Evaluation: Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

To attract our target audience, we used topics and a plot that they would stereotypically be interested in. We gathered research and feedback from our target audience and what they thought about our film opening.
The clip below shows annotations of audience feedback.

Evaluation: Question 4

Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our media product is aimed at a target audience of mainly female aged 15+. They would most likely be of the alternative sub-culture and listen to rock music. They might watch TV shows such as 'Supernatural', 'Doctor Who', 'Vampire Diaries' or 'True Blood', and be interested in supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves and ghosts.
They would be interested in our film because it stars a group of teenage girls whom they would find relatable as they are also intrigued by the supernatural, to the extent that they attempt to use a ouija board. The verisimilitude of the plot and characters mean that the audience will eaisily be able to indentify with them.  Later on in our film we introduce a dark mysterious male character who the audience may find intriguing and attractive.

Evaluation: Question 7

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

Since making our preliminary task, I found that we were able to edit much quicker, as this time around we knew how to use the editing software and knew what we needed to do for certain shot types. The camera work was done to a much higher quality and the sound quality was also much higher. We have also improved our knowledge and use of the 180 degree rule.
We had a much clearer idea on what we needed to film to get the desired effect with our footage. Also, we filmed everything in a sensible order which made editing a lot easier and meant that we were able to look through possible clips much quicker. I feel that all of our shots were much smoother than when we filmed our preliminary task, we were able to hold the camera a lot more steady if we needed to use any handheld shots.

 This is the handheld walking shot from our preliminary task, it is rather shakey and not smooth at all.

This is the handheld walking shot from our film opening, it is much smoother.

The use of props was effective but used in a very clear or interesting way.

The use of props was shown in a much clearer way with much more of the focus on the props.

The props were also shown in a much more interesting way to keep the audience engaged.

In our preliminary task, as we didn't have many props or a good location, we put a lot of effort into make up to help convey the story-line.

Whereas in our film opening, we had a much better variety of props, costume, location and a more interesting story-line. Therefore we didn't feel like we had to compensate with extreme make up.

Evaluation: Question 6

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

HD Camera: The use of a HD camera made it very easy to capture the shots that we needed. Although when panning or using a tracking shot it did blur slightly. In the panning shot we were able to use the slight blur to our advantage by making it seem like the characters were feeling hazy in the situation.We did face a few issues being that the camera picked up the lighting differently in different areas of the room, but this was easily overcome with the use of editing software in post-production.

Tripod: We used a tripod to help keep shots steady in order for the film to look smooth. This helped greatly in shots that needed to be held the same position for a long amount of time.

iMovie: Editing with imovie was very easy to get to grips with. We were able to edit the colours in clips so that they weren't affected by the slight lighting change throughout the room. We also found it very useful to detatch the audio from the clips so that we could improve the continuity and fluidity of the transitions. We were also able to overlap different sound effects to create the desired effect. We used a fair few fade to blacks as we found that these were the most appropriate and least overpowering transitions between scenes.

Problems we encountered: The only real problems we encountered whilst filming was that as we wanted it to be set during night time, we had to keep making sure that there wasn't any reflections of us or the equipment in the windows.

Working as a group: Our group was very good at splitting up the different jobs between us which helped us all get an understanding of how the different pieces of equipment worked. We used all of our different individual skills as an advantage towards the process of creating out media product.

Blogger: I found using blogger to log my work very helpful. It made it so much easier to track where I was at with my work and what I needed to do to improve. At first I found it slightly difficult to get to grips with, but after getting used to it, it has become much easier.

Evaluation: Question 3

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

Our media product in made in a very independent way and is intended to be distributed by an independent company. It would attract a niche audience as a mainstream audience would expect a much higher quality through having a higher budget. An independent distribution company would be much more likely to distribute our niche film as it doesn't involve any well known hollywood actors. As we only had a low budget, we would be more likely to be able to afford to work with a small independent institution such as Film4 or Studio Canal. In order to get the most out of the distribution, we would consider using product placement within our film to increase our budget and be able to distribute to a wider audience and have a more advanced advertising scheme.
Due to our low budget, we would probably have to distribute via 35mm as it reduces the chance of piracy, which would vastly effect the success of the film. We also wouldn't be able to afford the security needed to prevent piracy on a digital film. We would distribute our film to independent cinemas as most mainstream cinemas only show digital copies of films.
If the success of the film was good enough and we made enough of a profit, we might be able to distribute our film to a wider audience by having it on home cinema viewing platforms such Netflix or appleTV. The advertising campaigne for our film would have to be fairly basic due to the small budget. It would be limited to online trailers, posters and possibly website advertising spots.

