The following video is a montage of all the video feedback we got from peers and adults:
The following is the written feedback we got from peers and adults:
Is the genre clear?
It is a thriller
It is a crime thriller
It is a thriller
It is an action
It is a thriller/action
Who would you say is the main character?
Drea, the girl
The girl
The girl
Drea's character
Drea Bunce
Did the music fit the chosen genre?
Very good, well timed to the clips
Really well
Yes
Yes, it builds up as the opening scene progresses
Yes, the music built tension throughout the piece, it fitted very well
What was the most memorable part?
The penultimate bit where Max speaks
When the girl is cornered at the wall
The running scene
The final line before the screen cuts to black
The shot from across the station (the above shot) it looked very professional, also the ‘hacker’ title
What part could we potentially improve?
The boys should wear jackets
I don't know why they would just wear shirts and trousers and no jackets
The Starbucks scene should be shorter
Have the music build up more gradually before Drea breaks into a run
The beginning seemed a little weird that
Richard and Max were sitting very close to Drea
If this film was to be released, would you go and see it in the cinema?
Yes
Yes
Yes
I'm not sure, it would depend on the plot of the film
Yes, it looks quite like a ‘James Bond-esque’
film and who would say no that one huh?
Out of 60, what mark would you give it?
55
52
58
48
An 'excellent'
Please feel free to watch our opening sequence here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNazZQCczcQ
...and fill out the following survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JFPRGC6
THANK YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Hacker
Questions for peers/teachers for feedback
Questions
to ask peers/teachers for interview feedback:
Who would you say is the
main character?
Did the music fit the
chosen genre?
What was the most memorable
part?
What part could we
potentially improve?
If this film was to be released,
would you go and see it in the cinema?
These are the grade boundaries (show them)
Out of 60, what mark would you give it?
Level 4 48-60 Excellent
Level 3 36-47 Proficient
Level 2 24-35 Basic
Location and recce shots
Piccadilly Circus: This is where we will film most part of our film opening. The busy vibe adds to the tension of the chase, will they find her through the crowd or lose her again?
London Liverpool Street: This is where the agents will first spot the hacker and tell their boss they have 'eyes' on her. Again, the busy natural vibe of the station will add to the tension.
Starbucks: This is where the audience will see the hacker stealing the government files on her laptop. The coffee shop is symbollic (a lot of people know this place) and is a popular place where she can fit in among the crowds.
The alleyway: This is where the final scene will be shot. The agents will corner the hacker down the alleyway and she will speak into her head piece for back up. The alleyway is effective because it is quite thin and closed in, so it makes their first face to face meet personal and helps the tension build up for the cliffhanger.
Evidence of how planned opening fits with research into genre, codes and conventions
Our film opening will mainly feature a chase through London, as the 'agents' are trying to catch the 'hacker.'
Other stereotypical spy action features are:
Violent action against the rival
Investigating various events on a global scale
Exciting escapism
Heavy action
Stylized fights
Technological thrills
Exotic locales
Frequent shootouts
Car chases
Films with the genre similar to ours:
Other stereotypical spy action features are:
Violent action against the rival
Investigating various events on a global scale
Exciting escapism
Heavy action
Stylized fights
Technological thrills
Exotic locales
Frequent shootouts
Car chases
Films with the genre similar to ours:
The Bourne Identity: a man is picked up by a fishing boat, bullet-riddled and without memory, then races to elude assassins and recover from amnesia.
Die Hard: John McClane, officer of the NYPD, tries to save wife Holly Gennaro and several others, taken hostage by German terrorist Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles.
Shutter Island: drama set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding nearby.
Taken: a retired CIA agent travels across Europe and relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.
Matrix: a computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers.
Inception: a skilled extractor is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible.
Mission Impossible III: Ethan Hunt comes face to face with a dangerous and sadistic arms dealer while trying to keep his identity secret in order to protect his girlfriend.
Salt: a CIA agent goes on the run after a defector accuses her of being a Russian spy.
Class and teacher feedback
Our average score from class feedback was 47/60, which is a high
level 3, proficient.
The following questions are what our peers were asked, and here
are some of the generic answers:
Is it obviously an opening sequence? Is it clear who the target audience
is?
Most were
unsure who our audience were. Most said it was clear it was an opening sequence
and that leaving it on a cliff hanger was good because it created tension.
Titles go with genre. Is the genre obvious? Are they clear? Are
there enough and are they in the right order?
Most
identified the genre as being a spy action film, but some were unclear. Some
said that the titles were good but most said that they were not effective and
sometimes hard to see, also that they did not fit the genre. This is definitely
something we will change.
Think about sound and the images, are they appropriate? Do they go
together?
Mostly all
said the sound was good and helped build the tension, however a few said the
voiceovers were out of sync, which is something we will adjust.
