My Role In The Group

I was the director for our group, and so while we were on location I led the actors artistically and the camera technically. Although as a group before filming, we all created the storyboard, I improvised some creative shots while on location, such as the tracking shot behind the fence of the girl.

(this is a picture of the tracking shot)

However, while filming, I encountered several problems that I had to solve, such as our first location becoming unavailable as the play-area in a park was closed down for renovation. We then had to go to another park, however the playground area was too busy, so we had to change it to the forest part of the park. Therefore we had to change the plot of the opening sequence, which I directed on the spot.

Another problem that we faced, was trying to get the public out of shots, which was difficult as we were filming in a public place. Also, as we did not have high-tech resources or money, we could not use any special effects such as CGI to make the mutants appear more scary and active/"super-human". However, from this I have learnt how to overcome these problems by improvising with the location and resources (e.g. make-up and costume) that we have, trying to make the opening sequence as creative and realistic as possible.

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

Using IMovie, I was able to manipulate the sound and special effects of my opening sequence to create different meanings and emotions.

Here are some examples...

Use of effects:

• Black and White (click on the picture to view the clip)
  

The use of black and white infers that the current scene is set in the past. This is the effect that we decided to use, as we wanted to emphasize that the scene happened a few days ago, and it also gives it a mysterious atmosphere.

• Red gain (click on the picture to view the clip)

Using a high red gain makes the camera appear to be from the eye of a mutant, making the scene more sinister and frightening.

• High contrast and high saturation (click on the picture to view the clip)

The high contrast and saturation amplifies the cold icey atmosphere and weather.

• Low exposure with low brightness (click on the picture to view the clip)

Lowering the exposure and brightness has emphasized the forest to be more daunting and scary, creating a frightening and eerie effect.


Use of Sound:

• Suspense sound Click here to listen to the sound
  

This sound effect, which we found from IMovie sound effects, creates tension and suspense and suggests to the audience that something is wrong, and that something bad is about to happen. It does this through the fading in of a high pitch off-key sound, which leads to eerie connotations. This is the sound effect that we used for the scene, as we wanted to create and increase the tension.

• Tense bass Click here to listen to the sound

The sound creates tension and panick, through the use of the long and slow pace of the bass, and staccato and irratic synth.

• Up beat drum Click here to listen to the sound

This beat creates a sense of panick through the echoing drum beat that mimicks a fast heart beat. This fits in with the scene particularly well, as the mutant is moving in closer to the girl, while she looks around panicking and scared.

• Eerie sound Click here to listen to the sound
  

This sound effect creates suspense and mystery, and creates a dark and sinister atmosphere through the fading in of a low pitched synth that echoes- reflecting the emptiness of the park.


Overall, digital editing has helped to create different emotions (such as tension and suspense) different connotations about what is about to happen, and it gives the audience a greater indication of the atmosphere of the scene. This is achieved through the use of camera effects and sound effects. However, we used IMovie 08 to create our film, instead of IMovie HD, and so we were more limited to using special effects as IMovie 08 does not have many.

Developing my skills on IMovie has made me realise the significance of digital editing, and how to create meaning through it. Moreover, it has massivley improved the quality of my opening sequence, and has helped it to conform to the conventions of a thriller.

How did you attract/address your audience?

To make our audience aware of our opening sequence, we told friends about it and put it up onto Youtube.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mPwiZHSGd4 This is the link to our opening sequence, which people have commented on.





From the comments left on the video, I can see that the audience particularly like the variety of the camera work and that they found the mutants and the bag left behind enigmatic and mysterious. The viewers also liked the music and the radio tunning as they though it was effective, and another liked the flashback news report.

This supports our audience research from before creating our opening sequence, as from the results, we found out that both genders' favourite elements of a thriller were tension and action. There is evidence of the audience recognising this in our opening sequence, as several people said that the 360 tracking shot particularly created tension.

Although many said that they would watch the whole film, some viewers gave us constructive critisism, such as :

• their confusion as to why the mutants were still there five days later
• they thought that we needed to put the transitions for the names slower
• they suggested that we shoud hide the face of the mutant at the end
  

From the response from the audience from Youtube, we can see what the audience enjoyed and liked about our opening sequence, and what we need to improve - all of which we will take into consideration to improve the opening sequence.

From taking into account the response of the audience, we have taken out the title that says "5 days later" so that we do not cause any confusion.

What do you feel you have learnt in the progression from the preliminary task to the full product?

I feel that I have learnt a lot since the preliminary task, developing my camera, mise-en-scene, special effects, transition and sound skills. I have learnt how to use these components to greater depth, and how to use them to create emotions and meanings.

• Camera

In the preliminary task, we only used basic camera shots and angles and we were not very creative. We only used shots such as mid-shots, long-shots, close-ups, and tracking shots.

