Evaluation

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



2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?



3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?



4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

5. How did you attract/address your audience?


6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?



7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

Audience Feedback

To gain some opinions on our piece, I asked a couple of my friends from school to watch the film and give some feedback, and some constructive criticism.

What, in particular, did you like about our film?

My friends noted, in the questionnaire that I supplied them with, that they were impressed with the amount of attention we paid to small details. For example, the spray paint on the bus, during the drug deal scene. We didn't spray it ourselves, but they were impressed that we managed to find a location of this quality for the film. The paint reads "shoot 2 kill", and they thought that this was an effective use of foreshadowing. They also noted that we made good use of natural lighting. This is because during the drug deal scene, we managed to line up the sunlight with the shade for one of our long shots, highlighting that the film is a story with two clear sides of good and evil. They were also very happy with our location choices, and our decision to play homage to 'Odd Man Out' during the opening credits. Furthermore, they were very impressed with the acting. 

Do you have any criticisms of our film? If so, what?

They both noted that they thought the actors we got for the rookie police officer and the detective may have been a little young, considering they are in our year, while portraying cops in their mid 20s. Also, they thought that we should have had some more establishing shots, such as a couple of famous murals, or the peace wall. 

Are there any things you think we could have done to improve the film?

Both questionnaire participants felt that it probably would have been better for us to get older actors for the character of the rookie police officer, and that of the detective. However, we were unable to get actors of the appropriate age. They also thought that it may have been a good idea to film in black and white, to help add to the dark and gritty tone of the film, and especially considering the fact that it was bright during one of our scenes. However, they noted that this may have been for the best because, as previously mentioned, they thought that we made good use of the available natural lighting, with the sunlight and shade.

Our Final Film

'Undercover'

Make sure to watch in 1080p

Post-Production

Softwares used

Adobe Photoshop - I had little experience with photoshop, however I needed to use it in order to edit the newspaper cover

Adobe After effects - I used after effects for the majority of the editing process as I already have some experience with it and I am relatively efficient in it

Adobe Audition -  I used audition whilst trying to remove background noise from the audio recorded as well as trying to boost the vocals. I was new to audition and wasn't very efficient with it, and it also didn't work very well in removing the wind sounds.

Adobe Premiere - I used premiere during the latter stages of the editing process in order to sync up the new dubbed audio with the original footage. I was new to the software however I found it easy to use and I managed to use it efficiently

Pre-Production

Photoshopping the Newspaper Cover

As we needed the newspaper as a prop in the film, it was necessary for us to edit and develop the newspaper cover prior to filming. To do this, I downloaded a picture of the front cover of a copy of the irish news and then removed all titles and unnecessary pictures. I then edited a picture of our rookie cop actor onto the cover and added a title alerting the reader to his death, using the font  Times New Roman Bold. I then enlarged the cover to the resolution of a real newspaper and made sure to use bicubic smoother in order to maintain a high-quality resolution when the cover was scaled up. We then brought a copy of the finished newspaper on a USB stick to a printer in our art department and had the cover printed onto newspaper paper, and then we wrapped it up in other newspaper sheets to make it look realistic.

Post-Production

Video

Sequencing and applying fades

The first and most tedious part of editing is sequencing all of the clips and layers  together. This involves a great deal of trimming and altering the position of layers in order for the film to run smoothly together and maintain continuity. I also applied a fading effect to some layers in order to ensure that layers transitioned into eachother smoothly.

Adding Titles

A basic yet crucial phase in the post-production process is adding titles and credits to the film, both at the beginning and ending. I used the font 'Eras Bold ITC' as I believe it had a thick cinematic look to it and made the film look more professional.

Applying filters and removing grain

After I sequenced the clips together, I then got to work on removing grain and noise from the footage in after effects. Some layers needed more grain removal from others, especially the pool scene due to it's dark lighting. I also needed to make a conscious effort not to remove too much noise as making the footage too smooth would make it look artificial. I then got to work on colour grading and applying filters using the adobe after effects plugin Magic Bullet Looks. I applied a cinematic filter to the establishing shots, and a warm, melancholy filter to the bar scene. I also altered the brightness and contrast of the establishing shots to make them look slightly gloomier. I then went on to apply a cinematic filter to the pool hall scene as well as increasing the colour vibrancy due to it's dim lighting. The greatest challenge however came about in applying a filter to the docks scene. This is due to the fact that although the day had been dark and gloomy about an hour previously, the sun had arisen and the day had gotten bright. As a result I needed to lower the brightness and alter the contrast, as well as adding a filter which accentuated black tones, dulled vibrant colours and made the footage seem gloomier overall.