Camera – are the shots appropriate and relevant? Is there
controlled use of camera attention to framing, variety of shot distance and
angle? Close attention use of mise en scene?
Mostly all
said that there was a good variety of angles and shots. One said the zoom made
it look unprofessional, which is something we will consider when finishing our
final draft.
Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer and making
selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects.
Mostly all
said the editing and transitions were good and made the sequence flow well.
Any other comments: the titles were sometimes difficult to read.
Teacher’s feedback:
The teachers
said that the titles do not fit the genre, and that the ‘spooky’ shadow behind
emphasises that. We are going to re-do the titles. There are 3 shots (we know
which ones) that either need to be cut better or have the music build up
before, which we will also change. ‘Apart from that, everything else was
brilliant.’
Character profiles and film poster
This is our AS Media chat show on Max and Richard's character profiles.
This is our AS Media chat show on Drea's character profile.
Hacker: first draft
This is the first draft of our film: Hacker.
When we showed our final first draft to the teacher and some peers we got the following feedback:
We learnt that we might need to slow the second half of the music down.
We also learnt we need to put our institution logo in.
We also need to perhaps edit the colouring of the sequence to make it a bit more greeny or yellow. However, we got really positive feedback; a lot of people liked the music and were impressed with the sequence in general.
BFI Media Trip
Independent film:
Makes you think
Makes you ask questions
Is associated with critical success
Films more as art and cultural expression
Mainstream film:
Makes you laugh
Makes you cry
Associated with commercial success (e.g. Gravity)
Films as escapist entertainment
Mass audiences watch mainstream film.
Film is a distribution led industry, mainstream film attracts significant advertising budgets.
Sound is important, do not underestimate it.
Mainstream conventions:
High production values e.g. multiple camera technology
Saturated distribution by a major studio
Star marketing
Brand/franchise familiarity
Safe genre location = sex/chase scenes/explosions
Key focus on entertainment values
Glossy mise en scene, studio and locations
Commercial success
Independent conventions:
Limited distribution
Rarely shown at complex cinemas
Older target audiences
Limited star marketing and lower production values
The big six:
Warner Bros. The Hobbit
Paramount Pictures Star Trek
20th Century Fox The Wolverine
Disney Saving Mr Banks
Sony Skyfall
Universal Studios About Time
Reasons why Hollywood films dominate global film production:
Significant financial resources
Safe genres, star and genre marketing
Saturated distribution/marketing
Audience expectations and familiarity with Hollywood film
Merchandising opportunities
Access to latest technology
UK markets
Role of distributes:
Chooses films to distribute
Attends film festivals
Decides number of prints
Pays for the cost of each print
Negotiates the release date and site of exhibition - WHEN
Sends trailers and publicity to cinemas
Negotiates budget, pays for audience and markets
Main aspects of marketing:
Advertising in media (TV/cinema)
PR Public Relations (brand images)
POS Point of Sale (displays in cinema)
Market research
Types of UK cinema:
Multiplex (278 cinemas)
Independent
Small chain
Leading UK Multiplex chains
Odeon
Cineworld
Vue
Empire Cinemas
Anderson
Reel Cinema
City Screen
Guest speakers:
(1) Soda film productions guest
(2) Paul Webster (producer)
(3) Timothy Richards (founder of Vue Cinemas)
Makes you think
Makes you ask questions
Is associated with critical success
Films more as art and cultural expression
Mainstream film:
Makes you laugh
Makes you cry
Associated with commercial success (e.g. Gravity)
Films as escapist entertainment
Mass audiences watch mainstream film.
Film is a distribution led industry, mainstream film attracts significant advertising budgets.
Sound is important, do not underestimate it.
Mainstream conventions:
High production values e.g. multiple camera technology
Saturated distribution by a major studio
Star marketing
Brand/franchise familiarity
Safe genre location = sex/chase scenes/explosions
Key focus on entertainment values
Glossy mise en scene, studio and locations
Commercial success
Independent conventions:
Limited distribution
Rarely shown at complex cinemas
Older target audiences
Limited star marketing and lower production values
The big six:
Warner Bros. The Hobbit
Paramount Pictures Star Trek
20th Century Fox The Wolverine
Disney Saving Mr Banks
Sony Skyfall
Universal Studios About Time
Reasons why Hollywood films dominate global film production:
Significant financial resources
Safe genres, star and genre marketing
Saturated distribution/marketing
Audience expectations and familiarity with Hollywood film
Merchandising opportunities
Access to latest technology
UK markets
Role of distributes:
Chooses films to distribute
Attends film festivals
Decides number of prints
Pays for the cost of each print
Negotiates the release date and site of exhibition - WHEN
Sends trailers and publicity to cinemas
Negotiates budget, pays for audience and markets
Main aspects of marketing:
Advertising in media (TV/cinema)
PR Public Relations (brand images)
POS Point of Sale (displays in cinema)
Market research
Types of UK cinema:
Multiplex (278 cinemas)
Independent
Small chain
Leading UK Multiplex chains
Odeon
Cineworld
Vue
Empire Cinemas
Anderson
Reel Cinema
City Screen
Guest speakers:
(1) Soda film productions guest
(2) Paul Webster (producer)
(3) Timothy Richards (founder of Vue Cinemas)
Hacker
Genres similar to ours:
Feedback on pitch to class:
The feedback we received from the
class was very mixed but all of the feedback has helped us in some way so we
can make our film opening as good as possible. The main thing that was asked
about our pitch to the class was how we were going to achieve the chase scenes
through London. Their main problem with it was that there was going to be a lot
of people where we were planning on filming. Because of this we had to think
long and hard about how we could make the scene effective. After thinking about
it for a while we changed the location of where we were going to film so that
is would not be as busy but keep the same effect that we wanted it to have. This
piece of feedback helped us a lot as without it we could have been trying to
record a chase scene in the busiest part of London which would lose the effect
of the whole opening scene.
