Audience Profile

This is Sean Whitehead he is a 17 year old boy who is obsessed with everything army. He spends two nights a week at his local cadet center where he has been attending since he was 12 years old. He has had may achievements in his time at the army cadet force ; he has passed all four star boards and he has ranked up and has become regimental Sargent major. He attends college to study politics , history and fine mechanics when he finishes college he plans to join the army. He loves to watch films related to the army or soldiers such ‘Jar Head’ Saving Private Ryan’ and Lone survivor.

I feel that my film would appeal Sean because my film is about a guy who has dreamed of training to be in the army (just like he has) Also , the film opening features an aspect of training (obstacle courses and riffle drill) that trainee soldiers do.

Audience Research

For my media studies coursework, I intend to make a psychological thriller film. The opening of the film I will make will be in some way similar to the opening titles of The Virgin suicides ,Seven and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

1)Age group?
1.16-19 20-23 24-27 28-31 32-35 36-39 40-43 44+

2)What is your favourite film Genre?
1.Thriller
2.Horror
3.Crime
4.Action & Adventure
5.Other _________

3)What are typical features of thriller film?

4) What Features would you like to see in thriller film?

5)Would expect to see mild images of gore in an opening title sequence (explain what kind)

6)Which title do you think is most appropriate
1.The last one
2.The One left
3.The survivor

7)Do you know what a psychological thriller is?

If yes , explain your what you think it is

Results:

The majority of the people who responded to the questionnaire preferred the title ‘The Last One’. This has influenced my title choice a great deal, because the audience prefer the title they are more likely to want to watch this movie as the title appeals to them. In a real life scenario, this is what big companies would do as it is a possibility that this could enhance their revenue.

The two most popular film genres were Action and adventure and Thriller. This illustrates that people will be particular interested in the movie opening I will create as it is a psychological thriller.

Responses to the question what features would you like to see in a thriller film’. I gained insight into what people really wanted to see within a psychological thriller. People would like to see murders committed with a ‘whodunnit’ theme. This adds to the psychological element of a thriller movie. People also they would like there to be eerie music which would make them feel on edge at times ,I found out that people would also like to see elements of action and dark and mystified scenes within a psychological thriller. These are all typical conventions used within a psychological thriller.

I chose to use a questionnaire for this research because it enabled me to gather a larger number of responses from individuals. It is also in a format that I can easily take information from and create charts to illustrate the findings. Also I am able to summarise findings to open questions.
I gave out questionnaires to 20 people, I felt that this was good method because I was able to gather analysable data that I could represent with charts.

Film Opening Storyboard

O.U.T Film opening Treatment

Treatment
FADE IN:
Exterior setting: the scene opens with a car driving towards the camera, the car then parks up
Exterior lighting: After sunset
There is ambiance sound of the car driving down the street , once the car parks up there is non- diegetic sound of a beating heart.
CUT:
Interior setting: the Territorial Army training centre
There are diegetic sounds in the parade center of the drill that is taking place (shouting, foot stamping, and slapping of the riffles.
The digetic sounds in the drill hall are faded out and the non-diegetic sound of a heart beat is heard. There is then a monologue spoken over the heart beat sound. This monologue carries on to the next scene .
CUT:
Exterior setting: the car is parked up outside a house; the monologue is still heard over the heart beat sound. The monologue is still spoken right up until the end of the opening scene when the car drives off and the title of the film is revealed.
CUT:
There are an additional 5 seconds showing a snippet of the film. With diegetic sounds within the army training center and then the scene fades out.

Ideas and Inspirations

At first it was hard for me to think of an idea of a film I could create an opening for, I asked family members and friends to give me some inspiration. I was not to keen on some of the ideas that were suggested and some ideas were just not feasible for me as an As Media Studies Student to create in the time frame I had. I was inspired to make the movie about a guy who was kicked out of the army because as a cadet whenever I was surrounded by  male cadets they always had some kind of banter going on between them and saying things like you are not fit enough to be accepted into the army. As a result ,I thought of the idea I chose to use the negative side (being kicked out of training) as it would be easier for me to portray in away so that the audience could clearly understand it.

Initial idea film

 

Preliminary Task Evaluation

Preliminary Task Evaluation

1) What the idea behind your “scene” was?

The Idea was to get a match-on-action shot of someone walking through the door. Also, of two people sitting down having a conversation using shot reverse shot (over the shoulder shots )to show each of the characters talking ,it was also to demonstrate our awareness of the 180 degree rule.