Evaluation: Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

Our media project shows teenage girls in a stereotypical way. This being that they are curious and still quite naive. This is shown through the idea of them using a ouija board, with which they don't really understand what they are doing.
We have also shown stereotypes of the different cliques in a friendship group by having one of the girls being overly confident that she is right and the others are being cowardly for not wanting to follow her actions. We also have the shy, nerdy girl who is shown to be rather scared of the idea of taking part in using a ouija board.
Another stereotype we have used in shown through the role of the younger sister. She is very naive as she doesn't even notice that the girls are using a ouija board, and is more concerned that they are being loud and that she can tell her mum on them.
Our story-line is shown from the point of view of a female, as the story follows the girl. This helps to reach out target audience as they will find it much more relatable.
There are no adults shown in the opening sequence, this shows that the teenagers are independent and also naive by not understanding the dangers of the actions.

Evaluation: Question 1

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

The generic conventions of a supernatural thriller are that the story-line generally revolves around a supernatural creature such a a ghost or a vampire.
We have used many generic conventions throughout our film opening to help convey the genre. We have done this through our choice of location, title font and mise.

Location
The location of our film opening is in an old looking house. This setting has been used in many supernatural thrillers such as 'Amittyville Horror 2: The Possession (1982)', 'Insidious (2010)' and 'Woman In Black (2010)'. These films are all set in houses.

Costume and Props
The costumes that we chose to use in our film opening link more into the generic conventions of a horror film as they are all dressed in nightwear. But this still fits well into our film as it give the audience a time frame that the scene is set in.

 



We used a tracking shot to show the old fashioned photos on the walls of the house. This helps to give an eerie atmosphere to the clip.

The main props that we used were a ouija board with candles placed in the corners. These are shown using multiple shot types to show their importance within the film.

 

 

Camera Work and Editing

 

We used an establishing shot to open our clip and help set the scene. It pans in from the right and includes the first title in the bottom left.

 



 

This kind of establishing shot is also used in the supernatural thriller 'Amityville Horror 2: The Possession', the differences being that the camera is placed on the left hand side of the house and in the foreground there is a 'for sale' sign.

 





Tracking shots are another generic convention used in supernatural thrillers. They make the audience feel as though they are a part of what is going on and they are walking through the set. An example of a tracking shot used in a supernatural thrill would be in the opening of 'Insidious (2010)'.



 

This tracking shot moves down the frame whereas our moves up.

 



Close up on props is also a largely used generic convention in supernatural thrillers as they show the importance of them and possibly foreshadow later events within the film.

 

This is used in the opening of 'The Woman In Black (2010)'.

 



We have used a similar shot our film opening showing the candles and matches.

 



Another shot used in 'The Woman In Black' is a three person shot.

 



We have used a shot that is very similar to this in our opening sequence.

 



The only real differences between the two shots is that ours is from a high angle whereas the one used in 'The Woman In Black' is from a low angle.

 

Slow paced editing is a commonly used generic convention in supernatural thrillers. We have used this throughout to create a mysterious, eerie feel.

 

 

Title Font and Style

 

The title font that we chose to use in our opening is based on the font that can be seen on the ouija board. They are also partially incorporated as they have been placed in specific areas of the frame depending on what else is in the frame at the time.

 

 

These are the titles used in 'Insidious (2010)', they are very well intergrated as they are placed perfectly around the lamp.

 

 

This is the titles that we used in our opening sequence. They are integrated as the font matches that of the ouija board, and they have been placed so that the cursor is inbetween them. They still stand out above the clip more than the titles used in 'Insidious' and this gives our film a more independent feel.

 

 



The other titles used in the opening sequence for 'Insidious', and also in our film opening, are not integreated, the are simply placed on top of the frame.

