Evaluation: Finished Film

This is our finalised opening scene to our movie Ruthless Russians.

Planning: Preliminary Coursework

Planning: Preliminary Coursework

Planning: Preliminary Coursework

Preliminary: Kris Andziukevicius

Evaluation: Paul Parker Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

I think our media product uses a host of motifs belonging to crime thrillers – it shares similarities with Taken. The primary characteristic which our film incorporates is the idea of the protagonist, Bogdan in this case – and Bryan in Taken, being faced with some form of quest. Bogdan is issued with a quest when Emmanuel, the antagonist in a sense, took his bag and fled – leaving him to endure the questioning of Viktor and consequently the order to hunt him down and retrieve the money. By remaining strict to such conventions, essentially, in my opinion, you are more likely to create a greater crime thriller – however there is also the possibility of boring avid viewers. Furthermore, the film is dominated by the protagonist’s point of view, and this is another characteristic of crime thrillers. It is clear that the story is being told from Bogdan’s perspective and the troubles which he is faced with in his journey to retrieve Viktor’s wealth – from finding out the bag has gone missing, to actually feeling emotional upset. This is also present in Taken as the story progresses through Bryan’s eyes and his journey towards finding and safely taking back his daughter. Last but not least, the film uses plenty suspenseful music which adds to the feeling of mystery, and inquisitiveness – a common feature in many crime thrillers – as does Taken in the form of high and low piano tones. This adds emphasis to the actions of the characters, as well as the situation they are currently stuck in.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media product represents particular social groups in a variety of ways; first and foremost, Emmanuel – the black character – was dressed in a gang-like attire, with a baggy hoodie, trainers etc. There is an appalling stereotype present in modern day society that black men, in particular, dressed in shady clothing or such, are related to some form of crime, or are willing to break the law whenever the opportunity arises. This is completely false, and is totally unfair because personally speaking, I know a few black people who choose to dress in that manner but are nowhere near to being criminals. In fact, they are possibly one of the nicest people I have met. That being said however, since this is an ongoing stereotype, we chose to implement it in our film because we felt it would be more accurate and create a realistic vibe within the product. Furthermore, Viktor – the crime boss – appears to be of an upper class, or someone who owns greater wealth, due to the fact that he was smartly dressed in a shirt and tie. People in those sort of high-up, management positions do commonly dress in a classier way in comparison to those who are at ground-level and are doing most of the hard work. In our media product, we wanted to highlight this difference being ‘normal’ and wealthy people. Finally, Bogdan wore a simple jacket and jeans, which showed he doesn’t have much wealth however he still doesn’t need to dress as if he is representing a gang or clique. He dresses like a civilized individual, someone who is probably unexpected to commit crime.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I believe our film would best be suited to local independent cinemas particularly in the area of East London. I hold this view because I don’t necessarily think it would relate to those in Spain or Malta for example, where mass broadcasting would be required, as well as people in Scotland or Wales where national broadcasting would be needed. I think this is due to the fact that the environment in the film, as well as the type of characters, and the kind of clothing which they have chosen to wear was not selected on the basis of reaching out to other countries or regions. If we did choose to reach out to local, independent cinemas to distribute our film, I think it would be much more beneficial because those who do go to the cinema will have a much greater understanding and familiarity of the film – this will mean that it’s more likely it will receive greater feedback and obviously criticism which is calculated, and not just wild, uneducated opinions. Furthermore, I don’t think our film would be suited for large distribution companies due to the fact that in the media industry, we’d still be new on the block and I think it would take many more films, and much more experience to be gained before we can begin distributing our products to a much larger, and much profitable market.

Who would be the audience for your media product – how did you attract them?

