Evaluation Question 2

Q2) How does your opening sequence represent particular social groups?

In our clip, we had one main character, which was played by yours truly. The character  had a very formal and smart costume.  The costume fits in with his social class background, he comes from a middle class status. He wears a blazer, shirt and tie. His shoes are shiny clean and he likes to keep up with his appearance. Seeing that he’s the only character in the clip, he seems like a very important person and a dangerous man and with the help of the intense and heavy soundtrack, the audience can realise this. As a group we thought having myself play the main character was best, as we thought a male would make the ‘stalker’ theme more effective because it is a stereotype for a male to be a stalker rather than a female. Also, being be formally dressed so it looks as if ‘he knows what he’s doing’ and seems like a computer genius  and seems like a serious and dangerous man, another reason why we chose for him to be formal was because he comes from a middle class background, where he seems like hes a intelligent man. Feedback whilst playing the role helped to shape the character more and bring out all the elements of the social groups that we needed to emphasis for our film in order to make it seem realistic as possible  ones we saw in a few opening sequences like from famous action thrillers ‘Expatriate’ and ‘Bourne Identity’ and some aspects from the movie ‘Phone Booth’.  We had to make sure the audience would notice he was a stalker so movements and costume had to be set for that type of character, he couldn't be in his tracksuit bottom trying to stalk someone, and had to be well fit for the character.   

Similar shot to our opening scene
(Bourne Identity)

Costume: Shirt and tie
Source: (Bourne Identity)

Influenced our mug shot images
Source: (Bourne Identity)

Use of glasses as prop helped our character fit into the social group
Source: (Bourne Identity)

Evaulation Question 3

Q3) What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

As Disconnected is a psychological thriller with elements of crime, selective media institutions would be ideal for distributing our product. Distribution companies contribute largely in the film production process. They are the link between the film makers and the public. Their responsibilities include deciding on a release date that would cause mass viewing from their targeted audience, deciding on how many prints to produce and what cinemas to screen them which is an expensive process therefore making the right decisions in cinema screenings is crucial for the film’s success. They also design and create the art work for adverts, flyers and bill boards which are marketed to mass audiences as well as organised appearances and talker screenings to resulting in press attention. For independent filmmakers it is inevitably more difficult as they may not have the backing of a major studio or have well known directors and actors working with their product greatly improving the chances of securing a good distribution deal. In regards to Disconnected, the distribution company would have to have a successful track record for films of our genre in order to be well marketed and ensure a strong link with the audience. 

Research shows that Lionsgate films is the leading independent production and distribution company internationally. It is often referred to as a ‘mini-major’ due to its success. They have distributed several successful independent titles as well as commercial titles such as ‘The Twilight Saga’ (partially), ‘The Hunger Games’, ‘The Divergent Series’, ‘Saw’ and ‘The Expendables’. Lionsgate’s first major box office success was ‘American Psycho’, a psychological thriller. This is a unique selling point for our independent production company as they were able to achieve great success through a film parallel to our genre.  Lionsgate occasionally co-produce films with major studios. For example, they teamed with ‘Miramax Films’ for the 2004 sequel Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights and was also a silent partner in 20th Century Fox's 2004 sci-fi film The Day After Tomorrow. Although they focus on foreign and independent films, the indie status of our film appeals to their ethos. Overall, Lionsgate would be an ideal distribution company for Disconnected. 

Another successful independent distribution company is The Weinstein Company. Similar to Lionsgate, The Weinstein Company are often referred to as a mini major. However, it is one of the largest independent distribution companies internationally. There major successes include ‘Storm breaker’, ‘Django unchained’ (co distributed with Columbia Pictures) and ‘The Imitation Game’. The Weinstein’s Company distributed film, The King's Speech, brought to the company their first Academy Award for Best Picture at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. They have also had multiple successes with thrillers such as ‘Derailed’ which was there first major box office hit in 2005. The Weinstein Company are ideal for distribution due to their strong link with their audience and established success.  

Evaluation Question 7

Q7) Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Pre-production

In hindsight, the pre-production stage was a learning curve for myself. The use of storyboards and scripts helped me prepare for the rehearsals. I decided to keep the script simple and easy to follow as accordance to the storyboard. For instance short speech such as, “How are you doing?” with a short response of “I’m not bad mate, yourself?” The advantage of using a range of short simple dialogue allowed me to focus on other elements and areas that needed more of my undivided attention; such as where the characters should be standing whilst talking, how they would appear on camera on the approach and so forth. Although, I wish it was as easy as I claim it being, I encountered a few problems when using the camera and filming. Re-takes of trying to perfect the match on action and the 180 degree rule as well as shot/reverse shot. I learnt how to use the camera more effective when filming, and that helped my main task be more successful. I kept the tactic of using short simple dialogue into the main task which married well with our storyboard and lead to no complications during rehearsals.

Production

On-the-day filming was more successful once I grasped the process of using the camera during rehearsals in the preliminary task as well as the main task. The type of shots varied once my skills improved. For instance, during my prelim task filming, I would start by filming a long shot, then after it would consist of a range of close ups followed by match on action handshakes and the use of tracking shots once characters were crossing a room/entering to sit down. However, problems did occur and that involved getting the timing right in order to make the shot look as fluent as possible. Another example of what needed perfection was the use of POV shot/subjective filming which was a vital mention when creating my storyboard. In comparison to the main task, timing was what we had to master as a group. So that included timing between two shots. However, we did overcome this problem and had a solution of trying to combine two shots together in order to make them flow and to be in sync. This was expressed by the use of short takes in scenes, to speed up the pace of the action in order to bond with the rhythm of the non-diegetic music sound track, which also helped to set the scene.

