My blog is now complete; I have enjoyed this task and hope I am successful in it. My tool will guild you to the necessary post on my blog.
Monday 14 February 2011
Monday 7 February 2011
Friday 4 February 2011
How did you attract/address your audience?
This is me filming the reaction from my target audience watching my sequence, then asking them a series of questions such as:
Subject 1) A 40 year old women.
Subject 1 is a 40 year old woman, she enjoyed the clip and appreciated the choice of music and theme intended. However for this subject it’s very hard to pin a solid reading. She understood the certain things like the theme, this was a preferred reading, and however she failed to gain knowledge to a storyline or the characters motives. This is a aberrant reading.
Although she pitched that the target audience should be middle age and upwards, agreeing with our intentions.This reaction has made me realise that women in that category have a preferred reading in some contexts but have an aberrant reading in others; she struggled to find the connoting messages.
Subject 2) A 42 year old man.
Subject 2 is a 42 year old man , overall all he liked the clip.
- What opinions to you have on my sequence?
- Did you enjoy it?
- Do you understand the concept?
- Do you think your in the target audience for this product?
My mode of address was very informal as the target audience I was sharing with was close to me; this made me feel more comfortable.
Here are the responses..
Here are the responses..
Subject 1) A 40 year old women.
Subject 1 is a 40 year old woman, she enjoyed the clip and appreciated the choice of music and theme intended. However for this subject it’s very hard to pin a solid reading. She understood the certain things like the theme, this was a preferred reading, and however she failed to gain knowledge to a storyline or the characters motives. This is a aberrant reading.
Although she pitched that the target audience should be middle age and upwards, agreeing with our intentions.This reaction has made me realise that women in that category have a preferred reading in some contexts but have an aberrant reading in others; she struggled to find the connoting messages.
Subject 2) A 42 year old man.
Subject 2 is a 42 year old man , overall all he liked the clip.
He received the dramatic feel that we tried to connote which was excellent, this is a preferred reading. However he didn’t understand the concept of sequence, he said it was too complicated and described it has ‘over his head’.
This is a negotiated reading; he’s in our pitched our target audience. This made me consider that not every man/women would understand our sequence due to everybody is different. He even suggested to us to target the ‘new wave’ audience which consists of, young-adults, this isn’t a market we aimed for but it can be highly considered. Off camera he described the film as ‘French noir’ and comment on the superb type of music, this is great and exactly what we wanted to achieve.
This is a negotiated reading; he’s in our pitched our target audience. This made me consider that not every man/women would understand our sequence due to everybody is different. He even suggested to us to target the ‘new wave’ audience which consists of, young-adults, this isn’t a market we aimed for but it can be highly considered. Off camera he described the film as ‘French noir’ and comment on the superb type of music, this is great and exactly what we wanted to achieve.
Thursday 3 February 2011
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
Our production company has produced a low budget British film which is in the genre of psychological horror. With intention to target an over 18 background who are interested in the this genre and intellectual films.
The media distribution is worth $60 billion dollars and very much is dominated by the major studios such as Warner, Disney. These are vertically integrated so the profit margin is very large, these films would expect to reach large audiences by been played in main cinemas such as
‘Odeon, Vue and Cineworld’. However as we have produced a low budget film we cannot expect to play a major part on the scene, this is why we would target small independent cinemas in our local area and at exhibitions such as Norbury theatre in Droitwich. As the modern day allows us to post videos online will would take full advantage of this, this would allow us to connect to wider audiences and to gain a reputation. This may leads us on to independent film festivals such as one of the largest in London.
As our film is a student production I strongly agree that in the real professional environment with a larger budget could generate mainstream success and played in the top dog cinemas. I think this because our film is very unique and could be twisted into something worthy also it raises awareness into certain mental stabilities. This is why we’re spreading the awareness so such opportunities could occur.
Youtube is one of the most accessed site on the internet, it has took of majorly from the last couple of years and it’s a great place for opportunity and marketing. Some short movies mange to generate millions of hits. These videos appear globally and I think this is our best opportunity to access the mainstream audience connoting to our target audience plus more. Here are example a of short movie which have connected with mass audiences.
http://www.youtube.com/user/RichardGaleFilms
The media distribution is worth $60 billion dollars and very much is dominated by the major studios such as Warner, Disney. These are vertically integrated so the profit margin is very large, these films would expect to reach large audiences by been played in main cinemas such as‘Odeon, Vue and Cineworld’. However as we have produced a low budget film we cannot expect to play a major part on the scene, this is why we would target small independent cinemas in our local area and at exhibitions such as Norbury theatre in Droitwich. As the modern day allows us to post videos online will would take full advantage of this, this would allow us to connect to wider audiences and to gain a reputation. This may leads us on to independent film festivals such as one of the largest in London.
As our film is a student production I strongly agree that in the real professional environment with a larger budget could generate mainstream success and played in the top dog cinemas. I think this because our film is very unique and could be twisted into something worthy also it raises awareness into certain mental stabilities. This is why we’re spreading the awareness so such opportunities could occur.
