Audience Feedback;

After i have finished my final piece i thought it would be worthwhile asking a few of my friends to come and view my film and then give me some feedback on what they thought was good and back about it. The reason for me asking a group of my friends was that they are of the correct age group that we are targeting, rather than choosing a group of people who wouldn't be interested at all.

One of the most common things that came up as being a positive about the production was how good the use of different camera shots were along with the acting. They said that the wide range of camera angles made the film more interesting and made them want to watch the whole film rather than just using a few shots which would have made it extremely boring to watch. Also, everyone said they really liked the choice of music as it really fitted with the film.

Someone said that the camera should of been steadier thoughout the production. However, we did this this to make it look as if someone was following 'Rose' rather than just having someone standing around filming her, but this may be something we consider changing next time. One thing we would definatley do if we were to shot the film again would be to put the music on a loop so that it cuts out the lyrics as someone said that it didn't fit the film and this is an issue that can be easily solved!

All of the above audience feedback is very useful as i will then be able to look through the film again and pick out the things that i would change if i was to shot it again. Also, it will be very helpful towards the next production that i shot as i will have these things in mind making it better and better each time. This was a very worthwhile thing to do as it helped me get the views of our 'target audience'.

Evaluation

To start with, I took the time to have a look at different types of horror/thriller film openings. This helped me to get a basic idea of what needed to be included to make it successful. Also allowing me to see what looked good/bad so I was then able to see what I may be able to use in my own production. While watching these openings there were a number of different things that we looked out for that we may have been able to incorporate into our production. The main 5 things that we looked out for were the shots that were used to create a certain mood/atmosphere, lighting, dialogue, music and the mise-on-scene. Looking at all of these features helped us to gather an idea of what we needed to add to our production to create the horror sense that we wanted to portray to our target audience.

We chose to do a horror/thriller based film as a group was for a number of different reasons. We thought that we could produce a good quality film using the budget and equipment which we had. There were also reasons for us not choosing the other genres such as comedy. Our main reason for not choosing this is due to the fact that we watched a range of different film openings we realised that it would be extremely hard to produce a good quality comedy with a low budget and to also produce a comedy that appeals to everyone due to humour being subjective. Another genre that we considered for our film was a chick flick/romance. However, this idea was pretty much disregarded straight away due to no males wanting to act in our film. Our main reason for consider this genre was because there are a large range of films that we could of studied to create a good production.

Once we had decided to produce a film with the horror/thriller genre we then took the time to watch more film openings related to this genre. Examples of the films that we watched as a group were Trainspotting, Lost and Slumdog Millionaire. After doing so we found a range of different shots that worked well and then thought that we could try and use ourselves within our production. I think that we created some of the shots as well as we would have been able to, for example the flashback shots that were meant to be set in a club, we filmed in the drama studio so that we got the same effect with the dark background and bright lighting.

This was the best idea that we came up with for making the scene look as realistic as possible without actually going to a club. Some of the shots took a lot of practice to get how we wanted but this paid of in the end as we were left with a lot of good footage that we were then able to cut and edit as much as we needed to make it as good as we possibly could. Also, watching all of the film openings helped us to choose the woods for the main setting of our film. Lost was the film opening that gave us the most inspiration and encouraged us to use the woods as our setting as they had managed to use it very well and created a good sense of confused and wonder which was along the same lines as what we wanted to do. This worked out to be a good setting for the type of film we had chosen to shot as it helped to create an eerie atmosphere. However, wasn't such a good set when it came to shooting as we had to delay a lot of our filming due to the weather being against us.

The social groups that are represented within our film our young adults ranging from around 18-20. Our film is based around a young girl who comes from a wealthy family who think that drinking/socialising isn’t a good idea and school work is much more important.