Another piece of feedback we got
from the class was that they liked the fact that the hacker in the opening
scene was a girl. We were glad to hear this as we thought about having a female
hacker because it has never been done before. To hear that everyone liked it
was good as it made us feel more confident about our opening scene as people
like the idea of a female hacker.
These were the two main bits of
feedback we got. The rest of the feedback was smaller questions about how we
were going to do certain things. A lot of these questions helped us tweak the
minor things in our opening so that it visually looks good but also makes sense
to the viewer.
Prop list:
Camera
Laptop
White Shirt
Black Tie
Microphone
Earpiece
Phone
Dress
Spy Jargon that helped Max write the script:
Dry Clean: actions agents take to determine if they are under surveillance
Naked: a spy operating without cover or backup
Sanitize: to delete specific material or revise a report or other document to prevent the identification of intelligence sources and collection methods
Agent: a person unofficially employed by an intelligence service, often as a source of information
Black Operations: covert operations that are not attributable to the organization performing them
THE SCRIPT:
Speech 1: Starbucks Richard and Max watching Drea.
Richard: Target sighted at 1100 hours, shall
we proceed?
Beth: Proceed with caution, she may be
volatile.
Richard: 10:4
Max: We need to move, now!
Speech 2: Chase scene through Piccadilly Circus
Drea: Back up is required, Repeat back up is
required!
Speech 3: When Drea gets on the (bus/train) at Piccadilly
Richard: Damn we lost her!
Shooting
schedule:
Scene
number.
|
Internal/External.
|
Location.
|
Shot
description.
|
Characters.
|
Props/equipment.
|
||
1
|
Internal
|
London Liverpool street
|
Drea sitting at the table on laptop
hacking in files.
|
The Hacker
|
Laptop
|
||
2
|
Internal
|
London Liverpool street
|
Camera pans right to focus on the
spies sitting at a table opposite from the hacker.
|
The Hacker, Spy number 1, Spy number
2.
|
Laptop, Ear piece
|
||
3
|
Internal
|
London Liverpool street
|
Camera goes back to the hacker
sitting at the table on the laptop.
|
The hacker
|
Laptop
|
||
4
|
Internal
|
London Liverpool street
|
Close up of the hackers hand on the
laptop hacking into the files.
|
The hacker
|
Laptop
|
||
5
|
Internal
|
London Liverpool street
|
Close up of the spy talking into his
ear piece to the main office.
|
Spy One
|
Earpiece
|
||
6
|
Internal
|
London Liverpool street
|
The hacker has realised she is being
followed so packs the laptop away and walks out of the station.
|
The hacker
|
Laptop, Bag
|
||
7
|
Internal
|
London Liverpool street
|
The hacker is walking through the
main part of London Liverpool street getting followed by the hackers.
|
The hacker, Spy number 1, Spy number
2.
|
Bag
|
||
8
|
External
|
Piccadilly Circus
|
Establishing shot of Piccadilly
circus showing the main title of our film.
|
-
|
-
|
||
9
|
External
|
Piccadilly Circus
|
The hacker coming out of Piccadilly
circus and out into the street.
|
The hacker
|
-
|
||
10
|
External
|
Piccadilly Circus
|
The spies coming out of the
Piccadilly circus station and out into the street.
|
Spy 1, Spy 2
|
-
|
||
11
|
External
|
Piccadilly Circus
|
The hacker is walking through
Piccadilly circus trying to get away from the spies. The spies are just
behind here weaving in and out through crowds of people.
|
The hacker, spy 1, spy 2
|
-
|
||
12
|
External
|
Alleyway near Piccadilly Circus
|
The hacker has found herself on a
street; she turns round to see the spies are still following her. She turns
round for the last time and starts to run away from the spies. The spies
start running after her.
