Evaluation Question 7

Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?





The link above was a practice video my group made and it was our first real practice of filming, from this you can tell that we are rather inexperienced with using the camera. This was just a test video and we created a short script to practice with.

Evaluation Question 6

What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?


In order to get our final opening sequence completed, we had to use several different types of software and technologies, these include:
• Final Cut Express
• Livetype
• Blogger
• Prezi
• Digital Cameras
• Microphones
• Red Head Lighting Kit
• Youtube

The main software that we used was final cut express, this was to actually put the different clips we filmed together and make it into the actual opening sequence, this includes the sound and credits. When we first started using it, the software seemed rather complicated as no-one in my group had any real experience of my software. As the time went on, the software seemed easier to use. Cross cutting, additive fade and colour corrector were the main effects that we used.

Live type was the other main piece of software that was used to create our opening sequence. This was used to create all of our title credits. Prior to filming our opening sequences we had a few lessons where we were shown how to use live type. This helped and we were able to use the software effectively.

To complete all of our preparation and evaluation tasks we used prezzi and blogger which I signed up to both of them, they were both regularly used the process of completing the opening sequence. Prezzi is used for creating power points and presentations and blogger is where you can embed clips and texts. Both of these were very useful.

A digital camera was the most vital piece of equipment we used; the group had a basic understanding of how to use one but after we had completed the filming the group had a much better understanding of how to use and be able to use all of the different effects and techniques. We also used a microphone to record specific sound effects for example, a girl been gagged. Red head lighting kit was used to improve the lighting on some of the shots that was filmed.


Overall I feel that throughout this task, my knowledge and skills of this different equipment had greatly improved. It’s easy to see why film makers use these different technologies as they are easy to use. I thought that using these technologies would be really hard but the more I used them the more simple they became.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

One of the preparation tasks we had to do was to do some primary evaluation. As a group we decided to produce some questionnaires that were handed out to 10 people in our target audience age group (15+). This helped us get ideas of what to and what not to include in our opening sequence, it helped us get a better understanding of what our target audience wanted to see from our opening sequence.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?


Age- The age group of our target audience is 15-45, we chose this age group because the storyline of our opening sequence appeals to them more than it would an older person, and anyone younger than 15 would most likely be too young to watch it as it is a thriller film. People in this age group are most likely going to enjoy the twists and turns of a thriller film.


Gender- Our film is aimed at both males and females, the reasoning for this is because the results of our questionnaires told us that both genders enjoy thriller films.


Social demographic- For our film this is the working class, we felt this would be the most suitable for our film; students would also be one of the main social demographics that our film is aimed towards.


To research more into our target audience and find out more about their interests and opinions are of films we came up with a set of questionnaires that were handed out to a range of different people, this gave us a better insight of what people enjoyed about films and more particularly thriller films. Additionally we wanted to know what they would be looking for and what to expect in a film opening sequence. This feedback greatly helped us decide what our target audience age group would be, as well as the social demographic ad that we could aim the film at both genders. I think that without this feedback we would have been a little stuck for ideas, it was good to get opinions from people other than members of our group.

Evaluation Question 3

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

A media institution is a company which promotes different types of media products such as TV programmes or films. They are able to do this by producing things such as posters and adverts, as well as doing the rounds on different channels where a host would ask question relevant to the film or actors. These different promotional things are done to draw a bigger audience to the film which will allow for a bigger profit for the film as more people are paying to see it etc. examples of institutions are MGM, Paramount and 20th century Fox.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

MGM is an American media company founded in 1924 and ever since have produced blockbuster thriller films such as “Original Sin” and “Gaslight”, as they have worked with thriller films before they may be interested in developing a film like ours. MGM mainly work with mainstream films so if our film was to be big budget and have Hollywood A-list actors in it, they would be interested. MGM work in nearly every genre possible, so developing a thriller film would be no problem for them.

