Q7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Preliminary Brief: Film and edit a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character. A couple of lines of dialogue must then exchanged between characters & match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule should be demonstrated.

Main Task: The titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes (all video and audio material must be original, produced by candidates, with the exception of music or audio effects from a copyright-free source)

In the prelim task I had little understanding to do the following treatment, pitch, posters, mood boards, script, storyboard, location recces, casting, shooting schedule, rehearsals, and timetable for the day.

 When doing the storyboard we as a group we had problems deciding of what shots to pick and what order to put them in to make them effective, This is because we had different creative ideas of how we wanted it to look. We decided to take time, effort and dedication to put the right shots to get the final outcome. When filming our prelim task we had to be aware of equipment, cast, location, timing, weather, continuity, variety of shots, re shoots .We did not use a location recces and this caused problems when it came to the shooting day as we found out that we had to come back another due as the room we was using had already been booked and this meant that we needed to shoot the next day, we had to book the room, make sure the actors could all turn up and we had to make sure we kept the continuity. Eve though we tried are best to keep the continuity there were small things that went wrong , for example the actors was wearing different clothes and shoes and the clock on the wall was  different time than before. To solve this we decided to book the room for the following day to make sure we didn’t have any further problems. We did not create a shooting schedule, and this began to show a problem when we came to shooting as we spent too much time on each shot which resulted in us not having a lot of time to shoot the rest of our shots. So when we realised this we decided to create a shooting scheduled as it saved us time, we did not have good organisation skills. By the end of the prelim task I knew that it was very important to plan out everything to make sure that the shooting day would go smoothly.

As we did not have all the props the story photo board was hard to create the shots we needed, so instead we made a solution to use other objects that could represent the props we needed. As our film opening doesn’t have any on screen dialogue i found it hard to write the script as I didn’t know how it had to be laid out, But after being showed a short clip on how to do it the solution was solved. Casting became a problem as we only had three people in our and two of them were female and we needed a male character so we had to rotate our roles when that character was being shot. After doing this task I learnt that preparation is important and things need to be organised.

When completing the main task we had to think about equipment, cast, location, timing, cut away shots, variety of shots, re shoots especially continuity this was because we used special lighting we had to make sure it was correct in each shot. We had problems with the lighting as some shots were too dark and you were not able to see them. So we had to decide to re shoot as the shots were important to the film opening. I learnt that even though the lighting can be very effective it sometimes can be very hard to use and can cause problems with continuity. As in the prelim task we did not use a location recce we made sure that we had completed one and that we had booked them room and made sure that it was free for us to use fro the whole. This worked well as we did not have to turn up on shooting day worrying about if we had to stop sometime in the day due to the room being pre-booked. Not creating a shooting schedule in the prelim task worked as a disadvantage for us as we was time wasting. For the main task I learnt that using a shooting schedule helped the group save time as we had time left over to shoot any extra shoots that we thought were creative and will help make our opening sequence better.

Feedback was very important in the prelim task as it was our first time editing and we needed all the comments we could get to help improve it and to make it even better. I help to digitize the shots and to make a rough cut of the sequence. I learnt how to digitize and how to use the software adobe premiere. There was a problem with some with some of the shots as some was not steady or the continuity did not flow. However cause we did always more than 2 shots we was able to choose a suitable shot. I learnt in this task how to use the software and how to create a shot film.

As we needed to make our opening sequence look professional feedback was significant as we need to make sure that everything was correct. My main task was putting in the sound and voiceovers and making changes to the feedback what we got. For example “THe pause needs to be longer as it does not sound very professional”  so we made the pause longer between the shots to make it more effective. We also got positive feedback like “I really like how the sound matches the opening sequences” “ love how the shot quick shots work as they add tension” this reassured us that we was doing a good job. We had a problem as the computer kept on crashing so we had to resave  our work at least 4 times and we had to make sure that we was saving it every 5 minutes to prevent losing our hard work. In this task I learnt how to import sound and how to use the effects with the sound.