The way in which we have tried to represent this is by the clothes that we put our actress in we decided that she should be in party clothes as the flash back scenes within the film show the party from the night before. This helps to create a sense of curiosity as to why she has woken up in the woods in these clothes but then as the film carries on the story unrolls. Roland Barthes’ narrative theory and the concept of the Hermeneutic Code are what make the viewers start to think about how this young girl could have ended up in the woods alone. The fact that the young girl is in the clothes from the night before makes the viewers immediately start thinking about how she could of ended up there, what she was doing to end up there/what happened the night before etc. The way in which we could of improved her look would have been to smudge all of her make up to make it look more realistic due to the fact that her tights are ripped but her hair and makeup is all still perfectly neat. We represented the age by using an actress who is around the same age as the people we are targeting. She is wearing clothes that would be worn on a night out in town or to a party rather than jeans, hair is straightened and looks tidy to follow the whole look through and her makeup looks as if it had taken a while to do and as if she had been out some where nice. She takes advantage of being at a party as her parents don’t allow her to do so. These are the ways in which we represented the fact that she was from a high class family.

She has been represented negatively because she has gone against her parents and has ended up in a bad situation after her drink ends up getting drugged at the party and then she ends up in the woods but no-one knows how she got there. Also, this represents the whole age group quite negatively because they should have looked after their friend and at least made sure that they got home safe when they got in such a state after drinking to much/getting her drink drugged. The typical stereo-types are that people who are represented negatively by taking drugs being a yob etc are normally shown to be wearing clothes such as hoodie’s.

To find out the information about which media institution might distribute the media product that we are producing we had to look at which film companies that distribute films similar to ours. The main distributor that I have found was Alfa films, the main reason for this was that they distribute films such as Halloween and the Grudge 2 which are both films that have a similar genre to ours.

I also took the time to research a number of other films so that I then had a wider range of distribution companies that dealt with films of the same genre. The first film was ‘The Hole’ this was directed by Nick Hamm in 2001. This film is distributed by Buena Vista Distribution. Another film that I researched was ‘The Descent’ that was produced in 2005 it was written and produced by a man called Neil Marshall. The film is distributed by Pathé movie company. The last film that I looked at was ‘Tormented’. This was produced in 2009 starring many well known actors and actresses. Tormented is produced by BBC Films, Pathé, Slingshot Studios, Forward Films and Screen West Midlands.

After doing this research I was then able to look further into some of these distribution companies. All of the companies that I have researched would be able to distribute my production due to the fact that they distribute films with a similar genre and target audience to our production.

The film that we have created will appeal to both male and females of our target age group as they may be able to relate to the story line of a young girl going out in town, getting her drink drugged and then ending up the woods with no idea of how she got there. However, due to the fact that the film that we have produced has a moral tone, this may widen our target audience and mean that people we didn’t think would want to watch it actually do want to.

The most likely certificate that our film is going to be given is a 15, so this means that we are going to have viewers from the ages of 15 upwards going to watch our film. The age range that our film will appeal to is from around 15-20 who have an interest in horror/thriller films. The main reason for this is because it is the ages that are most common for people going out, getting drunk and ending up doing stupid things.

The people who will want to watch our film will most likely of watched films such as Lost, This is England and Fish Tank. All of these films are of the similar genre to the production that we have created. This is England has a certificate of 18 meaning that their target audience ranges from 18 upwards, due to the story line their target audience is different to ours because it is includes fighting, prison etc, whereas our production is about a young girl in town.

The main way that we tried to attract this target audience is by using actors/actresses of the same age so that they are able to relate to the issues within our production. Also, we chose to set part of our film in a night club which is where a lot of young adults tend to hang around when socialising. Another thing we did to try and make our film appeal to the correct target audience is add songs into our film that people of this age would listen too rather than adding something that they wouldn't have even heard of. To some of the shots within the film, we added a blurred affect to show that Sophie’s drink has been drugged and taken affect. Some people may be able to relate to this if this has ever happened to them while they were on a night out.

The first thing that I learnt how to do was to produce a detailed enough story board which enabled me to have a good idea of what shots would look good together and then go out and produce a digital story board of the shots in which we planned to use within our production. This then meant that we had a better idea as a group of what we were going to film at what point. This saved us a lot of time on the day of filming because we already knew what shots we had to film. Also, once we had made a digital story board we tried out some practice shots such as the over the shoulder shot. We practiced this shot so that we could see how the shot should be framed e.g. whether it should have the shoulder of the person following her in the shot of whether it should just be her running. This helped us on our day of filming as we had already made a lot of decisions that we would have had to think about when we were out filming. If I was to do this task again I would chose a different set to shoot our production. We chose to set our film in the woods as we thought that this would help us to create a good mood/atmosphere, which it did! However, it also caused us a lot of problems due to the fact that the weather was against us on most days that we planned to go out and film. This meant that it put our shooting schedule back each time and gave us less time to edit our production. So if I was to do this task again rather than choosing to shot outside I would chose somewhere in doors that would mean I would be able to shoot whenever I plan too and wouldn’t have to worry about weather conditions etc. The lighting caused a bit of an issue while filming because we chose to shot at different times of day to fit into everyone’s schedule which meant that the lighting was different and didn’t fit in with our production as we wanted it to look like early morning. This was another problem with shooting in an outdoor location. When we got to the location that we had chosen to film in on our first day of filming, we realised that the ground was not flat enough to be able to use a tripod. This meant that we had to improvise, which meant that all of our skills were developing at all times.

