Permission to use licensed music - Harrison Marlow

In order to use a licensed piece of music in our A-Level Project we had to email the record company which leased the song 'Too Old To Die Young' by 'Brother Dege' on the 'Django Unchained Original Soundtrack' from the record company 'Republic Records'. In order to use the piece i asked permission to use the song;

Malevolence - Planning

The Script 

[George is seen walking down the street towards the camera, he is wearing a long black coat and his face is obscured by darkness, a voice over reads]

George Frost:

I’ve always been obsessed with symmetry, from a young age I hated things being out of place or unbalanced, if things are unbalanced, I am unbalanced.

[Cuts to guys on the ground begging.]

Guy:

No! Please stop!

[Back to George in the street]

George Frost:

It’s been 21 years, and ever since it happened I’ve had this niggling, pain in the back of my head. Every… single... day.

it’s time to restore the balance… I need to restore the balance.

[Cut to George’s friend’s house where they appear to be mid argument.]

Guy:

You can’t do this, George. He’s too powerful.

[Back to George on the street again.]

George Frost:

He killed my family, he framed me, he took everything from me, and now… well now I’m going to take it from him.

My name is George Frost, and I am malevolent.

Story Boards 

Game Cover Design 

Questionnaire and Results

Video Game 

Questionnaire 
and Results

 

 

 

1.Are there any game trailers that you have found particulary memorable, if so which?

This question found that some of the main memorable trailers were quite dramatic heavy action trailers often leaving normally one of the protagonists in some sort of danger or peril such as ‘Uncharted 2 – Among Thieves’ where we see the protagonist ‘Nathan Drake’ waking from being unconscious in a train wreck with him losing a lot of blood from a wound to his stomach. Game companies use this as a drip feed effect for the audience and the fans of the series, leaving the fans wondering what happened to their favourite characters.  

 

2.Which gender would you expect the protagonist of a video game to be?


All of the results were for a male lead, this suggests to me that a large proportion of the gaming community prefer a male protagonist, this could be because when they play the game they feel like they are the guy who they're playing as.

 

 

3. What do you understand about the 'Action Role Playing Game' genre and it's conventions?

Out of all of the participants in the observation 8/10 knew what sort of game an RPG is and what they believed was important about an RPG is exploration and adult themes and violence with the most important element a levelling system, this is so the better a player gets and the more hours they put into the game the better and stronger their character gets, a great example of an RPG would be ‘Fallout New Vegas’. They also pointed out that more of the better RPG’s are set in apocalyptic world where you have to really push yourself to carry on and not die, they said that an important part of an RPG would be that it has to be difficult but fun.


4.What themes would you expect to find in an action game rated 18?

Everyone said they would expect there to be heavy violence, with a dark narrative and even immature, rude or vulgar jokes (GTA/ Saints Row). But most people want a heavy dark storyline making sure that the character is relatable and makes the player question what they might do if they were plummeted into a much darker world than they currently know.

5.What genre of game do you enjoy playing?


The participants had a multiple choice here, they could all choose as many as applicable to their personal preference, all 10 participants ticked Action Adventure letting us know that clearly that they all love action games where they are the hero, this could be because it opens up a world that would be improbable in real life and would be impossible to reach, the next choice with the top marks was Racing which means i at least need drivability in the game, like 'GTA' style open world where the player can race around in a car at stupid speeds doing stupid things, RPG was the next highest choice clearly showing that they like the ideas of exploration, from the choices given it is transparent that all of the applicants want a good free-roam RPG with driving, possible random encounters and challenges.

 6.Do you prefer a game to be Linier or Sandbox?

A majority of the people said they preferred a Sandbox game rather than a Linier purely because of the exploration, but some participants preferred Linier for the story, so it would be a good choice to take elements from both and incorperate both elements into one game.

7.What percentage of action to story do you prefer in a game?

In total after some scientific calculations it turns out that 41% should be action and the other 59% should be story driven which personally I agree with, this means the game could have a great story and enough action to keep you into the game and feeling like a badass in certain points also really connecting you to the characters in the game and making you care for them. 

