Group: Evaluation Navigation

Here is a categorised list of our individual evaluation posts which you can easily navigate through to see each candidates work.

James Irwin
JI : Evaluation 1
JI: Evaluation 2
JI: Evaluation 3
JI: Evaluation 6

Luca Forino

LF: Evaluation 1
LF: Evaluation 2
LF: Evaluation 3
LF: Evaluation 6

Group

Evaluation 4 & 5
Evaluation 7

Final Film Opening & Preliminary Task

Here is a look at our final edit of our film opening. We've put a lot of hard work and detail into the production of this opening, and overall we are very pleased with the final outcome.




We have also added our preliminary task for you to view aswell to see the comparison between the two, and the progress we have made through our production process.

Question 7: Production Process (Group)

Here is an interview with Luca on the process we went through during the production of our film opening from the beginning, addressing the issues we experienced, and the successful aspects of our production.

Question 4 & 5: Audience (Group)

On Tuesday 2nd May we carried out some audience research by having a premiere of all our film openings. Afterwards we got some feedback from the audience from interviews. Here's a look at some of our results:



Here is a presentation of our findings from our interviews. We have chosen to present these through the website Slide Rocket which is a multi media website which allows use to present your work with creative effects.
While viewing the slides please click on the actual slides rather than the arrows to see all the effects.

LF:Evaluattion 6

I have found the blog an extremely good way of working collaboratively to feed of each others ideas through our work. We decided that we would comment and use each others ideas in our work to put our own personal touch on the opening. For instance after technically deconstructing numerous film openings we came together and discussed the particular shots we liked and made sure we used them in our opening as we felt they could gain us the top marks. Furthermore it also gave us the opportunity to constructively criticize other members of our groups work and try to improve the standard of work the group produced.

Filming

• From the very beginning of our project we agreed to stick to the boxing film theme as we believed we had a great location to film in, however we still carried out a location recce to the boxing gym.

here is a picture of the boxing gym

What we gained from the recce

• a basic picture of what our final product would look like.
• we took numerous still images in black and white to help us to storyboard our final piece.
• One of the main things we gathered from carrying out the recce was the dilemma of the mirrors. However we overcome these problems by using them to out advantage as seen in the funeral scene and the changing room scene.
• Carried out a risk assessment on the boxing gym to ensure it was safe to film in.
• Trailed specific shots such as POV and shooting through the ropes.

• The equipment we decided to use for our opening was a 1080p HD digital camcorder and a tripod which allowed us to gain smooth panning shots in the running scene.

•  However we also used a lot of handy cam shots especially when filming the POV shot and the pads scene during the montage training. James showed good filming ability to allow the audience to feel engaged in the action. We decided that I was going to be the main character in the film because I have completed some boxing training before, however we wanted to film more footage than we were eventually going to use. We wanted to avoid the risk of not having enough footage however this worked to our advantage because we could pick the best shots and unusual angles to use in our final opening.

Editing

• I found editing one of the most enjoyable parts of making the opening as you begin to see all your work coming together. We used software called Premier to edit our footage and after a couple of lessons learning how to use all the certain techniques we learned how to use the programme effectively. After careful storyboarding our opening it allowed us to have basic picture of what our footage would look like when it came together however we did change the story board around slightly when we put it all together.

• Firstly we put all of our footage on the time line in the order we wanted it to be in the started to reduce the length of all the shots we had because a large number of them were far too long. After reducing the length of the footage to create the montage effect we had to cut and manoeuvre the parts of footage and make sure the clips flowed in time with the voiceover. 

• The final pieces of editing were the finer tuned aspects of making the film such as allowing the gold to filter in through the title at the end of the film. I believe this is a really effective touch we created. 

• Furthermore we also used a white wash when the main protagonist walked though the door of the changing room.

