Final Film Opening

16. Elinor Ritchie, Melissa Riffen-McDonald, Victoria Skopouscenko, Ella Fusco-Fagg from 283goswell on Vimeo.

Evaluation QUESTION 1

Evaluation QUESTION 2

I made a typography image about how I felt our opening represented certain social groups using only key words on a website called "TAGXEDO." as I had a few technical issues with "Wordle." I decided to make these words create an image of a bomb because the black bags used in our opening (Mise-en-scene.) create an aspect of danger as you aren't told what these bags contain and I figured that a bomb was a likely possibility in terms of being realistic especially with the use of a train station and ethnic minorities.

Evaluation QUESTION 3

Evaluation from Mido Mido

Evaluation QUESTION 4

Our age range for our target audience is 15 – 24. Our subject is a 15 year old boy called Jack Davis who attends The Petchey academy; he is very in touch with his technical side having owned a minimum of three Blackberry smart phones and spending majority of his time when he's not doing school work on his computer game console. I located his “Facebook.” Page and took a few screen grabs of his activities that suit his characteristics making him a suitable representative of the target audience for our thriller.

Evaluation QUESTION 5

Melissa R-M and Ella F

by Melissa Riffen-McDoanld.

Terrible quality- apologies. Guidelines for if you cant read what it says.

  We attracted our target audience in terms of location by selecting one of the widest used form of transport so that they could relate to the storyline slightly better as they'd be able to relate to the characters understanding their choice of location as they would know what to expect when they enter a train-station as they are used every day to take our target audience to school, to visit family and friends etc. Our production company is also linked to our demographic as a high majority of people aged 15-24 are still students, so in more ways than one “Candi studios.” and our group 16 IDENT will appeal to them significantly as being students also, we create some common ground between ourselves and the people watching our work. Which is useful as audiences like to feel like they have a connection with the people who create their entertainment, both on screen icons and behind the scenes people.

I think the burning candle is quite symbolic as the flame, to me represents life and it is shaping the candle as life shapes us as people however this flame burns quicker during adolescences. Our title is a main contributor to the attraction of our target audience as we decided to stick with the numeral idea to show clear inspiration for films such as Collateral and SE73N which I think our audience will appreciate. Base-9 is a good title as it has several meanings which could keep potential audiences interested in what the title means and how it relates to our film which could get more people interested in our opening.

The several  methods of distribution we used to reach our target audience were extremely effective as social networking sites are used widely by people who fit our target audience and new technologies now support these sites being used on multiple portable devices, such as tablets, phones and netbooks.


Interview with cast member

Evaluation QUESTION 6

During this project I have ; with the assistance of my group member learnt the basics of using various technologies, for example sound track pro and blogger etc. out of all the different programs I found Final cut pro the most difficult to use, and started to notice later on during the task that my editing skills were not up to par compared to be team mates, and decided it would be better for me to focus my energies on something a little easier and created both soundtracks included in our opening. So instead I used a software I could access on my personal laptop called "AVS video editor." which in appearance is less intimidating than FCP where I learnt how to convert video files into .avi and edit videos in the most basic way possible. this, along with my "Wacom Bamboo" graphic tablet is the program I used to create my video for one of the previous questions. I also learnt that online blogs are useful to keep track of any work you might have done as it keeps everything in one place and can be changed and edited to suite you and avoidable accidents like spills and tears are ruled out. It also gave us the opportunity to look at other groups work and also members our our own. In terms of our film opening we had to use many of these programs at once, for example FCP,STP,Blogger,JVC camera, memory cards and the Video drive.

Evaluation QUESTION 7

Evaluation: Question 1

Se7en titles influenced us on the font we have used in the opening.

Conventions of a film, especially a thriller genre are there to

• hook the audience
• state the genre
• introduce key characters
• begin narrative
• establishing an enigma

Conventions also include:  music, titles, transitions, colours, pace and effect.

Pace is influenced by Se7en so it is not too energetic and upbeat but enough to hook the audience.

The film opening of Base-9 has followed the conventions of a thriller by 'stating the genre', 'beginning the narrative' and 'introducing the key characters'. In addition, the target audience feedback video below shows it has also managed to hook the audience' and 'keep them on the edge of their seats'.

