'Prank Patrol' - Profesionally Made Childrens TV Show

One very popular children's TV show I have decided to research is a series called 'prank patrol', its a reality children's programme where fans of the show can enter themselves in to prank their friends/family. Below is one of the pranks titled 'Fortune Teller'.

Right at the beginning you can see the title and it appears to be very appealing to children as there's the shows host standing in between two 'prank patrol ninja's' in full costume with a bright purple background. Its fun and immediately you can tell this show is for a younger audience.

There is then dialogue front the host narrating previews of what will happen throughout the episode which is useful as it breaks the narrative down for the children watching, reminding them what is happening so that its easy for them to watch and understand. The narrators voice is very engaging as he changes his pitch accordingly to what he is saying and himself, seems excited about what he is saying, which will only have a positive impact on the young audience.

In this particular episode there are 4 key characters: the sister pranking, the brother being pranked, the friend and the actor a.k.a the owner of the arcade. This is necessary and not over excessive as these are the amount of people needed in order for the prank to be successful.

The music themes in it are consistent, with creepy/scary music playing after the brother is told by the fortune teller he is cursed followed by a piece similar to jaws playing shortly after. This emphasises the brothers feelings of being scared to us and puts the audience on edge, which is effective for this prank due to the nature of it. There are also a few sound effects which make the show more interesting and appealing to the children, for example at the beginning titles when the 'prank patrol' sign is 'placed' on the top left of the purple box.

There is two main locations which is perfect for a children's show as they don't have to concentrate on much; the location of the prank (arcade) and backstage where the pranking sister observes.

The costumes within the show are also something that adds to the realness of this being a 'prank patrol', for example the sister comes out wearing a prank patrol costume to reveal to her brother that he's been pranked, whilst him and his friend are in casual clothing as they didn't expect to be featuring on the show. The ninja's at the beginning which I mentioned above in full costume add to the show being more fun and child-like. As well as this, at the end credits the boys that were pranked are wearing 'prank patrol' t-shirts whilst reacting to what just happened, promoting the show further so that the young audience watching it want to apply for it.

The editing style is relatively fast paced, particularly at the height of the tension with faster cuts coming from many different angles e.g. aerial/close up reaction shots, adding to the suspense and detail of how the boy being pranked is feeling.

Finally, the credits include the key characters talking about what has happened, the shot is framed within a purple box with rectangles moving around it making what is in the frame appear more interesting.

Overall I think this is a great TV show for children, there are many successful attempts through editing/costume etc to help keep the show creative and interesting to its audience. If I decide to produce a children's TV show I would definitely take note from the different pointers I have mentioned above to entice the younger viewers.

'Aqua' - Student Made Short Film

In my search for student made short films, I came across 'AQUA' and found the title interesting, so I watched it and was amazed by it, therefore will include it in my research. It is linked below.

The film starts with an unknown character struggling to surface in the sea, the dynamic is instantly dramatic as the music relates to pain or a sad situation - its definitely mysterious and enticing. This works extremely well as an opening. Before this however there is a quote saying "water is the driving force of all nature" which gives an eerie feeling as if water has the power, this works well as it sets the theme in place as all throughout this film, the common theme is water/aqua (hence the name).

After the opening, we see a scary looking house, its dark, surrounded by trees and appears abandoned, emphasising the 'creepy'/uncomfortable atmosphere. We immediately see a running bath and are introduced to the main character; the teenage girl. I like that there isn't much irrelevance in the shots yet the producers aren't giving too much away, it appears to be a good balance.

There are so many incredible shots and angles in this film making it a lot more interesting than what it would've been, for example when the girl puts the bath fizzer in, we can see her do so from the bottom of the bath, there are also high angles at the beginning where we can see the girl trying  to reach the surface of the sea. There's very good tracking shots too, for example at 1:20 we see many family photos on the table as well as close ups (3:30) where we can see water spreading around the kitchen floor.

I really like how the producer stays true to the theme, everything is about water, eg the kettle being put on, taking out a bottle of water from the fridge, turning on the tv onto a water programme. The twist is, the girl initiates everything that happens, e.g. turning on the tv or boiling the kettle etc.

The only thing that doesn't work too well is the end quote ("all water has a perfect memory, and is forever trying to get back to where it was") as it doesn't appear to have much relevance or make too much sense in relation to the film, and sometimes the music is overly intense for what is happening, however except for that I love it.

The costume is very casual, relating to real life. The girls even got chipped nails showing she's not going out anywhere or overly bothered about appearance.

There aren't really any credits either, however its not needed as the quotes make up for this. The location is in and around the girls grandmas house, in the basement,  kitchen, living room, hallway and bathroom. The only location outside the house is the sea where the first girl we see apparently drowns.

