After looking at the target audiences for different types of thrillers as well as similar to ours, we have changed our target audience from 12-22 as we feel this is inaccurate and that actually 12 years would be too young to watch our film.
Our research showed that more males watched and enjoyed thrillers similar to what we aim to create and so, we decided that both the primary and secondary target audience would be males, but, there will also be some females that would watch our film.
Our primary target audience is males aged 18-24 because the research we have carried out on thrillers like ours as well as the interviews we carried out at school, we could see that people around this age group would enjoy watching our film. People of this age group like action as well as some violence and due to the fact that they are older than our initial target audience, they will be able to deal with the psychological aspects that will be involved in our film more appropriately.
Our secondary target audience is also males, however, aged 25-40. This is because our research showed us that people of this age, particularly males watched these films. People of this age range will be more attracted to the psychological aspects of the film than the action because they are older and therefore have different interests.
Wednesday 19 November 2014
Thursday 13 November 2014
Feedback on Our Thriller Idea
The feedback helped us a lot as it enabled us to see what needed to be improved about our idea for our opening sequence.
One piece of advice we received was that while a forest location could work really well for our idea, this location is often over used and so is cliche for a person running away to be going. This made us think of alternative places we could use for our opening such as an alley way or even just a normal road.
A few were confused about the opening sequence, asking who the characters were, why was the girl running and who from. We were able to answer these questions, however, it made us wonder that if our peers were unsure as to what was going on whether the same would be true for other people who did not have the chance to ask us questions. The general sense we received from this was that our opening sequence was far too complicated.
Many were unsure of the significance of showing two characters and why we wanted to use a split screen. From this, we decided that this may not be the best idea and going back and forth between the characters was a factor contributing to the confusion.
The general feedback on the plot was positive, however, more of the girls said they would watch this if it was a film than the boys. The reason for this was that the main character was clearly a girl and so the story line focuses on her which is less appealing to males. We had to think of ways to make this film appeal to boys including what are their interests.
Overall, this criticism has helped us to develop our idea further and think about other ways we can show the plot.
Wednesday 12 November 2014
Camera Angles/Shots and Editing Techniques and General Rules
CAMERA ANGLES/SHOTS
Pan - the horizontal movement of the camera from a static position and can be horizontal or vertical.
Tracking - when the camera moves or tracks to follow a subject at close proximity. It is created using a dolly or steadicam.
Tilt - when a shot moves up and down on the vertical.
Crab - the subtle movement on the horizontal.
Crane - when the camera is mounted on to a crane so can move dramatically up and down.
Handheld - the shaky movement that follows the movement of the operator.
Zoom lens - this creates the illusion of the movement by altering the lens length.
Close up - this is when there is a close shot
High angle - this shows the subject from above. This can make the subject look weaker, powerless and less significant.
Low angle - this shows the subject from below, and can make them seem more powerful, in control
and the dominant character.
Extreme wide shot - this shows the subject from so far away that it is invisible and so is often used as an establishing shot.
Very wide shot - the subject is visible but only slightly, so the emphasis is still on placing them in the environment.
Wide shot - this shows the full frame of the subject.
Mid shot - this shows part of subject in some detail while still giving an impression of the whole picture.
Medium close up - this is half way between a mid shot and a close up
Close up - this focuses on one part/feature of the subject that takes up the whole frame.
Extreme close up - this shows the extreme detail of one part of the subject,
EDITING TECHNIQUES
A cut - a clean change or break between one scene and the next.
Parallel editing - cross cutting between two or more lines of action going on in different directions.
Eye-line match - the first shot shows a person looking somewhere and the second shows what they were looking at.
Match on action - two different shots of the same action together, making it appear to continue.
Shot-reverse-shot - two shots edited back and forth between two or more characters (often used in conversations).
Parallel action - a convention that cuts between two different places, implying that they are happening simultaneously.
Elliptical editing - this is shown through a jump in time, for example, if the audience sees a man get into a plane and then get off a plane, the audience will realise that person has been on a plane journey and time has passed.
Transition- the way that two images are joined together and can be achieved in many ways.
Dissolve - a gradual transition between one scene and the next with one image dissolving into the next. This can be used to change time or location and signify a link between the two images.
Fade in/out - a gradual transition from the image to black (or another colour). This is often used at the beginning or end of a scene to signify the start or finish of something.
A wipe - one part of the screen moves across the other.
GENERAL RULES
The 180° rule must always be obeyed to help the audience make sense of what is going on. This is the imaginary line that passes from one side to another through the actors, and when filming, you must stay on one side of this line (particularly during conversation) unless you show the move from one side to the other.
