3.10- Questionnaire for "Hide and Seek"

1) How old are you?

Feedback

18 and over - 7 people

16-17 - 3 people


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2) What do you think about the film? You are in our target audience do you think the film is interesting and thrilling?

Feedback

From the feedback I have received some of them thought it was ok, while others thought that it was interesting and kept them engaged.

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3) Did you like the film? If not, do you know anyone who you think might be interested in watching the film more than you? Why do you suggest them to watch the film?

Feedback

Yes: 9 people

No: 1 person

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4) What makes the opening sequence professional or not up to professional standards?

Feedback

Most of the audience thought that the sequence was done to a good standard but 1 person believed that the audio quality could have been better

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5) What impressions does my opening sequence give you as a audience? e.g Would you like to continue watching the film?

Feedback

Yes: 10 people

One person thought that the text in the opening sequence was chosen carefully to capture the audiences attention.

No: 0 people


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6) What else would you like to see/hear in the opening sequence that would encourage you to watch the rest of the film?

Feedback

Out of the 10 people that i received feedback from they all said that they would like to hear a scary/mysterious voice-over narrating at the beginning instead of having to read the text from the screen.

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7) Do you feel the sequence could be improved?

Feedback

Yes: 5 people

No: 5 people


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8) Did you have a particular scene that you liked?

Feedback

Yes: 2 people ( When the victim was being interrogated and also the flashbacks of the victim running through the corridors with fear)

No: 8


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9) Do you like watching thriller films?.. If no what is your favourite film genre?

Feedback

Yes: 6

No: 4 ( Comedy x2, Romance, animation)

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10) How much money do you spend watching films?

Feedback

£0-£5: 8 people(pirate DVD'S)

£10-£15: 1 person

£15-£20 and over: 1 person

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10. a)

Do you like it? If no, do you know anyone who you think might like it more than you? Why do you suggest them?

Feedback

Most of the audience said yes, they like it, however some of the people said that people who like watching thrillers that keep you in suspense for a long time might enjoy this film

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b) I was trying to make this film appeal to the target audiences that liked watching films in the genre of Thriller/Horror- 3 things I did to address this were:

• Use of Mysterious soundtrack
• Use of high paced flashback effects
• Use of Over-the-shoulder shots to create attention

Do you think these were good choices? If so why?

Feedback:

Majority of the audience believed that film did succeed in addressing the target audience however there were a few who in their opinion thought that the flashbacks could have been better by using non-digetic sound to create the sound of a flashback as each one appeared.

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c) What impressions does my opening sequence give you? - Does it interest you or does it cause you to lose interest in the film?

Feedback

The beginning of the sequence gives the impression of a thriller because of the way text is used to convey what is about to happen during the film.

Does the film interest you?

Yes: 10

No: 0

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d) Would you buy the T-shirt?

Yes: 2

No: 8

- Could this be a:

1. Hollywood film: 0 ( There isnt enough technology on this film for it to be a Hollywood film)

2. Low Budget film: 9

3. Art House film: 1 (If the more improvements were made such as visual/sound effects etc)

3.6 Time Management

http://ascoursesnsgamze.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-post_05.html

3.6.1 Call Sheet

http://ascoursesnsgamze.blogspot.com/2009/05/blog-post_4017.html

4. Evaluation

My group consisted of Myself, Nomad and Gamze. In the beginning stages of our coursework we had to come together as a group to decide what genre our film was going to be and how we were going to present it for a specific target audience. We decided to do a film on the genre of thriller. After deciding the genre of our film our group then had to make decisions on what each person in the group was going to do. It was decided that Nomad should create the story boards simply because he was the best in the group for drawing. Gamze had the work of creating a call sheet so that if something happened in our group (e.g one of the group members were absent) we would be able to contact them. I had the work of creating a script for the film sequence. .

After deciding what each member of our group was doing, we then created the script and story boards and then began filming. We decided to film in school as this was an easier option and would have caused less complications. While filming our sequence we came across a few problems to do with the other students from the lower years and also teachers walking around the school while we were trying to film our scenes. The beginning scene was filmed in the media room were it was dark, this created the atmosphere of the police officers room. Another problem that we had while filming was the characters, this was because we had to borrow another member of another group in media to play the role of the policeman, this made it difficult because our group had to wait until he was free before we could film. All of these problems prolonged our filming.

