Evaluation-Overview of the Brief

The brief we were given was to create an opening sequence for a British Social Realism film. My partner and I chose to name our opening sequence 'Half Empty' because we felt that immediately sets up enigma due to the double meaning it holds. It can be said that the title itself is polysemic and different audiences may interpret it differently. My partner and an element of irony when we came up with our production company name, Euphoria means happiness and joy and the fact that BSR is far from that and is contradicts that whole idea and we strongly believed our niche, educated would understand this and notice this. We felt that this title also created a pessimistic ambiance that our audience would find intriguing and this would ultimately engage them into the verisimilitude of the film. In the opening two minutes the opening focuses on the protagonist Sam who is coming to terms with the fact that he is an alcoholic and the opening shows the trials and tribulations that Sam, as a young man undergoes and how society has driven him towards alcohol, we have explained this in more detail in our treatment. The reason behind using alcoholism as our main theme was done because my partner and I felt that this it issue is becoming more and more common in young people and It was imperative that we address the issue. I watched and researched the film 'My name Is Joe' were the narrative focuses on Joe a recovering alcoholic. We used this film as a guideline but our film differs in the sense that our protagonist is realizing that he has a problem with alcohol and it ends with serious consequences. We also asked our target audience what they felt about using Alcohol as our main theme and this enabled us to generate qualitative data and appeal to our audience.     

Evaluation-Attracting Our Audience

Evaluation- How Film4 Impacted Each Production Stage

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Evaluation- How We Used Conventions Of A BSR Film

Evaluation- How Our Product Represents Particular Social Groups

In our opening sequence we aimed to create a stereotypical view of an alcoholic but at the same time subvert these by using a non-linear narrative of Sam admitting he is an alcoholic at AA meeting. By doing this it immediately informs the audience what the themes will be. We got this idea from London To Brighton which employs the same technique, the difference between this example and ours is that it does not haver the same intensity and action, however I believe that It still showed the most significant part of the film which what we were aiming for. I also think this technique worked very well and was very effective in the sense that we were able to establish the protagonist of the film. 


Camera

One element of camera we explored was angles, this is evident when our protagonist Sam is walking home drunk, this is signified by a canted as it represents Sam's disorientation and puts the audience in his mind and allows them to build a connection with the Sam. When filming the shots in the alley they were all done handheld as we wanted to create a rough and ready look to the shots so that it would further reinforce how alcoholics live their lives rough and on edge and once again conforms to the BSR conventions.  When filming Sam's  his mother arguing we used a slightly lower angle for his mother to show how vulnerable and powerless she is and for Sam we used a higher angle to reinforce his dominance over his mother. We also show how Sam is unable to handle alcohol in the beginning of the opening, this is signified by a close up. We used this shot because we wanted to show how his addiction began as something quite minor and later develops into something more serious.


Mise En Scene
One way we constructed the representation of an alcoholic I believe was by using specific locations like alley ways, this creates a stereotypical view of were alcoholics may choose to drink their lives away, we used locations like these because they are hidden from society.We felt that there is a lot of stigma attached to alley ways and by using this it also conforms to the conventions of BSR. In these particular shots towards the end we altered the colour by making it slightly more darker and turning down the brightness  on them as this acts as an indication to the audience that his life is going downhill and also to informs the audience that the film will begin soon.  In one of  the shots Sam is walking home intoxicated and it is during the day, this suggests that his drinking is not normal and is very unsociable, this is signified by him walking on his own. Our protagonist Sam was mainly chosen because of his ability to look scruffy, when filming different scenes ,we made sure that he wore similar but different clothing as we wanted to connote that he is from a working class family, but struggling. we also wanted to show that the times he had been drinking was on different occasions further suggesting his problem. So we decided that we would have dressed casually as this would subvert the stereotype of an alcoholic as they don't all dress like beggars and tramps. Another vital character was Sam's mother who we chose mainly because of her maternal qualities and because she dressed very simple and average so we didn't really need to adjust her costume, another reason why she was perfect for the role was because she wore glasses which immediately signifies that she is fragile and weak.  