 



 

 

Story-line And How The Opening Sequence Sets It Up

 

The majority of supernatural thriller films don't introduce the main aspect of the plot as quickly as our film did. We introduced the ouija board within the first two minutes of the film which goes against generic conventions.

 

 

How Characters Are Introduced

 

We also go against generic conventions with how our characters are introduced because we introduced them using dialogue within the first two mintues. The main characters are not normally shown this early on in a supernatural thriller film. This makes our film different to conventional films and makes it stand out and grab the audiences attention.

 

 

Special Effects

 

As our film is independent, we didn't use any special effects in the opening sequence. No special effects have been added in post-production. This goes againsts the generic conventions of most supernatural films which use special effects to animate the opening titles.

 

This is shown in the opening titles of 'Drag Me To Hell (2009)' where the titles appear in black smoke. Whereas our opening titles do not use such effects.

 





 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 



Final Film Opening

Development of Institutional Logos

When designing our institutional logo, we wanted it to fit with the theme of our film whilst also incorporating a slowloris to help people remember the name of our company.
A slowloris isn't a very sinister animal so we decided that the best thing would be to use just the eyes in our logo. We tried a number of different logo designs before deciding on our final one which uses the slowloris' eyes and dark colours and shadows to give a sinister feel.
The logos were all drawn by hand and then once we had make the final decision, we used photoshop to create the final version.

Timeline of film openings from chosen genre.

Timeline of opening titles from Stephen King's 'IT'

Timeline of opening titles from The Sixth Sense

Research into chosen genre.

Supernatural Thrillers often have an element of mystery as the film is based on the seemingly unknown.
They involve the dead, or undead, and the story-line generally revolves around this theme.

Linked to the dead, and unknown creatures, they are generally evil and are out to hurt whoever it is that has disturbed them in the film.

The most effective and most frightening supernatural thrillers, are the ones that are based on a true story. This gives them an element of reality which other supernatural thrillers don't have.

The stereotypical audience for a supernatural thriller would most likely be alternative teenagers and young adults. They are stereotypically more drawn towards dark, mysterious things and would find a film like this very interesting.
The characters in a supernatural thriller are mostly teenagers and young adults. This means that this audience will find them more relatable and understand their feelings in a situation.










Pathetic fallacy is also used a lot in supernatural thrillers. An example of that is in Stephen King's 'IT'. The rain is used to create a low, mysterious atmosphere. In addition to this, the lightening is used as a metaphor for childhood fears, as lightening is a stereotypical thing to be afraid of at a young age. This foreshadows the themes of the film that revolve around childhood fears.

Analyse openings from your chosen genre

Drag Me To Hell
Editing: Continuous editing with smooth transitions.
Sound: The non-diegetic sound used is relevent and fits well with the theme of the film.
Shot type: The clip is visually interesting and keeps the audience engaged.
Mise: The colours used were very gloomy and mysterious with flashes of bright lights. This helped to convery the themes of suspence and shock.
Titles: The transitions between titles were very effective. The fonts used in the opening titles works well with the genre and don't draw too much attention away from the rest of the clip.
Characters:



The Ring
Editing: Continuous editing used to create a realistic feel.
Sound:The diegetic sound of the girls talking, the phone ringing and the white noise make it seem like you are actually there with them rather than the use of backing music.
Shot type: The different shot types keep it interesting whilst keeping a slow and mysterious pace.
Mise:Dark lighting. The two girls are wearing white shirts to connotate innocence.
Titles: There are no titles at the beginning of 'The Ring' to give it a more realistic feel so that it doesn't feel like you are watching a film and more like real life events.
Characters: The characters all seem like normal people which makes it much more relatable for the audience.

Film Opening Remake - Why we're doing it

We are doing a remake of a film opening to help us to understand the importance of timing and when each of the different titles need to appear. The order of appearing titles are very different in a film opening to that in a film trailer.
For our film opening remake, we decided to do 'Superbad'. We chose this because we were planning on doing a thriller for our film opening so wanted to make sure we got a feel of different genres rather than just sticking to the one.