Pan - the horizontal movement of the camera from a static position and can be horizontal or vertical.
Tracking - when the camera moves or tracks to follow a subject at close proximity. It is created using a dolly or steadicam.
Tilt - when a shot moves up and down on the vertical.
Crab - the subtle movement on the horizontal.
Crane - when the camera is mounted on to a crane so can move dramatically up and down.
Handheld - the shaky movement that follows the movement of the operator.
Zoom lens - this creates the illusion of the movement by altering the lens length.
Close up - this is when there is a close shot
High angle - this shows the subject from above. This can make the subject look weaker, powerless and less significant.
Low angle - this shows the subject from below, and can make them seem more powerful, in control
and the dominant character.
Extreme wide shot - this shows the subject from so far away that it is invisible and so is often used as an establishing shot.
Very wide shot - the subject is visible but only slightly, so the emphasis is still on placing them in the environment.
Wide shot - this shows the full frame of the subject.
Mid shot - this shows part of subject in some detail while still giving an impression of the whole picture.
Medium close up - this is half way between a mid shot and a close up
Close up - this focuses on one part/feature of the subject that takes up the whole frame.
Extreme close up - this shows the extreme detail of one part of the subject,
EDITING TECHNIQUES
A cut - a clean change or break between one scene and the next.
Parallel editing - cross cutting between two or more lines of action going on in different directions.
Eye-line match - the first shot shows a person looking somewhere and the second shows what they were looking at.
Match on action - two different shots of the same action together, making it appear to continue.
Shot-reverse-shot - two shots edited back and forth between two or more characters (often used in conversations).
Parallel action - a convention that cuts between two different places, implying that they are happening simultaneously.
Elliptical editing - this is shown through a jump in time, for example, if the audience sees a man get into a plane and then get off a plane, the audience will realise that person has been on a plane journey and time has passed.
Transition- the way that two images are joined together and can be achieved in many ways.
Dissolve - a gradual transition between one scene and the next with one image dissolving into the next. This can be used to change time or location and signify a link between the two images.
Fade in/out - a gradual transition from the image to black (or another colour). This is often used at the beginning or end of a scene to signify the start or finish of something.
A wipe - one part of the screen moves across the other.
GENERAL RULES
The 180° rule must always be obeyed to help the audience make sense of what is going on. This is the imaginary line that passes from one side to another through the actors, and when filming, you must stay on one side of this line (particularly during conversation) unless you show the move from one side to the other.
Research into the Opening Sequence of Thrillers
I watched two opening scenes for different thrillers in order to help me improve my own.
LILYA-4-EVER
This opening sequence to this film uses linear trajectory narrative in which the narrative flow starts with the end before going back to the beginning and working towards this point. At first, a girl is seen running through the busy streets, often looking down to show she is nervous. There is a tracking shot from behind the girl and point of view shots to show this. The girl then stops and turns round with the girl zooming into a close up of her face to highlight the bruises and scars on her face which connote that she is in pain and has been abused. The non-diegtic music adds to the panic and sense of depression as well as the distress that we can see in the girl due to the tempo ans rhythm of the music. The pathetic fallacy with the weather connotes further depression as it is very grey and bleak. There is a long shot of the girl standing on the bridge as well as a close up of her face to show her facial expression, which represent contemplation as it is almost as if she is wondering whether to jump of not, particularly when there is a point of view shot showing the road below where she proposes to land. her facial expressions also connote that she has given up hope and her eyes seem to be tired and she seems not to be bothered by the action she is about to complete. The quick cuts in this opening sequence also tells the audience that this is a face-paced film as a lot of action seems to be happening in a short amount of time.
THE SKIN I LIVE IN
This film starts with a long shot of a road which presumably leads up to a house with gates at the front. This connotes that there is something secret about what is going on in this house or that someone is being held in the house because the baring is like that in a prison cell and the fact that the house is hidden away represents that something is going on that possibly shouldn't be. Moreover, there is a shot of barring on a window which adds to the idea that something or someone is being held in this place. There is a close-up of a hand crushing up a pill and putting it juice which represents the idea that the person being held is possibly disturbed or has an illness that needs to be taken care of. A woman is seen sending food down to whoever is held hostage using a machine rather than delivering it herself which symbolises that the person is trapped and is allowed very little communication with other people. There is a focus on a woman in a skin suit as there is a pan across her lying over the edge of a sofa as well as meditating on the floor. This connotes that the personality of this character is not quite right and the fact that she is in an almost bare room suggests isolation. The skin suit highlights that this character is unhappy with her own skin and so is hiding it, however, the audience don't yet know why this is the case. There is a pan across several doll-like heads which have been altered which is followed by a close-up of a hand cutting skin like material and then sticking it to one of the heads. This connotes that the character does have a fascination with skin and possibly altering it, but it is unclear why.
