Q4: What would be the audience for your media product?

In order to decide the correct target audience for my film I researched the psychographic groups that people are put into.

By looking at the criteria by the BBFC I feel that the age rating for my film would be a 15, I think that the production is more aimed towards 15-30 year olds because of the subgenre of thriller that it is. I think that the audience would be aimed more towards the female market because they are more likely to sympathise and feel a part of the film because of having a female as the main character. Also although the name doesn’t suggest any gender specifics, because of the narrative being about Red high heeled shoes taking control of a girl, I think the shoes would be more appealing to a female audience.

After researching into psychographics I think that the more likely audience to watch my film would be the Aspirers and the Explorers. This is because the psychographic of aspirers are typically young people/ young adults, so this psychographic would fit in with the age group that I think the film is more suitable for. Also a topic that aspirers are into is fashion and new experiences, so the red shoes would be interesting for people interested in fashion. Explorers are interested in new things, and being adventures so having a mysterious, psychological thriller would be interesting for them to watch. They also like finding new things in life, and are likely to be finding “who they are” so would be trying out different things.

An example result from my questionnaire

 

I handed out questionnaires to 10 random people in order to find out what they look for in a film and if they enjoy them.  I also used this way of research to find out how I should create my film in order to satisfy the audience and what not to do for example, what not to do because it doesn’t create tension well. I created pie charts in order to analyse the statistics that I received in an easier way, I did this by asking closed questions so that the answers would be minimal allowing the statistics to be easily analysed, but sometimes people wanted to give more in depth answers or the answer with a tick box didn’t have an answer that they would have preferred to tick. I didn’t ask a very varied amount of people as I asked people that were in school, I think that I should ask a more varied amount of psychographics next time to get a more varied answer. I could do this by posting the questioner on a social media site such as Facebook, or I could have them available in the shop where I work so that customers could answer them bringing me a wider variety of results. For example my audience said that they preferred to have a plot that they have to concentrate on and was mysterious. This shows that the audience I am targeting enjoy watching this type of film. Because of that result I decided that I would definitely not give much of the narrative away, but the use of cut away shots would give insights into the narrative and what will happen later in the plot for example when I cut away to the shadow of the axe.





The BBFC specifications for a 15 certificate

I have already uploaded my research into BBFC on a separate post on blogger. From that research I have decided that if I were to submit my thriller to the BBFC I would say that it should receive a 15 certificate. This is because my film only implies the violence and wouldn’t go to in depth with the gory details; however it would still show it. Another reason that this would be a suitable certificate is because there are no sexual references either, however there is no speech in my opening so this would not apply to the opening alone, but if the film was to progress there could end up having a use of some mild language meaning that a 15 would be more appropriate. My film also shows a weapon (an axe) and as part of the specification for a rating of 12, a weapon that is accessible should not be shown, there for a 15 would be more of an appropriate rating. Putting the BBFC certification aside I think that the more likely audience would be 15+ anyway because of the psychological nature of the film.

 

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.

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

Whilst I was creating this production I learnt many useful techniques that will help me with work that I do in the future. I have learned how much continuity is needed and how to effectively use it, especially with the 180ᵒ rule, Without this rule a scene becomes confusing for the audience, for example in a filmed conversation if the camera keeps switching to the opposite sides of the line it become disorientated. I also learned how to frame a shot to give off a different meaning, like making a certain object look weaker than another (by having the shot look down at it), or to create a claustrophobic effect (using a close up shot). Throughout the whole process I learned how time consuming it is, especially with filming a lot of time and care is needed throughout to ensure that there is more than enough shots to edit with.

To be sure of continuity I had to make sure that the 180ᵒ rule was done whilst filming because as the character was walking to her destination, breaking the rule would make it look as if she was going back on herself, and matching it with another shot of her walking the other way would not have worked. I filmed from the same side throughout the day to make sure of continuity, however in a certain shot I had to film it from the opposite side because I wanted

