Opening Sequence: Final Edit

Above is my final edit of the opening sequence. 

Evaluation Question 3

The video above shows my groups response to evaluation question 3, the screenshots from our project are from my final edit of the project.

Evaluation Question 2

Above is my groups resonse to evaluation question 2, the shots show are from the other groups edit and not my own.

Evaluation Question 1

Above is my groups video response to the evaluation question 1, the shots show are from the other groups edit and not my own.

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?

Show above is my preliminary and my final draft of my project, over the time between the two I have learnt a lot of things about the creation of a media product.

Firstly I learnt the importance of planning, for my preliminary task very little panning when into the creation of it as this meant that they we no story to it and we had very little idea of the shots that we were going to use. However of our final project we spent far more time thinking about and working out what the story would be about, after that we planned out of the shots that we had to get so that we would be more efficient when getting the shot and would save time so that we would be able to advantage of any additionally shots that arose due to ether new ideas or things that we found in our surroundings. We would have be unable get these shots if we had gone into shooting like we had in the preliminary task, and so have over the course of the project learnt the importance of planning.

Another skill that I have learnt of the course of the project is to film shots several times and to fill the scene the whole way though from all angles, in my final project this prevented me from making mistakes that I made in the preliminary such as in a shot reverse shot the camera moving slightly when returning to the same angle, this also save us time as we didn't have to return the camera to a position that is was in only a few moments earlier, through learning this I was able to add more accuracy to my piece in terms of continuity and in the acting/reactions of the characters.

All my previous attempts at editing we done on imovie however for the preliminary and the  my final project I used premier pro and other Adobe software like: photoshop, after effects and audition. this meant that over the course of the project I massively improved my ability to edit on these pieces of software. This is seen in that for my preliminary I only used premier pro, whereas for my final piece I used all of the above: premier pro for the edit; photoshop for the production ident; audition for muffling sound and sound editing; after effects for the titles creation.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your target audience?

Examples of action/violence in my final product

Our film appeals to our target audience in a variety of different ways, including  the genre of the film and with the editing, camera shots and content of our film. Our film is part of the thriller genre and as a result has scenes of action and of violence, these attract and appeal to our target audience as it can make them quite excited as they wonder if the protagonist will survive, as the audience is predominantly male it is perhaps stereotypically appealing to them as they would find the violence and these scene more enjoyable that some other audiences, the fact that some older audiences may find this offensive can add to the excitement for the younger people within our target audience.

We also appeal to our audience as  the main characters in the film are young males around 18, this is quite unique for the thriller genre as many protagonists in this genre of film are slightly older like Liam Neeson and Guy Pearce. The fact that we have younger actor means that our audience will find them more identifiable as they are closer to their own age has the potenial to create more of a bond between the characters and the audience. This also add to the idea of escapism as the our film can help our audience escape from reality  and imagine that they are doing the things that the protagonist is doing, such as fight off and get revenge on the antagonists in the film but standing up for themselves and their friend with an audience member may not have the courage to do and this give them a sense of escape as they are not able to do the things that our protagonist is doing.

These are the actors that we chose to cast as the main character of our film, we made this decision as it meant that our target audience would be able to relate to the characters more easily as they are closer to their age bracket. We also did this for the main antagonist of our film as we again wanted them to be able to relate to the person and perhaps understand how they got into the situation they were in and makes them understand more why that are doing the negative things that they are doing. Also the characters within the movie are all British at this would appeal to our prodominantly British target audience as they can relate to them more easily as they may have had a similar upbringing to the characters and allows them to like the characters more easily if they feel that they already know them a little even if it is just through being the same nationality as the character.

Our film contains lots of elements they are used to attract our targeted audience this is seen through our choice of props like the baseball bat and the gun. these are used to excite the audience and they know that these items represent danger and we know that a fight may happen because they can see the props. We wanted to create this feeling as they know that our target audience would like it as props like this are used in most other thrillers that our target audience would enjoy.

Another thing that we used to attract our audience was they fact that we set they film in England this would mean that some of the British audience members may recognise the area or some of the locations in the film. This attracts our audience as they can relate to the character more easily are can understand some of the slang or dialect of the characters and this can give them a sense of a connection to the character despite that fact that they don't actually know them.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would be the audience of our media product?

The target audience of our film are young males, with age ranging between 15-25, these people would enjoy movies from the thriller genre and also possibly action adventure and and horror films also, this is because our film is predominantly a thriller film but also have action and horror elements within it. Our target audience would enjoy other films such as: Taken, Sixth Sense, Memento, Pulp Fiction and Brick

The audience of our thriller film would be more likely to be and English/British audience as as they would relate to our product more than someone from America or Australia, this is because of the different cultural idiosyncracies that may me that they would not behave in the same way as the characters whereas a British audience is more likely to behave in a similar way. Not only this, a British audience would recognise places form around where they live and can also understand stereotypes that are associated with different areas.
Another film that our target audience may enjoy is  Kidulthood this film is a drama that predominantly attracts British audience due to all the main issues within the film can only really be related to by British audiences and therefore (like our film would) had very little interest in it from other countries like America.

