Documentary Research

 This the research I did for the documentary project. I did 4 in class and 1 at home.

Research 1:

Documentary Opening 1: (WORST ROOMMATE EVER)
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	I expect this documentary will be about a person who rents out and lives in a housing unit with another individual and the other individuals turns out to be a murderer or a criminal The image shows what seems to be a mugshot of a distressed woman. The way they color her face with a lot of veins and reds make her look creepy and scary. I expect to see interviews from people related to the case i.e. police officers, detectives, friends/ family of the victim/ the doer and they describe to us the details of what happened and yet give us more questions unanswered.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	Women or moms as it featured single mothers and women friendships and how it when wrong Hand held which made the scenes feel more realistic and suspenseful. The scenes were very dark and gloomy which added to the aerie atmosphere and made it scenes feel more scary and mysterious  There was a lot of jump cuts and quick cuts and made the pace of the documentary feel fast and gave it a lot of energy There was a lot of suspenseful dramatic sound effects usually when there was a cut this again as well added to the suspense and made the documentary feel more intense
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not?	No, as the documentary target is not me and I am not particularly interested in the subject matter as I will not be able to relate to it and doesn't reference anything I find interesting although it does have many hooks and it is intentionally vague and leaves a lot of questions unanswered making viewers want to watch more.

Research 2:

 

Documentary Opening 2: (What jennifer did)
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	I expect this documentary to be about the dark side of an everyday person as shown in the title where a woman’s picture is split with one half being her smiling and another what seems to be a mugshot The color red is used which connotes danger and eerie as well the picture quality is grainy which connotes a sense of mystery as it uses real film. According to conventions of  a crime documentary, I expect to see crime scene photos of mysterious violent crimes such as murder or assault and interviews of victims or police officers or other people involved.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	Teenagers as they are depicted in the show and as well may also find this interesting as they can see themselves in Jennifer's shoes. They used real cctv footage which showed jennifer in a high angle which means that she is shown as weak and vulnerable this is again supported as she is crying They used real cctv footage from the interview between jennifer and the detective this makes the documentary seem more real and makes the audience more focused Flashbacks to the 911 call which intersects with the detective taking a statement this helps with the story telling of the documentary as it shows the 911 call and as well shows us what she is like currently in the detectives office. Risers and Dramatic SFX which complement the documentary making it more intense and suspenseful.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not?	No, as the subject matter does not interest me and I don't find the messages and meaning relevant.

Research 3:

 

Documentary Opening 3:(Deadly American Marriage)
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	I think the documentary will be about domestic abuse and possibly a murder. The thumbnail shows a wedding picture of a seemingly happy couple which contrasts the title which shows us the dark side of their marriage.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	Adults as it has graphic scenes of blood and features a sensitive topic which is of domestic abuse. Real High angle of a CCTV footage of a police interview makes the documentary look and feel more real as of course it's using real footage and also helps immerse the audience into the situation as if they were there which helps them want to keep watching. Blood this connotes that there was violence of some kind and in this case a murder this also has the effect of grounding the situation and making us be able to better understand the weight of the situation at hand as real photos of blood can be triggering for some individuals. The documentary cuts from real footage to the detective this helps the watcher get more exposition and a first person account of the drama which helps give the viewer information and additional context in an interesting way. They used the real 911 call footage in the documentary this makes the documentary more realistic and thus immerses the audience even more into the documentary.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not?	No because the subject matter doesn't interest me and as well I am not the target audience of this documentary.

