Revisions of our Idea

As a group we have looked back at our research and feel that we still don't have the understanding of the Bollywood genre we would need to create a Bollywood inspired film. Therefore, we have decided to stick with our original idea of creating a pyschological thriller. This gives a chance to to focus on the technical areas of our title sequence as this will help improve our overall grade. Furthermore, as a group we felt that even if we had done all the research we needed we might still not have had a broad understanding of Bollywood becasue we are not confronted with it in our everyday life. Overall I am pleased with this decision becasue it means we can now focus on the technical areas of our title sequence and go away and look at any ways we can improve our overall narrative.

My First Attempt at Editing

In order to practice editing for our coursework, we were given the task of recreating a short extract of film in pairs from its raw files. We were given a sequence of unedited clips which we had to rearrange, cut, and add sound and titles to. In order to do this activity we worked used Adobe Premiere Pro because this is the software we will be using when we edit our final product which meant it enabled us to gain some basic experience in using and understanding the software. This is the video we created in the time limit for this task. 

Weaknesses

Unfortunately we ran out of time to add the sound effect of the message tone. In addition, another of our weaknesses was that we also ran out of time to add in the titles however, if we'd had enough time I did learn the skill needed in order to do this. 

Strengths

On the other hand, the reason we ran out of time was because we were making sure each clip was cut in the correct and precise place as close as we could get to the original. We also took a great deal of care when cutting the music and ensured we cut the music off at the end otherwise it would have carried on for another few minutes with a black screen. 

Storyboarding

We had a lesson today on storyboarding because this will help us when it comes to creating our own storyboard for our coursework. We learnt the importance of storyboarding and why it is so important to film makers.

In what ways is storyboarding effective to the director?

Storyboarding is extremely effective to the director because it provides the essential link between the planning and the filming process. Furthermore, it allows the director to start visualising the film for the first time as well as focusing on the structure and sequence of the film in order to analyse the links between shots and action/graphic matches. Alternatively it also gives the director a chance to revise the narrative sequence and make decisions and revisions on the overall piece. Some directors feel very strongly about spending a lot of time on storyboarding and making it extremely detailed. This is very cost effective because it means they are not wasting time on set making vital decisions such as the camera angle and shot because they have already been made in advance. In addition, it might also give the director a chance to prepare for specific parts of mise-en-scene that may be needed when it comes to filming. Storyboarding is also effective to the director because it gives them an idea of the timings, continuity and pace as well as technical awareness and understanding. Therefore, they are a vital part in the film making process because they overall provide a guideline to help the director when it comes to filming.

Our Narrative

This is a bullet point list of the narrative for our fianl piece.

• Opens with an establishing long shot of the female protagonist centralised in the frame.                                                                                                                     Setting - A dark room, low key lighting.
• Close up of her pouring a drink, body language should show signs of anxiety and distress. 
• Tilt up from her hand to an extreme close up of her eyes.
• Cut to white background and a non-diegetic sound effect to establish a flashback.
• In the flashback, the audience views a point of view shot of the protagonist from when she was told by a teacher her brother had gone missing. This should last up to 3-5 seconds.
• The whispering of the word missing is then repeated when the audience see's a close up of the protagonist back in the room. Non-diegetic sound will start to play over the top of this and the titles will appear in different corners of the frame.
• The protagonist starts to act agitated and distressed, this is shown through close ups of her fidgeting with her hair and scratching her head. 
• The atmosphere in the room builds as she starts to go through old newspapers and articles of her brothers disappearance.
• The pace of the editing will increase through a series close ups and extreme close ups of the props and the protagonist. She will be circling/underlining/ripping parts of old photos, newspapers, and articles. This should last 35 to 50 seconds.
• The title will appear on the screen and the sound would have built up throughout the scene until a loud noticeable notes. The title will appear for around 3 seconds.
• The male antagonist will then be firstly introduced with a medium shot of him stood in front of a mirror doing up his tie, attempting to look 'normal'. 
• He will then turn towards and walk out the door picking up a brief case and shouting (positively) "Bye!". This scene will last approximately 7-10 seconds.
• We will then cut to an extreme long shot of the antagonist walking out the house to establish the difference in location. Lighting should be brighter and contrast the previous scene.     

Bollywood Thriller Survey

My group and I decided to make a small survey to gain an idea on whether or not there was an audience for a Bollywood thriller film, and what that target audience would expect and like to see in one. The survey we created received 50 responses which means they should be fairly accurate. 

