Preliminary Task

In this task I practiced the 180 degree rule and shot-reverse-shot. Unfortunately to get the right height for the shot I couldn't use the tripod and so instead did it handheld, which explains why it is a bit shaky. I aimed to not show the secondary character for as long as possible so as to give her introduction more gusto, however it made the editing a bit nonsensical. All in all I have learnt from this task and how to improve my filming and editing techniques.

Final Product

Evaluation Question 6:

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this film opening?

       From the practise in the preliminary task, we already knew how to roughly use the camera and tripod. However, when trying to produce a slicker film, we encountered some problems with the equipment. For example when attempting to pan or track the camera, we realised we could not get a smooth shot as we always discovered a shaky effect when reviewing the footage. After regrouping, we managed to cut and reshoot some shots in order to give our film a smoother look.


       We also tried to use a variety of lights to intensify out shots. However when using them we realised that they were too unnatural to use and we also struggled with coordinating them with the power packs, therefore most of the time they ran out of battery on set.

       Generally, using the filming technology such as the camera and lights proved fairly challenging, as no one in our group was specifically talented at understanding the different technologies. However once we read every single on the equipment before shooting, we learnt how to effectively use the equipment to the best of our ability.

       As we had all used macs before, and one member of our group was doing a computing AS level, using that technology was not difficult. However none of us had used final cut pro before to edit our film, other than a brief rough cut of our preliminary, in which we barely had to know about the software. When editing the final piece, we learnt how to use various tools and effects in editing, such as using filters, slowing down footage, inserting titles and overlaying music. This proved the most challenging of all the technologies, as whilst editing the final cut pro would regularly shut down, though our work was saved. Finally we managed to use final cut pro and the majority of its tools to produce our final piece, overcoming our issues with the technology.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

Evaluation Question 7:

 7. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression of it to the final product?
Initially it is clear that the better one plans and prepares (e.g. shotlists and storyboarding) for a film shoot, the smoother and quicker the experience will be. I have slowly got to grips with setting up and balancing the tripod, as well as learning the basic functions of the video camera and equipment I previously had no idea about, such as the the microtrack. Furthermore I am now able to utilise footage on Final Cut Pro, using the editing tools to form a linear video.
Filming-wise, I have greater appreciation for the way in which film makers and camera men must meticulously plan camera movement and plan to take surplus shots, so that choice is available at the editing stage. I can now incorporate match-on-action, shot-reverse-shots, zooms, pans and tracking shots into my camera work.

Furthermore I have learnt to animate story boards and incorporate dialogue into the film using a micro-track.

Ident

Evaluation Question 4: Who Would be the Audience for you Film?

Due to the mature themes in our film, such as the drug use and perhaps violence after the opening, we would expect a certification of 15 for our film. A 15 certificate would cover our film, allowing drug use, frequent strong language and strong violence throughout the duration of the film. The BBFC describes the guidelines for the portrayal of dangerous behavior in films as that ’’dangerous behavior such as …suicide … should not dwell on detail that could be copied’’. As we would most likely have scenes such as this in our film, and already in the opening drug use is mentioned, we could not qualify for a 12 or 12A rating as drug use must be’’infrequent’’ and scenes of violence must be ’’moderate’’ and should not put’’emphasis on injuries or blood’’. Therefore, our audience must be from the age 15 and up, as it would be inaccessible and inappropriate for a younger audience.

       This is what we expected, and knew that our target audience would be in the category of 15-24 years. This is the most popular category for attending the cinema, and we felt the subject matter, themes and characters would be easily accessible for those in their teenage years, whilst also ensuring maximum profits for the film.

       Another insight to our target audience was comparing it to other, similar films such as Black Swan and Girl, Interrupted. These films shared similar themes with ours, and therefore we would most likely attract the same type of audience. The two comparable films attracted mainly a female audience, with Girl, Interrupted attracting a younger audience of 18-30 yrs whilst Black Swan more likely attracting a slightly older audience due to director Aronofsky credits bringing in older generations. With this information, and comparing both films to ours, it is reasonable to suggest that the audience for our film would be predominantly female, with a younger age target as it is classified under both films as a 15.

       We also used a survey to assess our target audience. The majority of the surveyed were female, with 4 males attending. From this we learnt that our target audience was exclusively in the 16-24 age category, with their cinema attendance usually from once a month. We also saw that their main attraction to films was through featured actors, followed by either the director or subject matter attracting them to a film. All the surveyed also said they would continue watching our film after viewing the opening two minutes.

       In conclusion it is fair to say that our target audience for our film would be those 15-24 years old, with a mainly female demographic. However seeing as we did not survey anyone above the age of 16 due to complications, we cannot certainly say what our audience would have been if older people had taken part in the survey.