Research 4:

 

Documentary Opening 4:(The Puppet Master)
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	I think this documentary will be about a master manipulator and what they have done to trick, hurt or manipulate  their victims. The thumbnail shows a red line detective board with connotes a mystery or a search which hints of what the documentary is about hunting a con man. I expect maybe for there to be an interview of the victims to get an idea on who he is and what he did exactly.
After You Watch
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	I expect it to be fans of true crime which range from adult to late teens. In the interview a medium close shot is used that pulls the audience into the documentary and makes them feel as if they were in the room with them this mixed with the shots of the crew and behind the scenes which also add to the realism. As for mise en scene a lot of the scenes had low key lighting this has the connotation of mystery and adds to the theme of hunting for a conman and as well the darker tones and conventions of this genre The documentary tends to cut to seemingly random B Roll shots in a dark tone that adds a mysterious element to the documentary and helps build the pacing and the tone. Which as well I may apply to my documentary as it is a cheap easy way to add more footage but still add to the theme and tone. The dialogue “who else could have done this too” connotes that their may have been other victims this acts as an unanswered question or a hook to attract and make the audience attached.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not?	Yes as the before mentioned hook is very appealing and as well as the topic is something i find interesting and to be honest I do feel at the edge of my seat as a lot of questions remain unanswered.

Research 5:

Documentary Opening 5:(Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief )
Before You Watch
Look only at the thumbnail and title. What are your expectations for the documentary? What are the connotations of the image, font, colour, or title? What do you expect to see or hear in the opening?	The thumbnail shows the scientology building with palm trees on the top so i expect this documentary about the goings and the exploits and the crimes of the church of scientology. The building is shown in a low angle which makes it seem tall and powerful connoting the influence and power scientology has on its followers. I expect to see interviews of ex or current scientology members who can give inner insight of the inner workings of scientology.
Who is the target audience? Why do you think so? Give one example of each and explain the meaning: Camera: Mise-en-scène: Editing: Sound:	I think the target audience is those who are interested in the workings of scientology and want to learn more about it and maybe for adults as there might be a lot of sensitive topics such as manipulation, murders, kidnapping and other such things. Close ups are used to show the details of the electronic devices such as crocodile clips connected to metal and a meter of some sort that puts the viewers attention on the electronics and makes them wonder what it is used for. The scene shows a bunch of thingamabob electronics that connotes that they may have been experimenting on the followers or using it to somehow mind control them to join. Or could be one big placebo telling them that it's used for something but it isn't to deceive the followers. This as well makes the viewer wonder about the use of the electronics As for editing they used quick cuts to transition between the b-roll of the electronic devices which connotes a sense of tension and urgency which makes the viewer feel alert and makes the pace faster. They overlay various dialogues of various individuals that have been affected by scientology and this connotes that scientology has affected a large number of people as compared to if only one individual had dialogue in the scene. This as well makes the viewer realise the impact scientology has on many people and makes them wonder the extent of scientologies reach.
Would you continue watching? Why/Why not?	Yes I  would continue watching as the subject matter is something I find interesting and as well my media project is on a particular subject matter so I will be using this for reference/inspiration for my documentary. I also find the artsy style unique, indie and interesting.

    

                    

Research into other media and Representations of cults

The main media type I consume so when making this I took some inspiration from games I've played that involve cults.

Far cry 5 (video game) 2018

Far cry 5 opening follows the style of a documentary and quite frankly is the inspiration behind our documentary as it features cults, a man infiltrating and getting captured, interviews and others so this game was actually a big inspiration for us making the documentary. Although we made alot of changes as this is a game so it is not live action and backgrounds and movements can all be digitally produced and as well they had a large budget so we had to adapt it to make it simpler and easier to produce.

Assassin's Creed Oddeysey (Video Game) - 2018

 This was the inspiration for the cult we liked their mysticism and their mystery but as it is in ancient Greece we decided to adapt them to a more modern context.

Tree and connections of cultist

 This is the inspiration behind "The Shepherd" this is Deimos or Cassandra she is strong assertive intimidating and respected or feared.

 

Weekly Progress

This blog documents the weekly progress I've made on the Documenatry project.