Youtube is one of the most accessed site on the internet, it has took of majorly from the last couple of years and it’s a great place for opportunity and marketing. Some short movies mange to generate millions of hits. These videos appear globally and I think this is our best opportunity to access the mainstream audience connoting to our target audience plus more. Here are example a of short movie which have connected with mass audiences.http://www.youtube.com/user/RichardGaleFilms
Wednesday 2 February 2011
Tuesday 1 February 2011
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Using conventions:
From the very beginning of our title sequence we wanted to show a powerful establishing shot from the location where the filming was taken place, this shows the audience the concrete surrounding we wanted to connote. As our sequence is filmed in theater we wanted to show a jazzy art deco mood as well as its initial location, so we researched theatres in Worcester and landed with “Northwick” theatre. This establishing shot very much mimics the shots in the opening sequence of "Manhattan" however we don’t focus on location as heavily “Manhattan” does but we wanted to connote the same effect. Although, unlike 'Manhattan' our film is not titled 'Northwick', from the start of our sequence until five seconds in we feel we have used a common convention from a real media product successfully. When studying in our research we noticed that Alfred Hitchcock uses this in such films like 'Psycho' He uses a slow fade-in to reveal the first location of the film, this creates tension and empathises the location. This is very much like our opening 30 seconds; we use the convention of several long and short takes of varied images of our location and ominous, connoting objects.
Sound is a very important part of our sequence; we wanted to connect our sound with the cinematography. This makes the cinematography a lot more meaningful when matched with appropriate music which enforces the genre. This is very much shown in the opening sequence of 'Seven 'with a screeching synth, this sets the
psychological genre perfectly however we twisted this convention to suit our sequence. After realising this when creating 'Hurt', knowing that editing would not be enough to create a successful title sequence. We knew we wanted from the beginning a long take that would establish sound and film together efficiently to have full effect on the audience.
This is the convention of souned we adapted off 'Seven'.
Developing conventions:
As I said above sound is a very import important for our sequence, our use of sound uses common conventions of the psychological genre, then developing it to create something that allows us to differentiate and individualise our sequence and allow us to include what we wanted. To do this we used http://www.freeplaymusic.com/ to find suitable clips. For the first 30 seconds of 'Hurt' uses a raw, screeching synth to agitate the viewer, when researching before the task, we discovered many films of the genre, such as 'Seven' which share this convention of using sound to unsettle their audience, connoting danger from the beginning, this will also connotes the genre and mood of the film. The second peice of audio we used was a trademark free version of Tschakovsky's 'Swan Lake'. This is a very unusual sound choice for this genre but helps to build the story line greatly, also we developed the sound track of “Manhattan” to connote a sophisticated, jazzy mood.
This is our final soundtrack.
When studying fonts for titles in other films of our genre, we came across galvanised styles of text, to differentiate our film from others in genre, we had to use a font that would array the normal font. So we didn’t use a fancy font, instead simple, capital lettered font underlined with the title of the film(Hurt).(Right) compared to 'Seven' on the (Left).
Challenging conventions:
A run of the mill title sequence contains many titles which establish the actors, producers and directors. We refused to this so will challenged this convention, refused to do this, and simplify a title sequence by showing only the film title, this makes the audience focuses more on the film delvoloping infront of them and the realisation of the location; instead of information on who made it. It would be unique against a genre, that uses titles to such an extent that the audience's attention levels would decline. In my research I found only one other film to keep informative titles hidden, as to remain focus on the film not the titles - this being Capello's 'Apocalypse Now'.
From the very beginning of our title sequence we wanted to show a powerful establishing shot from the location where the filming was taken place, this shows the audience the concrete surrounding we wanted to connote. As our sequence is filmed in theater we wanted to show a jazzy art deco mood as well as its initial location, so we researched theatres in Worcester and landed with “Northwick” theatre. This establishing shot very much mimics the shots in the opening sequence of "Manhattan" however we don’t focus on location as heavily “Manhattan” does but we wanted to connote the same effect. Although, unlike 'Manhattan' our film is not titled 'Northwick', from the start of our sequence until five seconds in we feel we have used a common convention from a real media product successfully. When studying in our research we noticed that Alfred Hitchcock uses this in such films like 'Psycho' He uses a slow fade-in to reveal the first location of the film, this creates tension and empathises the location. This is very much like our opening 30 seconds; we use the convention of several long and short takes of varied images of our location and ominous, connoting objects.Sound is a very important part of our sequence; we wanted to connect our sound with the cinematography. This makes the cinematography a lot more meaningful when matched with appropriate music which enforces the genre. This is very much shown in the opening sequence of 'Seven 'with a screeching synth, this sets the
psychological genre perfectly however we twisted this convention to suit our sequence. After realising this when creating 'Hurt', knowing that editing would not be enough to create a successful title sequence. We knew we wanted from the beginning a long take that would establish sound and film together efficiently to have full effect on the audience.
This is the convention of souned we adapted off 'Seven'.
This is our first 30 seconds of audio for 'Hurt' is very similar.