However, in our opening sequence, we explored a variety of shots and angles to make it more interesting and to create different emotions.

For example...



We used a tracking shot to follow the girl to create a stalker effect.



We used a low angle shot to show the face of the girl and to shadow the mutant - making him to appear more frightening.



This is a low down close up of the feet running past.



We used point of view shots from the girls to create a blurry and panicking effect.



We used a 360 degree tracking shot to create tension and suspense.

• Mise-en-scene

In the preliminary task we used a classroom for the location, which was unimaginative. We also did not put any thought into costumes, props or make-up, and there was a continuity fault.

However, for our opening sequence we thought into great detail about the location and what atmosphere it would create. We also thought about the costumes and make-up that would be used for the mutants to try and make it as realistic and obscure as possible. Moreover, we had to take into consideration the lighting as we were using natural light (which can be unpredictable depending on the weather).

For example...



We used a park with a forest as the location as it is sinister and dark, and creates fear of the unknown - therefore creating suspense.



The mutant costumes consisted of dark hooded jumpers with blood stains on the back, ripped jeans, and a muddy bandage on one arm to make them seem frightening and enigmatic. For make-up, they had white powder on there face and red under their eyes to make them appear pale, strange and un-natural.

• Special Effects

We did not use any special effects for the preliminary task, but for the opening sequence we changed the contrast and the colour of the picture.

For example...



We changed the colour of the first part of the opening sequence to black and white, to show a different moment in time to the rest of the sequence. It also made the atmosphere more sinister.



We also lowered the contrast to make it more eerie and bleak, as the natural light was too bright and would have changed the atmosphere.

• Transitions
  

In the preliminary task we only used fades in and out to start and end the sequence. However, during the thriller opening sequence, we developed this and used a lot more to make the sequence flow, using different types 0f transitions for different durations.

For example...



We used a fade black transition for 2.75 seconds to make it flow from each camera shot.



We used cross-fades particularly during high movement to make it flow.

• Sound

We only used sound from the dialogue from the camera in the preliminary task, and we did not use any non-digetic sound.

However, in the opening sequence we used and manipulated a range of digetic sounds (such as dialogue, screaming, footsteps, heavy breathing, and the sound of the stick running along the railings). We also used non-digetic sounds to create emotions a meaning. For example, when there was a close up of the bag and when the girls were cornered by the mutants, we used a deep tones and low notes to create enigma and to suggest that something is wrong. Once the girls realise that the mutants are not like normal humans, and start to run for the second time, we used an up-tempo drum beat to create panick and urgency.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

After using http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ as a reference, I would make the age rating of my thriller film a 15 as it would contain strong violence and language. Also, as the main characters of the film are teenagers, the target audience would also be teenagers and young adults - from age 15 above.

Other films such as The Hole and The Hills Have Eyes would have also been targeted at a young adult audience, who we would like to attract.

You can see from the trailer of The Hole that it is targeted at a young audience, as it stars teenagers from a private school, and they talk about teenage activities such as parties, relationships and alcohol. All of which a young audience can relate to, however, the twist of the plot plays on fears of being trapped in a small space underground. The main similarity bewteen our film and The Hole is that they both have four teenagers as the main characters, which would then attract a teenage audience.

click here to view the trailer


From the trailer of The Hills Have Eyes, you can see that the target audience would be those who are interested in sci-fi thrillers as it is about a small mutated population in a remote region in the USA who try to seek revenge on other "normal" humans. The plot is very similar to ours, as they both involve people born/who have become mutated due to scientific experiments gone wrong, and so they try to seek revenge. Therefore, those who are interested by the hybrid genre and topic of the film, would be also interested in ours.

Click here to view the trailer

The Typical Audience Member...

They would be around 17 years old, as this is the age of the main characters in the film, and the age rating of the film would be a 15.

They would be interested in horror-thriller films as this is the genre of our film.

They would also be interested in the supernatural and science fiction, as our film includes elements of this. For example, they would be interested by the topic of scientific nuclear testing.

Also, they would be aware of government and scientific research issues, as these are part of the plot of our film

They would enjoy watching films such as 28 Days Later, The Hole, The Hills Have Eyes, and Creep, as these are films with a similar plot to ours, and which include similar topics and themes.

They would also watch British independent films, beacause our film would be a British independent film.

This is a picture of a typical audience member, who is 17 years old, is into science-fiction, and wears clothes such as slogan-t shirts with hoodies and jeans.

• Having a target typical audience member is important for the marketing of the film, as from using certain characteristics of the member, we can create merchandise for the film, and using certain parts of the media that the the audience member uses, we can promote our film.
  