Stage	Week	Blogpost No.	Blopost Name	Description of Blogpost
Pre-Production	W1	1	Brief	Description of the brief, embed powerpoint
	W2	2	Plan & Weekly Progress	A weekly journal that is updated at the end pf each week. Contains a list of what you do, problems, solutions, and a to-do list
		3	Team	Your team + Links ot their blogs
		4	Research	Research into relevant documentary openings of the same genre (crime)
	W3	5	Statement of Intent	Proposal for the details of your project. Final product, target audience etc
		6	Storyboard & Script/Screenplay	Scene by scene storyboard
	W4	7	Location Scout & Risk Assessment	Possible shooting locations, risk assessment table
		8	Filming Schedule	Schedule of when you will film, what locations, and what you need to prepare
Production	W5	9	Behind the Scenes	Images of the shoot. What problems did you face in the shooting day, how did you overcome them? What was everyones role on the day?
Post-Production	W6	10	Thumbnail (Research & Development)	Research into similar thumbnails. Development of own ideas.
	W7	11	Editing Process	How did you edit? Challenges, solutions
		12	Critical Reflection	Self Reflection Essay
	W8
		13	Final (Submission)	Final doc, thumbnail

Week: 2

In this week we had been assigned our team and even though our teacher wanted us to be in teams with diffrent people but luckily enough I got two of my past teammates so I think its going to go well. Aswell we had been informed that we would be making the first 3-5 minute of a crime documentary. To be honest I'm not quite enthusiastic about this topic as I'm not particularly intrested in this topic. Aswell we watched 2 documentaries in class which conrtibuted into our research.

Week: 3

In week 3 we had decided on what crime we would make this documentary about and put it in our statement of intent. We want to make a documentary about an illigal cult that has a history of making journalist disapear and stopping people that critisize it among other conspiracies.

Week: 4

In this week I began to create the screenplay for my documentary and aswell me and my group finalized the idea for the documnetary and we have a clear consies image of the shots and the sequences. My group member kenzo aswell with this knowledge has began to do the story board for the firsts scenes and we also had decided on where to shoot the documentary and the interviews within.

Week:5

In this week, we continued our screenplay and story board and aswell madea  filming schedule. I think we will begin schooting soon especially after our screen play is completed. Right now we need to find actors props/ costumes (cloaks masks ) lighting ( but I think we wanna use candles). we have also been deciding on roles to give each other when filming.

Week:6

In this week we began planning for our CRs. To be honest I prefer the old ccrs as the new essay format feels mundane and boring but I think it will be more streamlined as we didnt have to make so many diffrent types of media to answer our ccrs this week we also began shooting the interviews scenes I think it went well but theres alot of retakes  so well have to filter the good ones.

Week: 7

This week I filmed the interview scenes for the documentary however the videos ended up grainy and lacks detail so I may want to reshoot or preferably find another solution. As well we had begun our classwork post and flled up our filming schcedule as we planned to shoot again on thursday-friday about the cult scene. The shooting was cancelled as we weren't able to get costumes and one of our group members got sick. I think well have to find an alternative and work around our sick teammate.

Week:8 

In this week we had to submit our project but thankfully our teacher extended the deadline by a day which saved us immensly as our team mate was sick for almost the whole week so the other group members had to cover for her but she did come in clutch when making the thumbnail .as well we had shot our footage really late so this is the week we did editting aswell and we even had to record some extra scenes such as the drone operator and the cult house. overall this was week was just really stressful as we had to cram everything in a short time frame.

My Team

 This is my Team for the documentary project.

Kenzo: https://kenzo-regentsmedia.blogspot.com

Maha: https://maha-regentsmedia.blogspot.com

Lamiya: https://miya-regentsmedia.blogspot.com

Gusde: https://gus-regentsmedia.blogspot.com

Brief

 This is the brief for the documentary project

Final Movie Intro

 This is my Final movie film

In Case the embed dosen't work use this link

Creative Critical Reflection 4

 This is my response to the Creative Critical Reflection 4 question

This is the link to the original poster

Critical Creative Reflection 3

 This is my response to the CCR3 Question

This is the link to the original poster

Creative Critical Reflection 2

 This is my response to the CCR2 question.

This is the Link to the original poster

This is the Audio Clip for the poster

TRANSCRIPT:

CCR two, how does your product engage with audiences, and How would it be distributed as a real media text?