Lionsgate

Founded in 1997, this institution would be interested in developing our film as they already produce around 60 thriller films each year. They have produced some of the best Thriller films in recent years such as “Batman-The Dark Knight” and “Limitless”. Lionsgate would most certainly be interested in distributing our film as they specialize in thriller films, and our film fits the bill for them. Lionsgate mainly work with mainstream films, if our film was actually real it would have a bid budget and hollywood actors so it would suit their type institution.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?


The only social group that is shown in my opening sequence is a teenage girl (aged around 17), we had planned to include an older man but this fell through as we couldn’t really find someone who matched our description.

The stereotypical view of teenage girls in the media is that they are rather weak and vulnerable to the world, and in some cases they can be taken advantage of easier. Teenagers in general are seen to be troublemakers and are rude and aggressive, an example of this is in the media is the film “Adulthood”.

Another stereotype of teenagers is that they are wild and have the freedom to pretty much do what they want. An example of this from a film is “this is England”; where the characters parents have no real say in what their children actually get up to. Teenagers are often as well seen to always be bored hence why they roam the streets and get up to no-good.

In my opening sequence the teenage girl was represented in a rather conventional way in that the fact she has been captured, showing her weakness and vulnerability. As the girl is tied up and has no dialogue, you can make no judgement on what her characteristics are like such as how she talks and acts. There is a high angle shot of the girl that we included in the opening sequence to make her look small and weak.


We had chosen to represent the girl in a conventional way as it makes it more realistic and something which is seen in other thriller films. If, for example we had this girl in control of the situation and the man being powerless, the audience may have got the impression that we had done this because we didn’t understand the conventions of a thriller film, or some might say it came across in that way due to bad acting. It also makes the storyline easier for the audience to follow. The girl can be seen as an unconventional teenager as she has no freedom and cannot do as she pleases, but this is of course a unique situation what she is in so this type of rebellious teenager act does not apply to her.

Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products



I feel that my film opening sequence shows that I know all of the conventions what you need for an opening sequence, as I have included many of them. These include: film title, credits, a production company logo and cast and crew info. All of these things have been added into our opening sequence to make it look as professional as possible, and is if it were to be a real film opening sequence.


The conventional opening sequence elements I have chosen for my opening sequence are; production logo, film title, cast and crew info, credits, edited colours font etc., and actors who suit the characters they are supposed to be playing. Without these things i feel that the opening sequence would look very poor and amateurish


For my group's opening sequence there aren’t really any general unconventional elements that we have chosen to include. The reasoning for this is because one of my group’s main focuses was to try and make the video look as professional as possible, so trying to make unconventional elements fit into a video of where everything else is conventional of that of a thriller film would have been a hard task and could have lowered the quality of the piece.


The conventional elements of thriller films (the genre of my opening sequence) are of those which I have already listed, but there is more such as tension building music, an actor shown to be a villain, a scary setting and dark and dull colours used throughout. These conventions can be seen in the opening sequences of well known- thriller films such as “se7en” and “reservoir dogs”.


We chose generic conventions such as a production company logo to try and make the opening sequence look as normal in comparison to real film opening sequences. Some of the conventional elements that were used are to make the clip look like an actual opening sequence opposed to it looking like a trailer, this is something which is commonly seen in The as media opening sequences.

We chose to put in music from beethoven as it sets the tone of the opening sequence and gives the clip more of a romantic feel to it, as the clip is supposed to be of two people on a date. The music also give an eary, creepy feel to the scene and it sets the tone. music can be seen as a typical convention of a thriller film opening sequence, mainly to build tension and set the tone.

All of these conventions can be seen in my opening sequence which is shown here bellow.

Overall Focus Group For Last Date

Film Opening Sequence

Production Blog Entry 3

The rest of our shots that we needed have now been filmed and all of the extras that are needed for an opening sequence are pretty much completed, meaning that our opening sequence is very much so completed, leaving just a few final touches to just be added in until we can say that our film opening sequence is completely finished. At this stage i can say that i am pleased with the outcome and i am confident that as a group we can achieve a good grade as it looks professional and you can tell what the genre of the film is supposed to be.

