Evaluation activity 1 - screengrabs

The title of my film is presented on a black screen this is not uncommon for films but not necassarily the most used or most effective for the majority of films however, I feel that with the black background the audiences attention is not drawn to anything else, further attention is drawnto the title with the flash, with this the audience is drawn to that point which turns to the title, keeping their attention. I added a sonar ping at the point the flash turns to the title, I thought that this would be an effective method drawing attention to the title but also to what it says, the sonar suggest searching for something, but the title suggests it can't be found. My title contrasts with other films titles as they are often shown on an action screen over footage. The font of the title is nothing special, which is different to most films as the font can represent the genre, i did not put this in because i felt with the title being at the end, a fancy font would have taken the audiences mind off of the footage, looking back however i think the title could have looked better with a defferent font.

The setting for Untraceable had to be somewhere isolated but not a million miles from civilisation as this adds a large amount of tension as there is chances for the hitman to strike without getting caught or being seen doing it, but not too isolated that the body will never be found. This is similair to the scene in 'The Dark Knight' when Harvey Dent takes the officer and his family to the warehouse yard to kill him. Although this scene in Batman is near the end the whole of untraceable would not be filmed in a woodland area like this so it compares well.

Agent two is shown here, he has to look inconspicous so we had to make sure he would'nt stand out, dressing in a suit (like your typical hollywood agent) staring at the hitman would give him away. The aim was to make him look like some sort of labourer, this is similair to other films where there is undercover work going on as in those films, they also fit into the enviroment and look like a civilians or a worker of norm, probably the most used is the repair man. we had to follow this procedure for all characters, the Hitman couldn't look too out of the ordinary or blatant but still had to stand out a bit, this is why he was wearing fairly formal clothes opposed to a suit and a giant gun hanging out of his trousers.


This screengrab is an example of the camera angles we used in 'Untraceable', the high angle shot is used to show how vulnerable and helpless he is just as he says he's lost the target. This helped in highlighting the caliber of the Hitman and that it takes more than an undercover agent to stop him. We used numerous other effective camera shots and angles throughout as well as a variety of editing techniques.Whilst editing i had to cut the each clip so it fitted well and cut out unnecassary footage.

 

  The chase really lets the audince know that the film is an action, the fact the two are running unlike the first chase scene really compares to the chase scenes in films like 'The Transporter', the chase is fast paced and has fast, loud music over the top which really gets the audience in the mood for the chase. The loud, fast paced music and sprinting is the first real bit of action that resembles a hollywood film, and is the first bit of action that really introduces the audience to the genre.

(introduction of character) The villain is the first character introduced in 'untraceable', this is common in action films although they generally have a scene with the villain commiting a crime or hanging around with a large group of thugs, despite this there is still some similarities between the two. When the villain is first introduced we do not know that he is bad, but this is suggested when agent 1 comes up behind him and follows him, and also by the villains attire.We are quickly introduced tothe third and final character in the opening, agent 2, we get the idea that he may be an agent as he is spying on the villain and reporting to someone about him, letting him know that he is going to follow him. once agent 2 has said he is going to folllow the villain we know he is likely to be part of  abig operation and the person he is following is a criminal. The introduction is not very deep adn detailed like some action films but it leaves a sense of mystery to the villain which works well with the plot.

(special effects) the long fade near the end whilst looking down on agent 2 resembles the hitman blinking, the blink is slow and calm, this use of special effects makes the hitman either seem really proffesional and is calming himself, or is just really calm, he is not worried about the fact he is about to kill someone and is not bothered at all.

The opening scene may not be the most exciting chase scene ever but it sets the audience up for what is going to happen next and introduces the storyline, the fact one person is walking behind another completely differently dressed person suggests that one is following the other, this makes the audience ask questions like 'why is he being followed?' at this point in time it is not clear which one of the two is the bad guy which makes it that little bit more exciting. Now that the audience are interested they start to find out more about the story and start to realise the man infront is bad.through the different shots they would start to get the idea the man being followed is not a petty theif but a very dangerous person. The audience are given ideas of what the characters are like which introduces them to parts of the story and gets them ready to watch more.