After finishing the filming we came together to upload the filming on the apple macs. Nomad was the one who done the editing. During editing the filming on the macs there were a lot of problems as sometimes "Final Cut Pro" wouldn't open straight away and there were days when it would take the whole lesson just for the programme to open. Once all the filming had been edited, there were complications with apple macs and our hard-drive, as a result we lost all our editing. We then had to upload the footage again from the beginning and Nomad had to begin the editing from the beginning again.

As a whole our group worked together as a group and finally finished the editing although it came with a lot of problems a long the way but we have managed to complete the work as best as we could.




Our group filming had a balance between positive and negatives, simply because of the difficulties we faced throughout our filming. The opening sequence for our film and the opening sequence for "V for Vendetta" had a lot of contrasts. One of them was the way in which sound was used, there were a lot of non-digetic sound used in the opening sequence for "V for Vendetta" for example, when the fire accompanied the flame title of the letter "V". In our opening sequence apart from the digetic music accompanying the sequence, the rest of the sound was digetic (e.g when the two characters are having conversation in the police officers room). One particular thing our group wanted to do was put in non-digetic sound for the flashbacks, however this didn't happen simply because there was complications during the editing process. In the opening sequence "The Strangers" there were similarities with our opening sequence, for example in the opening scene of "The Strangers", the audience is given information about the film by the text that is shown, makes them aware that the film is inspired by true events. A contrast for both my film sequence and "The Strangers" is that in my film it opens with a black background with white text informing the audience about what has happened, however my film doesn't have a voice -over to accompany the text. Some of the target audience for this film suggested that it would be a good idea to have a non-digetic voice-over while the text is showing instead of the audience reading it out for themselves.


Our Group could have achieved more by improving the way in which the scenes were shot and also the sound effects. However in terms of representation our group achieved what we intended to by making the production realistic. Our film represents a working class social group simply because the characters come from a working class background, the audience can relate to this due to the characters appearance and dialect

I Believe my film could be distributed in an independent cinema, in my opinion this film wouldn't be distributed in a multiplex cinema because "Hide And Seek" is a low budget production. Some of the original ideas had to be changed due to the time we had to film and edit. From the feedback I have received from the target audience, one person said that the audio quality could have been improved.

The Target audience for this film would be people who enjoy watching thrillers and horrors and also come from a working class background, this is because they would be able to relate more to the film. The target audience had a positive response, nevertheless it would have been a good idea if other audiences who enjoyed watching different genres, watched the film and gave feedback, this would be helpful as our group would get a range of different peoples ideas so that we could make more improvements to the film.

I addressed the target audience by making the production realistic so that the specific audience could relate. Some of the target audience thought that more visual effects could have been done to improve the quality, while others as a whole thought that the sequence had a good interesting opening. To improve the film, the digetic sound could have had a better quality. While filming we could have attached a microphone to the camera so that it could pick up more sound from the characters dialogue as they spoke.

Through the technologies I have learnt a range of things, both on Final Cut Pro and also e-blogger. During this project I have learnt how to edit a film by cutting clips and also adding effects. Another thing I have learnt is that filming takes a lot of time in general and I have to save my work straight away and make it clear as to were specific folders are kept so that the work doesn't get lost or deleted.

Looking back at the preliminary task I have learnt a lot of techniques such as different shots and camera angles. The preliminary task helped me in my main task by giving me knowledge on how to shoot particular shots and where to position the camera so that I get a correct camera angle for a particular scene.






Shot Pictures of Our Filming






This is the opening of the sequence, it tells the audience what has happened in the tragic event of the main character by using words. We used the fading technique so that it would seem more realistic.









Establishing shot setting the scene of the "Police Officers Questioning Room". The props used in this scene was a table, lamp and a tape recorder, this made the audience realise where the characters where in that particular scene. An over the shoulder shot is taken so that the audience cannot see the appearance of the face of the main character, this makes the audience stay in suspense as they cannot see what she looks like at that present moment. A cutaway is used to show flashbacks on the night of the incident.







A close up of the chasers face, this shot was done so that the audience could see the aggressiveness and anger of the chaser.



A close up of running feet showing the victim (Maddy) running away from the chaser.








A long shot, this gives the sense that the audience are seeing what is happening from the chasers point of view.









Medium shot showing "Maddy's" reaction, however in this shot the audience cannot see the chaser, this creates suspense as to who the chaser is.





Title of the sequence. The bold red style of writing suggests that the film is likely to be a thriller.

