The importance of music:
Our group focused a lot on the music in our production. We really wanted the music to reflect the way the characters were feeling or the situations they were in. I think we did really well with our music choices. Wake (Linkin Park) is very ominous and creepy, much like the dream and the context of the dream. This particular piece built up the enigma and tension as it gradually got louder and I was pleased with the final result of using this piece. Something In the Way (Nirvana) was almost the perfect piece for reflecting the mood of the character and creating a foreboding atmosphere. We tried quite a few pieces of music in its place and came to the conclusion that it was the best fit.
As a group we fully understood that the music plays a huge part in a production. It can be used to create completely different atmospheres and change the mood of the production completely. To prove this point we played around with the music and decided to experiment with different tracks. The first video is our original production, the second video is the musical experiment.
(Original Production)
(Music Experiment)
As you can see by adding an upbeat and happy song it completely changes the atmosphere and mood of the production. It almost appears as if the production is not a psychological thriller as it appears to be more comical. This in turn shows the significance of the music in the production as without it it would be very difficult to portray a tense and foreboding atmosphere around the character.
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Thursday, 15 April 2010
How did you attract/address your audience?
How did the inital audience survey help us to develop our ideas?
Before we began on the practical production it was advised that we did a survey to see if people would like our idea. As a group we had come up with a clear idea we all liked, but there was no point in just us liking it. We therefore devised a questionnaire that contained our idea mixed in with several other ideas we had come up with. We then surveyed 30 people, most from the 16-24 age range as this was our target audience. We then analysed these results and found that the majority of people surveyed would like the basis of our thriller.
We originally did not intended to have much action in our opening sequence as it would be a bit off putting, especially in a psychological thriller. So it was never planned to have loads of action in the opening sequence, the results from this question confirmed that there was no need to put in loads of action to please our potential audience.
All of these results helped us develop our idea into the opening sequence a lot. We weren’t 100% sure whether the audience would like our idea and how we would portray it to please them. So obviously research and analysis played a big part in us getting the idea from our head to the Mac in a way that would please both the audience and allow us to keep the originality of our idea.
Before we began on the practical production it was advised that we did a survey to see if people would like our idea. As a group we had come up with a clear idea we all liked, but there was no point in just us liking it. We therefore devised a questionnaire that contained our idea mixed in with several other ideas we had come up with. We then surveyed 30 people, most from the 16-24 age range as this was our target audience. We then analysed these results and found that the majority of people surveyed would like the basis of our thriller.
The two characters the 30 people wanted to see the most were a ‘Hero’ and a ‘Mysterious character’. Initially we had actually planned to have both of these characters in our opening sequence. But we then questioned whether Michelle would be classed a mysterious character or as hero. We eventually came to the conclusion that she would be the hero and that Natalie would be the mysterious character.
When we came up with our initial idea we knew we wanted it to be a psychological thriller as we wished to incorporate elements that would get inside the viewers head. It would also be deemed a psychological thriller as the main character also experiences things that ‘mess with her head’. When we surveyed our potential audience the largest percent of them preferred a psychological thriller. So we felt that we should stick to that type of thriller.
This was a very important, it told us what our audience think is the most important aspect of a thriller was. This question helped us develop our storyline further as at the beginning we were unsure what people would be most interested in. The two most important aspects chosen were the acting and characters. This sent us on a search for someone who could portray and outsider well and we eventually found our Michelle. We understood that we had a tight filming schedule and would probably need to film during school hours too; this resulted in me being cast for the role of the girl in the mental institute. We eventually found a person who could portray Michelle’s annoying friend well and thus the cast (for at least the first 3 minutes of the movie) was made. As for the special effects and graphics I was already confident on iMovie having used it for GCSE media studies. I did the majority of the editing, but the rest of the group was always there assisting. We all discussed the editing as it was happening so it was not just a one person job. There are no amazing CGI effects in our movie because we were using iMovie, but I still feel that the we did the movie justice with the effects and used them effectively to aid the storyline. As we knew these were the 3 most important aspects we focused on these 3 more than the music and the credits.
We knew as a group that the most important element of any opening sequence is to make the viewer want to watch the rest of the movie and in this case we would have to build up a sense of suspense or enigma. We discussed ways in which to do this effectively and came to the conclusion that it should be done in two parts. The first being the suspense built up by the dream Michelle has. This could be slightly confusing to the audience but it would definitely create a tense atmosphere and build up suspense. The other way is to leave the opening sequence on a cliff hanger. That way the viewer would want to see the rest of the movie as they are unsure what is going to happen next. I think the most effective way we built up suspense was through the cliff hanger ending.
We originally did not intended to have much action in our opening sequence as it would be a bit off putting, especially in a psychological thriller. So it was never planned to have loads of action in the opening sequence, the results from this question confirmed that there was no need to put in loads of action to please our potential audience.All of these results helped us develop our idea into the opening sequence a lot. We weren’t 100% sure whether the audience would like our idea and how we would portray it to please them. So obviously research and analysis played a big part in us getting the idea from our head to the Mac in a way that would please both the audience and allow us to keep the originality of our idea.
Wednesday, 14 April 2010
How did you attract/address your audience?
Target audience feedback on our opening sequence:
We asked 9 people from our target audience to watch our opening sequence and answer 10 questions on it. Many of them were ‘Yes or No’ questions, but they still gave as a good idea of how our opening sequence. We also asked 2 questions that allowed the audience to respond with in depth comments on the opening sequence.
1. Did you understand the narrative?
This question is a little bit misleading, as sometimes you cannot simply understand a movie if you have just seen the first 2 minutes of it. This is why the majority of the audience voted ‘A little’. It was however a good response in that nobody said ‘No’. So our narrative must have some clarity at least.
2. Overall, how much did you enjoy the thriller opening sequence? (1= Not at all, 5= A lot)
Again, not a bad response. Nobody really liked it, but nobody hated it. Most of our target audience thought it was satisfactory which is okay. It just shows us there is some room for improvement in our production.
Our group spent a long time looking for music that reflected the mood of the characters and the environment they were in perfectly. We struggled for a while to find the right combination of music that was not only subtle, but pleasant to listen too. It seems that our efforts paid off with all but one person saying the soundtrack was effective.
We picked the music so it would heighten the suspense, we attempted this though several other elements to. But we didn’t want to build the suspense up so much that it would be unbearable in the first 2 minutes. So again this is a good response, we only wanted to build up a little bit of suspense so that the audience would be curious as to what will happen next.
This was quite a good response from the audience. I would not say that the title was our strongest suit. It is a very interesting title that would grab your attention but what I think the viewers were responding to was the placement of the title. I’ll admit it could do with some work as we were unsure where to place it so it got a bit neglected and was the last thing we did before finishing. But overall, a good response.
10. What could be improved?
'Clearer narrative'
'The narrative'
'Narrative clearer'
'The talking interacting scene between characters a little confusing'
'Make narrative clearer'
'The shot of the two people talking talk louder'
‘I really liked the beginning, especially how the music builds up to the main character. The dialogues weren’t really clear though, but like how you made the opening sequence continuous at the end. Well done!’
So there are two main things the audience would like us to improve. The first being the narrative. I personally think the narrative works well, and if we had had more time (for the production) we would have cleared a few things up, but as it was such a short space of time it was difficult to get everything we wanted in there. I guess if we were to re-do it we could make it less busy and maybe have less scenes. The other thing was the conversation between the characters. Some people found it confusing whereas others just couldn’t hear it properly. If we were to sort out that scene we would definitely make it louder and try to add some clarity to the conversation if we could. But this conversation would have become clearer the more the story progressed.