• One of the best effects I fell we used was the time stretch tool of the main protagonist in the changing room; I feel it really slowed the action down and allowed the audience to concentrate on the voiceover. This was closely followed by the POV shot of the fight scene; we added a blurry effect simulating what it is like having a bout. We gained inspiration to use this effect in the film Cinderella man.

Exporting

• We exported the footage through Adobe premier elements, then uploaded the footage to YouTube, from YouTube we were able to embed the clip and put it on the blog.

Production Process

• We believe that the way we produced our film is similar to that of a real film production however on a much less glamorous scale. We believe we put more than enough research to understand the conventions of films in our genre therefore we could follow in the footsteps of the iconic films such as Rocky to create a fantastic film opening. 
• We carried out a substantial amount of audience research in order to connect with a certain audience and to understand what they are looking for. We also had to edit our footage, a technique in which all film producers need to use.
• The soundtrack we used throughout our production was a copyright free piece of music ‘upilifting strings’ that we were given by our school. We also searched deeply on the website http://www.freesound.org/ however we did not find anything we liked.

• However there are obviously aspects of our film production that are not quite the same as major Hollywood films similar to our. For instance the location, equipment, and major actors were not available for us to use. However it was the first time we ever made a film opening and I feel we were successful.  

LF: Evaluation 3

Here is my presentation for evaluation 3 'what kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?'

LF: Evaluation 2

Social groups represented

Our film opening does not necessarily relate to a huge amount of different social groups, however many social groups can relate to the storyline. The main social group represented would be young white males because the storyline follows a protagonist who fits into these categories.

 However due to the voice over the audience may interpret the main protagonist as a character coming from a working class background as there is a hint of a cockney accent in the voice over. Furthermore boxing is often associated with a working class individual therefore working class males are also represented. The narrative also includes other marganalised characters such as the mother and other boxers in the amateur scene however they do not appear in the opening.

The main social groups that are not represented throughout are opening is females, because boxing films often follow one character very closely we felt it wouldn’t have been necessary to include another character within the opening therefore only a few social groups have been represented.

 Furthermore no Black people feature within the opening once again because we did not feel the need to include any other characters and we wanted the relationship between the audience and the main protagonist to be a strong personal bond.

Representation

Overall throughout our narrative the protagonist is represented positively as it shows him striving through a tough period in his live however it re enforces that if you work hard enough for something anything is possible. Offer there is a stereotype for working class young men that they turn to crime and have no goals in there life, however I feel our narrative makes it clear how he has chosen boxing as a path he believes will benefit him in life. However underneath all the tough boxing scenes there is also the funeral scene where the audience can interpret his softer side and realize that even the hardest of individuals suffer as a result of misfortune in a household.

Our main character sticks to traditional gender roles throughout the narrative. He portrays himself as a strong masculine hard man, a stereotype that a lot of people associate with the sport of boxing. Furthermore the trainer that appears in the training scene and in the boxing montage also expressed the same charisma throughout the narrative.

Both characters non verbal language stick to stereo typical male characteristics. The calm straight forward no nonsense attitude is similar to the characters in other films of the genre such as Jake Lamotta in ‘Raging Bull’ and Rocky Balboa in the film Rocky.

How the representation is constructed.

Non-verbal language is vital throughout our narrative because the main protagonist does not produce any dialogue at all. In the opening changing room seen there is a shot of the main character in the mirror he seems focused and relatively calm suggesting he knows what he needs to do, as though its just another bout it doesn’t really seem to have an effect on him. This impression he creates of being a hard man is often associated with men, not showing any emotion to stand up to their fears and show no weakness. The next action shot is the fighter putting on his gloves with his trainer, this is the first chance the audience can see the close relationship between fighter and trainer and due to the clothing there appearance evokes aggression as the protagonist has his hood up an image often associated with crime and violence.

The POV shot facing the protagonist represents the main character through the use of sound. This is the only time the classical music cuts out throughout the opening creating a dramatic feel. The heartbeat shows how the protagonist is in the zone and one he steps into the ring he has tunnel vision as it is only him and his opponent the ring. He is also represented as a very talented boxer as he knocks his opponent down as he dances around the ring almost effortlessly.

here you can see the parallels between Cinderella Man and our final piece.