Q6) What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

There were many things I learnt using the equipment when creating our opening sequence. The things we used when filming our opening sequence:

Camera (Canon XAH) – We need to use this to as we needed to film our opening sequence. I progressed many new skills when using this camera, I found out how different ways to zoom in and out shots and also how to focus in out on shots and objects. The cameras were

• Lightweight
• Portable
• Easy to operate
• Effective camera movement
• Battery life
• Settings
• Sound set up
• Compact

With the camera you also have the camera bag, this is to make sure the camera is protected and kept safe. In the camera bag is the clapper board which we used to establish each shot, and also in the camera bag is the lens cap this is to protect the camera lens from damage or scratches. The battery is needed so the camera will turn on work as we needed the camera to record. The tap is needed so that we are able to save our shots and keep them all in one place.

Tripod (Libec L82000) – The tripod is needed to hold and keep the camera steady without it the camera would become unsteady and shaky. One the camera at the bottom is the horse shoe that matches with the tripod. When we had to re shoot on another we had problems trying to match up the right horse shoe with the right tripod. I have now learnt how match up the correct equipment, the tripod is very important as it helped us get most of the shoots we needed for our film.

Sound (Sennhewer microphone) - As this was the first time we used the sound equipment it took us a little time to set it up. We had to use sound for the voiceovers for our opening sequence. I now know how to set up the sound equipment and how to use it correctly. I have leant how to use the microphone and the link it to the camera I also learnt how to use the different accessories with.

With the microphone you also have the headphones (Sennhewer headphones) so that you can listen to everything the microphone is picking up for example when recording the voiceovers we had to find somewhere quite as we could hear people in the corridor in the background. However an advantage for this is that if we needed to pick a very quite sound or we could not get close enough to record the microphone picked it u and the headphones gave a clear outcome. Also the boom pole, this is used to get sound at a further distance with out having to be right close to the sound. The Windshield system which is used if you are outside and you want to prevent the sound of the wind as we were inside we didn’t need to use it.  I learnt that the sound equipment is very sensitive and that it can pick up the smallest of noises.

The editing software we used was Adobe Premiere CS4 it was used to help put our opening sequence together and help us add effects. I learnt how to use this software from others and also from trial and error.  I was able to learn how to add transitions effects, how to digitize, add sound, add text, and how to import files. Using Adobe premiere was quite hard at first I did use in the prelim tasks but we used simpler effects. When doing this main task we had difficulty with the timing and using the right effects ect. for example when placing the shots on the timeline we found it hard to cut the shots to fit the soundtrack and to insert the transition effects.

Q5) How did you attract/address your audience?

Our group decided that we really wanted to create a thriller/action film opening and that with the right shots we could produce and excellent film opening. By watching other film openings similar to the genre we had chosen we were able to identify how to produce a successful opening.

We wanted our opening sequence to have the same effect as the movie ‘memento’ and we followed the typical conventions of the genre, to make the opening sequence mysterious, chilling and to also make the viewer think by giving them clues.