I believe the audience for our media product would be teenagers or those in their early twenties who live in the East London area. As mentioned briefly before, I think they hold the greatest similarities to our film. For instance, there are plenty African and Eastern European individuals who reside in that particular area therefore they’re going to be able to identify key factors and are going to be able to refer them to their state, and the location in which they live. A factor which they will be able to familiarise themselves with is obviously Emmanuel’s clothing, he isn’t dressed in a tuxedo, or dinner suit, he probably looks just like them – if not, then similar. Emmanuel’s character wears brands like Nike, Adidas etc., and personally speaking, I think I would be able to nod my head, and say it’s something I’d like to see on a character – this thought makes the whole film more personal, and more touching. Moreover, the court which we cleverly chose to use in our film is possibly similar to those of others’ communities – there was plenty of graffiti, and it was generally unkempt. I think the aforementioned group of people would be our selected target audience because they’d genuinely enjoy the film due to their age and youthfulness – the running scenes and attempted use of Russian personalities would entice them and possibly even make them laugh.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have to admit, before I had even touched a camera, I never fully knew how to use it at a decent standard. Now that I have finished constructing my media product, I can boldly say that I’m more than capable of handling a camera, and dealing with the specific functions it entails. Furthermore, before I had even started on the preliminary task, I never knew what Adobe Premiere Pro was, or what it could possibly do – if I had to take an uneducated guess however, I’d probably think it was a piece of software that only allow the user to view movies and such. But at this point of time, I can say I’ve learnt a lot and obviously developed my skills when rendering. At the preliminary point, I don’t think I was too good as it took me some time before I had eventually finished rendering the piece, and even during that period, I asked for simple tips and advice which would thus allow me to put together a better clip. If I had to be given some film to render now, I’d happily take the job on because I feel I’m that clued up about it that I wouldn’t have any issues or complaints operating the software because I’ve pretty much picked up everything, from cutting clips, to adding music.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Looking back at my preliminary task, I feel I have learnt, as well as developed a huge amount of aspects; for example, although at the start I was reasonably confident with setting up and maintaining the camera, after I had endured many periods of filming my fellow actors, I became much more familiar and much more skilled when handling the camera, in terms of shots which I used. By that, I mean that I grew a greater understanding of where a close-up was needed for example, and that meant I could use one when the film was in dire need of it. Furthermore, although I only appeared briefly in the preliminary task, I think my acting then has improved since the current film; I learnt how to maintain my composure and to at least try and carry out a decent Russian criminal – whereas before I kept slipping up, either by laughing or forgetting what I was supposed to say. Last but not least, this point is more of a group related one, however, I learned what is required when working with others on a filming-like set, and what co-ordination is required. I grew to understand that co-ordination is an important factor in any film production because each individual would have their own roles, but ultimately the whole group would have to come together in order to put the film together.

Evaluation: Shane Fitzpatrick Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
The story starts out with an ordinary man walking across the street with a suspicious looking bag, he puts the bag down and walks around the corner to do his business. As he is doing this, a mysterious man comes along while playing a friendly game to show he has no intention of hurting someone. However, he finds a bag on the ground and noticed that there was "a whole lot of money" and decides take it for himself. At that point, the viewers will notice that it is a crime thriller from the theft. This type of thriller can be compared to The Godfather. How there is a protagonist and an antagonist with a rivalry against each other with henchmen to do things for them.
As for the camera shots, we used some POV shots to include the viewer in this petty theft, make them feel apart of doing something wrong to build tension and a sense of Ideal I to show how much better of a person than that person is. The other were low and high angles, we made sure that the one that has the bag was the one with power, while the other who has lost the bag has lost all of that power, and even be punished for losing it.
The clothing of these characters were of an urban type of style, the criminal had the right haircut to play the part as a henchmen while the one taking the bag was wearing normal outdoor clothing, as if he didn't know he'll be this lucky. The scene was in an urban area making the clothing blend in with the atmosphere and the props that we used were made sure that it was of the urban style.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
There can be some representation about particular social groups in our film. For the main social group clearly seen in the film, their Ethnicity. The ethnicity that is indicated in the film would be Russian, you can tell this is Russian because of the accents of the three characters, (Bogdan, Viktor and Niko). The last character (Emmanuel) wasn't Russian at all, instead his ethnicity was african. this may be stereotypical towards black people as we have a black person stealing from white people which can cause problems in society. You can tell who is Russian and who isn't distinctly by their first names.

