Creative Critical Reflection

How does your product use or challenge conventions?

The genre conventions reflect the type of narrative. In our opening, we managed to portray it as an exciting, modern film that taps into current panics about A.I. It features the development of technological advances in artificial intelligence that lead to the creation of a service robot that seizes control and turns on its creators.

We signal the genre to our audience through visual and sound codes. For example, our soundtrack starts with the diegetic sound codes that audiences associate with a television news bulletin ident to establish realism and topicality into our production. In addition to sound codes, visual codes such as setting the mis-en-scene are also very important to understand the genre. For example, one of our main scenes in the office at the start sets the image of business into the audience’s minds because we filmed in an office environment with desks and other people.

Our production starts with our production company ident for Teethmark productions which features a shark that I made in iMovie. It is a good fit with our target audience as it features a shark which would stick in the memory of our younger audience. 

From our research into the Art of the Title, we learned about title sequences. We looked at film such as i.Robot which represented the same theme of technology in it. In Art of the Title we mainly studied how the actual title sequence is shown and how they include the credits. 

It is vital, that film opening introduces the protagonist early on. In our production one of our main protagonists is our Robot Rick. We established him early on in the news report and interview. We did this so that the audience grasps an idea about who he is and what part he plays. 

We follow genre convention in creating an opening that hooks the audience and persuades them to continue watching. Our film opening stops at the point where Robot Rick, Toni and Luke (Richie, Tom and myself) are sat down having dinner. Because Richie's technology has been enhanced incorrectly, he turns rogue and attempts to stab Tom. The screen cuts to black at this point and echoes the word “future” in an eerie form. This creates suspense and leaves the audience curious as to what will happen next and as a result will make them want to continue watching the whole film.

Todrvo's narrative theory suggests that all narratives follow a three-part structure. This starts off with an equilibrium, which then evolves onto something which disrupts the equilibrium and finally reach a resolution. In our production, because it is only a film opening, we only have an equilibrium and the disruption of the equilibrium. Our equilibrium is where Luke and Toni (Myself and Tom) enhance Rick's technology. Our disruption of the equilibrium is where Rick's technology is 

unstable and he becomes rogue.

One of the uses of the media text is to gratify the need of making relationships which can be understood by our relationship with the onscreen characters. As indie film makers we cannot cast big names like Martin Freeman. I learnt at my BFI study day on UK cinema that having Martin Freeman as part of the del secured the funding for Dyson and Nyman's Ghost Stories (2018 Warp films). We have unknowns however we chose attractive personable actors in order to engage the audience’s sympathy. 


How does our product social groups and issues?

In order to understand our social groups and issues, I created a Pinterest account and made three different boards. The first board was for the social group of ARTICIAL INTELENGENCE, this is because our film is completely based on A.I. As you can see in the pictures below, I have made a collage of different images that relate to A.I.

 

The second social group board I made was on ENTREPRENEURSHIP as our film involves three entrepreneurs who developed an A.I model and will attract young aspiring tech entrepreneurs. This is because they will be able to relate to the film.

When looking at issues, I found different images that related to the risk of A.I TAKE OVER.  The images explain the issues in detail and highlights the danger of it just like our film.

Other technology issues we looked at were the Amazon Echo invasion of privacy. When looking at different articles, I found a good one which listed 7 different reasons as to how Echo posed a privacy threat. The 7 reasons included:

1.     It’s Always Listening

2.     New echo devices have a camera

3.     The Creepy “Drop-In” Feature

4.     Your Discussions Are Recorded

5.     They’re Susceptible to Hacking

6.     It Introduces New Forms of Advertising

7.     You’re Helping Amazon Sell More to You

To read up more on the issue click the link below:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/alexa-amazon-echo-privacy-risk/

In addition we also set up 3 more different social media accounts to reach out to our audience. The 3 accounts were Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and we posted pictures and updates for the progress of our film.

How Does Your Product Engage With Audiences and how would it be distributed?

According to Blumler And Katz, Audiences use media to gratify needs (the uses and gratifications model of audience behavior). Our film opening provides audiences with escapism, entertainment and diversion. Our film opening has fast paced editing and we take our audiences into the exciting world into artificial intelligence and business. It also includes a sense of danger and threat as the robot starts to develop his own sense of will and by the end he has acquired his target, Tony. The final scene shows Rick trying to stab Tony in the hand.





The visual spectacle helps compliment the entertainment we have produced drone shots and beautiful shots of Canary Wharf, we filmed shots of tall buildings and the reveal of the life size robot helps contribute to the entertainment.

Our film touches on very topical issues, the satisfaction of knowing what is happening in the wold helps the audience stay engaged, the news report at the start of the piece immediately engages the audience as well as the article prop I created.  there is a lot of interest into the way robots communicate with humans like Alexa And Siri. Books such as Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark help people understand the risks of AI. Is technology our servant or our master?

Audiences tend to use media to reinforce there sense of personal identity, that is there beliefs and values. Therefore while most of us in the west tend to embrace new technology and feel that it could serve us, We are also concerned about our privacy being compromised by the government eaves dropping or technology being used against us. Initially our young entrepreneurs are presented in a very positive light as they are innovative and shown in a creative way and they want to create a product not for the money but for the advance of technology. The moment of truth comes, however, when audience realize that the owners are cutting corners and are more interested in making money that testing there products a lot before it is launched. In terms of narrative theory this is the moment of disequilibrium.