Firstly, demographic. We chose age from 17 to 54, 17 as it was the minimal age rating for these age movies with due to our violence, we will go on to age ratings later. 54 is a number I calculated because we used a song called living on a prayer, which was released in 1986 so we did 54 as their age, when the song good came out was around 16. We also chose a primarily male audience. As action movies usually cater towards those with violence and with a lot of violence, blood action, which primarily are enjoyed by men, as well as a majority of our characters  are male. And as for occupation, we for the younger people. We targeted students, and for the older people, we targeted blue collar workers and white collar workers. So this is a movie that basically everyone could enjoy, besides for some niche people who are uninterested for nationality, we wanted to target this towards Southeast Asian people, because all our actors South Asian and all the writers are but also we wanted to grasp a western audience. We can do this later by using dubs or subtitles similar to what Netflix does. 

As for psychographic we chose for our interests, motorcycling, gaming and martial arts, because these were prominently featured in our opening with the first season motorcycling, with the gaming elements being the fighting and, of course, the martial arts too, for the values and beliefs of our psychographic, a lot of our teams go around justice and revenge, where, maybe, when doing revenge, you don't really work out as it would like in John Wick film. And also, we want to target fans of a similar movie such as John Wick, as we took a lot of inspiration from them as our personality, we want them to be drill seekers and adrenaline junkies. So because we have a lot of exciting scenes with the motorcycles and over the top action,

As for our age rating, this film will be R rated or seven in the US and 17 plus in Indonesia, this is due to the violent actions, the blood on the characters faces the although this movie does use teenagers to as the actors, but this is usually find in an outrage in movie as movies such as Deadpool have prominently used teenage actors for movie roles.

for marketing distribution. We want to use YouTube ads Instagram as well as Instagram ads as these are very accessible to people, especially to young people, who always look at their phones, look at their social medias, look at their youtubes. So this can help us target a younger audience, to a younger to like millennial audience always checks on their phones and sees this ad, and after seeing it as well, this actually we targeted to specific people, so we know that it will have a higher success rate. We will also want to do cast interviews on TV shows, or like late night TV shows. This will this will also help use the cast personality to make the movie more interesting and attract more customers, more viewers, especially older ones who still watch TV, and those can also be uploaded to YouTube, which can also be used to target the younger audiences.

 Our production company will be Lionsgate as we took a lot of inspiration, as we took a lot of inspiration from John Wick movies and Lionsgate was a pretty big part in that, as well as our movies are very similar, they will, of course, know how to produce it and maybe give us some tips on how to market and distribute it properly as to make it. Successful, like a Java movie.

 for exhibition, we will first release it on theaters. For our local example, it's XXI, and for our western example, it's AMC theaters. These are basically your bog standard, the golden the golden standard of theaters. We will first show these there for like, one or two weeks, months, maybe depends on interest, and then sometime later, we will probably release, we release this film on Netflix so people can be able to stream it on demand whenever they want. 

Creative Critical Reflection 1

 This is my response to the Creative Critical Reflection 1 question

CCR1 This is the link to the original presentation

Media Language

 This is an analysis of the Media language I used in my film opening

 