To create our opening sequence we knew that the shots would be extremely important to make it successful. We decided to use range of close ups and extreme close ups, this was to attract the viewer interested plus to add tension and also to show significance of shots. For example we used a close of the phone, hat and the masking tape this was to address to the audience that these objects were important to either the whole story or the opening sequence. We also used panning in our opening sequence this was to address to the audience the settings, For example we panned the wall with a mid long shot and a close up this was to give the audience the clues. We panned the characters body this was to show that the character was in trouble and to attract the audience and to keep them wondering what was going to happen next. The first shot is a Pan across the wall to keep audiences wondering what was going to happen next. The next shot is a close up pan to let them see the information on the wall to give clues. Next is a close up of article to let the audience to start piecing the story together. Then it’s Close up of photo to let the audience establish 2 characters. After that it’s the close up of the hat to let the audience wonder who it belongs to. Next it’s atilt of wall to show more information as this opening sequence is like a puzzle they need to put things together. Then there is a shot of the photo to establish more characters. The next shot is a pan of the body was to keep the audience hooked as panning walls can let them lose concentration and they would want to know who that person was and what they have to do with the story. After is the second article helps gives a clearer understanding of what the fill is coming to be about. Next is the phone on the floor shows the audience that it has significance later on. The next shot is the extreme close up of the hands tied up get the audiences thinking about why he is tied up and who tied him up. Then it is he close up of the phone ringing with a name on it is another way to establish character to the audience. Next shot is the close up of article is one of the most important as it gives the audience a sense of danger. The boot s walking shoot were you not see the person keeps the audience wondering what is going on. The bird eye view of the boot stepping on the photo attracts the audience as it makes them be the eyes of that person.  The next shot with the masking tape on the floor shows the audience that it has significance later on. The bird eye view of the character tied up attracts the audience as it makes them be the eyes of that person. After that shot the next shot is the medium long shot of the man legs and the long shot of the boy lying down keeps the room attracted and interested. And finally the extreme close of the bys eyes is the final shot and it is one of the final pieces of the puzzle. We used short and quick cuts to build up tension in the opening sequence for example the close up shots of the writing on the walls, we did this to give apprehension. In editing we used several of transitions to create mystery in the opening sequence, by using fades we created suspense for example when fading in and out of voice over/flashbacks.

Sound is used from the start of the opening sequence this is the first thing that the audience hear or see when the sequence starts. This is to attract the audience straight away and to draw them in so that they are persuaded to watch and listen to the rest. The first voice over when the Character Sarah is speaking it gives the audience the very first clue that they are able to hear. As the music is still playing in the background wile the shots are shown it address the audience as they want to keep watching as the eerie music creates a certain mood to the opening sequence. The next voice over is Johnathan threatening Sarah this is could address the audience as they may what them to watch more. The third voiceover shows the audience more information about the film and it keeps them wondering what is going to happen next.  After that voiceover is a heart rate monitor hitting g a flat line this will attract the audience as they can tell that death or danger will occur. The last voiceover is of the father suggesting that some had hurt his daughter the audience can use the voiceovers to try piece together the clues. The music continues to play in the background and the shots match the music this keeps the audience interested. The sounds of footsteps walking match the shots of someone walking just to add more things to the opening sequence and to make it more creative. The last sound of when the eyes open creates tension and we used this to keep the audience hooked right till the last minute. The sound of the smoke when the title comes up is a way to and tension to the opening sequence.

We also identified that sound is very important in a opening sequence, it sets and creates the mood. To make sure we created the right mood for the sequence we had to make sure we add the right soundtrack, this was so we could attract and address to the audience what the film opening was going to be about or at least give the genre of the opening sequence. We made the sound parallel to the opening sequence. We used non- diegetic sounds such as the Sarah speaking to Nicholas , this was to keep the audience interested also to address to the audience there are more main characters in the story. We also used diegetic sounds to address that there was another character in the room and also to give the clues to what is going to happen next, for example the father’s footsteps.

I would expect the audience to think that most thrillers are e cliff-hangers and it should be leaving them at the edge of their seats, also they would think that the plot should have build up towards a climax. We used all these things in our opening sequence to attract the audience. Other successful movies with same themes as ours are ‘Memento’ and ‘Shutter Island’ and these address the audience.

Q4)  Who would be the audience for your media product?

Without an audience no real film would have a purpose, at when coming up with a film idea the writers decide who they are going to aim there film towards thinking about the age group, the interests, the gender, the ethnicity, the lifestyle, the  area of living , income range , if they are working or in education, personality, and about their beliefs. They not only think about the primary audience but also the secondary audience as well. Primary audience is the main people who the film is targeted at, secondary audience are not the main target audience however they are likely to go see it. 