Another factor in Kidulthood that meant that it would only have a British target audience is that, like our film, it is set in England and the British audience can relate to the situations in certain areas and this would not be achieved buy audiences in different countries.

Evaluation Question 6

The prezi above shows all the technology that I ether learnt from scratch or improve upon over the course of the whole project.

Opening Sequence: Second Draft

Above is the second draft for my edit of the opening sequence.

Possible Sequence Fonts

Below are many of the fonts that I considered for my films opening sequence and then ether didn't choose because they weren't good enough, didn't fit the film well enough or I found a font that worked better.

This font is call Coolvetica. I considered this font as it is simple and easy to read which is good for reading the titles however I felt that the text was to boring and wouldn't look good wit the effect that I had planned.

Modern Serif was another font that I considered. I thought that it may be a good font to use as it was more interesting to look at whilst still being easy to read, however I felt that the font looked too clean and therefore wouldn't fit as the font on my media product.

Movie letters was an interesting font that I could have used for my opening sequence as it looks quite squashed together and would fit the feel of my media product well, but the text came out too thin and would not work with the effect that I wanted to use, as the effect would need thicker letters to work well.

The font that I finally chose to use was called skyfall done. I wanted to use this as the font for my film as it was interesting and has a good effect on it that allows the text to still be readable but also makes in more interesting to look at that just plain text like the other fonts above. The font also worked really well for me as it was bold which meant that I was able to use the slow shattering effect that I wanted to use. I think that the combination of the font and the effect would work really well in my films opening sequence as it would also fit the mood and genre of the film also.

Practice shots

The video above shows many of the shots that we took in preparation for filming the actual shots. We did this so that we had abetter understanding of the camera and how to use the zoom and focus and as a result get better shots for our project on the day of filming.

Shooting Schedule

Above is the shooting schedule for our media product is shows the dates that we film on and what props, actors, equipment and the location where we needed to film. This was helpful as it allowed us to plan where we needed to be and what we needed to bring, this really helped with our planning as I felt it made us far more organised when it came to shooting our project.

Casting Photos

  

Jack Hicks- Fraser

Jay Johnson- Aaron

Josh Wood- Oscar

Ryan Anderson- Ricky

Costume Design for our Opening Sequence

The presentation above shows a general idea of what the character in our opening sequence will be wearing, this is useful as we can plan for people to be wearing these things on the days that these characters are going to be seen in. The costume of all the characters are important as he clothes that the people are wearing can imply certain things about the character and we don't want to present the characters in a particular way.

Backing Tracks & Sounds For Our Opening Sequence

I chose to consider Mensa as a track for our opening sequence as the sound would suit a thriller sequence as the sounds are quite mellow and would feel like this would be played at a funeral, as it is a revenge thriller, and death will occur it seems relevant to the story line.

Beachhead a track that I also discovered that would be relevant to a revenge thriller. although this track can come across to be slightly up beat it creates a confused feel for the audience and make them question why this backing track is being played with the events that are portrayed in the film.



Dunes is a track I feel would be relevant to a revenge thriller as well mostly because of the piano used which sound very deep and gloomy, it would create a very dark atmosphere and make the audience feel very weary of what is going to happen in the film.


Leaves in the pool is another track I found which could be useful for our revenge thriller, the piano used creates a down beaten tone and makes the atmosphere very melancholy, this would let the audience know something sad happens or an bad event.

Previous Projects Research

The past project embedded above has some good examples of a well though out opening sequence, this is seen through the creative presentation of the titles in the sequence. This is clearly seen in the production company animation which was creative and very probably time consuming, also in the names written in make up and the costume design title sown into the sock. these were examples of how we could be creative in the way that we present our titles, though not quite in the same way as this would not fit our target audience or genre. However this piece also shows us some things that we need to avoid like on the occasion when there is a awkward cut or cross dissolve after an equally awkward freeze frame, from this research we know know to plan the amount of time we want everything to be on screen for an not force ourselves to have to edit around this at a later date.

This project is not as good, there is a nice shot at the beginning of the blurred noose with the accompaniment of the heartbeat, however this is probably the best part of the sequence as I feel that a lot of the shots are far too long and result in the opening to this film being really quite boring; the cuts in places are uneven and unnecessary, also at time we see the people start to walk after a cut as if they are being told to "go" and this can be quite jarring. Also the sound is quite monotonous and doesn't really fit what we as the audience is seeing. 