Adding in the extras such as titles, credits and music was no that hard to do, but we still needed it to look good and fit in with the Genre of the film, so quite a bit of time was spent on adding these in with different effects, texts and colours.I feel that these extras  ended up looking nice as there was better fonts downloaded from "dafont.com" which were embedded into the clip as well as different backgrounds which brought out fonts and colours more. There were some effects which were originally put in, but they were eventually taken out because they didn't really look that good. The editing on final cut was not that hard as i originally expected it would, but it was time consuming as there is simply so many different things that you can add in, but i wouldn't say that this meant we didn't manage our  time well, we may well could have spent more time out filming, but this doesn't exactlly mean that the practical work would have been any better.

 I think that personally i could have contributed more to the group on a lot fronts and this will most likely give me a lower grade then i could have got. This of course is a downfall and something i am disappointed  in. But overall i think i did quite well and i am still confident that i will be able to get a good overall grade.  Personally my own time management was generally good and i will be able to get all of my blog completed for the deadline.

From the feedback we have received from teachers and peers, the general view is that  the opening sequence is good and it is something different from ones that they have seen before. They understood what the genre was alot of people said it was quite. I am happy with feedback like this and it makes me hopeful that we can get a high grade for the opening sequence alone. When we was stuck for ideas on what different shots we should film, our teacher gave us suggestions on what shots we should try and include, we took her feedback on board and included some of the shots that she suggested to us.

Overall i am happy with the outcome of the opening sequence and i am confident that we can achieve a high grade for it.

Production Blog Entry 2

The second week into filming was predominantly spent viewing and editing our footage that we had filmed the previous week on final cut express. By the end of the week all of the shots we had filmed were edited and we had figured out what other shots needed to be filmed in order to complete our opening sequence.

The editing of footage process proved to be rather time consuming as there is so many different editing options that you can play around with, but you still have to find the right techniques which go with the genre of the opening sequence, for example our film is a Thriller so everything had to be on a more serious note for it to suit the genre, such as the digetic and non-digetic sound which was chosen.
As a group i felt that we coped with doing the editing well, bearing in mind that we had no real experience of the software. There was alot of playing around with the shots in the first few times we edited, but this has proved to be very useful at it allowed us to fine tune the shots we were defiantly going to put in our opening sequence, therefore making them look more professional.

We had some good footage which we were going to include, however it was not enough for a two minute  opening sequence so it was imperative that we went out and filmed some more footage. At times as a group we did struggle for ideas as to what to film if shots we did didn't turn out as good as we anticipated.  This wasn't really that much of a big deal but it did take up some of our time, being stuck for ideas during filming was something we had actually expected to happen however.

The editing stage went well and it was productive, at this stage i would say that our film opening sequence is coming along well as it's looking rather professional. We have generally managed our time well, the only minor problem we had was not knowing what to do next in terms of what shots to film. But  this can be easily resolved.

Production Blog Entry 1

The first time we went out to film, we managed to got some scenes and shots filmed which are going to be included into our film opening sequence and some shots of which have been left out as they could have been more improved and therefore look more professional.

Prior to going out filming, the group had planned thoroughly which shots we wanted to go out and film in our first session, so we had a good idea as to what we were going to get done. Some of the shots we done came out as we had expected and were good enough to be put into the opening sequence, but a few of the         shots didn't work as well as we anticipated, so we didn't generally get as much filmed as we had liked. With some of the shots, they looked and seemed good enough to be put into the opening sequence but when they were uploaded onto the Mac, they didn't actually look good and instead of looking professional they looked rather amateur. A number of the shots did actually look really nice however and turn out even better than expected.

There was some experimenting with the different editing techniques and effects, but as we are not that familiar with using cameras and final cut express this could only be taken so far, so instead we took the decision to stick to the basics, as trying to make it look fancy could end up in it looking very poor.

After we had went out to film we then uploaded the footage onto final cut express, were the footage could then be viewed at a higher quality, this was useful as we got a better look at what the shots would look like.

