Evaluation Question 6

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

I have learnt a lot about technology in the process of creating my film opening. When I started my project I had no experience with DSLR's, filming, editing or composing music; the whole experience was entirely new. Therefore I have had to learn everything required for me to make my film opening from scratch.

The very first thing we did was to set up our blogs.

I had never used 'Blogger' before so this was all new. We chose templates, designs, colours and fonts to personalise each of our blogs individually before moving on to use them for writing posts.

I also had to learn how to add pictures and embed videos into my blog. I had never had to do this before in any computer programme so I had to learn how to get videos from 'YouTube' actually into my blog without using a link.

I then learnt how to create link lists to organise my blog so my posts where easy to find and in the right order.

I also had to learn how to set up a 'YouTube' account. Although I had used 'YouTube' in the past, I'd never had my own account so didn't know how to upload videos, or edit them by changing titles and thumbnails. I had to pick this up quickly as we got all our footage onto our blogs by first uploading it to our channel and embedding it from there.

I also had to learn how to create a presentation and pitch with it effectively in order to sell my film idea to enable me to continue making it through the course. I was very nervous before it but I managed to get through it successfully to achieve the best pitch I could've. 

I began with learning about the cameras. I had never used one for photography or filming before so I had to become familiar with how they worked before I began my project. I did this in our prelim task. I had to learn about how lighting effects the footage and where to position the camera for the best quality shot. Then I had to understand how to adjust the ISO on the camera depending on the level of light and how this effected the quality of the picture.

Next I learnt about the white balance on the camera, of all the things this is the one that stuck in my mind as the most important. Before I filmed anything for my opening I held a piece of white paper up in front of the camera to ensure the colouring was correct and nothing was too orange or too blue. This meant that my footage was all correctly exposed and coloured.
I also learnt how to use manual focus to vary the footage and create different moods and bring the audience's attention to areas which I wanted them to focus on in the composition of the shot.

Once I'd done this, the next thing I had to focus on was my ident. I filmed my dog, Connie, yawning against a green screen using as much natural light as possible.

Once I had the footage I uploaded it to 'Final Cut' for my first bit of work editing on my opening.

I learnt how to change the green screen to different backgrounds by first layering Connie up in front of colour bars. Next I had to learn how to use 'Photoshop' to create a background as similar as I could to that of the MGM logo with the addition of my own 'Schnauzer Studios' twist.

 I had to cut the middle out of the MGM logo on photoshop to leave room for Connie to take centre stage instead of the lion.

Then I had to learn how to use 'Illustrator' to create the text using a font as similar to the one used in the MGM logo as possible. Once the background had been created I had to put the new layer on top of the one of Connie in 'Final Cut' to create my ident.

I used similar skills to this when creating the news report. This was also filmed on a green screen and then layered over a background of a newsroom to make it look like a real report. Then the non-diegetic sound of a news room could also be layered over the clip to create an overall very convincing report.

Then I learnt that the sound recorded by the DSLR's wasn't good enough quality to be used in my film, therefore, for my scenes with dialogue, I decided use a microphone plugged into the camera and held as close to the actor as possible.
The first time I filmed my opening scene I didn't use a microphone and the difference is definitely noticeable.

My first take (without microphone):

My second take (with microphone):

This meant the dialogue in my film was as clear as possible to make it professional and easy for the audience to hear. You can hear this in the beginning of my film opening where Alannah is speaking and in the news report in flashback two.

I had also never edited any footage before, especially not using something like 'Final Cut Pro'. I had a practice using it when I created my prelim so I had a head start with learning the ropes when it came to my actual film opening. First I started by learning how to actually import the footage and chose which section of the clips I wanted to use in my film to drag these onto my timeline. With the actual footage in place I then learnt how to add transitions, filters, sound effects and credits in layers on top of the footage to make it as interesting as possible for the audience as well as making the plot easy to understand.

Within this process I learnt how to chop and change the sound to get it to match parts of the footage e.g. when I had to use the blade tool to 'cut out' the beeps from my heart rate monitor sound effect to ensure they lined up with the visual animation the audience could see.

I also learnt how to detach the audio from the footage in order to control what sound the audience can hear and create sound bridges between scenes to pull the whole thing together in a more fast paced, cohesive structure. I did this specifically with the sound from the news report. The actual report was a scene in its own right which I then played on my TV and recorded with a DSLR to create the tracking shot when Lucy enters the room. However, the sound from this was not very clear and didn't fit with the quality of the sound in the rest of my film. To rectify this I imported the original  footage and detached the audio. Then I muted the audio on the clip of Lucy walking into the room and layered the original sound over the top instead.

