A Late Quartet: Case Study

Key Terminology

As an introduction to Section B of the exam and to prepare us for the upcoming course, our teacher went through the key terminology that we need to know in order to understand and excel in this area of the examination in Summer…

• Horizontal Integration: is an example of a partnership model. Companies which are on the same level of the industry, merge together in order to succeed. In the world of media, an example of this would be two production companies coming together to create a film.
• Vertical Integration: The term to describe larger companies in control of every aspect of their business. An example of this is Apple because they own each aspect involved within production, distribution and consumption of their company; this has given them huge power and success.
• Theatrical Exhibition: When films were in the beginning stages, they were shown in theatres as these were the most practical areas for a large number of people to watch something on a screen. From this, cinemas are often referred to as ‘Movie Theatres’. Theatrical Exhibition is simply a term for the displaying of films in a cinema/theatre.
• Non-Theatrical Exhibition: The term used to describe watching a film from any source, except at a cinema or theatre. An example of this could be watching a film on Netflix on your mobile phone as this is not taking place in a cinema/theatre.
• Guerilla Filmmaking: A way of making an independent film using props and equipment to a low budget. The term covers the idea that in the modern day and age, with more common and improved technology, anyone could make a film.
• Technological Convergence: The term to describe existing technologies coming together to create an edited and more up to date technology.
• Symbiosis: When companies come together in order to receive benefits for both parties involved.
• Synergy: The term to describe two or more companies coming together in order to achieve a goal or objective that they could not have achieved independently.
• Technological Disruption: Where a new technology is so much better than the old technology and so ruins/replaces the previous version. An example of this is when in 2007 Apple introduced their first iPhone; this day caused chaos for companies such as Blackberry and Nokia as everyone wanted the new and improved technology.
• Media Ownership: The term used to describe the process of owning and delivering multi-media.
• Media Conglomerates: The term to describe the larger companies that control everything. An example of this is Fox in America as this company holds huge control over the nation.
• Concentration of Ownership: When larger companies buy smaller companies resulting in the majority of things being owned by said larger companies.
• Targeted Advertising: Where advertising is chosen specifically for the audience seeing it. For example, an advert for a new toy or Disney film on a children’s television channel or programme as the product involved has a target audience of the people watching the specific channel/programme.
• Un-Targeted Advertising: Advertising that is not directed at a specific target audience. An example of this could be a poster at a bus stop or a billboard on the streets.
• Cross Media Ownership/Convergence: A term to describe when a larger company owns various different media products, for example Disney.
• “The Big Six”: The six main companies that control everything…

• Distribution: The act of getting a film to the audience.
• Exhibition: The showing of a film to the audience, for example a cinema.
• “The Lionsgate Twenty”: The $20 million spent on advertising.

Evaluation Task Number 7…

Evaluation Task Number 6…

Evaluation task 6 from MilliePearce

Evaluation Task Number 5…

Evaluation Task Number 3…

Evaluation Task Number 2…

Evaluation Task Number 1…

Colour Palette…

Initially, Emelia and I had planned to include a cold and negative colour palette in our film opening. We planned to mix a cold colour palette with a dark colour palette in attempt to create an uncomfortable and foreboding tone for our thriller film. However, when editing (and with the opinion of our classmates and teachers), Emelia and I have decided not to add a colour palette. We have chosen not to do this because the brightness of our shots are aesthetically pleasing. Also, the colouring does not look as though it has come straight off of a camera as Emelia and I had initially thought it would! As well as this, Emelia and I do not believe that a cold and dark colour palette would fit in with the innocent nature and tone of the beginning of the opening. For all of these reasons, plus many more, we have decided not to add a constant colour palette to our film opening.

However, I felt as though we should incorporate something to do with this since we had researched into it. I also felt as though we could do something with the colour to fit the emotions being felt by the young girl in an attempt to allow the audience to empathise with her. Because of this, with the help of one of my teachers, towards the end of the film opening the colour gradually turns to a cold and dark palette. The colours involved are based around blues and purples. These colours intensify as the negative emotions of the young girl would in real life up until they reach their most intense pigmentation at the point where the young girl sees her dead mother. I have included this into the end of our film opening because I feel as though it helps the audience to see what has happened through the young girls eyes and so allows them to feel more emotionally involved. However, I was worried that this gradual increase in opacity of negative colours would make it look as though I made a mistake with lighting when filming. Because of this, I showed the class and asked for opinions on whether to keep it or not. However, when showing the class this, Emelia and I received various positive points of feedback. Because of this, we decided to leave it in.

Feedback on Editing…

Throughout the editing process, Emelia and I showed our teachers and classmates our film opening so far. Each time, we received constructive criticism and also positive feedback that allowed us to fine-tune our opening. With the feedback being from so many different people, Emelia and I hoped that we could perfect our film opening due to the range of suggestions. Some of these suggestions included…

• Audio: Our diegetic sound was not consistent throughout our opening. This was because the volumes varied too much and so to fix this Emelia and I had to note down which volumes were too high or too low and had to alter them . For example, towards the beginning of the opening the young girl is shown to be opening the blinds. At first, the sound of the blinds opening was way too loud and so we had to turn this down. On the other hand, there were some diegetic sounds that we wanted exaggerated such as the footsteps crunching in the leaves; this is because this creates tension and depth into the shot.
• Time Frames: In our opening we show the young girl making breakfast. However, we include the shot of her putting the toast in the toaster immediately followed by the shot of her taking it out already toasted. Our classmates said that this confused them slightly as it does not take that short amount of time to toast bread! In order to get over this, I added a fade. This indicates time passing and so brings back a sense of time to the opening. I also added in a fade in-between the two shots of the young girl retrieving the tray as the immediate change of her walking direction also put off people. Once again, the fade displays the passing of time.
• Direction of Steps: In the outside scene, Emelia and I included various shots of the young girl’s feet walking. From feedback, it was clear that two of these shots were filmed the wrong way around in order for the opening to make complete sense. Although we could not go and film again, this could be easily rectified as we could simply flip the shots. When showing our film opening to the class after doing so, people agreed that it looked correct and made sense.
• Length of Opening: Emelia and I started out with a lot of footage, if not too much! Because of this, our 2 minute opening was looking as if it was going to be around the 4 minute mark. We needed to cut down drastically and so looked for advice into which parts to cut. We were advised not to include so many different angles of the same shot and not to have shots of unnecessary things. We were then advised to cut down the individual clips so that the film opening would flow more.
• Non Diegetic Sound: In our penultimate screening, it was suggested that Emelia and I turned up our non diegetic soundtrack slightly as in some places you could not hear it due to the exaggerated diegetic sounds. This was not hard to change but changed the tone of our film opening quite heavily… however, Emelia and I feel as though it changed it for the better.

As well as constructive criticism, the class gave us positive feedback. Overall, they liked the brightness of our shots and stated that the opening made perfect sense. However, the aspect that received the most feedback was on our final shot. People asked how we created it and when we explained they were fairly intrigued and impressed. Overall, Emelia and I were extremely grateful for the feedback given to us from our classmates and teachers. It allowed us to have various characters viewing our film and also allowed a fresh eye to pick out the silly mistakes that we may have missed from watching close up on the small screen. With this feedback, Emelia and I hope to create a professional film opening to be proud of!