I have learnt how to use iMovie to a better standard due to the fact that all of the editing for our film had to be done on this programme. Within this programme I have learnt how to import films, watch the clips and then put the film together including adding credits, sound and transitions. In our film we used ‘wash in’ and ‘wash out’ transitions to help show the viewers that there is a change of scene. It took a few times to work out that the effect needed to be added before the clip that you wanted it to come before, rather than dropping it on the clip. After this was in the correct place, I had then had to work out how long the transitions should be, we had to edit this a few times until we were happy with the length, so that they showed definition between the scenes in the woods and the flash back scenes from the night before. Another thing that I learnt how to do was to add music to our production, to add one piece of music was easy but then we decided that we needed to add another piece of music for the scenes within the club. This is what then caused problems as it meant that all the music we had originally inputted was then all pushed back meaning it all had to be put back into place as well as putting the new music into the correct places so that it played in the correct scenes in the film.

I have also learnt how to use video cameras properly which has lead to a higher quality of filming being produced. This also meant that I was able to access the different features within the camera and was able to look back at footage that we had already filmed to see what it looked like and if it needed to be re-shot etc. Once we had shot for the first time we loaded our work onto the computer to watch back the work. After watching back out work we realised that we needed to reshoot a large amount of the shots that we had shot on our first day of filming. This meant that on our next day of filming we had to be ready to film the shots we needed to re shoot. To make sure that this was successful we wrote a list of the shots we needed to reshoot before we went out filming. Some examples of the shots that we needed to reshoot/add into our production were close ups of Sophie (Rose Kensington) and the finishing shot of Sophie falling over. We had to reshoot this shot to make it look more realistic.

The main thing that I have learnt from my preliminary exercise was to get good actors in your film. This is a very important factor because if the actors/actresses don’t feel comfortable in front of the camera they aren’t going to perform as well as someone who enjoys it. This is why we used a drama student from our school in our foundation production rather than just people in our group who didn’t mind being in the film. Also, we used a different setting rather than just filming around school. This allowed us to be able to set the scene better and meant that we didn’t have to keep stopping and starting filming when people needed to get past etc. We chose to film in the woods to help create the sense of curiosity that we wanted to portray to our viewers. There were a number of advantages for us choosing to shot in the woods. One of them was that we didn’t have to check if it was free, like we did when shooting at school. Also, it is already quite with not many people around so we didn’t have to keep asking people to be quite and wait until people walked past before we carried on filming. The bad things about us choosing to shot in the woods were that the weather was against us a lot of the time meaning that we were unable to shot on some of the days that we planned to shot. When shooting the flash back scenes for our film we decided to shot in the drama studio at school. We chose to shot here as it was the most realistic place we could find that would look like a club without visiting an actual club. This was a good place to film because when the doors where shut no body would come in so we were able to get all of our shots done in one go rather than having to keep stopping and starting.

We have had to change a range of different things to do with our film for many reasons. The first thing that we had to change was some of the shots that we planned to shoot as once we practiced a few of the shots we realised that they didn’t look very good and so then had to rethink how we were going to perform these shots. An example of this was the over the shoulder shot that we planned to do while Sophie (Rose Kensington) was running around from the person who was following her. The reason we had to change our ideas were that it was far to difficult to try and keep the person who was following her shoulder in the shot in the same position at all times, so we decided it would look better if we took it out and just had Sophie running away with her looking back to see who/what was behind her. Also, we had to change the music that we had planned to use within our product because after creating a first cut of our film and adding in the music we realised that it didn’t really suit the product that we had created. We looked at a range of different songs that we thought would work with out production, but after playing them with our film we realised that they didn’t fit. One song that we were going to use was Change by Daniel Merriweather, we thought that this would work well as it was quite upbeat. However, when we played it at the same time as our production we found that it was too upbeat and that he starts singing to early in the song. This meant that we had to continue looking for songs that would work well. Eventually, we can to the decision that we were going to use Kings of Leon’s track – Closer for the main part of our production when Sophie (Rose) was in the woods and then for the flash back scenes we decided to use Warrior’s Dance by Prodigy.