3.7 Analysis of your opening sequence (following the process 3.2)

Hide and Seek:

"Hide and Seek" is a thriller, which is about a girl called Maddy who has been abused by a man, however in the beginning she does not know who has abused her until it all comes flooding back to her while she is in the interview room explaining what happened to her during on that day. Maddy then realises who her attacker was at the end of the interview as she remembers seeing particular features of the Police Man



Lighting: Natural Light is used throughout the filming, this makes the film more realistic.



Sound: Mysterious music is playing in the background while the film begins, this makes the audience intrigued simply because they are waiting for something to happen. Digetic sound from the characters dialogue is heard throughout the sequence.


Mise-en-scene:

In the beginning of the film as the scene opens there is a table and 2 chairs with a lamp on the side of the table, this makes the audience realise that the establishing shot is in a police station (officers room)

Shots- As the scene opens an establishing shot of the Police Station (officers room) is taken so that the audience no where the 1st scene takes place.


- In this film flashbacks are used to show Maddy remembering what happened to her on the night of the incident.

-There are also different shot types such as close ups on particular scenes such as the scene where Maddy's face is shown being worried, this shot was made so that the audience could see her fear in Maddy's face as the attacker comes closer.

- Extreme close up on Maddy's eyes draws the audiences attention to the fear she is feeling. This shot is good as it shows


Directors - Nomad, Luciana and Gamze


Actors and Actresses: Adam (Police Man), Luciana (Maddy)

Who is the target audience?

"Hide and Seek" is for people who enjoy watching thrillers/horrors. It is also set for people who enjoy the feeling of suspense.

3 ways in which the opening sequence addresses the target audience:

• Before the opening scene starts, the audience is given a black background and words describing what is happening.

• The opening sequence addresses the target audience by having an establishing shot in the police station where the "Maddy" is getting interviewed. This makes the audience interested because we do not see the characters face but only get an over the shoulder shot of the character and we then see the police man facing her.
• The music at the beginning of the opening sequence addresses the target audience as it sounds mysterious making the audience want to watch it.

3.5 Story Boards

This is the Story Boards for our Group

3.5.1 Script to accompany storyboard- Hide and Seek

This is the Script for our group; Nomad, Luciana and Gamze

3.9 Success during the production

17/3/2009

Our group began filming 

23/3/2009

The school was closed but me and Nomad were able to come in to do some filming in the morning

26/3/2009

We were able to film most of the shots 

30/3/2009

Although we are not filming today I was able to do catch up work on the blog

3.8 Problems during the produtction

3/3/2009

Nomad was absent so this meant that we couldn't discuss the script and the story board properly.

10/3/2009

We were planning to film but I forgot the script at home and Nomad forgot his storyboard at home.

17/3/2009

We didn't have no problems

23/3/2009

Gamze was absent so, me and Nomad couldn't film everything we wanted to film on this day.

30/3/2009

We couldn't film today because we needed Adam to be in one of the shots, however he couldn't do it today simply because he had his own work to do today.

28/4/2009

Although we have uploaded the filming onto the apple macs so that we could edit the film, the work has been lost and is no longer on the computer.

30/4/2009

Today we went back on the computer and connected our hard drive to the computer to see if we could find our filming work but its still not there, so we had to go and get a camera so that we could upload all the filming footage again from the beginning. However our group didn't manage to complete this because the apple macs were running slow so no progress was made during this lesson.

3.4 Shot List For the Opening Sequence

Shot List

1. Establishing shot of a dark room, setting the scene
2. Over the shoulder shot of the listener (however you don't see the charaters face)
3. Close up of the listener
   
4. Extreme close up of girls eyes
5. Flashback -Long Shot of the girl running up the stairs
6. Over the shot of the listener and the girl
7. Flashback of the girl running through the corridor and the chaser, chasing her behind. 
8. Flashback -medium close up of girl running into a room while the shadow of the chaser goes by.
9. Shot reverse shot of the listener and then the eyes of the girl. 
10. Close up on the woman's feet running
11. Close up on the chasers (man) feet running
12. 
    

3.2- Studio and Marketing

"The Strangers" is an American thriller film which was produced by Nathan Kahane, Doug Davison and Roy Lee, and directed by Bryan Bertino. The thriller stars; Liv Tyler, Scott Speedman, Gemma Ward, Kip Weeks, Laura Margolis, Glenn Howerton. This film was inspired by an event from the directors childhood.



Distribution: Rogue Pictures



Budget: $9,000,000



An advertisement for the film was released on the internet in August 2007. The trailer began running originally in theaters attached to Rogue Pictures sci-fi film Doomsday in March 2008 Television advertisements began airing on networks in early-mid April 2008.



