Final Idea

As discussed previously, I think that my final piece would be most effective if it was in the genre of thriller. My market research states that people who enjoy thrillers enjoy them more for the suspense than action, and therefore I will aim to achieve this in my final piece. I decided that I didn't want to include any dialogue, or even a particular main character in my film opening. I also decided that my opening will only include a shot of a room, rather than many location or too many shots of a location. I understand that this is a very unusual way to compose a film opening, even in the world outside of media AS, however I believe that making a film opening this way will be the most effective in creating suspense- which was a point that was bought up again and again throughout my market research.
My final idea, therefore, consists of a worms eye view shot of the floor of a dimly lit room. My piece will be 2 minutes long, and throughout that time the camera will flicker every now and again, there will be some movement noises and some incidental music (both of which will be described in more depth in later posts). Near the end of the 2 minutes, "blood" will start to run across the floor- this suspense will be built up by a slight change of incidental music and literally seconds before the end a hand (and maybe the top of someone's head) will fall to the floor. The image will then cut to black and the title will fade onto the screen (Typography and other editing details, as well as lighting, locations and shots will also be described in further detail). Throughout the 2 minutes, opening credits will also appear that will establish the main actors, the director, and production teams.
I wish for the room to appear empty and give the illusion of a spacious and neglected area, as this gives connotations of a thriller and therefore relate to my target audience. I want the floor of the room to be specifically non-carpeted (and preferably a light colour), so that the "blood" that runs across the floor really stands out as a main focal point of my final piece.
I would like the hand that falls at the end of the piece to specifically be the hand of a male, preferably a large hand which looks callused and dirty. A hand of the such will connote that the person who died was strong and therefore the murder was not easy to commit, hence hinting towards a possible plot for my film.
My main influences are works of Stanley Kubrick and Shane Medows. In the case of Kubrick, I'm influenced by his ability to create dark and mysterious situations through beautifully artistic shots. As for Medows I love the fact that most of his work feels rustic and almost home-made, however this is only achieved through careful consideration and planning when it comes to cinematography. I wish to incorporate features from both styles into my work in order to create a successful, and hopefully very different take on a thriller film opening.

Typography in live type

As I now have a possible title for my film, I have been able to set myself a preliminary task that involves learning how to use the livetype software, and to experiment with different fonts that may or may not compliment my final piece. As I am aware little will be done in the way of editing my footage (excluding filters, ligthing effects, and the soundtrack however), the typography will be a specifically vital asset to my final piece. I wish to use a font that is unique to this film, and put into a real life setting could be used as part of a house style to support the marketing and promotion of the film.

This font, "A charming font", may work quite successfully in my film opening. However, I think that people would associate this kind of font more with the icons of horror (Vampires etc). I think that the purple works much better than the blue, however neither colour is suitable for my final piece as I think neither look professional enough to be suitable for my final piece. I think that making the 'T' a different colour may be an effective way to hint at a possible plot, however. Overall, I don't like this font or the colours used and I will not consider developing it for my final piece. I have also decided from evaluating these two fonts that I should limit or prohibit using colour in my fonts. My final font will be either black or white.

I prefer this font to the first font, however I think that if I were to use this font I would have to put a lot of editing into it to give it the look I want for my final piece. Using this font has confirmed my wish to use either black or white as the colour, I think that this will make my final piece look much more professional. I don't like the rounded corners in this particular font, I think that to give the proper connotations of fear and distress, my font will have to have edges- and preferably serifs.

I think that this is the most successful font so far. I like the fact that it looks as if it's been brushed onto the screen, and this connotation would fit with my genre of thriller. I also like the fact that this font has sharper edges, it looks much more professional.
On the other hand, I don't think that this font is unique enough to use as it looks now. I want a font that is easily distinguishable and can be transferred into marketing and the promotion of the film.

Experiment with lighting, soundtrack and typography.

This video has been annotated to explain my intentions, specifically when it came to the lighting aspect.
I also took some photographs of how I set up the shots in order to explain how I made the video further.

Lighting and Sound influence.