• For example, as shown by the example of a typical audience member from above, as he wears slogan t-shirts, we could make slogan t-shirts using the tag-line for our film, creating merchandise.
  

• To promote the film, we could put adverts for the film, trailers, and links to the official website onto youtube, (which the audience member goes on frequently) in newspapers and news websites, such as www.bbc.co.uk/news (as the audience member is interested in scientific politics).
  

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

28 Days Later

This film, which has a similar plot to ours (i.e. murderous mutants on a rampage in Britain) was distributed by the major distributor Fox Searchlight, which distributes other independent films, such as Juno, Thirteen and Bend It Like Beckham - all of which are about/star teenagers, which is the same for our film. It would be a major distributor as it is part of the conglomerate News Corporation, and therefore using cross-media convergence, would be able to market and advertise the film across many parts of the media.


Fox Searlight Pictures also distributed the film The Hills Have Eyes, which has a similar plot to ours- it is about humans who have been mutated by scientific experiments, and it has two teenagers as the victims of the films, however, it is set in a deserted town in America. Although one film is produced by a British company, and one by an American company, both The Hills Have Eyes and 28 Days Later can be compared by their content, which shows that they are distributed by Fox Searchlight.

Click here for The Hills Have Eyes trailer
Click here for 28 Days Later trailer

Both use mutants


Both are set in deserted locations




However, as Fox Searchlight Pictures would be too big a company to distribute a film like ours, the company Pathé would be more appropriate as it is smaller and distributes British independent films such as The Hole, which is very similar to ours as it is partly set in a forest location, and has teenage characters.

Click here to view the trailer for The Hole


This is the company logo from the trailer of the film.


This is the forest (the location) of the film, which is similar to our opening sequence location.



These are the two teenage girls of the film, who are the victims (which is the same as our opening sequence).


Pathé also distributed the British independent horror-thriller Creep, which also uses a mutated human, and is set in the deserted underground. As both of the films are similar to our film and would attract the same audience, and it is an independent distribution company, Pathé is ideal to distribute our film.

Click here to view Creep trailer



This is the Pathé logo used in the trailer.



This shot shows the deserted location of the underground.



This is the shot of the mutant from the trailer.

How does your thriller opening sequence develop or challenge forms and coventions of real thriller opening sequences?

Click here to view my opening sequence from youtube

Click here to view The Hills Have Eyes opening sequence

My opening sequence has developed thriller conventions (which I have compared with the opening sequence of the sci-fi horror-thriller The Hills Have Eyes) by:

• The use of black and white camera effects, and dark shadows to create enigma and eerie connotations.

This screen shot from the opening sequence shows the black and white effects.

Our opening sequence is similar to the horror-thriller The Hills Have Eyes opening, as it also starts in black and white (the picture above).

• Having dialogue when there is low tension, mysterious and engimatic sound effects to create suspense and build up tension, and screaming, gasping and heavy breathing at the height of the tension.
• Using different levels of action, from low levels (eg when the girls are walking and chatting) to high levels (e.g when the girls are running away) to create different levels of tension.

This shows the low level action as the girls walk by.

This picture shows the similar low level of action of scientists in The Hills Have Eyes opening.

This shows high level action as the girls run away.

This shows the high level action of the scientist fighting off a mutant in The Hills Have Eyes.

• Using different camera shots, e.g tracking shots (to create a tense, stalker effect) and point of view shots (to have the audience's vision blurred as if they are the character, and to create m0re suspense).

This shows a tracking shot of the young girl along the fence.

This is a tracking shot of water flowing from The Hills Have Eyes.

This shows a point of view shot from the view of the character Lucy.

This is a point of view shot from the scientist in The Hills Have Eyes.

• Creating mysterious characters dressed in dark and obscure clothing to make the audience question who they are and what their motives are.

This shot shows the mutant's clothing, consisting of a black hoodie with blood stains on the back, ripped jeans, and a bandage on one hand.

This shows the mutant from The Hills Have Eyes in ragged clothing and blood on him.

• Having innocent people as the victims of murder.

This shows the mutant grabbing Lucy, who is an innocent by-stander.

This shows the mutant in The Hills Have Eyes killing an innocent scientist with an axe.

• Setting the opening sequence in a deserted open space (e.g the park/forest).
  

This shows the empty forest part of the location.

This shows the empty park part of the location.

This is the empty location in a desert in The Hills Have Eyes.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

On my group blog we have made character profiles of each person in the opening sequence, and have compared them to characters in other thrillers that are similar to ours. As all of the characters in our opening sequence are teenagers, the audience that the film would be likely to attract are teenagers, from both genders, and from different ethnicities and social classes. However, our opening sequence conforms to the stereotype of teenage girls being victims, while males are the perpetrators, which is also apparent in other thriller films.

Click here to go to the post on the group blog