I will definitely take inspiration from this film in my final product in terms of the shots/camera angles used, not so much in terms of its intensity though.

'17 Seconds' - Student Made Short Film

'17 Seconds' is a student made short comedy film, it's only slightly over 3 minutes long and so I was interested to see how a storyline/narrative was carried out in such a short amount of time, which is why I have decided to research/analyse this short film.

I think the way the film starts works out really well, I like how it starts with muffled audio coming from an earpiece from the character we're introduced to first, the costume (smart suit) also works well and ties in creating a mise-en-scene where we can tell something mysterious and possibly dangerous is going on. I also think the title works very well as it correlates with a line the man through the ear piece is saying "you'll have roughly 17 seconds alone with her, will that be enough?".

One thing that doesn't work too well is the first characters acting (dark haired man), when he responds "it'll be more than enough" his voice isn't convincing, it is said in a much more light hearted tone than it should be for someone about to assassinate someone else. The quality of it could also be higher however seeing as it's student made this is excusable.

A key theme in this film is the dark haired man's weakness being the female. Each time he goes to assassinate her. he is distracted by her looks and his feelings. For example when she is crying he asks if she is ok whilst his mentor looks at him in disgust. However, it is this theme that makes the film a comedy as in the end, he looses out and ends up dead himself when his weakness becomes the woman's strength.

There are 3 key characters; Male 1 (dark hair), Male 2 (blonde hair) and the Woman, there is also another male character however he isn't of high importance in the narrative. I like that the director/producer has kept the amount of characters low as the film itself is very short so any over complications in it would distract the audience from the storyline.

The dialogue is straight forward and simple, with there being just an average amount. The dialogue is very important for this narrative as it shows the relationship between the supposed assassin and his mentor. Without the dialogue, it also wouldn't be as funny, therefore the amount and content of it works well.

There is only 3 locations, which is something that works very well seeming as this is such a short film; inside the lift and just outside the lift on 2 different floors. This is good as it means the focus is incredibly narrowed, showing the lift is the centre of the narrative (its a private place, where the woman will get on every day for exactly 17 seconds, making it a good place for the man to assassinate her).

The credits are right at the end with just one page, presented clearly and professionally.

The film is very short and sweet to understand there are 2 men trying to assassinate a dangerous assassin (ironic, however Robin Hood-esk), the man who is meant to commit the act gets distracted by the womans looks and feelings and doesn't end up hurting her, however just before he is about to, she gets him first - its the "you snooze you loose" and "don't trust anyone" message.

Overall, I do like the film, however it isn't necessarily my style. I think it was shot well and has a good backbone storyline however I personally don't enjoy comedies or violent as much as I enjoy more dramatic films, therefore I may take some inspiration from the simplicity of it for my final product however I don't want my own to be as light hearted or aggressive as '17 Seconds'.

'Risk It' - Student Made short film

'Risk It' is a student made teen short film, I'm interested in the teen genre so have decided to research into it. The link is below...

I found that this film had quite a slow start, the scene was set early on of a boy coming out of a high school, however I think the student that made this dwelled on that and the whole process of walking home too much. For example, there was a shot of a school signed traffic light, then a school, followed by 3 school signs then a shot of a school bus leaving before we even see the boy beginning to walk home. I believe this can make the film boring before it has even started.

To add to this, for a film aimed at teenagers, the music is slow paced and almost too relaxing which paired with the above, is not a good recipe for keeping the audience enticed.

We see the main character (boy 1) spot a double sided coin reading either "risk it" or "play it safe" and we see him ignore the coin chucking it away. Then he has a phone call with his friend which seems slightly unrealistic as there seems to be an intense conversation about whether or not boy 1 is going to ask his date to be his girlfriend - something that would usually be a light hearted conversation for teenagers. This phone call ends as the friend advises boy 1 to "flip a coin or something" in order to decide what to do to, which is where the boy dramatically hangs up the phone and runs to find the coin he previously chucked away in order to flip it and then decide to risk it.

Overall I think the producer has made the narrative a lot more dramatic that it suits, making it unrealistic or something the audience won't take seriously. One thing I do think works well however, is the very artistic shots throughout the film, for example when the camera moves focus from the phone in boy 1's hand to the coin.

There aren't any themes in particular in this short film as I feel too many irrelevant parts were dwelled on and it was relatively short. Theres not much dialogue at the beginning, only music, in fact all of the dialogue occurs during that one phone call, which is definitely something I would change.

Although theres many different shots of different parts of the school, there are two main locations, the friends room where we see him (the friend) talk to boy 1 on the phone, and the street/way home for boy 1.

I do understand the concept of this film however I did not enjoy it. It had the potential to be a good storyline however the music and dialogue as well as the long, slow shots ruined it slightly.