2) How you went about filming it – what equipment you used, who did what, where you filmed etc.

I filmed in the school corridor I set up the camera so that I could film my actor (Izabella) walking towards the camera and then I did a little pan with the camera which then showed her walking towards the door there is then a match on action shot showing her enter the class room where she is then greeted by the other character. Both characters are sitting down at a table. I then filmed a series over the shoulder shots each over the should shot is for each line that the characters were scrioted to say.

3) How did you demonstrate: match on action, the 180 degree rule, shot-reverse-shot.

These are over the shoulder shot snippets from my preliminary task.

I also demonstrated the 180 degree rule as the characters remained on the same side of the camera from the beginning of their conversation to the end.

4) How did you edit the preliminary task ,
I used windows movie maker to edit the preliminary task.The main editing was for the match on action shot of one of the characters walking through the door for and the shot reverse shot during the conversation.

5) What did you learn about doing production work, from the preliminary task.

I have learnt form this task as I was able to demonstrate and develop my understanding of the 180 degree rule this helped to see it visually rather than being told how it is meant to look but my teacher. This task also introduced me into editing and showed me how tedious editing can be and it requires a great deal of concentration.

Preliminary task film

http://moniquemckenziebtgmedia.blog.com/2012/11/09/preliminary-task-video/

Planning and research :Seven (Se7en) movie; Opening Credits Analysis

Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker

Directed by: David Fincher

Genre: Thriller with horror elements

Year of release: 1995

Plot: Two homicide detectives hunt a serial killer who chooses victims who represent the extremes of the ‘Seven deadly sins’. At the scene of each crime there is a clue linking to the previous crime.

The opening sequence starts with a view of a book opened up to what appears to be the middle page , the pages slowly turned , there is an appearance of a blurred hand in the background. This creates the effect that the book is of great significance or that there will be a traditional story told or that all the events to come in the rest of the film will be based around the book. The writing style of the titles has an effect as if something has been scratched / carved into a rock , this portrays a sense of barbarianism to the viewer. The titles are reveal when the screen cuts to black or when dark back grounds are blurred, the text has a grey appearance and an edited white flash is put over the text this creates an unexplainable uncanny feeling.

There is the use of a superimposition with a pen ,in this cut there is a letter being written the superimposed pen was placed 3-4 words behind the original pen, this creates a time lapse illusion to the audience. There are many cuts , wipes and fades which all reveal a part of the book shown in the first shot of the opening sequence, one of these cuts include a high angle shot of a sketch of two wrinkled hands , the fingers appear to be extremely crooked but at the same time the way the hands are drawn, resembles someone having their fingerprints taken at the police station. A wipe cut when the page turns reveals another page of the book , it is again a sketch ; it is a sketch of a person with a knife or pair scissors stuck in the back of their skull, this sketch is rather gruesome , and reveals to the audience that there is violence involving weapons in the movie.

There is a shot of a person holding a blade and chipping away at their cantankerous and arid skin around their fingers, this reveals corruption as they are trying to change their identity via finger prints , this is also suggestive of horrendous crimes that are to be committed or that have already been committed. There are also rapid cuts of short sequences containing letters and numbers on screen these could represent area codes or could be revealing to the audience that there will be a sense of mystery within the movie. There is also a puzzling flash cut of what appears to be a naked woman , with her womanly assets crossed out with a black marker pen followed by a flash onto a white screen with the scratched effect text ‘naked’ with a love heart , this is suggestive of sexual activity or worst case scenario the woman is rape victim.

This product may influence the product Iwill produce as I am interested in the editing techniques that are used. Also there are certain cuts that I would like to imitate. The soundtrack in the opening sequence was created by Howard Shore in the opening sequence consists of the use of drum beats and symbols clashes, with the use of computer generated sounds. Near to the end of the opening titles, there are religious vocals ‘closer to God’ the audience can infer that there is a religious aspect to the movie. The soundtrack creates an eerie atmosphere along with selective unusual images /shots.

Planning and Research: The virgin suicides: openning credits Analysis

Written by: Jeffrey Eugenide

Directed by: Sofia Coppola

Genre: Mystery drama / romance

Year of release: 1999

Plot: The Virgin suicides, is a story about five sisters, who live within a strict Christian family. The story is told in the words of the neighbourhood boys who become fascinated by these sisters after the suicide of one of them.