Overall i felt that the first session of when we went out to film was useful as we got some of our shots done and we got a better understanding of how to work the camera and how to use final cut express.

First Draft of Script

Characters:

Old man – deliberately kept with no name throughout
Young woman/teenager – Jane

Plan – two scenes shooting identical ideas but contrasting between the two

Start of the opening sequence:

Production Company Logo shows then fades to a black screen

Opening sequence starts:
The old man is sitting at the table with a number of candles lit around him - the camera is concentrating on the arrangement of this table, when the man’s hand is exposed to light the final candle.

There is complete silence in the background, with the exception of a clock which we frequently hear ticking.

The camera at this point is still centring on the hand.

Old man – “Perfect”
Picks up his knife and fork.
Old man – “I apologise, how rude of me to forget”
His hand pushes down a switch on a stereo which is positioned on the edge of the table.

Gentle and romantic music starts to play.

Credit appears on top of the scene; director 

The camera gradually moves up (over the shoulder shot) to the man until finally were in contact with his face.

Old man – “I thought your dad was going to stop calling”
There is no reply and the man takes a bite of his food.
Old man – “Its rude to ignore when I’ve gone to all this effort, would you like some wine?”
The man picks up the bottle of wine which is centred likewise on the table.

The camera follows his arm down the table and then a fade-in fade-out is used.

[The location has changed to demonstrate to the audience the definite reality of what is actually happening as an alternative to what the man is seeing in his head]

The camera is still focusing on his arm.
He finishes filling up the glass for the person which he is speaking to.

The music is still playing; however from this point onwards the man doesn’t say anything else.

The camera slowly rises and pans around the setting, until it ultimately reaches the person he is speaking to on the other side of the table. 

A girl which is tied to a chair with tape around her mouth struggling.

The rest of the credits are shown on top of the scene; actors
Narrative enigma is immediately created leaving the audience curious as to why she is tied up, but also why the man in his mind is consuming a pleasant meal with her.   

Character Description

Due to the fact our opening sequence is going to be quite puzzling, we will only have two characters featuring in it. One of these being a young girl, who gets kidnapped, tied up and held captive. The other being an old man who will actually be the one keeping the young girl. However, we will need to have a better and more detailed perceptive about these characters in order for the actors to play their role greater. Therefore a character description will illustrate in more detail, the background of both of the characters but also more about them as a person.

The Girl:

Name: Jane

Age: 17

Ethnicity: White

Hobbies and Interests: She is extremely focused on school, as she wants to succeed to go onto university. She has a part time job in a local restaurant, but on weekends and in her free time she likes to socialize with friends, by going to parties and the cinema etc.

Social Demographic: Working Class

Personality: She is a shy, timid girl in front of people she doesn’t know and additionally in situations she is not comfortable with. This changes when she is with her friends, as she knows how to have a laugh and comes out of her shell more. Jane is a pacifist and doesn’t like hurting anyone or being hurt herself, this leads her to be over-protective of the loved ones around her.

Her Role: She gets captured and held captive, but cannot remember what happened or the reason behind it. She is kept for roughly 2 weeks, until she meets another victim and together they plan their escape.

The Man:

Name: Intentionally his identity is kept quiet

Age: 45+

Ethnicity: White

Hobbies and Interests: Loves being in control and is not a socialite. He doesn’t have any friends, and lives by himself in a moderately large house. Frequently he enjoys a game of chess, and this becomes evident further into the story, he also enjoys reading, but X-rated books are more his thing. He is mentally ill and believes what he is doing to the young girls is tolerable and of the norm.

Social Demographic: Middle Class

Personality: He keeps himself to himself, but due to the fact he dresses in branded suits, we make an assumption that he has a well-paid job, if one?

His Role: He captures the young girl and keeps her in a hidden location. He excuses his behaviour by bringing dinner, and talking to her. He thinks he is being harmless, and doesn’t really understand the consequence of his actions although.

