Task 7. What do you feel you have learnt in the progression?

In comparison with an October 2009 preliminary task, we progressed massively forward on working with ‘Monroe's’ opening.

Preliminary task

To match all new and more developed stuff which we did it’s worth to remind ourselves what we did on our preliminary task. Our media teacher Guy presented us a storyboard according to which we should film small pieces of video from different angles and frames such as close-up, middle shots or wide shots.
Then, we were faced Final Cut Pro application at the first time and started to cut the necessary pieces of video to create a small film after with different angles and frames. That was our preliminary task. Comparing with production of ‘Monroe's’ film it was much easier and now the whole process of planning, shooting and editing become more complex and sophisticated.

Development

The first difference was that we started the making of the film with the only Gabby’s bare idea about conspiracy theory film. From the very beginning, we started our planning and developing all necessary aspects which we would need for shooting such as looking for a necessary sound background, props and costumes for actors and the whole idea how we should film it. We managed to make our own storyboard and some set sketch drafts with key frames and angles and techniques such as pan move to have a visual representation how our film should look like. After finishing the whole planning process which took about a month of preparations we went to shoot. All props, decorations and other sustainable parts were right on their places and also with help of the shooting script which we had written during our planning, we managed to film all necessary parts quickly.

Camera techniques and Editing

Our camera techniques became much more sophisticated because we moved from easy wide-medium-close frames to an elegant sequence with a visual narrative which is remarkable especially in the first scene where we told all Marilyn story with help of mis-en-scene elements and camera move.

After that we went to editing room and there is a place where we can notice an enormous difference between our preliminary task and creating the full product.
Fist of all we were already familiar with Final Cut Pro, so we managed to do all the basics such as creating the log bins and choosing the right pieces for editing pretty fast. Then, we put all pieces of video into the timeline in order to create a film sequence.

Sound

One of the biggest differences between our film opening and the preliminary task was a presence of the sound background and the titles. Our preliminary task had only a small piece a dialogue; however in the main product we need to have much more different sounds which have their special role in creating narrative part of the film.
Our group found lots of Marilyn Monroe songs and also an old-fashioned American broadcaster voice, so we put them into the first scene and thanks to them, we told a story about Marilyn Monroe’ glory and her mysterious death without any word from character, just the sound and mis-en-scene part of the scene filled by posters, newspapers and a suspect board. Furthermore, all mis-en-scene part was much more sophisticated compare to the preliminary task because our group managed to get formal suits for actors and pink dress and elbow-length gloves for actress who played Marilyn to make our film really look like a professional product.

Titles

The title part of the film was absolutely new to us and, that is why, we met some difficulties at the beginning, but soon we solved them and succeed in creating all titles from distributor name, actors and filming crew to the final title of the film name. The titles gave our film a perception that this piece of video is a real opening for a future Fox Searchlight product.

Software

Finally, the last part which differ our main product from the preliminary task was the usage of other applications such as SoundTrack Pro to create an exact sound of TV or of the large room and also Adobe After Effects thanks to which we succeeded in creating a real old 1950’s colour for the second part of the film so Marilyn's live performance in it was much more convincing.

In conclusion, I can say that during all our planning, shooting and editing processes we managed to get more skills in producing much more complex and sophisticated product in comparison with our October preliminary task, and we used more skills, more applications and their features and, what is remarkable, consumed much more time to create a product which now you can see on Youtube.

Task 6. What have you learnt about technologies?

We used the annotation tool as you can see in YouTube version of the Monroe film.
Regarding the technologies we used three software applications to create our opening: Final Cut Pro, SoundTrack Pro and Adobe After Effects.
Back to October 2009 and our preliminary task we started to use much more tools in Final Cut Pro with a purpose to control the sound, cut different pieces of video to match them to the whole sequence and then paste of the titles. So in comparison with our first preliminary task the work on ‘Monroe’ opening become more complex and spectacular as well. Furthermore, the SoundTrack Pro application carried on with a sound part of the film and thanks to it we managed to fix a bit our sound effects as a bell and a crowd noise to create a perception of busy film studio with a chaotic move of the filming crew members.
Finally, After Effects was a final tool to create a 50’s scene looked more like an old-fashioned to suit its time and make a contrast between filming in modern days and during Marilyn Monroe live performance.

Regarding the techniques which we used with a camera itself, there was a pan technique which was used as a narrative part in Office scene, so we told all Marilyn stories up to her death without any words of characters, just posters and photos of her as an idol of American pop-music and with a following sound background filled by her songs and very American broadcaster’ voice. We can refer this technique to classic of high-concept movie. ‘Back to the Future’ where with help of pan technique the beginning story was told for few minutes without any words.

Finally, the pan technique was used again in 1950’s scene from the shadow of an old-fashioned camera to Director’s face and providing a ‘time-travel’ from the modern days to the twentieth century immediately.

In conclusion, I can say that our group learnt much more tools and methods in terms of filming and using a pan technique in practice. In addition to this it was not just a pan but because of the fact the camera was attached to dolly, we managed to create an effect of the smooth move throughout all Monroe’s life and her career. And regarding the post production part our work required more complex and sophisticated attitude which we did, and now you can see it on YouTube.