For our film opening we decided that we will aim our opening sequence at males aged between 15-40 years old .We choose a male target audience as the primary audience as we felt that the majority of themes in our opening sequence would appeal to men then women for example the themes of thriller and action. We also discussed the demographics which are the characteristics of the audience, so we had to think about the class group of the audience, the class group we aimed our opening sequence at was the working class. The target audience that we were aiming would probably be living in an urban environment compared to rural areas because people in rural areas are more likely going to be able to relate to the actions and themes in our opening sequence as the story is set in a rural area.

Most of the people we were aiming at would probably visit the cinema on Fridays and Saturdays in the evenings and maybe Wednesdays and Tuesdays in the evening or during the day as some of cinemas have offers on them days for example most cinemas like Cineworld have discount Tuesday where all the ticket prices are cheaper and at most popular cinemas like Vue have Orange Wednesday’s where people are with the mobile phone network are able to get 2 for 1 deals on cinema tickets. If any on the target audiences did have children they would not be able to bring them as our certificate of the film is a 15.

                                                             

In addition we had to discuss Psychographics of the audience this includes the personality, lifestyle, interests, Attitudes, Values and beliefs. The audience that would watch the film would most likely have the personality of an extrovert. Those that are interested in action/thrillers and are not scared of gory violence was are main target audience.

Our Secondary target audience is females aged between 15-36 years old this is because most women are stereotypically not into action/thriller but also because ou product has a sub genre of Romance this may interest them more. Secondary audiences would also go to watch this genre of movie because they went with a group of friends, a familiar actor or actress was playing a role in it, a familiar director directed it, promotional offers at the cinema, because it is playing at a certain cinema and many more reasons

We choose the primary target group to be men aged from 16-26 as we felt that it would appeal to them more and it would entertain them more. We choose working class as this is because we feel that people of an upper or middle class would not be able to relate to the story and also may not have the time as they will have full time jobs and careers. As the film is set in an urban area we thought that people living in an urban area like in London or Birmingham than would understand it that people from a rural area like Cornwall or the Lake District. We thought the people most likely to visit the cinema in the evenings as they would most likely be at work. However the teenagers over 16 might visit the cinema on weekdays and in the morning/ afternoon as some might not be in education or they might finish college, school or sixth form early that day.

We decided to make our film a certificate 15 and not a certificate of 12 as we felt that it needed to reach a more mature audience and that it would limit the amount of people going to see it if it was a certificate 18. The film would appeal more to extroverts as it is a very high impacted film with a lot of action and the characters in the film are also extrovert and they can relate to them more than introverts would.   

Other movies that our primary target audience would be watching are movies with an action or thriller genre. Movies like ‘Kid adulthood’, ‘The fast and furious’  and ‘4 3 2 1’ as these three are all action movies and because its actions and events that happen thought the movie is similar to our film. Examples of thriller movies are ‘Memento’, ‘Blade’ and ‘Disturbia’ these would all appeal to our main target audience which are males aged between 15-40 years old.

The secondary target audience would enjoy movies like ‘Transformers’, ‘The Bourne Identity’ and ‘Jumper’. These are all action and thriller movies with a hint of romance ,which would appeal to our secondary audience that are females aged between 15-36 years old as most women enjoy movies with action but also like the  theme romance and love and this is what is in our film.

In the last six months I think that our primary target audience would of went to see movies like ‘Shutter Island’ , ’Inception’ and ‘Salt’  as they are high in pack and they involve death, thriller and action these are exciting action filled and thrilling Hollywood movies that came out this year. The secondary audience might have seen ‘Twilight 3’,  ‘Iron Man 2’and ‘Skyline’  within the last six months ,which would appeal to our secondary audience that are females aged between 15-36 years old as it includes action , and love.