I think that the skill I have developed the most is being able to personally develop ideas quickly due to things not going to plan e.g. shots we had planned to film not working as a result of a lack of money, standard equipment and bad weather conditions. Although we took the time to do some practice shots before we went out to film our production we weren’t able to do enough to see if all of the shots would work, meaning that once we reached our chosen set a lot of the shots didn’t work that well and some of the shots we planned to do, such as; filming Sophie running past the camera from all different angles, one of these being from up a tree, we realised that this wasn’t going to work and that the trees weren’t in the correct position for this shot to look realistic and work as well as we planned.

Getting feedback on our productions from our peers helped whether it was positive or negative. This meant we were able to change anything to do with our film that needed changing. This included things such as the transition between flashbacks sound be made longer and because we were told this before we handed in the final cut of our production we were able to edit this to make it better.

Examples of positive feedback that we received were;

* The P.O.V shots that were used were very effective and worked well.
* Music helped to make the film flow.
* Good effects, sound and acting within the film.
* Good music, continuity, edits and story.
* Really good camera shots and acting.
* Good choice of music, contrast with flash backs and good combination with filming.

Once we had this feedback, we looked through it to see what people liked about our production. Feedback such as good effects made us think that we should try and use some more effects throughout our production, which is what we did especially in the flash back scenes to make them look as real as possible. Also, people said that there was good acting in our film, we were happy with this feedback as the actress that we used in our production was an A Level drama student.

However, we also received negative feedback;

* Transitions need to be longer between flash backs.
* Need to add in another close up before the second last shot to last flash back of her face.
* Music should stop when Sophie is running away.
* Close ups need to be re-done.
* More distressed central character! - Smeared makeup etc.
* Needs steadier camera.
* Should have more people in the party scene.
* Slipping the drug into the drink could be more realistic.
* More diagetic sound and suspense needed.
* Not sure if the music with lyrics helps to tell the story or a distraction. Reminds me of a music video more than a film opening.

Although we received more negative than positive feedback, we turned this into a positive for ourselves. We looked at the feedback closing and discussed as a group what we could do to improve this feedback. For example, someone said that the music should stop when Sophie is running away, so we listened to what they said and stopped the music to see if it would look better. However, we didn’t think it did so we decided to just make the music fade out rather than stopping completely. Also, when someone said that the close ups need to be re-done, we decided as a group when the best time to do this would be, and all set a day in which we could go out and film these shots to make the film look the best it could.

Final Cut of Blackout

Feedback

After creating a first draft of our film, we all took the time to give each other feedback on the productions that we all took the time to produce. This allowed us to see what people thought was good and bad about our productions and still gave us time to improve anything that our peers thought needed to be improved.
The positive feedback that we received as a group included;
* The P.O.V shots that were used were very effective and worked well.
* Music helped to make the film flow.
* Good effects, sound and acting within the film.
* Good music, continuity, edits and story.
* Really good camera shots and acting.
* Good choice of music, contrast with flash backs and good combination with filming.

We also received negative feedback, which was a good thing for us as a good as we were able to work on these things and improve them;
* Transitions need to be longer between flash backs.
* Need to add in another close up before the second last shot to last flash back of her face.
* Music should stop when Sophie is running away.
* Close ups need to be re-done.
* More distressed central character! - Smeared makeup etc.
* Needs steadier camera.
* Should have more people in the party scene.
* Slipping the drug into the drink could be more realistic.
* More diagetic sound and suspense needed.
* Not sure if the music with lyrics helps to tell the story or a distraction. Reminds me of a music video more than a film opening.

