Feedback about music

For the second piece of music that I have created for my opening, I created 2 variations of the piece as I wasn't too sure about which one would best suit the footage which I wanted it to accompany. I therefore played the 2 variations to a friend and asked them for their opinion. I already knew which one I preferred and luckily my friend, without saying which piece I preferred, agreed with me so I have decided to use that variation of the music.
I preferred the piece of music that I have used because I feel that it is less intrusive as the guitar is not as strong. I think this piece best suits the footage it is to accompany as it doesn't take away from the visual effects that I have added to the footage but it does help to create tension.

Technical difficulties

Whilst I was uploading the second lot of footage I came across as technical difficulty. I struggled to get the camera to connect with iMovie. To cure this problem I just had to keep turning the camera on and off, closing and re-opening iMovie, changing the camera and changing the firewire. This problem has cost me a lot of time in the editing of the film.

Feedback about music & footage

I played the piece of music that I have created for the flashback scene to my friends. They thought it was very good and that it fitted the scene well. Because of this, I have decided that I will use this piece of music for these scenes.

I have also shown the footage that we filmed to some of my cast. We are all really pleased with the results so far but we have decided that we will need to re-film the road scene. This is because the camera is very shaky and makes the piece of footage quite difficult to watch. Also, I wanted to try and speed parts of this scene up which isn't possible to do if I leave the footage that way it is.

Previous year 12 thriller openings

I have had a look at the school's channel on YouTube and I've watched some of the previous year 12 thriller openings that are on there. I have then analysed these openings for their strengths and weaknesses.

Vengeance

Strengths
• The music creates a good tense atmosphere.
• I like the way a hand-held camera is used to follow the skier.
• Variety of shots.
Weaknesses
• There is no narrative to follow.
• The opening scene doesn't make any sense.

Regret?

Strengths
• I like the use of juxtaposition.
• Good visual effects were used.
• I liked the use of the music when the guy was remembering what had happened.
Weaknesses
• I think that the reversing of the car on the drive was a bit unnecessary.
• The white flashes at the end of the flashbacks went on for a bit too long.

Third Floor

Strengths
• I like the way the music builds up over the opening credits.
• Good transitions.
• I like the aerial shot over the guy on the floor of the lift.
• Good distinction between present day and flashbacks.
Weaknesses
• I think some of the credits should have been laid over shots so that more time was taken up with footage and less time was taken up with credits.
• Different music could have maybe been used for the flashbacks.

Re:Venge

Strengths
• I like the music used.
• I like the way the opening shot has been done twice.
• Variety of shot angles were used.
Weaknesses
• Could have done with a few more mid-shots/close-ups.
• No narrative to follow.
• It wasn't clear if the black and white footage was supposed to be a flashback or not.

Back-up alternative script

I found that it was very difficult to get a 3rd boy to be in the film as it was hard to find someone else who was available when we were filming. Because this happened a day before filming, I wrote an alternative script for scenes 2 & 3 just in case we couldn't find anyone available on the day.

Scene 2
(3 walks into room)
5: "You alright?"
3: "Yeah I'm fine."
5: "Do you want to walk down the shop?"
3: "Yeah why not."

Scene 3
3: "Ahh, I just remembered, I've gotta do something. I'll see you later."
5: "Okay then, see you later."

When I was doing some test shots, I found that I wasn't able to fit a 3rd person into the shot in scene 2. This was because I wasn't able to get the camera far enough back in the conservatory.
Since I have come across these 2 problems, I have decided that it would be easier if I just had 2 boys in the film so I am going to use the back-up script for scenes 2 & 3.

Target audience

My target audience is;
• Aged between 16 and 29.
• Mainly male.
• Also consisting of females.
• People who like watching psychological thriller films.
• People who enjoy watching films with male lead characters.
• The male audience are more likely to read sport and music magazines whereas the female audience are more likely to read fashion and gossip magazines.
• The male audience is more likely to watch comedy and factual programs whereas the female audience is more likely to watch comedy and drama programs.
• The male audience is more likely to read newspapers than the female audience.

From the age group of 16 to 29 I found out that;
• The favourite sub-genre of Thriller films amongst males was psychological whereas this sub-genre came joint top with 3 other sub-genres amongst the females.
• The majority of males and females prefer to watch films with a male lead character. This means that my target audience would be happy with my choice of having both my main characters as males.
• To be able to reach my target audience through advertising, I found that the best places to advertise my film were;
• Music, fashion & film magazines. Music magazines would reach both males and females. Males read music magazines rather than females so this would reach the majority of my target audience better. Fashion magazines would only allow me to reach females but I found that this was the most popular magazine amongst females. Film magazines would be the most obvious place to advertise as it is a film that I am trying to distribute. I found that this was read by both males and females as they both suggested this as an alternative magazine that they read.
• TV channels that have comedy, drama and factual programs on. Comedy programs were the most popular amongst males and females so this would allow me to reach a lot of people that are in my target audience. Factual programs came in as the second most popular type of program amongst males. There was quite a difference in the amount of males that watch factual programs compared to females, allowing me to reach a mainly male audience for my film. Drama programs were popular amongst males and females so I would be able to reach a big audience. Out of all the different types of programs that people watch, drama is the most similar to a Psychological Thriller film so this would therefore be a good audience to appeal to.

Audience research

In order to carry out my audience research, I drew up a questionnaire which I could then give to my target audience.

