Behind the scenes

Here are some photographs from one of our 3 days of filming. We initially planned to have two; however, due to problems with filming in the lift we had to spend a lunchtime in school filming the lift scene. We made sure the weather was similar for both days so there was continuity throughout our opening sequence, and got permission from people and shops so they could be within our shots.

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

Since the preliminary I feel I've become much more competent in creating a successful media product. We've achieved a professional looking opening sequence through our growing confidence in editing, camerawork, mise-en-scene and sound; building on our experience gained in the preliminary and techniques learnt in lessons.

We couldn't achieve everything we initially set out to do for our final product (for example, the dolly zoom was too impractical when we were filming on location as we didn't have the equipment to create a smooth movement), but we adapted to create a meaningful and exciting opening sequence.

EVALUATION: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

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

Evaluation question in style of website interview.

We also used social media such as Facebook. Over the process I've learnt how using social media sites allows for easier planning and discussion between peers, but also that it's a means of communicating with our audience and getting feedback so that we could develop our product to best suit our viewers.

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

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

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

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

Question answered in radio interview format.

EVALUATION: How did you attract/address your audience?

How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract our desired audience, which was people 15+ (but potentially 20+) we used conventions and stereotypes that people enjoy and look out for when seeking a thriller film experience, but also new styles and counter-types that would appeal to their openness to unconventional takes on the thriller genre. We hoped our fresh take on the psychological thriller would appeal to our target demographic.

On the slideshow there are some results from a questionnaire I created on Surveymonkey, asking people their views on the film. The majority of people that answered were around our chosen target audience which provided a good indicator of the true views of our chosen demographic and the comments highlight our successes in matching our aims to attract and address our audience.

EVALUATION: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Representation of social groups:

As the video below explains, in our opening sequence we have 5 social group representations, some of them explored more than others. We try to adhere to common stereotypes to add realism, relatability and normality, and to add to the enigma of why four of them were murdered by the 5th.

EVALUATION: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Audience Profile and Research

In order to help establish the correct target audience for our thriller, I conducted some research into how age and gender affect the movie preferences of a viewer. Below is a sample of the ages and genders I questioned:

Having conducted my research it became apparent that certain features are appealing for varying viewers. On the whole, young male viewers found comedies and stories with less of a gripping story-line more appealing; they enjoyed laugh out loud comedy or extreme scenarios that just ‘look cool’ more than complex human relations; of course, there are exceptions.

In young girls, and middle aged women romance was a common theme. The younger viewers tended to enjoy more chick flick style films, with the women liking more of an emotional attachment; however, as the video above shows, not all girls feel this way.

The older views I surveyed preferred classic style films; like Westerns and musicals. Films that aren't too challenging to watch and appeal to what makes you feel good.

When observing thrillers, it is the action that is more appealing to younger males, and this trend continues on into middle aged men. They enjoy predominantly action based films, particularly if conflict is a strong thread throughout. However, all people questioned said they like an element of mystery and suspense; they find enigmas or climatic events engaging and enjoyable. They expect a predominantly male cast, with the antagonist often being foreign (they also said they expect fairly dark and militaristic clothing and urban or foreign settings).

External research provided similar conclusions:

http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/reports/nielsen_howteensusemedia_june09.pdf says that 80% of teenagers like action and adventure while only 51% like thriller style films. As the age goes up, the desirability of a thriller film increases and combined with crime/action peaks at around 24-25. 

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Our opening sequence is likely to attract a fairly wide audience; it’s adherence to common thriller conventions such as growing pace and action and the enigma and confusion throughout will generate viewers looking for a classic thriller; however, with our experimental concept we should also attract viewers who often perhaps overlook thrillers. Our leading woman ‘antagonist’ breaks from the convention of a male led production, and the fairly open and bright setting with no military connotations is also something not often portrayed. I feel it is important for these counter-types to be implemented as it creates a more exciting and intriguing viewing experience; however, as we still adhere to certain basic thriller practices it doesn't lose its thriller appeal.