Task 5. How did you attract/address your audience?

\\Ace\Students\11\Oleg Naumenko\My Documents\Media Studies\Monroe\Task 5 Presentation

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Task 4. Who would be the audience for our media product?

‘Monroe's’ film is based on a conspiracy theory about Marilyn Monroe’s death and her relations with John Kennedy. This is a core aspect of our film so that is why our target audience will be a layer of well-educated people primarily graduated from a university. They also have a large outlook about the American history and actual events in 1950’s. So conspiracy theory feature will sell to middle-aged people because they were witnesses of Monroe's star career and its fall.

The typical viewer of ‘Monroe's’ film is a person who has a quite large life experience, and he turned his attention from the banal and boring high-concept films about aliens and explosions to more sophisticated and complex films with a rich storyline and variety of underwater stones and surprises. However, our viewer still wants to watch a pretty high-budgeted film because he has an attitude towards all cinematography as entertaining time.

So one of the target viewers of the ‘Monroe’ film would be middle-aged or young educated person interested in American history, conspiracy theories sort of Da Vince Code or Angels and Demons and with a reasonable income as well. The income factor is quite important because if a person has low income, they want to watch a high-concept film with a very simple storyline to relax and being satisfied by spectacle part more than narrative. On the other hand, our viewer really interested in narrative part of the film and our product is going to be a rare mixture of the spectacle almost high-concept part rich with sophisticated special effects and really deep arthouse dialogues, which reveals a complicated story of 50’s America and relations of two most influential people of this time.

Our viewer is listening to 50’s to 70’s music and Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong most of all.

He reads books about American history, the cold war and rather prefers to listen for some jazz, smoke a cigarette or sigar and relax by reading some US or UK modern classics' authors such as Anthony Burgess or Jerome Salinger.

Task 3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Our group assumes the fact that this film is about one of the most famous American superstars so a distributor and a partner to advertise such film is more likely to be situated in US and ideally such partner have to have its own international distribution network to provide a simultaneous premier of the film in all countries. Our group would hand in an application form to Hollywood and try to attract attention one of the major Hollywood distributor companies such as 20th century Fox Searchlight, United International Pictures, Sony Pictures (Tri-Star pictures) which departments are working with small and average budget films and this might be interesting for them because they already have an experience of distributing thriller with a conspiracy background and exciting atmosphere but there is still not so many films about Americas conspiracy things because they used to see secrets of the nation only in a good light so this movie might be a scandal because it almost accusing John Kennedy in Monroe's death.

So following an experience of such film as ‘Da Vince Code’ which made people to have doubts about Christian religion, another film, which says not very pleasant things about government might have success not only in America but in Europe and even some Asian countries as well.

Our unique selling point is a conspiracy theory. First of all, it's going to be a two hour puzzle until Detective solve it and second point is a musical part filled with a variety of Marilyn songs and her fantastic performances.

A conspiracy theory is an unbeatable genre which will be interesting for majority of people worldwide. We can assume it because of the fact how popular different criminal dramas are on TV and any of Hollywood conspiracy films as National Treasure. Furthermore, the story about one of the most popular people as sex-symbol of 1950’s in the USA and a President is going to be an explosion in all conspiracy theory genres as it could be a film about Kennedy’s assassination.

Another USP will be a musical part rich with spectacular special and sound effects, which could be afforded with Fox Searchlight financial support. The musical part also would be very important part both to an institution and to the viewer if the distributor attracts very famous soundtrack composer as Hans Zimmer so lots of music film geeks will go to watch it only in order to the fact that Zimmer wrote a music for it and Fox Searchlight will guarantee additional profits for itself.

In conclusion, I’d like to mention that Fox Searchlight has a reputation of well-respected distributor who produced such films as ‘Choke’ or ‘500 days of summer’ so ‘Monroe's’ film can become another one successful project.

Task 2. How does your product represent particular social groups?

Our product mainly represents an adult middle-aged and grown-up audience at the same time for several reasons.

Firstly, a great narrative and musical part of the ‘Monroe’ will represent an age class which can vary from 60-70 who had seen Marilyn's live performances and to 30-40-year people who listened to her songs and heard lots of stories about 50’s pop-idol and icon of American music.

So this audience will be represented by a massive sound background of the film and a new point of view about Marilyn's life and her death in which both Kennedy brothers were involved.

Regarding a mis-en-scene part the special attributes such as costumes, suits and 50’s environment represented the class of people who used to live in 1950’s so our picture is rich in formal suits, ties, and hats.

A bright example which supports our vision of the post-war period is ‘Aviator’ movie with Leonardo DiCaprio in a main role. Although Aviator is a high concept film the representation of people of this time is mainly the same. Moreover, it is a biopic film as well about one of the most influential person of this time but in addition to Monroe’s popularity the new twist appears as a conspiracy theory with highest people in American society.

Furthermore, there are no black people or any ethnic minorities of this time because the attitudes towards minorities were pretty strict that is why all actors and staff members are white. Because of stricter authority priorities at 1950’s all posts are hold by men. From the two main men on a film stage (Luke and Jason as Director and Cinematographer) to even a secondary role of assistants are men jobs and actually the only one woman in the whole opening was Marilyn Monroe herself. All this represents a basic attitude of American society of these years.