Applying stabilizer 

I applied a stabilizer on a variety of clips of footage in order to remove some shakiness, however it proved to have almost no effect on the shakiness of the footage.

Time Remapping

I found that the panning shot that first introduces us to the drug dealer lacked consistency and the shot sped up and slowed down in different places. In order to stabilize this, I used time remapping and key framing in order to make sure that the pan was roughly the same speed throughout and maintained consistency.

Audio

Altering audio volume

Due to the fact that the different layers and scenes were not of identical volume, I made an effort to reduce and amplify some of their audio in order balance it out. I also had to fade audio in and out to match the fading of the footage, as well as fading out or muting any external sounds such as laughter which I hadn't noticed while filming

Adding soundtrack and sound effects

For the soundtrack of the film, I chose moody melancholic jazz for the opening and ending scene, as well as ambient jazz for the dock scene. The music I used was independently made and copyright free, however I made sure to contact the artists to get their permission before I used their music. After downloading the music, I simply had to drag and drop it into the composition. As for the sound effects, I used freesounds.com to get download sound effects of ambiance, realistic pistol gunshots and a phone vibration before dragging it into the composition.

Applying telephone effect

In order to create the rather brief audio effect of giving the impression that the chief was speaking over the phone, I trimmed the clip of him speaking that I needed and opened it in adobe audition. Here I opened up an FFX equalizer and set the audio the telephone preset. This gave the audio the effect of sounding like it was coming from a mobile phone, adding reverb and slight echo while making it sound quite tinny.

Removing background noise and altering frequencies

Without a doubt the most difficult and time consuming part of the editing process was trying to remove the loud wind in the background of the docks scene. For this, I began by using adobe after effects' built in equalizer to try and remove the high and low wind frequencies while boosting the vocal frequencies, however this had very little effect. I then added a high/low pass to remove some of the low humming wind frequencies, however this gave the audio of the vocals quite a high tinny sound. I then closed after effects and opened the audio into adobe audition which I had no experience with whatsoever. Here I tried to edit the waveform of the file by selecting and cutting some low frequencies, however this damaged the dialogue audio as well. I opened up various equalizers and applied effects such vocal enhancers, before opening up adobe premiere and seeing if it's denoiser effect had any effect in reducing the background noise. While a lot of the wind sound was silenced, it was still clearly audible and the various effects used to lower it caused the original dialogue audio to sound tinny and somewhat distorted.

Overdubbing audio + adding ambiance

Due to the poor quality of the audio even after I edited it in Audition, I decided it'd be best just to retake the audio altogether. To do this I borrowed a mic from a friend and got Liam (drug dealer) and Matthew (rookie cop) to come back to my house to retake their dialogue. I then muted the audio of the original clip and synced the new audio together in Adobe Premiere before adding this new clip back into the After Effects composition and replacing the original footage. As the new footage is muted bar the dialogue, it is necessary to add some background ambiance which I downloaded from Freesounds.

Sound Editing and Music Research

Sound Editing and Music Research

Soundtrack

Establishing Shots

For the soundtrack to the opening scene of the film, we chose the song '4:18' by Chicago based hip-hop producer Dan the Automator. Dan has an eclectic discography, ranging from working with rapper Kool Keith, to futuristic sci-fi rap project Deltron 3030, and even to producing Gorillaz first album. The track we have chosen is a rather simplistic jazz loop, however it perfectly captures a moody and suspenseful atmosphere which sets the mood of the film.

Bar Scene

For this scene, we have decided to use the track 'Midnight Walker' by Bohren & Der Club of Gore, who are known as one of the key players in the jazz-noir renaissance.  Based in Germany,  In 1992 they produced a crossover of jazz and ambient, which they self described as an "unholy ambient mixture of slow jazz ballads, Black Sabbath doom and down tuned Autopsy sounds". This track perfectly captured the melancholy gloom and despair of the final scene.

Dialogue

Our film is going to relied heavily on dialogue and as a result we had to make extensive use of it during the phone call between the rookie cop and the chief and the encounter between the rookie cop and the drug dealer.