You can see the difference in my two rough cuts.

Rough Cut 5 (without the sound bridge and original sound):

Final Cut (with the sound bridge and original sound):

This is much better and clearer than before and something I never would have known how to do before I began this process

When it came to creating the soundtrack I was more than a little bit scared. I have never had any experience with music whether it be playing, composing or creating it. I made the underscore I did using the app 'Garage Band' to layer different instruments up to build tension through different parts of my opening. I decided to set the key to minor because I wanted the music to have a somber tone. From there I selected different instruments, trying different ones out on top of each other until I created the effect I'd imagined. I even learnt how to play the musical instruments on a computer keyboard. I think this composition is one of the things I am most proud of in this whole process because its definitely the one I had the most fear about and I'm so so happy with the resulting soundtrack I've created.

Final Sound Cut:

I had a clear idea of how I wanted my titles to look however, I didn't know how to use the programmes needed to create this. Therefore I had to learn how to use both 'Illustrator' and 'After Effects' to make the animated text I'd imagined at the end of my opening.
First I learnt how to use 'Illustrator' to create the actual text more specific to my film opening in a font that wasn't available on 'Final Cut'. I had to learn how to change the colour of the text, adding effects such as the 'inner glow' one we put on the letters to give them more depth and a slightly sinister light. I also learnt how to outline each of the letters and put them on individual layers so they could be manipulated individually.

Next I moved onto learning how to use 'Aftereffects' to animate the letters so they came in from different areas of the screen to form the words using keyframes. I learnt how to put different effects on this too using things such as 'easy ease' to change the movements of the letters to be slower and more sinister.

Finally, I learnt how to use a camera layer on after effects and turn the letters of my titles 3D and into vectors to the camera could move up to and around them.

All these skills combined were used to make the final product which I love and think works really well in rounding up my opening.

Overall almost everything I've done in the process of making this opening has been learnt from scratch from filming the footage, to editing, to sound. I am so happy with all the new skills I've learnt and how the final product has turned out. I think a clear vision and grit determination had the biggest roles to play here and I'm very pleased to say that I think it paid off.

Evaluation Question 3

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


I believe my media product would be distributed by a company such as 'Optimum Releasing' because this is a distribution company which tends to distribute UK independent films such as my own. They recently distributed the film 'Kill List' (2011) which was also a crime film and, similar to mine, it was made on a very tiny budget, in fact with just £500,000. It then went on to make a worldwide gross profit of $171,760. Therefore I think this would be the perfect institution to distribute my film as it's success is clear with other films in similar genres also made with limited budgets in the UK.
Other UK films also distributed by Optimum Releasing are 'The Awakening' in 2012 which had a budget of $3 million and made a worldwide gross profit of $209,696.

Optimum releasing was founded in 1999 and is currently owned by one of Europe's leading companies in the co-production, acquisition, distribution and marketing of feature films - StudioCanal.
The company acts as StudioCanal's releasing subsidiary in the UK. In 2011 StudioCanal re-branded Optimum Releasing to become part of the StudioCanal brand. It is now called StudioCanal UK.

After looking at the distribution process and the production of other low budget films, I believe I could make my film opening into a full feature length production on a budget of around $3 million pounds. It would not need a huge budget anyway as it is set in only one location - Dreamtown. The location itself would be very naturalistic and would not need editing or aftereffects therefore saving a lot of money in post-production. 
It would, however, need a signifiant cast to recreate the atmosphere and feeling of a town and large groups of professionals e.g. the police force, doctors, teachers etc. I would therefore need extras to work for me but would have to keep numbers low as they can sometimes cost up to £80 a day each.

There is one main protagonist but also several other characters with whom she connects to and works with, one of which would be a female police officer who almost becomes her maternal figure and caregiver after the loss of her parents. These salaries would also have to be covered by the budget.

The fact that everything must be naturalistic may actually increase the budget as convincing costumes, props and locations (hospitals and police stations etc) must be sourced and used. 

I would also have to cover the cost of the equipment however, I would not need massively expensive equipment as the conditions we would be filming in would not be too adverse e.g. there is not very much shooting in the dark therefore large, expensive sense would not be needed and would not be shooting on difficult terrain as a lot of the scenes take place in buildings and during working hours in a residential town. 