If I take any inspiration from this film to include in my final product it will be the artistic shots towards the beginning of this film.

'Identity' - Profesionally Made Short Film

'Identity' is an award winning short film, therefore I've decided to include it in my research. You can find it below.

There's many noises at the beginning of the film, as if there's so much going on to think about before suddenly coming to a hault, it immediately sets the atmosphere for the rest of the film as we can feel it may be intense - which is something that works well.

Another thing that works well is the way the narrative starts, once you watch the whole film and come back to watch the beginning you realise that the first minute is happening in reverse. It starts with the girl saying "today I found truth". Due to it being in reverse it appears that the girl is very insecure and upset with how she looks so she picks up a mask and puts it on and is about to go out when she realises its cracked. She falls to the floor and it is no longer broken, and she heads outside where she sits in a canteen full of others who are wearing a mask. (**Remember this for later). This is the opening.

The narrative then properly starts, from the beginning (not in reverse). We see a classroom full of masked faces learning about Plato's cave analogy, the teacher talks of a 'slave being released' and becoming enlightened. The girl's face immediately looks up as if she has taken some inspiration from this to leave the mask behind.

The bell then rings and it is time to change classes, during the girls walk through the hallway we see signs such as "this is what being beautiful looks like" with a yellow mask. We also see people changing their masks depending on which groups they're talking to, eg one girl changes from a purple mask to a red to go and talk to the red 'crew'. This is something I think everyone can relate to and understand in society. It works well because this scene ultimately gives the message away, everyone is masked during highschool or society in general, we are afraid to show who we truly are because we may not fit in, in fact, we change who we are depending on who we are talking to.

In the next scene the girl is in another class where the teacher is talking about chess. He says in the first row of chess, there are the kings and queens, those in charge of the country. He then says the second row is full of the least important characters, they are what the kings and queens use to protect themselves for their own benefit. We then see a close up of the girl holding one of these and looking at it as if she relates to it, as if wearing masks benefit the most insecure and have become a phenomena where everyone has been made to feel insignificant.

Here there are many hidden messages, the girl is likening herself to those in the second row. Everyone is just tricked into wearing these masks so that the 'Kings and Queens' of the school - the popular kids - can benefit from never being overshadowed, and then people like the girl are made to feel like they cant not wear it.

We see the girl thinking more about this issue before she has so much running through her head (which we can tell by the intensity of the music/sound effects) that she leaves the canteen and heads into the toilets where she falls and breaks her mask. (** remember the paragraph I said to keep in mind?) She realises she has broken her mask as we can see her shocked face looking at herself in the mirror. She is about to leave when she realises she can't because part of her face is showing. The girl then heads back to the mirror and slowly  unveils herself where she is happier as she see's she has her own identity and says 'today, truth found me'.

I think the idea of having the beginning being a reversed version of the end is extremely clever, as the beginning shows how the idea of having a mask started - insecurities. She says here she found truth. Truth in that the mask is just to hide insecurities and fit in, when in fact EVERYONE is wearing a mask because they all want the same thing. As I have spoken about above, the dialogue in lessons is also very necessary as it is these lessons that make the girl think about taking off the mask.

The ending finishes with 'The truth found me' to show she suddenly realised what society was doing was wrong, the truth creeped up on her and she was relieved.

I think overall, the film is very clever and well done, everything used is necessary to heighten emotion and exaggerate feelings of being trapped. Feeling trapped and scared appears to be a theme in this film, as well as enlightenment by different sources as the girl looks deeper into their meaning eg, in the Plato lesson, in the hallway and in the chess lesson.

The locations used are also necessary to the narrative. The two classrooms, the hallway, the bathroom and the outside where the girl embraces who she is are the main locations (5). I also like that the only main character was the girl as it completely narrowed the focus of the film and showed us how individuals can feel on a personal level in society.

I enjoyed the clean shots, the close ups, and the shot zooming out at 1:13 as people pass by, it shows her distance to the masked world she is living in.

I will take inspiration from this video from it's shots and clever hidden meanings as I think these traits would fit well in most media products.

'I Miss You' - Profesionally Made Short Film

'I miss you' is a professionally made film in the romance genre, you can see it below.

The film starts at a party where we see a boy and a girl meet and start talking. He starts off by saying a simple 'Hi', this is in sync with what we hear, however then we realise this is part of a voiceover as the two characters keep talking however what we hear is the boy saying he misses her. This works very well and is an element I strongly like, as it suggests what we're seeing at the party is a flashback to when the couple first met yet the same word 'Hi' could be the start of a reconciliation.

Throughout the voiceover we see many different locations for the flashbacks where the former couple were making memories, I prefer this to having just one location for this genre/narrative as it tells the story of how close and in love the couple once were, its like a time span of many different events adding up to make their relationship rather than just one. Also, the only characters are the boy and the girl which narrows the focus making it more effective, as we can see how they were almost each-others world, no one or nothing else mattered.