Another representation that has been considered was the area in which this was shot, the atmosphere was urban making it easier to find graffiti spots and abandoned alleyways. the location we went to was Brick Lane. This area had the buildings you would see in an atmosphere run by a mafia boss.
The class represented in this film would be lower and middle class. The protagonist would be the lower class seeing as he is the one to find and steal the money for himself, whereas the antagonists are middle class, this is because they are working under a vigilante boss who's goal is to get money from clients. Because of these crimes, they go down a class, but because they obtain a lot of money and fame in the area, they are not as low as the protagonist.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
The media institution that might distribute my media product would probably be Paramount Pictures. The reason why i have chosen Paramount pictures is because they are one of the biggest movie production companies in America, who has also distributed "The Godfather", which we have taken influence from in our movie "Ruthless Russians"
Paramount Pictures are known to distribute lots of thrillers that, some being crime while the others are another specific genre of thriller. These films appeal to the teenage audience as they mostly have warfare between many different groups, teenagers also enjoy scenes to do with chasing and robberies. This is the reason why we would like to have Paramount pictures to distribute our product. We think that, because Judging from all of their top releases like Titanic which have given them at least 14 awards for.
Who would be the audience for your media product?

The target audience for our Media Product would be the young european teen males. The reason for this is because the film consists of teens making the Ideal I suitable for the teens who are going to watch our film. The Ideal I would make the teens feel like they are in the film with POV shots included to get them to feel like they can do better that what the teenager in the film does. Meaning the film is portraying that it could be anyone who can stumble upon an item and are tempted to take with you. This film can be seen by a higher age group depending on their interest on small thievery.
How did you attract/address your audience?
The way we have attracted the audience was through social media and surveys. The survey we have used was on the website called SurveyMonkey, We have added at least 10 questions ranging from music to the clothing people enjoy, After we have made our survey, we have published it on facebook, one of the largest social medias. After a couple days, we have gotten the results and decided to interpret these answers in our film. Each of our 4 members spread them to our friends which then spread to their friends.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
One of the technologies that i have learnt a lot about was the functions of the camera, i was the camera man in my group so i had the most fun, from panning left to right to the many different camera shots. Each of the camera shots i have decided to put in was from the other crime films that i have seen recently, this made the camera shots placing quiet easy as i have seen how it works for certain scenes. However, the difficulty that i w

as having with the camera was the fact that it kept on shaking due to the coldness of my hands and the wind blowing at us. it took us many tries to get the camera to stay still. In the end, we managed to get every perfect shot there has to be for this film.
A second piece of technology was the software on the mac called Adobe premiere. With this software, we are able to combine all the scenes together and add transitions to connect them. At the end of it all, we have added the sound suitable in the background of each scene and added the end credits.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Back when i was doing my preliminary, i have learned that all camera shots have different purposes. The long shot to show the area, full shot for movement and a medium closeup to closeup for dialog. Other than the camera shots.
I thought walking through a door then pausing to start at the other side of the door was weird, but it all came to me when i was editing my preliminary. There was a tool in premiere to combine each of the clips together and merge the two clips of me with the door so it can look like i smoothly walked through the door.
The most important thing about making a film that i have learnt from the preliminary was the continuity needed to create a great film. To keep the continuity we had to keep the same props and clothing, the clothing was a problem for us at first, but we have decided to record everything in one day after all the fails in the past, only because we knew what we were doing after all the retakes. 

Evaluation: Albert Marealle Evaluation

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The crime thriller, Ruthless Russians has used conventions from existing media.

For instance, the narrative containing the Russian Mafia (Bogdan, Viktor and Niko) was been within the inspiration of the movie Eastern Promises in which it is also a Crime thriller movie involving the Russian Mafia. The motifs between the two movies are similar as they both feature chase scenes, career criminals and so on. In addition to that, the fact that Nikolai Luzhin (played by Viggo Mortensen) has had an undercut, it would’ve been suitable for the characters Viktor & Bogdan to have similar haircuts in which they had done so.