Sound
Another element of our opening sequence we looked into was sound, we decided that we would use minimal dialogue mainly because we felt that alcoholics tend to not speak as much when they drink so therefore we thought why not do the same with our opening and have no dialogue but we soon realised that it did not engage the audience enough so we used a non- linear introduction to do so and gain their  attention and then included a voice over to assist the audience in understanding of why Sam was the way he was, when we got Sam to recite the voice over we made sure that it was very depressing and to achieve this we asked him to speak in a very low tone and make his voice sound very gruff and very straight forward as if he were talking directly to the audience this was all done to evoke sympathy from the audience. 


Editing
We use continuity editing through out the opening especially at the start where Sam is at the meeting, this was done because we wanted to make sure that the audience knew what was going on. We also decided to include a lot of fades, the reason for this was to show the audience all the events that have occurred in Sam's life, and allowed them to build their knowledge on Sam and begin to generate an opinion on him. To some extent it creates the effect of a recap and shows the only most important sections. Another reason for using fades is so that it gave us an opportunity to include our titles. 

Evaluation- Target Audience

Evaluation- Technologies Used

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Evaluation-Preliminary Task

I think that my preliminary task was at a decent standard. I think that I used the technology well especially when editing mainly because it was the first time I used iMovie and I think the workshop lessons I had made it easier for me to do so. In my evaluation I talk about how I learnt how to fade the sound in and out which was something that I had just learnt at the time. The camera that we used allowed to us to freely experiment with a range of shots and I was very happy with how tight the match on action was when we were filming this, I also liked the way I played my own music as it really allowed the piece to shift from a serious atmosphere to a more emotional and then finally a humorous one. I think we done that very well as it was very creative and innovative. I also liked the way I added a wildcat soundtrack and as the door shut at 0:10 the sound faded away, this was very time consuming to get perfect but I believe it was worth it.  


I think that our planning skills we not as good as we kept on getting carried away and our ideas as they  were too complex and needed to be slightly more basic. I think this was mainly because we were over complicating the task which was putting pressure on us and this may have been the root cause as to why we could not think of a suitable narrative. I also think that we could have had a wider range of shots and used much more cutaways for effect. Another problem I had was that I did not re-film anything and so when it came to editing I was very limited as to what I could use and I had to improvise by  filming extreme close-ups at 0:11so that the piece would flow continuously. 


To improve upon these areas I decided that I would take everything easier and be more simple, One way I did this way by researching different films and analysing each aspect of them e.g. Mise En Scene, Camera, Sound etc. I would  making sure I knew what the brief was and would constantly remind myself. By researching a variety of BSR film I was able to piece together what I wanted my opening sequence to feature and I would compose blog posts dedicated to these aspects. I would also re-film all my shots three or four times and get them from different perspective allowing me have a variety of shots to choose from. I also made sure that when filming our opening sequence I was self-critical and would make sure that I did each part of the opening whether it be filming, composing or editing to the best of my ability, I made sure that I understood what the BSR meant and what it entailed and tried to make this evident by using specific conventions e.g. non-linear narrative, minimal dialogue, introducing themes and character. I would book out the camera at appropriate times for e.g. according to the weather conditions. I would also be very strict when it came to filming, I just made sure that I was more organised and would make sure that I was always on top of things. 

Final Thought

Half Empty-Final (Turn Off Captions When Watching)

Reflective Analysis (10)

This week my partner and I finished our opening sequence and we also watched our peers work and gave them feedback as to what we thought about their opening sequence. The feedback we received was very constructive and it made us think how we could improve on our work. Some of our peers said that they could empathise  with the protagonist, Sam and felt that we could have used more effects to show Sam's disorientation by making the argument in slow motion and making some of the shots more blurrier. They also said that the music was very effective and that its sets the mood of the film and starts off slow and becomes progressive and stronger towards the end, they considered this to be one of our strengths. However some of our peers said that their could have beee more dialogue and they did not like the voice over, one criticism that kept on occurring in the feedback was Sam's drunk acting, they all felt that this could have been better and it was not convincing enough and some went as far as saying that it broke the verisimilitude of the film.  Our peers felt that the key shots that made emphasised the BSR genre was when Sam was walking down the alley way on his own and the long shot of him sitting in the corner alone and they felt that that the locations we used really reinforced the BSR genre. Overall my partner and I were pleased with the feedback we received. 