To keep costs down I would use unknown actors so their salaries are more manageable. I would also have minimal sets and costume. 
I would then have minimal theatrical release so the film would only go into specific cinemas to reduce distribution costs. I would also have to use creative and cheap marketing techniques as usually one third of the films budget goes on this. To bring these costs down I would have to use methods such as engaging in social media to reach a wide audience quickly and cheaply. I could do this by covering different platforms, for example, having a Facebook page for the film as a central hub which could then link to a youtube account releasing trailers, behind the scenes clips and cast interviews to create hype around the film. These videos could also be spread using the site Instagram where clips of the interviews and trailers could be uploaded with links to the youtube channel. This would also be a good platform to use in displaying posters or stills of the film, again to raise awareness and get the film marketing out to a very wide audience for very little cost. This method of distribution would be cheaper than creating billboards and TV adverts whilst still creating widespread publicity about the film. 
I think I would have my film shown in film festivals such as the Cambridge - Watersprite International Student Film Festival for young film makers. This is a good way to get my film seen by the public in a more cost efficient way than through theatrical release. 

Evaluation Question 7

Looking back on your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression of it to the full product?

Looking back on our prelim is very funny because I can see just how much my media ability has progressed. I can see in our first prelim that some of the shots are not white balanced (the shot of the clock is totally tinted blue) and we missed an entire scene out when we were filming so it looks like Jenny just appears across the table from me. This means the continuity is exceptionally questionable.

Now I have learnt how to correctly use a DSLR camera to get footage which looks as much like real life as possible. I can do this by adjusting my white balance and my ISO which I didn't understand when we made the prelim.

I've also learnt how to edit better by using transitions, titles and filters to make the footage look as interesting as possible for the audience whilst creating a very clear plot line which can be easily understood.
I've also learnt how to use microphones when recording my dialogue to make the sound clearer and more professional. This comes across when you compare the speech in the beginning of my film opening and in the news report to that which we recorded in the prelim.

I've now learnt how to use the manual focus on a DSLR to do push and pull focuses to vary the footage and create different moods and effects. This was all new to me and I have learnt in the process of filming, not during my prelim.

I also learnt how to use a bigger range of shots including wide shots and tracking shots which I didn't use in my prelim. This is because I became more familiar with the use the camera and the effect my angles and shot types would have. I was therefore able to manipulate my effect through my camera work.

In our prelims we had no non-diegetic sound. This meant we didn't have to learn how to use 'Garage Band' to compose our own soundtracks to run under the action we filmed. For my opening I did do this and spent many hours trying out different layers of instruments to create the perfect underscore for my film. This increases the impact the action has as sound effects us on a level visual stimulation never can so the soundtrack adds another dimension to the sequence, creating a more impactful performance.

Not only have I learnt how to improve my technical skills, but I've also improved with my work behind the scenes. Producing a film opening on my own meant I had to plan everything that needed doing exceptionally intricately to ensure that every step got completed. This required multiple sheets of paper containing the synopsis, scene by scene breakdowns, shot lists, filming schedules, character profiles, location scouts and prop lists.

We just filmed our prelim in school in an empty room so this required no location scouts at all. Conversely, for my opening I needed very specific settings to achieve verisimilitude in my opening to make the story understandable. This was very difficult, especially finding somewhere to film the hospital scene, as it was a very specific location which is difficult to replicate without being in an actual clinical environment. However, I managed to create it in our school disabled bathroom by using clever angles and realistic costumes and props. 

It was a massive job which I managed to organise smoothly so everything got done and was ready for editing. I could not have done this when I made my prelim, I simply didn't have the knowledge or any concept of how big a job creating films is and I never would have been able to organise the amount of things required for the production of a film opening by myself.

I have also learnt loads about pre-production and everything that goes into the creation of a story for film. Before my prelim we did absolutely no research about the genre or target audience whereas, for my film opening, I had to do extensive audience research to discover the best target audience for my film and then tailored my film opening to appeal to them in order to create something that would have increased ticket sales and profits.

I also had to do loads of research into the genre I had picked - a crime thriller - to discover the genre conventions and then decide how to conform to them and where it would be beneficial to break the usual conventions. I closely looked into shot types, camera angles, casting, sound, fonts, titles, credits and mis-en-scene in order to have a well developed knowledge of the genre I was working in to ensure my film opening could be clearly defined as a crime thriller.
I also looked into the history of crime thrillers and famous directors in the genre to give me a well rounded understanding of what I was working within so I could do this to the best of my abilities.

