Question 7!

We did encounter lots of problems with our film, starting off with timing and organisation. We only had the opportunity to film on one day for a couple of hours, not leaving us enough time to get the job properly done, and left us with only half the amount of shots that we were supposed to be. A lot of the camera shots were shaky and the wrong way around, causing lots of problems in the editing and the continuity of the whole thing, leaving us with a few jump cuts and shorter clips that what was intended, if I were to do this task again I would strongly consider changing some shots so we could use a tripod instead of holding it in our hands, making the shots a lot more steady, and I would also concentrate on allowing more time for us to actually complete the task.

To attempt to make this situation better I added in a lot of transitions and effects, such as the 'peephole' effect and simply fading in and out, making the whole thing run smoother and look more realistic than if I were to simply leave it as shaky jump-cuts. We didn't break the 180 degree rule, though I noticed a continuity error in that it cuts between two different areas in the chase scene, something I would aim to change if I had the opportunity to repeat myself. I think our shot reverse shot was effective in that when Dan aimed his gun at Tom and we got a reaction shot, we didn't break the 180 degree rule and it showed what the characters were feeling.

The match on action shot we included was when Dan cocked his gun. I also added a slow motion effect in to make the shot more obvious, as well as to add tension, which I think worked really well.

I know that if I were to repeat myself, I would add more of a diversity of shots as well as make the editing smoother and a lot more fast paced, as the soundtrack often overtook what was actually going on in the film.

Question 6!

The first piece of technology I used was of course a digital camera, though we had difficulties with the quality, and keeping a steady hand, leaving us with some unusable shots and some that were filmed the complete wrong way round, leaving us to rotate them and leave them in even more poorer quality.

Garage band was used to produce the film's soundtracks, which was a simple and easy thing to do, and I learnt that I would definitely use it again.

The editing software we used was iMovie, which did encounter some problems, such as not being able to rotate clips, and not being able to add effects to them fully, because of the poor film quality and the lack of diversity of effects their actually were. We ended up using another version of iMovie purely just to rotate one clip, which was a hassle to our timing and to our end result, leaving that shot somewhat squashed and not nonprofessional looking.

Evaluation question 2!

The first character representation is the 'hero'. He was always in the center of the shots and had the largest weapon, serving as a massive phallic symbol. He was the main character of our plot and similar to most lead characters in action films, as he was always the center of attention and did all of the 'heroic' acts, in this case rescuing a small child from evil clutches etc.

The second character we represent in regards to 'Propp's Theory' is the 'sidekick'. We always showed him either in the background or to the left of the hero, so he is always in shot, but off camera. His gun was smaller than the main hero's, showing that the 'bigger' man is the more important, and the sidekick sticks to the background.

Question five!

Target Audience (Question 4)

This is my target audience dude. He is an American, eighties throwback. He still wears his old leather jacket and big gold belt buckle. His favorite TV programme was Starsky and Hutch and he still listens to his old 80s rock records on his record player. He prefers to shop at little independent record shops as opposed to high street stores. He has kids and is married and is pretty much a typical middle aged man who likes to re-live his youth.

Evaluation Question 3!

We decided that our film was more than likely to be distributed by Warner Bros, as Starsky and Hutch was also distributed by them. Our production company was to be Red Hour productions, as they produce a lot of comedy and action films, and looked into using the same budget and locations as us, as well as costume. The distribution company being the ones that actually, physically sell the film and the Production being the creators. I have only included the actors name's in order of appearance, to show that they are the main characters, and not to confuse viewers with minor roles. The production company would sort out the private investors.

Evaluation!

Our film was a throwback to the 80s action films, like 'the Expendables' and 'Starsky and Hutch'. We decided to follow the American 'cop' film closer, and attempt to re-create our own. We named our film 'The Retro Rejects', to add a slight hint of comedy, but also to make it clear when the film was set. The setting was a rather urban area, with cars and buildings, as we wanted to almost imitate a city where a film like this would have been set. E.g New York, etc...

The female role was indicated by her character being a bit withdrawn from the action, she wasn't very upfront or diving into the action headfirst herself, she acted more like a chauffeur for the two males. Dan's character was a typical male lead, with the big guns and the suit. He was to represent the typical action film role of the Hero, racing in to save the day and killing all the bad guys.

His sidekick, Tim, was represented as a much more shady character. He doesn't speak at all throughout the whole film, but is there at the beginning and end, as a support to the hero. Obviously if I were to create the whole film he would have a bigger role, but because it was just the first two minutes, we used him only to establish that he was the sidekick. He has a cigarette in his mouth, a typical male hobby for the time it was set.

As you can see from the above screenshot, Dan's character is in the middle, as the center of attention. My character is on the right hand side, out of view, as a female role is considered 'lesser' than that of the hero. Tim's character's face is never clearly in view, and is always concealed in shadows to give him that mysterious feel.

I used two special effects throughout the entirety of the film. One was when Dan was cocking the gun, and another was the 'peephole' effect, to give the watcher a voyeuristic view, as well as show that the 'cops' are also watching the two.

The gun scene was a slow motion version of Dan shooting the gun, this was to add tension as well as draw attention the the 'phallic' symbol that the gun represents.