But, overall I think we did well to please the majority of our target audience. Our film seems to be aimed at a more niche audience as certain people in the people we surveyed liked it and others didn't. This is generally what happens with films that a released in the cinema as one film cannot possibly appeal to every niche group out there. If we were to mkae the rest of the film we would take into consideration what the target audience have said, sort out those things and make sure that the rest of the film would appeal to them.
We asked 9 people from our target audience to watch our opening sequence and answer 10 questions on it. Many of them were ‘Yes or No’ questions, but they still gave as a good idea of how our opening sequence. We also asked 2 questions that allowed the audience to respond with in depth comments on the opening sequence.
1. Did you understand the narrative?
This question is a little bit misleading, as sometimes you cannot simply understand a movie if you have just seen the first 2 minutes of it. This is why the majority of the audience voted ‘A little’. It was however a good response in that nobody said ‘No’. So our narrative must have some clarity at least.2. Overall, how much did you enjoy the thriller opening sequence? (1= Not at all, 5= A lot)
Again, not a bad response. Nobody really liked it, but nobody hated it. Most of our target audience thought it was satisfactory which is okay. It just shows us there is some room for improvement in our production.3. Would you watch the full film? 
A good response to this question, nobody said ‘No’ which meant that we successfully engaged the audience. Much of the audience voted ‘Maybe’, Obviously 2 minutes of a film is not enough to base a judgement whether to watch a movie or not. Usually an audience would want to watch it due to the advertising around the movie. We did create a trailer, but the audience did not get a chance to watch this before the movie was screened, it may have prompted a few more people to say ‘Yes’.
4. What did you think of the effects?
'The effects were relatively good'
'Lovely'
'I think they set for something good to happen'
'Good'
'They're good'
'Very effective at the beginning'
These were all good responses to the question, some vague. But nonetheless they all say the special effects were good. So there is no need for mass improvement in that area.
5. Did you know that it begins with a dream?
This is a definite area for improvement. As our group understood the narrative it appeared clear to us that it was a dream. She opens her eyes and is in bed so we expected the audience to piece two and two together. If we were to go back and improve on this we would definitely start with making it clear that it was a dream.
6. Was the soundtrack effective?
Our group spent a long time looking for music that reflected the mood of the characters and the environment they were in perfectly. We struggled for a while to find the right combination of music that was not only subtle, but pleasant to listen too. It seems that our efforts paid off with all but one person saying the soundtrack was effective.7. Did it build suspense?
We picked the music so it would heighten the suspense, we attempted this though several other elements to. But we didn’t want to build the suspense up so much that it would be unbearable in the first 2 minutes. So again this is a good response, we only wanted to build up a little bit of suspense so that the audience would be curious as to what will happen next.8. Was there any confusion whilst watching it?
I wasn’t too surprised at this reaction from the audience. Admittedly if you do not watch the movie carefully and closely confusion can arise as there are very small and subtle hints in the movie that if you miss may throw you off. It is also not uncommon for there to be slight confusion at the start of the movie as usually it is cleared up as the narrative progresses. Obviously we did not have enough time to clear up the confusion, but if we had had longer we definitely would have cleared up some of the confusion.
9. Does the title grab your attention?
This was quite a good response from the audience. I would not say that the title was our strongest suit. It is a very interesting title that would grab your attention but what I think the viewers were responding to was the placement of the title. I’ll admit it could do with some work as we were unsure where to place it so it got a bit neglected and was the last thing we did before finishing. But overall, a good response.10. What could be improved?
'Clearer narrative'
'The narrative'
'Narrative clearer'
'The talking interacting scene between characters a little confusing'
'Make narrative clearer'
'The shot of the two people talking talk louder'
‘I really liked the beginning, especially how the music builds up to the main character. The dialogues weren’t really clear though, but like how you made the opening sequence continuous at the end. Well done!’
So there are two main things the audience would like us to improve. The first being the narrative. I personally think the narrative works well, and if we had had more time (for the production) we would have cleared a few things up, but as it was such a short space of time it was difficult to get everything we wanted in there. I guess if we were to re-do it we could make it less busy and maybe have less scenes. The other thing was the conversation between the characters. Some people found it confusing whereas others just couldn’t hear it properly. If we were to sort out that scene we would definitely make it louder and try to add some clarity to the conversation if we could. But this conversation would have become clearer the more the story progressed.
But, overall I think we did well to please the majority of our target audience. Our film seems to be aimed at a more niche audience as certain people in the people we surveyed liked it and others didn't. This is generally what happens with films that a released in the cinema as one film cannot possibly appeal to every niche group out there. If we were to mkae the rest of the film we would take into consideration what the target audience have said, sort out those things and make sure that the rest of the film would appeal to them.
How did you attract/address your audience?
Reinventing Your Exit teaser trailer:
As a group we understood the importance of advertising in accordance with the release of a film. We were not told to make a trailer but we felt it would benefit the viewers as it may help them understand the movie more (this is just a short teaser trailer). We made this using iMovie, just like we did for our opening sequence. Once we had finished our opening sequence we felt we may as well have done something productive with our time and thus a trailer was made. Enjoy.
As a group we understood the importance of advertising in accordance with the release of a film. We were not told to make a trailer but we felt it would benefit the viewers as it may help them understand the movie more (this is just a short teaser trailer). We made this using iMovie, just like we did for our opening sequence. Once we had finished our opening sequence we felt we may as well have done something productive with our time and thus a trailer was made. Enjoy.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
A typical audience profile:
Our target audience is between 16 and 24 year of age. But realistically our audience would be aimed at teenagers more than young adults. This is because the film is very heavily influenced by teen culture and lifestyle. Our movie would also probably not appeal to all types of teenagers and will probably only appeal to a niche audience.
This type of person would enjoy art and creativity (as they can relate to Michelle) and would also take a deeper interest in life. They may find it a little hard to make friends as they don’t always fit in, but when they do they are the ‘friends for life’ type. They would have a unique, yet subtle dress sense; usually dressing in plain clothing as they are introverts. Even though they seem slightly different they would still enjoy all the things a stereotypical teenager would, they would listen to music, go to the movies with their friends and just enjoy a good chat.
This would be the type of person to watch our movie as they can closely relate to the main character. This is the type of thing that creates a cult movie. If the audience feel they can relate to and understand the characters it makes the movie more personally and therefore more enjoyable.
But of course, this is only our target audience and sometimes other people from different age groups and different cliques will watch a movie if they like the look of it and if it is advertised well.
Our target audience is between 16 and 24 year of age. But realistically our audience would be aimed at teenagers more than young adults. This is because the film is very heavily influenced by teen culture and lifestyle. Our movie would also probably not appeal to all types of teenagers and will probably only appeal to a niche audience.
This type of person would enjoy art and creativity (as they can relate to Michelle) and would also take a deeper interest in life. They may find it a little hard to make friends as they don’t always fit in, but when they do they are the ‘friends for life’ type. They would have a unique, yet subtle dress sense; usually dressing in plain clothing as they are introverts. Even though they seem slightly different they would still enjoy all the things a stereotypical teenager would, they would listen to music, go to the movies with their friends and just enjoy a good chat.
This would be the type of person to watch our movie as they can closely relate to the main character. This is the type of thing that creates a cult movie. If the audience feel they can relate to and understand the characters it makes the movie more personally and therefore more enjoyable.
But of course, this is only our target audience and sometimes other people from different age groups and different cliques will watch a movie if they like the look of it and if it is advertised well.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Other thriller narratives VS ours:
So, of all the movies I have looked at so far many of them have something about the storyline that is similar to ours. I looked at these movies intentionally to see how they portrayed their ideas and how we portrayed ours.
