Q8. What do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

Before creating our opening thriller sequence 'Nameless', we were given a preliminary task where we had to create a short film showing a conversation between two people. The skills obtained when filming our prelim short film, were used to help us film our thriller opening sequence. The prelim task was very different in comparison to our thriller film for various reasons. One reason is that , when we created our prelim short film we were only given a day to film which means that we had less time to prepare. In comparison, for our thriller opening sequence we were given a month to film and enables us if necessary to re-film some scenes. As we were more prepared , we were given much more time to plan and organise features such as Mise-en-Scene, costumes. Another main comparison is that our prelim short film was not based on a genre (thriller), meaning that we did not have to stick to one particular theme.Only filming  a conversation between two people made it much more easier to come up with an idea and film.

Below shows both the thriller opening sequence + the prelim short film.

 Thriller Opening Sequence

 Prelim Short Film

The location of our prelim film was shot in college. This was due to the fact that we had less time to explore other possible locations. As we  were given only 1 lesson to film our short film, we had no choice but use the college building. In comparison,when filming our thriller opening sequence we used a range of 3 locations ( Angel, Hoxton and the Basement in College). We decided to use three locations in order to show the contrast of the actions of the characters in all three settings. 

For both our thriller opening sequence and for our prelim short film, we used a variety of camera shots and angles. For our prelim short film, we focused more on using the 180 degree rule when shooting the two characters having a conversation with one another. In comparison, for our thriller film, we used a wide range of shots, such as Close-ups, mid shots, tracking, birds eye view etc... This suggests that we wanted to show a variety of shots the second time round when filming to show our ability of filming the action taken place within the film in different ways.

For our thriller opening sequence we created a Soundtrack using the program Soundtrack Pro,we chose and explored a wide variety of sounds and mixed the sounds we wanted into a Submix in order to overlay on top of our thriller film.In comparison, For our prelim film, we downloaded an instrumental from the internet (Youtube), that we felt both suited our film. The similarities between the two soundtracks were that they both had suspenseful music. The effect of this was to create suspense and keep the audience's at the edge of their seats. As we felt a suspenseful  soundtrack worked well within our prelim, we wanted to stick to what we knew worked place and use the same type of soundtrack.

The digital technology , equipment used in our thriller opening sequence was more complex and technical then the digital technical techniques used in our prelim short film.We used more equipment for our thriller opening sequence such as Lighting kit as we wanting to produce shadows of items and show peoples body actions threw the shadows in-order to create suspense for our film. As previously used in our Prelim short film, we used the tripod, JVC Video Camera and Batteries. As we were familiar with using these equipment, we knew how to set up the equipment and the functions needed to operate the equipment.


For our thriller opening sequence we used a wide range of effects and techniques  in comparison to our prelim short film where it looked quite basic. This suggests that we began to explore the techniques more for our thriller opening sequence then our Prelim short film. This was because we became more comfortable and familiar with the program Final Cut Pro , as we learnt new methods and techniques and new ways of making our film look more effective. The effects we used in our Thriller opening sequence include the following:

- Cross fades
-Black outs
-Quick cuts of scenes
- Pleasantville  Effect ( keeping only one colour that we wanted to pop in contrast to the desaturated background shown in the beginning of the thriller opening sequence)
- Split screen of images ( Having 3 images being shown in one scene to see the reaction and action of three characters all at once)
- Colour Correction (desaturation effect)


In our prelim short film we did not require any form of props as we mainly concentrated on showing a conversation between the two characters. In comparison, for our thriller opening sequence we used a wide range of props such as: a Mobile phone,a newspaper,fake blood, Pound coin, Bottle of liquid ,A pole,Paper Notes ,Desk, Wooden Plank,Table and Chair. The use of these props helped make our thriller more successful in comparison to our prelim.

The final comparison between our Thriller opening sequence and our Prelim short film is the credits and titles seen within the beginning of the film. In our thriller opening sequence we included much more credits and titles and followed t6he order in which both the credits and titles should appear,  in comparison to our prelim film were we only added selected credits and titles.

 This is an example of the credits used in our Prelim film

The Screen shots above show examples of the Credits and Titles used in our Thriller Opening sequence.

Q: 4 - What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

The media institutions that we used to distribute our thriller film was ‘CandiStudios' and 'Candiproductions', two, small, independent production companies. Independent, produced, movies, are different to mainstream films being that they  have a specific style. The reason why we chose this route, is because we had a relatively low budget and we did not have any connections with any major production studio, to help with the financing of the film. By choosing to distribute our thriller independently, our vision was not changed, however we had to compromise our marketing strategy. 