Production-Reflective Analysis (9)

This week I started planning and writing the monologue that will accompany the music. I looked over the footage we have filmed and because we changed some parts of the opening because we felt that some of the shots and costumes weren't appropriate and we were attempting to create a different meaning, an example would be the fact the protagonist isn't wearing the same clothing throughout the whole opening is to done to show that this happens on a regular basis and because he is talking to an audience about his addiction he is talking about different occasions that he has drank and how he felt and the opening concludes with the most significant part of the film and this will all be supported by the voice over. When recording the protagonist reciting the monologue I intend to record line by line so it will be easier when editing to match the sentence with what is happening on the screen. I done a blogpost which helped me gain an insight into alcoholism. This has been very helpful and I will continue to refer to this to aid me in writing the voiceover. I have targeting certain tasks each week as I believe that ensuring that these elements are perfect is vital and improves the overall aesthetic of the opening. We still have a little bit more of filming to do and we were unable to film once or twice due to our cast not being available, but majority of the editing has been completed, the titles remain and just making those finishing touches.  

Production-Reflective Analysis (8)

This week my I began to create the music (Opening Sequence Draft) that will accompany the voice over in our opening sequence. To do this I used Logic Pro 8 as I said I would in our treatment. On your left hand side is my DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) were I composed the opening. I used the blogpost I did on Inspirational music as a stimulus and came up with something Which I believe is unique. I also decided that because It was BSR and my target audience is between the ages of 16-25 I needed to add something that would engage them so I added drums to the arrangement, I felt this added another dimension and slowly drew the audience into the diagesis of the film. When I import this into iMovie, my partner and I are thinking to sync a significant part of the monologue to the music, this may just be increasing the volume of that track or the whole track when he says a specific line.  When I asked my peers to listen to the opening they said that they found it drifted towards a thriller in the beginning but as it progresses it becomes more heartfelt and they thought it immediately makes the audience sympathise with the protagonist of the film. I personally feel there is something missing in the piece and I think there should be a slight change in key and more theme and variation, to accomplish this I will add a legato string to the piece, as this will emphasise the pathos in the opening. All I need to do now is mix the arrangement which is manipulating certain sounds and making it move and progress together in unison. I will also include different effects such as distortion, reverb, delay etc.

Production- Reflective Analysis (7)

This week my partner and I were busy as we began to shoot our opening sequence, it was a slight challenge getting everyone together and we had to cancel on various occasions and reschedule. When everyone was available we managed to get a considerable amount done. One issue that we had was the costume for the protagonist, on our production schedule we stated that he would wear joggers but he did not have that so we told him to wear something more average and normal, as the other cast members were wearing casual clothing and we thought that our protagonist would stand out too much and doesn't really blend in with everyone else. We also began to write our monologue for our opening which our protagonist will recite. To help me write the monologue I went onto you tube and looked for alcoholics stories and then did a blogpost based on this. It was very helpful as It enabled me to put myself in their situation. My partner and I also did some editing this week and looked at what we thought was good and what could have been improved, this helped us as we could go back to the locations and re-film any shots that we were not happy with. Overall its been and enjoyable first week of production, and editing and I look forward to seeing the final product.

Production- Inspiration For Our Monologue

Today I looked at how I am going to write the monologue that my protagonist will recite as the clips are being shown. To help me understand the effect alcohol has on people I watched various videos on how people began to drink alcohol and how they stopped and I intend on using their personal experiences to inspire me to write my own story. By doing this we are able to relate to our audience and build a relationship with them and it also gives the story more substance and adds realism.


Video 1 - Talks about three teenagers who suffered horrific consequences due to alcohol and they are able to relate to other teenagers as they are part of the same age group, and raise issues that teens go through in everyday life.