Above you can see the feedback that we received as a group for the first draft of out film from out peers. Although more of the feedback was negative this was good in a way as it gave us more things to focus on, and allowed us to work on things that needed to be changed.
Alot of the things that our peers criticised us on we were able to fix e.g. adding more close ups into the product and making the transitions into the flashbacks longer. This took us no time at all and was easy for us to do.
However, some of the feedback wasn't as easy for us to correct. The point that i am referring to here is 'there should of been more people in the rave scene'. This was hard for us to rectify due to the lack of people who wanted to act in our film.
The only issue with the feedback that we were given was that it is subjective meaning that everybody has their own personal opinions/views. This meant that some people thought parts of the film were good, but on the other hand some people thought something needed to be taken away/added to it.

Re-Shooting

After looking through the shots that we had filmed and getting some feedback from our peers, we then had to set a date to go out and film the rest of the shots that we need to. We tried to use time within half term to the best of our ability. However, the weather was against us.
Wednesday 17th; On Wednesday 17th, we planned to go out and re-shoot the shots within our production that didn't work. When this day came around, the weather was against us meaning that we unable to re-shoot. Meaning that this is a major drawback for choosing to use an outdoor setting. However, this was the best setting we could of used to create the best atmosphere.
After looking at the weather forecast we decided to delay the filming for a few days until the weather clears up allowing us to film the shots we needed to complete our production.
Thursday 18th;
This was the next day that we were planning to re-shoot. However, the weather was bad again meaning that we were unable to get out and film the shots that we needed.
This set us back another day, which has further delayed the completion of our film.
Tuesday 23rd;
Finally the weather was good enough for us to be able to go out and film the last few shots we needed to complete our production.
As well as being able to complete the shots we needed, we also took the time to take a few extra shots that we thought would be useful when putting together our film.
When we got into school on Wednesday this meant we were able to upload the new shots that we had taken the day before and then start editing them into the final cut of our production. Once we had shot the final shots that we needed, we were able to get on with the final cut of our film and make it to a standard that we are proud of.

E-Mail to XL Records

This is a copy of the e-mail that i have sent to XL Records to ask them about permission to use their song in my media production;

E-Mail to Sony Music

This is a copy of the e-mail that i sent to Sony Music Records to ask them for permission to use Kings of Leon's song, Closer in our production.

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to ask if i would be able to use Kings Of Leon's track Closer in a media project that i am doing at school. This track would be used for educational purposes only and will be completely non-profitable.
Yours sincerly,
Becky Morrish

Editing

When we had finished filming all of our footage we then uploaded it onto the computer so that we were able to see how the shots came out.

Once we looked through the shots we had filmed, we decided which shots would work well and which didn't look very good.

This then left us with a list of shots that we thought needed to be re-filmed. Before we went out to re-shot we decided to put all of shots into a film and decide which music would work well and what transitions etc, that we should use to make the shots flow better.

After this we looked at the different songs that would work well with our film, the list of songs that we came up with were;

Closer - Kings Of Leon

This song worked well with our film as it fits perfectly with the sense of wonder that we wanted to create as well as having no lyrics.

Said It All - Take That

This is also a slow song that we considered to work well with our film, until we played it along with our film and then found out that it wouldn't work as we thought it would.

Another reason for not choosing this song is that the lyrics start very early on in the film unlike 'Closer'.

Change - Daniel Merriweather

Due to the fact that we were going for a sense of wonder, this song was to up beat and didn't fit with our film at all.

Use Somebody - Kings Of Leon

We decided to look at another of Kings Of Leon's as 'Closer' works so well. However, this song didn't work because it was too up beat for the opening of our film.

After looking at songs for the part of our film in the woods, we also needed to look for a song that worked with the rave scenes in the film. This meant looking through a range of more up beating/dance songs. We then came up with these songs;

Tarantula - Pendulum

We looked at this song as we knew that Pendulum produce the correct genre of music. However, this song was too slow throughout for the scene that we wanted to use it in.

Warriors Dance - The Prodigy

This is the song that we have chosen to use in our production as it fits really well and compliments the action in this scene.

We decided that the two songs we were going to use for our film are;

Closer - The Kings of Leon

and

Warriors Dance - The Prodigy

After making the decision that these songs worked well within our film, we then had to e-mail their record labels and ask them if it was okay for us to use them. Above you can see the e-mail that we sent to Sony, asking if we could use Kings of Leon in our production.