The Differences Between Independant and Mainstream Companies

There are some major differeces between independant and mainstream film companies. The main one being that mainstream institutions have a much larger budget meaning that they can afford more famous and well known actors to be in their film. This also means that they can afford to use better camera and sound equipment, and also can have bigger and better special effects. Independant films have a much different quality and feel to a mainstream film which would have a hollywood feel, whereas independant films are much less bright and glossy, and more rough and simple. An independant film would be much more likely to rely on the storyline over the special effects and actors.

How film openings attract audiences and audience theories used in them

Film openings have to give away as little of the story-line as possible, whilst still drawing in the audience and making them want to know what happens in the rest of the film.





In the opening of 'Reservoir Dogs' you can straight away tell that it is a gangster, crime movie judging by the mise used, especially in the costume choice. This would stereotypically be a seen as aimed at a male audience as it involves masculine themes such as smoking. This may also involve the hypodermic needle theory as the characters smoking are seen as cool.





The opening of 'The Chronicles of Narnia' portray it to be a gender neutral film. It shows themes of violence and war. But because the film is based on a book, the audience will most likely already know that there is a theme of magic and fantasy throughout, bringing this back to a gender neutral, family film. The fact that the main characters have been separated from their parents makes you feel sorry for them, and this bond carries out through the rest of the film.

Creating film opening using jelly babies

We created a film opening story board using jelly babies to help us understand the ordering of the titles. We decided to make an action film opening using the generic conventions such as a chase scene, damsel in distress and a gun hold up.

 Chase scene.

 Damsel in distress.

Gun hold up.

Saving the damsel in distress.

Different Genres and Their Generic Conventions.

Action

• Car chases
• Violence
• Special Effects
• Explosions
• Male Audience
• Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze Theory

Romantic Comedy

• Female Audience
• Relationship Based Storyline
• Love Triangle
• Happy Ending
• Stereotypes

Horror

• Blood
• Death
• Violence
• Weapons
• Gore
• Teen - Adult Audience

Thriller

• Psychological
• Paranormal
• Supernatural
• Unusual to have a happy ending
• Implications rather than Visuals

Comedy

• Slapstick
• Stereotypes
• Crude/Innuendo

Drama

• Plot Twists
• Older Female Audience
• Hyperbolic
• Life Events
• Period Dramas

Film Opening Timelines

Above is a timeline for the opening of the film 'Shaun of the Dead'

This was the easiest way I found of making a timeline, to write out what happens in order and then to put this information onto a timeline. As shown below.

The video clip for 'Amityville Horror 2: The Possession' wasn't able to be embeded.

Analysis of Student films

Genre: Thriller
Editing: They have used continuous editing with the use of a cut-way to show the other characters and give the audience and idea of the reasoning behind the characters actions. The transitions also gave the clip a smooth feel that helped it flow together as a piece.
Sound: The use of non-diegetic sound in this piece is very effective as it fits with the theme.
Camera angles: The variety of camera angles used keeps the piece interesting as well as providing the audience with a wider perspective on the scene.
Mise: The colours considered for clothing and background provide a mysterious feel to the piece without being too obvious.  The use of props were relevant and well considered.
Titles: the titles fit well into the clip and didn't draw attention away from the film opening itself.
Characters: the actors chosen to play the characters seemed to fit well with the parts. We are only introduced properly to the main character which leaves an element of mystery, although the plot could have been kept a little more of a surprise because you are told a lot of the storyline from the first few minutes.




Genre: Thriller/Horror
Editing: The continuity of the editing was nice, although they could have been more observant with small aspects of the clip for example: the windscreen wipers and the girls hand when she is on the doorstep. The transitions worked well with the theme.
Sound: I liked the fact that none of the characters spoke during the opening sequence as it gave a sense of mystery. The chosen diegetic sound also felt relevant to the piece.
Camera Angles: The variety of camera angles was good but I felt that some of the shots weren't placed in the best possible place and could of shown the content better.
Mise: The costumes worked well with the theme and props were considered, although it wasn't very clear why that baseball bat was used.
Titles: The title font didn't fit with the theme and wasn't appropriate for the film genre. There was no variation in the placement of the titles and they weren't incorporated smoothly into the opening sequence.
Characters: Its isn't particularly clear to the audience who the characters are and what part they play within the story.