Our first question was 'Would you be interested in watching a Bollywood style thriller?'. We felt this was a very important question because if the response had been no we would have had to change all our ideas and concepts. Luckily 61% of the responses said yes which makes us a lot more confident with our idea because we know there's an audience out there for it. 

The second question we asked was 'Have you seen any Bollywood inspired films? (b) If yes, please name the film'. We asked this to see how popular Bollywood films are, and discovered that 88% of the responses had seen a Bollywood inspired film and the most popular named example was, Slumdog Millionaire. This means that we will be able to go away and watch this film to analyse which Bollywood conventions are used within the film to make it so popular with the audience.

'Do you think that typical Bollywood aspects such as music help make a film authentic?' was our next question.71% said yes which presents my group with the fact that we will need to include several Bollywood aspects into the film in order to make it appear authentic.

Our next question was 'What would you expect to see in a Bollywood thriller?'. We asked this question to find out which themes were popular within a Bollywood thriller and which were not to give us an idea of which themes we may want to include in our final product. Our most popular answer was religion, therefore, we should make sure we look into this when deciding on mise-en-scene and props. Our second most popular answer was romance. Our original idea included the theme of romance but we discarded it due to the fact we believed it was to cliche. Hence, our survey shows that we were correct because 30% of our responses said that was what they would expect to see in a Bollywood thriller. This reinforces our reasoning for going against this stereotype and making our idea more original.

Our final question was 'What key themes would you enjoy to see in a Bollywood thriller?'. The idea we have thought of already consists of obsession being the key theme, and luckily our survey has shown us that this is a key theme our audience would enjoy seeing within a film. Obsession got 68% of the responses therefore, we are definitely content with choosing this to be our main theme. 

What have I learnt?

From this survey I have learnt what our target audience would like to see in a Bollywood thriller, and what our key theme should be within our final product. This is great help because it means we will be able to use this information to create a final product which our target audience will enjoy.

Development of our Storyline/Plot

My group and I originally liked the idea of using unrequited love as a theme within our storyline, however, we have discovered that we think it will be too cliche. Due to the fact we are doing a pyschological thriller we have decided that using the theme of obsession would be very appropriate so we are going to keep this idea. We will present an ambiguous relationship between our protagonist and antagonist who will be siblings, but their past has brought about an atypical relationship between them.

Summary
The brother went missing a long time ago and his younger sister was so distrort by this it drove her insane. The brother was found but the protagonist could not accept how and why he went missing in the first place so she became mentally ill and ignores this information. We shall show her ripping pieces of newspaper articles and drawing on photos to show her distressed situation. After the title appears we will then show the brother looking smart and relaxed to convey the juxtaposition between both their lives. This will reinforce her obsession over him and how she is unable to deal with his disappearance.

We have not decided on a detailed shot list yet, however, this is a rough idea of of the sequence of events in our opening.

• Shots to introduce the title of the film company
• Shots of the protagonist looking distressed and mentally unstable
• The first scene will build to a climax which will cut to the title
• The antagonist will be shot looking smart, and relaxed to contrast the opening scene and reinforce the juxtaposition between the two characters.

My group and I still have a lot to discuss and this includes how we are going to present certain ideas to the audinece through:

• Costume
• Lighting
• Camera shots/angles
• Editing
• Mise-en-scene
• etc.

Initial Ideas

After having looked at our initial brainstorm my group and I joined together to discuss initial ideas for our product. We focused on a Bollywood inspired film and the theme of obsession, from this we created a few initial ideas listed below.

Our first idea consisted of creating a Bollywood psychological thriller using the the theme of obsession because we thought this would be seen as an appropriate hybrid genre when linking it to the theme of obsession. In addition when looking at some of the conventions of Bollywood films, we found that love and romance was also expected by the audience as either the main or sub-plot in a Bollywood film. Therefore, we came up with a storyline that could bring these two themes together. It includes a male antagonist driven to the point of obsession due to unrequited love for the female protagonist. The reason behind the beginning of this love and obsession could be shown with a flashback. We also discussed some ideas that would modernise the product to relate it to our possible target audience. 

Our second idea had similar themes and ideas. It also included the themes of romance and obsession. However, this Bollywood psychological thriller consisted of the male and female characters being in a relationship, and the male antagonist being driven insane due to thinking his lover was having an affair. This would lead to a series of hallucinations and kidnappings.