Post production & feedback

Overall, both the preliminary task and main task allowed me to learn new skills and adapt to other areas of my media abilities which I never knew I had prior to the production processes. We received feedback from our peers once we watched our main task together in class and took down notes on what everyone had to say about our opening sequence which was refreshing. Our main attraction from our film which was the most mentioned was our effective use of music in correlation to the introducing of credits and titles in the sequence. Constructive criticism was given and as a group we took on board the comments. For example if our teacher saw a certain shot and advised us and gave an alternative as to how we should end it rather than the way we chose to. To a certain extent, the main task was more challenging as we had to add music, titles, credits and etc. to our opening sequence.  Which in comparison to the preliminary task, it had a much more complex structure towards it I’d say and lead us to face more problems during the editing process. Nonetheless, I have although learnt new skills and key lessons learnt were highlighted on the use of credits, how to incorporate feedback effectively and use it to improve my work which I consider to be really important. 

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation – Question 6

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

 We used a Canon XHAI camera and a tripod in the production process. Before filming, I was taught the process of constructing the tripod and setting up the camera. Through this I learnt the importance of accurately positioning the camera by checking the spirit level to ensure leveled filming. We used Adobe Premier editing software to edit our title sequence post production. Through this I learnt various editing skills as well as the importance of colour correction to ensure the correct representation and atmosphere is created in viewing. For our title sequence we used a blue hue with a black and white tint to convey the eerie and mysterious theme of our film. From this I learnt the aesthetics are essential to captivate our audience more effectively rather than the default colour of our original shots. We utilized the tools in the editing software to enhance the appearance of our opening sequence. This includes overlapping two shots and reducing the opacity of one to make it semi-transparent. This effectively displays the skills developed over the process of editing post production. 

We also learnt the importance of music synchronisation; matching the tempo of the music with the jump cuts and title appearances made the transitions smoother as well as intensifying the action and engaging the audience. I learnt various filming techniques during the production process, this includes the 180° rule, continuity correction, match on action, purpose of safety shots and different camera angles and movements. Overall, the process of constructing our media products increased the skills and knowledge in both production and post-production. 

Thriller Moodboard

Evaluation Question 5

Q5. How did you attract/address your audience?

Textual Analysis

Our production company logo was featured at the beginning of our film. We came up with the idea of “Scrapbook Pictures’ by the influence of artists and how they use their innovative skills to start pieces from scratch. Our group including myself refer to ourselves as artists metaphorically speaking, in order to put together this film (piece). The aesthetics of the production company logo looks as if it was hand drawn on paper; hence the white background along with the font, which is what emphasis on the theme of innovation. During the process of the production company logo being shown in the film, we also chose to introduce non-diegetic sound of the musical soundtrack at the introduction also, in order to engage the audience’/viewers immediately. As our choice of music can be described as being ‘fast paced, rapid, prompt or having a vivacious nature' towards it.

Production Company Logo

Further, the music marries well with our opening few shots as we wanted to emphasis on the attention to detail of the character and how the character should be portrayed as by the audience who is viewing the film. We constructed the cuts between the scenes with the music, so that when a shot fades or appears it is accompanied with the beat of the music so it cuts well with the beat rather than seem to be dissimilar. For example in one shot we used the point of when the music goes into a high pitch to introduce a title along with establishing the type of shot it is then this will be followed by the scene being dissolved into where the 2^nd shot after it will appear. We used dissolving as an editing technique in order to show how time has passed during the opening scene.

In addition, we wanted to stress the theme of our film and the technological nature by the use of titles. Our title show up as if you are turning on your television and that’s how they disappear/fade away also. Using the colour white and the font enabled the titles to stand out more clearly than the other fonts and colours which we had experimented with during editing.

Plus, the use of camera along with colour effects and mise-en-scene enabled us to bring out the personality of the character. For instance, the low angle close up shot of when the character is tapping his foot nervously shows the busy nature of his current project. As mentioned, it is a busy project and we tried to have as many influences in the film to portray this, such as the use of other type of shots, the focus on time which was seen throughout the sequence. The character’s costume defines his personality and what the audience viewing will see the character encounter throughout the film. We chose a formal wear for the character as he is supposed to be a corporate criminal. Whereby, the mystery is lays within this concept, as criminals are not stereotyped to dress in this type of manner but rather less elegant.

Costume of leading actor (not seen as a typical criminal)

Costume influence

We chose to add a special effect at the end of our film along with the fade of the title ‘Disconnected’ to bring a feel of what the film is about. The fade in and away allows the word ‘Disconnected’ to flourish as it is what the word means.

The fade away process

Full title

Prior knowledge of thrillers as a film genre is what we would expect our audience to have. We can make use of this in order to attract them by including all the elements which make a psychological thriller. By the use of exploiting our main theme of revenge where we got the influence from other successful thriller such as The Expatriate, Taken, Bourne Identity and Phone Booth. Having many cuts in the opening sequence of the film in order to capture the attention of the audience promptly.

Evaluation Question 4

Q4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

 

Our target audience profile consists of the film being rated aged 15+ aimed at those individuals who have a keen interest in thrillers, action, fast paced, suspense films. Film fanatics who are technology enthusiasts. Whereby, since doing our market research we gathered that it is mostly male dominated although aimed at females also. Further, the main attraction for our film is the use of camera cuts between scenes in order to emphasize on our theme of that being a psychological thriller.

 

 

In order to portray our theme, we would endeavor to use a range of marketing strategies to grasp the interests of our audience. For example, in our poster we would include a long shot of the main character being placed in the middle of the positioning frame with other elements of the film surrounding himself. The way we are trying to portray our film has been influenced by other successful film thrillers for instance: ‘The Expatriate’ or ‘Taken’.

 

Target Audience