 Video 2 & Video 3  - This is Anthony Hopkins talks about his alcohol addiction and how it had a positive, but in the long term has severe effects. He talks about how the life is seductive and easily addictive, but also in some respect awakened a side of him that he thought he never had.

Call Sheet (1)

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Reflective Analysis (6)

This week was enjoyable and sad at the same time as all the hard work my partner and I put into the planning paid off. As we had an idea that was realistic and fulfills all the criteria of a BSR film. This week my partner and I decided what was going to happen in each shot for this we used a shooting script. This really helped us see how long our opening would be, we also done a production schedule which organizes our time and helped us see clearly which shots we could shoot on one day and the ones that we would have leave on another day. It makes organizing the cast much easier. This week we decided to add little extra sections in our story as we felt that it was slightly bare and didn't have enough going on, this included adding more doom and gloom for our protagonist as we believed it emphasizes and reinforces the BSR genre. A key issue this week was deciding our titles and the order they would appear in, also I looked at  films such as Panic room and Requiem for a dream to get an overall idea as to how many credits are featured and what they were and which ones my partner and I thought were important and ones we thought they didn't really need to be included. From this we were able to generate a list as to how they would appear in chronological order.  

Titles For Our Opening Sequence

Here In this post I will talk about how our titles will appear in order and will use the research into titles and the important roles in a BSR film. I will also state what typography we are thinking about using in our opening sequence and why. I also experimented with different fonts to see which one would look and fit the genre of our film. One thing my partner and I decided was that the font we use for our production logo will have to similar or the same to our titles. As we want to be consistent with the overall look of the film and not change that. 

1. Institution company = Film 4
2. Production Company (Logo) = Euphoric Productions
3. Film 4 presents title
4. A Euphoric Production
5. Actors : Anand Pithia (Headline act/Sam)
6. Jyotika Pithia (Jess)
7. Name of the film = 'Half Empty'
8. Raees Mohammed 
9. Hassan Ahmed
10. Govind Kullar
11. Casting by: Faiz Pokun, Bikram Billan 
12. Costume Designer: Faiz Pokun
13. Music: Faiz Pokun
14. Editing: Bikram Billan A.C.E, Faiz Pokun 
15. Production Designer: Bikram Billan 
16. Director Of Photography: Bikram Billan 
17.Producer: Faiz Pokun, Bikram Billan 
18. Written By: Faiz Pokun, Bikram Billan 
19. Director: Bikram Billan

5 Part Narritive

Sam is not an average normal protagonist. He is a complex young man that has been taken and consumed by the evils of society. Some young people may see themselves in Sam's situation, so this film could have a big effect on them. Sam will not be particularly stereotyped to a group in young people he will be fairly common teenager so in this film can appeal to a broader target audience through personal identity.

Sam's is part of a fairly dysfunctional family. This is the main thing that begins to take its toll and transform Sam from an innocent child to a complex, intellectual man. He soon gets kicked out of college for taking out his anger on another student. This is were the audience begin to sympathise with Sam. 




Due to everything that's going on he becomes incredibly stressed at such a young age. He has no one to turn to and finds him enjoying alcohol a bit too much. He soon starts to think of alcohol as his only friend. 

The pressures on for Sam from all sides, he doesn't know what to do and is getting worried and uncomfortable in his own skin. His mother and his relationship gets worse and worse, as she is worried about funds and starts to stress out at Sam for wasting all his money all the time. The fights between the two become increasingly worse and soon become physical. The audience may feel sympathy at this point for Sam as we see that he his almost pushed towards alcoholism by the pressures of society. This is where we see that young people need to stay strong and it could even be motivating for young people thinking they do not want to turn out like Sam. 

Sam soon goes crazy, becoming intoxicated most hours of everyday. He soon loses sense of what he is doing and goes to far in an argument with his mother. Not knowing what he is doing he kills his mother. Once he sobers up and realises his madness, he kills himself. I think the audience will find this very shocking but I believe that to a young audience this will definately make them think twice about drinking so much.