Filming

Sunday 31st January;

On Sunday we decided to film the main part of our film in the woods located near Layla-Jay's house. We all met at 11 o'clock to go and start shooting from the story board that we had already drawn out.

We kept referring back to our story board to see which shots we needs to shot. However, when it came to some shots we were unable to film them as we would of liked which meant that we had to re-think how we were going to shot some of the shots.

One shot in particular that caused some difficulty shooting was a pan of Rose (Sophie) from above to make her look vulnerable. While trying to do this shot we had to try and find a way of circling her without making it look badly filmed. This meant that we had to try and use other methods to try and make it work as we had imagined them to work.

Another shot that we had difficulty shooting was a high angle shot of Rose (Sophie) running from what she thought she was being followed by, but once we were on set we found out that it wouldn't be as easy to shot as we had originally thought. We had planned to shoot this shot from a tree so that it would be a good angle to shot from. However, when we started filming we didn't really think about the position of the trees around us which meant that when we finished shooting the shots before, we ended up in a part of the woods with no trees around for us to film from, so we had to improvise and re shoot the shot before allowing us to film the next shot from a tree.

Overall, the filming went well which meant that we were able to get it all done to a good standard, hopefully meaning that we won't need to re-shot anything.

Shooting Schedule

As a group we came up with a shooting schedule that would suit us all. This meant that we would have enough time to complete the filming and editing in time to meet the deadline.

Equipment List

The equipment that we as a group are going to be using is;

Video camera

Video tape

Tripod

The props that we are going to use are;

Dress

Shoes

Heavy make-up

Tablet

Alcoholic bottles

Glass

Lighting

Shot List

We are using a range of 24 shots to create the opening scene for our film "BlackOut".

1) Establishing Shot of the woods

2) Long shot of Rose asleep in the woods

3) Close up of Rose's face

4) Medium shot of the party (flash back of the night before)

5) Extreme close up of Rose's eyes

6) P.O.V shot from Rose lead down (tree trunks)

7) P.O.V shot from Rose lead down (tree tops)

8) Long shot of Rose (in front)

9) Long shot of Rose (side)
10) Medium shot of Rose (in front)

11) Medium shot of Rose (behind)

12) Medium shot of the party (flash back of the night before)

13) Close up of the glass (drink being spiked)

14) P.O.V shot of the woods

15) Medium shot of Rose (behind)

16) Long shot of Rose running

17) Close up of Rose drinking her that had been spiked (flash back)

18) Close up of Rose falling over

19) Close up of glass

Potential Shots

Before we started to film our production we thought as a group that it would be worth while, to take the time and see what some of the shots would look like;

This is an extreme close up that we tried out before using in our film. We found that this shot worked well for what we wanted to use it for because it allows us to show the emotion on Sophie's face which is important for the situation in which she is in.

This shot is going to be used at the start of the film when she wakes up from her first flash back.

Another shot we thought it would be necessary to try out was this over the shoulder shot so that we could see whether the shot looked better with or without the should in the shot. We thought that the shot looked better with the shoulder in the shot, however in the circumstances that we were using the shot we thought it would be more sensible to film the shot without the should in the shot.

This shot would of been used when Sophie was running through the woods which meant that it would make it really hard to keep the should at the same place in the shot at all times. Also, another reason for us going against using this shot is that throughout the film we have planned to keep the viewers guessing as to what it is that is following Sophie, or whether it is just her imagination playing tricks on her due to her drink being drugged.

This high angle shot looked as good as we were hoping it to as we really wanted to use it to show that Sophie is vulnerable. This is important as we want to viewers to know that she is lonely and scared.

Another reason that we were pleased that this shot worked out was that it gives the impression that she is being watched by someone/something and this is what we wanted the viewers to think.

Digital Story Board

Once we had drawn up our story board we then decided to create a digital version so that we could get a better idea of what the shots would actually look like together.

Story Board

To start with, within our group we drew up a story board of the shots that we were planning to use within our film. This helped us to get a vague idea of what shots would work well together and which wouldn't.

Character Profile

The main character in our film is going to be played by Sophie Davis.
Her name is Rose Kensington, she is a privately educated young female.

She is 19 years old and comes from a rich, middle class family who have high expectations for their daughter.