Box Office:

The Strangers opened in the United States and Canada on May 30, 2008 and in its opening weekend the film grossed $20,997,985 in 2,467 theaters, ranking number 3 at the box office and averaging $8,514 per theater.

The film has an impact on the target audience because the film is a certificate 15, which means that teenagers under the age of 15 cannot watch the film even if they enjoy that sort of genre.
People who enjoyed watching the film "Lord of The Rings-The return of the King" may enjoy this movie because it stars Liv Tyler, and some of the targeted audience may like the actress.


Audience:

The target audience for this film are people who enjoy watching horror/thriller films, that keep you guessing until the end.

The opening sequence addresses the target audience by making them think in their heads about the murder scene; "what has happened to the victim?", "Are they dead or alive?" or "what is going on?"

3.2- Analysis Of The Opening Sequence For The Thriller- " The Strangers"

The Strangers

The Strangers is a 2008 thriller/horror film, directed and written by Bryan Bertino. It is about a young couple who are terrorized one night by three masked assailants in their remote country house, this film was marketed by being inspired by a true story

Deconstruction of the titles

Relationship with sound: A non-digetic voice over is heard from a male character talking about the true facts that are happening in America during the time of this film and also describing to the audience some things that will happen during the film.
- The sound of a car engine starting is heard at the beginning of the sequence, however the audience cannot see anything at this particular moment.
-Non-digetic mysterious music is playing along side the noise of the car engine.
-As the opening sequence begins, the audience are introduced to a telephone call between an emergency operator and a young character called Jordan, who is describing what he can see, while crying. This technique sets the scene and makes the incident that has happened realistic.
-The title of the film appears in orange writing, with the sound effects of thunder, this symbolises a disturbed uneasy feeling, and gives the audience a scared feeling of not knowing what is about to happen.

Symbolism: The opening of the film begins, shots of different houses in the American suburbs.
-The house symbolise a suburban surrounding, and a quiet /pleasant neighbourhood.
-Shot of a big house and the sun setting behind it, while the car is driving through the neighbourhood, symbolises the day is coming to an end.
-Shot of a field with a country house in the middle of the field, suggests the person in the car might be driving somewhere out of the suburbs, into the country. This symbolises idleness and tranquility, although everything is deserted with just the houses and fields.
-The last shot in the opening sequence is dark with a pair of house lights on a random country house.
-The name of the title at the "The Strangers" is shown in an orange font, with a black background. The two colours both contrast each other because, the orange shows a sense of vibrant upbeat colour, whereas the black background gives that sense of mysterious, uncertainty.

Shot Types: The sequence starts with the camera fading in from black, into a shot of houses in the suburbs of America.
-Pan shot of different houses while the car is driving (although the audience cannot see the car, but they automatically know that the character/person is in a car, this is because of the sound of the engine starting at the beginning of the opening sequence.)
-Pan and also a fading of one section of houses to another, while the car is traveling through the different stages of the journey. As the car is moving through the suburbia into the country, the sun starts to set and gradually the day turns into night.
-Close up of the car with a gunshot in the screen, suggests that the incident took place recently, because of the close up of the smoke steaming from the car.
-Long Shot of two kids on their bike (the audience can see the two characters through the whole in the front of the car window (from the gunshot).
-Establishing shot of the deserted surrounding, with the sun beaming on the yellow grass and broken car. This suggests destruction
-Close up of the vinyl record spinning around on the turn table, shows the incident happened recently and gives the audience a disturbed confused feeling, which makes them want to keep on watching the film.
-Close up on the red flower petals and jewelery box laying on the floor.
-Close up of a blood stained knife laying on the table, with a red petal next to it, symbolises destruction, murder.
-Close up of blood splattered on a white washed wall, symbolises to opposites; White wall, clean and red blood; pain, death, murder.
-Close up of a shot gun, maybe used as well in the incident to cause harm.
-The title of the film appears in orange writing and then fades away into the black background.
As the close ups of all the props are seen e.g shot gun, blood stained knife etc, the emergency operators voice is still heard by the audience talking to the young character over the phone, about what they can see. The young boy "Jordan" sounds distressed, traumatised at what he can see. He cries; "There's blood everywhere!"


