Evaluation Blog

http://danhenshallmediaevaluation.blogspot.com/

The above link will take you to my evaluation blog.

-Dan

Main Task

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP0VFzip0R4

The above link is to my Main task which I have uploaded to YouTube. The task was to create the opening scenes to a film of any genre. I chose to go for the horror genre, mostly because I enjoy films from that genre, so I had a reasonably good idea of what a new film should be like. Again, I starred in the film because I had an idea of exactly how I wanted the character to react, and explaining precise movements directions to an actor can be stressful for both parties. I did then, of course, have the problem of directing the cameraman, ensuring he filmed the shots I required. Thankfully, most of the shots were filmed in the first couple of takes which kept spirits high, and moods good. Another problem with casting someone else would be convincing them to drink water from a dog bowl, and eat coffee etc. Neither of those were particularly enjoyable tasks, so forcing them onto someone else didn't seem appropriate. The basic plot is that an unassuming young man goes to a medical facility, "Medicon", thinking that he's helping test a new Anti-Cancer drug. However, the company are actually just after Human guinea-pigs for their twisted tests. When the man returns home, he drinks a beer which unfortunately reacts with unforeseen consequences...

-Dan

Preliminary Task

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwpFYwMqr_A

The above link is to my Preliminary task which I have uploaded to YouTube. The task was to make a short film to demonstrate the 180 degree rule, and it was suggested that I do a conversation between two people at a table. However, not one to follow convention, I decided to twist it slightly and make it a one-way conversation between myself and my guinea pig. Although I didn't film it myself, I directed it all and told the cameraman exactly what I wanted him to shoot. There was two min reasons why I didn't film it myself, the first was that I wanted the character to seem as odd, and deranged as I could, which happen to be qualities that I have been told that I (unfortunately) possess. The second reason was that as I own the guinea pig in the video, I know how much stress he can deal with, and despite shouting in his face, he was fine after a few minutes.

-Dan

Real Media inspirations

I went through many ideas when deciding what to do for my film, and several real media productions influenced me, some of them subconsciously.

The first is "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World" (2010) The film is the story of a young man, Scott Pilgrim, who must defeat seven evil exes in order to win the heart of the new girl in town, Ramona Flowers. The link that this film has to my own is the video-game "vibe" that it gives off. The whole film is full of over-the-top fight scenes, with combo-meters and coins appearing rather often. I've included the idea of "Lives" being used up whenever the character does something negative towards their health.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446029/

The second film I have taken some inspiration from is "Crank" (2006) The Anti-hero, Chev Chelios, is a hitman who is given a lethal mix of chemicals which will kill him if he doesn't get a near-constant supply of adrenaline. He tries everything from cocaine, to having sexual intercourse in a crowded market. Although my film doesn't contain anything quite so drastic, I have created a homage to the film with my own unexpected actions. (See "Issues with props" post)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479884/

The final movie which has definitely had an influence on y own production is "Resident Evil" (2002) Based on a videogame, the plot follows the releasing of the "T-virus" into an underground facility by a rogue agent at the "Umbrella corporation". The virus turns the scientists from the facility into flesh-eating zombies, which must be destroyed. My own film has a twisted medical company using citizens as their guinea-pigs to test their chemicals, and the main character eventually ends up becoming a sub-human creature.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120804/

Despite the four year gap between each film, they all offer something which I have managed to use for my own production as a sort of collaboration.

-Dan

Issues with props

In one of the scenes in my film, my character has to drink soap. Obviously this isn't particularly practical as drinking soap would have a rather severe negative impact on my health, so I found a believable substitute. Thankfully, the sports drink "Powerade" is almost an exact match in colour to "Carex" anti-bacterial handwash. This successfully solved the issue of having to ingest toxic chemicals without compromising on the quality of the film.

-Dan

Copyright issues

One issue that came up pretty early on with my coursework was the possible problem of Copyright infringement. By using branded items in my production I could potentially get into trouble with the companies being represented. In school my teacher was mentioning about how "Coca-Cola" had signed a deal with the "X Factor" recently, which now allowed them to show the coke logo live on TV on the judge's table, as a form of product placement. My teacher then suggested that I could try and imitate product placement myself. This hopefully should be a solution to my problem.

-Dan

Introduction

Hi, my name's Dan Henshall, and I study AS Media at Marlwood School. This blog is where I shall be recording all of the information regarding my coursework.

I hope you enjoy reading about it as much as I have creating it!

-Dan