Rose lives in a large country house in the suburbs of London.

Rose doesn't really care about her education as is more interested in going out and partying with her friends, which her family disagree with.

Scripts

We have chosen to name our film "BlackOut".

The film starts with an establishing shot of the woods to help us set the scene for our viewers. The camera then starts to focus in on Rose (Sophie Davis) who is lead on the floor, helping to create a sense of mystery as to why she is there. After waking up, Rose starts looking around herself and feels as if someone is watching her. However, due to the fact that Rose's drink was drugged the night before (which is found out later on in the film) she is confused as to where she is, why she is there and if there is someone/something watching her. To emphasise this, we are going to use a range of different shots such as; close ups and over the shoulder shots, to make it look like Rose is being watched by something/someone. Throughout the film we relate back to flash backs from the night before to help the viewer try and work out how and why Rose may have ended up there. All through the film Rose is drugged and looks really confused as to what it is that is watching her and how she ended up there. While Rose starts running, she looks back to see if there is someone there or whether it is just her imagination and then ends up tripping over a log, leading to a blackout!

After our opening film finishes the story continues..
The story then continues with Rose being kidnapped, and was never found.

Groups & Roles

The group that i have chosen to work with consists of 4 people:

Layla-Jay Fox

Within the group, we have decided that Layla-Jay is going to be one of the directors of the film so she is going to have to make decisions about how the film is going to be made and how each shot is going to be pulled off.

Becky Morrish

I am going to also be a director along side Layla-Jay, this means that we will be able to take the pressure off of each other and organise a shooting schedule to suit us both. Both of us are organised people who will both be able to work together to direct the filming so it turns out the way we want it to look.

Steve Hook

As a group we have come to a decision that he is going to be the main camera man. The main reason for us coming to this joint decision was because he enjoys making his on films in his spare time meaning that he already has experience is film making.

Sophie Davis

Sophie is going to be the main actress in our film. We have chosen Sophie for this role as she is currently at Gordano School studying A Level Drama, giving her the advantage over other people in the group of having experience in acting.

Mind Maps & Ideas

After watching a range of different film openings it was then up to us to create our own story line. So the first step we took towards this was to create a mind map including all off the different elements that need to be considered.

Once we had created a mind map including all of the aspects that we could include within our production, it was then up to us to make the decisions about what we were going to include. We have to think about this carefully about what we are going to include as viewers will make their decision as to whether they want to carry on watching the rest of the film within the first few minutes.

Disregarded ideas;

Genres..

There was a range of different genres that we could chose from which meant that the decision was harder. However, due to the fact that we had a very small budget it made our decision slightly easier as we then had to think about what would look good even though we had no money to spend on the set/stunt men etc. This meant that a comedy film would be quite hard for us to produce at a good enough standard as they usually include a lot of props and take a long time to make. Also, comedy films are very subjective because everyone has a different sense of humour, which meant that our film opening could be a complete disaster. Romance was another option that we considered however we didn't have any males that wanted to act in our production which then narrowed down our options to doing a horror/thriller.

Settings..

Once we had chosen the Genre of film we were going to use we then had to decide where we were going to shot our film. The main reason for not choosing to shot our film within the school was that we didn't think it really fitted the Genre that we had chosen. Houses are usually used for happy films, romance and sometimes comedy which meant that it wasn't going to fit the Genre we had chosen. This then left us with the idea of using the woods to shot of film which we decided would be the best place and would fit our chosen Genre perfectly.

Character..

We decided against using an older male to act in our film as it would portray the wrong image and wouldn't fit with the ideas we already had for our production. We needed the character to look innocent and vulnerable as we have chosen a horror/thriller film. If we had chosen a male actor we wouldn't have been able to create the correct image as they are more likely to be able to stand up for themselves.

Sound..

When thinking about the sound we should use within our production we quickly decided against putting dialogue in our film as we already had a vague idea of what the plot of our film was going to be. After watching Train Spotting we thought about using a monologue in our film. However, after thinking about this for longer and more in depth we realised that this would be very hard to make it work well, so we went against using this idea. This then left us with using fitting music to help set the scene along with sound effects such as; foot steps & heavy breathing.

Chosen ideas;

Genres..