I asked 7 different questions to obtain feedback from my target audience. These are the questions that I asked and why I asked them.
Are you male or female?
I asked my audience to say whether they were male or female so that I could see the difference between the answers that were given my males compared to those given by females.
Age?
The age ensured that I was only asking my target audience.
What is your favourite Thriller film?
This question set out the rest of the questionnaire as it was then obvious that it was about thriller films and it got the audience thinking about thriller films.
What are your favourite sub-genres of Thriller?
This allowed me to see what the most popular sub-genre of thriller was.
What things do you expect to see in a Psychological Thriller?
I asked my audience to give me 3 things each for this question so I got a good selection of things that they’d like to see without having lots of things repeated.
Do you prefer to watch films with a male or a female lead character?
I thought this was an interesting question to ask. I thought that males would prefer to watch females and that females would prefer to watch males. I also wanted to see whether the majority of my target audience would agree with me on my choice of main characters.
What other media do you consume?
This allowed me to find out what other media my target audience consumes so I could get an idea of their likes and interests. This would help me in the distributing of my film.

This is the feedback that I got from my questionnaire.
Are you male or female?
I asked 10 males and 10 females across my target audience so that I got a fair representation in my feedback.







Age?
I only asked people who where within the age range of my target audience so that I got a representation of what they wanted to see in a Thriller film rather than asking those who the film isn't aimed at.






What is your favourite Thriller film?
This was just a general question that I used to get people to think about Thriller films.







What are your favourite sub-genres of Thriller?
I found that the most popular sub-genre of Thriller amongst my male target audience was psychological. This means that my film will appeal to my target audience as it is in the sub-genre that they are most likely to watch. Amongst the females in my target audience, Psychological came joint top with 3 other sub-genre so it is still amongst their favourite sub-genres of Thriller.


What things do you expect to see in a Psychological Thriller?
This question allowed me to see what elements my target audience liked to see in Psychological Thrillers. Quite a few of the elements on this list do come up in my Triller opening.











  Do you prefer to watch films with a male or a female lead character?
I was quite suprised by this answer as I thought that maybe the males would prefer watching female lead characters and that the females would prefer watching male lead characters. However, my target audience went against what I thought and put that both males and females prefered to watch films with a male lead character. This means that my film will appeal to my target audience as both of my main characters are male.

What other media do you consume?
Magazines:
These questions meant that I was able to gather information about what other media my target audience consumes. This would give me a good idea as to where would be the best place to advertise my film in order to attract my target audience. I found that the best types of magazines to advertise my film were music, fashion and film.

TV:
I found that the best TV channels on which to advertise my film in order to reach my target audience would be those that had comedy, factual and drama programs on them.

Newspapers:
As film reviews often appear in newspapers, I found that the best type of newspaper in which I could appeal to my target audience in the most effective way would be tabloid newspapers.

Location photos

These are the photos of the locations that I used within the opening scenes of my Thriller film.
Flashback scenes

This is the corner of the road where I filmed the flashback scenes.
Scene 1

This is the living room that I used as the man's house in scene 1.
Scene 2

This is the bathroom where I filmed the driver just after his flashback.

This is the conservatory which I used as the boy's house in scene 2.
Scene 3

This is where the boys come out of the gate to go down the shop and where the man is hiding behind the tree.
(NB: There was a tree in the front of this shot when we filmed it.)

This is the piece of road which I used to film the boys being followed by the man.

This is the end of the road where the boys went off their separate ways and the driver was still followed by the man.

This is where the boy turns round to see if someone is following him, to find out that no-one is there but the man is now behind him.

Script

For my Thriller opening I don't really want a rigid a script as I want it to seem as natural as possible. I have written a script that will act as a guideline to my actors so they know what sort of thing I want to be said and by who in what shots.

Person key:
• 1 - man
• 2 - woman
• 3 - driver
• 4 - girl
• 5 - boy
• 6 - boy

Flashback:
1: [shouts] “No!” (prolonged)

Scene 1:
4: (handing over the tea) “Here you go.”
1: “Thanks…it was a year ago today.”
4: “I know, just try not to think about what happened.”
(1 stands up)
4: “Where are you going?”
1: (putting on coat & walking out the door) “Out.”

Scene 2:
3: (standing up) “I’ll be back in a minute.”
6: “Ok.”
After 3 returns to the room.
5: “I’m gonna go now. Are you coming?”
3: “Yeah can do.”
3, 5 & 6 say “bye” to each other.

Alternative scene 2:
6: (3 walks into the room) “You alright?”
3: “Yeah I’m fine.”
5: “I’m gonna go, are you coming?”
3: “Yeah, can do.”
3, 5 & 6 say “bye” to each other.

Scene 3:
5: “I’m going this way so I’ll see you later.”
3: “Alright then, see you later.”

Character, props & costume list

Characters
• The main characters are a man in his mid 20s and a boy in his late teens.
• The other characters are; a woman in her mid 20s, 2 boys in the late teens and a girl in her late teens.

Props
• A black car
• A cup of tea/coffee
• A mirror

Costume
• The woman, the girl and the 2 boys - casual dress.
• The man and the boy (in the flashback scene) - casual dress.
• The man (present day scenes) - a black top/jumper, jeans and a grey coat.
• The boy (present day scenes) - casual dress and a black and red hoodie/jacket.