The Eye: Possibly the closest we have come to a similar movie, the main character has visions and premonitions of the future that cause her to investigate why she is having these visions. Only her visions come from the donated corneas she gets to cure her blindness. In our narrative the characters’ visions come from her own subconscious, mainly occurring when she is asleep or daydreaming, causing her to question her sanity. In The Eye the main character knows she is not going crazy and has to try and convince others that she is not. In any case, both characters from both movies go off in search of the cause of their premonitions leading them both on haunting and revealing journeys.
The Ring: The main comparison between these movies is the girl Samara (The Ring) and Natalie (Reinventing Your Exit) appear to be psychotic. Neither of them actually appear in reality fro sometime in the movies but they eventually appear and the audience learn of their tragic pasts. The Ring is based around Samara killing people out of spite for what her father did to her. Whereas Reinventing Your Exit is based more upon Natalie trying to escape without killing anyone.
Donnie Darko: Of a completely different sub-genre, and yet there are similarities. Both of the main characters are troubled teenagers who find it hard to fit it and are both fascinated by the world. Only Michelle (Reinventing Your Exit) does not suffer from a mental illness, just an overactive imagination.
So, of all the movies I have looked at so far many of them have something about the storyline that is similar to ours. I looked at these movies intentionally to see how they portrayed their ideas and how we portrayed ours.
The Eye: Possibly the closest we have come to a similar movie, the main character has visions and premonitions of the future that cause her to investigate why she is having these visions. Only her visions come from the donated corneas she gets to cure her blindness. In our narrative the characters’ visions come from her own subconscious, mainly occurring when she is asleep or daydreaming, causing her to question her sanity. In The Eye the main character knows she is not going crazy and has to try and convince others that she is not. In any case, both characters from both movies go off in search of the cause of their premonitions leading them both on haunting and revealing journeys.
The Ring: The main comparison between these movies is the girl Samara (The Ring) and Natalie (Reinventing Your Exit) appear to be psychotic. Neither of them actually appear in reality fro sometime in the movies but they eventually appear and the audience learn of their tragic pasts. The Ring is based around Samara killing people out of spite for what her father did to her. Whereas Reinventing Your Exit is based more upon Natalie trying to escape without killing anyone.
Donnie Darko: Of a completely different sub-genre, and yet there are similarities. Both of the main characters are troubled teenagers who find it hard to fit it and are both fascinated by the world. Only Michelle (Reinventing Your Exit) does not suffer from a mental illness, just an overactive imagination.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Reinventing Your Exit, Film Synopsis:
When Michelle Murray has a premonition of things to come she becomes both anxious and curious to find out whether her vision was true. Her premonition leads her on a dangerous and revealing journey into Wormwood mental institute, an abandoned Mental home with many patients still stuck inside its walls. Here she learns the about the fate of her friends and family and also learns of her own tragic future. Michelle is told all of this by a girl trapped within the mental home, but can she really trust everything she is telling her? Or is she being tricked into releasing the psycho within Wormwood’s walls?
When Michelle Murray has a premonition of things to come she becomes both anxious and curious to find out whether her vision was true. Her premonition leads her on a dangerous and revealing journey into Wormwood mental institute, an abandoned Mental home with many patients still stuck inside its walls. Here she learns the about the fate of her friends and family and also learns of her own tragic future. Michelle is told all of this by a girl trapped within the mental home, but can she really trust everything she is telling her? Or is she being tricked into releasing the psycho within Wormwood’s walls?
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Other thriller movies that would attract our target audeince:
(Our target audience: 16-24)
We felt the target audience for our movie would be someone between the ages of 16 and 24. Due to the references in the film, the main character attending college and the age of the cast. All of these things would appeal to someone in that particular age range. Many films are specifically aimed at younger audiences. I have chosen to look at 2 thrillers that are aimed at the same age range and explain how I know these movies are aimed at them.
1. Donnie Darko- Donnie Darko is a sci-fi thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal. The movie is based around a troubled teenager who does not fit in and is interested science, particularly the thesis of time travel. He begins to have visions of Frank (a man in a bunny suit) and is informed that he must save the world in 28 days.
Plot summary: "Donnie Darko doesn't get along too well with his family, his teachers and his classmates; but he does manage to find a sympathetic friend in Gretchen, who agrees to date him. He has a compassionate psychiatrist, who discovers hypnosis is the means to unlock hidden secrets. His other companion may not be a true ally. Donnie has a friend named Frank - a large bunny which only Donnie can see. When an engine falls off a plane and destroys his bedroom, Donnie is not there. Both the event, and Donnie's escape, seem to have been caused by supernatural events. Donnie's mental illness, if such it is, may never allow him to find out for sure."
The audience for Donnie Darko is clearly for people between the ages of 16-24. The storyline is based on a troubled teenager going through all the problems other teenagers face as well as suffering from a mental illness. The story is also loosely based on trying to find acceptance and love. All the things people from this age range worry about the most. The star of the film is a young male that females in this age range may find attractive and the males may look up to him. Donnie Darko does also appeal to older audiences in some ways, such as having Patrick Swazye (an admired middle aged actor at the time) and the academic references in the movie (the thesis of time travel). But the main target audience is for people between the ages of 16-24.
2. Sorority Row- Sorority Row is a horror/ slasher thriller that was released in 2009, the movie has no well known actors in it but did very well at the box office.
Plot summary: “After finding out a guy cheated on their sister, sorority house Theta Pi play a simple prank on him. They trick him into thinking that he has killed his girlfriend, then take him into the middle of nowhere to 'dismember" the body, only then revealing it was a prank. However, the prank goes horribly wrong and all involved swear never to speak of it again. A year later at graduation though, they are all reminded of the past…”
Again sorority row is aimed at younger audiences, but the film may not only appeal to 16-24 year olds but possibly 25-31 year olds too. This is because the film is based at a university, and it is usually expected that people between the age of 18 and 31 are those who attend university. It may not appeal to older audiences as there is a lot of blood and gore in the movie, stereotypically older audiences would not be expected to watch a movie with lots of blood and gore in it as it isn’t in their taste.
(Our target audience: 16-24)
We felt the target audience for our movie would be someone between the ages of 16 and 24. Due to the references in the film, the main character attending college and the age of the cast. All of these things would appeal to someone in that particular age range. Many films are specifically aimed at younger audiences. I have chosen to look at 2 thrillers that are aimed at the same age range and explain how I know these movies are aimed at them.
1. Donnie Darko- Donnie Darko is a sci-fi thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal. The movie is based around a troubled teenager who does not fit in and is interested science, particularly the thesis of time travel. He begins to have visions of Frank (a man in a bunny suit) and is informed that he must save the world in 28 days.
Plot summary: "Donnie Darko doesn't get along too well with his family, his teachers and his classmates; but he does manage to find a sympathetic friend in Gretchen, who agrees to date him. He has a compassionate psychiatrist, who discovers hypnosis is the means to unlock hidden secrets. His other companion may not be a true ally. Donnie has a friend named Frank - a large bunny which only Donnie can see. When an engine falls off a plane and destroys his bedroom, Donnie is not there. Both the event, and Donnie's escape, seem to have been caused by supernatural events. Donnie's mental illness, if such it is, may never allow him to find out for sure."
The audience for Donnie Darko is clearly for people between the ages of 16-24. The storyline is based on a troubled teenager going through all the problems other teenagers face as well as suffering from a mental illness. The story is also loosely based on trying to find acceptance and love. All the things people from this age range worry about the most. The star of the film is a young male that females in this age range may find attractive and the males may look up to him. Donnie Darko does also appeal to older audiences in some ways, such as having Patrick Swazye (an admired middle aged actor at the time) and the academic references in the movie (the thesis of time travel). But the main target audience is for people between the ages of 16-24.