Overdubbing

As a result of the loud wind we experienced when filming the outdoors scene at the docks, it was necessary for us to overdub the dialogue. After filming the footage, we borrowed a mic and went to a friends house and redid the audio. We then muted the audio track of the original footage and overdubbed it with the new better quality audio.

Ambient Sound

As a result of our having to mute the original audio of the docks scene due to loud wind, it was necessary to add in some ambient sound to replace it. We downloaded some typical industrial ambiance and overlaid it on the original footage.

Diegetic Synchronous Sound

We made use of a variety of diagetic and synchronous sounds, such as the drug dealer's footsteps, the striking of the snooker balls and the lighting of the match.

Sound Perspective

We made use of sound perspective during the brief close-up noddy shot of the rookie cop while he's stressing out over the phonecall. We edited the chiefs voice to sound echoed and distorted to mimic the sound of a mobile phone and also give the impression that the sound is at a distance from the rookie cop.

Sound Effects

We made use of some sound effects in the post-production phase, for example adding in the sound of the chief's phone vibration and the sound of the gunshot.

Sound Mixing

Before we chose to overdub the audio, we spent a lot of time mixing the audio in post-production. We used various softwares along with equalizers and audio effects to alter frequencies to try and boost the sound of vocals along with removing background noise and wind sounds.

The Editing Process

Editing

Visual Effects

Filters were added to the footage along noise reduction. Brightness and contrast had to be tampered with to make the day seem gloomier than it was. I will go into more detail about this process in the post-production blogpost

Long Takes

The series of establishing shots are all rather long in order for it to be long enough for the credits scene

Titles

Titles and text are overlaid over the establishing shots in order to display both the title and the credits

Fade In/Out

The fade out technique is used both in the credits and at the end of the film in order to gradually transition out of their respective scenes, while the fade in technique is used in order to gradually fade into the bar scene

Parallel Editing/Crosscutting

This editing technique is used during the phonecall between the rookie cop and the young officer in order to show that their dialogue exchange is happening simultaneously even if they are in different locations

Action Match

Action matches are used throughout the film, for example during the phone call between the chief and young officer. Action Matches are used to create a continuity of action, such as occurs when the young officer dials a number on his phone which then cuts to the chief's phone ringing

Audio Match Cut

As the chief strikes the snooker balls, the sound it makes acts as a key for the young officer to snap back to reality

Ellipsis

An ellipsis is used at the end of the docks scene to indicate the passage of time from the rookie cop's execution to the young officer reading the news in the bar

Insert

An insert is used in the bar scene in order to abruptly cut away from the subject and show the text he had received on his phone

How the Filming Process Went

How the Filming Process Went

We arrived in town around 9:00am to capture the establishing shots. Thankfully, we managed to film these successfully, with the desired weather forecast. We expected the day to be sunny, which would have hindered our filming schedule, forcing us either to reschedule or to fix this in the editing process. However, the morning was very cloudy and dreary, allowing us to capture the desired effect for our chosen genre, noir. We have filmed shots of the Belfast City Hall, The Crown Bar, Albert Clock, and multiple different locations around the Belfast docks. Belfast's many iconic locations have given us a multitude of options to use in the opening of our film.

The weather forecast had changed by the time we had to film our opening scene at the docks at around 11:00am. Since we needed to maintain a dark and dreary tone, we decided that this would need to be fixed during the editing process. To further this we got permission to film in an abandoned area beside Harland and Wolffe, which was a perfect location for the drug deal scene. As we needed to get to the bar at 12:00pm the filming was quite rushed, however both actors worked well under pressure.  The lighting was good and both characters had learnt their dialogue thoroughly and worked well together to provide a convincing performance. We experienced some difficulties with wind, however we will try and fix this in post-production. Coincidentally, we also noticed some very fitting graffiti at the location at which we were filming. The graffiti read 'NO RETREAT' and 'SHOOT TO KILL' - two very fitting themes to this dock scene.

We then went to meet another one of our actors for the next scene. The next scene we had to film took place inside the sunflower bar. We had to phone the bar several days prior to this, in order to gain permission for this, and they were happy to have us. We went to the bar as soon as it opened at 12:00pm so that we would not disturb customers later on. The bar were very helpful as well; keeping the music off and voluntarily supplying us with matches for the cigar. This scene also appeared to be a success, with the actor only requiring roughly 1-2 takes per shot.

