Media Coursework- Mindmap

This is a mind-map of our AS Media Coursework idea. It details a basic outline of the plot, along with what we want to include in our two minute intro sequence. It also includes some representations we want included, and our influences and inspirations.

Plot

An ex-criminal is asked to perform one last time bank job, for old times sake by his partner in crime, who we'll refer to as the 'bad' criminal, whose wife had left him. He's the drug addicted psycho who smiles at others misfortunes. 

During the film, the 5 days leading up to the events play out how it was planned and how the lives of the two criminals change during this time.

He goes into the bank and ignores the 5 minute time limit. 

During this time, the 'good' criminal is confused, then the story unravels. 

Police sirens approach and the two criminals leg it, without a penny in hand. In the end, they both get cornered and hold out with a fierce firefight through the streets of central London, before the 'bad' criminal is eventually killed by CO19 armed police. 

The 'good' criminal makes a run for it, but eventually gets caught and sentenced to life in prison.

The Intro

During the opening two minutes, we see the two criminals sitting in a dark smokey room, lit only by a dim light above them, giving them a sense of discretion and hiding. They are discussing the plan for the robbery. During the run-through, we use a series of parallel-cuts to show the plan being discussed, and showing it actually happening. Towards the end of the actual robbery, we find out that something went wrong during the heist, and we hear a gunshot and the camera fades to black. The title sequence then plays out.

Mise-en-Scene

We will use a variety of props in our film, most notably weapons (if allowed). We will also use clothes, as the characters are supposed to be formal, professional robbers. Ideally, we would prefer suits (trench-coats are cool) and formal shoes or boots. 

We will also use low-key-lighting during the talking scene to portray a sense of hiddenness, and high-key-lighting for the robbery to show that it is real and happening. 

We will also use multiple locations, such as the hide-out where they're discussing the plan and the bank they are going to rob.

Camerawork

We will use a varied range of shots in our film, such as high-angle>eye-level shot during the intro when the characters begin talking (this will also show the smoke and light), as well as a range of other shots like handheld (point-of-view) shots for the actual robbery

Editing

We plan to use parallel cuts extensively throughout our intro to show the plan and actual events taking place, and how they differ. During this, we will use lots of fast cuts to portray the adrenalin of the sequence

We will also use shot-reverse shot to show dialogue between the characters during the run-through of the plan. 

Sound

During the intro, we will use a large variety of sound, both diegetic and non-diegetic, synchronous and asynchronous. We will include the dialogue of the two characters speaking, both with the actual footage of them talking, and overdubbed during the robbery sequence. We will also use gunshot sound effects, people screaming and shouting.

Influences

We take inspiration from a few films, such as Quentin Taranteno's Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, the  Oceans films,  

Lawyers (T.V Series)

This is the title to our T.V Series Lawyers which, as the title suggests, follows the lives of a group of Lawyers as they battle for other people as well as overcoming their own personal issues. The title is basic and simple. The black background and white font connote formality and simpleness. This 'formal' tone is representative of the Lawyer's world, where everything is formal. It also resembles the colours of their suites.

AMC's The Walking Dead (T.V Series)

Imagine. The world outside is silent. Dark, lacking any sort of social signs of life. All you can hear is the distant gurgling of the undead as they roam the streets free. This is the image AMC are trying to get across during the opening title sequence of the hit T.V series, The Walking Dead. The camera looks through a boarded up window, with small dead branches shadowing upon the window. Small beams of light pierce through the boards of wood across the window. We then move to a shot of a dirty old door handle, moving back and forth (playing on a common convention of horror) as someone tries to get in from the outside.We then see shots of newspaper clippings detailing the story, smashed pictures of the main characters and some locations in the story. The continuous use of low key lighting here really helps create the tension, and makes it seem like it's really light piercing through windows. We then see several shots of the empty streets of Atlanta, still using this yellow tint, suggesting nothingness and  loneliness.
1) Use screenshots to write an analysis suitable for an Art of the Title post.
2) Write a list of do's and don'ts for the first 2 minutes of our own film and draw upon our knowledge of Mise-en-scene, camerawork, editing and sound.

In todays lesson, I was experimenting with a software new to me, called LiveType. LiveType is a sequencing software that creates opening & ending credits and title sequences for videos. I managed to make up a small 8 second clip for a film company called 'Binary Productions'. It features a coded background with fiery red writing.There are no sound effects yet, but I plan to add them into Final Cut Pro using a software called SoundTrack Pro.

Adding Sound Using Final Cut Pro

Today I used Final Cut Pro to add sound effects to my title sequence.

Editing sound in FCP

Exporting

Importing my LiveType sequence into final cut was easy. I just had to export the LiveType file as a .mov to my desktop, then import it into Final Cut. I then opened up a software called Soundtrack Pro, which I had used in my GCSE project. Once I had the SFX I wanted, I saved them to my desktop and imported them into FCP. All I had to do was position them where I wanted them, render the clip and export it as a QuickTime file. There was only one issue in today's lesson. The LiveType file is quite large, and made Final Cut Pro crash quite often. Also, the exported QuickTime file lags quite a bit. Apart from that, I'm impressed with my work.

Sound editing in Soundtrack Pro

My Title Card

My Media Consumption

My Mind Map

This is a mind map showing most of my media consumption. It includes what computer I use, what TV programs I'm into and where I go to watch them, and some other stuff.

I am not brand loyal. As you can see above I don't restrict myself to certain companies when I buy things. I'm not really bothered about brand name, although I do like some of Apple's tech, but I don't own anything of theirs other than an iPod. Fender and Epiphone are my preferred choice of instrument at the moment, but I do like Gibson, ESP and Jackson guitars as well. I can see myself in the future spending quite a bit of money on music equipment, guitars, pedals etc.