	Camera - Extreme Long Shot: We used an Extreme Long shot to show Mark Choi Riding his bike towards the Boss’s House. This made him seem isolated and alone as he is a lone wolf who is after revenge from the Boss who had wronged him as well it made him seem stronger as he doesn't need help from anyone. The extreme long shot as well helped show the Boss’s house and how big it is which connotes that he is very rich and powerful.
	Comedy - Parody Celebrity Names This was originally a placeholder from the editing process but we stuck to it as it added to the comedy of the film opening. As well it acts as a cultural code as these names reference popular celebrities and only people that recognize these celebrities will get the joke. For example Candra Hemsworth is a parody of popular australian actor Chris Hemsworth.
	Diegetic sound - Dialogue: Here the Mafia Boss says “So we meet again, Mark Choi.” after recognizing Mark after he enters the room. This connotes that this isn't the first time they've met and this as well acts as a hermeneutic code as the audience wonder where and how they’ve met before was it on good terms bad terms etc. and makes them also think about the relation between Mark Choi and the Mafia Boss.
	Mise en Scene - Boss’s Office Scene: When we first see the Boss we get this striking impression of him; he is sitting in this relaxed way with his legs up; this connotes that he is not afraid of Mark Choi and is calm and nonchalant. Behind him is hung up cloth similar to a Japanese Noren but with Balinese motifs this acts as a cultural code as only people familiar with these motifs will know that the Boss is actually Balinese. As well the motif/symbol on the cloth is the crest of the organization as traditionally shop keepers added their family crest or shop names on the noren. As well the table cloth on the Boss’s table is Red and gilded with gold accents this is a symbolic code of the Boss’s opulence and luxury and the red could also represent the bloodshed he had committed throughout the years and he leads a criminal organisation. On the table also lies another status symbol the orchid in many cultures orchids are known to represent good tastes and wealth. The Boss also enjoys a glass of liquor this makes him more manly and follows genre conventions of a criminal boss as they often sip from an alcoholic beverage.
	Comedy - Door Opening In these shots we wanted to create a comedic scene where Mark fails to open a door which contrasted the previous shots where Mark was shown as this confident, powerful and cool character riding bikes and climbing up walls and yet he seems to struggle to open the door. This as well connotes that Mark might not be the sharpest tool in the shed though he has brawn he may be lacking in the brain. In combination with editing and sound where the song abruptly stops which brings attention to this scene and may even be a silly fourth wall break again adding to the comedy of this shot.
	Low angle Long Shot Silhouette In this shot Mark is walking down confidently down the corridor. The use of the low angle made Mark look more powerful and menacing whilst the long shot was used to show Mark’s movements (Walk) in his environment (balcony Corridor) and the silhouette acted to conceal Mark's identity making the audiences ponder this character's identity as a hermeneutic code.
	Editing - Cut to Black: This cut to black happens in the perspective of Mark and implies that Mark has been knocked out and lost the fight. This sudden loss is also a surprise to the audience as Mark has always been represented as strong and confident and shown in low angles but now the roles have been reversed and now the boss is shown as the one in power and shown with a low angle. As Well, as this subverts common action movie tropes where the protagonist defeats the antagonist this adds to the audiences surprise which may make them want to keep watching to see what happens.
	Close up, High angle: Here we used a close up to focus the audience's attention on Mark Choi’s bloody wounds and pained facial expressions and in combination with the high angle paints Mark in a weak position as he is cornered and about to be defeated. This also contrasts previous representations of Mark as he is usually shown as confident and powerful using low angles but now he is weak and defeated.
	Pan to Reveal Boss To add more intrigue and mystery we used a pan to slowly move the camera to the right to reveal the antagonist. This also is a hermeneutic code and made the audience be filled with suspense as they wonder of the true identity of the antagonist. This suspense also has the effect of making audiences more hooked and thus want to keep watching.
	Editing - Cut to Beat Cutting to black screens on beat adds tension and builds suspense similar to strobe light or rolling drums in a dance track and as well the on beat cutting makes the cuts seams uniform and immersive as we expect a change every bar. As for song selection we choose Livin on a Prayer by Bon Jovi. It is a hit song and easily recognizable. It is also a hard rock song meaning it had a lot of energy with drums and electric guitars which made it perfect for a fight scene. As well this may attract fans of the song to watch the movie.
	Editing: Fast Cuts during Fight Scene Fast Cuts add energy into the scenes and makes the scene feel faster and allows for more camera angles and perspectives which make the shoot more dynamic.

New Research: Title Cards

This is a blogpost showcasing our research on title cards of movies.

These videos are compilations of diffrent movie title cards, they give an idea of how movie title cards look like and how they are presented.

These are title cards which are from movie that we share a genre with.