From my research of the crime thriller, The Godfather; especially with the conversation at the opening scene between Don Vito Corleone and Amerigo Bonasera, I have decided to incorporate this into the film by having the boss sitting at his office and having a conversation with one of his assistants. I have challenged this slightly with the fact that instead of having a face to face conversation, it ended up being a phone call instead. Moreover, the theme song from the Godfather was added into the conversation between Bogdan & Viktor as I thought it would add some intensity in that particular scene.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

There are many different ways that the movie Ruthless Russians represents social groups.

Firstly, the location of the movie. This movie was located at an urban environment where you can find graffiti, isolated alleyways and residential homes. This may represent people who come from the London region. This is because London is a predominately urban area and clear examples would be Brick Lane and the Camden Market.

Another way would be the ethnicities of the characters within the movie. Three out of the four characters are Russian. This was evidently shown by their accents, to an extent; the clothes that they were wearing & the background music. In addition to that, the names of the three characters were distinctive in comparison to the name Emmanuel (the fourth character). The three characters were Niko, Viktor and Bogdan. This aspect of the movie may represent the Eastern European (in particular Russian) social groups. The reason for this is due to the behaviours and characteristics of the three actors. However, Emmanuel was a Black British and even though he may have been negatively stereotyped as the person who stole the bag filled with money, he does represent ethnic minority groups (in particular black people). On the other hand, there are other aspects within Emmanuel which shows representation of the ethnic minorities. Examples would include the clothes that he was wearing, the accent that he had & the black people could relate to the behaviour of Emmanuel which makes them firstly want to watch the movie & shows representation of them.

Finally, another way that Ruthless Russians may represent particular social groups would be through age. This is because the characters of the movie represent young adults/ teenagers as firstly, the characters (especially Emmanuel) are in their youth so therefore, it means that they’re viewed as troublemakers, violent whilst being inexperienced, clever but powerless.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The type of media institution that may distribute my media product would obviously be a movie company. However, the movie company that I would like to distribute the movie Ruthless Russians to the mass audience would be Paramount Pictures. Paramount Pictures is an American film studio, television production company and is ranked 6th in the Big Six film studios of Hollywood.

The reason that Paramount Pictures may distribute the movie Ruthless Russians because they are known for distributing thrillers such as The Godfather series, The Gambler, The Mission Impossible series & Rear Window. These types of movies in particular Crime thrillers appeal to the young teenaged audience as they are amused by thrillers and like to see robberies, chase scenes & shootouts in which they are the key motifs within Crime thrillers. Furthermore, they are movies that focuses on the antagonists rather than the protagonists.

By having Ruthless Russians distributed by Paramount pictures, it will be a success to the film industry as they are an experienced movie company being found in 1914 (1912 as Famous Players film company). In addition to that, Paramount had a really successful time period in which they distributed Titanic (1997); their highest grossing film at the time and was nominated for fourteen awards.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

The audience for my media product would be young European teenaged males. The reason they are the target audience for my media product is due to the fact that there are key elements within the opening scene of Ruthless Russians that appeal to the audience. One of the elements would be the fact that the actors in the movie are young teenaged males. This means that the audience could associate their behaviours & themselves with the characters of the movie. This is also supported by the type of music played, the clothing worn by the characters & the urban environment that the movie was located at. Another element within Ruthless Russians that appeal to the audience would be the Eastern European accents (in particular Russian) which was portrayed by the characters Bogdan, Viktor & Niko. This element could appeal to the European audience who may necessarily come from countries such as Lithuania, Russia, Latvia, Ukraine and many more Eastern European countries. This is because the audiences from these countries can relate themselves to the characters of the movie. This was put forward Lacan in the Ideal I theory and this would make them want to watch the movie more. Even those who are not from Eastern Europe, the disassociation of them to the characters may make it amusing for them so therefore, they would want to carry on and explore their culture.

How did you attract/address your audience?