My final idea has been heavily influenced by the work of Stanley Kubrick, particularly when considering the lighting and sound. I watched the film "Full Metal Jacket" over the christmas holidays and was drawn to a scene that was created specifically to create the kind of tension I wish to achieve in my final piece.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysRLZIlcQsU

I love how the torch acts as the eyeline in the first few shots, meaning that the low key lighting can be exceptionally dark in order to create the greatest amount of tension possible, enhancing the effect on the audience. This method is again effective when the torch shifts the focus from Pyle's face to him loading the rifle, even though the lighting in the background isn't quite so low key. "Natural" light from the window reflected on the white wall is used to light up Joker's face, which is also a good method of creating focus in a situation of low key lighting.

I also like how the soundtrack to scene has no rhythm and sounds like a tap dripping (connoting horror/thriller genre)- this makes the audience feel uneasy and has a massive effect on the whole scene. 

In my own piece, I wish to create an opening scene which is uncomfortable to watch by using lighting and sound techniques similar to ones featured in this scene. 

Experiment with montage editing

Montage editing is something that is used conventionally in film openings, particularly thrillers.
I created this film in order to experiment and get some further practice with filming and editing techniques.
The video is annotated

FIRE - A montage edit

Soundtrack experiment- Execution

In order to create the soundtrack for my piece, I will use the software Soundtrack Pro. This is because this particular software is simple to use and is especially created for editing with Final Cut Pro, which is the software I will use to edit my piece once I have the final footage. So that I know how to use the software properly, I've set myself a task of changing the mood of a piece of footage that I took using only the soundtrack. The piece of film I used for this task is a piece of outtake footage from the preliminary task back in September. I decided to use this piece of film because it's blurry and there is nothing really going on, therefore it wouldn't distract from the soundtrack- however it is still easy to detect atmosphere changes  in the clip.

 In order to create my soundtracks, I would find an instrument bed or envelope that I liked the sound of, and then simply drag it into the track, as shown in the screenshot above. I then cut the lengths of the beds in order to fit with the kind of atmosphere I was creating.

Once I was happy with the soundtrack I had created, I then exported it onto my desktop, as shown above, in order to be able to use it in final cut.

 This is a screen shot of the thriller inspired soundtrack I made. In order to make the film itself a little more reflective of the genre and therefore ensure the soundtrack sounded successful, I mixed parts of the film up to jump cut as the music jumps.

Location

I wish for my film opening to be shot in a small area with a non-carpeted floor. I also want the background to be basic (minimal furniture, light/pastel colours) so that my shot gives the impression of being in an isolated area. In order to shoot in the most suitable location I will have to research different areas and take test shots- this way I can ensure my final piece will be as successful as possible.

 This is the same location in both low and high key lighting. I really like the fact that there is a contrast between the dark floor and white wall. I also like the fact that it doesn't look to clean, adding to the isolation of the area. I think that this shot would be very successful in my final piece as it keeps the plot flexible- this could just as easily be an abandoned warehouse as it could a kitchen. There isn't very much space behind me however, so creating shadows and pouring the fake blood outside the shot might prove quite difficult.

 Although this is not the hand I wish to use, I wanted to see how a hand would look in the environment as it is so important to my final piece. I think in this particular location, the hand adds to the creepy isolation and would act as an effective asset to my thriller film opening.

 I love that it is very easy to create low key lighting in this location, and it would also be very easy to create movement shadows in the background that would add to the overall tension of the piece. There is also a lot of space to the side of me so that pouring fake blood would be really easy to do. I also like how the cupboard could be a door in the eyes of the audience, hinting at a plot where the "victim" tried to escape. Another positive thing about this location is that it's actually in my bedroom, therefore shooting can be as flexible as possible in terms of time management. The problem with this location however, is that the floor and cupboard are not as contrasting, and I really liked that about the last location. Although, the blood would show up better on this floor. I think that this would be the most successful location.

 Although I am adamant that I want to use a laminate flooring in my shot, I thought I'd try a carpeted floor just in case. The two main issues with this is that a carpeted floor doesn't provide the same connotations of isolation that is conventional of the thriller genre, and my mum wouldn't be happy with me pouring fake blood on our cream carpet.

These shots are about the actual positioning of the hand. I want the audience to assume that the "victim" is dead when the hand appears on the screen, and therefore the positioning is of upmost importance. The second two shots look more as if the "victim" is struggling, or is about to lift themselves up. Therefore, I think that the first shot is the most successful, if the hand is placed with the palm facing upwards I believe that would successfully imply the person in question is dead- especially when lying in a pool of blood.