The final opening sequence (embedded above) is an excellent example of of a great piece of work that we can to replicate elements of in our own opening sequence. Firstly the use of titles in this piece after fantastic as the font and presentation of them fits the film really well and the way that they are mapped to people or object in the shot is really impressive. The pacing of the editing is also done really well and and when the pacing increases it does make the sequence quite exciting with the use of jump cuts and point of view shots, though the point of view may have be slightly overused, the only other critique that I can give this that the piece may have run for longer that perhaps necessary for the opening sequence. We as a group can learn for this piece as use it to better our own opening as it would also have a similar target audience and genre as our own film. I know to be creative in the footage that we get and use varied paced editing when appropriate to create an interesting piece of of work that is as strong as this one.

Storyboard Aninatic

This is the final storyboard/ animatic of the opening sequence to our film. We have followed conventions by having the production idents and the title in a particular order. The shots drawn are a plan of the shots that we are going to use as part of our actual opening sequence, though some shots may be added or moved in the shooting and editing process. We even added sound effects a voice in order to give a feel of what the piece may sound like. This animatic will work as a good plan for what we are going to film and how it will be put together so that we all have a clear cohesive idea of what we will be aiming for as an end product.

Props

The following is a list of props that as a group we require for the opening to our film and the reason for it being needed in the piece:

• The gun, this is needed in the piece as it is used but the antagonist as the end of the sequence to kill Oscar. we chose to have him use a gun instead of any other weapon because a gun massively creates a feeling of power, danger and a fear of the person in possession of the gun on the part of the antagonist but particularly here in the UK it perhaps also implies that this person is bad/ evil as it is illegal to have a own a gun. These thoughts are then strongly reinforce by the antagonist killing a seemingly innocent person. I believe that by using the prop of a gun we will be able to creates tension and shock in the audience rather than excitement.
• the Phone, this is a key part of the opening of the story and to how we are going to create dramatic effect as we a voice message of our protagonist through it and it builds tension as it will make us fear for the life of the protagonists brother as it will inform that audience that Oscar is in danger before we even see that he is dieing. 
• A broken door, this is show at the front of a run down house or at the entrance to a room as it indicates that the house/ room has been broken into with a significant amount of force, this will hopefully shock that audience as they will know that possibly something bad has happened in order for the house/ room to have been broken into. This prop will also help with building tension as is also carries a certain amount of ambiguity as it is only a small clue to what may have happened.
• A skateboard, this is used in one of the very first shots. This is used as it gives an indication of the area that the scene is taking place and it helps to set the mood of the film, also the sound of a skateboard rolling against a silent background with low key lighting can create an eerie atmosphere that can immediately set the audience on edge and start the slow build up of emotions that start the film. 

Character Development

Main character: The main character of the this story is Aaron a boy aged around 19-20 and after witnessing a crime his brother (Oscar) is murdered, after oscars death Aaron seeks out revenge on the person/ group that unjustifiably killed his family member. Aaron is not the typical person to become a vigilante and perhaps is slightly unprepared to try and take on these killers, however he is determined to have revenge, though he sees it as fair justice for what has happened. he has quite a mature vision of the world and behaves perhaps older than expected of someone just turning 20. Aaron has a personality that is similar to other characters like:

Joel from the last of has the ability to become hardened to a point where he has almost lost a sense of morals as he sees that what he is doing for the greater good and therefore has little remorse when dispatching people in the way of his goals and in this chase Aaron's goal of to avenge his brothers death. (this is an idea of what  Aaron personality will evolve into as he evolves through the story)


He would dress in quite casual clothes and this make him blend in with others as he doesn't wear anything that would stand out or catch attention of others. This also make the audience find him quite relatable and this would help allow them to understand why they are doing what they are doing as he would probably dressing a similar way to the majority of the target audience.

The antagonist: This character is a seriously hardened murderer and seems to have no remorse when he kills people, as we seen him kill twice within the opening of the move with no real thought, he possibly even enjoys killing people as he could have left oscar beaten and on the brink of death but chooses when all of the other criminals in his group have left to "finish him off". he falls under the category of villains who "just want to see the world burn" in many ways he is just a darker and more extreme version of Aaron. the character or our antagonist is resembled in character like:
I feel that our villain is a milder version of the joker as he want to create this anarchy by killing Oscar  and follow some of the unpredictable nature of the joker, however he is not like the joker in the way that he is quite careful in not getting caught and this is the main reason for oscars death.

The appearance of our antagonist is similar to that of count Olaf in a series of unfortunate events, he wears quite dark clothing in clothes that are also possibly quite old fashioned. he appearance may also imply that he is slightly unhinged. But also we have made the decision to give him a tattoo on his wrist of an eye to allow the audience to identify the murderer without seeing his face. this is similar to the tattoo that Olaf has on his ankle which is also of an eye.