Our film will be rated 15+. This is a suitable rating as some of the themes in our opening sequence could be troubling for people under this age. I feel people in their 20's upwards are more likely to enjoy the production as the concepts will be easier to understand, especially as it lacks violence (the action you see is fairly mild). A lot of the tension is created by the audience assuming what's happening and this mental enigma is the driving force of the sequence, therefore younger viewers are less likely to understand the concept (having said that, within our opening sequence we hope that even more mature viewers are confused as this is what we're trying to appeal to).

Audience Profile: Ryan, someone open to change.

Screenplay and opening sequence credit appearance

Opening sequence credit appearance:

Throughout the opening sequence, titles will appear on the screen as the footage plays on in the background. Initially we will have the name of our company 'Balance Productions presents'; the actors names will then follow in order of appearance on screen:

'Starring Connie Meek, Christopher Gladding, Sophie Mathieson, Jake Williams, Lydia Murray'

Following on from this, the roles of each person who produced the film will appear on screen: 

'Costumes by Connie Meek, Sound and lighting by Kiara Eley, Camerawork by Lucy Tomlinson, Editing by Jake Williams, Directed by Lucy Tomlinson'.

Urban Teenagers in the media

Urban Teenagers in the Media

For our opening sequence we will be featuring an Urban Teenager. We will create a youth stereotypical to media representation, and below is some research into just what this entails.

Pre-production Planning

Pre-production Planning

Actors:

Main Anti-hero (Girl) - Connie Meek

Businessman – Christopher Gladding

Stuck up Girl – Lydia Murray

Urban Teenager - Jake Williams

Cyber-bully Girl- Sophie Mathieson

Person that Businessman bumps into (minor) - Kiara Eley

Locations:

Introduction of Anti-hero - Torquay Pier:
This location should allow us to generate some good establishing shots; the symmetry of the benches that stretch out across the pier will allow us to generate a sense of calm and normality before the upcoming intensity, and we will have space to play with for our extreme long shot.

Businessman Introduction - Costa Coffee entrance at Palm Court Torquay:
We just wanted a building in which our businessman could leave; by having it as a shop we don't reveal what his job is, just to stop the audience presuming that it affects his attitude. By having him come from a shop with an appealing beverage his rudeness has more impact as it's unexpected.

Stuck up girl Introduction- Torquay High Street:
We will use the High Street area for several shots. We hope it will allow us to generate a busy atmosphere that will add to the growing pace and intensity of the opening sequence. We should be able to get some effective focus pulls with people walking past the camera.

Urban Teenager - Stairway outside Green Ginger, Torquay high street:
These steps will allow us to generate some effective angles; we should be able to use the camera to portray the teenager as someone disrespectful by showing him from a lower angle. However, by  having the steps near the street we still have enough space to work with.

Cyber-bully Girl - Bench Shelter Torquay:
Using the shelter will give a simplistic shot. This will add some variety as the majority of shots take place in busy streets, and this contrast will provide more interesting viewing.

Lift - Torquay High street lift in Car Park:
We chose to use a lift as it seemed a realistic enough place for five 'strangers' to be in the same place at the same time. It's also a good place to build up tension as the tight area will make the viewer feel uncomfortable; however, the lift is large enough for us to film effectively.

Costumes:

Anti-hero - Normal teenager clothing, but well presented (smart casual): We don't want the audience to assume anything out of the ordinary until the end of the sequence. 

Businessman - Business suit (school trousers/shirt & tie (loose)/blazer from home): to address that he's a businessman of some sort and is going to/leaving work.     
    

Stuck up girl - Smart casual (blazer/ Chelsea boots (potentially)): we want her to appear normal, but well presented so that it justify's her feeling above everyone else.

Cyber-bully girl - Normal teenager (Jeans or skirt/ top/ jumper etc): her use of the phone will be her most important feature, we want her to appear normal.

 Urban Teenager - Tracksuit (Loose joggers and jumper): We want him to appear like he doesn't look after himself and this will encourage the viewers to dislike him.