Contingency Plan

During the making of this opening sequence, we need to consider and resolve any problems that are likely to come up, it is essential that we think in advance in order to make a back up plan which could still allow us to film successfully.

Cast dropping out/Unreliable actors/Bad actors:
I am playing one of the actors so it is very doubtful that a problem will occur, however if I fall sick for example, we will use another group members sister who has agreed, due to the fact there isn’t a large amount of acting required the part is straightforward. For the old man’s role we have two actors who are both keen to take on the part, this means we can film both and then make a decision on which we think is more appropriate. 

Crew being late/getting lost:
Before we film, we will meet up with each person, and as we are going to previously agree a time in which everyone is free this shouldn‘t be a problem. We will assure the actors of where it is, and all travel together. We have also allowed an hour at the end of the filming time, so if for whatever cause a problem does occur with timing, we can make it up with this hour.

Problems with location/Too noisy/Having too much background noise:
Through our decision to keep both locations simple, there is no need for us to get authorisation to be able to film there. The opening scene will be filmed in either mine, or my group members dining room, and the other in a forest or a deserted building which is open for the public. We have purposely chosen these settings as both are distant from a main road, therefore it is improbable the background noise will override the filming. 

Battery running out on camera:
We will make sure that the battery of the camera is fully charged before we leave to film. If the camera battery does run out when we are in the middle of our task, we will simply return to the location a day later with the camera charged, but also a spare battery to carry on without any more disturbances. 

Continuity problems:
Fortunately, continuity editing has never been a trouble which has occurred with my group. We all take notice of all detail regarding this, and with every person paying attention it is unlikely for this to occur in our opening sequence. We too decided, by taking pictures of the location and the actors, we can resemble them if we film another day to help us over-come a continuity problem.

Locations Reece

Locations for our opening sequence:

The first location is in a dining room, we have chosen to use this location as we want the sequence to be as real to life as possible. This will be the first scene, and the actual introductory of the sequence, and due to the fact it is a standard dining room, it will be used as the man’s point of view, and what he considers is happening. We will pull the table away from the wall and decorate it appropriately (with rose petals, candles etc.) we will also move anything in the background that we do not want to feature in the scene; this is to help the setting look current. Fortunately for us, because this dining room is in one of the group members house, it is improbable for any problems (such as lack of power points) to occur. However, it is likely that their family will be using the dining room around the time we want to film. We are going to overcome this by arranging an agreed time the dining room will be kept free with the people living in the house, allowing us to film during this space.
Below are some pictures of the dining room we are going to use.

The second location will be in a forest. We have selected this place as it isn’t an average setting where people are expected to have a meal. This creates extra suspension and makes the whole film seem more unique. This setting will be the girl’s point of view and ultimately the reality of the situation. This will confuse the audience and make them question what is actually going on, and why the man is so content with what he is doing. We have to consider the restrictions of using this location, for example due to the fact it is open for the public we need to contemplate how we are going to avoid them in our filming. We have deliberated on this, and decided that we will film, and if at that certain time the location is busy, we will simply come back at a later time and film piece by piece until it is eventually finished. However, a forest will be very spacious so it is likely we will just be able to move somewhere else.

Below are some pictures of the forest where our second location will be filmed.

Representation In Films

I am going to be discussing the different representations in the Thriller film genre. There are many different representations, varying from genders, ethnic groups, classes and ages, some of these can be in a conventionally stereotypical way or an unconventional, non stereotypical way. Directors choose to use stereotypical representations as the audience will generally see it as normal and something they have came accustomed to seeing in films.
There are four main areas in which people are represented in films and other media texts, these are:

Different Genders:

In Thriller films, some men are represented as the stereotypical "white male masculine hero". They will often be masculine, dominating, brave, a leader, role model, agrressive, a good fighter, physical and technical.  An example of this stereotype from a Thriller film is Batman from "The Dark Knight" film. He is the hero of his town and saves thousands of people's lives.