I also had to learn how to direct actors. In our prelim we (painfully) acted in it ourselves so we knew exactly what we were doing and where we needed to be. There was also no casting involved, no consideration of how we wanted the characters to look and no script or character profiles to create and familiarise ourselves with.
When I created my opening I cast other actors so had to go through the process of deciding on the age and appearance I wanted my characters to have. Then I had to create scripts for them to learn and schedule my filming around their availability. I was working with other people, mostly with Lucy, and trying to convey my vision to her so she could portray it as I'd imagined. This was difficult as I had a specific idea about the character I wanted to create so I wrote a character profile to try an help her understand and develop Emma. The filming took many takes and re-shoots as I was trying to talk to Lucy and make sure she was acting the way I wanted her to whilst also concentrating on the camera and making sure everything was right including the white balance, ISO and most difficultly, the manual focus.
At the beginning I also worked with Alannah who is only 7 and I was trying to direct her in a way she'd understand and respond to. This was challenging but we got there eventually and I was really happy with the final shot.

When I created my prelim I did no rough cuts, only one final cut. This was because I had very little experience with editing and I received no audience feedback which I could use to help me improve my final product. Whereas, for my opening, I did 7 rough cuts, each one being improved with my own criticism and that provided through feedback from my target audience. Therefore my final product is much more fine-tuned and tailored to achieve it's intention of appealing to my specific target audience than my prelim which was just a stab in the dark.


The editing process was much longer overall for the film opening rather than the prelim because there were a lot more complicated things to add (such as transitions, filters and sound effects) and more footage to deal with. I also had to add on company credits and titles, none of which I did for my prelim, which added on time as they were more things to learn. When creating my titles I learnt how to use 'After Effects' to animate the letters and 'Illustrator' to create the exact text I'd imagined.

I also learnt how to use 'Photoshop' when creating my ident (another thing I didn't have to do for my prelim).

Overall I have learnt so much since our preliminary task, it was very rough, the filming wasn't brilliant and even the editing couldn't save the huge mistakes in our continuity. From there I've learnt how to make a pretty professional looking film opening, using the DSLRs properly to get footage which looks like real life, 'FinalCut Pro' to edit my opening into an entertaining and understandable sequence, work with actors successfully to create believable characters, and plan and research to make sure that, were my film to be released, it would be successful at the box office.

Overall in this process I have learnt how to:
-Set up a blog on Blogger
-Compose blog posts
-Embed pictures and videos into my blog
-Organise my blog using templates, layouts and link lists
-Set up a youtube account
-Upload videos to youtube
-Edit them by changing titles, descriptions and thumbnails
-How to create a persuasive presentation to effectively pitch my film idea
-Use DSLR cameras to collect raw footage
-Change settings on the cameras such as ISO and white balance and understand the effect this will have on my footage
-Use manual focus to make sure the footage is crisp and clear (making sure the eyes are in focus) but also doing focus changes such as push and pull focus' for dramatic effect
-How to use a green screen and getting the correct amount of natural light on it to make sure it's effective
-How to then change the green screen to any background I desire using 'Final Cut Pro'
-How to use 'Photoshop' 'Illustrator' and 'After Effects'
-How to use a microphone to record clear dialogue
-How to edit footage using 'Final Cut Pro' adding effects such as transitions, filters and sound effects to create a cohesive, entertaining, understandable film opening
-How to make credits and titles using 'Final Cut Pro' 'Illustrator' and 'After Effects' (to animate the text)
-How to detach audio from footage in 'Final Cut Pro' to create sound bridges and layer dialogue
-Compose a soundtrack on 'Garage Band'
-Do audience and genre research to identify primary and secondary target audiences create a film opening that fits within a genre and appeals to my specific target audience
-Organise myself and my actors by creating filming timetables to ensure that everything gets done on track and to a high standard
-Create character profiles, shot lists, prop lists and location scouts to ensure I have everything I need for a productive, successful shoot
-Write a screenplay
-Create a storyboard
-Get audience feedback and take the constructive criticism to improve my film to make it the best it can possibly be so it appeals effectively to my target audience 
-Learn and understand the meaning of key words such as diegetic and non-deigtetic sound
-Learn the different shot types and camera angles that I could then use when filming my own opening

Overall I have learnt almost everything from scratch on how to make a film opening by myself and I am very proud of what I have managed to achieve.

Evaluation Question 5

How did you attract/address your audience?