Production Schedule

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Shooting Script

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Beachcombing - Titles

I watched this short film called To Claire; From Sonny. I liked the way the film immediately sets up enigma as to what it may be about, it also has a serious element to it, which is emphasized by the black background and medieval typography. however I think that the black background is very typical and is very boring, so when doing our titles we will try to avoid this and be more creative with our titles. 

Reflective Analysis (5)

The key issues that I focused on for my production was focusing on creating a   production company name and logo and did so, I enjoyed that task as it allowed me to be creative and most of all innovative. I also looked at different quotes for my opening sequence, I found this task slightly difficult as I was looking for quotes that emphasised the seriousness of alcoholism and not mock it. So when I found a couple I listed them on my blog and then I decided that one place that wold have a quote on this issue would be the bible and I think the quote I found was ideal but I was not too sure that it would engage my audfience enough, it had to be smart and witty and the quote I am deciding to use I believe is ideal and fits that criteria. how I use this idea is important and will effect the impact it has on my audience. I also looked for inspirational music that will assist me to compose a piece for my own opening sequence in a similar style as this will make my audience sympathise with the character and when they find out what he has done it create the impression that they have been fooled, which ultimatley makes them more attentive. This has made me think in more detail as what I need to do to make sure that I establish a solid and intriguing opening sequence.  

Inspirational Recci Shots

Here are some of the Recci shots that we done, because most of our Opening sequence. We looked at places that are rough, and places that had that 'kitchen sink' element to it. We found three places that would be suitable and fit that criteria but we are still considering whether we will go though with using them. 

 Recci Shots 1

 Recci Shots 2
 Recci Shot 3

Possible Quotes For Opening Sequence

My partner and I talked about a quotations that we could use in our opening sequence, we were specifically looking for quotes that enforces the seriousness of alcohol and would immediately introduce the issues of the film as they may know what to expect in the film, but it will not reveal everything. These included:


"Alcohol has given to me more than it has taken out of me"
" It all starts with a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you"
" Alcohol bites like a serpent and stings like an adder" - Proverbs 23:32 


We decided to go with the second one as it acts like a warning as to what alcohol does to a person mentally and spiritually which I really like about this quote, it also fits in perfectly with our narrative, because we are using minimal dialogue in our opening. I think that by using a quotes it is something unique and niche as Hollywood films do not use this for an opening.  

Production Logo

Today I came up with an name and  various logos that my partner and I are thinking about using in our opening sequence. The name Euphoric means happiness and joy, however many BSR films are far from that so its an oxymoron and is quite ironic, which our highly educated audience will find interesting and understand. I have also used different designs and me and my partner will talk about which one we like the best and will replicate that and change the look of it e.g. colours, positioning of the text. We feel that the typography used in the logo is solid and very traditional as it represents Britain as being a sophisticated and dominant country this is signified through the simple, bold colours and the typography. All these decisions are not final and will be decided and confirmed nearer to the deadline, but I think that it is good that we discuss these issues now better than later on.

Reflective Analysis (4)

This week I have spent a lot of time looking at who my target audience are and how I could make my film appeal to them. For this my partner and I conducted a Focus group to see what they thought about my idea and how I could make it better, we also talked about the age group and what gender they felt the film should be aimed at.  They were very co-operative and helped make my production better in the sense that they highlighted issues that my partner and I hadn't really considered and thought about. I got feedback from my peers to see what they thought about our treatment, they also helped and supported the decisions my partner and I made e.g. the title. They also gave us some constructive criticisms which will help us move foward in our production. 

I have learnt how institutions who fund and sponsor the film mainly produce a certain genre of film.  I have looked at various films e.g. 'Trainspotting' and looked at the production companies involved in the film. I found that the companies that are involved are all known for producing BSR independent films, I think this is done mainly because they are able to finance these kind of films and also they have a production team that are familiar with the conventions of the BSR genre. It has made me think about who my production company should be and the possible name for my own production company. it has to be something niche and unique but at the same time indicates the genre of the films that I may produce.