8.What kind of protagonist are you drawn to?

The most checks went to a Relatable everyday guy, that’s been forced into a world that he usually wouldn’t know, a world that he doesn’t understand but her still goes through it because he feels responsible for some reason or he’s doing it for some sort of cause (Lee Everett – The Walking Dead). The next top choice was for a cocky character, the ‘Nathan Drake’ of sorts, he knows the severity of the situation but he still makes jokes in order the intimidate his opponent or even just lighten the atmosphere for the company he travels with. The last most important element to a protagonist is that they are Heroic, if the player is given a choice between right and wrong they would feel obliged to go for the good because they want to feel like that character and feel accepted by the NPC’s in the game.   


9.What age do you like a protagonist of a game to be?  

The main choice of age of video game characters are middle aged, I suppose this is because it shows that they have lived a lot and have a lot of experience and even wisdom under their belt, and this is also an expected age of a Hollywood action hero to be. The next choice would be young adult where the character would likely have to learn the skills to become a stereotypical hero.

10. What is your favourite game of all time, and why?


The main genre of games chosen for favourite games were action adventure games such as ‘Uncharted – Drakes Fortune’ or the action RPG ‘Skyrim’ these two games alone sum up the answers as they both have the key elements that we are looking to put into a video game the action elements with the great story in both and the cockiness put forward by Nathan Drake with characters we get connected to in the same game Sully and Elena. And ‘Skyrim’ one of the largest games I’ve played with a crazy large map and the levelling up system where we slowly progress as a character and get stronger and stronger, and learning new skills to help you play through and finish the game. This is the proof of what sort of things we would have to put in out game, we’d have to make it open world with random encounters and optional quest lines or missions, with some hard choices to make which could in fact change the outcome of the game with characters that people need to make a connection with and even worry about or be upset if something happens to them.

 



Brain Storms

Music Video Idea

Song of the Century/21^st Century Breakdown  – Green Day

The screen is black and we see the lights fade in to see a man in a suit walking on the podium and tap a microphone and starts to sing into the microphone as if he is giving a speech making the audience believe he is addressing many people allowing us to think he is someone of high power e.g. The President or Prime minister.

The screen dips into black (Playing the intro piano part from the song) the screen fades back in as we see the same man who gave the speech standing in the same place on stage without the podium instead there is an SM58 microphone holding a ‘Epiphone les Paul Junior’ we can also see a drummer and bassist on stage and a second guitarist walks on stage behind him. As soon as they are on stage the music kicks off with the first strikes of the song. The music video would show the main guy’s life as he meets the rest of the band, there would be transitions from a performance based video to a story as the camera would fade in and out of his life and the performance.

The main premises of the story would be the difficulties in growing up in a 21^st Century society that’s full of war and crime and the knowing that no matter how much you would like to change the world there’s no way it can be done, it is also blaming politicians for crime and war and saying that it could be a way for the government to profit off the lives of people they are ruining or even the lives they are letting go to waste by sending them off to war.

The video would go through all of the members of the band as they grew up showing how one thing one law set by the government can ruin all of their lives in the same way, it would show them meeting up at a relatively young age and how they in fact end up running for office so they can present their song to the people of the world.

The video could also focus on the performing aspect which wouldn’t all be on stage it would in face be shot in different locations decollate and decrepit areas that look like they could be hit with financial struggle, wherever they all go they would all show clear examples of what is the 21^st Century Breakdown.

The song would end with them all onstage and as the camera dips to black with the piano outro the band would leave so at the end of the song a spotlight would focus on the lead man without the guitar wearing the suit back at the podium (which could be a twist he may not be important instead he could be in a court presenting his case to a judge if this is the case the last thing we would see in the music video would be the judges hammer hitting the table as the judge sends him away for however long.)