Mise-en-scene:

• Houses
• Trees/grass, sunlight/sunset behind the house
• Garden Gates
• Field with 1 house in the middle (sense of idleness)
• Car with gunshot through the middle of the front window screen
• Kids in the background on their bikes
• Smoke coming out of the car
• A house with an door open
• Two Kids walking up the stairs to the house
• The two kids with rucksacks on their backs, both dressed in white shirts and black school trousers.
• Vinyl record spinning on a turn table-Symbolises the incident has happened recently
• Red flower petals on the floor next to a jewellery box
• Knife with blood on it- Someone has been hurt severely
• Blood stains on a white wall
• A shot gun on the table

Lighting:As the voice over is speaking there is factual information in the screen, informing the audience about what is happening in America. This is shown in a black background with an orange writing font.

-Natural lighting is used outside while the audience get a view at the different areas and houses.

-The sun is used as one of the lights.

-As the night falls lighting from the houses are turned from the outside, this suggests to the audience that time has moved on and night has fallen.

Editing: Mysterious echoing sound effects are used while the names of the presentations are being shown.

- The film opens with a voice over of a man describing what the audience is about to see, and informing the audience that this film is inspired by true events.

-Although there is a voice over talking about what is about to happen, the audience can also see sentences of what the man is saying, so that they can read along. This technique enables the audience to have some sort of interaction with the opening sequence because the director makes them have the option of reading what appears on the screen.

3.3 Synopsis of your complete film 3.1

Thriller:

In the film there will be a sequence of flashbacks re-enforced with the characters voice which will be used as a voice over, explaining to the person what happened to her in the past. As the character is retelling her story, there will be flashbacks of the character in the actual incident. This technique will be used so that the audience can get an insight as to what happened to the girl on the day of the incident. As the flashbacks are taking place and the voice over is heard, sound effects will be used for flashbacks to create fear for the audience and also to make the audience know that the character is going back in her past and retelling what actually happened to her. The flashbacks give a brief description at the beginning of the opening sequence as to what happened to the character and what the audience should expect during the film. (psycho killer). The character will be a woman and she will begin the opening sequence by retelling her story of being chased by a psycho killer, the audience will be able to see the story through the flashbacks. The woman character will be sitting down on a chair and talking to another person about her traumatising past.

3.2 Research and Planning-V for Vendetta

Relationship to the sound for V for vendetta- the use the of sound when the letter V is in flames at the start of the film. The fire whoosh accompanies the flame title "V" , it is diegetically intended fire.



symbolism- A "V" in flames in a circle, fade in red words: For Vendetta. The flames in a circle symbolize a link to the gun powder plot and a phoenix. V is the 2nd reincarnation of the gunpowder plot. The red letters emphasize danger and anger.


Technical construction- the flames were probably created using CGI, which is a neat construction.


Deconstruction of the shot sequence


Editing-Opens with a poetic voiceover which describes the plot as a beautiful thing, sets up the theme, sets up the romantic ideal.
-Cross-cutting of V and Evey underscored by TV soundbridge
-Eye line match between man being hanged and crowd woman


Mise-en-scene-Mask- it connotates mystery and heroism about this chapter
-17th century costume denotes the original gunpowder plot era
- Fire also represents gunpowder plot.


Lighting-Opening scene uses key lighting with minimal fill to illustrate the 17th century setting.
-Brightly lit TV shot takes central focus and connotes an important message is being given.
-Yellowish tint applied to 17th century scene.

Sound- Opening ; during company logos american old style music connotates war.
-Non-diegetic voiceover from Evey (the main character)
-Foley sounds added to increase tension e.g when the people are chasing guy fawks and when he is dropped in the noose.


Marketing


In the class we were discussing the opening film of "V for Vendetta", we looked at a summary of how the details had an impact on the target audience;

-The certificate of the film is 15 people under 15 may want to watch the film, however they are under age
-Natalie Portman done "Star Wars" and people that watched that may have enjoyed the film, so they want to watch more of her films.
-The audience may like the actors that starred in the film so this may make them want to watch the film.

3.1-What I have learnt by doing the preliminary exercise

During the preliminary exercise I have learnt that when you do a 180-degree rule all the cameras have to be on the same side, this will make it look as though there is no cut between scenes. My group (Gamze and Nomad) achieved this rule by filiming me walking through the door and sitting down at a table.
The Shot-reverse-shot techinique was shown in a conversation between me and Gamze sitting at a table. Shot-reverse-shot is used usually when two characters are having a conversation. In this technique we get a view of the face and part of the body of the character while in conversation.

During this exercise I have learnt about differnt camera angles and shots. I have also learnt how to upload filming on final cut pro and how to edit different scenes on the software by cutting them.