EVALUATION Q.8

Before the creation of 'Nameless' we conducted a preliminary task where we first developed our skills in creating a short clip. The prelim task was very different to our opening thriller sequence for various reasons, one mainly being that we had less time to prepare it and it wasn't a thriller opening but a clip showing a conversation. Nevertheless the prelim task was vital in helping our film making skills develop and be tested. Mistakes were made during this task therefore its important to show the ways we have progressed and improved our skills in our opening thriller sequence. 

A main difference in our prelim project and our opening thriller sequence is the genre of the clip. The Prelim task had no genre and this therefore resulted in the clip having no target audience and no theme. The audience would be unclear on what the clips about because there is no genre. So in our thriller opening we made sure the genre was put across very quickly.

A key way in showing the genre of the opening was our use of font. In the prelim the font was very basic and standard. However in our opening we made the font relate to the genre. We used a font that conveyed to the audience that the Film was an Action thriller. 

(There is a contrast in font. The Thriller film 'Nameless' has a font that relates to the genre in the sense it’s an Action Font and more likely to be in a film, whereas the prelim font is basic and not really indicating the clips genre.) 

]In the prelim we chose an opening that started with titles over blank screen. The reason behind this was that we wanted the titles to quickly appear and then get straight into the main part of the prelim. However in our thriller opening the title credits appear through a narrative opening. The reason behind this is that many thriller films chose this opening structure because the names of the film have higher importance. There was also more people involved in the process of creating the thriller opening compared to the prelim consequently meaning a narrative opening would be less time consuming as the title credits appear throughout the opening rather then just before the opening. The last reason for the change in structure was that in the prelim all the titles appeared together and we believe this may lose the interest of the audience from the beginning. Therefore in the thriller opening we made the production company appear on a blank screen then moved directly into the main opening which was directed with the idea of grabbing the audiences attention from the start. 

(As you can see the prelim has a blank screen title credit structure whereas in the thriller opening has a narrative opening and flows from beginning to end) 

In the prelim I think some shots were too long and would lose audience interest. For example when the characters walking down the hall the scenes too long, the audience doesn't know where she's going but this suspense is soon lost because of the speed she gets there. Therefore in our thriller we have a similar scene where three people are following signs to a room. But instead of prolonging the speed in which they get there we made the audience suspenseful of where their going through quick match cuts of a man doing threatening actions. These actions make the audience anticipate what will happen up until the in which the people reach the room. 

(The process of watching the characters walk to the room is far more thrilling because of the match cuts compared to the much longer less interesting walk in the prelim)

                                                                                                           
There is a difference in the production companies in our prelim and thriller opening. The prelim has a basic font and appears really quickly. However in the thriller opening we made the production and distribution companies appear longer outlining their importance. Also the way in which the titles appear is significantly different. The production company of the thriller appears stylish and more formal, giving an positive impression to the audience that the film is of a high quality. Lastly the thriller opening has a formal age certificate and this makes the film appear less like a students work and more like a real film production company. 

(The way in which the production and distribution companies appear in the thriller are far more advanced and stylish compared to the prelim)

 

The location of the prelim is in college. This isn't thrilling or representing the actors in a way that avoids there normal lives. What I mean by this is that because it based in college the audience can assume that the characters are college students. However in our thriller opening this wasn't possible as we needed the characters to be represented in a older way, therefore the environment (location) needed to match the way they were represented. 

 

(The location for the prelim was basic as we had less time to explore locations and wouldn't work for the thriller as the characters are represented differently)

(The locations used in the thriller opening relate more to character representation and the genre of teh film. For example the Basement scenes appear 'spooky' and relate to the genre of thriller. Moreover the apartment lift represents the character as professional)

The mise en scene in the thriller opening more detailed and realistic as we had more time to prepare  for the thriller. For example the fake blood is used on the shirt to show the mans been shot and is in danger. Furthermore the Blackberry phone shows the character is a professional and this is the way we wanted them to be represented. 

Additionally a character is seen holding various threatening weapons and these are important in showing danger and building suspense within the viewer.

Lastly in the prelim there was no costume design and the characters wore ordinary clothing. In the thriller opening we made sure we changed this as we dressed the characters in role with the way they were to be represented. For example all characters are dressed in business clothes, as this makes them appear older.