Documentary 

I.R.L

A Documentary about video game nerds and developers showing how video games are made and how people live who are considered stereotypical video game nerd and interviews with people in the street saying how they have no life and no friends although they live in a fantasy world with millions of other people all over the world all who literally have 1000's of lives, the documentary would also show how they live their everyday lives and how some people have made a career from playing video games becoming developers, professional players and even youtube partners.

Short Film 

Repetition

A phone rings we see someone answer it we don't see his face, just his hand and cut to an over the shoulder shot of him talking to someone over the phone we hear him say "Alright it'll be done" and he hangs up, the camera pans round revealing the man from a medium shot we see his face. He then goes into another room where he opens a cupboard revealing a safe and through a few match on actions we see him take a hand gun out of the safe and a magazine, we then see him load and cock the gun. we see him leaving the house he's living in and we see him getting into a car and driving off. 

We see our man pull up somewhere and get put of his car we see him looking at the target walking away, he shouts for the hit to stop. Upon hearing this command the target bolts down a back alley where he is being pursued and lead to a dead end by our assassin, the assassin starts to walk rather than run knowing he has lead the Hit down to a dead end.   

We see him walking through some back allies and go to a crane shot as we see a man in the distance, he appears to just be staring at a wall almost knowing he is at a Dead End that he seems to be willing to give up and let his pursuer kill him. 

The assassin raises his gun and pulls down the hammer for effect and states to his target simply "It's Over" the target turns around revealing that it is in fact the assassin and upon closer inspection we can see they are even wearing the same clothes, stunned the assassin drops his guard down giving the target enough time to draw a weapon and fire a shot at the chest of the assassin. The assassin drops to the ground with blood clearly starting to flow from him, with a dazed and terrified face as he starts bleeding out and dyeing. The target walks over to the assassin and looks at him with a stern face and states "This has been the Face of death for many, many people and now it's your turn to know the fear of seeing your face" the assassin lets out a single tear as he says "Who are you?" 

The Target simply replies with "Isn't it obvious i'm the same person as you, I'm the angel of death." we see the assassin lay there and let out a smile just before he passes away, We then see the target pull out the same phone as the assassin from his pocket call a number and says, the service you required has been completed. Finally we'd go to a birds eye view shot of the target walking out of the alley and away from the body. 

Video Game 

Malevolence 

 

Malevolence is a game about revenge. After his family are murdered by vicious Mafia Don, George Frost is framed for the murder and is put straight in jail where he is released after a long life changing 10 years (released for lack of evidence and good behaviour) although a peaceful average Joe kind of guy George Frost is forced to leave his simple and peaceful life behind as all he has thought about for 10 years was discovering his families lifeless bodies lying on  the ground, after all of this time there is only one thing Frost is looking for and that’s his Malevolence and his retribution for something that was taken from him.

 

Malevolence would combine elements of an action game (e.g. Max Payne) and a free roam RPG (Fallout) this is because Frost wouldn’t know where any of the mob family live so he has to find them, he has also never killed a man before this is a vital element of the game as you would play someone who struggles to take lives as he has never done it before, with each kill progressing as the game continues and develops a much more sinister story than expected.

 

 

Based off of the original dark revenge game ‘Max Payne’ and the movie ‘Law Abiding Citizen’ our main character lives in his own hell on Earth Possibly turning to alcohol and drugs, giving him abilities that he may not of been able to unlock before, such as Adrenalin the ability for Frost to slow time making his shots more accurate, although time would seem to be much slower its still in real time for anyone else.

 

The game would be a next generation release, for the PS4 making its graphics unsurpassed and beautiful creating real looking environments and character interaction, leaving the player able to make real life choices, how to complete a level, to sneak or go all guns blazing, what to wear, go in disguise etc.

Movie Adverts in Magazines

Here are some movie posters from 'Empire Magazine' that have been analysed to show the codes and conventions of movie advertisements.