Typography

I have to consider what fonts I am going to use in my final piece and how this will effect the overall atmosphere of the film opening. I have looked at the typography used in other thriller film openings and have inferred what types of typography would be the most appropriate for my film opening. I will then take a shortlist of potential fonts and get feedback from my target audience as part of my market research.

According to my research, the type of fonts that appear conventionally in thrillers are those that look as if they have been scribbled, scratched or etched into the screen. This is because it gives connotations of desperation (as if someone has tried to scratch a message for example). This could also be because this kind of typography holds some childlike connotations which juxtaposes the image of thrillers being just for adults, therefore emphasising the creepy atmosphere that is generic to the thriller genre.

The types of typography that are conventional to the thriller genre, and therefore I will create to look similar to are as shown:

This typography shows the basic conventions of a thriller. It looks as if it's been scratched into the screen and therefore would be effective in creating the appropriate atmosphere for my film opening. However, I feel it's almost too generic, each film opening has to be unique and if I used this particular typography I don't believe it would be as successful as a font that wouldn't be expected or hadn't been seen before. There is also an issue in the fact that this font is all-capitals, I may come across a time where it would be more appropriate to use lower-case lettering and this font would not be able to achieve that, therefore limiting me in the production of my film opening. 

This typography is very similar to the previous font, it also looks as if it's been scribbled giving the child-like juxtaposition that is conventional to the thriller genre. This is better font because I'm able to have the choice between capital and non-capital lettering. A bad point about this font, however, is that the spacing between the letters might make certain words difficult to read- which may be problematic when my audience come to watch my film opening.

I like this font a lot because of the fact it looks much more scratchy than scribbly, therefore relating to the genre of thriller much more effectively. I think that the fact it looks as if someone has struggled to write it adds to the general atmosphere that I wish to create in my film opening. Again, with this font I do not have the freedom to choose between capital and non-capital lettering, however I think that all-capital lettering is quite effective in context (of my film opening).

I think that, although this font looks child-like and scribbled, it does not fit with the conventional style of a thriller. I don't think it would be as effective as previous fonts in creating an atmosphere that was eerie and left the audience in suspense- a feature that my market research told me I should focus on. I think that there are better alternatives in typography for this particular task.

This is a good font as it a bit more mature than the other 'handwritten' fonts I have look at so far, however it still keeps the creepy atmosphere, of which is conventional to the thriller genre. With this font I have the choice between capital and non-capital lettering, which will give me more flexibility in the editing stage of my film opening. The only issue with this font is that it isn't very bold, therefore it might not be seen quite as effectively as previous fonts. This may not be a problem for my particular film, however, due to the fact I am aiming for a very simple composition and therefore the typography will be one of the main focuses, as apposed to dialogue, characters, or action. I think this font will be effective overall. 

I like the fact that this font has the choice between capital and non-capital lettering, and also how it looks 'handwritten' (similar features to the first two typographies that were looked at). I think that the little cross in the letter O gives the font a unique quirk that could be used throughout the whole marketing and execution, which would give the film a distinctive quality that the target audience will relate to. I think that this is a very effective method and will work successfully in my thriller film opening. 

After researching particular fonts that would conventionally fit with the thriller genre, I have decided that the font I create will be simple, conventional to the thriller genre, not too 'child-like', however not hard to read. I think that the font I create will be similar to the 6th font I looked at in particular- however bolder and I would like for it to include a quirk as discussed in the last typography I looked at. I will use the software LiveType to create my font and make a separate post on the execution process of that. 

Audience Research

In order to ensure that my idea will work as a successful thriller film opening, I will have to do some audience research. This will include stating a profile of a 'stereotypical' member of both my primary and target audiences, and then I will evaluate my work so far in order to successfully plan the contents of my film opening.

This is what my survey looks like, in order to get a wide variety of people completing it I posted a version on my facebook, as well as using survey monkey to ensure as many people as possible completed it. Overall, I got fifteen people to complete my survey.