Macro issues

I feel as though our film opening reinforces macro ideologies in the western world. I feel as though we could not have really challenged typical boxing films successfully in the opening of a film. If we were going to challenge typical ideologies for instance using a woman (as seen in million dollar baby) or a homosexual man for instance, we would have needed more time to create a stable relationship with the audience to try and establish a strong narrative. Therefore we felt we needed to follow the typical conventions of the genre. Ideologies such as a strong working class white male we felt would be a lot easier for the audience to relate to and to build a strong narrative around such a character.

• However you could argue it goes against the typical ideology of working class individuals that they often do not strive for greatness in there life and are typically under achievers, as the protagonist does come from such a background however will eventually become extremely successful in what he does.

• Finally our film does re enforce the viewpoint that boxing is a male dominated sport as there are no women during our opening. You could draw parallels between this and the society we live in that there is a clear male dominance in society as males are seen as the stronger more successful gender.

LF: Evaluation 1

Our film opening definitely adopts popular form and conventions of media products allowing the audience to be position with the main protagonist whilst sustaining a sense of enigma. One of the main things we tried to sustain throughout our opening was keeping the protagonists’ personal characteristics and mannerisms hidden. Therefore through the use of props we tried to keep the protagonists face hidden whilst he was training, we originally gained the idea from the Raging Bull opening where the main protagonist is seen wearing a hooded robe. However one of the reasons I feel we could afford to shield the protagonists character was because we followed the typical convention of boxing films by clearly positioning the audience with the main character. Therefore although the audience may not know everything about the character but they are still clearly positioned with him.

Furthermore we also felt as though iconography would play a large part in engaging the audience throughout are opening. After researching films such as Million Dollar Baby and Rocky we came to the conclusion that because boxing is an iconic sport the props we use in every shot must be relevant to boxing, and allow the audience to paint a clear picture of the boxers surrounding. Thus we recognized that every shot was crucial if we wanted to gain the best marks. So after analysing the film Ali we wanted to use some unusual shots to enhance our film opening, and Ali provided us with the idea of a POV shot on the speedball.

One of the main films we gained some inspiration from was Raging Bull produced my Martin Scorsese, firstly we decided to shoot the whole of our opening in black and white to try and add an authentic feel to our production. However the main shot that you can draw parallels to is the shadow boxing in the ring when the camera is positioned through the ropes. In my opinion this is my favourite shot of our opening especially when we slowed it down, it clearly follows typical conventions of our genre as well as the true beauty of the sport. In addition Raging Bull also allowed us to consider the use of classical music throughout the opening, we felt that many people consider boxing as brutal sport however we felt we could challenge stereotypical viewpoints of the sport by opening the audiences eyes that in fact boxing is an art, and through the use of classical music we feel we achieved this.

The voiceover

In addition we realised that if we want to conform conventions of boxing film we needed a voiceover to explain the narrative. However to coincide with the beautiful classical music we felt we needed to create a philosophical script, which also gave the audience enough information, so they could follow the narrative. We felt that the voice over was not as important during the montage edited training scene as through iconography and the uplifting music it was quite self-explanatory what was happening. However during the funeral scene especially we felt we needed to explain the situation and it would also allow the audience to get inside the head of the main protagonist slightly more. Moreover we felt we followed typical conventions whilst writing the script because we wanted to use a slightly cockney working class accent to express the type of environment that the protagonist lived in. Also we also touched upon certain social issues that people from working class backgrounds often have to deal with.