I had seen from my audience research that the gender and age of the protagonist had a direct impact on the target audience. Therefore, to appeal to my young, female target audience I have a an 18 year old, female protagonist. This was my first step in appealing to my audience.
The general audiences for crime thrillers are very varied in age and gender ranging from 40-54 year old men to 18-24 year old women. Therefore I will have to use specific codes in order to attract my intended target audience.

One thing I would do in my film would be to use age appropriate intertextuality e.g. having my protagonist listening to relevant music or referring to popular TV shows in conversation. This will help my target audience relate to the characters more and consequently make them more likely to go and see the film, enjoy it and recommend it to others in their social circles. Including issues relevant to those to whom the film is aimed at will help engage them in the story and the characters, therefore appealing to them effectively.

Another way I would appeal to my target audience would be to involve a love interest with my protagonist. This is a feature of film which massively appeals to the age and gender of those in my target audience. Therefore including a subplot involving a love story makes them much more likely to want to watch the film. It is an area of life that, in this life stage in particular, is glorified and exaggerated to the extreme in the media because it's what sparks people's interest. So, instead of fighting it, I am embracing this undoubtably popular selling point to attract my target audience to my film.

I will also keep the film relevant to my target audience by referencing things that are important in my target audience's life such as school, friends, relationships, siblings, struggles with parents etc. This means I am constantly bringing the target audience into the film, inviting them to engage with my characters and, consequently, their story no matter how different it may be from their everyday life. As long as I make them feel as though they're understood and fairly represented, they should appreciate and enjoy the film and it's story.

Finally I will ensure that my editing is fast paced and interesting to ensure my audience is engaged and interested in what's going on. A younger target audience will be quick on the uptake of plot lines and can therefore keep up with a more rapid plot development with the inclusion of narrative enigmas. This will all keep them on their toes, constantly paying attention to the film and maintaining their interest rather than having dull, slow moving bits of narrative. This will mean that my target audience are more likely to enjoy the action and be surprised by plot twists and a complex narrative.

However, I am also aware that I must appeal to my secondary target audience as well. Therefore there will be certain things I will include in the film to ensure they are attracted to it as well.

I will involve slightly older characters that my more mature target audience can relate to and understand such as the chief police investigator later on in the film who becomes a maternal figure to Emma. This brings an older generation into the film as well as the younger ones by having the two age groups interact and engage during the film.

Also, the involvement of a younger character such as Emma's younger sister evokes sympathy in my secondary target audience, especially women aged 26-39 who may have children of their own. This engages them not only through being able to relate to the characters but through their emotional connection to them as well.

The complex, intelligent plot line of my film will also appeal to my secondary target audience because there will be lots of plot twists and narrative enigmas to keep them interested and engaged in the story, ensuring it isn't too immature for their tastes.

Evaluation Question 4

Who would the audience be for your media product?

My primary target audience is 18-25 year old ABC1 females. This is because, after extensive research, I found that the most successful crime thriller I researched at the box office was 'Gone Girl' which had a young, female target audience. I knew I wanted a female protagonist in my film and this statistic supported the idea that this could be achieved with successful profits. I wanted to do this to challenge genre conventions as I wanted to encourage the idea that women can be strong and independent without the need for a man. I was also unconventional as I used characters younger in age than is typical in this genre of film. This is because I wanted to attract a younger target audience and, in order to do this, I needed to reflect the audience in the characteristics of my protagonist.

My secondary target audience is ABC1 women aged 26-39. This is because my film is quite female heavy, although there will definitely be male characters - including policemen, people involved in the murders and Emma's love interest - the protagonist and the chief police investigator would both be female. This means both my primary and secondary target audiences are women. I chose a slightly older age group because crime thrillers can have quite mature audiences with 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' having an average audience of 40-54 year old women. I am hoping to draw these viewers into my film by presenting them with a mature, intricate plot they can really engage with in a genre I know they already enjoy, despite the characters being younger than is usually expected.

The majority of the crime/thrillers I looked at for reference had an age rating of 15-18 with a couple of 12s. (Gone Girl 18, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 18, Fargo 18, Zodiac 15, The Bourne Identity 12, Collateral 12). I would aim to have my rating at a 15 because my target audience are 18-25 year olds who have the patience and intelligence to follow the plot line, especially with the disjointed formula but need something more gritty to hold their attention and bring more depth into the film. I am going to have quite a violent, threatening plot which may not be suitable for younger viewers meaning it needs to have an age rating of at least 15. I am not having an age rating of 12 because this would make the action too mundane for my target audience but I'm not making it an 18 because I don't want to restrict possible income for my film of 15-17 year olds who they film will also appeal to.