There is many male protagonists however who are not represented in a stereotypical "Hero" way however, this is common in thriller films as they are often involved in criminal activity,an example of this is the cast from "Reservoir Dogs" who are involved in a diamond hiest.Some characters kill innocent civillians, one character goes as far as slashing  another man's ear off. This is far from a heroic act, it does make the man look tough and voilent, but he in actual fact looks like the villain of the film.

There is many male protagonists however who are not represented in a stereotypical "Hero" way however, this is common in thriller films as they are often involved in criminal activity,an example of this is the cast from "Reservoir Dogs" who are involved in a diamond hiest.Some characters kill innocent civillians, one character goes as far as slashing  another man's ear off. This is far from a heroic act, it does make the man look tough and voilent, but he in actual fact looks like the villain of the film.

Women in Thriller films are often represented as being very feminine, physically weak and powerless, mentally emotional and fragile. An example of a woman in a thriller film who has some of these characteristics is Aridrane from "Inception" she is one of the main characters in the film and although she is mentally strong and very intellegent, she uses he brains to solve all of her problems opposed to using her physical side.

There are many females in Thriller films who totally go against this stereotype however, Foster from "Silence of The Lambs" is a classic example of this, she is in the FBI and gets in gunfights, she is both the protagonist and the "Hero" of the film.    

Different Ethnic Groups:

Ethnic groups are represented in different ways in thriller films, generally these are stereotypical views which are often used within the film industry. Some of the characteristics which white people often have in thriller films is that they are intellegent, dominant, in- control, good and innocent. They are often seen as the "heroes"  and saviours of the film. An example of this from a thriller film, is Batman from "The Dark Knight".

Other ethnicities are often represented as weaker, powerless, the victims, criminals and subservient.
Denzel Washington plays a dangerous criminal in the film "Safe House", and the CIA agent finds it hard to keep control of him.
Ethnicities are sometimes seen to clash with one an other, and may not always get along, a thriller film which strongly shows this is "Crash (2004)", a film set in Los Angeles, there is a white police officer who is racist towards his African-American detective partner and a hispanic male. Throughout the film there is a lot of racial tension between all of the different ethnicities.




Different Classes

In Thriller films, class isn't shown to effect the outcome as much as it does in other films. The upper class people do seem to have power and control, especially in Crime/thriller films where they will show their wealth by wearing expensive clothes such as suits and be smoking cigars, like the film Resevoir Dogs when characters are always walking around in suits, this gives you the impression that they are of a higher class and status opposed to ordinary people.

Working class people are often underrepresented in Thriller films, which often leads them to turn to criminal activity to make a living. Generally in thriller films class is not easily identifyable with some characters, so the audience assume that they are working/ middle class if they are just leading was seems to be an ordinary lifestyle.

Different Ages:

Thriller films generally tend have generally adults around the age of 20-50 as the protagonists and main characters, this is seen as the conventional age for characters in thriller films as this generally is the age group as to where people are most capable in many aspects of life (physically and mentally). famous examples of characters from this age group are shown below.Adults are often represented as clever, hard working and the saviours

  

Children are often represented as sweet and innocent, but they are often seen as very vunerable, like John Connor from "The Terminator 2", he needs to always be with the Terminator at all times ultimately to prevent being killed or captured.    

The elderly are represented as weak and fragile, and less capable. They can be seen as role models and leaders however, such as Joe Cabot from "Resevoir Dogs", he is the leader of the criminal gang, and the others do as he says

Equipment List

A list of technical equipment which we will need for our production, and post production is a crucial part in actually enabling us to film the opening sequence. Below is the list of equipment which is vital for us.

Digital Video Camera:

•  This will be needed to record our footage, and is perhaps the most important piece of equipment needed to complete or even start an opening sequence.

Tripod:

•  This will be used so we are able to place our camera on a steady surface when filming the first location of our sequence.  

Radio:

• We will need an old radio player, but although this will be featured in our opening sequence the music playing doesn’t need to come play from it, therefore a radio playing music off the scene will be just as effective.  