Problems with making a Bollywood Thriller 
Deciding to make our coursework in the style of Bollywood, is very different and unique. This means our product should be original and new. However, there is one main problem we have had to face when considering making a Bollywood inspired film. This is the fact that many Bollywood films are known for their upbeat music and dancing scenes which may not link with the dark tone and mood we may want to create. However, after having done some extra research we have discovered that we could use a slower, mysterious style of Indian music in order to create the correct mood for our coursework. In addition, we discussed how upbeat theatrical dancing would not be appropriate for our opening and if any dancing was to appear in the film it would be more suited to be located towards the end of the film, and therefore, would not feature in our coursework. 

Writing Skills

In our lesson today we focused on our writing skills. We worked in groups and learnt how one shot could provide us with enough information to write at least one whole paragraph on. After being given a shot from an extract of Doctor Who, we brainstormed ideas about what each part (mise-en-scene, camera angle, distance, lighting etc.) added and represented within the shot. In our groups we wrote a paragraph on the individual shot and linked it to ideas about representations of gender as well as peer-assessed other groups work by writing targets and things they had done well in their paragraph.

Above is the paragraph my group and I wrote. The blue post it notes have what we did well and our targets to improve on. They included notes such as, good analysis and use of terminology, and the need to talk about the audiences reaction.

This is important to my coursework because it presented me with the importance of each and every shot included in a piece of media text. It also provided me with the knowledge of how every small detail is thought about when producing a media text, which is something my group and I shall have to consider when we start filming. 

Bollywood Conventions

Due to the fact that we are strongly considering making our coursework with a Bollywood inspired theme, or style, I decided to do some extra research on the typical conventions of a Bollywood film to see how they differed to traditional Hollywood. This is to see what codes and conventions we may need to include in our product to make it realistic. 

Bollywood Codes and Conventions

• Dominance of one or two actors (Usually a male and female)
• Using other forms of performance art such as playing an instrument, singing and dancing
• The presence of a religious figure that all the characters believe in, such as a God or Deity
• Romance is the main plot or subplot in the story (This might include love triangles)
• Large studio sets with elaborate design and decoration
• Films are usually set in Mumbai, India (However, some popular Bollywood films have been set in western cities such as New York City, and London
• Authentic and elaborate costumes, such as traditional clothing (i.e. saris and dresses)
• Other key themes include; melodrama, obsession, and kidnappings.

There are also some traditional gestures and symbols used in Bollywood films such as:

• Seeing someone tug on their ears – When someone tugs on their ears it is usually seen as an apology and the quivalent of saying sorry.

• Seeing someone touch another person’s feet - According to Hindu theology feet are the most polluted part of the body because they are the closet body part to the ground. So when a person touches someone else's feet it is a sign of great respect because they are honoured and touching their feet is a privilege.

• Someone waving their hands over another person’s head - Usually a person will do this to a bride. They will wave their hands over the bride and then make fists of their hands and crack their knuckles on each side of their own head. Whoever does this takes on any evil that may be sent toward the bride.

• A woman wearing red dye in her parting - This red dye is called vermillion and when a woman wears it in her parting, it signifies that she is married and her husband is still alive.

• Kohl is placed on someone’s cheek - When someone looks strikingly beautiful it is assumed that they will attract a lot of jealousy. Therefore, a black dot (kohl) is placed on their face as a blemish to ward off jealousy of a person's perfection.

• When someone presses their palms together - When two characters first meet, one of them will press their palms together and say “Namaste.” This is equivalent to the American/English handshake because it shows the possession of manners. However, it holds a higher level of respect than shaking hands.

Evaluation

After having done this research, I have gained a greater understanding into what codes and conventions of Bollywood films we might want to consider using in our product. We will want to combine some of these conventions with the conventions of a thriller film as well as look at what the audience would like to see in a Bollywood film in order to start planning our final product. We will have to consider carefully which conventions to include because we don't want to make our product to unique and different so it becomes distant to the audience. In addition we will have to think about our target audience when we consider whether or not we want to include some of the traditional gestures or symbols because they could be seen as difficult to understand to a foreign audience. On the other hand we will now be able to use some of the conventions of a Bollywood film to help structure and plan our coursework. 

Initial Brainstorm

Below is an image of our initial brainstorm. We listed thriller sub-genres, and hybrids on the right, and themes and ideas on the left. 