The genre that we have chosen to use is Thriller/Horror. We have chosen this genre as we thought that it would allow us to use a range of different skills in which we have learnt though out the year. Also, we thought that this genre is more likely to appeal to a large audience rather than limiting it by choosing a chick flick or a comedy for example.

Setting..

We have chosen to set part of our film in the Woods and the other part of our film in a Club. The reason for this is to make our production more mysterious and keep the viewers interested in what is going to happen next. The woods are where most of the film is going to be shot as we decided as a group that this would be the most appropriate place to film and emphasise the sense of vulnerability that we are trying to portray. The rest of the shots are going to be filmed within a club as we thought that this would be the most likely place for someone's drink to get drugged if they are out in a crowed place.

Character..

A young female is the character that we decided to go with in the end. The main reason for this due to the typical stereotypes that females are weaker than males. This is an important factor in our film as alot of it in based around the main character being very vulnerable. This will help to create the correct atmosphere for the film that we are producing.

Sound..

We have chosen to use no dialogue within our production so this means that we will need to think long and hard about the music we are going to include. We need to make sure that the music we choose fits well with the story we are trying to portray to the viewers. Also, making a film with no dialogue leaves the viewers to make their own mind up about what is going on and may create a sense of confusion making them want to watch it for longer to find out what is going on.

Adding sound effects will help to remind the viewer that the main character is being watched as they will be able to hear heavy breathing and foot steps. This well emphasise the sense of vulnerability and mystery.

Introduction

The task i have been given for my AS Media Studies coursework, is to produce a film opening.

To complete this task we have created a group of 4 people (Myself - Becky Morrish, Sophie Davis, Layla-Jay Fox & Steve Hook), each being given different roles to help complete this production. Between us we have come up with a range of different film ideas, genres and story lines for us to chose from.

We have been given the instructions that we have been given are that the film opening must be no longer than 2 mintues and be all original footage that we have shot ourselves along with original music.

Initial Research

To start my coursework i am going to watch six film openings. While watching them i will write notes about what i like about them, the mis-en-scene, the shots used and the lighting and music used. Watching the first two minutes of six films will help me to see a range of different shots being used along with types of music and lighting, which i may then be able to take ideas from to include in my own film.

Slum dog Millionaire;

Slum dog Millionaire is a British film, produced by Danny Boyle. This is a very successful film winning a total of four golden globes, seven Baftas and eight Oscars.

This film has a very interesting opening as it keeps flicking between shots of who wants to be a millionaire and random flashing images that mean nothing to the viewers before they have seen the film. Also, throughout the opening sequence of shots there is a question in the top right hand corner which makes the viewers start thinking about 'how he won the 20 million rupees'.

I like the different shots that are used to create a sense of tension. The sound which is used in the opening a clock counting down for the viewers to answer the question. I like the chose of sound as it fits in with the story but also helps to create a tense atmosphere and wonder throughout the viewers. The fact that the use of dim lighting has been used also helps to create the sense of wonder as you are only able to see certain parts of each shot making you wonder what is going on around him.

The things that i would take from this would be the quick change of shots, which work really well together to keep the viewers guessing what is going on and what is about to happen.

Train Spotting;

Another film that i watched was Train Spotting, there were certain elements from this film that i liked and thought may work well in my own film production.

The part of Train Spotting that stood out the most to me was the fact that a prologue was used throughout the film opening. This helps to set the scene of the film and without even thinking about it the viewers automatically feel like they are in the shoes of the character who is speaking. I also like the fact that the film jumps straight into the action with music that fits in well with the speed of the characters running through a busy area.

Lost;

To add to the research that i had already done, i watched the TV series 'Lost'. Lost follows the lives of plane crash survivors on a mysterious tropical island, after a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles crashes somewhere in the South Pacific.

The reason that i chose to watch this TV series was that the opening (which is what i was focusing on) was different from any of the other films i had already studied.

The opening sequence to lost is of a man who is very disorientated walking and running through a wooded area. This wants the viewers to keep watching to find out what happens next and how he ended up there. As a good we analysed the good and bad points about the opening and decided that we could use a few different things and incorporate them into our production. This included things such as the opening shot of the eye opening, we thought that this shot would work well in our production. Also, we liked the choice of music that was used. It was very appropriate for the scene and situation it was used in. This made us realise that we would need to choose music that fitted with the genre of our production.