My finished product!

So here is my finished opening sequence!

Overall it was a cool experience and I thoroughly enjoyed making this.

Coursework Evaluation: Question 7

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Throughout the production process between my preliminary task and the finished product I feel that I have learnt a lot about both the production and creation processes of film.

Firstly, I have learnt about the use of different camera angles that can help to tell a story and to show emotion on a character's face. I learnt that through the use of wide and establishing shots the audience are able to learn about the film as they are shown the place in which the film is set; something which could potentially foreshadow to the rest of the plot.

I have also learnt about the use of non-diegetic sounds, like background music, to help create feeling and emotion within a video. I originally had not thought about using any background music in my final product but changed my mind when I figured that it helped to create tension within the opening sequence. The piece of non-diegetic music that I used helps to keep the audience interested in the opening sequence as well as making the feel the right emotions (apprehension and worry) towards what is happening in the scene.

During this process I also learned about different types of editing that can be used to help tell a story. Although I did not use it in my final product, we did use shot/reverse shot in the preliminary task during a section of dialogue between two characters to show conversation. We also used other pieces of continuity editing to help tell a short story for this preliminary task. We also used the 180 degree rule to make sure that characters within the scene were always kept in the same position; as breaking this rule could lead to confusion about a character's role. In my final product I made use of editing techniques like cut and fading out to sequence together the scenes to make the overall product run smoothly with no jumps. 

Coursework Evaluation: Question 6

Question 6: What have you learned about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

For this question I decided to make it as an online Prezi PowerPoint presentation.

Coursework Evaluation: Questions 4 and 5

Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?

Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?

For these two questions I have decided to combine them with each other to present them in the form of a PowerPoint.

Coursework Evaluation: Question 3

Question 3: What kind of media institution would distribute your media product and why?

Film Distribution Company:
A media institution like Lionsgate would distribute my media product because although my product is an independent film, this institution are known for distributing small films as well as big blockbuster films, like Insurgent and The Expendables; as well as also producing and distributing their own TV programmes. By using a media institution like Lionsgate, it would mean that my media product would be able to get a lot of attention from a wider audience because the institution itself is well-known for its distribution of big, popular films. 
As well as distributing film through DVD, Lionsgate also have partnerships with nine global TV channels in different countries, something that could be used to exhibit my media product on a global scale. Some examples of their channels are:

• EPIX - this is a popular American online, TV on demand service that shows a variety of different media
• Pop - this is a TV channel that was created from a partnership between CBS Corporation and Lionsgate and is used to distribute film and TV programmes to over 80 million homes.
• Thrill - this is an Asian movie channel that specialises in showcasing thriller and horror films 

Cinema:

As my media product is an independent film, I think a cinema like Cinema City would be suitable to distribute it because this cinema is known for distributing small, independent, low-budget films; as well as also distributing any current blockbuster films. Using Cinema City to distribute my media product would help to attract a niche audience that are interested in watching independent films, as well as films produced by bigger, well-known media companies.

Social Media:

A final method of distributing my media product would be through the use of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. This would be ideal because the main target audience for my product is teenagers and young adults - the demographic that most commonly uses social media in their everyday lives.

Coursework Evaluation: Question 2

Question 2: How does your media product represent particular social groups?

For this question I have answered it in the form of a voice recording.

Coursework Evaluation: Question 1

Question 1: In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

The media product that I have created is a two minute film opening in the thriller movie genre. In the opening sequence we see a male character following a female character who is clearly oblivious to that fact that she is being followed. From watching the opening sequences to these professionally made thriller films: The Woman In Black; The Sixth Sense; The Silence of the Lambs and Shutter Island, I was able to note typical conventions of the thriller genre to use and develop these in my own opening sequence.

These are the conventions that I found in most of the above film openings:

• The audience are introduced to/shown either a single or multiple character(s)
• Dark and mysterious scenes/settings - sometimes making use of shadows and natural light
• Non-diegetic music - 'eery' music playing throughout
• Enhanced diegetic sounds - for emphasis of actions made by the characters
• Long/slow edits of scenes
• A good, secretive, plot that makes the audience intrigued to watch the rest of the film.

In my media product the audience were shown male and female characters that were of an age similar to the target audience - something that may attract a wider audience as they can relate to the age of these characters. With these two characters I did not give away much information about them and so this will lead to questions being asked by the audience about the background stories of both of the characters.

I chose to film my media product in the town of Attleborough, at night, so that I could manipulate and make use of any natural light and street lamps to create shadows. When looking at thriller films, I noted that there wasn't a stereotypical location, be it urban (towns and cities) or rural (countryside), in which the opening sequence was set; so I decided to film in a fairly busy town that would be familiar to the audience. Because I was filming late in the evening/at night, it meant that I was able to use shadows created by street lamps and dull lit areas to add the effect of mystery and suspense, stereotypical of thriller films, to my opening sequence.

Throughout my entire media product is a piece of non-diegetic background music. This music gives a scary/creepy vibe to the product, something that helps to keep the attention of the audience and build tension in the scenes. Background music is widely used in professionally made thriller films for a few reasons, some of which being: to attract the audience's attention to vital pieces in the plot or to key characters and their actions. By using this thriller convention I was able to add an 'eery' feeling to my media product that would intrigue the audience towards what was happening in the scene, as well as making it slightly scary and more like a stereotypical thriller.

Although I noticed that some thriller used enhanced diegetic sounds in their openings, I challenged this convention slightly by not using any in my own opening. I decided to do this because it meant that the audience would be able to focus better on the non-diegetic music and the dialogue that is heard from the male character.