The two ideas that stood out the most to us at this stage are, Bollywood and the theme of obsession. If we went down the route of obsession we thought that making our coursework have a sub-genre of psychological thriller could become appropriate. We liked these ideas because they were original and different and would give our coursework an interesting twist. However, if we decided to stick with these two ideas we would have to ensure there was enough familiarity for the audience to be confident that our coursework would not become to distant and unlikable. 

Evaluation of my Progress so Far

What have I learnt?
I have learnt the way the camera is used in a media text to portray a character, setting and atmosphere through the different shots and angles. For example, I have learnt that a high angle camera shot portrays a weak and inferior character. I have also leanrt about mise-en-scene which is everything related to what you see in the frame of a pice of media e.g. costume, props and lighting, and how this can be used to add and create effects, as well as tell us more about the characters we are seeing. I now understand how different types of music and sound can be added to a piece of media text for a number of different reasons. For example I now know there is diegetic sound (within the scene) and non- diegetic sound (added through editing). As well as this, I have learnt the other techniques that are used such as amplifying a sound such as a watch ticking, to make it more noticeable. In addition, I have leant about how sophisticated genre is, and the codes and conventions of many genres, in particular, thriller to aid my coursework. Furthermore, I have gained a better understanding of title sequences and I have analysed many to find out key aspects of them to learn from.
In addition, I've also learnt how to share responsibilities within a group and ensure I manage my own time and work to make sure I'm organised in order to meet deadlines. Furthermore, I have learnt how to blog on a website because I had no knowledge of this when I joined the course. This doesn't just concern my ability to blog content that we have covered in lessons, or my own individual work. But I have also learnt how to improve my evaluative skills in order to evaluate and highlight what I've learnt from my own and my groups individual work.

How have I learnt this?
I have learnt a lot through going to my media lessons and being told how camera, mise-en-scene etc. affect a piece of media text, and what we can learn about the text from this. We usually then put our learning into practise by watching a past exam clip, making notes, and discussing what we have seen as a class. For example, recently we looked at how editing was used in an episode of Dr Who. I have also learnt through questioning my coursework group to see how and if they understand something I'm not hundred percent sure of. If none of us are too sure we tend to research it together so we can all learn from the experience. Furthermore, I have gained a better understanding of some topics through taking what I've learnt in lessons, and then adding to my knowledge by doing some individual research in order to post it on my blog. I also find it useful to have a look at other blogs from my class and see if anything they have posted can add to my learning.

My Strengths
I see myself as a rather efficient person which means I like to see what jobs I need to do, study deadlines, then complete my work in order to meet them. Therefore, I believe one of my key strengths is my time managment because I like to be orgainsised and up to date with my work. I also believe another of my strengths is to produce thorough evaluations of my own, and my grops work in order to show exactly what I've leanrt. In addition, I feel my understanding of how a camera is used in the media is strong, as well as my undertsanding of mise-en-scene.

My Weaknesses
I think one of my weaknesses would definitley have to be in my ability to edit a piece of camera work. I would say I have very basic knowledge in some of the techniques used to edit camera and film, but at this moment in time I would be very unsure as to how to put this into practise. Another of my main weakenesses is that I've stuck to mainly typing and adding a few pictures to my blog and I haven't yet shown a variety of ICT skills by adding presentations, audio, or video. I also struggle with understanding some of the semiotics we learnt at the beginning of the term. Even though I have gone back and revised them, I continue to get confused with the differences between an iconic and symbolic sign. This means that I will have to try another technique of attempting to learn this.

Targets
I have set myself some targets in order to aid and continue my learning.
1. To study and attempt to learn some basic techniques of editing a piece of camera work, to ensure I have a better understanding when it comes to editing our coursework.
2. To show a range of ICT skills on my blog by adding audio and video to some of my posts.
3. To have another attempt at learning the difference between an iconic and symbolic sign, possibly by using the textbook, or talking to one of my teachers.

Overall Progress
Overall I believe I've progressed a great deal as an A level media student so far. I have gained a lot of knowledge on techniques used within the media for example, camera and sound, and ideas about representation and genre. As well as learning to develop a number of skills such as, working in a group, evaluating work and blogging. Having identified my strengths, weaknesses and setting targets, I now know what specific areas I need to work on as an individual to progress even further.

Reflection of my Research