I firstly posted the video onto YouTube. The reason that I have done this is because YouTube is well known website for videos meaning that they are easily accessible to people. YouTube is used by millions of people all over the world therefore meaning that it would be not as difficult to gain views. In addition, I managed to find a few people & record their reactions whilst they were watching Ruthless Russians.  I further went on to share the video onto Facebook. Facebook is a famous social networking site with a huge amount of people active every day. By posting it onto Facebook, it will make the target audience aware of the fact that the movie has been released & are therefore likely to watch the movie. Additionally, I produced a questionnaire consisting of ten questions. These included what aspects of the movie could be improved, which part they found most favourable, if they would continue watching the movie & so on. After I created the survey, I posted it onto Facebook as teenagers are always on Facebook so therefore, it would be easy to access this survey to collect. Following on from that, I conducted a structured interview with 4 different people (a mixture of boys and girls) and asked them three different questions. These were what they had liked about the movie, what they disliked about the movie & how could the movie be improved. The audiences’ responses gave a clear direction of where the film was heading & what improvements that can be made.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

I have learnt that there is a lot of technology involved when it came to producing the movie Ruthless Russians. Examples would include equipment such as a modern camcorder, tripod and accessories such as the camera charger and a SD Memory Card. The camcorder clearly records the event that is happening at the time and the tripod supports the camera as it prevents the camera from shaking. Furthermore, I have learnt that the film has to have a 3 second head start before the actor/actress performs and there has to be at least 3 seconds after the scene has been acted out. This is so that when it comes to editing the movie, you can cut out the clips that you do not want. These technologies were just for the filming alone. When it came to the editing of the movie, Adobe Premiere Pro was used. This program allows you to edit your video in order to make it look crisp and clear. Examples of editing using Adobe Premiere Pro would be adding title graphics, selecting video clips in chronological order & cutting out parts of the movie that were not necessarily needed.

 Title graphics are typography that is used at the beginning of the movie. These include the title of the movie, the starring actors/actresses and the movie company. These help the viewers know what the title of the movie was in case they would like to watch it again/ recommend it to their friends. The names of the actors help identify what role they play in the movie & the movie company title graphic help them identify who produced the movie.

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

When I first did my door scene in which it was the preliminary task, I have taken into account that each camera shot has its own purpose and is vital for each scene. For instance, medium shots & close ups are always used for dialogue which was what this door scene consisted of. However the difference between a medium shot and a medium close up would be that medium shot is a camera shot from the waist upwards & a medium close up is a camera shot from the chest upwards. When it came to the movie Ruthless Russians, I had the make sure that each camera was appropriate for each scene. For instance, you would not use a long shot when the main character is walking down the road having a conversation with someone. This is because the viewer would be unable to focus on the character as they will be distracted by the surroundings. The completed movie started off with an extreme long shot, and then it moved onto a long shot and after that, it moved onto a close up of the bag being dropped off. Extreme long shots are used for setting the location meaning that the audience will be able to identify where the movie was set. In this case it was a large field. This is also similar to long shot but the distance is not as far as an extreme long shot. The long shot were of the local shops. Other shots such as a point of view shots were included into the movie so that the viewers could associate themselves with the characters which was put forward by Lacan in the Ideal I theory. Therefore, this shows that there has been a clear progression from the preliminary task to this as the camera shots has improved.

Another thing that I have learnt looking back at my preliminary task would be that continuity is vital to a good movie. This is because by having continuity within a movie, it shows that there is a smooth flow throughout & there is consistency. In Ruthless Russians, this was achieved by filming different perspectives of the same scene by placing the camera at different locations and then editing them out using Adobe premiere pro.  I felt as if the continuity from my preliminary task was good to start off with meaning that there was not really any progression.

However, there was a huge progression when it came to my editing skills. This is because when I first used Adobe Premiere Pro in order to edit my door scene. I had no idea how to use the program let alone edit a video. However, with tutorials and progression of the film, I learnt how to add audio, cut out wasted parts of a scene using the selection tool, how to add effects and transitions such as dip to black & film dissolve. The video transitions allow creating a smooth flow from one scene to another.