Short Film Analysis - Batman Dead End

Batman Dead End

Heavy incidental music, the sound of an orchestral hit on an empty (black) screen with titles slowly appearing in the centre of the screen a compilation of someone putting on the ‘Batman’ clothes that we know to be the Batman still with incidental music and a voice over from what sounds like a police radio talking about “trouble in Gotham City” and “The Joker once again escaped from Arkham Asylum.” We never see the face of the actor playing Batman as he is getting ready by putting on the classic Batman gear all of the shots in the opening of the short film is medium close up shots so we never reveal his face leaving a layer of mystery over the opening.

Establishing shot of a building we can assume is ‘Wayne Enterprises’ to set the location of the short film (the shot was clearly archive footage possible taken from one of the Christopher Nolan Batman films) we see a few forward tracking shots following Batman and the Joker as they run through the allies of Gotham City, there is a use of shots which transition into each other a close up shot of Batman as he lands into a puddle so all of the water splashes around him leaving his cape laying around him on the floor, to an amazing crane shot showing him crouching on the floor and seeing his cape almost into the Batman symbol, with orchestral music playing as he slowly rises up bringing the cape up as he rises.

We see a lot of shot reverse shots between Batman and the Joker as they fight and speak to each other about the Joker’s face and calling the Batman “Daddy” because the Joker believes that the batman created him because without Batman, Joker wouldn’t have anyone to fight so without each other their lives would be pointless.

Through a twist of events we see the Joker being snatched by a Xenomorph (Alien from the Alien’s Saga) we see an extreme close up of the Joker’s knuckle duster as it falls to the ground, we then see a Xenomorph  rise up from behind Batman from an over the shoulder shot from Batman’s front.  We then see an extreme close up of Batman fighting a Xenomorph as we see Batman struggling with the Xenomorph we see the three iconic dots of the Predator’s shoulder cannon, and we hear a blast noise as the camera swaps showing the Predator for the first time.

There is a fight between Batman and the predator, this shows the conventions of a short film extremely clearly by having the equilibrium of Batman fighting the Joker and taking him back to Arkham something any Batman fan knows is the normal situation in Gotham, we then have the Twist where we see the joker be killed by a Xenomorph something unknown to the Batman universe causing distress to the characters in the film, we continue with the un- equilibrium of the Predator being introduced into the mix and finally the equilibrium at the end when the Predator is defeated by a heavily beat up Batman, but then questioning the conventions there is another twist as more Predators take appear from nowhere clearly turning off their cloaking device.  This is a good example of a short film as it mainly sticks to the conventions of a short film with all of the twists etc. it also doesn’t give us a back story on any of the characters but this could be because most people know the story surrounding Batman and the Joker but it keeps to the convention of short film by keeping the story short and full of action.

NA nananananana Batman!

 

 

Video Game Box Covers

Video Game Box

Covers 

Some notes on a few video game box covers show the similarities and differences in the covers, mainly showing that video games seem to stick to certain codes and conventions, for example all of the title's are bold, but reflect the nature of the game for example for Max Payne they are big bulky letters almost that we'd associate to war or violence, Fallout gives us a feel of decay and that the game could be set in the future and a very large insight to where the game is set, and Uncharted shows large bold titles with decay showing that they are meant to look old or even damaged or knocked around in some sort of adventure. Another Big similarity would be the main character being the main focus of the box art and the copyright being on the back and the bottom left of the cover.

Game Adverts

Here are a couple of video game advertisements found in some magazines with the codes and conventions of the advertisements analysed

Battlefront 3 Teaser Trailer analysis

Star Wars Battlefront

E3 2013 Teaser

Analysis

We open with a view of just show and a blizzard from a first person / Point of View perspective all we can see is show and some burning debris, the only sound we can hear is the ambient sound of heavy wind and footsteps, and the extremely heavy breathing of the perspective we are seeing it all through, this makes us assume that the person we a watching this from is injured and in some sort of trouble.

continuing with his slow paced walking we hear a very distinctive sound of a laser blast, as the blast hits the ground next to him the camera shakes in a hand held almost documentary styled hand held action, we hear more laser blasts still with no music, all ambient sound, shortly after hearing the laser blasts be hear an explosion, and we see from through the blizzard a snow speeder flies through the snow and past the camera as we hear an explosion behind us.