Click here to take survey

The results of my survey are as shown:

As a result of this survey, I know that the majority of people over 15 enjoy thrillers, which supports my justification for producing a thriller film opening and having a target audience of people who are over 15.
Although it is only by a small amount, most of the people who answered my survey are male. This, again, supports the claim that the stereotypical target audience for thrillers are male, and therefore I will aim to make my final piece appeal to that group.
Another helpful point is that more people said they preferred suspense to action when watching thrillers. As a result of this, I will ensure that my film opening focuses on creating a tense atmosphere that engages with the audience rather than an action-focused piece.
The majority of people also said they enjoyed gore (realistic blood, guts, etc). I asked this question to establish whether it would be appropriate in terms of my target audience to use blood as a focal-point of my film opening, as this was an idea that was proposed in my pitch. Based on this particular set of results, I believe it would be a good idea to include the use of (fake) blood in my film opening- as long as it falls under the criteria of a 15 certificated film as explained in previous posts.

Age Ratings

I have decided to give my film an age 15 rating. This is because the genre of thriller will conventionally include scenes that are not appropritate for people under this age, however I will be able to appeal to a wider target audience than if my film was an 18 rating.
Because I have decided my film is a thriller, I've focused my research on particular asepcts and issues that would stereotypically be in thrillers (horror, violence etc), and how age ratings will effect this in my final piece.

After reading the BBFC website, I have come to the following conclusions about what I should/am allowed to include in my final piece (I have taken extracts from the webpage depending on what will be relevant to my final piece):

Horror: "Strong threat and menace permitted unless sadistic or sexualised" This means that I will not allow any sadistic or sexualised works in my final piece.
Violence: "Violence may be strong but not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikley to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikley to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification." As a result of this, I will involve little, if any, violence in my final piece and ensure that gore is kept to a minimum.

Imitable Behaviour: "Dangeous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming), should not dwell on detail which should be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamourised. As a result of this, I shall endevour to use little, or no, imitable behaviour at all in my final product.

Disturbance

I decided on a possible title for my film opening today, "Disturbance". I think it sounds short and catchy and would suit a thriller film very well. In order to support my thinking, I will ask members of my target audience if they would go and see this film purely on it's title and genre- due to the connotations it holds. I think this an interesting way of determining weather "Disturbance" works as a film title. It also means that I can start some preliminary work on my typography, as this will be one of the most important features of my film opening.

Market Research

As my pitch states, my film opening will aim to attract teenage boys who are fans of thrillers as this is stereotypically the group who are most likely to watch thrillers.

As well as this I will have a secondary target audience of teenage girls as this is stereotypically the group who are most likely to go with the primary target audience (for example, as their girlfriends) 

Therefore, I have decided to set myself two research tasks. The first of which finding out the reasons why people are fans of thrillers. The second will be getting some feedback on my pitch from people who are outside my media group, in order to get a wider verity of feedback. 

My pitch

I have decided that my film opening will be in the genre of thriller. I want my opening to look artistic and create a really uncomfortable atmosphere for my audience, which will entail blood pouring along the floor. This presentation explains my ideas in more detail, and further blog posts will clarify what exactly I want from my film opening. I have also decided that to complete this task alone would be the best option as, although I see the benefits of group work, I would find it quite difficult to compromise ideas that I think would make the task really successful.
I gave this presentation to my class and as a result intend to do specific market research with my target audience, as well as technical research (film editing, shots, location, lighting, mis-en-scene, etc).

This is the pitch I gave

Film Pitch (AS Media)

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Preparing for my pitch

In order to prepare for my pitch, I needed to think about certain aspects of my film and how I am going to work to complete my task. My overall pitch will outline the basics features of my film (The genre, the target audience, a vague outline of the plot). From this, I will be able to research people's views of my concept and from that develop and (in some cases) change my ideas in order to create the most successful piece possible.