Editing

• Whilst editing all the footage we had we felt it was essential that we did not have any shots that would loose the audiences interest, therefore we aimed to use a face paced cutting rate during the montage boxing scene. Also during the scene in the changing room I feel the voiceover is extremely effective however the use of slow motion allows the audience to concentrate on the narrative even more.
•  We also followed the typical conventions of boxing films by using quite basic font and titles, we wanted to go with the classical style of writing, once again expressing the beauty of the sport and I feel we through editing we created a great effect of filtering the gold colour into the title at the end of the opening.
• Furthermore when analysing our own footage we felt as though the shot of the picture was too long, however by including a title in the shot we feel it keeps the audience entertained.

JI: Evaluation 6

Blog

• We began the whole production by setting up our own blog which we used the website http://www.blogger.com/ to create.
  





• This gave us a forum format where we could upload and brainstorm our ideas through posts of text, images or videos which we had seen which inspired us and sparked any good ideas.
  





• It allowed us to interact with each other about our ideas and thoughts without having to meet up and work collaboratively.
  





• It meant we were able to see our other group member’s work and their research they had done to give the other person ideas to follow on from.
  





• It also meant the public could follow us and see the progress and work we had done from the beginning.

Filming

• Before we started filming our opening we shot a preliminary task within our school, just to get a feel for the cameras and help us explore the different shots we could produce.
  

• It also gave Luca an idea of how it would be like acting for our footage, and me working with the camera.

• We also went on a location recce to the Sevenoaks Amateur Boxing club to have a look at it and see if it was appropriate for what we wanted to shoot and how it would look, although we didn’t do any filming, we took still images to give us a good visual idea.
  





• Straight away we thought it was perfect for our urban boxing style film.

• After our location recce we felt we were ready to start filming.





• To film our opening we used a 1080p HD digital camcorder as well as a tripod so we could create smooth and steady shots for example, tracking shots when running in the training montage.
  





• Although, we did use handy cam to shoot some shots like the POV shot from to antagonist against Luca, to gain the rough, fast pace action to the audience like in a boxing ring.

• When shooting the footage we had to experiment a bit at first to get some ideas of the best angles to shoot at where the framing would be most suitable.
  





• Also we shot most scenes more than once to allow us to gain the best quality footage, and give us the leniency to cut and chop the footage.
  





• We were able to shoot each shot and then watch it over again, which was very helpful as it allowed the pair of us to evaluate it and collaborate our ideas to try and capture the best footage.

• We experimented with different angles, and repeated footage we liked from a different frame to capture the best possible footage, which we could choose when editing.
  





• We changed about the framing of different shots from close-ups to long shots throughout to give it a feel of a different time frame throughout the montage.

• The majority of our filming was shot inside so we had no real trouble with the lighting and balance, especially when filming in black and white.
  





• We didn’t want it to be to bright as we were trying to create an urban type feel to represent the characters background.

• We didn’t experience any major problems during our shooting apart from occasionally the other public users of the gym where we were at.
  





• At the start we felt this would be a problem, trying to integrate our filming around them, however as we started to film, we felt the disruption of characters behind the focus shot would give it a more real life type feeling, and also give the audience a feel for what it’s like to be around during intense training.

Editing

We firstly exported all of our footage from the DV camera into the Premiere Software where we would edit all of the footage. We put all of our footage into the correct order to begin with to give us the idea of how the story line would flow, from there we then looked through all the footage, and picked the best, most appropriate footage we felt we were going to use, and deleted the shots which didn’t work. This was the great advantage filming more than needed footage, as if something didn’t go quite right we could delete it and compensate with another shot.

We used the fade special effect quite a few times within our opening to gain the transition like when Luca walked out the door into what the audience think will be a fight, although it changes into a white fade then to a quote with a black wash background, which was appropriate for our opening and from one of the most prolific boxers ever lived. We also used the fade special effect for the introduction of all the titles.

• Another we used while editing was the time stretch tool, this allowed the footage to be the same, however look like it is slow motion. This was used twice through our opening, once when the trainer was putting on the boxing glove, and secondly our final shot where the boxer is training in the ring reflecting the elegance of the sport.

