Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

I used my audience research, and the research that I have done into other thriller films in order to create an opening that is appealing to my target audience.

Throughout my thriller opening I used cut away shots in order to build up tension by showing the audience short clips of what could happen later (such as the axe chopping), and others showed uncomfortably close up shots of the shoes tapping which stuck in the audiences mind and trapped them in the film gripping their attention. Another reason that I used cut away shots was to break up the longer scenes of her walking in order to keep the audiences concentration, after almost each cutaway shot she had moved to a different environment so this also sped up the journey whilst keeping continuity. Using cut away shots made the audience focus on the opening more as they are questioning what was going on (such as why was there an axe? Or why are her feet tapping?), this is something that the audience asked for when I handed on the questionnaires. The cut away shots to her feet tapping also attracted the audience because it was a clue as to what was going on, because the girl was walking throughout most of the opening it was not obvious that are feet would be constantly tapping, so the cut away shots bring the narrative to life and engage the audience.



The older version

The younger version

When I received the feedback from my questionnaire the audience asked for a mysterious element to the opening as they preferred films that did not give too much detail away in the opening. This was good because as well as using this element to attract my audience, it fitted with the conventions of a thriller opening by not giving to much of the narrative away. A way of doing this was through the cut away shots but also through the age change from the characters. Through this the audience are able to see that the situation that the girl has been in has been going on for a long period of time, however they have no idea what happened to her during that time. Another way that I did this was in the ending, when the executioner’s character was introduced his appearance was hidden through the window and the candle lights whilst stood in the darkness. Doing this left the audience on a cliff hanger questioning who the character is, leaving them interested and wanting the film to continue.



Throughout the opening, the character seemed very solitary yet strong and aware of what she was doing. I showed this through her body language, by her head looking forward and a straight back. She just constantly looked forward as if looking towards her destination. At the end of the opening she timidly knocked on the window with just her finger. I composed the shot so that she was being looked at from the inside of the window, giving the audience the first clue that someone must be inside. This shot made her seem very vulnerable, and as if the strong girl had disappeared since the start which attracts the audience and makes them empathise for her but at the same time adds the mystery that they desire (as to why she is so nervous, and where is she).

I used a wide variety of shot types to create my opening, but I focused mainly on the use of close up shots.  I used close up shots to show the characters facial expressions to the audience, allowing them to become close to the character and empathise with them. This attracts the audience because they feel like part of the film and become more involved. I also used close up shots to create tension and an effect of chlostrephobia, such as the close ups to the shoes. I did this because the feedback that I received from the audience feedback they seemed to enjoy the dark and fearful thriller films, making them feel tense and full of anxiety.

The audience feedback told me that the use of non-diegetic sounds and sound effect creates the most tension for the audience and puts them on edge. In the “into the nightmare” track, there were a lot of string instruments, which are stereotypical instruments that create tension. Along with this the track sounds as if it has sound effects added into it, because they don’t sound like an instrumental sound. Along with the creepy soundtrack I added some sound effects to the cut away shots in order to lift them up from the rest of the soundtrack and opening film. The sound effects that I used were burning, sizzling sounds that are uncomfortable and make the audience connect with pain, creating tension as they wander whether it is hurting her and burning at her skin and life. Another sound effect that I used was a very fast and loud shoe tapping sound for Mae’s title, this affects the audience because stereotypically a tapping sound is something that irritates people, so this creates tension and puts the audience on edge.

The costume that the character wore was not what is conventional to a thriller film or to the audience, this is because typically the costumes that the psychological victims would wear are dark and plain, yet she is wearing bright red. This tells the audience that her narrative is very different, and also the dangerous and bloody connotations of the red put the audience on edge and make them question what the danger is.

Over all I think that my thriller opening has reached the expectations of my audience. My audience showed that they do enjoy watching thrillers, and the majority expressed that a psychological thriller is the preferred sub genre, so through created this subgenre opening I have already met one expectation of theirs. Another point from their feedback that I tried to focus on was that they preferred an opening to mysterious and not give too much of the narrative away, so when creating my opening I was careful to only give slight hints of the narrative and not give too much of the film away at the start. The audience also stated that the use of non-diegetic sound created the most tension for them, so I created the opening purely with the use of non-diegetic sound, the soundtrack also influenced the shots that I filmed and how I edited them together.

 

The feedback that I received when I posted the final cut of my opening onto YouTube and Facebook was very positive.  A lot of people were able to identify what was happening to her (that her feet wouldn’t stop tapping) and that it was based on the red shoes by Hans Christian Anderson. They commented on the way that it was edited together, that it created tension and made them want to watch more of the film (if it was a full length feature). They thought that the sound track worked well with the film itself and that it added to the “eerie” effect that I was trying to portray. As well as asking questions and giving their own ideas as to how the narrative would unfold, they were impressed with the way that the ending introduced a new character yet cut off very quickly making them want to watch more.