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

My film opening actually only features two main characters and a few extras and therefore doesn't give much opportunity to represent different social groups. My protagonist is a white 18 year old girl because I wanted to challenge the conventional male leads and develop the introduction of female protagonists, especially in the crime thriller genre. She is 18 years old to help me appeal to a younger target audience (18-25 year olds) whilst still being able to carry a mature, dark storyline. I didn't have a specific ethnic group in mind when I was casting Emma, Lucy was simply the best fit with the specific categories I needed to cover and the greatest acting ability.

However, because I'd cast Lucy, I needed my other main characters to be similar in appearance as they were playing members of her family - her sister and her mum. This is when I cast Alannah as she looked the most like Lucy to achieve greater verisimilitude.

When I created Emma's character I wanted her to be strong and independent, challenging gender stereotypes about women being weak and needing the assistance of a man. Therefore  I believe Emma represents her social group in a very positive way, showing young girls that it's okay to break societies rules and be headstrong and powerful. Also, the fact that she carries most of the film, especially the opening sequence, shows that her character is able and complex enough to support the weight of the film - a great example of self-worth and confidence for young women.
This is developing throughout the industry with major films such as 'The Hunger Games' starring a strong female protagonist.

As my film develops I would want it to continue this theme of strong women. I have a specific character in mind who I really see as an integral part of the film - a chief investigator who I imagine as a woman. Emma becomes very close to her as she acts as a maternal figure, offering Emma the safety and support she lost with the deaths of her own parents. However, this character manages to maintain a position of authority and power, controlling the investigation with determination to discover who is responsible. This shows that women don't have to be pigeon-holed as strong and independent or loving and maternal, they can do both effectively with neither side of them holding back the other. This role of a strong business woman and mother was also played by Sarah Paulson when she perfectly portrayed 'Marcia Clark' in the crime drama 'The People vs OJ Simpson'. This shows how female characters are starting to become more multi-layered and complex reflecting a social movement towards more equal women's rights.

My film is set in the north of England in Yorkshire and therefore also challenges stereotypes surrounding regional identity. People in Yorkshire are often considered to be friendly and trustworthy however, this is a story of corruption and lies, challenging the idea of safety and welcome which surrounds the dales. However, people in Yorkshire, especially areas such as Bradford, can sometimes be considered to be less intelligent than people in other areas of the country. Therefore Emma's character positively contrasts these stereotypes as she helps aid an official police investigation.
I chose to set the film in Yorkshire as successful crime thriller TV shows have also been set in this area such as 'Happy Valley'.

However, it is still quite unconventional to have a film of this genre set in Yorkshire rather than a bustling city as most crime  thrillers are set in heavily populated, fast paced areas to help create the complex plot lines and characters which characterise this genre. However, the landscape and scenery of this region lends itself perfectly to my film idea and I enjoy challenging the stereotypes which surround the north, proving that a successful crime thriller film can actually be set in Yorkshire.

The only other character really shown in my opening is Emma's sister who speaks in the scene right at the beginning. I really wanted a younger child here to bring an innocence to the situation which which really increases the tragedy of the film and, consequently, the catharsis felt at the end by the audience. She appears as weak, vulnerable and ignorant, all these representations designed to make the audience sympathise with her and her sister, our protagonist, to immediately identify them as those with whom the audience is supposed to support.
The fact that her scene is right at the beginning instantly emotionally engages the audience and gets them to invest in the characters very early on in the film. This means other events will have a greater impact on the audience as they care about what happens to the characters. Therefore, presenting Alannah as weak and ignorant was necessary to get the emotional response I desired from my audience. Unfortunately this does play to stereotypes surrounding young girls but hopefully, the bravery and strength of my other female characters balances this out. I decided to make this compromise as I believe Alannah's character was the fastest and most effective way to get the audience to sympathise and emotionally engage with my characters, something that was very necessary to my film.

Evaluation Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

You will need to pause the video in order to read the annotations as they are quite long and the video is too short to have time to read them all. All the annotations are written below the video if you wish to look back over my answer without repeatedly watching the video. There is also an extra introductory paragraph which I wrote on my blog which I chose not to put in the annotated youtube video because it wasn't relevant to my personal film opening and genre.