There's a theme of repetition of words here, he says "I miss you" and will repeat it as well as the word "just", "I just" and "I hope". This shows sincerity, he's confirming how he feels and knows what he's saying, which adds to the emotion of the film.

The only dialogue is the voiceover, I find this unique and original and think it works really well as in the end we see that this voiceover is all an email that he is about to send to the girl... but doesn't. The music and sound is also changed accordingly in this film, before the break up there is a slight pause and a change to more sad music as he talks about what went wrong, this helps to emphasise emotion and tension.

The only thing that doesn't work too well or could be improved is the girls acting as they break up as you can see her smile, which contradicts the emotion of the voiceover.

Overall, it is an easy to understand film that isn't too negative, however reflects the boys emotion well. Its also unique in that it seems to be the boy that's hurting rather than the girl and I really like this element because it contradicts the typical stereotype of a heartbroken girl. I also enjoyed the artistic shots so will take some inspiration from both those and the layout of the film, eg the flashbacks. If my media product is a film, I would like to incorporate a voiceover of a similar style to this, as it also emphasises emotion in the tone of his voice.



'Post It' - Profesionally Made Short Film

The professionally made short film below is called 'post it', I really enjoyed watching it and so decided to analyse it as part of my research into short films.

This film's narrative is very touching, it works well because it shows a relationship/friendship building between Elroy and Claire slowly as a short film should, rather than cramming the entire formation of a relationship into a 7 minute film. There's a comedy element to this film too as the two characters joke, for example when Claire apologises as she assumes Elroy lost his job and when they stick a post-it note on a man and he runs to try and beat him up.

The only thing that doesn't really work is that at times the sound effects are overdone and slightly unrealistic, for example when Claire throws a pen. Also the music could have been happier and more upbeat as the pair go round handing people post-it notes, as the music used was quite relaxed for that. Also, at times it seems almost over-acted and un natural however this isn't too noticeable.

The themes throughout this is breaking barriers and forming a friendship, Claire seems forward in talking to Elroy where he seems more reserved, but she teaches him to be kinder to people and talk to those he wouldn't normally talk to. Another theme is that Claire seems curious as she asks Elroy many questions which he almost finds agitating.

There's only two key characters; Claire and Elroy. The dialogue between them is the perfect amount as there's also good breaks between them talking. There's also just two main locations, the workplace Elroy walks out of and the bench he sits on. Theres eight other locations that feature in the film for about 5 seconds each in a montage as the pair spread their kind messages on post-its.

Overall the film is really easy to understand, its all about being kind and trying to make people feel better. Its simple and a nice watch, so I enjoyed it. I want my media product to be similar to this in that its light hearted yet carries a heart warming message, so I will definitely be taking some inspiration from this short film.

Breathe Me - Student Made Music Video

This is a student made music video to the song 'Breathe Me' by Sia.

The narrative in this video is very strong, there's no live performance and its 100% focused on the storyline.

The narrative appears to be about bullying, the majority of the video is in black and white, representing vulnerability, showing a girl sitting alone while a group of 3 stereotypical 'mean girls' laugh at her - however 1/3 (girl C) seems uncomfortable with her friends actions. The story escalates showing how feeling alone can lead to serious issues such as self harm, it is at this point when girl C sticks up for the victim - however the damage is already done as the victim then results to overdosing - showing and carrying an important message that you shouldn't wait until its too late before you help someone.

Towards the end however there's a really powerful message, all the events are played in a 'rewind' mode and it takes us right back to the beginning where no damage has been done yet. The video is now in colour and the 'mean girl' who felt uncomfortable immediately leaves her friends to join the victim, this changes everything and no damage is done. I believe this is incredibly important showing the audience that one little act of good will could change someone's entire life - to be nice as you never know who is going through an inner battle.

None of the video is lip-synced and there is no live performance, which is fitting due to the seriousness of the narrative.

There are 5 key characters in total; the victim, the 3 mean girls and the girl who helps the victim right at the end - however she only features for a few seconds. There's 4 locations in total; school canteen, school toilets, the victims home toilet and the victims home hall. There wasn't an excess amount of characters or locations, everything was in moderation and necessary in order to tell the story well. There are no credits in this video.

There's a certain simplicity to this video with the small amount of locations and different scenes that happen to be long takes, some of the shots are simple whilst some are more artistic for example the close up of the blood. However, the focus of this video seems to be to deliver a message rather than to look good, and I like that. Although I did enjoy this music video, should I make my own, I would prefer it to be a little bit less deep and disturbing, and more enjoyable to watch - however I would like for it to contain a positive message.