Researching Professional Example Sequence:

Above is an example of the opening two-minute sequence from the film, Se7en. The purpose of observing this clip was to gain ideas for our own opening two-minute sequence. Also to enhance our own knowledge.

We took note of distinct aspects from this sequence that we thought would 'fit the bill' for our sequence. In addition, the group as a whole agreed for this two-minute sequence to be our aspirational succession. 

Completed Survey:

This time around the group and I had to produce a questionnaire/survey regarding our opening two-minute scene. The purpose of this was to gain important feedback from individuals and their views on the thriller genre (our group's chosen genre). In addition, we believe this will give us, as a whole, a lot more guidance towards producing the two-minute entry - as we can observe what elements the audience prefers/likes about thriller films.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7PGRGVV - here is the link to our group's completed survey.

Editing Footage and Beginning Survey:

This lesson, two of our group members, including me, began to edit the filming that we produced throughout last week on the Apple Mac - whereas the other two group members started to produce the questionnaire for our principal opening two-minute film entry.

However, me and another group member were briefly given an overview of how to edit our footage via the Apple Mac - once the explanation had finished, we began to get the hang of it and accomplished a pretty decent job editing the material. On the other hand, we wanted to include some CGI within our footage, just to make it that little bit special - and we started to experiment with certain aspects and features that the Apple Mac provided... It was harder then we thought!

Finally, our other two members of our group made steady progress on producing the questionnaire - as they had to create 10 distinctive questions which were significant for our two-minute entry.

Gratifications Theory, Reception Analysis, Open and Closed Meaning:

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Gratifications Theory:
On the left, you can see a diagram of Gratifications Theory. This is an approach to understanding why people actively seek out specific media outlets and content for fulfilment purposes. The theory will not only meets a given necessity, but increase intelligence, social physics and diversion. Moreover, the physiological division is the most important; the things of which the us as humans need the most - then safety comes second, love/belonging third, esteem fourth and then actualization last.

Stuart Hall.

Reception Analysis - Dominant, Hegemonic:
On the left hand side is Stuart Hall. Stuart Hall detailed that  texts have preferred meanings, however the decoder will not always fully understand or read them as the intended idea by the producer - and this is because everybody has different social and cultural backgrounds. On the other hand, texts that are meant to correspond hegemony will be encoded so that they are simply deciphered and understood by a figure audience. 

Umberto Eco.

Open and Closed Meaning - Encoder, Decoder:
On the left hand side is Umberto Eco. Umberto Eco said that texts aimed at a big audience will be encoded so that the majority of the audience can only decode a preferred of significant meaning - this is known as a closed text. On the other hand, open texts are something of many meanings, or is purposely ambiguous, which can only be understood in different ways by a numerous of different audience significances.

Old Theories:

This lesson was more theoretical rather than practical. The class as a whole had to comprehend the aspects of Understanding the Audience.

Within this, we were informed about what was called 'Old Theories'. In addition to this, there are three theories of which make this up, and these are:

• Syringe Theory - the media text injects ideas directly into it's audience, of whom then soak the ideas without complaint.
• Desensitisation Theory - The more the audience see of a certain thing, the more the audience think that it is 'normal'. Also, if the audience were to watch a lot of violence, they are more likely to be violent.
• Sensitisation Theory - If the audience were to see the effects of a bad action, for example: masses of blood from a shooting, the audience are more likely to think of the consequences of actually doing it themselves.

In addition to this, these theories treat the audience as the mass, that will all react in a exact similar way. However, this is clearly not true of today's audience, and was arguably not true at the time as well. On the other hand, more modern theories try to observe the relationship with the audience on a more individual foundation.

Finalising Filming - Looking Ahead:

During lesson three the group was determined to finalise the finishing touches to our opening scene. Time was imperative for this group, however we were not going to let it interfere with the group's filming  and acting qualities. Our group were determined to make our footage superior to others in our class - we wanted it to be at a high-quality. Ultimately, we managed to finish filming and acting the loose-ends that needed to be touched up.

Subsequently, in the near future our group hope to situate the footage on the Apple Mac computer. In addition, the whole purpose of placing the filming that our group accomplished onto the Apple Mac is to edit the footage and to remove unwanted oddments. 

Furthermore, after our group finalised our filming, we began to plot our ideas and thoughts to what we believe will be the most effective for our focal opening two-minute film entry. Additionally, the group and I had to decide what genre would be the most effectual and successful on our filming and acting techniques. After a positive discussion, we decided to concur with the genre, thriller - however we agreed that there could be elements of horror included.

Afterwards, the group observed different passages of the opening two-minutes from different films, all of which were the genre of thriller. However, the whole purpose and idea of this was to gain an awareness of the importance of how our own opening scene should be acted and filmed.

Beginning to Film:

Finished Storyboard

Me and Dan on the camera.

During this lesson our group finished planning our overall storyboard for the opening two-minute extract. (As you can see above, on the right hand side, is our group's finished article). In addition to this, within the finalised storyboard, there are a variety of different camera angles because we all agreed to be experimental and put our filming and acting abilities to the test.  

Furthermore, we eventually started to film for our opening two-minute extract. Our group consists of four students; two of which were on the camera and two of which were the actors (I was the main camera-man - as you can see above, on the left hand side, there is a picture of me and another group member). I thought we made steady, effective progress at the beginning, despite having a short duration of time to film and act. We didn't manage to conclude what we aimed to do, therefore we will be eager to finalise our work in the next lesson.