|
The hacker, spy 1, spy 2
|
-
|
||
13
|
External
|
Alley next to Piccadilly Circus
|
The hacker runs round a corner into
an alleyway, follow by both the spies. She starts to run down the alleyway.
|
The hacker, spy1, spy2
|
-
|
||
14
|
External
|
Alleyway near Piccadilly Circus
|
Camera cuts away to the spies view of
them chasing the hacker down the alleyway.
|
The hacker
|
-
|
||
15
|
External
|
Alleyway near Piccadilly Circus
|
Camera cuts back to the front view of
the spies chasing the hacker. The camera zooms out so the viewer can see the
whole of the alleyway.
|
The hacker, spy 1, spy 2
|
-
|
||
16
|
External
|
Alleyway near Piccadilly Circus
|
Camera cuts back to the spies view of
the chase behind the hacker.
|
The hacker
|
-
|
||
17
|
External
|
Alleyway near
Piccadilly Circus
|
Camera cuts
back to the spies and hacker for the final time. This shot is more close to
both the hacker and spies. The camera pans right to follow them down the
alley.
|
The hacker,
spy 1, spy 2
|
-
|
||
18
|
External
|
Alleyway near
St Pauls.
|
Hacker runs
up to a wall, turns round and realises she is trapped.
|
The hacker
|
-
|
||
19
|
External
|
Alleyway near
St Pauls.
|
Close up of
the hackers face as she is talking into her ear piece asking for back up.
|
The hacker
|
Ear Piece
|
||
20
|
External
|
Alleyway near
St Pauls.
|
Close up of
spy 2 saying “this will be interesting”
|
Spy 2
|
-
|
||
21
|
-
|
-
|
Fades to Black.
|
-
|
-
|
||
MUSIC:
Our plan is to use Drea's brothers band to record a song for us that suits our genre.
The original plan did not happen, so we are now going to research other songs that could suit a spy-action film.
First draft: most people liked the two songs we chose, by Or Kribos and Assassins Creed, but it needs to build up in the right places.
Final draft: the music was quite a tricky thing to get right. We went through many songs, and after feedback from our first draft, most people said they liked the music. However, we thought that it built up too quickly in not-so-action places, and this is also the feedback we recieved from the teacher. So when finishing off the final draft, we decided to not have two songs, and only use one. We also decided to have a train announcement for when the characters were in the train station, and then just use the song by 'Or Kribos' for the more action-parts, this worked more effectively and built up in the right places, making the conventions match the genre.
Our plan is to use Drea's brothers band to record a song for us that suits our genre.
The original plan did not happen, so we are now going to research other songs that could suit a spy-action film.
First draft: most people liked the two songs we chose, by Or Kribos and Assassins Creed, but it needs to build up in the right places.
Final draft: the music was quite a tricky thing to get right. We went through many songs, and after feedback from our first draft, most people said they liked the music. However, we thought that it built up too quickly in not-so-action places, and this is also the feedback we recieved from the teacher. So when finishing off the final draft, we decided to not have two songs, and only use one. We also decided to have a train announcement for when the characters were in the train station, and then just use the song by 'Or Kribos' for the more action-parts, this worked more effectively and built up in the right places, making the conventions match the genre.
TITLES ORDER
NAME OF THE
PRODUCTION COMPANY: Angel Productions
PRODUCER NAME:
Drea Bunce
STARRING:
Nigel Carrick, Michael Peterson, Emma Black
FILM'S TITLE:
Hacker
MUSIC: Flick
the Switch- Swallow This
PRODUCTION
DESIGN or PRODUCTION
DESIGNER: Katie Henreid
EDITOR or EDITED BY: Max Johnson
DIRECTOR OF
PHOTOGRAPHY: Mathew Phillips
WRITER(S) or WRITTEN BY: Richard Jarrold
DIRECTOR or DIRECTED BY: Beth Braine
STORYBOARD:
Evidence of us working:
This is Beth writing the script for the character profiles
This is Richard answering audience questions
This is Max editing
This is Drea drawing the storyboard
This is evidence of us filming in London
This is evidence of us filming in London
This is evidence of us filming in London
This is Richard blogging
This is Beth researching music
This is Max blogging
Risk assessment form:
Marketing ideas:
To market our film to our target audience, we will/would do the following things:
TV adverts
Posters on buses/prime locations e.g. subways, successful shop fronts
Billboards with our posters on in other countries that are 'film loving' countries e.g. New York
Massive internet advertising e.g. setting up a 'Hacker' twitter account and Facebook account, posting the film opening on their along with posters, information, actor interviews and competitions
Making an E-Mail account for 'Hacker' fans updating anyone who subscribes to it with the 'hottest news' and chances to win prizes to premiers etc.
Title sequence plan:
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