Q3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

I did a lot of research about what distribution is and I found out that distribution is. I found out that distribution is how and where a product is shown and publicised. For example big Hollywood blockbusters would shown in mainstream cinemas like Cinieword, Odeon and Vue. Not so popular movies maybe still at the mainstream cinemas just no at peak times, they also maybe shown in small local cinemas. Short films and opening sequences would probably be shown on the internet on sites like YouTube.

As our opening sequence is a low budget, independent student film it would be best if our opening sequence was posted on YouTube, this disturber would be great for our product as we are able to get feedback from the viewers as they are able to comment below the clip and they can tell us how they feel and their opinions on the sequence. With YouTube you are also able to suggest the link to friends and you are also able to get hits from the viewers. And the biggest advantage is that YouTube is free to post up as many clips or sequences as you like plus it is known and used worldwide.

Another online distributer is a UK distributor DogWoof Pictures it was founded in 2004 and it concentrates on foreign films. Another obvious distributor is the blog, by using the blog people are able to comment, view and follow my page.

Dazzle Films are a UK independent short film label which handles the exclusive distribution, exhibition and sales rights for a selective catalogue of award-winning, critically acclaimed UK and international titles. From 90-second, digital micro-movies to super-35mm masterpieces, Dazzle Films does it all

Social networks like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter are also great ways for people to distribute films for free. 


Facebook has over 600 million active users and it is worldwide. Users can create a personal profile, add other users as friends and exchange messages, including automatic notifications when they update their profile and also upload pictures and videos . Additionally, users may join common interest user groups, organized by workplace, school, or college, or other characteristics.  By uploading a short film onto Facebook or posting a link people are able to showcase their work to the world.

Twitter is also worldwide social network and it is very similar face you are able to have your own profile, upload pictures and videos. As many people including celebrities use Twitter the videos you post up are able to be broadcasted worldwide.

Myspace is the best social networking site for distributing multimedia as recently its mass target audience has changed towards people who want to promote music and videos. On Myspace you can do the same things as Facebook and Twitter however it is much easier to upload videos and music on your profile page.

Film festivals are also a good way to distribute small independent films as they are a great way to broadcast films. There are many film festivals in London throughout the whole year many of them have thousands of people going to them.  For example London Short Film Festival in January This festival Brings together the best in short films, art and music, this festival is a mixture of film screenings, live performance and special events.

There are also independent film openings in local cinemas these are usually set up by the borough. To help broadcast young people’s talents, and to let them speak about why and how they made their product. This is a great way for us to distribute our film opening. The way how it works is normally a cinema screen is hired out and the borough e.g. B.A.D (Barking and Dagenham) would help promote the screening.

Q2)  How does your opening sequence represent particular social groups?

In our opening sequence we only used one key character, which is the main character throughout the film and has the most significance usually to the movie. The character represents a typical young male, that has been probably been brought up on the streets and has or had a recent girlfriend also you can tell that he has got himself in to a dangerous satiation. We decided to show this with our camera shots by showing shots of  the character ( Nicholas) with a girl (Sarah) you assume that they maybe a couple and by panning  Nicholas’s body tied up you can tell he is in trouble. Nicholas would appeal other young people or teenagers due to the way he is dressed and because he is also a young person. Nicholas is like a character in the movie ‘Kid adulthood’ Sam Peel who is played by Noel Clarke, represents a young person who is involved with the wrong people on the street sand in the end get into trouble.

Another character that was established in our opening sequence was the father (Johnathan) and he represents a typical overprotective psycho father who cares for his daughter this is similar to the movies “Father of the bride” this is where a father is scared that his little girl is growing up and he’s going to loose her, and also the movie “Because I Sad So” this is about a mother that controls her daughters life and doesn’t let her make her own decisions. The shots of the picture of the father and the daughter you can see he has his arm around her, we decided to choose a photo like that to show his is protective of his daughter. We used the setting as a dark room with walls filled up with newspaper cuttings show that his is a psycho.  We also used editing to show that the father was psycho by using short, quick shots making the opening sequence more like a thriller. This character is similar to Bryan who is played by Liam Neeson in the movie ‘Taken’ (2008) where a man is who wants revenge on whoever kidnapped his daughter.