 

Lighting was used significantly different in our thriller opening and our prelim. In the prelim the lighting was natural and didn't affect the mood or tone of the scenes. However we addressed this in our thriller opening as we created shadows with the lights and this made the scene more eerie and the audience more suspicious of who's shadow it is. 







The last difference between the prelim and the thriller opening is the use of sound. In the prelim we only created sound for the title credits at the beginning and used a pre created soundtrack. And the soundtrack didn't support what was happening in the scene, however in the thriller opening the sound is made with Livetype and supports whats happening within the scene. For example at the ending the sound speeds up as the scene speeds up.

Q3. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Steve Harris is a 25 year old junior executive for a corporate bank firm located in the heart of the city. He leads a very busy and stressful lifestyle as he doesn’t have a lot of free time. His constant heavy load of work and busy lifestyle keeps him on the go. On the weekend he enjoys going to the local bar with his mates and enjoys vodka and coke. With his free time he attends music festivals with both his mates and girlfriend and hosts dinner parties for his mates. He dress code cosists of smart, silk suits , shirt and tie for the weekdays and for the weekends designer jeans and known brand tops from stores such as Selfidges. On his days off he reads the odd detective novel and watches  crime programs such as CSI New York and The Wire. He has a real interest for watching Action thriller movies especially James Bond Films. His DVD collection contains a lot of films from this genre. Films such as Gold finger Casino Royale and Die hard are his favourite films. He likes action thriller films to have a sense of suspense leaving the audience on the edge of their seats, waiting and wanting to find out what’s going to happen next and what is the reason for people’s actions. He also likes action thrillers to contain exciting, fast pace action which keeps him entertained.

Steve keeps posted of the latest films out in the cinemas via both Flixster and IMDB Apps which are on his Iphone 4. Also through Ping Chat with his friends he keeps updated with the realease of new films. 

Both Steve's interest and knowledge for Action thriller films will make him a great fit for our target audience for our film 'Namless', as he fits within the age demographic for the film which is between the ages of 18-25. Also, as Steve has a interest for Action thriller films and suspense , I feel that he would enjoy our action thriller as it includes all the elements that Steve looks for within a film.

In Steve's Manbag you will find the following items:

- I phone 4+ Blackberry

- Apple Laptop (Macbook)

- Account Sheets ( work papers)

- Protein Bar

- Pack of Cigarettes 

- A bottle of Powerade

- Pack of Mints

Evaluation Q5: How will you attract/address your audience?

To attract our target audience, because of our low budget, we will use social networking sites, cinematic screenings and more!

Take a look at the slide show below to get a sense of how we will attract our audience.

Milan London AA29342 on Prezi

Evaluation, Q3: Who would be the ideal audience for your product?

Kelly, is 18 years old, she is currently an undergraduate university student studying criminology at Southampton University. On the weekend she goes to her local bar and drinks Vodka mixed with cranberry juice and on the odd occasion she goes to the cinema with her best friends. Typical movies that they watch are films such as ‘The Black Swan’ and ‘Inception’. Once every once and a while she goes to Topshop, she buys a t-shirt and a bag, she loves to wear the latest trends.

Kelly is extremely materialistic, like most young adults in her generation. She owns an Ipod Touch which plays music from her favorite artist’s, mainly mainstream music. She owns a Blackberry Curve to speak to all of her friends on Blackberry messenger and uses public transportation to get around everyday. Kelly lives in a student, shared flat which costs around £100 per week. She reads crime, thriller and mystery books. Steig Larson is her favorite author; ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ is her favorite book.  Kelly’s favorite TV channel show is ‘Mid Summer murders’, she also watches ‘True Blood’ and ‘Vampire Diaries’. Kelly lives on a student, maintenance loan to get by everyday but still enjoys every element of life.

Kelly’s lifestyle and age fits within the target audience for ‘Nameless’. During doing research for ‘Thriller Audiences’ I discovered that the target audiences for thriller films are aged between 18 to 24, Kelly is 18 so she fits within the age demographic for the film. Kelly also studies ‘criminology’, crime is one of the thriller subgenres for our thriller, the fact that she studies ‘criminology’ represents her interest in crime, and this means that she will be interested in our thriller. Her personal items such as her ‘Blackberry’ and ‘Ipodtouch’ relate to the film, in ‘Nameless’ each of the characters own a ‘Blackberry’, so the film would appeal to her. Also her student loan means that she has the money to go to the cinema and enjoy herself. Her love for murder mysteries and thriller television shows represents how she fits within our target audience. The reason why I chose a female target audience member is because my research showed that 57% of women watch thriller movies.