Developing conventions:
As I said above sound is a very import important for our sequence, our use of sound uses common conventions of the psychological genre, then developing it to create something that allows us to differentiate and individualise our sequence and allow us to include what we wanted. To do this we used http://www.freeplaymusic.com/ to find suitable clips. For the first 30 seconds of 'Hurt' uses a raw, screeching synth to agitate the viewer, when researching before the task, we discovered many films of the genre, such as 'Seven' which share this convention of using sound to unsettle their audience, connoting danger from the beginning, this will also connotes the genre and mood of the film. The second peice of audio we used was a trademark free version of Tschakovsky's 'Swan Lake'. This is a very unusual sound choice for this genre but helps to build the story line greatly, also we developed the sound track of “Manhattan” to connote a sophisticated, jazzy mood.This is our final soundtrack.
When studying fonts for titles in other films of our genre, we came across galvanised styles of text, to differentiate our film from others in genre, we had to use a font that would array the normal font. So we didn’t use a fancy font, instead simple, capital lettered font underlined with the title of the film(Hurt).(Right) compared to 'Seven' on the (Left).Challenging conventions:
Mise-En-Scene was a convention of film that we immediately was effected by our choice of genr, instead of morbid, cold instruments seen in Seven, we aimed to challenge the use of objects on stage by connoting person attributes towards the character. Such props as mannequins, masks, suits and red roses.
Friday 28 January 2011
Thursday 27 January 2011
Finalising.
We decided for the final piece to parallel our target audience's opinion given from our mood board. We learned that one of the greatest fears of our demographic was the use of mask's, particularly clowns and childhood figures. We were informed that masks were disturbing because they enabled the subject to hide their identity, and thus their character - making them unreliable and mysterious, something we aimed to achieve with our film.
Tuesday 25 January 2011
Shoot two at Huntingdon Hall
Our shoot at Huntingdon hall was very successful; the staff were very friendly and cooperative. We have been filmed for a total of three hours and shot the footage that we wanted. Transporting the lights and props to the hall was an demanding task but was capable.
Health and safety which was completed before shoot.
Health and safety which was completed before shoot.
Monday 17 January 2011
Definite Location in Huntingdon Hall.
After Filming outside Northwick and in Worcester our first shoot was successful, but too complete it will were looking for an old fashioned theatre which is easy to access. After emailing and ringing Worcester Live we have gained access to Huntingdon Hall on Wednesday the 19th for 2-3 hours with no fee, for this we are very grateful. We have waited so late to film because this was the only week that the stage was clear and we were very determined to film there. Professional lighting is been used giving our piece a professional feel. We are very excited to film in such a great location and watch our idea come to life.
Shoot one at North wick and Worcester Town.
On Tuesday the 11th of January, we set out filming and targeted to capture our first 30 seconds for our opening in Worcester and Northwick. We found a grim back alleyway that we took a series of dull, dirty and rough objects and images that connote our characters personality. These images will be used subliminary to connote the meaning. Also in Worcester we stumbled upon a antique shop that had a 20th century image of the theatre that we were filming at next, thanks to a kind worker he let us take a shot of it which will add a great effect to the final product.
After filming in Worcester we made our way to North wick theatre, this is a perfect location to give a 1930's classy impression that we were looking for. Here we took a number of shots of the building and some statues. We are unable to use inside as it's no longer a theatre so instead we have permission to use Huntingdon hall in Worcester. This is a perfect old fashioned theatre and we couldn't of asked for much more.
Overall the shoot was a success and we are very please how the shoot when and we are very much looking forward to the capturing the rest of our film on the 19th of January. We had to wait for a dater date for the theatre to become available.
Health and safety which was completed before the shoot.
Health and safety which was completed before the shoot.
Creating the Sound.
For this I used Adobe sound booth, I downloaded the clips of http://freeplaymusic.com , We downloaded two clips called Concussion reprise and Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky. These are both copyright free. The sounds were too long and too short so on Adobe sound booth we cut the audio down so it sounded smooth.
Sunday 16 January 2011
Cast.
Our title sequence requires one actor who doesn’t say a single thing, only move. We had a number of options, however due to constrictions from colleges we had to find an enthusiastic and keen person to work with. Jack Vaughan will be our actor and we are very glad that he is helping us out.
Thursday 6 January 2011
Shot list.
Shotlist:
Shot 1: Establishing shot of Northwick
Shot 2: Subliminal Flash
Shot 3: Shot of grotty alley
Shot 4: Subliminal Flash
Shot 5: Shot of Northwick
Shot 6: Distorted image of Northwick
Shot 7: Banners outside Northwick
Shot 8: Close up of banners
Shot 9: Shot of Northwick stairs
Shot 10: Walking up the stairs towards the door
-fades out-
Shot 11: Establish the theatre.
Shot 12: Record player, tracking back
Shot 13: Dancing with the mannequin (long shot)
Shot 14: Dancing with mannequin, close up to the feet.
Shot 15: Rose falling of the suit (slow mo)
Shot 16: Close up of the characters face
Shot 17: Character beating up mannequin
Shot 18: Title Sequence (hurt)
Shot 19: Character walking off the stage, turns light off.
Tuesday 4 January 2011
Back To Business.
We are now back to college after the Christmas break, filming is on the verge and we are doing our final preparations in planning and uploading any outstanding pieces to our blog.