2. Sorority Row- Sorority Row is a horror/ slasher thriller that was released in 2009, the movie has no well known actors in it but did very well at the box office.
Plot summary: “After finding out a guy cheated on their sister, sorority house Theta Pi play a simple prank on him. They trick him into thinking that he has killed his girlfriend, then take him into the middle of nowhere to 'dismember" the body, only then revealing it was a prank. However, the prank goes horribly wrong and all involved swear never to speak of it again. A year later at graduation though, they are all reminded of the past…”Again sorority row is aimed at younger audiences, but the film may not only appeal to 16-24 year olds but possibly 25-31 year olds too. This is because the film is based at a university, and it is usually expected that people between the age of 18 and 31 are those who attend university. It may not appeal to older audiences as there is a lot of blood and gore in the movie, stereotypically older audiences would not be expected to watch a movie with lots of blood and gore in it as it isn’t in their taste.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Cult Movies and dedicated fanbases:
We would like to think that if our film did not do well at the box office it could still become what is know as a ‘cult movie’. Often movies appeal to more niche groups of people and it is very unlikely to create a movie that will appeal to everyone in the world. A good example of a cult movie is Donnie Darko. This movie did not initially do well at the box office and never broke even when in came to profit VS. budget. In the world of cinema this movie would be deemed unsuccessful as it didn’t earn back the money it used to create the movie. However, several years afters its release in the cinema people began to warm to the movie and it soon became a favourite among teenagers. Nowadays it is referred to as a cult movie as it has gained a loyal fanbase over the years. We felt this may apply to our movie as well. We do not have any famous actors or actresses in the movie and It would have been made on a very small budget. Our movie has also been thought about in a lot of detail.
We attempted to make the movie have a certain look and feel. We wanted it to appear artistic so a lot of the locations, shots and costumes were bared in mind whilst we developed our initial idea. Often cult movies are artistic and appeal to their target audience in a way in which they can relate to the movie. For our movie we decided to make the main character, Michelle, appear like an outsider. She has no friends that truly understand her and she has a deep interest in the world around her. We tried to appeal to all teenagers who have ever felt that isolation because they are not the stereotypical cliché that is a ‘normal’ teenager. The film also has a very memorable title.
So, whether or not our film does well at the box office or not we can still count on the fans to make the film a success. This is when a normal movie becomes a cult movie
We would like to think that if our film did not do well at the box office it could still become what is know as a ‘cult movie’. Often movies appeal to more niche groups of people and it is very unlikely to create a movie that will appeal to everyone in the world. A good example of a cult movie is Donnie Darko. This movie did not initially do well at the box office and never broke even when in came to profit VS. budget. In the world of cinema this movie would be deemed unsuccessful as it didn’t earn back the money it used to create the movie. However, several years afters its release in the cinema people began to warm to the movie and it soon became a favourite among teenagers. Nowadays it is referred to as a cult movie as it has gained a loyal fanbase over the years. We felt this may apply to our movie as well. We do not have any famous actors or actresses in the movie and It would have been made on a very small budget. Our movie has also been thought about in a lot of detail.
We attempted to make the movie have a certain look and feel. We wanted it to appear artistic so a lot of the locations, shots and costumes were bared in mind whilst we developed our initial idea. Often cult movies are artistic and appeal to their target audience in a way in which they can relate to the movie. For our movie we decided to make the main character, Michelle, appear like an outsider. She has no friends that truly understand her and she has a deep interest in the world around her. We tried to appeal to all teenagers who have ever felt that isolation because they are not the stereotypical cliché that is a ‘normal’ teenager. The film also has a very memorable title.
So, whether or not our film does well at the box office or not we can still count on the fans to make the film a success. This is when a normal movie becomes a cult movie
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Who would be the audience for your media product?
Will the target audeince like our idea?
Certain people will watch films for certain reasons this could be because:
-The narrative appeals to them
-It is of a genre that they enjoy
-The actors/ actresses in the movie
And many other reasons. Because of this we had to do a survey of our target audience to see if they would enjoy our movie and whether our ideas appealled or did not appeal to them.
We surveyed 30 people from a range of different ages. We mainly surveyed people from the 16-24 age range as this was our intended target audience. We asked them questions ranging from ‘What characters would you prefer to see in a thriller movie?’ to ‘What hybrid of thriller do you prefer?’ From these we questions we gathered our data and found out what people would like to see in a thriller movie.
The most wanted characters were ‘Hero’ and ‘Mysterious character’. Our idea originally contained both of these characters so we were pleased to learn that people would like our idea.
The majority of people we surveyed also did not feel it was appropriate to have loads of action in the opening sequence. Our idea had a little bit of action, but we decided not to have a completely action packed opening sequence. We felt we should reveal some things to keep the audience engaged but not so much the opening sequence appeared rushed.
So overall it appears our ideas appeal to the majority of our target audience, as well as certain people from outside the target audience age. If we do our idea justice then it appears it would be very successful with the target audience as well as certain other age groups.
Certain people will watch films for certain reasons this could be because:
-The narrative appeals to them
-It is of a genre that they enjoy
-The actors/ actresses in the movie
And many other reasons. Because of this we had to do a survey of our target audience to see if they would enjoy our movie and whether our ideas appealled or did not appeal to them.
We surveyed 30 people from a range of different ages. We mainly surveyed people from the 16-24 age range as this was our intended target audience. We asked them questions ranging from ‘What characters would you prefer to see in a thriller movie?’ to ‘What hybrid of thriller do you prefer?’ From these we questions we gathered our data and found out what people would like to see in a thriller movie.
The most wanted characters were ‘Hero’ and ‘Mysterious character’. Our idea originally contained both of these characters so we were pleased to learn that people would like our idea.
We also found that the majority of people surveyed enjoyed psychological thriller movies. Our intention was to create a psychological thriller. So again, we were pleased to see we had created an idea that people from our target audience would enjoy.
The majority of people we surveyed also did not feel it was appropriate to have loads of action in the opening sequence. Our idea had a little bit of action, but we decided not to have a completely action packed opening sequence. We felt we should reveal some things to keep the audience engaged but not so much the opening sequence appeared rushed.So overall it appears our ideas appeal to the majority of our target audience, as well as certain people from outside the target audience age. If we do our idea justice then it appears it would be very successful with the target audience as well as certain other age groups.Who would be the audience for your media product?
Film classification:
All films in the UK come with an age classification, which means that the film should not be viewed by a person under the age of the classification. All classifications are made by The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). They over see all film distributions and have strict guidelines on how a film is classified. They ensure that all the content of the film is fit for legal viewing. Certain films have been ban from release as they are not suitable for release. The BBFC also decided if people need protecting from the content, it would not be suitable for a young child to watch a movie that is full of sex and violence as they are vulnerable viewers (the hypodermic syringe theory states that people who are in a vulnerable state, such as being a young child or having a mental illness, are influenced by the media and it could reflect negatively upon them). All of these things are bared in mind as the BBFC classify every movie.
Film classification is successful in terms of baring certain people from seeing certain types of movies. It is now extremely difficult for people to sneak into movies in the cinema to watch movies that are classified above their age. Whilst purchasing tickets and upon entering the screens many cinemas now ask for ID if the viewer looks too young to watch the movie.
The BBFC have 6 different classifications:
U: Universal (suitable for all)
PG: Parental guidance (general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children)
12 and 12A: suitable for 12 years and older. No one under the age of 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a 12 rated video or DVD. Responsibility for allowing under 12’s to view lies with the accompanying or supervising adult.
15: Suitable only for 15 year and over. No one younger than 15 may see a 15 film in cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a 14 rated video or DVD.
18: Suitable only for adults. No one younger than 18 may see and 18 rated film in the cinema. No one younger than 18 may rent or buy an 18 rated video or DVD.