The opening of Base-9 also establishes and enigma in the narrative both within the stylised shots and the narrative during the exchange of the suitcases.
The reason behind the exchange is unknown and the consequences that are to follow either, which will make the audience want to know the purpose of that and let the film solve the 'puzzle/mystery' as the film continues.

beginning the narrative

Introducing one of the main characters

introducing the genre with the 'red' stylised effects and font of the titles

Following the conventions in regards of the title sequence, which is as follows: 

PRODUCTION COMPANY IDENT

SECOND PRODUCTION/DISTRIBUTION COMPANY

TITLE

CAST MEMBERS

COSTUME DESIGN

MUSIC SUPERVISION

MUSIC BY

EDITOR

PRODUCTION DESIGNER

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

PRODUCED BY

WRITTEN BY

DIRECTED BY

Our movie opening included 10 out of 14 titles, this is because it is a lower budget movie and involved less production.

the gif's had been made by a member of our group Ellie Ritche

Convention of a thriller genre would also be costume, we have used a similar costumes we thought of during the planning process. An example would be 'Collateral' which also uses the same type of costume in their opening.

Evaluation: Question 2

DEFINITION OF REPRESENTATION:

Portrayal and/or description of someone or something being in a particular way of certain nature.

specific location which is China Town. May have a lot to do with villains/heros being from China

The location of China Town specifically represents the characters in the rest of the movie who are of Chinese background.

This particular social group (Chinese) have not been represented in neither a negative nor positive light in the opening because we are only shown a famous landmark 'China Town' in London. This only tells the audience that the movie will involve Chinese characters and the location itself play a large part. However, it is only within the plot and for the audience to find out whether this particular social group is negative or positive.

Moreover, the black and red colour effect may be indicating that both Chinese and British are neither good, bad, or both due to the colour ed and black representing danger, anger and death.

Stereotype representation may be seen in the fact that the location of 'China Town' is being used and this may to do with the fact that some characters may be Chinese, whether it is the hero or the villain, or simply set in both London and China itself.

Big Ben (famous landmark)

Gender focus in regards of characters is mainly female since the two main characters introduced in the opening are female. This challenges the stereotypes of many thriller movies such as Skyfall, Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol involve male main characters. Movie 'The Hunger Games' involves a strong female role which had appeared to become a successful film regardless of the lack male lead roles, and this is one similarity in terms of gender roles in our movie opening. 

Target audience in regards of Age are 16-25 because the characters in the opening are between those ages, moreover the rest of the movie would involve characters aged 16-25.

the character to some audiences may be represented in a negative light due to the colours red and black, while others may simply see this as an introduction to the movie and not a character representation

From our target audience feedback we have also gathered that males would be attracted to this movie due to the edge, sound and colours used which makes it different from other movies. The storyline is appealing to them regardless of the lack of male lead roles and enjoy the plot and mystery of the film.

Evaluation: Question 3

Evaluation: Question 4

target audience of Base-9 being teenagers to young adults (16-25) who are likely to go cinema to 'escape' 

Young teenagers, mainly female because the two main characters are females (as seen in the opening) but also males regardless of the lack of lead male role in the movie.

Thriller movies generally appeal to a target audience of 17-25 and over.

However, movies such as Psycho and Fatal Attraction would be 18+ because it is a psychological movie.

Because Base-9 is an action thriller with elements of mystery, it applies to 16-25 year olds.

print screen of someone who is our target audience


This person is  a 17 year old female, and the main character being a woman it appeals to her, along with her interest in thriller/spy/mystery movies.

Evaluation: Question 5

This is what we have collected from asking our target audience and the majority had said similar things, however some thought the target audience would be 18-25 while others thought of 16-20. Overall it covers our initial target audience of 16-25 successfully.

These aspects had the main appeal towards our target audience:

• Mise-en-scene had the appeal because of the locations used which is St. Pancras International/Kins Cross Station and China Town.

• Editing appealed because everyone we've asked for feedback had made a comment on the stylised editing and the colour red, describing it 'edgy' and 'sketchy' and most of all 'appealing'.

• Storyline because movies such as Skyfall, Collateral, Safe House, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and so forth, appeal to the younger and older teenagers along with the adult audience. 