to have a flower in the shot.  When editing this part of the opening I imported that shot into QuickTime and flipped it so that it faced the other way. Another way that I had to be careful with continuity was with the time of day that I filmed, as I filmed during the winter it became dark very quickly, which would have made it difficult to edit the film together as the lighting would be different and it is difficult to film clearly in darker light. In order to make sure of this I started filming early on in the day and did all of the shots outside (for the journey, the executioners hut and the first title as it was part of the pan shot of the scene so needed to fit). first to make sure that the lighting was similar. After that I moved on to film the feet tapping because as I wanted to film this outside I needed it to be light, but matching the light during the journey and the tapping didn’t matter so much as it was for a cut away shot. The last shots that I filmed were the shots in the bedroom because I was able to use artificial lighting from the bedroom lamps, and also as it was in a completely different environment the continuity of that scene was different. I had to make sure that all of the outside filming was complete that day because if I spread it over two days the continuity could be messed up due to the weather changing, if this did occur I would have filmed what was possible and then continued on another day.
Since planning and creating my product I have been able to extend my knowledge of what types of shots work with different scenes and why they should be used. For example at the start of my film I did a long shot panning across the house and other areas around it, I did this so that the audience were able to see the location that the opening was starting in and allowing the audience to see the surroundings. I did this again with the shots of Mae whilst on her journey, so that the audience could see the change in surroundings. Opposite to this I learned the effects of close up and extreme close ups, so used a lot of these in my opening, this shows the emotion of a character and creates a chlostrephobia and tense feeling.

I learned how to frame a shot in order to show the importance of an object. Throughout my production I framed shots so that the key elements were in the middle, such as when the character walked down the long path, I made sure that she was in the middle of the path. I also applied the golden mean to some shots that I filmed; this is where the objects of importance appear of an invisible diagonal line in a shot.



When filming I didn’t use any hand held shots apart from when filming the shadow of the axe because when using the tripod, that shadow got in the way of the shots, other than that I tried not to use handheld shots because they are unsteady and make the shot look unprofessional. Whilst preparing for my production I thought about using the camera dolly, however when looking at the setting I realised that the floor was quite bumpy and a lot of it was filmed on mud and gravel so the shots would have been unsteady. For filming the majority of the shots I used a tripod to have a steady stand for the camera and an easy and steady way to pan or tilt the shots, for example when I panned across the front of the house. In other shots I used a gorilla tripod because it is a steady way of angling the shots in ways that a tripod cannot, without using handheld, I also wrapped the gorilla tripod around a tree for a high angle shot, however it made the shot look more like a CCTV camera shot so I decided it would not fit the opening or give the correct affect.

In order to edit my opening I used the programme IMovie, on an apple mac. IMovie is one of the best software’s to edit film on, at first I found it confusing but once I worked out how to import my footage off the SD card, and make a “project” it was easy to work out how to use. Through playing around with the software I found out how I could add different transitions such as a cross fade or fade to black/white, These could be used as part of the continuity in order to make the cuts between shots smoother, however I didn’t use any of these in my opening because I wanted them to be straight and jumpy which matched up to the music. In IMovie you can also change the visuals of the footage for example putting a coloured effect on the shot, making them black and white or a grainy effect, I didn’t use any of these either because I didn’t feel that they worked, also they detracted from the colour of the Red in her coat and shoes. I did edit the footage using this software by speeding up sections of it, such as the tapping of her feet in the cut away shots and on the titles, I sped them up as when filmed the paper burned quite slowly and would have been too time consuming and could have made the audience feel bored with watching it rather than excited.

I took all of the sound off of my footage because I wanted the soundtrack to be the main sound feature. Also because there was no speech, the sound that was recorded on the footage was just the wind blowing or me giving instructions to Mae as she acted. The soundtrack tells a story in itself so adding that with the footage makes it even more effective. I imported the soundtrack into ITunes and then through ITunes I uploaded it onto my Project in IMovie. I used the same method when importing the sound effects that I had downloaded from a sound effects website. When playing my opening back some of the sounds from the footage were bleeding through because of a fault when deleting them on the mac. In order to fix this problem I had to export my project (when completed) onto a memory stick, re-import it as a new project onto a different Mac. After doing that I had to separate the sound from the project and then re-import it onto the same project, stopping the unwanted sound bleeding through again.



Drawn copy of my ident

When creating my production ident, my mum (as she is an artist) drew out my idea, and then went over in dark black pen. I took a photograph of it and imported it onto Photoshop. On Photoshop I erased all of the background to make it a more distinct and crisp white, and then went over the black to again make it more distinct and smart. After doing that I zoomed in on different parts of the picture and manipulated it to make certain parts thicker and other parts thinner. However when it came to doing the credits for my opening I didn’t use the credits that came on the IMovie programme, I filmed the credits on the filming day and then edited them into the project on IMovie as cut a way shots.