R18: To be shown only in specially licensed cinema, or supplied only in licensed sex shops, and to adults of not less than 18 years.
(Source: OCR Media Studies for AS, Third Edition, Julian McDougall)
Many of these classifications work well in the cinema and shops, but quite often people ignore classifications when it comes to viewing the movies at home.
So, what age rating do we give Reinventing Your Exit?
We must take into consideration what classification our movie would fall under.
Films with similar storylines such as The Ring and The Eye, have been rated BBFC 15, only suitable for viewers over 15 years old. This is because the films contain threat and content that may not be suitable for viewers under 15. But there is no content that is to sexually or violently explicit and because of that fact the movie cannot be rated an 18.
This is the case with Reinventing Your Exit, there are no sexually explicit or violent scenes, so it therefore cannot be rated an 18. But, the film does contain a lot of threat meaning that it may not be suitable for 12 years old. Because of this we have decided that our film should be rated a 15. Suitable for viewers over the age of 15.
All films in the UK come with an age classification, which means that the film should not be viewed by a person under the age of the classification. All classifications are made by The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). They over see all film distributions and have strict guidelines on how a film is classified. They ensure that all the content of the film is fit for legal viewing. Certain films have been ban from release as they are not suitable for release. The BBFC also decided if people need protecting from the content, it would not be suitable for a young child to watch a movie that is full of sex and violence as they are vulnerable viewers (the hypodermic syringe theory states that people who are in a vulnerable state, such as being a young child or having a mental illness, are influenced by the media and it could reflect negatively upon them). All of these things are bared in mind as the BBFC classify every movie.
Film classification is successful in terms of baring certain people from seeing certain types of movies. It is now extremely difficult for people to sneak into movies in the cinema to watch movies that are classified above their age. Whilst purchasing tickets and upon entering the screens many cinemas now ask for ID if the viewer looks too young to watch the movie.
The BBFC have 6 different classifications:
U: Universal (suitable for all)
PG: Parental guidance (general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children)
12 and 12A: suitable for 12 years and older. No one under the age of 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a 12 rated video or DVD. Responsibility for allowing under 12’s to view lies with the accompanying or supervising adult.
15: Suitable only for 15 year and over. No one younger than 15 may see a 15 film in cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a 14 rated video or DVD.
18: Suitable only for adults. No one younger than 18 may see and 18 rated film in the cinema. No one younger than 18 may rent or buy an 18 rated video or DVD.
R18: To be shown only in specially licensed cinema, or supplied only in licensed sex shops, and to adults of not less than 18 years.
(Source: OCR Media Studies for AS, Third Edition, Julian McDougall)
Many of these classifications work well in the cinema and shops, but quite often people ignore classifications when it comes to viewing the movies at home.
So, what age rating do we give Reinventing Your Exit?
We must take into consideration what classification our movie would fall under.
Films with similar storylines such as The Ring and The Eye, have been rated BBFC 15, only suitable for viewers over 15 years old. This is because the films contain threat and content that may not be suitable for viewers under 15. But there is no content that is to sexually or violently explicit and because of that fact the movie cannot be rated an 18.
This is the case with Reinventing Your Exit, there are no sexually explicit or violent scenes, so it therefore cannot be rated an 18. But, the film does contain a lot of threat meaning that it may not be suitable for 12 years old. Because of this we have decided that our film should be rated a 15. Suitable for viewers over the age of 15.
What kind of media institution might distribute you media product and why?
Our distributor:
As a group we discussed who we thought our distributor should be and came to the conclusion that as our movie was low budget that it would be unlikely that a big name distributor (such as 20th Century Fox) would distribute our movie.
So we thought about independent distributors as that seemed more realistic and we decided to use Pandora.
Pandora are a relatively unknown distributor who mainly distributes movies in Germany. However, they have distributed several low budget thriller movies in the UK and the USA; Donnie Darko being one of them. Donnie Darko was made on a very small budget of $4.5 million. We came to the conclusion as a group that if we had a budget to make a whole film it would probably be even less than that. There are no A-list stars in our film, all the actors are unknown. This means there is no need for huge pay-checks. We also filmed all on location meaning there was no need for green screen or studios. As our film is a low budget thriller movie Pandora should not have a problem distributing it as they have worked with similar movies before.
As a group we discussed who we thought our distributor should be and came to the conclusion that as our movie was low budget that it would be unlikely that a big name distributor (such as 20th Century Fox) would distribute our movie.
So we thought about independent distributors as that seemed more realistic and we decided to use Pandora.
Pandora are a relatively unknown distributor who mainly distributes movies in Germany. However, they have distributed several low budget thriller movies in the UK and the USA; Donnie Darko being one of them. Donnie Darko was made on a very small budget of $4.5 million. We came to the conclusion as a group that if we had a budget to make a whole film it would probably be even less than that. There are no A-list stars in our film, all the actors are unknown. This means there is no need for huge pay-checks. We also filmed all on location meaning there was no need for green screen or studios. As our film is a low budget thriller movie Pandora should not have a problem distributing it as they have worked with similar movies before.
Monday, 12 April 2010
What kind of media institution might distribute you media product and why?
Thriller movie distributors:
The Eye:
The Eye is a movie of the same genre to ours. It is classed as a psychological/ horror thriller. Reinventing Your Exit and The Eye have slightly similar storylines, but, Reinventing Your Exit does not come under the horror sub-genre. The Eye is distirbuted by Lionsgate and Paramount Pictures. Lionsgate are one of the leading independant film distirbutors to date having distibuted films such as the Saw Saga and Teeth, both well known horror movies. Paramount vantage are a part of a major distributor (Paramount pictures), but Paramount Vantage focus mor on 'Art house' types of movies. They have distributed films such as Revolutionary Road and the Kite Runner.
The Eye:
The Eye is a movie of the same genre to ours. It is classed as a psychological/ horror thriller. Reinventing Your Exit and The Eye have slightly similar storylines, but, Reinventing Your Exit does not come under the horror sub-genre. The Eye is distirbuted by Lionsgate and Paramount Pictures. Lionsgate are one of the leading independant film distirbutors to date having distibuted films such as the Saw Saga and Teeth, both well known horror movies. Paramount vantage are a part of a major distributor (Paramount pictures), but Paramount Vantage focus mor on 'Art house' types of movies. They have distributed films such as Revolutionary Road and the Kite Runner.
The Ring:
The Ring is also a psychological/ horror thriller. It was distributed by DreamWorks Pictures. DreamWorks Pictures are a major film distributor (being one of the top 5 in Hollywood) and they have distributed many films including Catch Me If You Can and The Island . 
State Of Play:
State Of Play is a political conspiracy thriller, nothing like Reinventing Your Exit. It was distributed by Universal Pictures. Universal pictures are a major film distributor (being one of the major 5 in Hollywood). They have distributed Dawn of the Dead, Land of the Dead and White Noise.
Looking back at you preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Development of skills since the preliminary task
Sound:
I feel as editor that our biggest improvement was the sound, this ranged from ambient sound to the music we used. In our preliminary task we scrapped all of the background noise in shots where there was no talking; this made the whole production seem bizarre and ruined the continuity. We spent quite a lot of time making sure that the sound in the opening sequence was to a high standard. We went a re-filmed a scene due to the background noise overpowering the conversation between the characters. We spent a long time looking for the right music to fit our opening sequence as we understood that the music represented the mood of the movie. We had a very specific idea of what mood we wanted in our opening sequence so we had to find the right music to reflect a ‘calm before the storm’ mood. I feel the music was the strongest part of our production as it did a good job of building up the suspense and enigma. Another reason I feel the sound was our strongest element was the use of new skills. I recently discovered the technique of extracting the audio from a clip. This technique allowed us to turn a confusing scene into a self explanatory scene. Instead of it seeming that the main character is just seeing the mental institute the use of dialogue made it seem like a flashback, which was our original intention. We played around with the sound of the dialogue until it seemed like a fuzzy memory that has come back to haunt the character and makes her realise what she is seeing. We also used sound effects to enhance the mood of the production; certain parts of the production seemed to need a little something more. By adding sound effects we managed to not only fill these parts of the production, but we also managed to build up the enigma.