Props:

Main girl - Mobile Phone

Businessman - Briefcase and Costa Coffee cup

Stuck up girl - Chewing gum

Urban Teenager - No props required

Cyber-bully girl - Mobile Phone

Timing:

As we're using actors who aren't in our media classes, finding times we can all film will be difficult. Our main days to play with will be Wednesday afternoon, and weekends. It is likely, to be effective in time management, we shoot with different people on different days if they're available; however, we must make sure that we keep continuity (e.g. with weather conditions).

Time Plan:

Storyboard

Pitch

Story line for opening sequence:

Five seemingly unconnected people are shown, four of which do socially frowned upon activities (the businessman bumps into someone and doesn't apologize, the cyber bully sends mean texts, the stuck up girl throws chewing gum on the ground and the urban teenager looks at a woman in a dirty manner). Every time these bad things happen it cuts to news footage of extreme versions of all these events. These four characters all end up in the same lift, despite not knowing each other, and the fifth character, the opening sequence "antagonist" is rushing to get to the lift. This is all very confusing for viewers as they will be left wondering how they all ended up in the same lift, why was the women rushing to get to the lift, and crucially, why does she kill them in the lift?

Well following on from our opening sequence the rest of the film narrative would show the viewers that this "antagonist" was a psychic and she knew they'd all be in the lift together, and had actually manipulated them into going into the lift previously. She'd killed them because these four people are actually much worse than first perceived (the businessman hits his children, the cyber bully caused someone to commit suicide, the urban teenager has been involved in crime such as rape etc, and the stuck up women has been involved in fraud) and she in a way is an "anti-hero" - she's killed them to rid the world of four bad people. So our opening sequence in a way is a flash forward, leaving questions to be answered as the narrative progresses. 

If a viewer watches our opening sequence again, they'd then realize that the news footage is in fact relevant to the four characters darker backgrounds.

Shot Practice: Dolly Zoom

Dolly Zoom:

Having researched various techniques, we discovered the Dolly Zoom, used in a Jaws scene to show sudden shock and confusion. We also want to achieve these emotions through the technique and experimented to see if this would be feasible with the equipment we have available.

By zooming in on the camera whilst moving the camera itself away from the object filmed (or vice versa) we managed to achieve the desired effect.  The main issue was timing; making the speed of the zoom match the movement of the camera was challenging and as a result we didn't produce a shot to the quality of the Jaws shot. Moving the camera away whilst zooming was perhaps the most effective of the two styles of Dolly Zoom so we will probably use this style. There is potential with this shot, and with more practice this will be a realistic technique; we will therefore attempt to use this shot in our opening sequence. 

Pitch PowerPoint

Movie Pitch - JMCK from MissMoore866

Preliminary Evaluation

Preliminary Film

Preliminary

Preliminary Behind the Scenes

Preliminary Planning and Storyboard

Initial Planning

Final Preliminary Storyboards

Thriller Analysis: Fight Club

Thriller Analysis: Fight Club

Preliminary Practice Filming and Editing

Preliminary Practice Filming and Editing

Unfortunately, my group (Me, Dom & Lucy) had technical difficulties when uploading our video footage and so we've had to edit Connie and Kiara's footage instead; nonetheless they still created all three of the shots my group tried to achieve. The basic storyline involved Kiara's character misplacing her keys and discovering that Connie had taken them; Kiara then chases her as Connie tries to steal her car. It all ties up with a somewhat comic ending when Kiara punches Connie leaving her knocked out on the floor.

My group edited the footage to create a smooth finished product; adding in sound effects to highlight the slightly slapstick element of the film. This included a light-hearted, jazzy number as Kiara is introduced; and then later on, sounds that were meant to appear diagetic such as the punch noise (in order to enhance the finished film). The camera work, done by Connie and Kiara, but much like our original footage, involved match-on-action shots (when Kiara cannot find the keys in her pocket), various panning shots, and shot/reverse/shots (like the first confrontation) which applied the 180 degree rule.

Preliminary Film Analysis

Preliminary Film Analysis

Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing

180 Degree Rule:

A rule created by Levi Wigglesworth which means that two characters should always have the same left and right relationship to each other. (If the camera crosses the invisible 'axis' connecting the two subjects it is called 'crossing the line'. The shot remains within a 180 degree radius and if the camera crosses the line it creates confusion for the film viewers, because it makes it look like the two characters have switched places in the scene. 

