Looking back at our preliminary task, it is clear that our understanding of camera and editing skills has improved vastly. To start with, we had very little knowledge of the programmes we needed to use for example final cut pro and garage band. We also needed a variety of different camera angles in order to get a high grade in our production. Our preliminary allowed us to experiment using the angles we learnt such as 180 degree angle, shot reverse shot, match on action and rule of thirds. Using these techniques, it really helped us with our final piece.
When planning the protagonist, location and equipment for Hidden Within, we took time and care by researching many opening sequences to inspire us. Se7en was a huge influence on our production as it gave us an understanding of what we wanted to produce. During our planning process, we carried out research by using surveys on our target audience to find out what elements they liked about our preliminary which helped us gain an understanding of what to include in our production. They also looked at our synopsis of Hidden Within which explained our plot which assisted us in making improvements with their feedback. In our final production we ensured that our characters were represented accurately to fit their role. Our protagonist was dressed in black clothing to create enigma and a dark atmosphere. This juxtaposed with our antagonist as she was dressed in youthful, colourful clothing to connote vulnerability and to represent her as the victim. In our preliminary, we did not take as much time to think about the costume choice as it didn’t create the same intense vibe. We followed a similar storyline in the preliminary and from this we could decide areas of improvement for our final production. The protagonist was mostly shown in low key lighting which connoted mystery and enhanced shadowing for the same effect. The antagonist was shown in high key lighting to represent her as angelic and innocent. Our experience using final cut pro shows development when comparing our preliminary to our final production. Our understanding of how to show relationships and interactions through editing was greatly helped with the use of final cut pro. When making our preliminary, our understanding of final cut pro was not at the same level as it is now and I think this is proven in our final production. It took us a while to navigate ourselves around the programme but with help from our teacher and friends, we soon got the hang of it. This was the same with garage band however, it was easier to use and took us less time to get used to. Above, I added our final production to YouTube and used to annotations option to show the different genre conventions, music, the different shots used and our inspiration and how its similar to other films.
Whilst filming our opening sequence ’Hidden Within', we wanted to make sure that we adhere to all codes and conventions of a thriller. In order to create our opening sequence we got inspiration from the film 'Se7en' and the TV series 'American Horror Story'. We had to consider research a lot before we started filming in order to attract our target audience. In the opening sequence of Se7en, they use similar props to what we used. We used shot quick clips to create the tension and the fast pace of the edits along with the non diegetic sound emphasised this. Our inspiration for the sounds was from American Horror Story. Their use of sharp loud noises throughout is why we used the scratching of a vinyl. The use of blood and the saw in out production is very stereotypical of a thriller or horror film as it connotes danger or uncertainty and suggests death is involved. 'Audience' is a very important concept throughout media studies. All media texts are made with an audience
in mind, ie a group of people who will receive it and make some sort of sense out of it. And generally, but not always, the producers make some money out of that audience. Therefore it is important to understand what happens when an audience meets a media text. Audience research is a major part of any media company's work. They use questionnaires, focus groups, and comparisons to existing media texts, and spend a great deal of time and money finding out if there is anyone out there who might be interested in their idea. Media producers want to know the age, gender, race or locations of their potential audiences. A way of categorising them is through the different demographics. For our production, we carried out surveys to see what type of thriller was a group of peoples favourite and what kind of things they expected to see. We felt that the main groups interested in our production would be groups: A-E with the age range of 16-35. Whilst we were thinking about the type of audience we wanted, we thought it would help us to get a better understanding of the people. We brainstormed what kind of music taste they had, what clothing they wore, what their hobbies were, what TV they watched etc.
The shots above are the main locations where our production is going to be based.
The first image of the front of the house is showing the main setting for where our film is based. Houses are often used in psychological thrillers as audiences can identify with the familiarity. The second image is of the front room of where the man will do most of his work. The table in the middle will be useful to put everything on. The use of dark colours on the walls and the reds fit into the mise-en-scene well in order to create a sense of tension. The third image of the alleyway fits well with the codes and conventions of the thriller genre as it connotes potential danger and isolation. The fourth image is of the road which could be used as an establishing shot linking. The fifth location shows a wall which is what we will use to put all the newspaper clippings and photographs on to create mystery. The sink is for when we use a close up of the man washing the blood off his hands. We added music to our animatic storyboard to get a feel of what type of music we will use in our real production.
We wanted to create some non diegetic music for our animatic storyboard. We tried different variations of sound effects to create the connotations of horror. The first few attempts were good but we wanted more of climax in the middle rather than it staying the same the whole way through so we added another sound effect which did this. Our final piece has the connotations that we wanted of horror and psychological.
Identifying a potential target audience is so important and so we wanted to find out whether our ideas would attract consumers. We wanted to make something our age group would engage with (16-25) so we brainstormed what this demographic would be interested in in order to inform production further.
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