There are different ways directors approach openings; they either start it with a bang, have a full on action sequence providing some information but really leaving the whole sequence as a narrative enigma (e.g. Logan and Heat) or start out with scene setting, laying out all the information the audience initially needs (e.g. Beauty and the Beast and The Great Gatsby). Either way, the audience has got to be hooked by either the shocking opening sequence or the gripping, interesting plot.
Usually we're introduced to our hero first, getting their point of view of the story as they are the protagonist.
Idents always come before the film opening, some memorable ones are the lion in the MGM ident and the iconic drum beat for 20th Century Fox.
From the ident on, film openings vary dramatically depending on the genre, target audience and director's vision. A popular start is to begin with a black screen and have a voiceover (this is done effectively in 'Mad Max: Fury Road' and 'Deepwater Horizon') but other films can begin with wide shots of the landscape in which the film is set (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) or extreme close ups of characters or objects. Each decision has a different impact on the film, helping them be differentiated into genres.

In the genre of film I chose there are several different variations of conventions that can be used. Crime thrillers can be made to be very dark and sinister such as 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Se7en' but they can also be humorous and quite comedic like 'Ocean's 11'. They can even span into the action genre with films like 'The Bourne Identity'. I really liked this about the genre as it gave me quite a large scope to work with without being hugely constricted by genre conventions. However, once I had decided on my place in the genre I definitely wanted to stick within boundaries enough to appeal to my target audience and clearly display which genre I was working within. To do this I did a lot of research into crime thrillers to determine the sound, camera work, mise en scene, editing and characters which are conventional to the darker side of this genre.

Once I had done this I began to decide what I was going to use in my opening and which things I wanted to develop or challenge.
The first thing I looked at were characters - whether the protagonist tended to be male or female. I found that in previous crime thrillers women were often the victims (this is clearly shown in 'Zodiac') and men were the investigators or heroes who solved the crimes again shown in 'Zodiac' and 'Se7en' . This is also true for modern day TV shows, the most obvious one being 'Sherlock'. However, there has recently been releases of new crime thrillers which star females as the leads such as 'Gone Girl' and 'The Girl on the Train'. This shows a development in the breaking down of female stereotypes and opened up the appeal to a more female heavy target audience. Therefore I chose to continue this and have a female lead in my film. Although she is initially the victim, as she is attacked by the murderer in the opening of the film, the fact that she doesn't cower away and hide or run away from the town shows her strength and determination. She chooses to stay in the town where she is at the top of a hit list to try and help solve the investigation and save the lives of others from her home. Therefore I would say I'm conforming to the more modern conventions of the crime thriller genre by using a strong female lead. However, it could also be said that I'm challenging the old genre conventions of male leads by developing the new conventions of female protagonists.

I also took a lot of inspiration from my research when producing the look of my film. I specifically looked at the transition into the beginning of 'Gone Girl', I really liked the fade from black in with the muted, cold colours. You can see the influence of this in my opening as the tension is built by the music and dialogue. This muted colour range is a typical convention of films of this genre and is not only seen in the 'Gone Girl' opening but also very obvious in 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'. However, I did choose to break this convention in my second flashback where I added a lot of red to the mise en scene to connote danger and tragedy. I did this because I though it was beneficial to my film opening as it is the point in the sequence where the music changes to create a more threatening tone and I wanted the mood of the footage to reflect that.

I really made the most of the manual focus in my opening because I wanted to use it to create tension and intrigue as well as ensuring the audience was focussing on the correct thing in the frame. This use of focus is clear in the 'Collateral' film opening as the background extras are blurred and the main characters are in focus. I really liked the effect this had and how interesting it made the footage to watch for the audience so I decided to stick within this convention and play with the focus of my own film opening, specifically in the first scene and flashback two.
I also liked the handheld camera work of this opening and the hectic feel it created. This style of filming is also used very effectively in 'The Bourne Identity' and made me really eager to use it in my own film opening as each of the flashbacks is supposed to build tension and feel personal to Emma as we're in her memories. Therefore I also decided to stay within this convention as it worked really well within the formula of my film.

When it came to the sound I put a lot of thought into what I wanted to layer under my film. I especially liked the sound on 'Fargo' and took inspiration from this as well as the initial music in the 'Gone Girl' opening. I was certain that I needed to have a full underscore as this was vital to tie my opening together an make it into a more coherent package. However, when I looked at my research the music I put to my opening was actually very in-keeping with the genre conventions. The films 'The Bourne Identity', 'Fargo' and 'Gone Girl' show this sound very clearly. 'Zodiac' also used sound but used a song with lyrics, incorporating intertextuality and breaking genre conventions. I used the music to pull the film together and help build tension, fitting with conventions of this genre.