We filmed the next scene a week later with another older actor. Although we filmed it a week after the rest of the footage, this pool hall scene coincides with the docks scene. We were filming in the Westway Snooker Hall. We contacted the pool hall a few days before we were to film, and we were allowed to film as soon as it opened at 10:00 am. Fionntan got one of his uncles to play the role of the police chief as he seemed to suit the role quite well. This scene did not take long to film, and it appeared to be a success, with the pool hall providing the perfect neo-noir setting.

Despite having filmed the footage, we decided that we needed to overdub the audio due to problems with wind. A week after the pool hall scene, I borrowed a mic from a friend and invited the actors from the dock scene back to my house to retake the audio in a quiet room. This went well, as both actors managed to capture their voices from the footage perfectly.

Film Noir Conventions, and how we're breaking them

Film noir conventions and how we're following and breaking them

First off, I will discuss the stereotypical iconography and location traits of classic noir films. Noir films are known for their urban gritty locations, often in abandoned locations or rain-drecnhed alleys with gloomy lighting sometimes populated with neon lights. We will be following this convention, as we will be filming when it's dark or at least foggy, and will be filming in an empty location on the Belfast docks. Some other key locations of noir films are diners, bars, poolhalls,  nightclubs, police stations and gambling dens. We will be incorporating a dimly lit poolhall into our film, as well as an old-style bar.

As for the mise-en-scene, noir films tend to incorporate traditional attire such as bowler hats, trench coats, braces, and props such as guns, cigars and whiskey. We will be trying to match this in our film, including all of the aformentioned attire and props. As for the shot types and angles and editing, noir films have some common traits. Noir films use low angled and canted angled shots, tracking shots to follow action and bridging shots to cut back in time when the protagonist is reflecting. As for editing, noir films use action matches, eyeline matches to show the viewer what the character is looking at and parallel editing to show different characters engaged in phonecalls. As noir films tend to be slow-paced, they rarely have any over the top editing or visual effects. Similarly in our film we aim to use low and canted angled shots, action matches and parallel editing, however we aim to break conventions by using unconventional shot types such as POV shots and over the shoulder shots. Noir films tend to use moody jazz music as their film score or incidental music, which we will try to use as incidental music in the closing bar scene and during the credits. We also aim to make use of both diegetic and non-diegetic sound.

As for film characters, the archetypal noir characters are the corrupt cop, the femme fatale, the stoic detective and the hardened mobster. The prominent themes in noir films tend to be love and betrayal, urban decay and degeneracy, flashbacks and voiceover narratives and convoluted stories. As our film is supposed to be brief and only a short opening to a film, we won't have the time to elaborate on any of these characters or themes in much detail.

As for neo-noir, the conventions tend to be the same but with a modern spin. The films feature violence with more modern forms of crime such as pimping and drug dealing, with more world-weary and cynical protagonists with false accusations and betrayal, focusing more on long tracking shots, obscured frames and deep focus.

We are breaking conventions of noir and neo-noir by the way we blend them together and juxtapose them in our film. We use traditional noir attire, dialogue and characters, while also using modern props and neo-noir scenarios, such as the drug deal. We blend noir and neo-noir together the best in our dug dealer character - despite saying dialogue that seems reminiscent of an old noir film, he will be dressed like an urban youth and speak with a broad accent and their mannerisms. This juxtaposition will act as a parody.

SHOOTING SCHEDULE

Shooting Schedule

Saturday 1st of April:

12:00 pm:
Scouting the locations

Saturday 8th of April:
9:00 am:
Capturing the establishing shots

11:00 am:
Scene at the docks

12:00 pm:
Scene at the bar

Saturday 15th of April:

10:00 am:
Pool hall scene

Saturday 22nd of April:
10:30 am:
Overdubbing audio

SHOT LIST

Shot List (including examples of shot)

Establishing Shots

The film will open with a series of establishing shots of iconic Belfast locations in order to set the scene of the film.

Very Wide Shot

Although we will have already used establishing shots, this shot acts an establishing shot to the film plot itself. We are going to use this extreme wide shot to show how empty and barren the wasteland is, that the rookie cop is at, in order to make him feel more alone and vulnerable. The subject is going to be in the centre of the frame, with the wide shot then zooming in.

Medium Long Shot

This shot will be used as an establishing shot for the poolhall. The chief is going to be shown in the frame from the knees up, and then shown in relation to his surroundings i.e the snooker table and snooker balls. He will be in the middle of the frame as he is still the main focus.