When I had almost finished editing my film together I exported the “rough cut” of the opening onto my memory stick so that I could upload it onto YouTube and receive feedback from an audience so I knew how I could improve the opening to suit their expectations more. After completing the project I exported it again onto my memory stick so that I could upload it onto YouTube to receive final feedback and to add it to my blog. As I used an HD camera to film  with, I exported the file from IMovie using an HD video file so that it would have the best quality, on the menu when exporting it the box said that the file size would be acceptable to upload to YouTube so I knew that it would be a good option. After doing that I burned the project onto a disk for the use of my teacher I chose the menu design and exported it as an HD film to also give it the best quality. When I completed the preliminary task We also uploaded it onto YouTube so that It could be shared on to my blog and to gain feedback from an audience, the feedback that I gained from the preliminary helped me to notice the areas of improvement for when I did the actual project.

After uploading my final copy my production onto YouTube, I shared it to blogger and onto Facebook so that I could gain more views and feedback on my opening.  I received a wide range of feedback, from friends and family to complete strangers, all of the feedback I received was useful as it showed that the audience understood what I had created and giving their own ideas and questions, which is what I wanted to happen. Some audience members recognised the story and were able to give me personal feedback on how it made them feel. All of the feedback that I received has helped me recognise how I can improve other pieces of work that I do in the future, and has given me a great confidence boost with my work and has encouraged me to do more.



An example of another technology - Prezi

An example page of my blog

Another piece of technology that I used was during my research and planning is ‘Blogger’ by Google, It is where I have created my blog that holds all of the information that I have gained during the research and planning period. Using blogger was good because it allowed me to amend my work whenever I needed to as it was electronic, because it is electronic (rather than having a printed copy of everything)It allowed me to use a variety of media technologies to build up my coursework, I was I able to upload pictures and videos and interactive prezi’s.

Throughout creating my opening, as I was working on my own I relied quite heavily on the feedback of class members and teachers for changes that were necessary. For example, I thought that the journey of the character dragged on a bit too long however I was un sure of how to cut the length down so I worked with my teacher to solve the problem and come up with a way to shorten the length without losing the continuity, which was through using a few more cutaway shots. I think I worked well on my own and did the best that I could with going round any problems that got in the way. 

If I was to do these project over again I think I would look closely at some films that were similar to the narrative of mine, and study their characters a bit more. I filmed and used a variety of shot types throughout the opening so I would keep that the same, as using a variety of shot types is a typical convention of a thriller opening and I managed to convey lots of different effects through them.  I would change the length of the ending as I cut the scene where Stuart turned around a bit too short and didn’t give the audience enough of a chance to see him.

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

I think that since completing the preliminary task I have progressed in media, especially because I created my opening individually. I have been able to learn about and experience setting up and creating different shots and how to edit them together. Working on my own rather than in the group as allowed me to be individual with my work and find what skills I have and what I need to focus on more when doing other projects in the future.

The preliminary task that the group I was in created was good, the plot was conventional to the thriller genre and what was created was good for the amount of time that we had, however there were quite a few faults. The continuity was good, especially for our first experience of filming however the 180ᵒ rule was broken and the other people in the group didn’t notice, so when I created my own opening I was much more critical and made sure that the continuity was correct all the way through. The lighting in our preliminary was good as the setting that we filmed in had lots of artificial lighting in it, which allowed the film image to be clear and everything could be seen well, this made me aware of how important lighting is for when I made my own opening but I had to be aware not to have it too bright because it would have changed the dark, psychological and “scary” atmosphere. Since the preliminary task the use of Mise en scene has greatly improved because I made sure that the props and setting was fitting to the narrative and the conventions of a psychological thriller, I was also aware of what was left in the frame for example in the preliminary in a shot the camera dolly is left in the side of the shot, this stops the film from seeming realistic. When editing my actual opening I paid a lot more attention to the small bits of detail so that I could make sure it was as professional as I could make it, and I didn’t break any rules or conventions (like the 180ᵒ was broken in the preliminary), I was much more aware of how to edit cuts more accurately and how to edit the sound so that it helps to build atmosphere along with the film.

Compared to the preliminary task when planning the production I used a lot more detail, and I was much more involved as I worked on my own. When I was planning the production I came up with 3 ideas, but I already knew which one I wanted to do as it was a more creative and individual idea, also  through feedback from my pitch I was told that into the nightmare was the better idea to produce. Once I had decided which narrative I wanted to go for I sat down and planned the story board at a more distant view of how the opening would go before writing an in depth list of what shots I wanted to capture. I did this because although when planning for the preliminary we did have a good shot plan and story board, however it wasn’t very in depth. Also when it came to my actual production I filmed as many shots as I could, and 2 or 3 takes for each so that I had a wide variety to choose from when editing, which is something we didn’t do for the preliminary and ended up having to re film a scene (this didn’t work very well as Joe and harry were wearing different clothes the second time we filmed).