The fourth use of media text is to gratify the need of making relationships which can be understood in two ways, the first way was our relationship with on screen characters. As indie film makers we cannot cast big names like Martin Freeman. I learnt at my BFI study day on UK cinema that having Martin Freeman as part of the deal secured the funding for Dyson And Nyman's Ghost Stories (2018 Warp Films) We have unknown's however we chose attractive personable actors in order to engage the audiences sympathy's, it is also important that they are young and making there way in a very tough world, which increases our sympathy for them even when they cut corners resulting in the robot turning rogue. Whilst UK audiences would definitely understand and recognize the scenarios, in our film I think that transatlantic audience would also warm to themes such as these because there is a tradition of start  ups and new tech companies in places like silicon valley which are very much admired which are held up as models of entrepreneurship.

How Films Distributed

Distribution, the third part of the film supply chain, is often referred to as 'the invisible art', a process known only to those within the industry, barely written about and almost imperceptible to everyone else. Films have different strategies around sales and distribution, finding out where and how a film is released is an essential part of the economics of a film and to help push it further up the value chain. Currently, the existing model for exploitation of films is the concept referred to as “windows”. Despite films being released in many different windows, distributors usually focus mostly on the cinema performance.

What Film Distributors Do?

Professional film distributers make a movie available for viewing by an audience. These people control the marketing plan for a film as well as the release date, the way people could see it and various other properties. The film could be presented directly to the public either through television, a cinema or other methods which could include personal home viewing. In addition, film distributors work on the film’s promotion by airing adverts and trailers on various platforms.

They also have to decide what elements make the film so they can choose what age to target the film at or genre of the film. In the world of independent film distributors work on a territory by territory basis, an example of this is a UK distribution company will buy distribution specifically for UK viewing. Same applies for different countries, a German company will buy the distribution for Germany and an Italian company will buy distribution for Italy. 

FDA (FILM DISTRIBUTORS' ASSOCIATION)

Below is a link to the FDA  (film distributors' association) and some screenshots as proof that we have studied the role of a distributor. Once we make a movie, it will be distributed by a distributor. To get a better understanding, I researched distribution on the FDA website. The task of a film distributor is to bring a movie into to the market, all of this is mentioned in the videos on the website which I have watched. One factor of the distributors role is to identify the target audience. Some movies are made for an international or global market whereas the UK targets different audiences like "arthouse", "multiplex", and "prestige. In the video Mark Batey explained that "the process of bringing a film to market is fast, highly competitive with each film being different".

HTTP://LAUNCHINGFILMS.COM/FURTHERDISCUSSIONS#FRAGMENT-2

 

- “It is a business process which is fast moving and very highly competitive” 

The Business Of Film - Week 3

 Furthermore we watched a business film on the Open University MOOC course (link and screenshots shown bellow) to get a clearer understanding of the film industry.

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/business-of-film/5/todo/20856

Bharat Nalluri explained that "the big cinema release can still make or break a film" and "it is the distributor who has to make sure that the film's moment in the spotlight is not wasted.

I then watched a video of a film distributer, Alex Hamilton, explaining how there are multiple windows for when a film is released and the job as a distributor is to decide what to do with that film. The first window which you would release it in is the "theatrical release window", which is when you realise it into cinema's for the public to see for the first time. In the UK there are high costs to release films in cinemas, Alex stated that it costs usually seven figures to release in 300 cinemas across the UK. 

About five months later the film will appear on DVD and other various transactional platforms, Alex said that "the film company generates a higher income on DVD sales than when it's in the theatrical release window".

Roughly a year after the theatrical release, the film will then enter one of two windows. The first potential window is paid TV platforms, for example SKY. The alternative window is free television, however it usually takes up to two and a half years after theatrical release for this to happen. Examples of television programs that would broadcast them are the BBC, channel 4, or ITV.

Case Study - Tortoise In Love

In class I studied a budget indie film called the "The Tortoise in Love". The film was created in a small village called Kingston Bagpuize in Oxfordshire and directed by Guy Browning. Almost 400 villagers volunteered to make the film happen and soon enough Kingston Bagpuize became the setting for the film.

In order to make the film possible the film had to approach the BFI Print and Advertising fund to ask for financial support which would enable them to fund the distribution costs such as supplying the venues with a copy of the film in the correct format, printing cinema style quad posters for all venues, finding a PR company to provide support locally as well as nationally, and recruiting a distribution manager to manage and administer the bookings. Without the support of the BFI, the film would not have been possible. 

Despite it being an incredibly small movie, it still had its first showing at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011. The movie was shown around the UK in different village halls which gained it quite a bit of income. It also had a world premiere at Leicester Square in 2012 which the cast and crew arrived to on tractors. They also made a website for the movie to showcase and promote the film. 

  

Case Study - '71 

 

'71 is a low-budget national film but one that aimed at international audiences as its subject (radicalization of young men during the Troubles in Northern Ireland) was of universal interest. Plot summary here.

Distribution strategies are carefully considered by companies such as Warp. In the case of '71, Warp delayed the release until after transatlantic audiences had a chance to see Unbroken as Jack O'Connell had previously attracted critical acclaim for Unbroken (2014) appearing as a prisoner of war in a Japanese war camp. Directed by Angelina Jolie, this film made O'Connell known to an American audience.

'71 won Best Director at the 2014 British Independent Film Awards, after receiving nine nominations. The National Board of Review named '71 one of the top 10 independent films of 2015.

Budget, £8.1 million. Box office, $3.2 million.

Case Study - Jurassic World 

How did your productions skills develop?

For our preliminary exercise, we made a simple in which certain shot types (establishing shot, shot reverse shot, two-shot, reaction shot).

We edited this in iMovie to make the meaning clear, with limited additional sound such as gunshots and a soundtrack.

We did not need to use titles as the task was simple and as result did not need an introduction.

However, in our foundation production we had to research, plan, construct and edit. I explained all of this information in my Prezi down below (click the link).

https://prezi.com/p/4sjim9y9oggz/

How did you integrate technologies?