The chase really lets the audince know that the film is an action, the fact the two are running unlike the first chase scene really compares to the chase scenes in films like 'The Transporter', the chase is fast paced and has fast, loud music over the top which really gets the audience in the mood for the chase. The loud, fast paced music and sprinting is the first real bit of action that resembles a hollywood film, and is the first bit of action that really introduces the audience to the genre.

evaluation task 6 - what have i learnt about technologies from this process

To film we used a Hd video camcorder, this meant we got good quality images and did not have to lug around a massive camera. Using the camera was not alien to us but it definatley brushed up our skills.

We used a tripod which was intersting as we had never really used them before, we learnt how to use it and realised it they are imperative when filming a piece like ours.

I used Photoshop to edit pictures and the title, with doing this I learnt how to navigate this software and how to edit pictures effectively.

I used Youtube to watch and upload certain video, this was helpful in getting inspiration for certain parts of my film but also for getting it onto blogger.

I used Adobe premier elements to edit parts of the film, I learnt how to edit for the first time adn learnt how to edit more effectively.

Windows movie maker to edit parts of the film, mainly for cutting as it is easier to do so in Windows movie maker than on Adobe premier elements.

Blogger, to post research, facts, figures, pictures, reviews, and analysis of other projects. Learnt all about blogging and how useful a blog can be, this acted as notes and reminders later on in the process.

evaluation activity 7 - what i have learned since preliminary task

In the my preliminary task I had very limited knowledge as far as editing is concerned, my wider knowledge and ability with editing software has enabled my final piece to run much more smoothly compared to my preliminary task. The match on action shot in my preliminary task was not very well edited and it looked a bit jumpy, not fluid and smooth.  Another thing I have learnt since doing my preliminary task is that it helps a lot to do multiple takes of each shot, even if it looks ok as you may notice something wrong with it later, doing multiple takes could save you having to film again. In the preliminary task we did not have to shoot anything again, this was partly due to the fact that the whole piece consisted of about 6 short clips, not about a dozen long clips. Longer clips are very effective but there is more time for something to go wrong, and render the clip useless.

Other things I have learnt since then is just how effective different camera shots and angles can be in portraying certain things, for example in  ‘untraceable’ a high angle shot is used to make the agent look like he is not in control and not very powerful (insert screen grab of the clip). The preliminary task taught us how to do shot/reverse shot and how to use them correctly, all though I did not use this in my final clip I was planning to originally, I would not have even thought about that had I not have filmed a whole conversation using shot/reverse shots.

The preliminary task was the first bit of filming that included any storyline of importance and dialogue, but this also showed me that you do not always need dialogue to represent things, actions can do this just as well, this was useful for my film as I realized I do not have to compromise a good backing track that fits in well and builds the mood, just to add dialogue.

The preliminary task was the first time I had ever even heard of the 180 degree rule, since then I realize how important it is where continuity is concerned, and just how much the rule can effect the quality of your piece.

Evaluation activity 4 - target audience

Target audience would listen to contemporary/ chart music.

Shop at high street stores such as footlocker, river island and jd sports

The target audience for my film would like to be up-to-date with what’s hot and what’s not.

My target audience is primarily the 15-35 age group and mainly male. This is because women tend not to enjoy action films as much as men do and the younger male would enjoy this type of action more than a 50-60 year old, their type of action film may be something like a cowboy movie.

Although my film does not exhibit the type of music, or clothing brands or styles they enjoy, it does include a lot of the cliché’ and stereotypes they expect to see in an action movie, some of these include fast paced music, chasing and fighting. My target audience is younger males as the characters and the storyline in the film is something a younger man would watch and wish their life had aspects of the film, whereas older men are less likely to have this reaction, they are more mature and are less concerned about being the hero or having wooing ‘the girl’.

evaluation activity 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vBS2BCDWY4

Evaluation activity 2

Both hit men are dressed smartly as this boasts how professional they are, the hit man in my film is dressed smartly which is similar to the protagonist in ‘Hitman’ (agent 47) although he is dressed much more formally, this could be s most of his work is in the city so he fits in more, the hitman in my film is dressed smartly as well but if he was dressed in a suit in the park he would stand out even more and could make him look too obvious.

Both characters play a hitman in the film, and are both on the top of their game, but the main difference is agent 47 is involved in a political conspiracy and is fighting to clear his name and make the people that crossed him pay, The hitman in ‘Untraceable’ is similar in the sense that he is very good at what he does and is involved on a global level, but he is not out for vengence just to do the job, for this reason adn his notoriety he is persued by police forces all over the world.

Film opening 2 mins - final