A transition which I personally like the best, and was an idea from the start is the transition between the door slamming to a close-up of the punch bag being hit. I feel it works great with the transition flowing well and the digetic sound of the slamming of the door to the punch, which dominates over the top of the soundtrack. It’s a section where the tempo of the music changes as well which builds up the high intensity of the montage training programme.

Another effect we used was during the POV of the fight within the boxing ring, once the opponent gets knocked down by Luca we used the blurred effect to give the idea that the boxer was dazed by the knockout punch, along with the heartbeat to add the concentration of the focused character.

Exporting

We exported the footage through Adobe Premiere Elements as a video file, and then uploaded the piece to YouTube, from where we where able to embed it onto the blog.

Production Process

I believe our production process would be very similar to that of a real film however obviously to a much smaller scale. We followed the stages of making a film, with starting with some research into films of our similar genre, and the conventions they used to make their films iconic. We also carried out audience research to gain views from the target audience, so we could produce an opening which would appeal to the audience. Finally we edited our footage, which is something all films would do during the production method, so in general we stuck to the main process.

On the other hand there obviously were some major differences including recourses of the actors, location and equipment, and fundamentally the budget available. Also experience within making a film, as for me this was my first ever experience filming any film footage of any kind.

The soundtrack we used in our film opening was from Copyright free school resource music called 'Uplifting strings'. Previous to this though we had looked at the website http://www.freesound.org/ however the sounds available on this we felt didn't fit to our style of opening.

In conclusion obviously our film openings will not be to the very top standard of any box office premieres nowadays in the market; however I feel our group have produced an interesting film opening which touches the audience and engages them into the footage, and wanting to see more.

JI: Evaluation 3

When the whole production process of the film has finished we will need to gain a distribution deal with an agreement of them distributing it across the across for a percentage of the box office and overall revenue. The distribution company will have a team who will market our film to a specific audience using posters and trailers, and then push there hardest with the creative team to give our film a stand out selling point. Once they have evaluated the film and target audience they will then set an overall budget for the distribution project. We will have to make sure our film stands out when pitching it to the possible distributors as when they buy the rights to distribute it, they have no say in the film idea or any ideas, so they will have to make sure it’s a good product, which they can successfully market. We decided on our target audience being of the male sex of all ethnic backgrounds between the ages of 12 – 60, however no real age limit, and specifically aiming at the 16-30 age bracket, as we feel this genre appeals to them more, and can possibly have a greater understanding of our concept. It is mainly male due to the conventions of the sport, and the stereotypical view people have on it, being a violent sport, however this doesn’t mean we don’t feel it will attract to a female audience, who could equally be as interested in boxing, or just the plot idea. I feel promotion is a massive aspect to the distribution process, and should be funded heavily to attract a greater audience, as you can have a great product, however without publicity, it won’t do well. There needs to be a large distribution to attract a mass audience, so then it can have a large platform release and exhibition in large multiplex cinemas such as the ‘Odeon’.

I feel in for the distribution and exhibition we should aim to use media conglomerates to distribute our film. The Fighter (2010) was distributed by Paramount picture allowing them to branch out to numerous media landscapes for instance the US and the UK. Following on from other popular films in the genre such as the Rocky franchise I feel we should go for a blanket release across the UK especially in industrial cinema such as Odeon. I don’t feel we would appeal to a Curzon audience as our film follows mainly mainstream ideas with good ideally prevailing over evil. After all there is not many abstract themes you can follow whilst filming a boxing film.

JI: Evaluation 2

Here is my presentation on our evaluation of the representation portrayed through our film opening.

JI: Evaluation 1

At the beginning of our film opening process we had to decide on the genre of our film, and we came to the selection of a boxing/thriller, where we could use typical conventions of other similar film openings which we were going to technically decompose.

We wanted to use the normal, recognizable conventions so the audience could gain a good understanding of what we were trying to achieve, and relate to. This meant iconography was vital when planning our opening to achieve this.