Genre: Thriller
Editing: The editing was effective and the continuity was good. The transitions and effects used we relevant and worked well with the chosen genre. The montage made it seem a little like a trailer rather than a film opening.
Sound: The sounds were relevant to the fim but I feel like the diegetic speaking throughout was a little overused. The non-diegetic sounds of white noise were very effective.
Camera Angles: The different camera angles used were very effective and kept the film opening interesting for the audience and kept them engaged.
Mise: The white coat worn by the main female character connotes innocence and worked very well against the constant dark background.
Titles: The title fit in very well with the theme and genre of the film and didn't draw anyone of the audiences attention away from what was happening within the scene.
Characters: It is obvious to the audience straight away who the characters are within the film and the actors chosen fit very well to the part of their character.

Film Opening Analysis

The Devils Rejects
Genre:

• Horror

Narrative:

• Fugitive
• Serial Killers

Characters:

• Main family
• Police Officers

Atmosphere:

• Juxtaposition
• Relaxed
• Comical

Themes:

• Hiding from the law
• Homicide

Setting:

• Southern America

Sound:

• Country music

Titles:

• Integrated
• Clip pauses as name appears

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

Genre:

• Action

Narrative:

• Battle
• Humans vs Robots

Characters:

• Tribe
• Robots

Atmosphere:

• Tense
• Destructive

Themes:

• Fighting
• Explosions
• Battle

Setting:

• Mountains
• Modern city

Sound:

• Tense
• Suspension

Titles:

• Integrated

Film Opening Analysis

'My Best Friends Wedding'
Genre:

• 'Chick-Flick'
• Rom-com
• Cheesy

Narrative:

• Wedding
• Irony
• Doesn't go to plan

Character:

• 4 girls
• Bride and Bridesmaids

Atmosphere:

• Not modern
• Hollywood

Themes:

• Romance
• Girly

Setting:

• Stage performance
• Wedding preparation

Sound:

• Repetitive
• Retro
• 60's

Titles:

• Worked around the girls dancing
• Calligraphy (Wedding invitation feel)
• Not integrated (placed in front of the shot)

'Catch Me If You Can'
Genre:

• Action
• Mystery

Narrative:

• Set in New York
• Airport
• Hospital
• Tom Hanks chases Leonardo DeCaprio

Character:

• 2 main characters who are pointed out

Atmosphere:

• Chase and excitement

Themes:

• Chase
• Identity
• Disguise

Setting:

• Retro
• America - Yellow Cabs

Sound:

• Retro
• Upbeat
• Chase

Titles:

• Institutions at start
• Integrated
• Director at end

'Lord of War'
Genre:

• Action
• War
• Political

Narrative:

• Following the life of a character

Characters:

• Soldiers

Atmosphere:

• Formal
• Official

Themes:

• War
• Bullets
• Death
• Destruction

Setting:

• Factory
• Ammoury
• War

Sound:

• Relaxed
• Happy
• Juxtaposition
• Song about Vietnam war

Titles:

• Integrated

'Panic Room'
Genre:

• Action
• Thriller

Narrative

• Serious
• Business

Character

• Female main character

Atmosphere

• Low
• Professional
• Formal

Themes

• Business
• Action

Setting

• City
• New York

Sound

• Violins
• Tense
• Suspense

Titles

• Integrated
• Metal appearance
• Made using helium balloons

The Difference Between a Film Trailor and a Film Opening

Film Trailor:

• Gives information about the film.
• Fades to black are regularly used.
• Shows a montage of clips from the film.
• Shows sections of the film that will grab audiences attention and get them into cinemas to watch the film.
• Title of the film at the end.
• Shows actors names.
• Might have a tag line.
• Institution logos at the start.

Film Opening Sequence:

• Details of cast, crew and institutions.
• A films title.
• An introduction to charactor.
• Indictation of place.
• Indication of historical place.
• Information regarding mood and tone.
• Introduction to signature theme tune.
• Information about genre.
• Questions that the viewer finds intriguing.
• Patterns and types of editing that will be echoed throughout.
• Mise en scene and cinematography that will be echoed and elaborated upon later in the film.
• Sets the film up.