I have underlined the key words which are relevant to our movie Base-9 and all have some links to the majority crime/action/thriller movies out there.

• Soundtrack: this sound was one of the many that we have put together to use with our opening. Collateral was the influence.

The end sound of the opening in the movie Collateral was fast paced and energetic, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats and this is what we aimed to achieve in our opening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P00reQ0TyGM  (Collateral). The idea of a background sound of conversation and crowds was also influenced by this movie.

ROUGH CUT FEEDBACK:

After receiving this feedback on our rough cut edit, we have rearranged the order of the narrative and stylised sequences so it is not confusing and instead more appealing to the audience. This helped us improve the opening which in return appeared to be successful in attracting the attention of our target audience.

This is a short clip I've combined using iMovie with all the target audience feedback we've received.

Evaluation / Question 1

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

Most film openings are around 2 minutes long, we kept to that with our opening at 2:43
We also chose a decaying/rough font because it made the titles look more gritty, which was inspired by se7en's font.
Conventions of a Title Sequence and How We Followed It

• Production company

We used the college Ident as it made more sense to the film to keep it small and independent. 

We made our own ident to follow the college ident. 

We repeated the production companys through discrete titles. This emphasied the companies names which is used in most films.

• Film Title

With this shot of our title, it was the only text and in the center, contrasting against the red and black. Although small, it still stands out.

• Main Cast 

The main cast have their own time on screen and are the only individual names.

• Smaller cast names

To make the titles as realistic as possible we made up random names and added them in. We also grouped their names together and put them in the corner; making them still noticeable by colour, but not by frame placement.

• Casting/Music

For the music and casting we put them on individually and gave them an equal amount of screen time

• Editor/Director of Photography

Editor and director of photography were in the same camera sequence and placed in the same corner as the camera was getting a big shot.

• Producer/Writer/Director 

These final three titles finished off the stylized intro. 

Evaluation / Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

RUN DOWN ON WHAT FEATURES IN THIS MOOD BOARD

An Interview from our Target Audience:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KwxTQwLjxfI

Evaluation: Question 6

Blogger, Slideshare, Prezi, Camtasia, Moodboard mydeco,
Facebook, Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro,
Adobe Photoshop

MPEG Streamclip, iMovie, Wordle

Technologies that have been used during the whole process, starting from the planning with Quark XPress 8 and Microsoft Power Point.  

All technologies have been useful in their own way. For example: iMovie was quick and easy to use for the 'Target Audience Feedback' clip (Question 5) and did not take long at all.

mydeco has helped me produce not only the two mood boards but the process of transferring the footage (shown below with the arrows) in this particular post.

Prezi has been helpful in showing the flow of ideas and the order I had in terms of the distribution company.

Wordle was a new and interesting way to demonstrate target audience feedback, which is colourful and catching to the eye and also quick to use.

By using all this technology I have also learnt not only new skills but that I can access the online technology not only from college but home to develop my work.

Blogger has been the most crucial in this process because we were able to post all of our work and ideas along with our progress and track everything we've achieved and underachieved. 

the first few processes soon after recording the footage Recording, transferring from memory card to
hardrive, from hard drive into Final Cut Pro, where all the editing began.

the file needed to be converted into 'mp4' for it to be able to show on 'Blogger

Evaluation / Question 3

Media Evaluation Power Point from EllarLion

Evaluation: Question 7

Evaluation / Question 4

Who would be the audience for our media product (Thriller Opening)

-Our target audience would be teen/young adult. Mainly because the main characters are both teens which would appeal to a younger audience, proven by films such as:
The Hunger Games

.

The audience for the Hunger Games is predominantly female, although the main audience for a Thriller is male.
However this mix is shown for the audience of Harry Potter 7:

However
During our class feedback we were told that the film may appeal to more male than female due to the openings being harsh, bold colours, and the theme of the film being a spy thriller.
Doing some research, the main demographic of thrillers including 'spy themed' ones are male.

These 3 thrillers all used similar shots that we used; Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises & Safe House.
The frames on the right mirror the shots we used in our thriller, following the character from behind.
The frames on the left show the action sequences of the thriller we didn't put in.

(Left) Dark Knight Rises audience (Middle) Skyfall audience (Right) Safe House audience