Special effects:
Special effects played a very important part in our production, without them much of the production would be confusing and boring. One instance that may cause confusion is the definition between dreams/ flashbacks and reality. For dreams and flashbacks we decided to make the clips black and white. This way when the clips changed from black and white to colour the viewer would clearly know that they are supposed to be different.
Sound:
I feel as editor that our biggest improvement was the sound, this ranged from ambient sound to the music we used. In our preliminary task we scrapped all of the background noise in shots where there was no talking; this made the whole production seem bizarre and ruined the continuity. We spent quite a lot of time making sure that the sound in the opening sequence was to a high standard. We went a re-filmed a scene due to the background noise overpowering the conversation between the characters. We spent a long time looking for the right music to fit our opening sequence as we understood that the music represented the mood of the movie. We had a very specific idea of what mood we wanted in our opening sequence so we had to find the right music to reflect a ‘calm before the storm’ mood. I feel the music was the strongest part of our production as it did a good job of building up the suspense and enigma. Another reason I feel the sound was our strongest element was the use of new skills. I recently discovered the technique of extracting the audio from a clip. This technique allowed us to turn a confusing scene into a self explanatory scene. Instead of it seeming that the main character is just seeing the mental institute the use of dialogue made it seem like a flashback, which was our original intention. We played around with the sound of the dialogue until it seemed like a fuzzy memory that has come back to haunt the character and makes her realise what she is seeing. We also used sound effects to enhance the mood of the production; certain parts of the production seemed to need a little something more. By adding sound effects we managed to not only fill these parts of the production, but we also managed to build up the enigma.
Special effects:
Special effects played a very important part in our production, without them much of the production would be confusing and boring. One instance that may cause confusion is the definition between dreams/ flashbacks and reality. For dreams and flashbacks we decided to make the clips black and white. This way when the clips changed from black and white to colour the viewer would clearly know that they are supposed to be different.
Transitions:
Transitions play an important part in the continuity of a production. We used several different transitions, mainly fade ins and fade outs, but we also used straight cuts, overlaps and dissolves to make the production appear continuous. I believe most of our transitions work effectively. There were many scene changes in our production and the most effective way to show this was to have a fade in or a fade out. We learnt this from our preliminary task as we used loads of straight cuts in that. It was not as effective to have one scene cut to a completely different one as it ruined the continuity and confused the viewers. Overall I believe we used transitions well as our production flows quite well, there are only a few instances where the transitions could be improved.
Camera work:
Out of all the elements in our opening sequence I would say that camera work is the weakest. I wouldn’t say the camera work was particularly bad; it just needed a bit more work. If we had used a variety of angles in our shots then they would have been a lot stronger. Some of the clips were done free hand, so they were slightly shaky. This was effective on some clips, such as in the dream as it showed the disequilibrium of the situation. But for some of the clips, such as the conversation there was no need for the shaky camera. That scene probably would have been more effective if the camera was on a tripod. But, we did stick to the 180 degree rule and we used over the shoulder shots in our opening sequence, so it wasn’t all bad. Overall if we were to improve anything about our opening sequence I believe we would focus on camera work.
Looking back at you preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Preliminary task VS Opening sequence
In this shot we see the character sat on a bench. It is only subtle, but this is a high angle shot. It gives the scene more of a dramatic effect as we can see someone approaching her. This could indicate that she is inferior to this character at this point as she is unaware of her approaching. As the other character is sitting down there is going to be a slight high angle shot when they are talking. Again this indicates to us that there is a possible power struggle between these characters. If we just had a static shot of the characters talking it would not be as effective. This is what we had in the first draft of our opening sequence. There was a build up of enigma and then the shot just stayed the same for the duration of their conversation. We felt this took away from the enigma and suspense. So we re-filmed this scene and felt it had a better effect. Although some viewers found this scene slightly confusing. 
Using this technique meant that our opening sequence didn’t look too rushed as we took the time to show different points of view of the environments. This technique also helped our opening sequence to flow and have better continuity which is key in any production.
Another thing we have learnt since the production of our preliminary task is the importance of music and sound. In our preliminary task we did not use any music, only dialogue. As our preliminary task was under a minute long this didn’t really matter. But as our opening sequence was longer we felt it would be boring if it was all just background noise and dialogue. We decided to have a maximum of two pieces of music in our production. The first, ‘Wake- Linkin Park’, was used to build up the suspense and enigma in the dream sequence. I think that particular piece of music was successful in doing that.
(Wake- Linkin Park)
The other piece of music we used, ‘Something in the Way- Nirvana’, was simply meant to fill the space of her journey before and after the conversation. But we knew picking the right piece of music was key. We wanted something that could both reflect the way the character was feeling and foreshadow the events to come. The lyrics of this song reflect her mood perfectly “Something in the way”, we can clearly see the character is distracted. But also the mellow sound of the track seems quite foreboding, like the calm before the storm.
(Something In The Way- Nirvana)
I personally think the use of music in our opening sequence was effective, and so did our viewers with 8 of our 9 viewers agreeing that the soundtrack was effective.
I have learnt a few new techniques to do with sound since our preliminary task and as main editor incorporated these into our opening sequence. The first was the use of sound effects. The sound effects were already loaded into iMovie and were ready to use. At the point where the main character wakes up we had trouble finding a way to make it fully effective. We tried extending the music, cutting it short, merging another track with it but nothing seemed to work. So I had a play around with the sound effects and found that using a heart beat would not only solve our problems with the music but it would also continue to build up the enigma. The second sound technique I discovered was extracting the audio from clips and placing them elsewhere to enhance the scenes. In our first draft we had ‘S.N.A.P Productions’ come up in silence and dive straight into the dream. The silence seemed a bit boring as the whole point of those first few seconds is to grab the attention of the viewer. So for our final draft I extracted the audio from a clip we had filmed of some crows in some trees, the cawing of the crows seemed really ominous and menacing, it also filled the silence that would have bored the viewer. Another time we used the extracting audio technique was to build up the enigma and suspense. The scene where the main character is on the bus and sees the mental institute seemed a bit strange in silence too. So when she has the flashback I decided to place some dialogue from the conversation over the top of the flashback. This made it seem more like a realisation to the main character than her just randomly seeing it. The dialogue was “Why are you drawing the mental asylum?” but instead of having it just randomly there I played around with the audio finding a way to make it seem haunting and eerie. Eventually I found the right combination and I feel it definitely made the scene better.
Overall I believe our opening sequence is a lot more skillful than our preliminary task. This is because our camera skills, knowledge of iMovie and understanding of technical skills have improved. This meant we could produce a more technically skilled movie.
(Preliminary Task)
In our preliminary task our group stuck to the very basics. There was no experimentation with different angles. Using different angles can dramatically improve the feeling the movie will give off. Low angle shots can show the audience a character is powerful or superior. The use of a high angle shot can show that a character is inferior or being intimidated. In our opening sequence we tired to use different angles.
