transferred the scenes from the camera to the Apple Mac using a fire wire cable to capture all our images and footage.
It gave us interesting opportunities with the use of key framing, motion, crops, effects, mattes, etc.
We were able to use colour correction to create a blue 'tinge' in our film to give it a more Sci-Fi kind of look.
We could edit the audio to get as much background noise out as best as we could. We were able to create a very effective title sequence and it was very easy to learn how to use.
This is the sound before the editing. It turned out very choppy:
The sound was edited using an effect called Hum Remover and it turned out better.
We created a poster as a group, however, we also did one individually. I used Macromedia Fireworks on a Windows 7 Laptop. I used tools like Lasso, Fill, Crop, Eraser, all basic to create an effective poster.
Our final film poster was edited on Photoshop Elements:
Feedback and Evaluation
We used different media technologies to gather audience feedback. We uploaded the film to Facebook and YouTube and asked people to leave comments so that we could grasp the audience reaction. We also interviewed people using a digital film camera to film the interviewee answering our questions. We used Final Cut Express to create an audience feedback video.
We also emailed a friend of ours who is a graphic designer to specifically ask her opinions of the production, and this is what she said to us:
After watching your video, I have some constructive feedback to give it a little bit of extra colour and theming running through.
1. There seemed to be a lack of 'colour' in the film. It's emphasis seemed to be black and white but this wasn't continual throughout the film - just random pieces of stills to black and white. However the main thing people would remember about the film would be the association with the blood at the end - only the viewer would recognise that the blood determines which person is the duplicate and which one is the real thing - this would mean that red could be the 3rd primary colour.
2. Don't mix up the titles with different placement effects - pick one and stick to it - I would say the one with the name on top and the mirrored version underneath as this is the main one you should use - it just makes more sense to keep the same 'theme' all the way through.
3. Add a bit of red to the titles - keep that red theme going throughout - it will make that final scene mean more and stand out.
As a result of her thoughts, we changed a few things.
The vote was in favour of the first title. Therefore, we chose to use it.
Conclusion
New media technologies have allowed us to create a film with an edge of professionalism which would have cost a lot of money and time. We have been able to go through pre-production, production, post-production, distribution, exhibition and evaluation thanks to the use of new media technologies.