Midshots

A series of midshots are going to be used in order to show the exchange of dialogue between the rookie cop and the police chief during their phone call. These midshots will be taken from a variety of different angles to ensure that the footage doesn't seem too stagnant.

Back Shot 

A back shot will be used to show the area in front of and around the subject, the rookie cop.

Tracking Shots

A series of tracking shots, which will track the moving subject throughout the frame, are going to be used in order to add life to what would otherwise be static shots of the subjects simply standing and speaking.

Low Angled Close-Up Noddy Shot

This shot will be used to accentuate the rookie cop's emotions and show his reaction to the news he's being told. The low angled shot will hopefully make him seem more vulnerable.

Panning Shot

The panning shot is going to be used to build suspense and introduce us to the second character at the docks, the drug dealer. The juxtaposition of the bright lighting of the rookie cop and the shadowy figure of the dealer contrasts their moral intentions.

Over the Shoulder Tracking Shot

This shot will be used in order to follow the dealer as he approaches the rookie cop. The dealer is at the centre of the frame.

Shot Reverse Shot

Will be used to show the exchange of dialogue between the rookie cop and the dealer.

Two shot

Both subjects will be in the centre of the frame. The single midshot will make the dialogue seem more strained and tense due to the lack of cuts.

Extreme Close-Up Noddy Shot

This shot will be used to analyze the reaction of the rookie cop as he scrutinizes the dealer, before recoiling in shock as he realizes he has a gun.

POV Shot

This shot is going to be used in order to show us exactly what the rookie cop is seeing as he analyses the drug dealer. The POV shot will also capture the full subject, of the drug dealer, in the frame, as he fires the gun, which any other shot won't really allow us to do.

High Angled Panning Shot

This shot will used as an establishing shot to the bar scene. The panning is there to shift the focus of the frame, from the newspaper to the young officer.

Midshot

A variety of midshots are going to be used to display the young officer's actions at the bar, from his lighting of a cigar to him reaching for his phone.

Insert Shot

This shot type will be used to show the text received by the chief.

ACTOR RESEARCH (our chosen actors)

Actor Research

Undercover Cop: Matthew Miskimmon 

For the role of the undercover police officer we have chosen a boy in our year named Matthew Miskimmon. We decided to choose him as he is one of the only people we know with some form of acting experience, as he has acted in other A Level media projects, as well as GCSE ones. Furthermore, he has also acted for us in the past, playing the lead character in our preliminary task. He definitely showed tremendous acting ability and range while starring in that role, so we thought that he would be perfect for this part as well, as we know that he can convey a range of emotions with confidence. His level of confidence, and commanding voice definitely played a part in our decision to choose him. The character he has to play is that of a rookie police officer, in his early 20s. However, despite the fact that he is only 17, he looks much older; as he has a lot of facial hair and an incredibly deep voice. Once we were unable to get an actor of the appropriate age, we knew that Matthew would be perfect for the role anyway.

Detective: Matthew McCullagh

For this role we didn't necessarily need someone with acting experience, so we asked another one of our friends. We chose our friend, Matthew McCullagh, for this role. This was another case where we needed an older actor, this time for the role of a detective. However, as previously mentioned in the last paragraph, we were unable to get one, so we had to resort to using another 17 year old. Thankfully, just like with our other actor, Matthew looks a lot older, making him perfect for the role of a young detective. This character has no lines of dialogue, so the fact that he has no acting experience shouldn't be a problem, as he has the look necessary.

Drug Dealer: Liam Kelly

For this role, we simply needed someone who could put on the persona of a rough intimidating urban youth. When suggested to my friends, Liam was eager to help. Liam has a working class aesthetic and his shaved head and collection of tracksuits, and novelty gold chains, he has for techno concerts made him the perfect choice appearance wise. Being an urban youth himself, he was able to mimic their dialect and act intimidating, and we know that he will prove himself to be more than capable at acting and playing the role. Most importantly, Liam is eager to star in our film and no matter what we have asked of him (during his test run of going through the lines), or how many times we changed schedule Liam was always enthusiastic and willing to comply without complaining.

Chief: Greg Toner

As for this role, we needed a man who could carry his dialogue confidently as well as giving off a domineering presence. Greg, Fionntan's uncle, has always been a confident entertainer and had some experience acting as a teenager. He is also a naturally big man, making him capable of giving off a domineering presence. As a result, we believe that Greg was the perfect choice for this role and we also believe that his performance, during his read through of the lines, proved this.