The titles for my film opening took a lot of consideration and research. I looked at what is conventional in other openings and found that the text is generally sans-serif and muted in colour. I wanted the text to fit in with these conventions but also be slightly odd like the titles on 'Zodiac' and 'Se7en'. To do this I picked a font which was unfinished to reflect how parts of the investigation were missing. I also wanted the colour of the text to be red. This was unconventional because generally the colours are black, white or grey but I thought it was worth doing something different for the sinister tone it put on the end of my film which actually clearly led it to the darker side of the crime thriller genre, exactly where I wanted it to be placed.
I also broke genre conventions in the position of my title in relation to the rest of my film. Instead of it coming at the beginning, directly after the credits, I decided to have my title appear at the end of the film opening to make a bigger impact after the climax of the sequence - the scream. I believe it was a good decision to challenge the genre conventions in this way because I think it improved my film opening and put more weight into the title instead of passing it off whilst other action was taking place. It also reflects how Dreamtown is not a place of safety and comfort as it would have been presented at the beginning when Emma was comforting her sister. Instead it follows the protagonist's bloodcurdling scream at the end, connoting that the town is a place of danger and violence - a much more accurate representation of the film to come.
However, when it came to my credits I decided to stick much more to genre conventions giving that I'd broken them quite dramatically with the main titles. I had the text very simple and sans-serif. It was white and I used a font very similar to that seen in 'Gone Girl' and 'Zodiac'. I also capitalised the letters to make it seem more clinical and professional, more in keeping with the tone of a murder investigation. Capitalised text is also very conventional as it's seen in every crime thriller title sequence I researched. Therefore I decided to keep with this text style in both my credits and my title sequence.

When I researched crime thrillers I found that close-ups are a very conventional camera angle, seen clearly in the openings of 'Gone Girl', 'The Departed', 'Seven', 'Collateral' and 'Pulp Fiction', either on a persons face or a particular object (e.g. the gun in 'Pulp Fiction'). Therefore I decided to use quite a lot of close-ups in my opening as I wanted it to feel very personal to Emma as we are essentially in her memories for the majority of the sequence. Sticking to this genre convention also helped me build tension as, with a close-up, the audience tends to be more on edge as you can't see what's going on in the wider world.
However, at the end of my opening I decided to break, not only genre conventions, but general film conventions when I asked Lucy to look directly into the camera lens when she sits up and screams. This breaks the fourth wall meaning the audience are taken by surprise as they are directly invited into the action, really making them feel as though they could be a resident of Dreamtown. This is not done very often at all in cinema but when it is used it has a huge effect on the audience which is exactly what I wanted my opening to have.

My film opening sticks to genre conventions pretty well to help clearly define it as a crime thriller. However I challenged conventions quite significantly in one major part of my story - the age of the characters. Generally in this genre the cast are older to reflect the more mature plot lines and subject matter. This does come with some exceptions such as in 'Zodiac' when the opening sequence involves a young girl and boy, however, the protagonists are older therefore returning back to genre conventions. In my film opening the protagonist is an 18 year old girl - a big break of genre conventions. I used a younger protagonist this because I wanted to appeal to a younger target audience and my audience research clearly showed that the age and gender of the protagonist hugely impacted on the people who went to see the film. Therefore to appeal to younger viewers I used a younger protagonist and involved subplots such as a relationship Emma has which she's discussing with her mum at the start of the film.
Although my protagonist is younger, many of the other characters in the film are older such as the police investigators Emma works with to solve the murder. This is more in-keeping with genre conventions whilst still appealing to my target audience - females aged 18-25.
Finally I decided that using a younger protagonist would work because there have been successful crime thriller TV shows that used teenage girls as lead roles such as 'Pretty Little Liars' which had an average audience age of 18-24. Therefore I decided to break this genre convention for the benefit of my film and it's success in reaching it's target audience.

Overall my film opening stays well within genre conventions with the occasional break such as my use of colour or the structure of my title. The only big break in genre conventions I have is the age of my protagonist which I think is justified and positively effects my film. The opening stays within the genre conventions enough to define itself as a crime thriller whilst still being innovative and interesting for the audience with variations and developments of the genre conventions which set it apart as exciting and unique, not just another stereotyped version of something people have already seen.