Since the preliminary task I have learnt how to frame a shot correctly, this screen grab is a good example of where we went wrong during the preliminary. In this shot the video dolly has been left in the frame, when I was filming for my opening I made sure that no unnecessary items were left in the shot and if they were I re-filmed the scene. The framing for this shot was also bad because it would have been better if it was straight on showing the audience more of the action rather than Joe scrambling over the table and losing half of his body in the shot when he moved. This made the preliminary look very unproffesional, but taught me how to correctly frame a shot and what to leave in or out of it.

When creating the preliminary task we didn't plan the shots as carefully, and the continuity wasn't as sharp. This shot was a hand held shot of Harry grabbing me from outside and bringing me into the room. It was very shaky, and gave uneccasary close ups to randomly onto my face or the door, again making it look unproffesional but at the time of filming we thought it would work as a point of view shot. Since this I have progressed with camera techniques and how a shot will work and how it won't. I have learned the conotations of each type of shot and where it should go and how to create it with a proffesional feel.

Both of these shots are quite similar from the preliminary to the actual task. I think from the whole preliminary task this is the best shot that we captured because it was set up carefully, the lighting is very good and the placement of the actors is good. The long shot also allows the audience to see the actors and the setting that they are in as this was the first time that they were introduced. Both actors are placed in the midle to show their importance, using the rule of thirds to set this shot up. I used the same technique in my opening for into the nightmare when Mae was walking on her journey. I always had her walking in the middle to show that she was the focus. Progressing into the full product I took a lot of notice from this particular shot because I felt it worked really well and wanted to incorperate it into my opening.

 

Audience feedback of the film

I posted my film onto facebook because this is a good way to get audience feedback from a range of people. It is on Youtube as well, which will hopefully also give me some feedback so I can see other peoples opinions.

These are the comments that I have recieved:

I am impressed that somebody managed to identify the subgenre of thriller that
I chose to do, it is good that i managed to achieve that.

 

 

AS Level media - into the nightmare

Rough cut: audience feedback

In the feedback people said that I should add some sound effects in order to enhance certain parts of the film (for example Mae's title). Adding sound effects would also give twists to the sound track as some parts of it go quite silent and still, adding sound effects would mix it up a bit. I followed this feedback and added in sound effects for the title, the window smashing, axe and a burning sound when it cut to her feet.

Another point that was said was that the close up of Josie's emotions when she saw the shoes was a bit too long, so I cut it down, not too much because the emotion was important but it was cut to be a bit shorter.
I noticed that when she was stroking the shoe, just before it cut to a close up of her touching the shoes, she turned them over on the side. The continuety didn't fit when I cut to the close up, so in order to make this better I cut the first shot before she turned the shoes over.

Overall, from the first audience feedback they said that the camera work was excellent as there was many different types of shots, I built tension well and made them ask questions and want to ask more.

Into the nightmare: Rough cut

Sound effects

http://www.freesfx.co.uk/rx2/mp3s/5/5670_1335384129.mp3
I have added this sound effect in when the scene cuts to focus on her feet tapping. I have decided to do this because of audience feedback that I have had whilst making my film. I have used this effect because it reflects on the burning and the pain that the girl goes through, it also adds something extra to the soundtrack putting more tension in and mixing it up a bit but without going over the top and not letting it fit.

http://www.freesfx.co.uk/rx2/mp3s/6/6774_1342649162.mp3
I have added this sound effect because in order to make the short axe scene work I had to have a sound of an axe actually chopping something. Without the sound effect the scene blended with the music and at the time sounded to soft and gentle to actually fit with the utility of an axe. I had to get the sound effect of an axe because the audio to the footage that I had, had speaking over the top of it so couldn't be used.

http://www.freesfx.co.uk/rx2/mp3s/3/3728_1329345541.mp3
I have added this sound effect because the breaking of the glass for my ending title needed a sound withit and the audio in my footage didn't work properly for this part. Having this sound at the end of the film creates tension, because smashing forshadows that what is going to happen will not be pleasent and makes the audience ask questions which is key with the conventions of thriller films.

Into the nightmare, Josie's title - example