Apple Mac Computer

• This is a vital piece of equipment which we need. Once the filming has been completed we will then use the Macs to edit the footage. The two main software’s we will be using is ‘Final Cut Express’ and ‘Live Type’.

Audio Recorder:

• This will be used so we can hear more clearly the girl trying to scream whilst her mouth is taped shut.

Lighting:

•  A candle light will be used both in the first and second location, although we will have a small amount of lighting in the background this will be the prevailing light used. This is because of the flickering effect a candle has on the characters face.

Live Type Practice

Costumes & Prop List

For Our opening sequence we will need two different costumes for the two characters that will be shown in the scene. We will also need different props that will make the opening sequence look more professional.

The Costume for Jayne (Teenage Girl) is a  long white dress which is a bit ragged and dirty, this is mainly all the clothing we will see of her as she will be tied up. Her make up and appearance will not be perfect and she will look like she hasn't been taking care of her appearance for a few days.

The only other person which will be shown in the scene is an older man, he will be wearing smart clothing,  a shirt, tie, trousers and shoes, predominately of darker colours such as Dark Blue, black and grey. He will look well kept, and like he has made effort for the occasion.

The Props that we will need are as follows:

A Dining Table
Two chairs
Two cooked dinners
A bottle of Red wine with two wine glasses
Rose petals
Circular candles
An old type Stereo
Two knives and Forks

The room they will be having the Meal in will be a normal Dining Room which looks a traditional Middle Class household, the room is likely to have paintings and pictures on the wall,  as well as it looking clean and tidy.

Shooting Schedule

In order to make sure we film everything that needs to be filmed, and get it finished in time to start the editing process it is crucial we plan out what days we are all going to film. We have additionally included the location, shot description and the people who will need to be present at the certain tasks. Below is a shooting schedule of our plan of action. 

StoryBoard

 This is a storyboard we produced to give us a better idea of what our opening sequence is going to look like. It includes different shot angles, the time of the shot and also what sound or dialogue is going to be in that shot. Also, we included credits and what they are going to look like. Here is our storyboard:

Motifs

A film ‘motive’ is a recurring image or idea that is designed to enhance the viewing experience for the audience. It is shown throughout a film to subconsciously create a build up of tension or the reverse effect of a tranquil feeling- it conclusively represents what kind of genre the film is. For example, if a heart is repeatedly shown within a film (for the background effect) then the audience will associate the film with romance and pick up on the certainty it is to do with love.

EXAMPLES:
1) In the film 'Psycho' by Alfred Hitchcock, birds were used as his motif. This was purposeful as for some cultures birds are seen as a bad omen. Hitchcock used this motif to remind the audience on a regular basis that his film contained ominous, frightening themes. Therefore, just through the use of crows, ravens etc. the audience throughout is reassured and reminded of the genre in hand.


2) A second example of a motif is in the film 'Jaws' by Steven Spielberg (1975). The motive used in this film is the repetitive music. Due to the fact this specific fast beat music is played whenever the shark is close, helps the audience to label the shark as fearful and dangerous, which would regularly create tension whenever it is played. In addition, it also reinstates the genre of the film, as the bold, commanding and non-diegetic sound involves the audience further making them continuously on edge.


3) A third example would be from the film ‘The Woman in Black’ by James Watkins (2012). The colour black is the motif for this particular film, as it signifies death and sinful behaviour the audience can immediately become aware of the genre. The decision to use this colour throughout would make the audience feel anxious of the unknown, but also apprehensive with the film in hand. This would have the exact effect Watkins wanted, as a chain of anonymity is thoroughly created.

From researching into different motif’s and the effect they all hold with their target audience we have decided to include one in our opening sequence. Like ‘The Woman in Black’ we have also chosen to use a constant colour, with ours being red throughout. The connotation of this colour represents love and danger, and this works positively with our film idea of the man thinking he is in ‘love’. When the locations change and we see the girl tied up, she has spots of blood on her top, this shows the danger side of the colour, and hopefully with this specific motif the audience will get a sense of unease and worry.