Then, because of the fact it is a biopic film so it’s based on a true life story of the star and half-true half-fictional conspiracy theory, which can cause an even more way? Questions and puzzles from viewers and this is the moment which will attract not only adults but historians and teenage audience as well. Historians are interested in a new possible version of her death even though it’s a movie and teenagers just enjoy films with not an exactly clear storyline filled by secrets but rich with special effects at the same time.

However, apart from a generation of elderly people our film pay more attention to different sides of the genre such as Detective story, conspiracy, musical and biopic but there is no clear representation of the particular social group apart from people who lived at 1950’s.

Task 1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our titles do not challenge forms and conventions of real media. However, our group put a great effort into how to portray them. Because of the fact, our film is rich in mis-en-scene part especially at the first scene we decided to make them stylish but not flashy in case they could draw the focus away from a mis-en-scene in the video.

For example, this title provides us a link between the main actress and who is she playing thanks to iconic picture of Marilyn Monroe and her famous wig.

As you can see then we underlined the main role of Joanne by introducing herself as Marilyn Monroe and all other actors were put just in A-B-C-D order. So this part of our title decision can challenge with other films, which are starring vehicles and focusing on one character who wasn't famous before.

A decision to put the name of Director exactly there was dictated by metaphorical reason of the role of Director and TV so when we can see the screen we know who directed the film and who was actually responsible for the whole visual part of it.

We were going to put the title of the film ‘Monroe’ in the sixties camera as we thought it would be a smooth link of modern days with the past and a nice moment to show the main title. However, it didn’t work well with our video and disrupted the whole flow of it.

Finally, this frame with a distribuation name which appeared at first shows us who financed the whole production process and, as you can see, it’s ‘Fox Searchlight Pictures.’

Post-production process. Part 2

After few days of work in Final Cut Pro application we managed to put all pieces of video sequence in a right order and started to work mostly with sound background which caused some problems. First of all our whole film was overloaded by Marilyn songs, sound effects and some pieces of sound borrowed from YouTube. However we decided to concentrate only on Marilyn songs later so it made our film brilliant in sound part and because of the fact that Monroe’ songs are recognisable in any part of the world and it will give a viewer a massive clue what will be this film about without any words in the office scene.

After we dealt with all songs we added some sound effects as 50’s bell ring and
crowd murmuring when filming crew started to move around in the frame. Then, we tried to transform our sound into two different ways: first one would be a sort of TV noise and then the sound becomes followed by an echo to give a perception that this sound is playing in a large room of film studio. That was a place where some problems appeared because the sound started to be either too loud or quite or absolutely unsuitable for our film so we tried to work in Soundtrack Pro application and with basic Final Cut audio filters. Finally, we managed to get a right sound by using HiPass Filter to create a TV noise during all sound background in the office scene as well as Reverberation effect to create a ‘large-hall’ sound. At the final part of the sound work we fixed all volume levels of the whole sound background to make it more stable and smooth. Then, the next part of our post production went to titles. First of all we decided to move the main ‘Monroe’ title up to the end because no matter how hard we tried our title still slightly moved in a frame which was unacceptable so we put it to the end of the whole film and now it was more look like a real opening of the future film. After this fixing we put all titles at the beginning. Firstly, there was a distributor name ­– Fox Searchlight presents. Then, the name of production company – A Seventh Sky Production and after we placed just created names of filming crew, actors and editor and then our own names with our special roles such as producer role of Heather, mine original score of the film, Tatjana’s mis-en-scene part and Gabby as a director who was placed the last.

Just couple of words to explain why we put all these titles:

According to cinematography rules the name of distributor is appearinf at first because they are the company (or a person) which actually gave money to create this film. Moreover a distributor and a production company which follows as second title provides a promotion and premier of the film in cimemas.
Then, as introduction of the main actress which was unknown before we wrote 'Introducing Joanne de Boer as Marilyn Monroe' and underlining the fact that this film is a star vehicle for her. After the main character name we put other acors names just as A-B-C-D order without any addings and this will also show viewer that Joanne is the main character in the whole film.

Our roles were put in order to their importance as Tatjana came at fist as Director of Photography, then me as responsible for orginal score. Two final titles represented Producer as a main person who provided money for the film and is an actual face of Production company, The last name is the Film Director is the main person who made al this film.
We put them in the order in order to film rules where the less significant roles goes to the most one’s as Producer and Director right before the film itself and the final part which is still should be done is a pasting of the Fox Searchlight intro with their logo.

Finally, the last part of the post prodiction was a colour side of the 1950-60's scene. We used Adobe After Effects application to make a colour of the film more dingy and make it more contrast to the first modern days scene of Detective's Office and the scene of Monroe live performance. This was a real key point which made our opening much more sophisticated and elegant so after the final work with colour filters in After Effects we checked in and out our film to convert it in QuickTime film format.

After that our film was ready to be published in YouTube.
And there is a final result!

MONROE!

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hurtwoodhousemedia&search_type=&aq=0