To create suspense and show importance of a scene, editing of scenes in thriller films can sometimes be quite slow in places. In my opening sequence I decided to use editing that was not very quick because, although fast-paced editing helps to create tension, I thought that the use of long scenes and slower editing would allow the audience to focus better on the scenes and the action that was happening within them.

And finally, a common component of a good thriller opening sequence is a 'secretive' plot/ storyline, something that I used in my own opening. By not giving much information about the plot and potential story line's away in the first two minutes of any film means that the audience will be intrigued to find out more about the characters and their lives. However, keeping the plot hidden could also potentially mean that the audience become uninterested quickly and so they do not want to watch the rest of the film. I feel that my media product gives a good balance between being secretive to attract the audience and giving out minimal information that deters the audience's interest.

Overall, I think that I was able to successfully use, develop and challenge the stereotypical conventions of good thriller film openings. 

Coursework update

After having finished the filming section of my coursework, I am now currently in the process of editing together my footage for my opening sequence!

It's a very exciting and nervous process but hopefully it will all look awesome in the end.

Audience Research Videos

Below are the audience research videos that I have made. With these videos you will be able to see people's exact reactions and thoughts to my questions.

 

Harry -

 

Emily -

Poppy -

To do list

As of today, I still need to do:

• Casting video
• Finish Audience research videos
• Set another date for filming

For the next week I am going to focus on getting all of my audience research videos completed

Storyboard

Below is the storyboard for my opening sequence. As I have not completely decided where to put things like the company ident and film title, I have not yet put them into the storyboard.

How has my idea evolved?

Throughout the creation process of my AS coursework, my opening sequence idea has changed quite a bit, and this is how...

 

Firstly, it started off as being a comedy film about a young adult who wakes up after going to a party the night before. When they wake up they go downstairs to find that there a dozen or so people in their that are all dressed in animal costumes doing seemingly normal daily tasks; like ironing, cooking food or watching TV.

To start off with I was actually quite excited to film this because I thought it was a good idea that would be interesting to actually produce and film. However, as I started to plan this idea more, I soon realised that it wasn't going to be that easy to film, and in fact it was going to be very challenging to even pick a day when everyone was free for acting and filming. So after trying to resolve these problems by asking friends and family, I decided that it would be best to do something that I could actually accomplish in the time that we have to film and finalise our coursework, as well as the fact that I'm working by myself.

 

So my next idea was to change genre completely and do a thriller opening sequence. I had two similar ideas for this, both of which consisted of two characters: a female and male character, and the idea that the male character is following the female character through a town at night. These were the two ideas:

1. The male character was a murderer/kidnapper that would go around the streets of towns and cities at night and kidnap anyone seen walking by themselves. The rest of the film would then be focused on the police investigation into finding out who he is and finding out what happened to the female character.
2. The male character was the ex of the female character, who he is completely obsessed with and he can't get over the fact that they broke up. Because of his infatuation for her, he would constantly follow her around. With this idea I hadn't put much thought into an idea of how the film would carry on and what a resolution would be.

 

And finally, the idea that I am doing for my coursework is, again similar to the two ideas above, apart from the fact that the male character is now a hit-man that was hired by a character, unknown to the audience, to kill the female character; for a reason that is not disclosed to the audience within the opening two minutes. The rest of the film could go two ways: 1) it could be like a flashback, in the fact that it would be about the time leading up to the murder and so we would find out about the female character in more depth, or 2) it would be more about solving the murder and finding out why the female character was targeted and who the character is that hired the hit-man to do it.

More Audience Research

Charlie Woodrow -

1. In a good film opening sequence I would expect to for there to be an introduction to some of the main characters, ideas and maybe a few shots of the setting/s.
2. I particularly like the opening to the following films: Back to the Future, Star Wars, Interstellar.
3. In a thriller film I would expect it to be thrilling, have lots of parts to it, and it would have to have a complicated storyline.
4. In the opening sequence of a thriller film I would expect to be introduced to a main character or two, or maybe straight into the action and then talk about what happened after as if it was a flashback.
5. I think that the ideas are very exciting and sound well thought out.
6. Yes, I would watch the rest of that film.

Luke Bates -

1. Introduction to main characters, a small insight to the plot and scenery
2. Star Wars, Shaun Of The Dead
3. Tense feeling, some jumpy scenes, lots of dark places etc.
4. Introducing the main character and the tense/scary problem that they are having, or just an introduction of the tense scary bit.
5. I think the idea is good, and introduces what I said I liked well.
6. Yes

I shall also get some audience research on video so you can see people's exact responses.

The Theory of Everything (2015)

The Theory of Everything is a truly fascinating film about the wonderful physicist that is Stephen Hawking. The film follows him through his time as a student at the University of Cambridge, where he meets Jane Wilde, who later becomes his wife, and finds out that he has been diagnosed with Motor Neurons Disease; a condition that affects his mobility and speech.

 

The film features the amazing actors that are Eddie Redmayne, as Stephen, and Felicity Jones, as Jane. Their portrayal of these characters is outstanding and between them they captivatingly tell the story of Stephen and Jane, connecting with the audience throughout.

 

I personally think that this is such a sweet and adorable film, with both happy and sad times, at which yes, I did cry a little. It was truly an amazing film to watch and I can not wait for it to come out on DVD so I can watch it over and over again. I think that it is obvious to say that I would 100% recommend this film to anyone and everyone! Honestly, I think you will adore it!