HOW HAS THIS INSPIRED ME?
Lilya-4-Eva illustrated to me that you don't need to have a girl running through a forest to make the opening sequence thrilling. This made me think that we could use alternative locations that are equally as creepy or deserted like an alley way or an area that is fairly deserted.
LILYA-4-EVER
THE SKIN I LIVE IN
This film starts with a long shot of a road which presumably leads up to a house with gates at the front. This connotes that there is something secret about what is going on in this house or that someone is being held in the house because the baring is like that in a prison cell and the fact that the house is hidden away represents that something is going on that possibly shouldn't be. Moreover, there is a shot of barring on a window which adds to the idea that something or someone is being held in this place. There is a close-up of a hand crushing up a pill and putting it juice which represents the idea that the person being held is possibly disturbed or has an illness that needs to be taken care of. A woman is seen sending food down to whoever is held hostage using a machine rather than delivering it herself which symbolises that the person is trapped and is allowed very little communication with other people. There is a focus on a woman in a skin suit as there is a pan across her lying over the edge of a sofa as well as meditating on the floor. This connotes that the personality of this character is not quite right and the fact that she is in an almost bare room suggests isolation. The skin suit highlights that this character is unhappy with her own skin and so is hiding it, however, the audience don't yet know why this is the case. There is a pan across several doll-like heads which have been altered which is followed by a close-up of a hand cutting skin like material and then sticking it to one of the heads. This connotes that the character does have a fascination with skin and possibly altering it, but it is unclear why.
HOW HAS THIS INSPIRED ME?
Lilya-4-Eva illustrated to me that you don't need to have a girl running through a forest to make the opening sequence thrilling. This made me think that we could use alternative locations that are equally as creepy or deserted like an alley way or an area that is fairly deserted.
Monday 10 November 2014
Thursday 6 November 2014
Different Types of Opening/Title Sequences
COMMON FEATURES OF AN OPENING SEQUENCE
In an opening sequence, you could expect the mood, tone and genre to be set in some way to help the audience identify what kind of film they are watching. You may also expect there to be some indication of who the main characters, however, this isn't always the case. The sequence may give some indication of the setting of the film, whether it is on some desert island or in a big city. Of course, the audience would expect to see the title of the film as well as other credits such as director, producer and the actors names.
DISCRETE
These opening sequences are like a mini film before the main film itself begins. It helps to set the mood of the film without giving away what happens in it, yet still identifying the tone and genre of the film. This type of sequence is discrete because it doesn't give much away. An example of this is 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', which show the title of the film and some related images, without giving away any of the plot.
TRADITIONAL
This type of title sequence gives the title of the film and the other credits, however, it doesn't show any of what will happen in the film. An example of this is '21 Jump Street'.
STRAIGHT INTO FILM
Opening sequences like this jump right into the film without anything else happening before hand, like another sequence. 'Scream' is an example of this. Not only does what happen have little relevance to the rest of the film, but, there is non title sequence, the film begins with a girl in her house, straight in to a piece of action.
STYLISED
This is a mixture of discrete and straight into film. One example of this is Mersine.
In an opening sequence, you could expect the mood, tone and genre to be set in some way to help the audience identify what kind of film they are watching. You may also expect there to be some indication of who the main characters, however, this isn't always the case. The sequence may give some indication of the setting of the film, whether it is on some desert island or in a big city. Of course, the audience would expect to see the title of the film as well as other credits such as director, producer and the actors names.
DISCRETE
These opening sequences are like a mini film before the main film itself begins. It helps to set the mood of the film without giving away what happens in it, yet still identifying the tone and genre of the film. This type of sequence is discrete because it doesn't give much away. An example of this is 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo', which show the title of the film and some related images, without giving away any of the plot.
TRADITIONAL
This type of title sequence gives the title of the film and the other credits, however, it doesn't show any of what will happen in the film. An example of this is '21 Jump Street'.
STRAIGHT INTO FILM
Opening sequences like this jump right into the film without anything else happening before hand, like another sequence. 'Scream' is an example of this. Not only does what happen have little relevance to the rest of the film, but, there is non title sequence, the film begins with a girl in her house, straight in to a piece of action.
STYLISED
This is a mixture of discrete and straight into film. One example of this is Mersine.
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