During the beginning we both looked and films in the sport/thriller genre and technically analysed them. I looked at “Million Dollar Baby” (Eastwood 2004), “Raging Bull” (Scorsese 1980) and the training scene from “Rocky 6” (Stallone 2006). During the analysis of these films I established some main conventions which were predominately used such as;

• The Rocky film portrayed a montage training scene between the two fighters included; emphasizing the different conditions each one is situated with one boxer training within an urban location, which is something we used to gain that style. Also we used the montage to allow the audience to feel the realization of the intense training which is involved and the time process it needs.












Here are some shots from both our training montage in comparison to the montage scene in “Rocky 6”. As you can see there are some real similarities within the training, so this especially helped us to make sure we included the key conventions and include the correct mise-en-scene.
















• In “Raging Bull” the non-digetic music used throughout the opening scene really emphasized the beauty of boxing, and portrays the sport as an art not a war, with the music being quite a slow tempo and a major key. The music is very soothing but at the same time still entices the viewer to concentrate on the hooded figure in the centre of the ring. We used this convention within our opening near the end to add a gold title against the black and white footage which we felt was effective as our film was called “Golden Boy” along with the figure of our main character in slow motion to emphasize that beauty.















We used the similar style as “Raging Bull” here and this is where we first got the idea for having the footage in black and white as we felt it gave it a rich, authentic feel. Also we felt the costume was also appropriate with the hidden identification making it have more suspense. The shot with the ropes in main focus, however with the boxer in the background is very effective I feel as it emphasizes the conventions of the sport, and the sense of it all happens inside the ring.

• When analysing “Million Dollar Baby” I saw the mise-en-scene of the boxing equipment clearly situates the audience within a gym, along with the casual, plain costumes of the characters, showing their dressed for training. We felt the old school location portrayed in that would be ideal for our film opening, especially along side the black and white footage. We went on a location recce to Sevenoaks Amateur Boxing Club, and straight away we realized this was an ideal location.





The main plot of our film was:

• A young character playing a boxer is working his way up through the levels of amateur boxing and soon fins himself one of the most notorious boxers in the country.
  




• His dad is his inspirational figure within his life, being a boxer himself.
  




• His dad tries to re-live his life through his son.
  




• The boy reaches 16 and the dad’s past criminal life comes back to haunt him and he gets brutally murdered. The boy doesn’t take the hard hit too well and finds himself in major depression.
  




• He knows he must fight through and do what his dad wanted for him and continue on boxing, and be the best.
  




• Like other films of this genre they have a storyline going on away from the sport involved to make the film more interesting and something to think about and engage into.
  




• Also the audience engages into an emotional event within a film like his dad’s death, and with it being established at the beginning it allows the audience to go through his battle along side with him, and support him.
  

Key features to our opening were:

• The voice over we used all the way through to give the audience a greater understanding, and a slight insight into the main protagonist’s mind. We used a cockney type accent to try and establish the location class of the character, and get a feel for an urban type location. I feel it worked really well and was a main point into the audience’s engagement of the opening. It brings a philosophy to the sport and creates that sense of beauty towards it with our soundtrack used.
  




• The soundtrack helped to create a build up of euphoria in our opening to give the audience an insight into what is going to happen afterwards with the uplifting tempo major key.

With our editing we wanted to make it:

• A fast watch, to gain the sense of the sport and give the audience a feel for how it is really like.
  




• Fast edits and transitions through the montage scene gave our opening the quick pace we wanted which was emphasized by the non-digetic soundtrack.
  




• POV shots to add an extra element of involvement for the audience and position them through the boxer’s character.

So when considering and analysing the styles and conventions of our film opening, we used a great deal of iconic styles used in similar genres we looked at through our research, such as our training montage, plot, costume and location. Generally it is fairly typical of the usual conventions to a sport/thriller film, with the euphoria being created through the soundtrack and fast tempo within the shots to make it feel a fast packed, interesting watch.