 

 

After we see the snow speeder fly past through the blizzard we see the immediately recognizable hoof of a n AT-AT smash against the floor, the camera starts to fade to black and upon the screen titles appear reading ‘STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT’ a long awaited sight for the fans of the series.

 

 

This trailer is just a teaser, not giving any information or real view of the game all it gives is the assurance that the game is happening and is therefore starting the drip feed effect for the fans, the fans want more than the 34 second long teaser, but with ‘EA’ knowing this they will slowly give the fans more trailers and more looks at art and the gameplay until they release a real gameplay trailer approximately a year before the game comes out leaving the fans interested and wanting more until they know they have to have the game

 



Analysis of Documentary Adverts

3 adverts for documentaries that were on television and some connotations that were made in class about the posters and to see how/what codes of conventions that are used in documentary film making.

Documentary Conventions

Documentary Analysis

The Fabric of the Cosmos (2011)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starts with a gripping Voice over

Introduction to the subject matter covered by the documentary

CGI Effects

Establishing shot

Incidental Music  - Brings in excitement

Slow motion and Rewind Effects used for the subject matter about the laws of physics

Interviews with experts on the subject matter

Talking head style of presenting

Title sequence using CGI and keeping with the theme of Physics

Fast Forwarding Shots

Green Screen/ Super imposed

Tabloids, Tories and Telephone Hacking (2010)

Footage, being unravelled – implying data being ‘Hacked’

Bold Titles

Blurry Images

Montage

Voice Over

Long shot of interview

Code imagery used for hacking implication

Fade out

Dissolve – Into images

Panning

Low angle, establishing shot

Sound Bridge, Phone call

Incidental Music

Documentary Conventions

Documentaries as a rule have a certain rule/ code that they stick to in order to try and entice the audience in to what the presenter has to talk about, using some of the main conventions such as a Voice Over to give the documentary a feeling of excitement and drama or like they know the answer to the question they are posing to the audience. In documentaries in order for the information collected to be sound and accurate they set up interviews with experts on the documentaries subject matter, often using Incidental Music to give the documentary an exciting feeling over the top of it, the music often reflects the subject matter e.g. if it is about Nature it will be soft music with a slow flowing tempo, if it was a crime documentary it is likely they would chose some sort of high paced Hip Hop music. CGI is often used to make the documentary look more interesting toward the audience to try and hook them into the audience. Often-video montages of clips on the subject possibly using archive footage giving the audience a first hand video evidence of the event in question hooking the audience even more so because they know it’s true.

Music Video Genres

Music Video Genres

As we know music videos are a major factor in modern music and have been ever since 1964, where ‘The Beatles’ released their film ‘A Hard Days Night’ this was a feature length film covering every song off the album with the same name, so this was in it’s own sense the worlds first Narrative Based music video, the first of many. In the 1980’s the music channel ‘MTV’ was born playing music videos 24 hours a day seven days a week, people would watch the channel all day and all night they would decide they wanted to buy the albums there by making more money for the artists and the channel itself. Because of this channel artists could produce a music video and play in the video for everyone to see rather than the artists touring all around the world and playing the same song over and over again and this was the birth of the music video and there by also creating the 4 main music video genres.

Performance Based Music videos:

This type of music video pretty much explains what it is, it’s an artist or a band performing their music live toward a camera, it has no narrative it’s just the band putting their music as if they were playing a live gig.

Parody Based Music Videos 

This is where an artist would parody or make fun of another song or the music video and re-make it with their own altered words or lyrics, this is a way for the parody artists to in their own unique way to pay some sort of homage to the original artist.

Story Based Music Video 

This type of music video is where through the use of the lyrics a story is being told by the artist, and the use of the music video makes it easier for the artists to show the story they are intending the people / fans to see. 

Abstract Based Music Video 

This is a rarer type of music video but it happens, it is when a music video has no correlation to the song or the lyrics but instead mean nothing really it's just meant to profound the audience as most of the time it means nothing it's just trying to be weird...