Encoding Our Text

Encoding is the process which institutions use to embed ‘signifiers’ into their products to act as a signpost to the audience, which will help them to understand the genre, the narrative, the form, the purpose and the messages they want to get across. The audience will ‘decode’ these signifiers and interpret them to come up with a meaning. As a group we have decided what ‘signifiers’ we are going to include in our opening sequence.


Music:
We have decided that one of our signifiers will be the music we use. The choice of music from the start will be soft and soothing, this will give the audience the initial impression that the genre of the film is romance, but as the opening sequence slowly comes undone, the music will evidently be opposite to the feeling the audience is receiving. This is up until the last few seconds where the music suddenly changes, and there is a loud bang at the end. Although this music doesn’t signify from the actual start, it slowly unravels and this has a greater effect on setting out the genre for the audience, but additionally will help with the message we want to get across, of not making any assumptions when watching opening sequences.


Texts/Fonts:
By choosing to include our credits on top of the scene when the sequence is running, ensures that the audience don’t overlook the action that is happening - but instead make them more cautious of it. By having bold, black and old fashioned writing, any assumption that the genre in hand is a comedy or romance will soon be out of the picture. I think that the type of font which is used is vital and this is because it lays out the mood of the film, but also shows to have a meaningful purpose when making the audience feel uneasy (when referring to a crime-thriller).


Locations:
Likewise, the two diverse locations which are used contradict each other. The first location being a dining room, the audience will feel no worry, but as the opening sequence goes on and the location changes to a dark and dingy forest, this signifies clearly to the audience the genre of the film. This will furthermore help us with our representation of gender. A stereotypical man is publicized to be more powerful and dominant than a stereotypical girl who is shown to always need someone to ‘save’ her and is frail and vulnerable. Where we see the girl tied up in the forest and the man causally eating dinner, it is obvious who the more dominant figure is.

Analysis Of Primary Research Results

Following on from our questionnaires and our focus group, I produced a series of bar and pie charts to illustrate some of the results in a different format. As it was only possible to make these charts from our closed questions, I analysed the results of these and discussed how they were to influence our film idea.

If you were to film this, what location would you use for the young girls point of view?

- The results from this question show that the Forest and the Abandoned place are the most favoured locations where people were likely to film. This was beneficial for our group as we had already planned to film in a forest, therefore knowing that this is a popular selection means we made the accurate decision.


What age group do you associate a crime-thriller with?- When we asked people what age group they associate a crime-thriller film with the most common answer was 15 year olds, which was 70% of the total result. However, 30% of the people said 18 year olds would be the most appropriate age range. As a result of this, we are going to aim our opening sequence for the age group of 15+ therefore it
meets in the middle.

What do you think the most important thing to include in an opening sequence is?
- Our final closed question asked what the most vital convention is to include in an opening sequence. 60% of people answered music, and due to the fact no other convention came particularly close to this answer, when filming our opening sequence we will ensure the music chosen is relevant and therefore has a virtuous effect.


Although these results help us a considerable amount with our final film idea, when watching the focus group and reading the results from the open questions, we have gained an enhanced understanding of what people prefer and controversially don’t prefer about opening sequences. Boring, dragged out, long winded and too predictable were some of the main answers agreed which were unconstructive things about an opening sequence - whereas the music used, real life situations, sudden expectations and mysterious surroundings were some of the answers given which people were fond of in opening sequences. We have therefore took all of this into account, and although we are going to keep our film idea the same, we are going to make sure the music we use is suitable and not make the opening sequence too extensive or unrealistic.  

Focus Group

This is a focus group where we filmed three people discussing what they think should be included in a crime-thriller film. We managed to get people who are the actual age of our target audience for the film, which is 15+ to get an improved understanding about what as individuals they think about the genre - we accomplished this through asking a series of open questions. To put this video together we collected all the technical equipment needed beforehand and then after we had asked all the questions, the filming was uploaded onto final cut where it was then edited.