In this shot we see the character sat on a bench. It is only subtle, but this is a high angle shot. It gives the scene more of a dramatic effect as we can see someone approaching her. This could indicate that she is inferior to this character at this point as she is unaware of her approaching. As the other character is sitting down there is going to be a slight high angle shot when they are talking. Again this indicates to us that there is a possible power struggle between these characters. If we just had a static shot of the characters talking it would not be as effective. This is what we had in the first draft of our opening sequence. There was a build up of enigma and then the shot just stayed the same for the duration of their conversation. We felt this took away from the enigma and suspense. So we re-filmed this scene and felt it had a better effect. Although some viewers found this scene slightly confusing. In our preliminary task it all felt very fast paced and rushed. This was due to lack of transitions. The only transitions we included were when it faded from her entering the door to being on the other side, and when the production had ended. We obviously didn’t notice how rushed it looked when we watched it back when we had finished. But now looking back on it transitions are really needed to stop the abrupt changes happening. If we had added in transitions the production would have been a lot smoother and would have flowed better.
We should have also added in filler shots. These are shots that are not 100% necessary to convey the storyline, but lengthen the scenes making them seem less rushed. We did not use any of these in our preliminary task. We had a conversation that was 8 shots long, but it took place over 10 seconds. This looks way too rushed and would probably put off the audience unless it had a meaning to it.
In our preliminary task we muted out all of the background music. At the time we thought it was a good idea, but when we watched it back it just seemed bizarre that one shot was silent, then when we had the conversation and there was loads of background noise. From this mistake we learnt the importance of having ambient sounds and background noise. It makes the movie seem more realistic as when she is walking out of her house the viewer can hear cars and people in the street. We only encountered one problem with the background noise and this was in our first draft. We had a scene where two characters are talking at the bus stop, but the bus stop was on a main road. It was very difficult to hear what the characters were saying as there was a constant flow of traffic. So when we re-filmed the scene we moved the location and had to alter our narrative slightly to encompass this location change.
In our preliminary task we did not use many shots to establish the environment the characters were in. In many films there are several different shots of the environment the characters are in. We tried to encompass this technique into our opening sequence.
Using this technique meant that our opening sequence didn’t look too rushed as we took the time to show different points of view of the environments. This technique also helped our opening sequence to flow and have better continuity which is key in any production.Another thing we have learnt since the production of our preliminary task is the importance of music and sound. In our preliminary task we did not use any music, only dialogue. As our preliminary task was under a minute long this didn’t really matter. But as our opening sequence was longer we felt it would be boring if it was all just background noise and dialogue. We decided to have a maximum of two pieces of music in our production. The first, ‘Wake- Linkin Park’, was used to build up the suspense and enigma in the dream sequence. I think that particular piece of music was successful in doing that.
(Wake- Linkin Park)
The other piece of music we used, ‘Something in the Way- Nirvana’, was simply meant to fill the space of her journey before and after the conversation. But we knew picking the right piece of music was key. We wanted something that could both reflect the way the character was feeling and foreshadow the events to come. The lyrics of this song reflect her mood perfectly “Something in the way”, we can clearly see the character is distracted. But also the mellow sound of the track seems quite foreboding, like the calm before the storm.
(Something In The Way- Nirvana)
I personally think the use of music in our opening sequence was effective, and so did our viewers with 8 of our 9 viewers agreeing that the soundtrack was effective.
I have learnt a few new techniques to do with sound since our preliminary task and as main editor incorporated these into our opening sequence. The first was the use of sound effects. The sound effects were already loaded into iMovie and were ready to use. At the point where the main character wakes up we had trouble finding a way to make it fully effective. We tried extending the music, cutting it short, merging another track with it but nothing seemed to work. So I had a play around with the sound effects and found that using a heart beat would not only solve our problems with the music but it would also continue to build up the enigma. The second sound technique I discovered was extracting the audio from clips and placing them elsewhere to enhance the scenes. In our first draft we had ‘S.N.A.P Productions’ come up in silence and dive straight into the dream. The silence seemed a bit boring as the whole point of those first few seconds is to grab the attention of the viewer. So for our final draft I extracted the audio from a clip we had filmed of some crows in some trees, the cawing of the crows seemed really ominous and menacing, it also filled the silence that would have bored the viewer. Another time we used the extracting audio technique was to build up the enigma and suspense. The scene where the main character is on the bus and sees the mental institute seemed a bit strange in silence too. So when she has the flashback I decided to place some dialogue from the conversation over the top of the flashback. This made it seem more like a realisation to the main character than her just randomly seeing it. The dialogue was “Why are you drawing the mental asylum?” but instead of having it just randomly there I played around with the audio finding a way to make it seem haunting and eerie. Eventually I found the right combination and I feel it definitely made the scene better.
Overall I believe our opening sequence is a lot more skillful than our preliminary task. This is because our camera skills, knowledge of iMovie and understanding of technical skills have improved. This meant we could produce a more technically skilled movie.
Saturday, 10 April 2010
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Have we challenged conventions in our opening sequence?
Our opening sequence seems to follow most of the conventions of a psychological thriller movie. There is:
- Low Key Lighting
- Death/ Murder
- Tension Building Music
- Fast Paced Editing
- Build Up Of Enigma
- Antagonist/ psychotic(?) character*
(*It is unclear if the escapee is actually psychotic or whether they just have mental problems in the opening sequence)
There are only two things that our OS doesn’t seem to do. There is a murder in the OS, but it is not clear whether this person was killed, who was murdered and who committed the murder. The other thing we did not do was build up a strong understanding of the main character. She acts quite spontaneously (i.e. when she abruptly leaves the conversation with Nadia) and her mood changes throughout the OS. This may be confusing to the audience but we did this for a specific reason. Our plan for the rest of the narrative was that she would find out more about herself from Natalie and the other characters. The audience were supposed to pick up and understanding of her as the narrative progressed.
Our opening sequence seems to follow most of the conventions of a psychological thriller movie. There is:
- Low Key Lighting
- Death/ Murder
- Tension Building Music
- Fast Paced Editing
- Build Up Of Enigma
- Antagonist/ psychotic(?) character*
(*It is unclear if the escapee is actually psychotic or whether they just have mental problems in the opening sequence)
There are only two things that our OS doesn’t seem to do. There is a murder in the OS, but it is not clear whether this person was killed, who was murdered and who committed the murder. The other thing we did not do was build up a strong understanding of the main character. She acts quite spontaneously (i.e. when she abruptly leaves the conversation with Nadia) and her mood changes throughout the OS. This may be confusing to the audience but we did this for a specific reason. Our plan for the rest of the narrative was that she would find out more about herself from Natalie and the other characters. The audience were supposed to pick up and understanding of her as the narrative progressed.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Compare your opening sequence with 2 other real opening sequences:
As a group we analysed 4 different opening sequences, all of them from the psychological thriller genre. This gave us a good idea of what conventions to expect in most psychological thriller movies.
In ‘The Sixth Sense’ there is a definite build up of suspense and enigma. One of the characters look as if they have been put in a dangerous situation when they are alone in a cellar. However, nothing actually happens to her and she returns to her husband upstairs. This is similar to what happens in our opening sequence. The character is dreaming (possibly not know to the audience at that point) and sees a hand in the pool of blood. As an anti-climax she wakes up. We decided to build up the suspense in this way as it would set up well for the rest of the narrative. Making it seem like there is danger present when there really is not is a good way of creating tension in the audience. The use of dim lighting in ‘The Sixth Sense’ also builds up tension. Throughout the dream we opted for using dark lighting and black and white to build up tension. This also made it easier to define what was reality and what was the dream.
(Anti-climax scenes, Left: 'The Sixth Sense', Right: 'Reinventing Your Exit')
(Juxtaposing scenes, Left: 'The Eye', Right: 'Reinventing Your Exit')
As a group we analysed 4 different opening sequences, all of them from the psychological thriller genre. This gave us a good idea of what conventions to expect in most psychological thriller movies.