At the beginning of the title sequence, there is a panning shot of what appears to be a woman’s dressing table, this captures the audience’s attention, the audience can infer this because of the perfume, make up and jewellery displayed on the table. This also reveals that there will be elements of femininity within this film. The mid-shot which displays a chest of draws and a hand opening the draw portrays that the room that is currently being filmed is a teenagers room. A major clue to link the room as being a teenagers room is, the untidy draw the audience can see that the items inside the draw have not been placed in neat way; this is a stereotypical representation in films of teenagers not being particularly tidy individuals. There is a low angle shot which display books, paper (with cast names on them) and glue on the floor as a bare footed female walks through. There is an over the shoulder shot of a girl drawing love hearts in her note book *(this could also be a point of view shot), this connotes that there is some kind of teenage love affair or fantasy element within the film. The close up shot of the female with clear skin putting in pearl studs, illustrates an image of purity and rarity. The clothing within the opening conveys that it is set in the mid/ late 70’s.

An editing technique used in beginning of the opening scene s the growing brightness of the panning shot of the dressing table , this again draws the audience in a allows the audience to place their entire focus on the film. There is a fade from the frame over the shoulder shot of a girl applying make up in the mirror to the switching of a record. This could be symbolic of this girl having two sides to her like a record. There is also a panning shot of what I think is another girls room there is also a girl in the background shot of the shelves, she appears to be slightly faded which reveals to the audience that they should not focus on the things on the shelves as the camera pans or that she is not of much importance in the film. The way in which the title of the film is revealed to the audience, is done rather significantly as it is revealed with a girls legs dangling from the ceiling . The audience can infer that the girl has commited suicide.

The background music is calming but simultaneously unnerving with the picture as it creates a sense of suspense. The background music is very slow paced and it goes cohesively with what is going on in the shots; there is the sound of clock before the audience sees the clock. When the clock is revealed I feel that the ticking of the clock gets louder, I believe the clock sound is created via the use of a guitar. This product will influence the product I am going to create as I am particularly interested in the dark to light transitions; I would like to replicate this with one or more of the shots in my opening product. Also the curly texts as it represents femininity and the text theme goes with what the audience can see on screen,I will use this house style as guidance when I create my own product.

Planning and research: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie ; Opening Credits Analysis

Written by: Steven Zaillian

Directed by: David Fincher

Genre: Crime drama / Thriller

Year of release :

Plot: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie is an English adaption of a Swedish novel. The main plot of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is about a journalist who queries into the disappearance of young girl who disappeared forty years ago. The journalist is aided in the search for the missing girl by, a feisty young female with outstanding computer hacking skills.

There are a number of quick fire cuts with images and titles among them. There is a cut of the image of black scaly skin with a dark, sticky liquid substance dripping down, this conveys that the movie contains themes of corruption because the snake skin represents the government and the black liquid dripping onto it could be seen as a cover up for wrong doings. The murky splashes of water act as a dissolve, followed by a rapid fire of cuts and wipes. The flash cuts of fire burning a ‘human figure’ and a flying eagle have hellish and daring connotations and the use of the eagle a notorious bird of prey is symbolic of there being a victim or maybe several victims.

The dissolve cut of a ‘human figure’ convey that there are dreadful hidden secrets as, the figure has something tied around its mouth and as the figure was shaking and then the head exploded, liquid splashed on the screen, the liquid creates the dissolve to the next shot . This is a way of inviting the viewer into the film. The title of the film is revealed which then, appears to be engulfed by the darkness. Also there is a close up shot of an eye with dark tears pouring out this portrays that there will be elements of sorrow within the movie. This is to portray to the viewer that they should digest the movie as they become engrossed in the plot of the movie.

There is a dissolve of a figure which appears to be a ‘head’; there is a cut upon cut of this image which contains a different expression each time. There are also several cuts which show money and flowers. A shot which shows money, is of a ‘human figure vomiting’ black coins ,this could convey to the reader that there are issues relating to ‘sick’ or dirty money within the movie or that simply that money is a powerful thing. The rapid shots of flowers growing in between shots portray that movie has beautiful moments and it is not entirely uncanny.

This product may influence the product I will create,as I am particularly interested in the eerie background music used and how the beat of the music goes with the rapid shots and also gets slower to go with the slow cuts.The soundtrack used in the opening sequence is a cover by Trent Reznor and Karen O of Led Zeppelins’ immigrant song which fits into the Rock /Pop genre. The use of this soundtrack in the opening sequence for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is excellent as , the rapid shots change in unison when there is a drum beat also it the whole opening sequence is fast paced and there are also shots matching up with the calmer tone of the song.