POST 12.6 - New instruments

POST 12.7 - Progression

In this post I will outline a few changes we made as we moved from the preliminary task onto the main task. 

Firstly, we wanted to make our opening sequence look very smooth and professional, this was something we really had a problem with in the preliminary task, starting with the filming itself. In the preliminary task we used a great deal of panning, however it was very shaky, giving the whole film an unprofessional look. In our opening sequence however, we practiced panning to ensure a smooth video could be made. I feel this change of filming style gave the final product a much cleaner finish overall. 

Secondly, we reviewed our editing in the preliminary task. When editing the film we decided it was lacking in different techniques and so we attempted to add jump cuts. However, the jumps were too big and passing cars suddenly appearing and disappearing gave the film a very disjointed feel, detracting from the continuity. Therefore in our opening sequence we looked at filming clips in way that would allow for smooth, continuous jump cuts. We also made each jump smaller to give a better visual appeal and give the appearance of time passing.  

Finally, after watching back our preliminary film, we decided the lack of a soundtrack, especially with the long soundless scenes, made the film very dull and boring. In order to overcome this in our opening sequence, we not only used shorter clips, but added an upbeat, modern soundtrack to ensure there is a constant stimulation for the audience. 

POST 12.5 - Attracting the Audience

We used several techniques in our opening sequence to help appeal to our teenage target audience.

Firstly we carefully chose our song, we decided to go for a rap/hip hop song that had a steady beat because it would add to the house party atmosphere of the film, helping the audience to relate. Whilst not detracting from the filmed content of the opening sequence.

Secondly we made the story line of the entire film something that the audience would be able to relate to, then by twisting it with the death of one character we were able to create a sense of intrigue for the audience.

We also incorporated clips of familiar games such as pool and darts into our opening sequence, again to help the audience relate to the film and become intrigued in the story line.

As mentioned before, the film is aimed at an audience of around 15 - 20 years, this is because of the consumption of alcohol and the most probable use of strong language in the film itself, for these reasons the film is rated by the BBFC to be a 15.

POST 12.4 - Audience

Based on research, including questionnaires and box office analysis, I feel that our film, 'The Morning After', would be targeted at teenagers ranging from around 15 - 20 years of age. The fact that the film is action comedy means that it it likely both males and females would enjoy the film, reflected in our questionnaire results. I think that our film would appeal to this audience because the party scene is a big part of peoples lives at this age, and hopefully they would feel that the film reflected that. The fact that they could identify with the film would make it much more engaging than for someone who is not so much into the house party scene.

Our target audience would be those who favour films such as 'Project X', 'The Hangover' and 'Due Date'; All of which are of the action comedy genre and have the similar theme of recovering from the night before.

Typical member of our target audience:                                                                   
                                                                                                           

Favourite Films: Lord of the Rings, The Hangover, Role Models

Interests/Hobbies: Football, Singing, Meeting up with friends

Opinion on our opening sequence: "I actually quite enjoyed your film, the beat of the music gave a good party atmosphere and I like the way you lead up to the start  of the actual film, I would definitely want to watch the rest!"

POST 12.3 - Distribution

In my coursework my groups role has essentially been the role of the production company, who are responsible for taking the film from story board through to the completion of post editing. This process includes the script writing, casting, set designing, filming and post editing.

After this production stage, the film is ready to be distributed, this includes marketing. An ideal institution to distribute our film 'The morning after' would be Warner Bros; the company responsible for distributing films such as 'Project X' and 'The Hangover'. Warner Brothers are a company who distribute films world wide, one of their most successful films being the 'Harry Potter' franchise, all of which are British films.

The fact that Warner Bros are such a massive institution means they would have profits from previous films that they have distributed to fund the marketing and distribution of our film.

Being a well renowned company, it would be very easy for Warner Bros to use synergy with another large scale company to market the film to a wide audience. Also by creating an interactive website, something Warner Bros is no novice at, we would be able to create a large buzz around our film

12.2 - Representations

Here is the first male character that the audience gets a good view of, we decided we wanted to go for a character that anyone could relate to. The character is dressed in a very simplistic fashion, a dark hooded jumper and a short haircut, we feel that this is the typical ideology of a modern teenager, so someone that most of our target audience would be able to relate to.

Briefly after comes a female character who serves a similar purpose to the first male character, we wanted a character that the stereotypical teenage girl could relate to.

12.1 - Conventions

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

When creating our opening sequence we tried to use typical structural conventions of opening sequences such as credits, clear fonts, a variety of editing techniques and different camera angles. Though not always done in opening  sequences, after looking at films similar to ours we decided to create a basis for the film to begin, so a short lead up to the story itself.   

In our opening sequence we tried to develop from the usual conventions of opening sequences, for example we looked at the opening sequence for the Hangover and realized it was very simplistic in terms of editing, using mostly shot reverse shot. So when making our film we looked at using more techniques such as jump cuts, slow motion and match on action. 

Overall I wouldn't say we particularly challenged the conventions of an opening sequence, more used them to our advantage to make an appealing and interesting sequence that would help to lead up to the film itself and set the story.

POST 12a - Feedback

After screening our final film to a small audience, we were given feedback on what they felt went well in the film and what could have been improved to give a better quality film.

Positive comments on the film included:

"The chronological order of the film builds a good sense of tension."
"I like the film and I think the build up is exciting as it creates drama"
"The shorter clips give a really good party like atmosphere to the film"

Constructively critical comments on the film included:

"I like the film but I think it could do with a few more shots of the party itself to create the right atmosphere."
"The actors could have acted a little more natural, it looks quite forced"
"I think that more interesting angles, shot types and shot lengths would have maybe helped to create a more dramatic and  exciting film"

POST 11 - Final opening sequence - 'The Morning After'

This is the final cut of our opening sequence entitled 'The Morning After'

POST 9 - Production

When it came to filming our opening sequence we stayed true to our plan for the film. However we were faced with one major issue which, due to a lack of willing actors, was creating that essential 'party atmosphere' that would make the film easy to identify with for the audience. To counter this problem we used a lot of medium shots and filled the frame to give the illusion of a busy house.

As a group we feel the rest of the filming went relatively well, we managed to get all the necessary shots we need to create the build up to the death whilst still telling the story that would lead up to the full film itself.

A shot I feel that really works well is the close up on the dart board, this will give the essential short break between clips to give the build up to the death, I also feel that the change in shot length and content of the shot will help to create the party atmosphere we are hoping to get in our opening sequence.