The final character in the opening sequence was the daughter (Sarah) she represents a average teenage girl, who works hard in her studies, who loves to have fun when out with her mates, she also is a little daddy’s girl and she listens to everything that her dad says and she also falls in love with a of boy of the “streets”. Her father isn’t very happy about this but he allows it any way. The he shot with the close up of Sarah and Nicholas  represent s how happy they are together , also the lighting we used to set up the scene we used a hint of red this was to represent love.

As we only had 3 members in our group and two of us were girls, we had to make the boy in our group the main character. This was advantage as he knew what we wanted him to portray, this is because he had the same creative as us as he knew how we wanted to show the character .We did not have to waste time explaining to him the plot of out opening and what we wanted him to do. Another advantage was that we knew that he and I had dedication to the opening sequence and we knew that we’d be both would be reliable as we were already there on the shooting day. As the cast consisted of two people and it was easy to direct as we both knew what we had to represent as the characters. 

Q1)  In what ways does your media product use, develop and challenge the forms and conventions of real media products?

The opening sequence that we made follows many of the forms and conventions set by the real movies that are out there. There are many factors we needed to consider when making the opening sequence like the form of the opening and the Mise en Scene, which are elements like the lighting and setting.  As our opening sequence is a thriller, we decided to give clues right from the start we did this as an opening sequence needs to hook the viewer from the very first moment. We did this as it follows the codes and conventions of thriller genre movies, and we wanted the media product to develop and challenge the codes and conventions just like real media products. The lighting is important in a thriller as it help sets the scene and adds to the tension, our opening sequence had dim lights to make the room seem more mysterious, thrillers follow this convention to get more affect in the setting for example ‘Kill Bill Vol.1’. ‘Kill Bill Vol.1’ during the fighting scene in the oriental garden had a great mysterious element about it as the only lights that were in the garden did not add a lot light to the garden and it makes everything dim.

Our opening sequence challenged this convention by making it not only just a thriller but also an action, which it relates to the kidnapping element, and romantic, which happens to end wrong, opening as well so we used a hint of red in the lighting to make the colour associated with love , death, action and also anger most thrillers and psychological .We choose the death theme from ‘Memento’ , the psychological thriller and love theme from the move ‘Step Father’   .They have to make the viewer think and concentrate to keep them wondering what is going to happen next, this is why we created the opening sequence to  make the viewer to piece things together. The setting is really important to a thriller so made are setting seem mysterious but remembering to always to give clues. We gained research about conventions on thrillers by watching opening sequences like ‘Kill Bill Vol.2’ and ‘Memento’.

 

 

We used one character in our opening sequence but we came up with interesting ways to establish the other characters in the movie, real thriller media products do this as it add suspense as you want to know who the character is for example in our opening sequence you want to know who is tied up and why. And it also gives clues to what the story is about for example the movie ‘Memento’. However a lot of thriller movies show more than one character in a opening sequences so we decided to challenge that an example of this is in ‘Shutter Island ‘in this movie to characters are shown in the opening sequence.  We used both diegetic  and non- diegetic sounds to let the audience to piece together the opening seunce. We made the soundtrack parallel to visuals these conventions are important to a thriller opening as it adds the tension just like in the movie ‘Memento’ where the sounds are diegetic and non- diegetic. We decided not to challenge this convention as we thought it would help make our opening sequence seem more mysterious.

 The opening sequence is a montage sequence/non liner sequence this is when the narrative is not in chronological order, the majority of real thriller media products do this as it is unpredictable and to keep the viewer interested. Movies that follow this convention are ‘Shutter Island’, ‘Inception’ and ‘I Robot’, these three movies all start the end of the movie then they cut back to the start.