In ‘The Sixth Sense’ there is a definite build up of suspense and enigma. One of the characters look as if they have been put in a dangerous situation when they are alone in a cellar. However, nothing actually happens to her and she returns to her husband upstairs. This is similar to what happens in our opening sequence. The character is dreaming (possibly not know to the audience at that point) and sees a hand in the pool of blood. As an anti-climax she wakes up. We decided to build up the suspense in this way as it would set up well for the rest of the narrative. Making it seem like there is danger present when there really is not is a good way of creating tension in the audience. The use of dim lighting in ‘The Sixth Sense’ also builds up tension. Throughout the dream we opted for using dark lighting and black and white to build up tension. This also made it easier to define what was reality and what was the dream.
(Anti-climax scenes, Left: 'The Sixth Sense', Right: 'Reinventing Your Exit')
In both our opening sequence and the opening sequence of ‘The Eye’ there is a sudden switch in mood. A lot of tension is built up in the first minute or so, then all of a sudden the audience are brought back to the real world. This can sometimes cause confusion to the audience as the sudden switch was not expected. However, the sudden switch is a good way of building up the enigma as it was unexpected by the audience. The sudden switch is caused by juxtaposing two or more scenes in both 'The Eye' and 'Reinvening Your exit' this is done through the use of different types of lighting and colouring and different atmospheres.
(Juxtaposing scenes, Left: 'The Eye', Right: 'Reinventing Your Exit') Our narrative is quite similar to that of ‘The Eye’, so it was interesting to see how they represented the visions this girl was having. It is not made clear in the opening sequence whether these are her visions and whether they are dreams or premonitions. I believe our narrative made it clear that these were dreams our character was having. Which meant our narrative at the beginning of the movie was slightly clearer. However, ‘The Eye’ may make it clear as the narrative progresses.
I believe we used the conventions quite well. We used harsh and dim lighting to create an eerie effect, we built up enigma through the use of visions and premonitions and even though our narrative is slightly unclear this could be resolved later on in the movie, meaning it was made slightly confusing on purpose to make the audience want to watch the rest of the movie.
I believe we used the conventions quite well. We used harsh and dim lighting to create an eerie effect, we built up enigma through the use of visions and premonitions and even though our narrative is slightly unclear this could be resolved later on in the movie, meaning it was made slightly confusing on purpose to make the audience want to watch the rest of the movie.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
What makes a thriller opening sequence?
Thriller movies tend to promote feelings of intense excitement, suspense, enigma uncertainty and several other emotions. In any case a thriller movie should make the viewer feel something. There are many themes a thriller can revolve around the most popular being psychological and political conspiracy. These appear to be the most popular types of thriller movies as many recent movies that have been released are based on these themes. Movies such as ‘The Strangers’ (2008) and ‘State of Play’ (2009) are two good examples of successful thriller movies. ‘The strangers’ is a psychological thriller and ‘State of Play’ is a political conspiracy thriller. There are also certain things we would expect to see in certain genres of thriller movies. We could determine what genre the movie is by looking at the characters the mise en scene and the iconography. For example in a psychological thriller movie we would expect there to be harsh lighting, a character who is attempting to harm or kill the other characters or for an emotion such as nerve wracking tension to be present.
To make a successful opening sequence it must not have too much action in it (unless perhaps the movie is an action based thriller) as the point of an opening sequence is to build up the story gradually. It should also build up a sense of enigma or suspense, this way the audience will want to continue watching. The narrative does not necessarily have be crystal clear as often confusion is solved in the movie, but the opening sequence should give the audience an idea of what direction the movie is going to take.
Our research showed us that our potential audience would rather there was not too much action in the opening sequence, that it should build up suspense and give a feeling of nerve wracking tension and that not a lot of the narrative should be revealed in the opening sequence. We took all of this into consideration whilst we researched and created our opening sequence.
Thriller movies tend to promote feelings of intense excitement, suspense, enigma uncertainty and several other emotions. In any case a thriller movie should make the viewer feel something. There are many themes a thriller can revolve around the most popular being psychological and political conspiracy. These appear to be the most popular types of thriller movies as many recent movies that have been released are based on these themes. Movies such as ‘The Strangers’ (2008) and ‘State of Play’ (2009) are two good examples of successful thriller movies. ‘The strangers’ is a psychological thriller and ‘State of Play’ is a political conspiracy thriller. There are also certain things we would expect to see in certain genres of thriller movies. We could determine what genre the movie is by looking at the characters the mise en scene and the iconography. For example in a psychological thriller movie we would expect there to be harsh lighting, a character who is attempting to harm or kill the other characters or for an emotion such as nerve wracking tension to be present.
To make a successful opening sequence it must not have too much action in it (unless perhaps the movie is an action based thriller) as the point of an opening sequence is to build up the story gradually. It should also build up a sense of enigma or suspense, this way the audience will want to continue watching. The narrative does not necessarily have be crystal clear as often confusion is solved in the movie, but the opening sequence should give the audience an idea of what direction the movie is going to take.
Our research showed us that our potential audience would rather there was not too much action in the opening sequence, that it should build up suspense and give a feeling of nerve wracking tension and that not a lot of the narrative should be revealed in the opening sequence. We took all of this into consideration whilst we researched and created our opening sequence.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
(Character comparison 2)
(Click to enlarge the character comparison)
(Click to enlarge the character comparison)
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
(Character comparison 1)
(Click the image to enlarge the comparison)
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
(Character profile: Natalie)
(Click to enlarge the character profile)
Natalie’s character is not a stereotypical representation of someone with mental instability. It would be unfair and wrong to assume that all people with metal problems are psychotic and weird. For the sake of our movie we have represented her in this way as our movie is a psychological thriller. We are not told Natalie’s real age, but she looks young and she wears converse (a brand that is popular among teenagers). The most important part of her character is the mental instability; we therefore focused on representing this instead of focusing on age or gender.
(Click to enlarge the character profile)Natalie’s character is not a stereotypical representation of someone with mental instability. It would be unfair and wrong to assume that all people with metal problems are psychotic and weird. For the sake of our movie we have represented her in this way as our movie is a psychological thriller. We are not told Natalie’s real age, but she looks young and she wears converse (a brand that is popular among teenagers). The most important part of her character is the mental instability; we therefore focused on representing this instead of focusing on age or gender.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
(Character profile: Michelle)
(Click to enlarge the character profile)
Michelle is the complete opposite of a stereotypical representation of a teenage girl. Michelle likes to dress in dark clothing, enjoys art and has a keen interest in all things supernatural. These are not things you would expect from a teenage girl. We felt that the stereotypical representation was unfair and only fit a certain amount of teenage girls in the world. Having this representation as well made the film seem more realistic. We created Michelle’s character to completely contrast that of her friend Nadia. We felt it would be effective to have the friends being complete opposites.
(Click to enlarge the character profile)Michelle is the complete opposite of a stereotypical representation of a teenage girl. Michelle likes to dress in dark clothing, enjoys art and has a keen interest in all things supernatural. These are not things you would expect from a teenage girl. We felt that the stereotypical representation was unfair and only fit a certain amount of teenage girls in the world. Having this representation as well made the film seem more realistic. We created Michelle’s character to completely contrast that of her friend Nadia. We felt it would be effective to have the friends being complete opposites.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
(Character profile 1: Nadia)
(Click to enlarge the character profile)
(Click to enlarge the character profile)The character of Nadia represents a stereotypical teenager. One that has no really deep problems but mainly has superficial problems, such as trying to get a boyfriend or girlfriend. She is especially a stereotypical representation of a teenage girl. The only time we see Nadia in the opening sequence is when she wants to gossip about something. This is often a representation of teenage girls.
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