Production Ident

for creating our production idents we where spit into groups of two so that we would have two end products and we could choose to use either of them or even use both. at the start brain stormed and them settled on deep magnum. we then started to create ideas and images for a possible main image and animation of our ident. we started to create an animation an image for a ident of a gun sinking to the bottom of the see to then shot out bubbles and the words deep magnum appear on screen. However after toying with this  idea and starting to create the ident we decided to alter the name and basis of our idea. This resulted in us changing the name to full magnum, this meant that we dropped the under the sea portion of the animation and just keep the falling spinning portion of the previous ident and the text. We did this as it gives the ident a more professional and adult feel to our ident, this fits our target audience better as it is cleaner and sharper and possible allows the audience to guess that we as a production company make thriller films. 

These are some of the early ideas that we have for our production ident. you can see concept art for the more complete original idea on the top and left, the possible name options in the bottom right such as: explosive productions, CoCONUTi (to be written from elements in the periodic table) these ideas where dismissed as we didn't feel that they fit our audience or the film that we were planning to make as well as full calibre.

These are the images that I made/edited using photoshop. The image with the white background of the gun was changed to make it look darker and more sinister this was use in the final production ident. the other image I though make make a good background for the production ident but in the end was roomed as the plain black we thought looked cleaner.

Distributors Evaluation

This is a presentation that shows a variety of different distributors that we could use for our film. The part on Pathe

Target Audience and Production Company Ident

For our target audience of our thriller film that we a creating we have a target audience from the quadrant males under 25. this is due to the content that we plan to have in our film, like:

typical thriller target audience

• Violence, this would appeal to our target audience as it would probably excite a young male audience so that they would enjoy the film, but this may not to apply to other quadrants as they may be more "squeamish" and therefore hinder their enjoyment of the film.
• Identifying with main characters, as the people in that quadrant we are targeting are in the same age bracket as the main characters in our film, this may draw them to it as they can relate to the character any perhaps understand why they are doing certain things. this however does not work with other quadrants as they are not in the same age group or same gender as the main characters and therefore may find it to relate to them and this can result in limiting their enjoyment of the film.
• Genre, this also helps our film appeal to young males as they typically enjoy films from the thriller genre, such as: Taken, Leon and Batman. This also pushes our film from other quadrants that may dislike films from this genre and would not want to see our film because of this.
• The influences of the game, as this is a revenge story I feel that I was influenced by films like Taken, and others in my group felt influences by the film kidulthood for the location and possible gang influences. these again are films that people from our targeted quadrant are the typical people who would enjoy this sort of film. and would perhaps push away people who dislike these films that may have had some influence decisions in our film.

The use of locations and accents may appeal to a UK audience as it can make the characters more easily relatable to them as they may feel closer to the situation as they may live in or know the area which connects them more to the story.

However the themes in the film are far more universal and can appeal to everyone, as we all can associate with being in a family and loosing someone close to us and this can make the audience (from any quadrant) more empathetic with the main character and what they are doing. This is similarly seen in the theme of revenge as it is more universal as many people have been victims of injustice and can understand the feeling of want revenge for what has happened to them.

25 Word Pitch

after the untimely death of a innocent child, the brother seeks out his killers to extract revenge for the pain they have caused.

Synopsis

The story that we have created is a revenge thriller. We open the film to see the death of the main characters friend after the pair witnessing an event that they were not meant to see. despite our protagonists best efforts, the attack results in his friends death. The story follows our protagonist as he hunts down the people who killed his brother. as we watch and see him turn from a average man into trained hunter seeking revenge for his friend and the injustice of what happened to them. 

Genre Choice and Reason

As a group we have come to the decision that we are going to create the opening of a film that would be grouped in the thriller genre. I believe that is was a good decision to have our film from the thriller genre as it allows us to be quite creative and it doesn't particularly restrict us when it come to planning as it could be set anywhere and have any variety of characters. this also give us the ability to make that target audience of the film to be a people like ourselves, I know that I personally enjoy thriller films as a genre such as Taken and Seven. Due to me enjoying the genre so much it is going to push me to create a strong opening as I wish to replicate and adapt things that I have seen in these movies. I also think that it is a good decision to have gone with the thriller genre as I believe that I will be able to create a piece that is interesting and exciting for the audience.

On the basis of creativity all members can give ideas and we would still be able to create a complete and piece will all the ideas implemented, as thriller films are very broad when seen as a group; as seen through the pictures below we can tell that all the films are so different when it comes to story line, character, location and even slight variations in target audience despite all being of the same genre. As the quote implies, we can have a great amount of freedom and still stick to many of the key conventions of the thriller genre. This to me is quite exciting as we plan what our film it going to be about.

examples of shots from great thriller films

Brief