Research Task- A clockwork orange

Although a clockwork orange is a much older film, and therefore the effects used may be outdated and therefore not appropriate for my task, I still feel it is an effective opening. It starts with a red background and sinister non-diegetic music that instantly sets the tone. Red has connotations of passion and violence and this very subtly (and cleverly) hints at some kind of narrative to the film. The non-diegetic music then plays "music for the funeral of queen Mary'' by Henry Prucell, which is a very slow yet triumphant score.
The typography then appears on the screen (Ariel bold), and the whole shot then changes colour (blue screen), when a new sentence appears. This is very simple, however very effective in creating a sinister atmosphere.
Once the film title appears (on a red background again), the shot cuts to a close up of the main character. He's tilting his head and looking up, connoting a sinister character. The shot lasts a lot longer than generic shots in film openings, and although it is probably just a convention of the time it was filmed it I think it is a good way of making an audience feel uncomfortable, as you would wish to do when creating a thriller. The non-diegetic music still plays over this, and the camera soon starts to zoom out into an establishing shot of the bar the main protagonist and his 'gang' are in.
As the camera continues to zoom out a voice over of the main characters voice establishes both himself and the supporting characters around him as the main focus of the scene, and also introduces the beginnings of the narrative in a unique style that I think is again very unnerving for an audience as his voice and the way he is speaking is quite informal and friendly, and therefore juxtaposes how sinister he looks in the establishing shot.
The mis-en-scene of the establishing shot is slightly irrelevant as this particular film also comes under the genre of science fiction and therefore flamboyancy is expected. However, the characters in the bar barely move the whole way through the shot and are wearing very similar attire (white clothes and a hat). This creates further tension for the audience as you don't quite know if anything is going to happen suddenly or unexpectedly as the shot unconventionally keeps going and going. 

Research Task- Se7en.

This is the opening sequence for Se7en. The piece is a montage edit of lots of different close ups of bandaged, dirty hands putting together a scrap book of 'victims' (there are shots of polariods of people who have been significantly injured). The shots are all in low key lighting, which is a convention of the thriller genre. Non-diegetic music plays throughout the piece, in some places the music almost fits diegetically with the shots of the book being put together- however it is consistently slow tempo and gives the overall opening a tense mood that establishes the genre.
The typography is unique to the film and was designed by Kyle Cooper- the scratchy, scribbly writing is iconic of thriller and horror films. The text flickers across the screen in the same way the shots do, and in some cases are illegible until later on in the shot. The fast-paced editing of the text is a very effective contrast to the slow and eerie diegetic music and makes the opening as a whole seem unpredictable and therefore effective in establishing the genre of thriller.
No characters are established in this opening, however, I would assume that the close up of the dirty hands belong to someone who will, at the very least, be a key role to the narrative, if not the main protagonist or antagonist. The fact that the role of this character is left to be known to the audience is a very effective way of establishing the genre, as well as maintaining a level of interest for the rest of the film. 

Conventions of film openings- presentation

Conventions of film openings (AS media studies)

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Preliminary task and evaluation

This is our final product for the preliminary task. The process was one of which we learned a lot from, one of the main points being effective planning is of upmost importance when planning a project like this. Although we did draw up a storyboard and stuck to it quite strictly, it would have also been useful to note down how we were going to sort out the more technical aspects of our video, for example how we were going to keep the lighting and sound levels consistent throughout the video, especially as the filming took more than one day to complete. We had some issues with the settings on our camera, and as a result some of the colouring on the video is slightly distorted and not how we would like for it to be- this is something that we should have checked before the filming and therefore could have been prevented. It would also have been useful to do extra research into how to place a soundtrack onto a video effectively as we wasted quite a bit of time trying to figure out how to do this when we could have otherwise focused on further developing our editing skills.
Working in a team meant that the task got done much more quickly than executing the project individually, however there were differences in terms of editing styles and deciding on what the narrative of the project should be. This resulted in people having to compromise some of their ideas for the best interest of getting the whole project done, as well as this the deliberation took up some time that could have otherwise gone into filming and editing.
Overall we have produced a good final product and learned a lot about how to successfully plan, film, and edit a short piece of film and these skills will be useful when completing our final project.

What I learnt from the preliminary task

We were asked to film and edit a promotional video for our school in groups of four in order to develop our skills in preparation for coursework tasks. I learnt a lot from this experience.
Firstly, I learnt the importance of planning work before executing. Although we didn't have long to film our piece, we would have been more effective and it would have taken less time overall if we had planned the whole thing before the task instead of planning as we went. We realised when it came to editing that if we wanted to make any changes (i.e take some more shots), we simply didn't have time to do so.
Another thing I learnt is that shots need to have at least five seconds either side of 'camera rolling' time in order to create effective transitions when editing. We did not do this, and some of our transitions can't be seen at all overall product as a result.
Finally, I developed team-work skills. Everyone contributed to our product and because of this (in my opinion) the end result is a lot better than if we had worked as individuals.