Shot reverse shot:

A shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character, and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. It is often used in conversation between two characters, and much like the 180 degree rule it is used to retain continuity by not distorting the audience's sense of location of the subjects within the shot.

Match-on-action shot:

This refers to a film editing technique where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. It creates a sense of continuity in the film and is used to highlight certain actions. The 'visual bridge' where the action carries through draws the viewers attention away from slight cutting or continuity issues.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Title Sequence Timeline

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Title Sequence Timeline

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) — Art of the Title

By analysing the Captain America Title Sequence I now have a better understanding on the conventions of a title sequence.

                                                                        One thing that became clear is the importance of someone within the production dictates their appearance in the titles: For example, the director comes first and then this is followed by the screenplay and then the producer etc. The last member of the production team to be show is the casting director, who is then followed by the actors. 

They too follow the same pattern with prominence in the film dictating their order - the main actors come first, followed by less key characters. The minor characters are also often listed in groups, which from my research appears to be common. Finally the title of the film appears. (Having said this, it is also common for all this to be in reverse: i.e. title first, then actors, then production team. It is either this way or the order that Captain America has followed that title sequences seem to appear.)

The title sequence also highlighted the significance of music, graphics and typography. It has shown that the genre and theme of the movie determines how these features pan out. Captain America was initially a MARVEL comic and the transition graphics and typography are done in a style that is somewhat comic-like. The music too follows the pattern of the genre: Captain America is an American hero and the diagetic music that accompanies the sequence feels very patriotic. The three factors: music, graphics and typography are all used to continue the theme of the movie.

Psycho Analysis

Skyfall Opening Title Sequence

Skyfall Opening Title Sequence

Skyfall is the latest installment of the James Bond legacy. The charismatic spy films are known for their intense, non stop action, their attractive women, and their charming British style; however they are also well known for their opening title sequences:

James Bond title sequences follow a few general guidelines: a dramatic theme tune, girls dancing, and 007 strutting his stuff; and the Skyfall sequence doesn't disappoint.

It begins with 007 being pulled underwater and then being engulfed by the sand at the bottom. Then various "scenes" join together via clever editing. The scenes appear random; however, they become apparent as the film progresses. For example, the Chinese dragons seem to have no relevance with the other scenes in the title sequence (which are mainly to do with grave yards and being underwater) however, later in the film there is a scene in which Mr Bond goes to a Chinese Casino. 

This dragon scene is then followed by an array of fire related effects and, having seen the film, it is then possible to see that this fire following the dragon links to a scene involving explosions following on from the Chinese casino scene in the main feature. The title sequence is used almost as a summary of the films future events, foreshadowing what is to come.

The editing attempts (and succeeds) to create the usual smooth and somewhat enticing title sequence that usually precedes James Bond features. The story line summary is interwoven with the classic women dancing and silhouettes of guns using blends of colors and shapes. One of the ways this is achieved is by the camera zooming into an object in the scene and then emerging from the object in a new scene. We can see this below where the camera has zoomed in on the eye and then emerged in a gloomy building.

The music also plays a crucial role in the sequence. James Bond films are known for their big ballads in which singers belt our a seductive and powerful melody. This is the case once more in Skyfall with Adele being backed by a full orchestra to create the iconic 007 tunes. The musics main role is to add drama and glamour to the sequence; along with the dazzling effects it builds up the iconic image of 007. The lighting and 'set' are fairly dark and somewhat sinister with the occasional splash of color. Unlike previous 007 films, the Daniel Craig films have been darker and less tongue and cheek and so I feel this is an effective way of addressing that the film is a perhaps more mature and serious take on the original films.

The typography plays a fairly minor role in the titles. It's kept modern, but quite discreet to perhaps address the sophistication and class of the film. It remains white throughout and fades in and out of various points on the screen; nevertheless, it still merges with the rest of the sequence as it has the same style as the animations within the sequence.